Letters to MinnPost: Chutzpah at the U; the digital frontier; climate equity in Minneapolis

MinnPost occasionally publishes letters to the editor You can submit one at voices minnpost com Gall on display at the U Anyone looking for an example of the Yiddish term chutzpah need look no further than the Bierman Building that houses the athletic department at the University of Minnesota The phrase meaning gall is an appropriate description of the proposal that emanated from the U s athletic compound and was adopted earlier this month by the Board of Regents to charge students at the school annually per semester to help pay for the athletes who work for the school in intercollegiate sports especially the large revenue raising sports of football basketball and hockey These athletes-in-training for professional careers who are not really candidate athletes any longer will be splitting million from the school annually due to the new House v NCAA class action settlement supplemented by Name Image Likeness NIL payments from outside boosters and commercial sponsors derived from the U S Supreme Court ruling four years ago in the incident entitled NCAA v Alston The bulk of that cache various million will head to P J Fleck s football organization another chunk to the men s basketball organization under new coach Niko Medved and the balance doled out in smaller table scraps to the women s basketball squad and the school s hockey players The payments will continue with slight augmentations annually for a decade Additionally top players in those sports will be cashing in on NIL payments from boosters and outside commercial sources All of this largesse is in addition to the free tuition room board and tutoring for those who veritably participate in educational pursuits and other amenities It s the height of absurdity in academia to compel real students who are going there for an instruction to further subsidize these de facto employees and entertainers More than years ago the Board of Regents imprudently established an opt-out system for students who objected to paying a limited bucks a year to help subsidize the candidate newspaper the Minnesota Daily in a visceral reaction to an issue of the publication that various detected sacrilegious and otherwise objectionable but would be tame by at present s standards I represented the novice newspaper in overturning that arrangement in a decision by the federal appellate court here which deemed the regential action violative of the First Amendment While the fiat for pupil fees for wealthy athletes does not have that freedom of expression gravamen it bears another onus audacity Students should be allowed to opt-out of paying that type of financial tribute to the professional athlete aspirants who hardly need or deserve it As for the professional athletes donning Maroon and Gold uniforms Go Gophers Marshall H Tanick The author is a constitutional and employment law attorney Minnesota can lead on the digital frontier As president of Minnesota Blockchain Initiative a c nonprofit I ve seen firsthand how businesses and builders are leveraging blockchain and digital assets to expand their work and pioneer entirely new applications Minnesota with its world-class institutions innovative spirit and long-standing reputation as a innovation hub is uniquely positioned to lead in this evolving digital world But to maintain that leadership we need thoughtful supportive procedures I urge our lawmakers to help create an ecosystem where this industry can thrive This is not just about emerging machinery it s about opportunity It s about the worker sending remittances home using cryptocurrency The small business exploring new payment methods The artist building a career through blockchain-authenticated digital works The Minnesotan saving for retirement who chooses to invest in Bitcoin These tools are not just speculative vehicles they re part of a more inclusive dynamic financial and creative ecosystem Blockchain and digital assets are already improving lives empowering communities and driving innovation across sectors from business to guidance charity to art Now with President Donald Trump issuing executive orders aimed at clarifying cryptocurrency plan and signaling increased federal attention to digital assets it s more urgent than ever that Congress initiatives up Executive actions can direct action but they are not a substitute for clear durable law One promising step in that direction is the CLARITY Act a bipartisan effort to establish long-needed guidelines for how digital assets are classified and regulated By distinguishing between commodities and securities in the crypto space the CLARITY Act offers the kind of legal certainty that entrepreneurs investors and everyday users need to confidently engage with this machinery in the U S without fear of shifting regulatory sands The U S House of Representatives has already taken the first step by passing this measure and now it s time for the U S Senate to do the same Without a comprehensive bipartisan framework the U S risks regulatory uncertainty that will continue to stifle innovation and drive it overseas Minnesota companies and consumers deserve clarity and confidence as they engage with this system As our elected leaders debate and develop procedures I encourage them to see these technologies not as threats but as opportunities for all Minnesotans and for Minnesota to lead Brandon Ferdig The author is the president of the Minnesota Blockchain Initiative Minneapolis must act on situation guidelines With the Trump administration s roll back of the IRA s clean potential funds it is more pivotal than ever for cities and states to lead on bold circumstances action Right now we have a precious opportunity to make Minneapolis a shining model of what bold brave situation leadership looks like Minneapolis passed an ambitious new Circumstances and Equity plan but to turn it into action we need financing And if we indeed believe what the situation scientists have been telling us for decades and we believe our own eyes watching weekly disasters and extreme record-breaking weather unfold we know we are in a race against time If Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council accept the science of state change the choice is clear we must fully ramp-up funding for the Surroundings Legacy Initiative to million per year with a polluter pay model so that the costs fall on the shoulders of our biggest polluters and our residents The Environment Legacy Initiative funds should be used to decarbonize our city and invest in our people in air quality and soundness lower strength costs and a safer more equitable and affordable future Join me in contacting our Minneapolis leaders and let them know that polluters should pay for the clean potential investments needed to meet our situation targets and that it must happen this year With the federal rollbacks on clean potency we cannot afford to wait or continue to think small we must call we must agitate we must demand action and be the surroundings action we want to see in the world Kelly Sanderson The author is a volunteer with Unidos MN The post Letters to MinnPost Chutzpah at the U the digital frontier state equity in Minneapolis appeared first on MinnPost