The price of Macalester's tuition, room and board will top $30,000 for the first time next year.

The Board of Trustees approved the 5.1 percent increase at its January meeting. The Board also approved a preliminary budget projection that included a 4.9 percent increase in the college's operating funds. {more}

This semester a flashy new Kagin has replaced the old dining hall. Gone are the brown tinted windows and the distinctive aroma of stir-fry and grilled cheese. The renovated Kagin opened its doors on Thursday, Jan. 31, and though you had to park your own car at the opening celebration, look for valet parking at future ballroom events.

A lack of parking space is the reason behind the move to valet service. “It is anticipated that there may be events, such as alumni dinners, when valet parking may be offered,” said Physical Plant Director Mark Dickinson. “Cars would be parked in lots nearby. Valet parking is a logistical solution.” {more}

Sophomore Colin Kennedy, who sought legal recourse after administrators denied his study abroad application, suffered a setback on Tuesday when a Ramsey County judge refused to issue a preliminary injunction that would have allowed him to participate in the Macalester-sponsored study abroad program based in Germany and Austria.

Kennedy alleges that the college discriminated against him because it dismissed his study abroad application solely on the basis of his sub-2.5 grade point average. He is suing the college for $50,000 in damages. {more}

For Brandon Irving ’02, winter break was 37 days spent relaxing. And relaxing. And relaxing some more.

“J-term is too long. All I did was read a lot of books and sit at home feeling guilty for not working,” he said.

For Anne Springfield ’04, it was 37 long nights. She spent most of her break sleeping in late. {more}

After six weeks of nothing, students are ready for something different

Several years ago, Macalester eliminated its January classes (see article page 1). The term was a unique opportunity for students and professors to work together in new and interesting courses that could not be taught during the regular semester. But the faculty voted J-term away, mostly so they could have time to work on research. Tuition did not decrease as a result of the lost term. {more}

A frivolous lawsuit

A grade point average below 2.5 shows that Kennedy is not prepared for study abroad.

Studying abroad will not solve Kennedy's “major depression” and would likely exacerbate his emotional turmoil. A better solution would be for Kennedy to prioritize dealing with his depression, rather than jetting off to a new country with all the psychological strains of living in a foreign country. {more}

Mark your calendars

Welcome back. With all the ruckus going on behind the scenes, you’d think Macalester was about to stage some big production. What ruckus, you ask? Black History Month! It’s that time of year, when we put aside (some of) our differences and come together to respect the particular contributions, trials, and tribulations of the people of the African Diaspora here in the U.S. {more}

The collapse of the energy giant Enron is not just a juicy scandal, involving shredded documents and meetings with high-ranking government officials. It’s not even just another tale of corporate greed. It’s a story about the state of labor relations in the 21st century, and anyone who ever plans to have a job, and potentially retire, should be paying close attention. {more}

Certainly, Macalester is not a school known for rampant careerism. For the past several decades our dedication to the liberal arts, to learning for its own sake, has been predominant. Getting a job or developing a career after one’s four-year stint has not been uppermost in many students’ minds. This was not always true, however. In the mid-20th century, Macalester courses were as likely to teach secretarial or nursing skills as philosophy or mathematics. {more}

Could one imagine Dick Vitale talking about Macalester’s men’s basketball team? Surely not five years ago.

However, the basketball team has transformed itself from perennial conference bottom feeders to giant-killing title challengers. The team’s revival was highlighted by Dec. 29’s 90-82 win over Yale-yes, the Division I Yale, the Bulldogs of Ivy League fame-in the Furman Poinsettia Classic, prompting “Dickie V” himself to express his surprise on ESPN. {more}

Women’s varsity basketball (4-15, 3-13 MIAC) snapped out of a rough 10-game losing streak in style on Jan. 21 with a 67-65 win over conference title contenders Gustavus Adolphus. The team has now won two of its last four games, defeating Augsburg 59-55 in its most recent contest.

The Scots battled bravely from a 15-point deficit to tie St. Olaf late in the game on Jan. 5, but the Oles’ free-throw shooting was perfect as the clock wound down in a 64-60 loss. {more}

In 1885, a New York reporter visiting St. Paul wrote that it was “another Siberia, unfit for human habitation.” The city, so offended by the reporter’s comments decided to prove him wrong and show him that St. Paul was not only habitable but quite active in the winter. Thus began the Winter Carnival, a Minnesota tradition since 1886. {more}

Macalester history Professor Mary Lethert Wingerd likes to talk about place: the places she’s been, the places she belongs. “Being a native of St. Paul, I know how important place is,” she said.

Her new book, Claiming the City: Politics, Faith, and the Power of Place in St. Paul (Cornell University Press), is the scholarly answer to the casual question: what’s the difference between St. Paul and Minneapolis? And in a much broader sense: how are history and politics tied to place? {more}

It’s true that The Royal Tenenbaums has been out in theaters for a couple of weeks now, but if you still haven’t seen this flick, let this review motivate you forth to a creative, entertaining family portrait. The movie centers around the Tenenbaums, consisting of the separated Royal and Etheline (played by Gene Hackman and Anjelica Huston), their three highly gifted children Chas (Ben Stiller in an unusually dramatic role), Margot (played by a very morose-looking Gwyneth Paltrow) and Richie (played by Luke Wilson with one hell of a beard). {more}

Wherever one grows up, there are local names that infiltrate our consciousness, get stuck in our memories like burrs snagged on a sock. They pop up from time to time, and you can’t remember their source or meaning so they slide back down to the dark to bob around with other forgotten facts. Derek Hess, a name I hadn’t heard in five years at least, and certainly not in the Twin Cities, popped to the surface of my brain recently when I read of his exhibit at the Flatland Gallery. I grew up in Cleveland, so when I read that Hess, concert poster maven from my city was showing work here, I knew I had to follow those heady trails of memory to see the show. {more}

Try to make a film that includes the legend of the Golem, Jackie Robinson, a Brooklyn neighborhood, a rabbi who survived the Holocaust and an eleven-year-old Catholic boy. Snow In August does all this, and it succeeds brilliantly. Here is a remarkable film that begins with dramatic realism, becomes a morality tale, and finally morphs into a mystical fable.

The film begins in a Brooklyn theater in 1947 where three young Catholic boys are watching a newsreel about the Dodge’s Jackie Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier. The audience, including two of the young pals, boos and shouts racial slurs. However, young Michael Devlin (Peter Tambakis) stands up and pleads with everyone to be fair and not prejudiced. {more}

If you’re like me then semester two might mean a lot of changes in your life. Perhaps eighty percent of your friends are studying abroad and you’re still under twenty-one all semester? Or maybe that’s not you. Anyways, the point is that semester two means a fresh start and new records to listen to. These three February releases will knock you on your ass and make you forget about all your problems. I know it sounds a little far fetched, but you’lll have to trust me on this one- rock ‘n’ roll cures all. {more}

We all love to sleep. Embracing that time of the night when you get to rest and delve into the subconscious, forgetting about most of your daily experiences. Even though you won’t find my definition in most dictionaries, to me the word sleep means to underestimate or to neglect. Don’t sleep on the S.U.S.P.E.C.T.S. They’ve lost so much sleep creating their sophomore album, Delusions of Grandeur, it’s only right to give them a chance instead of shrugging them off and taking a nap on some of the Twin Cities finest. {more}