By: Marion Renault

A 19-year-old Minneapolis woman died this morning at Hennepin County Medical Center after falling from a sixth story window of Yudof Hall at the University of Minnesota Saturday evening, according to University police Deputy Chief Chuck Miner.

The University Police Department, HCMC paramedics and the Minneapolis Fire Department responded to a call made at 4:38 p.m. Hennepin County Crime Lab was also on the scene.

The victim was not a University student and was visiting the resident of the room, Miner said.

The screen to the window had been removed. Police said they believe the victim fell trying to access a nearby rooftop.

“All indications are that this was an accident,” Miner said.

The woman landed in a courtyard area on the south side of Yudof. There was at least one eyewitness, Miner said.

Though the police found alcohol in the room during their investigation, Miner said, it's unclear if it played a role in the incident.

An autopsy is being completed by the Hennepin County Medical  Examiner’s Office.

The incident is the school year’s first major accident, Miner said. He said he cannot remember any other unintentional, lethal falls on campus in recent years.

Roberto Barrientos, an economics and actuarial science junior, is the next-door neighbor of the Yudof resident whom the victim was visiting.

He was home at the time of the accident, but didn’t know anything had happened until the police knocked on his door and questioned him for their investigation.

“Obviously we take the safety and security of all visitors to campus whether they are students or not very seriously and our thoughts go out to the friends and family of this young lady," Miner said.

The victim’s name has not been released.

By: Alexi Gusso

Steve Sviggum has a new project.

The University of Minnesota Humphrey School fellow and former Regent and republican Speaker of the Minnesota House is partnering with a Somali organization to teach members of the Somali community about state government.

Isuroon, a Minneapolis-based organization dedicated primarily to Somali women’s health issues, asked Sviggum to host a series of workshops to teach Somali men and women about the Legislative process. The first of these workshops was held Friday night.

Fartun Weli, Isuroon’s founder, organized the event in hopes that the new knowledge will inspire the Somali community to become more involved in government matters that shape their lives.

“Most of us are new immigrants,” she said. “We just want to understand how Minnesota is governed.”

In the last legislative session, Weli testified for a bill she helped author that would have granted Isuroon $170,000 for work on eliminating reproductive health disparities among Somali women.

The proposal was included in the health omnibus bill, but fizzled due to a loophole in the language, she said.

Weli’s unfamiliarity with the legislative process was the “biggest barrier” she faced while trying to get the bill passed, she said.

“We realize that with the legislative bills, we really don’t know what to do,” she said. “Someone has to teach us.”

During the two-hour training, Sviggum introduced Legislature basics, including the process of passing a bill.

At the end of the session, he handed out booklets with information about the state constitution and assigned homework for attendees to complete before the next training, which is not yet scheduled.

“If you hang with me one more time,” he said, “you will know enough to be able to go to St. Paul … and pass a bill.”

-For more about this program, pick up Monday’s Minnesota Daily.

By: Kia Farhang

Residents and property owners in two University of Minnesota neighborhoods have voted down proposed sound walls along Interstate 35W.

The four walls faced significant opposition from Marcy-Holmes and Southeast Como residents, who said they were unnecessary blights on their neighborhoods.

The 30-day voting process began July 19 for Southeast Como and July 24 for Marcy-Holmes.

A $13 million project to renovate the highway and add a northbound lane, scheduled to begin next year, won’t be affected by the vote.

“This was a huge effort that brought our neighborhood together,” Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association Executive Director Melissa Bean said Wednesday in an e-mail.

The neighborhood association had urged residents to vote against the walls.

By: Sarah Harper

Indie pop band Passion Pit and rapper Hoodie Allen will perform at the University of Minnesota’s 2013 homecoming concert, the University announced Wednesday night.

The artists, who will perform Sept. 27 at TCF Bank Stadium, were first announced to the incoming freshman class at the annual Pride and Spirit event.

The University paid $85,000 for last year's artists, B.o.B. and Timeflies — the most expensive acts since 2010, when the University’s Student Unions and Activities started hosting big name homecoming concerts.

Following the initial announcement, Hoodie Allen tweeted, “…Minneapolis is going to be a special show,” adding, “Thank you U of M I’ll make you proud!”

By: Meghan Holden

After 18 months of construction, the University of Minnesota’s 17th Avenue residence hall will be open for student move-in Monday.

The $62.5 million building, located on the corner of University and 17th avenues, is unusual on campus — it will house two greek chapters and is the University’s first sustainable residence hall.

More than 600 students, along with the greek chapters and four Living Learning Communities, will occupy the six-story residence hall.

The building boasts a variety of “green” amenities, including the University’s first gray water system, which collects rainwater off the third floor roof to supply toilet and sprinkler water for the building.

“From start to end, sustainability was always at the top of our minds,” said University spokesman Steve Henneberry.

The residence hall is also the first on campus to house greek chapters. Returning fraternity chapter Theta Chi and new sorority chapter Chi Omega signed one-year leases in June and have special entrances, meeting rooms and housing for members reserved in the hall.

The hall, originally intended to be all-greek campus housing, is meant to help less-established chapters recruit members and gain footing on campus, with the ultimate goal of increasing the University’s greek population.

The greek chapters in the residence hall will eventually move into their own houses to make space for less-developed chapters, and the replaceable Greek letters above each University Avenue entrance will be changed to accommodate the new tenants.

Theta Chi Chapter Advisor Steve Gehrke said the location of the residence hall will benefit the growing fraternity.

“It’s working out incredibly well for us,” he said. “It allows us to be close to greek life.”

By: Meghan Holden

After eighteen months of construction, the University of Minnesota’s 17th Avenue residence hall will be open for student move-in Monday.

The $62.5 million building, located on the corner of University and 17th avenues, is unusual on campus — it will house two greek chapters and is the University’s first sustainable residence hall.

More than 600 students, along with the greek chapters and four Living Learning Communities, will occupy the 6-story residence hall.

The building boasts a variety of “green” amenities, including the University’s first gray water system, which collects rainwater off the third floor roof to supply toilet and sprinkler water for the building.

“From start to end, sustainability was always at the top of our minds,” said University spokesman Steve Henneberry.

The residence hall is also the first on campus to house greek chapters. Returning fraternity chapter Theta Chi and new sorority chapter Chi Omega signed one-year leases in June, and have special entrances, meeting rooms and housing for members reserved in the hall.

The hall, originally intended to be all-greek campus housing, is meant to help less-established chapters recruit members and gain footing on campus, with the ultimate goal of increasing the University’s greek population.

The greek chapters in the residence hall will eventually move into their own houses to make space for less-developed chapters, and the replaceable Greek letters above each University Avenue entrance will be changed to accommodate the new tenants.

Theta Chi Chapter Advisor Steve Gehrke said the location of the residence hall will benefit the growing fraternity.

“It’s working out incredibly well for us,” he said. “It allows us to be close to greek life.”

By: Meghan Holden

After 18 months of construction, the University of Minnesota’s 17th Avenue residence hall will be open for student move-in Monday.

The $62.5 million building, located on the corner of University and 17th avenues, is unusual on campus — it will house two greek chapters and is the University’s first sustainable residence hall.

More than 600 students, along with the greek chapters and four Living Learning Communities, will occupy the six-story residence hall.

The building boasts a variety of “green” amenities, including the University’s first gray water system, which collects rainwater off the third floor roof to supply toilet and sprinkler water for the building.

“From start to end, sustainability was always at the top of our minds,” said University spokesman Steve Henneberry.

The residence hall is also the first on campus to house greek chapters. Returning fraternity chapter Theta Chi and new sorority chapter Chi Omega signed one-year leases in June and have special entrances, meeting rooms and housing for members reserved in the hall.

The hall, originally intended to be all-greek campus housing, is meant to help less-established chapters recruit members and gain footing on campus, with the ultimate goal of increasing the University’s greek population.

The greek chapters in the residence hall will eventually move into their own houses to make space for less-developed chapters, and the replaceable Greek letters above each University Avenue entrance will be changed to accommodate the new tenants.

Theta Chi Chapter Advisor Steve Gehrke said the location of the residence hall will benefit the growing fraternity.

“It’s working out incredibly well for us,” he said. “It allows us to be close to greek life.”

By: Kia Farhang

President Barack Obama on Thursday announced a plan to make college more affordable by ranking schools on factors like graduate earnings and student loan debt and rewarding students who attend schools with high scores.

Expected to be implemented in time for the 2015-16 academic year, Obama’s plan would expand on the federal government’s current College Scorecard system, which launched in February and ranks schools on five criteria including cost and graduation rate.

Obama plans to push for legislation that would give students attending high-ranking colleges more federal aid starting in 2018, according to a White House press release.

“We’ve got a crisis in terms of college affordability and debt,” the president said in a speech to New York college students on Thursday. “The system’s current trajectory is not sustainable.”

About a fourth of all University of Minnesota undergraduate students received federal PELL grants last year, according to University data. One in five received other federal financial aid.

Bob McMaster, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, said in a statement released Thursday that Obama’s plan is consistent with University goals.

Obama's plan also includes ranking schools based on accessibility for low-income students. McMaster said the University has created scholarship programs for students who are above the PELL grant cutoff but still show financial need.

He said the University is also planning to continue integrating technology into the classroom through programs like free massive open online courses, which the White House press release said could help lower the cost of higher education.

But, McMaster said, the University wants to further understand Obama’s plan.

“We look forward to working with the administration and our congressional delegation to develop this proposal further,” McMaster said.

Currently, public colleges and universities in Minnesota and most other states receive state funding based on total enrollment.

The president has requested that Congress approve a $1 billion initiative aimed at changing that model by pushing states to award funding to colleges based instead on graduation rates and other criteria. Similar programs are already in place in Ohio, Indiana and Tennessee.

Ohio State Rep. Andrew Brenner, Vice Chair of the Ohio House of Representatives’ Education Committee, said the traditional system didn’t work in his state.

“We were sick of failing schools,” he said. “Everybody recognized we needed to do this.”

Ohio’s governor worked with university officials to draft the new plan, which took effect last month, Brenner said.

The University currently ranks in the middle of its peer institutions for net cost and median student borrowing, according to the College Scorecard.

Only 2.5 percent of University graduates defaulted on their student loans between 2008 and 2011, according to the Scorecard, compared to a national average of 13.4 percent of graduates.

Congress reached a bipartisan deal in early August tying federal student loan interest rates to the financial market, with a cap of 8.25 percent. Obama signed it into law Aug. 9.

Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., who sponsored the House bill, released a statement Thursday in opposition of Obama’s plan.

“While I am pleased the president’s new plan recognizes the importance of promoting innovation and competition in higher education,” he said, “I remain concerned that imposing an arbitrary college ranking system could curtail the very innovation we hope to encourage…”

According to the Associated Press, Obama will travel from New York to Pennsylvania Friday to promote the plan at two additional schools.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.