In the Dec. 2, 2005 issue of the Manitou Messenger, sophomore Joel Bergeland suggested that the Board of regents is physically and conceptually separated from the students and that feelings of mistrust toward the Board have set in among students on the Hill. I am responding on behalf of the Board of Regents.
The Cirque du Soleil-style pageantry of the Olympic opening ceremonies in Torino had its ups and downs. After having witnessed the surreal ceremony, I decided that the only response that i could write credit to all aspects of the performance was a Best and Worst of list.
Our very use of that neologism is telling. In only a few years the word google has become as commonplace to us as frisbee or kleenex. Our use of Google amounts to nothing less than a societal and personal transformation. Less well-known to most college students is the news that the Chinese version of the Internet behemoth, will now actively cooperate with the Chinese government in censoring search results.
When I was asked to write an opinion piece on St. Olafs Facebook policy, I initially balked. After all, the last time I offered any flippant criticism of St. Olaf, I was given a violation that will be on my record for a year.
I appreciated your article ("Survey Gauges Job Satisfaction, Political Views") regarding the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) survey of St. Olaf faculty in the Dec. 21 Manitou Messenger. There were some errors that show, however, how carefully statistics must be read, and how carefully words should be chosen to describe the data.
While the College is not fighting a war (Norwegians just wouldnt do that) or experiencing external threats of any kind (unless you count the Carleton students sleeping in tents to beat us in the energy competition), many issues remain that deserve our attention at the beginning of a new semester. Thus, we offer our State of the College, in a non-partisan fashion, of course.
The Morgenavisen Jyllands-Posten (The Jutland Post) Denmarks largest-selling daily newspaper published 12 editorial cartoons depicting the prophet Muhammad on Sept. 30, 2005. Four months later violent protests around the world (London, Afghanistan, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Pakistan, for example) continue to make headlines with their death tolls and numbers of inured, causing Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to describe the controversy as Denmarks worst international crisis since World War II.
