Today's News Thursday May 24, 2012
Administration
On campus beat: Meet U campus' next leader
Fred Wood was being driven through the center of the University of Minnesota, Crookston, campus when three young women approached -- on horseback. "Oh, this is home," he remembers thinking. "I have found home."
Wood is set to become the next chancellor of the rural campus in northwest Minnesota in July.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/local/153334555.html
Research
Steam locomotive will run on torrefied biomass
A partnership between Sustainable Rail International and the University of Minnesota is working to revitalize an old world transportation technology with a new world approach to biomass.The partnership, named the Coalition for Sustainable Rail, will implement torrified woody biomass research performed at UM in SRI’s plans to retrofit a steam locomotive. “Currently there are no steam locomotives working in revenue passenger service (aside from train museums),” according to Davidison Ward, president of CSR. “This project is a first step toward refining modern steam locomotive technology.”
Bio Mass Magazine
http://www.biomassmagazine.com/articles/6356/steam-locomotive-will-run-on-torrefied-biomassEnvironment
KSTP
http://kstp.com/article/stories/s2630040.shtml
Captured CO2 + Geothermal = Ultra-Clean Power
In a novel combination of carbon sequestration used in conjunction with geothermal power production, a South Dakota geothermal firm will use sequestered carbon dioxide instead of geothermal fluids to produce geothermal power.Rapid City-based Heat Mining Company can use the carbon dioxide captured in carbon capture and storage (CCS) process as the underground working fluid to extract geothermal heat for additional electricity production and/or district heating, according to a report at Sustainable Business.“This is probably viable in areas you couldn’t even think about doing regular geothermal for electricity production,” said postdoctoral Fellow Jimmy Randolph, one of the inventors of the technology at the University of Minnesota. “In areas where you could, it’s perhaps twice as efficient.”
The Energy Collective
http://theenergycollective.com/namarchetti/85862/captured-co2-geothermal-ultra-clean-power
Minnesota adds sticky tool to the fight against emerald ash borer
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is rolling out a new monitoring technique in the hunt for the emerald ash borer (EAB). The new approach is designed to lure any male EAB beetles in the area into a sticky trap as they search for a mate.This will be the first implementation test of this approach and is a collaborative project with the University of Minnesota, USDA and the cities of Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Tri State Neighbor
http://www.tristateneighbor.com/news/regional/article_8301a6b6-a5b8-11e1-a45b-001a4bcf887a.html
Mining exploration reopens question of school trust lands
Exploration for copper, gold, and other precious metals in northeastern Minnesota has drawn attention to school trust lands created 150 years ago when Minnesota became a state. Back then, the federal government assigned two sections in each township to be used for the benefit of public schools, something the government did for all the states that joined the union after 1802."Mining is the golden goose, as mining has always been the golden goose for public education in Minnesota and for the University of Minnesota," Rukavina said.
Minnesota Public Radio
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/05/23/mining-school-trust-land/
UMore Park Contamination: Want Paradise? Put Up a Parking Lot
A new report on contamination at UMore Park in Rosemount found excessive residential land-use levels of arsenic, lead, mercury, PCBs and other toxins at nearly 200 individual test locations spread around 71 tested Sites of Concern (SOC).But that’s OK. At least that was the apparent message presented to a joint meeting of the Rosemount City Council and Planning Commission on Tuesday night. The presenters said development could certainly move forward and the findings wouldn't hinder the University of Minnesota’s vision for an eco-friendly, self-sustaining community of 20,000-30,000 people in the not too distant future on the 5,000-acre site.
Rosemount Patch
http://rosemount.patch.com/articles/umore-park-contamination-want-paradise-put-up-a-parking-lot
Report: MN kids less likely to be raised in "kinship" homes ...
Minnesota underutilizes the “kinship care” of grandparents and other relatives when foster children are removed from their parents’ homes, according to a new national report from the Anne E. Casey Foundation. While 26 percent of foster children, nationally, are placed with relatives, only 17 percent of Minnesota’s foster children were placed with relatives in 2010, the study found. “Kinship care allows children to remain as part of their family, form a bond with the family, and experience the positive psychological feelings that come with being wanted by family,” said Priscilla Gibson, an expert on kinship care research at the University of Minnesota.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/local/blogs/153132025.html
Business and Politics
Unlikely partnerships’ work on sustainability issues
The world faces a daunting slate of problems in the coming century, from extreme drought and flooding to overpopulation and resource shortages.A couple hundred bright minds from business, academia and nonprofits talked through potential fixes Tuesday at the Solutions Summit 2012 at the University of Minnesota.
Finance & Commerce
http://finance-commerce.com/2012/05/sustainable-unlikely-partnerships-work-on-sustainability-issues/
Blogger Johnny Northside's $60,000 sanction gets review
Whether a blog post that got a man fired is constitutionally protected speech or a malicious smear campaign is now up for interpretation by the Minnesota Court of Appeals in a case that has attracted attention from First-Amendment scholars, citizen journalists and free-speech advocates. Arguments Wednesday came more than a year after a Hennepin County jury said Minneapolis blogger John "Johnny Northside" Hoff owed Jerry Moore $60,000 in damages for a scathing blog post that resulted in Moore's firing from the University of Minnesota.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/153359765.html
Minnpost
http://www.minnpost.com/glean/2012/05/bloggers-case-lands-court-appeals
People and Lifestyle
Westwood Middle School Students Visit U of M Campus
Westwood Middle School eighth graders got a chance to experience college life at the University of Minnesota. About 350 students attended the U of M campus on Friday, May 18, to learn about life on a college campus and the history of the university.
KSTP
http://kstp.com/article/stories/s2630097.shtmlCommentary and Opinion
Should unmarried couples seek counseling
West Virginians will be required to show certification of premarital education classes or pay an extra $20 starting June 8. How effective is counseling for unmarried couples? What are the most important things a couple should discuss going into a marriage? Steven Harris, director of the Marriage and Family Therapy Program at the University of Minnesota, will also join the discussion.
Minnesota Public Radio
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/05/24/daily-circuit-premarital-counseling/
Commentary and Opinion
Talking ‘Bout Our Segregation
The charter school system in the Twin Cities is notable for the degree of segregation it contains and that many of its schools promote. As such, I'm looking forward to covering this Thursday's forum (hosted by the Public Education Justice Alliance of Minnesota) on segregation. The main speaker will be Myron Orfield, a professor at the University of Minnesota and one of the lead researchers at U of M's Institute on Race and Poverty.
Hindsight2020
http://www.mn2020hindsight.org/view/talking-bout-our-segregation
Updates and Events
Rosenblum: Departing U law professor is judged highly by former students
Toddrick Barnette was leaning toward a master's degree in law enforcement when a professor made a prediction that sounded nothing short of crazy. "You're going to be a judge," University of Minnesota Law School Prof. Stephen Simon told his student -- now Hennepin County District Judge Barnette.
Star Tribune
http://www.startribune.com/local/153354425.html
News Releases and Multimedia
Preparing your dogs for tick season
http://www1.umn.edu/news/expert-alerts/2012/UR_CONTENT_390163.html