Minnesota
Rebecca Cunningham takes over as University of Minnesota president
Rebecca Cunningham takes over as University of Minnesota president on Monday and almost immediately faces big decisions about how the U should run its medical programs and navigate tensions stemming from the war between Israel and Hamas.
Cunningham, a longtime emergency room physician, worked most recently as vice president of research and innovation at the University of Michigan, which reports one of the largest portfolios in the nation. In recent weeks, she has been attending Board of Regents meetings, scheduling introductions with Minnesota lawmakers and meeting with student groups making competing cases for whether the U should divest from Israel and how it should distinguish between free speech and hate speech.
“I’m so excited to be here,” Cunningham said. “What is actually happening on the ground is just tremendous, and I’ve been so impressed all along the way.”
Already her research background is being called upon. Two landmark U research papers — one focusing on Alzheimer’s disease and another on stem cells — were retracted over concerns about their integrity after researchers elsewhere struggled to duplicate their findings and raised questions about images within them.
The Star Tribune sat down with Cunningham last week to talk about her preparation and plans for tackling some of the most immediate challenges. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: It’s been a rough week for research at the U, with the news that two major papers were being retracted. What’s your analysis of the situation, and how will you prevent that from happening during your tenure?
A: I can speak in broader brushstrokes. Every major institution across the country right now has been facing this. I think it’s unfortunate when poor choices are made along the way that can impact the reputation both of research as a whole and cause concern for the public, when the vast majority of researchers are doing amazing research and are publishing with high integrity.
I dealt with this a lot last year, especially in papers from 20-plus years ago, when it maybe wasn’t quite so easy to spot all of these inconsistencies. I know that there has been a number of policies and procedures put in place here to try to do more education with faculty in the meantime to help them understand what it really means to alter a figure, and that that will be noticed.
To the prevention side: Faculty, unfortunately, are under a tremendous pressure to publish. And we have to work on the climate and support for them so that we they can focus on feeling good about the science they produced, even when it doesn’t produce the results they were hoping for — which is true science.
Q: Have you been involved in the discussions with Fairview Health Services over the future of the U’s teaching hospital? Are you expecting any big changes in trajectory?
A: I’ve been doing learning on the 20 years of detailed negotiations that have been going on, getting familiar with the current, public [letter of intent], have begun to meet the assorted players. That’s where we’re at for right now, and then it will certainly need to be a focus for these next couple of months. I think everyone wants to see that through, in the timeline it was envisioned.
Q: The university is still navigating tensions over the war between Israel and Hamas and the controversy over hiring a director for the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Have you been consulting on those issues, and what’s your approach?
A: I’ve been updated on them. Obviously, academic freedom is critically important. I have not been involved in the decisionmaking to date. I did get to meet with both the Divest group and the group of Jewish students that [interim] President [Jeff] Ettinger had been meeting with. I think that they were great conversations, and I’m just proud to have students that are engaged and sitting down in this manner, really respectfully looking for collective solutions.
Obviously, we are bound by free speech. We’re a public university. However, we have to have a welcoming climate for all of our students and we have to be mindful of when that free speech transitions over into individual harassment. And, more than that, whatever we can do to help our students also just be mindful of how they’re coming off to each other … whatever we can do to help our students work toward feeling inclusiveness, even when they disagree, is going to be critical.
Minnesota weather forecast. (FOX 9)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – Most of Minnesota will be under a marginal risk of severe weather on Thursday, with rain and rumbles expected.
Thursday weather forecast
Local perspective:
A line of storms is expected to develop in west-southwest Minnesota on Thursday and grow in coverage as well as intensity tracking east into the early evening.
Large hail and damaging winds are the prevalent threats, but an isolated tornado is also possible along the line.
Isolated showers are expected to form in the western part of Minnesota on Thursday morning.
Rain chances in the Twin Cities area increase in the afternoon, as a line pushes through with possible thunderstorms.
Stay Sky Aware with FOX 9 for the latest.
The Source: This story uses information from the FOX 9 weather forecast.
A TikTok creator is no longer banned from parks in St. Paul, Minnesota, after appealing the city’s restriction, according to his agent.
St. Paul Parks and Recreation Director Andy Rodriguez earlier this month accused Josh Liljenquist of going to Pig’s Eye Park to “harass, record and profit from vulnerable adults residing there without said individuals’ permission.” Liljenquist, who is known for giving away food and cash in his videos, denied the allegation.
On Wednesday, Liljenquist’s agent shared a new letter from the city.
“Based on an evaluation of the facts of this situation as they were relayed during your appeal meeting, I will be rescinding your ban from our parks, effective immediately,” the letter from Rodriguez read.
Rodriguez also wrote the city expects “all residents and visitors to our parks to abide by the rules.”
“Our responsibility is to ensure park spaces remain safe, respectful, and accessible for all, and we appreciate your partnership in that effort,” the letter read.
Liljenquist told WCCO he has only recorded at Pig’s Eye Park once, and it was with the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office’s consent. He said he and his videographer always get consent from individuals they film, too.
Local organizations that work with people experiencing homelessness are split on Liljenquist’s impact. Sue Phillips, director of the Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing, said his content “is exploiting people experiencing homelessness/housing instability.” Feeding St. Paul founder Michael Brendale, on the other hand, said, “Josh has changed many lives, taken people off the streets.”
Liljenquist told WCCO he films his efforts instead of making them private in hopes of “inspiring other people to do it, showing that it doesn’t take a lot of money, it doesn’t take a lot of resources to go out there and do something for somebody.”
The National Weather Service confirmed that at least five tornadoes touched down in southeastern Minnesota on Friday, including four that hit Olmsted County. At least another three twisters were confirmed in southwestern Wisconsin.
The NWS was still analyzing data and other information to determine if more tornadoes occurred in the area.
The storms started Friday afternoon, with the first tornado touching down north of Sargeant in Mower County around 1:45 p.m. The short-lived EF0, with top wind speeds of 80 mph, traveled about 3 miles northeast into rural Dodge County near the unincorporated town of Oslo. It lasted for about five minutes in total, the weather service says, and caused minor damage to a grain silo before dissipating.
A new tornado formed a few minutes later, less than a mile away south of Oslo. The storm was also considered an EF0, with wind speeds around 80 mph. Lasting less than 10 minutes, it traveled 4 miles into Olmsted County, causing light damage to farm outbuildings and trees.
The line of storms seemed to pick up intensity as it entered Olmsted County.
Around 2:17 p.m., the EF2 tornado that would later hit Marion Township first touched down just northeast of Stewartville. The weather service estimates that the twister had wind speeds of about 130 mph and traveled nearly 10 miles northeast, before dissipating around 2:31 p.m. Multiple homes were severely damaged with roof removal and partially collapsed exterior walls.
An EF1 tornado was also confirmed to have hit near Potsdam around 2:30 p.m.
The first portion of the tornado was weak, the weather service said, with mainly EF0 damage. On the second portion of the 12-mile track, the tornado intensified to produce approximately 100 mph winds with tree and farm outbuilding damage. It lifted around 2:54 p.m.
A second EF2 tornado was confirmed in Olmsted County around 2:46 p.m. about 5 miles east-northeast of Viola and traveled about 7.5 miles, ending in Wabasha County, a few miles south of Plainview, around 3 p.m. Maximum wind speeds were around 125 mph. The storm affected mainly rural areas and damaged trees and outbuildings. One farmhouse lost a roof and a garage roof, the weather service said.
No injuries were reported in the Minnesota-Wisconsin outbreak.
Friday was a historic day for the NWS La Crosse office, which issued 26 tornado warnings – the most for any one day since the office opened in 1995.
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