"Um Ya Ya," proclaimed Audubon Magazine blogger Lynne Peeples '02 when she learned about Regents Hall earning LEED platinum status. But she was also a bit jealous: "Why didn't I get to take 'Environmental Policy and Regulation' or 'Saving Wild Places' in a building topped with a green roof and mostly enclosed by floor-to-ceiling windows?"

Listen to two interviews that Anton Armstrong '78, conductor of the St. Olaf Choir, recently had with the Sounds Choral program on New Jersey-based classical music station WWFM. In addition to the choir itself, Armstrong discusses a wide range of topics, including his predecessor, studying music at St. Olaf, and the importance of youth choirs. The interviews also include selections performed by the St. Olaf Choir.

Mac users will need a plugin called Flip4Mac to listen to the interviews. After downloading, you might need to restart your computer to complete the installation.

A Star Tribune editorial by Lori Sturdevant says St. Olaf's "stunning" LEED platinum-designated Regents Hall "sets the energy-saving bar for future Minnesota academic buildings high indeed."

For a story about what recent college graduates can do to find employment, St. Paul Pioneer Press writer Joseph Lindberg spoke with Pat Smith (at right), director of the St. Olaf Center for Experiential Learning. Lindberg noted that the CEL maintains a searchable alumni database for students looking for internships.

"Aggressive steps have been taken to integrate alumni," Smith says. "They are an enormous resource, and students can connect to individual alumni for internships or entrepreneurial opportunities." As for job-seeking advice from Smith, she recommends planning early — "persistence is key."

St. Olaf Professor of Political Science Dan Hofrenning predicted on Twin Cities Public Television's Nov. 6 Almanac show that Gov. Tim Pawlenty will be the Republican presidential nominee in 2012. (Use the link to select the date of the show and choose "Our Dynamic Poli Sci Duo" on the right.)

Of the likeliest GOP contenders, the Minnesota governor is the only one who is thoroughly acceptable to both economic and social conservatives, Hofrenning told MinnPost's Eric Black in an interview following his Almanac prediction.

"It was the tight-knit community of St. Olaf College that really spurred his entrepreneurial proclivity," notes Mpls.St.Paul Magazine about the craft of Saman Bemel Benrud '09, who sold hundreds of his unique t-shirts while a student at St. Olaf. “T-shirts are an art form,” he told the magazine. “They’re a way of expressing yourself to the world, so you have to get behind whatever is on your shirt.”

Benrud grew his business with the help of a grant from the Finstad Office for Enterpreneurial Studies.

A Minnesota Public Radio story focuses on how St. Olaf is using fewer toxic solvents and creating less hazardous waste in its chemistry labs, a move that’s not only environmentally friendly but also saves the college thousands of dollars each year. The story notes that with fewer toxic reactions, less energy is used to ventilate the science complex and fewer resources are needed for hazardous material disposal.

"It almost seemed like a no-brainer," Professor of Chemistry Bob Hanson tells MPR. "The students react to this very favorably and very much like, well 'why would you want to do this any other way? This is so obvious.'"

When the women's rugby teams from St. Olaf and Macalester hit the field for a recent game outfitted in prom dresses, it drew the attention of ABC's Good Morning America program and the Twin Cities CBS affiliate, WCCO-TV. For the second year the teams have made their matchup more fun — although no less intense — by donning the outdated dresses over their regular rugby uniforms. The St. Olaf club team won the game 25-0.

The Daily Beast tracks down what they consider to be the 15 best college meal plans in the country in their feature, "The Best College Food." View the photo gallery to see what they write about St. Olaf (No. 3 in the series).

“Our students are definitely exposed to good cuisine and know a lot about food,” says Peter Abrahamson, general manager for the Bon Appetit Management Company at St. Olaf.

After a recent trip to the new Hindu Temple of Minnesota, Boston Globe reporter Michael Paulsen wrote about a panel on Hinduism in America that he moderated. One participant was St. Olaf Professor of Religion Anantanand Rambachan, whose Trinidadian Hindu roots make him a "minority within a minority."

"[Rambachan] called Hinduism the least understood among American religious traditions," writes Paulsen. Noting that Judaism, Christianity and Islam emphasize the oneness of God, Rambachan explained that "Hinduism offers a plethora of iconography and celebrates a multiplicity of divine names and forms."

The piece also appeared in the U.K.'s Sikh Times.

The September issue of Relish magazine (circ. 16 million through inserts in local papers across the country) features a story about the St. Olaf Garden Research and Organic Works farm, including recipes from Bon Appétit Management Company, the college's food service provider.

"Having a student-run farm on campus reinforces the fact that food is produced somewhere and doesn't just come from a store," says Peter Abrahamson, Bon Appétit's general manager.

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The September issue of Metro Lutheran features two stories about Oles: Stuart Cox '89 and how his Lutheran Volunteer Corps experience has influenced his work as a physician, and star St. Paul Saints pitcher Charlie Ruud '04, who will begin "pitching from the pulpit" when he answers his first pastoral call -- in Northfield -- this fall.

A story in Diabetes Forecast magazine (circulation 470,000) titled "College and Diabetes: On Campus and On Course" quotes St. Olaf student and varsity football player Matt Nelson '09 (at right) about the experience of dealing with diabetes while in college.

“My friends were always getting on my tail for not testing before meals," he says, and notes that his trainer helped him figure out how to control his fluctuating blood glucose during games.