By: Adam Motzko, Mark Haakenstad, Mick Hedberg and Dionne Griffin

As of one week ago, there were four separate tickets for president and vice president of the Minnesota Student Association. We would like to announce that when you go to vote, there will only be three. To send the message that unity is an action and not just a word, we announce the official partnership of our respective campaigns. After careful consideration, we have come together under one ticket: “Hedberg and Griffin for MSA.”

For students to have maximum influence on issues that affect us all, we have to work together. With a host of tangible projects and ideas as our base, our campaign is founded on the idea that these larger issues can be addressed and overcome through the strategic application of a single, unified student voice.

As one campaign, we can engage a greater number of students than we could separately. Through more collaborative efforts, we can spread the word about how the student experience could be better. By giving a voice to student groups, organizations and culture centers that have not been heard in the past, we can establish a voice that represents the entire student body. Once outreach is improved, there will be a renewed source for ideas, opinions and concerns.

With the right pieces in place and the proper systems established, the issues may be tackled by students for students. From simple programs making student life more manageable to policies improving the basic academic experience, we can make the difference. As advocates for the entire student body, we can take steps to address student safety, transparency and affordable education. The first challenge is to bring the student body together in this year’s all-campus elections. Join us, and vote Hedberg and Griffin for MSA president and vice president.

By: Mitch Menigo — All-Campus Elections Commission

This Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, students have an opportunity to change the shape of student government through one simple act: voting. I encourage each and every student, regardless of which college they belong to, the student body they are a part of (undergraduate, graduate or professional) or their own beliefs on government, to voice their opinion.

The student group I work with, the All-Campus Elections Commission, is the neutral, third-party commission that is both facilitating the elections and upholding the rules associated with it. ACEC serves to facilitate any “all-campus” election that a student group or student government body would like to hold. After we receive a completed Voting Request, we work to best serve the election by publicizing it and upholding the requirements of our rules and those of the body for which we are holding the election.

This year any undergraduate or graduate/professional student will be able to vote in an election that directly determines the leadership within their student governments and in organizations working on issues that matter to students. Even in elections where more positions are open than students listed on the ballot or where only one candidate is running, there is still the option of writing in the candidate who you believe will best serve the University community. Now is the time for you to vote and significantly contribute to the representation of student voices on campus. During April 8-10, visit vote.umn.edu to be a part of making these groups more effective and representative for all student interests.

By: Daily Editorial Board

Amid much public fanfare, media coverage and a stream of profile-picture changes, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two cases involving same-sex marriage at the end of last month.

The first involves California’s Proposition 8, a ballot referendum that effectively overturned a California court decision that ruled that the California Constitution guaranteed same-sex marriage. Prop 8 was then challenged in federal court as violating the 14th Amendment. It was not the State of California that defended the proposition but a coalition of groups that had supported the ballot proposition.

The second case involves the Defense of Marriage Act that denies federal benefits to same-sex partners even if their marriage is recognized by their state. The petition for certiorari was filed by the United States, seeking affirmation of a Second Circuit decision that overturned the law. An intervening group was organized by the House of Representatives to defend the law when the Obama administration refused to defend the law’s constitutional validity.

Both cases are therefore about more than simply the right for same-sex couples to marry and to receive the benefits that accompany legal marriage. Complex issues reduce the Supreme Court’s ability to effectively decide on this situation.

The Court seems to be unwilling to address the question of same-sex marriage in the Proposition 8 case on the grounds that private actions — where citizens are able to address that a law is not being enforced — are not generally allowed in the federal system.  However, in the DOMA case, the Court seemed more apt to accept the standing of the U.S. to seek affirmation.

As a result, it indicates that the Court will not have to decide if the right to same-sex marriage is guaranteed by the Constitution, but it will be able to rule on the federalism questions presented in the DOMA case. In these cases, it seems that the legal questions of standing are being unduly influenced by policy considerations.

Although divided government clearly ties up the legislative process — either a single chamber blocks legislation of the other or the executive branch blocks legislation of Congress — it is now tying up the judicial process. It is difficult for the Court to rule on the real questions presented by the parties seeking redress for injuries in trial court because of internal disagreement of the government.

In fact, one might argue that divided government puts these issues in front of the Court in the first place. Same-sex marriage has achieved the support of a majority of the citizens in the U.S. and the support of the president — even though the Electoral College stands between the president and popular election. However, the majority of members in the House of Representatives have not yielded to public opinion.

Policy considerations are the prerogative of the legislature — not of the courts. Although policy may run up against constitutional issues that may constrain such policy choices, it is not primarily the role of the Court to consider policy — as forcefully affirmed by Chief Justice John Roberts in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ruling last summer. The Court is not and should not be an unelected, life-term, super-legislature as the cases chosen to hear this term have begun to indicate.

As originally conceived and reiterated in Marbury v. Madison, by Alex de Tocquville, and by Abraham Lincoln, the Court exercised judicial review because it was essentially forced to in order to decide on a case. With the advent of the certiorari process, the Court can choose not to decide a case, corrupting these arguments and bringing it close to an undemocratic super-legislature.

Under the “Obamacare” ruling’s logic, it is somewhat conceivable that the injury at stake in the DOMA case is essentially over part of the tax code, which applies to people discriminatorily in many cases — wealth being another popularly salient way — and therefore constitutional.

While distasteful and poor policy, ultimately the policymaking body — the Legislature — should most properly resolve the DOMA issue. Instead of deciding policy issues as has become common-place this term, the Court should focus on apportionment as alluded to, but not at issue, in the Voting Rights Act case heard earlier this term. Such consideration could begin to alleviate not only the marriage issue but also reduce the legal problems that have arisen from divided government and the need for the Court to act as a super-legislature.

By: Ronald Dixon

Last week, the White House announced that President Barack Obama’s latest budget will be released  Wednesday. The budget includes a conversion to the chained CPI cost-of-living structure for Social Security, whereby reducing benefits would cut $400 billion from health care overall and would slash $200 billion from other essential programs, such as unemployment aid and the U.S. Postal Service.

As I have written in other columns, efforts to reduce spending and cut aid to the populace have an adverse effect on the economy during times of economic slump. What we should be advocating for is more stimulus and investments, not regressive and counterintuitive austerity measures. Austerity and sequestration have already led to a dismal unemployment report for March, with even more impacts from the cuts having more evident influences in the near future. We simply cannot afford more cuts.

In a response to the resulting backlash from progressives, the White House declared that these cuts would only be made law under conditions of compromise from congressional Republicans. Indeed, the proposal includes tax increases on the rich and the closure of tax loopholes. What Obama has failed to realize, however, is the fact that compromises with Republicans aren’t always successful. Simply look back at the previous 4 1/2 years to find that whenever the president advocated for “balanced” approaches, Republicans adamantly rejected these plans.

In fact, Speaker of the House John Boehner repudiated Obama’s general proposals, declaring that it is “significantly skewed” in favor of tax hikes for the rich. The plan, however, actually favors spending cuts and entitlement reforms 2-to-1, with $1.2 trillion going toward cuts and only $600 billion for measures to raise revenue.

Obama must use the leverage gained from the 2012 election to advocate for a progressive platform. It is what the populace would prefer, and it would certainly provide a roadmap to victory in reclaiming the House in 2014.

Instead of selling out the American people to obstructionist Republicans, whereby becoming the only Democratic president to call for Social Security cuts, Obama should advocate for stimulus and investments.

By: Roy Aker

At this year’s Relay for Life, Connor Cosgrove was able to do something he didn’t think he would ever do — celebrate his 22nd birthday.

Cosgrove, a wide receiver on the Gophers football team, was diagnosed with leukemia just two games into his sophomore season.

“I was forced into a lot of growing up in a really short amount of time,” Cosgrove said during the event’s opening ceremony.

At the University’s 10th annual Relay for Life, head football NCAA tournament success coach Jerry Kill introduced Cosgrove against an unseasonably snowy backdrop at TCF Bank Stadium.

“I can honestly say from the bottom of my heart, [Cosgrove] is truly the inspiration and the real head coach of the Minnesota Gophers,” Kill said.

The introduction was a surprise, as was the football team singing “Happy Birthday” with the crowd of nearly 2,300 joining in.

The University’s Colleges Against Cancer chapter, a group affiliated with the American Cancer Society, organized the 12-hour event that ran from Friday night into Saturday morning.

This year’s event had about 500 more people than last year, with 164 teams, which raised more than $177,000 for cancer research.

Colleges Against Cancer President Katie Thibert and Vice President Tyler Cowart said the event’s move to TCF increased the presence of Relay for Life at the University.

Biochemistry student Tim Isdahl, who was the captain of team “Sole Train,” was attending the event for the fourth time.

Isdahl was diagnosed with testicular cancer right before his 16th birthday in January. He was cancer-free April 20 of that year.

Isdahl, whose mother is also a cancer survivor, said the Luminaria Ceremony is his favorite part of the entire event

Silence falls as thousands walk a path lined with lighted bags with names and messages like “You’ll always be my hero.” The area is darkened to symbolize the moment when cancer comes into someone’s life.

The bags remain all night long, said Brea Atkinson, spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society.

“The lighted bags remind us that there is hope and light no matter what happens in the diagnosis,” she said.

Atkinson said participants continued to walk all night and had games and activities until the closing ceremony at 6 a.m.

Having the ceremony so early symbolizes the sunrise and that “no matter what, in the face of cancer, there is always hope,” Atkinson said. “Whether it’s hope of remission or being pain free, there is always hope.”

Cosgrove said events like Relay for Life and support from family, friends and Kill have been influential in his journey with cancer.

“[Kill] and I are able to have a relationship that’s a little deeper than a coach and a player,” he said, “and it goes more into a friendship than anything I’ve experienced with a coach before.”

Cosgrove, whose final chemotherapy treatment is set for Jan. 13, 2014, said being cancer-free doesn’t mean he’ll quit the fight against cancer for all.

“When something like cancer comes in and tries to tear your life away, it leaves a mark,” Cosgrove said. “It leaves a lot of scars, but more importantly, it leaves a story.”

By: Meritte Dahl

Heaps of trash and piles of used furniture line the front lawns of students’ houses during move-in and move-out weeks.

“Chairs, clothes, silverware, dishes — everything is just thrown in the heap,” Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association board member Ardes Johnson said.

At the end of fall semester, Johnson said one resident even burned an unwanted futon in the street.

The University of Minnesota’s ReUse Program is launching a new initiative to deal with the moving mess. Pack and Give Back will allow students and residents of the Marcy-Holmes and Southeast Como neighborhoods to donate their unwanted, reusable items to a free store.

The program aims to encourage sustainability, said Stacey White, ReUse Program supervisor.

“We’re hoping to divert trash that is reusable from the landfill and back into the hands of the community,” White said.

The Pack and Give Back store will be open throughout May at the ReUse Program warehouse in Southeast Como. It will reopen in late August and early September, when White hopes to add more neighborhoods to the program, she said.

ReUse will also pick up unwanted items from campus residence halls near the end of the semester.

Neighborhood residents will have to bring their items to the warehouse.

For those who can’t, the Salvation Army will pick up unwanted items in the neighborhoods and bring them to their thrift stores in other parts of the city.

The new initiative is similar to Move-in/Move-out, a free store in Como from spring 2010 to fall 2011 that closed due to lack of funding.

Minneapolis City Councilwoman Diane Hofstede said she’s received several complaints of trash piles during moving seasons. Hofstede represents Minneapolis’ 3rd Ward, which includes Marcy-Holmes.

To address complaints, Hofstede said she is meeting with the University, residents, Hennepin County and the city next week to work on her own Move In/Move Out Day initiative.

MHNA member Johnson said she’s concerned about the viability of Pack and Give Back because no students or landlords came to community meetings she attended addressing trash issues.

“I’m not sure who is totally responsible for the heaps of trash,” Johnson said.

Students are the ones leaving the trash, she said, but their landlords give them very little time to move out. The students are busy in May with final exams, and landlords aren’t always around, she said.

Southeast Como resident Alli Grimm said she’s seen piles of trash left by students during moving seasons.

Grimm, a kinesiology sophomore, said she and her roommates haven’t yet thought about what they’re doing with their stuff when moving day comes.

“It depends on what my roommates have,” Grimm said. “Maybe if we have extra stuff,” she said, “I’d leave it in the yard.”

By: Kelsey Shirriff

A new apartment complex could spring up alongside the main railway near the University of Minnesota campus next year.

The $6 million, 36-unit complex would be built along the alleyway between Eighth Street and the railroad tracks next to the walking bridge.

The potential unit, which CPM Property Management proposed to the city in late March, would replace Printz, a local printing shop.

“It’s a very forgotten part of the neighborhood,” said Doug Carlson, president of the Marcy-Holmes Neighborhood Association. “We were actually delighted that the city would get any good development in there.”

The complex fits in with MHNA’s small-area plan that calls for denser housing around the perimeter of the neighborhood.

The new project could be the start of a shift from industrial buildings to housing units along the railroad, Carlson said, because of a desire for more residential housing in the area.

“The land is so valuable, and the industry is not going to be able to afford that parcel for that sort of use,” he said.

Developers also saw the space as a better opportunity for housing than business.

“It’s not the highest and best use of the current land that it’s on right now,” said Daniel Oberpriller, owner of CPM. “We thought it was a good opportunity to reposition it.”

Rent would run at about $750 to $850 per bed, Oberpriller said, and the complex would open July 2014. Construction would likely start this fall.

Another CPM project along 10th Avenue, called 525 Tenth, is set to open this fall and will offer 10 units with a total of 29 bedrooms. The $3 million project will be fully furnished and run at about $682 per bed, Oberpriller said.

The different housing complexes are meant to fit the needs of a diverse range of people, Oberpriller said.

“Not everybody wants to live in a 98- to 100-unit building,” he said. “There’s something to be said that you can live with less people in a more boutique feel, closer to campus.”

Dinkytown Rentals is also planning a cheaper, 12-unit, townhome-style complex that’s set to open in summer 2014 along 15th Avenue.

With increased development in recent years, some have voiced concerns about oversaturation in the past, but city officials aren’t particularly worried.

“[We’re not concerned] at this time,” said Kimberly Holien, Minneapolis senior city planner. “As long as a project is consistent for the guidance with the land use in the area, that’s the most telling factor for us.”

By: Hailey Colwell

With brushes made of animal hair and paints made from minerals, watercolor is a “natural medium” to architecture senior Alice Yonke.

She shared her natural art Friday at the 2013 Sustainability Symposium on the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus, where students from all levels and disciplines came together to share research and creative work on environmental topics.

For the first time, the event featured student art as a way to learn about conservation, said Beth Mercer-Taylor, sustainability education coordinator at the University’s Institute on the Environment, which hosted the event.

Senior Jenna Lewein said she brainstormed a number of research topics to present at the symposium before deciding on the environmental impact of clothing — a subject she said many can relate to.

While people may think about where their food and electricity come from, Lewein said it’s less common to consider the energy used in textile production — a process she said requires large amounts of water and chemicals.

Avoiding synthetic material, like nylon or polyester, is one way to make eco-friendly decisions when buying clothing, she said.

Choosing vintage or secondhand clothing can displace the need to buy new clothes and save energy, Lewein said.

“It’s up-cycling at its best,” she said. “You’re re-purposing an outfit or a piece of clothing and giving it new life.”

Textiles, not text

Projects with a visual element tended to be the most “widely communicated” at the symposium, said Yonke, who laid out watercolor palettes in front of her own paintings to encourage people to make their own art.

“Art … really shows what you personally find valuable, which is why I brought it here,” she said. “I think people need to explore why they really care about the environment.”

Junior Jessica Richardson, whose project on prairie conservation included feathers, butterfly wings, 3-foot tall grass and other prairie samples, said visual elements make it easier to learn.

“If you have something you can look at and feel,” Richardson said, “you’ll make more of a connection to it than if you just have charts.”

Lewein said she tried to avoid packing her presentation with text and instead focused on dishing out facts as observers checked out the vintage clothes she brought in to demonstrate green fashion.

“You can present numbers to people,” she said, “[but] the numbers aren’t probably going to mean much.”

The symposium lets students test out their projects in a “friendly” place before presenting them at other conferences or schools, Mercer-Taylor said.

“Our hope is that students use this as a launching pad,” she said.

In the future, Yonke said, she wants to collaborate with scientists, artists and designers to help them express ideas in different forms.

“Watercolor is just one way that really shows that,” she said.

Lewein said though she doesn’t plan to present her vintage research again, she’ll use it when choosing clothing in the future.

“I’m definitely keeping this in my back pocket,” she said.

By: Nickalas Tabbert

The Gophers women’s golf team shot 56-over par to finish 15th out of 18 teams at the Rebel Intercollegiate during the weekend.

Coastal Carolina University won the tournament with a 1-under par score of 863. Minnesota shot 920.

The Gophers played well in Friday’s opening round but struggled during the weekend at the Ole Miss Golf Course in Oxford, Miss.

Coach Michele Redman said the team struggled with its short game and putting but also from mental mistakes.

She said the busy spring schedule has taken its toll on the women.

“This is really the first tournament we played this year that we didn’t finish where we should have finished,” she said. “That’s going to happen when you play as many tournaments as we play.”

Minnesota has played in five tournaments this spring and nine since last September, all on the road. The team will get a much-needed break now before the Big Ten championships April 26.

Carmen Laguna was the lone bright spot for Minnesota, shooting a spring season-best 225 to finish tied for 34th place.

The sophomore’s best round, a 2-over par 74, came Sunday.

Laguna said she switched back to her old set of clubs for the tournament. She had been using a new set since winter break, but she wasn’t hitting the ball as well as she did last fall.

“I actually hit the old ones better,” she said.

Redman said the team will likely have a few days off this week before starting to focus on the Big Ten championships.

By: Megan Ryan

The Gophers men’s and women’s track and field teams had a successful weekend in different weather conditions.

While the men competed in the rain at the Hamline Invite, the women’s team enjoyed 70 degrees and sun at the Alabama Invite.

The women placed third with 102.5 points behind Penn State (115.50 points) and Nebraska (108.5).

“Obviously it’s always great to come down and beat some SEC [Southeastern Conference] schools,” head coach Matt Bingle said, “but I thought we had a shot to win.”

The Gophers tallied two event wins — senior Todea-Kay Willis in the long jump with 6.16 meters and senior Paige Orcutt in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:43.82.

But it was some lower-place finishes that helped make the difference.

Senior Alena Brooks placed second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:05.82. She set a new personal record and now ranks second in Gophers history.

Both Willis and junior Megan Geyen competed in three events in Alabama and scored points for the team in all of them. Both ran in the 4×100-meter relay with sophomore Akuoma Omeoga and senior Kylie Peterson to place second at 46.30 seconds. Willis placed third in the 200-meter dash, and Geyen placed third in the 400-meter dash.

Geyen was also a part of the fourth-place 4×400-meter relay. She said running multiple events doesn’t faze her.

“When I go out there, I’m not thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I need to score these points for my team,’” Geyen said. “I’m more so thinking, ‘I need to have fun, and I need to run well.’”

Junior Ashlie Decker placed second in the steeplechase at 10:47.82. Junior Maggie Bollig placed third in the 1,500-meter run.

Senior Jeri Johnson-Chambers was also second in the hammer throw at 56.25 meters, and sophomore Devin Stanford finished third in the discus. Redshirt freshman Bria Halama finished third in the triple jump.

The men’s team competed at the Hamline Invite this weekend despite the rain. While some events like the high jump and pole vault were moved inside because of the weather, the Gophers still recorded eight event wins.

“For the most part, I think we got out of it what there was to get out of it,” head coach Steve Plasencia said.

Senior John Holton won the 200-meter dash, an off-event for him, in 22.68 seconds. He then tied senior teammate Kevin Bradley for first in the 400-meter dash at 48.30 seconds.

Redshirt freshman Christian Skaret won the 800-meter run in 1:53.08, and junior Derek Storkel won the 1,500-meter run in 3:54.93.

Junior Ryan Todhunter won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.94 seconds, and redshirt freshman Goaner Deng won the 400-meter hurdles in 54.48 seconds.

Junior Zach Siegmeier led a top-four sweep of the pole vault at 5.20 meters, and sophomore Justin Barber led a top-four sweep in the discus throw at 53.69 meters.

Freshman basketball guard Wally Ellenson made his debut on the track team by competing unattached in the high jump. He won with a height of 2.17 meters.