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Minneapolis Star Tribune. May 9, 2021.

Editorial: Focus should be on a safer University of Minnesota campus

Student activists seem more focused on a number of unhelpful demands.

Tensions are running high between some University of Minnesota students and campus police. But student activists have made a number of unreasonable demands while the focus should be on better student-police cooperation and improved public safety.

In a letter to administrators last month, student government leaders demanded that U Police Chief Matthew Clark resign. They argue that as a former Minneapolis police officer, his embrace of MPD culture has caused the “traumatization we see in our local marginalized communities … and having a police chief ... from that department is only making our community less safe and inclusive.” Several dozen students and about a dozen faculty signed the letter.

University leaders should, of course, listen to student concerns and take action when appropriate. But they should not give in to unreasonable demands that would do nothing to make the campus and surrounding neighborhoods safer.

The calls to fire the chief, cut ties with other law enforcement agencies and require no-excuse-required extensions on class assignments for some Black, Muslim and some students involved in protests go too far.

And as university student Benjamin Ayanian wrote in a recent Star Tribune Opinion commentary, “irresponsible” rhetoric from some students — including suggesting fake calls to use up police resources — just fans the flames of tension between campus police and students.

In fact, U leaders have made good-faith moves to improve campus safety and those efforts merit support. Last fall, an outside review of the U police department was done after students demanded more law enforcement accountability following George Floyd’s death.

The review, conducted by Cedric Alexander, a former police chief and member of President Barack Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, was released earlier this year and produced a long list of recommendations.

It confirmed that many students and employees said they fear being profiled and/or harmed by campus cops. Others talked about feeling unsafe walking at night, while officers reported feeling unappreciated by the campus community.

U President Joan Gabel agreed immediately to four of the recommendations: meeting regularly with the Minneapolis and St. Paul mayors on public safety responses, obtaining a safety app for students and employees, transferring oversight of the department to a university senior vice president, and outfitting campus officers with body cameras.

In addition, according to a U spokesperson, an advisory group of students, staff and faculty is being assembled to review other recommendations from the report as well as university policies about cooperation with other law enforcement agencies. There is also an open feedback form on the M Safe website to share public comments with the advisory group.

Some student activists have called for fewer or no campus officers, which is both unreasonable and shortsighted. A Minnesota Student Association survey of more than 2,000 students conducted last fall found that about 45% of students supported maintaining the department’s size, 30% wanted more officers and 20% said there should be fewer.

Crime statistics from the area also support the need for police. In March, there were a few dozen burglaries, 22 car thefts, 13 aggravated assaults and a homicide reported in neighborhoods around the Twin Cities campus.

Improving safety at the U’s Minneapolis campus won’t come through overheated rhetoric, threats and outlandish demands. It will take cooperation between the police, administration and students.

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Mankato Free Press. May 11, 2021.

Editorial: Act locally on climate change initiatives

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The concept of thinking globally while acting locally is as necessary in slowing the effects of climate change as it is with any other major challenge.

That means we individually make good choices to do things we can practically afford to do. But increasingly cities are making climate change a priority.

The Duluth City Council recently passed a “climate emergency” declaration. As much as any city, Duluth has seen the damage brought on by climate change and knows worse is to come. The city’s famed waterfront boardwalk has been repeatedly destroyed by rising lake levels and more violent storms, and rising temperatures are disrupting the ecosystem.

The declaration doesn’t bring any immediate regulations or new funding sources but starts a process of identifying concrete steps the city can take to make a practical difference. Last year the city hired its first sustainability officer, who will lead the creation of a climate change plan.

Increasingly cities are adopting specific goals, programs and funding streams to address climate change.

Denver, Cincinnati, Portland, Oregon, and other cities have ensured steady revenue sources to help fund projects aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Their approaches differ — a local sales tax, a corporate tax, a tax on electrical consumption — but all provide the ongoing funds needed to make sure spending on climate change projects aren’t sidelined by the other demands on municipal budgets.

When it comes to funding large-scale, capital-intensive projects, many cities have adopted the use of climate bonds.

Cities have been installing renewable energy systems on their buildings, implementing strategic energy efficiency initiatives for all municipal property, improving public transportation and taking other steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Some cities are requiring that new commercial buildings will need to include either a green roof or solar panels and are required to meet specific energy efficiency standards.

With a president who has returned a sense of urgency to the issue of climate change, big, nationally led initiatives can happen. As important as that is, making climate change a central issue on the state and local levels is just as important.

City officials and residents are in the best position to know what specific actions they can take to lower their carbon footprint, without having to harm economic development.

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