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The Minnesota Daily

Serving the UMN community since 1900

The Minnesota Daily

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Assault sends U student to hospital

Also, familiar face receives 28th trespassing ticket.

A fight at a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity party early Saturday morning led to a 21-year-old University of Minnesota student being hospitalized with a two inch cut above his left eye, University police Chief Greg Hestness said. The victim, who is a member of the fraternity, was trying to break up a fight between his friend and another man, and the man hit him across the face, causing the cut. The victim did not know it if was a fist or a knife that hit him, Hestness said. Police picked up the victim outside of Harvard Market a short time later and took him to the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview for treatment, the police report stated. The victim could not identify his attacker, Hestness said. Phi Kappa Psi President Matt Kwech would not comment on the matter.

66-year-old receives 28th trespassing ticket

Edgar Romeo Coleman is a familiar face to University police officers. This 66-year-old homeless man is one of the most cited people in Hennepin County throughout the last few years, University police officials said. Coleman received his 28th trespassing citation Sunday evening at Walter Library . Coleman was released from Hennepin County Jail Tuesday, and authorities expect him to make an immediate return to campus, University police Deputy Chief Chuck Miner said. University police do not have an obvious solution for how to deal with the UniversityâÄôs transient population, Miner said. âÄúWith the large homeless population that frequents the University, there is no right answer in how to deal with them,âÄù he said. This is not only a problem for the University âÄî homelessness is a growing problem around Minneapolis, Catholic Charities spokesperson Rebecca Lentz said. âÄúWe as a society have failed to address and work with people who have mental illnesses,âÄù Lentz said. âÄúPoverty is one of the best kept secrets in the Twin Cities. ItâÄôs real, itâÄôs there and itâÄôs a growing problem.âÄù Funding cuts have contributed to jam-packed emergency shelters, transitional housing and permanent housing across the Twin Cities, Lentz said. It would be more cost effective for the state to contribute funding to emergency shelters than to send homeless people to jail or detox. It costs Catholic Charities $12.50 per day, per person for emergency housing, $39 for transitional housing and around $20 for permanent housing, Lentz said. âÄúThe Ramsey County Jail costs the county $80 per day. Detox is more than $200 per night. A night in the emergency room is $500,âÄù Lentz said. âÄúThereâÄôs a societal cost to not addressing the issues that people with mental illness have.âÄù Coleman was being held in jail because once a person has received multiple trespassing violations in the same area, each subsequent violation is a gross misdemeanor, Miner said. Coleman, who Miner said âÄúhas been around longer than I have,âÄù is often found in University buildings trying to obtain food, but is rarely violent. âÄúThe homeless population and student population arenâÄôt always a good mix, but we try to deal with homeless as best as we can,âÄù Miner said.

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