In today’s broadcast, mental health warnings are coming to social media feeds. Then, reactions from former students about the lawsuit against Macalester College. And, the state wants to recognize those who served in the Secret War in Laos.
—–Executive Producer: Victor Palomino Producer: Kylie Kendall Anchor: Chantel SinGs Reader scripting: Xan HolstonFact checking: Joel Glaser, Victor Palomino Editorial support: Emily Krumberger Mixing & mastering: Chris Harwood
Transcript
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HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.
ANCHOR: In today's broadcast, mental health warnings are coming to social media feeds. Then, reactions from former students about the Macalester College lawsuit. And, the state wants to recognize those who served in the Secret War in Laos.
I'm Chantel SinGs.
It's like the warning on a pack of cigarettes for your social media feed. A new Minnesota law requires social media platforms to display pop-up warnings about risks like anxiety and depression every time a user logs on. The alerts must be clear, can't be buried in fine print, and must link to resources like the 988 Crisis Lifeline. Supporters say it's meant to help users — especially teens — think twice before they scroll. Tech groups are already raising free-speech concerns, but state leaders call it a necessary step to address growing mental health harms. The law takes effect in July 2026.
Ahead, a month after a Macalester alumnus sued the college for unethical animal treatment in their labs, Kylie Kendall talks to former Macalester psychology students about the lawsuit.
Kylie Kendall: Macalester College recently responded to the lawsuit alumnus Dr Neal Barnard brought against the school in regards to unethical animal use in its labs. He claimed the school uses Skinner boxes, which he said are outdated and called for the end of animal use in experiments. The school asked the courts to dismiss the case. A psychology student at Macalester, who asked to remain anonymous and feared she could get in trouble with the department, took an Intro to Psychology lab with a friend last year.
Anonymous: I was speaking with a friend, and she was really kind of upset about how the rats were treated.
Kylie Kendall: The student said the experiments were distressing to the rats, but that was the point.
Anonymous: The stress caused in the rats is literally an observed variable. One lab required the rats to be deprived of water 12 hours beforehand, and another lab injected chemicals into them. I think it's pretty useless to torture rats.
Kylie Kendall: She said some of the harm also stems from freshmen not being taught how to correctly and safely handle animals.
Anonymous: There should be some level of training for any person who is interacting with an animal, which is not done by Macalester.
Kylie Kendall: Her friend refused to participate in more rat labs. Her professor offered non-animal alternatives, which she said just furthered her point.
Anonymous: When all of these things could be easily taught with computer simulations, readings, lectures, or pre-recorded videos of rats even, because these are important psychological concepts. But they're not necessary to put a living animal through these things.
Kylie Kendall: Macalester denied a request for an interview, stating they are not commenting on the lawsuit at this time. Emerson Steiner Hayward studied psychology at Macalester in 2017. They worked as a rat handler in the labs, and their job was to:
Emerson Steiner Hayward: Make them feel comfortable, make sure that they feel safe and like comfortable and normal and good around humans.
Kylie Kendall: They said they would be shocked if anything unethical was happening to the rats.
Emerson Steiner Hayward: I personally, like, don't remember ever having to do anything negative to the rats ever.
Kylie Kendall: Dr Barnard's lawsuit calls for ending the use of animals in the lab. Emerson says it isn't a black and white argument, though.
Emerson Steiner Hayward: Yes, there absolutely is a lot of danger in it, and yes, there's a lot of strength and a lot of power in it. And we cannot say yes or no, it's a yes and/or a no.
Kylie Kendall: And they said animal testing shouldn't be regarded as point blank wrong, and that it's useful in some cases, like testing cancer curing drugs.
Emerson Steiner Hayward: There are things that are just at this point not possible to learn about without the use of other creatures. But there have to be humane ways to do so as well.
Kylie Kendall: Dr Barnard says there's one thing students can learn from this.
Dr. Neal Barnard: Ultimately, we can teach students that animals are not just things. They're living beings with interests of their own, and they don't need to be laboratory tools.
Kylie Kendall: This is Kylie Kendall for North Star Stories.
Anchor: You are listening to North Star Stories.
Despite being recruited by the United States and fighting alongside United States soldiers, Laotians who served in the Special Guerrilla Units during Vietnam, who are now Minnesota residents, aren't considered Veterans. The Minnesota Legislature is looking to change that. It's believed that about 900 Hmong Minnesotans served in what was referred to as the secret war in Vietnam. The Legislature is creating a special task force to create eligibility requirements that would provide those who served with veteran status and benefits.
AMPERS, which produces this newscast, created a special series about the Secret War. It's available online at AMPERS dot org.
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HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.