Christmas Decor At The University Of Minnesota

This memo was sent to University of Minnesota student employees and faculty during the week of Dec. 11, 2017:


Since the memo created a minor furor and made Gopher Nation something of a national laughing-stock the memo was later described as simply an advisory with no particular authority by the same office that had issued it. Media coverage of events such as this seldom identify the bureaucrats involved. We think that interested folks should be able to know if the person at the next table at McDonalds or across the aisle on a flight to San Antonio was a figure in a matter of interest. Below are some of the people that occupy positions in the large and complex diversity division of the U of M.

 

Michael Goh and Peter Demerath, leaders of the University Office for Equity and Diversity, and the Generation Next/UROC Faculty Fellows.

 

Susan Thurston Hamerski, spokesperson for the the school’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resources Sciences (CFANS), tasked with denying that the grinch memo was a university mandate and was instead an "ill-advised" effort by an undisclosed employee.

Office for Equity and Diversity (OED) Administration

432 Morrill Hall
100 Church Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455
Phone: 612-624-0594
Fax: 612-626-0397
oed@umn.edu

Michael Goh
Interim Vice President
612-624-0594
mgoh@umn.edu

Shakeer Abdullah Assistant Vice President 612-624-5124 sabdulla@umn.edu	Ralph Blanco Administrative Associate 612-625-8680 rblanco@umn.edu	Jonathan Brown CORE Director 612-626-5462 jonbrown@umn.edu
Barbara Chapin Administrator 612-626-7386 chapi001@umn.edu	Anitra Cottledge Director of Communications 612-625-5445 cottlead@umn.edu	Denise Dieffenbach Assistant to the Vice President 612-626-9836 ddieffen@umn.edu
Sean Garrick Interim Assistant Vice Provost 612-625-5059 sgarrick@umn.edu	Anne Hornickel Program Director North Star STEM Alliance 612-626-0043 ahornick@umn.edu	Amelie Hyams Program & Communications Manager 612-626-9178 hyams003@umn.edu
Stef Jarvi Director of Education 612-625-9973 swilench@umn.edu	Wendy Weimerskirch Plager Education Program Manager 612-626-7387 wweimerp@umn.edu	Julie Showers Interim Associate Vice President 612-624-0594 showers@umn.edu
Virajita Singh Assistant Vice Provost 612-625-0498 singh023@umn.edu	Kitt Young-Dickerson Principal Office and Administrative Specialist 612-625-2961 young959@umn.edu

OED Offices

Business & Community Economic Development Darryl Peal, director 2221 University Avenue SE, Suite 136 Minneapolis, MN 55414 612-624-0530 bced@umn.edu	Conflict Resolution Bruce Grosland, interim director 662 Heller Hall (West Bank) 271 19th Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55455 612-624-1030 ocr@umn.edu	Disability Resource Center Donna Johnson, director 180 McNamara Alumni Center 200 Oak Street SE Minneapolis, MN 55455 612-626-1333 (V/TTY) ds@umn.edu
Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Tina Marisam, director 274 McNamara Alumni Center 200 Oak Street SE Minneapolis, MN 55455 612-624-9547 eoaa@umn.edu	Gender and Sexuality Center for Queer and Trans Life Stef Jarvi (formerly Wilenchek), director 46 Appleby Hall 128 Pleasant St SE Minneapolis, MN 55455 612-625-0537 gsc@umn.edu	Institute for Diversity, Equity and Advocacy 432 Morrill Hall 100 Church Street SE Minneapolis, MN 55455 612-625-7439 oedidea@umn.edu
Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence Aurelio Curbelo, director 140 Appleby Hall 128 Pleasant St SE Minneapolis, MN 55455 612-624-6386 mcae@umn.edu	Women’s Center 64 Appleby Hall Uyenthi Tran Myhre, acting director 128 Pleasant St SE Minneapolis, MN 55455 612-625-9837 women@umn.edu

Upper level administrators in the University of Minnesota diversity directorate.

After Christmas a spokesman for the University made an attempt to defuse the situation, per this article in the local press.


University of Minnesota Public Relations Director Evan Lepiska, currently the spokesman in the school's attempt to regain some credibility.

Coyote Danger

A photo of the actual coyote that threatened a man and his dog at Hidden Falls Park in St. Paul, Minnesota. The threatened dog is on the right.

The adaptable coyote continues to disorganize the order of post-modern civilization by invading American communities, as this story from the St. Paul Pioneer Press explains.

Hidden Falls Park is a secluded spot on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the gorge that runs through Minneapolis and St. Paul. Through the years much of the land adjoining the river has been reclaimed from commercial and industrial uses and re-purposed to recreational activity, which apparently involves mostly planting grass over what was once concrete. There's also the idea that this will be a return to "nature", strips of wilderness in the city.

Unfortunately, not only joggers and dog walkers enjoy the artificial/natural setting near the river. Real wild animals seem to like it as well. To a city dweller, the sight of any wild animal larger than a squirrel can be exciting or scary or both. The relatively recent expansion of the populations of Canada geese and wild turkeys in the area have created mixed feelings in the neighborhood. Both of these large birds can be a "nuisance".  But these avians are not carnivores. They don't pretend to look at mixed breed dogs as a potential lunch, if indeed that's how the coyote views a closely related domestic canine.

In this particular incident, the coyote was described as "tracking" the golden doodle and its owner. This meant intended harm, contact with law enforcement and shots fired. A number of questions arise.

What is the status of a coyote in the contemporary American city? Is it illegal for them to frequent parks? If they do, are they subject to the death penalty? Are they so dangerous that perhaps a concerted effort should be made to eradicate them? Maybe there should be a special squad made up of coyote hunters. Are only cops allowed to shoot at them? Can one call law enforcement to kill an offending opossum or raccoon?

Is a coyote threatening a dog or person by simply being near them? Can humans read the intentions of the coyote mind? If death by gunfire is the response to a coyote "threat", what of the threat that a human might perceive from another human? If a person feels threatened by the proximity of another do they have the right to shoot them or is this response limited to animals of a lower state of evolution?

Is it a good idea for law enforcement to be shooting in public areas? When cops fire their guns at people there's usually some kind of an investigation. Will there be one as a result of this incident?

There was evidence that the coyote may have been wounded. It's an unwritten law, or maybe even a written one, that animals that have been wounded must be tracked and dispatched to end their misery. Every hunter knows this. It doesn't seem that any such thing occurred after this encounter. Wouldn't an unhappy, wounded coyote be even more dangerous than an undamaged one? Couldn't some innocent child walking near the park run afoul of a coyote in pain and be attacked? 

There may not be any good answers to these questions but as conflicts between humans and wild animals that have adapted to a new environment become more frequent decisions will have to be made.

  

New York's Finest

  New York City policemen or storm troopers from a dystopian future? You decide.