The word on the street is that on March 12, Caribou Coffee opened its doors to the Northfield community. Im disappointed. I grew up in Coon Rapids, Minn. the sprawling suburban capital of the Chain Store nation. If you can name a Midwestern chain, Coon Rapids probably has it, in two locations. Weve got Target, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Walgreens and every fast-food and restaurant chain you can think of, including at least two McDonalds. If you live in Coon Rapids and you want to eat, drink or shop somewhere that isnt in every city on the map, the odds are against you.
Being First Lady of the United States is an odd job: part hostess, part trophy wife, part emblem of American woman-hood and sometimes even part-politician or power behind the throne. Some modern First Ladies (Nancy Reagan and Senator Hillary Clinton), for example, have been uniquely polarizing figures in American politics.
Something extraordinary is happening in the Middle East. The authoritarian regimes which have oppressed their populations for decades are finally beginning to crumble. From Riyadh to Cairo, cries for autonomy and democracy are beginning to gain volume, nowhere more markedly than in the Mediterranean nation of Lebanon.
Intellectual diversity was the catchphrase on campus last year. Conversations surrounding the topic seemed to pop up everywhere. Journalists wandered the Hill, stuck tape recorders in front of students and asked them to go on the record with their opinions about the so-called political discourse on campus. We've had two well-attended forums on the issue, including last months debate over professors rights in the classroom. We've seen our student government take up the issue by forming a sub-committee to act as a campus task force in proceeding with this pesky topic.
