Campus

The University unveiled plans for Minnesota Tribal Nations Plaza Monday, which will be located at the largest entrance of TCF Bank Stadium.
The Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community donated $10 million to the plaza last fall and added an additional $2 million for improvements.
“This will be one of the most vibrant and visible parts of TCF Bank Stadium and serve as a lasting tribute to the importance of Minnesota’s Indian people,” Athletics Director Joel Maturi said in a press release.

This year’s sorority recruitment class saw a 30 percent increase from last year, which many believe is thanks to the added exposure that came with Welcome Week.
The University’s National Panhellenic Council affiliated sororities had a formal recruiting class of 212 , giving the University its largest sorority community since 1998.
The University has nine NPC sorority chapters and three chapters that are affiliates of the University’s Panhellenic Council . Only the NPC chapters were allowed to participate in formal recruitment and fully take advantage of Welcome Week.

Underage drinking citations went from 76 during the first two school weeks last year, to eight so far this year. No, that’s not a typo.
Area police typically try to crack down on underage drinking before and during the first weeks of school, when new students practice dangerous self-experiments with alcohol, University police Deputy Chief Chuck Miner said.
But, because of the man-hours transferred to the Republican National Convention, University and Minneapolis police weren’t able to run their usual party patrol, University police Lt. Troy Buhta said.

Recently, first-year University student Alex Windjue gathered a group of friends to get season hockey tickets, only to find out the ticket office isn’t accepting group applications this year.
The new general admission policy enacted by the University attempts to give everyone an equal chance to get tickets and reward students who show up early. However, some students want group tickets, and are hesitant to go alone.
“The disadvantage is if only one of us gets tickets, I would probably refund it,” Windjue said.

Last week, the Board of Regents met to discuss new construction, academic progress and President Bruininks’ 2010-2011 budget proposal.
The budget, although not officially approved, could include a 4.5 percent tuition increase over each of the next two years. An expansion to the McNamara Alumni Center was approved and awards were presented to outstanding professors.
Budget
The budget made requests for funding in three major areas: Faculty and staff compensation, middle income student scholarships and research enhancement.

Former political science professor Charles Backstrom, who worked at the University for over 35 years, died in Arden Hills on Sept. 4 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 81 years old.

Backstrom was responsible for the creation of the internship program in the University’s political science department, an act which won him the John Tate Award for Undergraduate Advising. He also contributed extensively to political surveying practices in the state of Minnesota, including the creation of Election Day instant polling.