Five Macalester students joined students, staff and faculty from many of Minnesota’s 17 private colleges at the Capitol to lobby for the Minnesota State Grant Program on Thursday, Feb. 21. {more}

Students’ opinions will be heard by the administration on issues as varied as the tenure process and the quality of campus toilet paper. {more}

Over forty students discussed the future of multiculturalism at Macalester in a series of lively discussions last Saturday. Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) organized the event and responded to some criticism about the forum’s structure. {more}

Two nationally known public intellectuals convened in Kagin this Monday to debate one of the most contentious questions in American public policy: affirmative action.

Benjamin Hooks, former executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, spoke in favor of the policy, arguing that “affirmative action has worked in the past, and it is necessary if we want to keep that progress going.” {more}

Support athletics at Macalester

On Feb. 19, the Macalester Gymnasium was filled with 700 boisterous fans-100 more than the gym’s official capacity-as the men’s basketball team came back from 17 points down to defeat St. John’s and win their first ever MIAC playoff game. Two days later, hundreds of Macalester students, many of whom came over by buses provided by MCSG, turned St. Thomas’ Schoenecker Arena into a sea of blue and orange. {more}

Queering Multiculturalism

By OLIVER J. McKINSTRY

Last Saturday was a good time for multiculturalism at Macalester. All day long students gathered in focus groups to discuss the structural problems facing Macalester’s climate for multiculturalism. Lots of ideas were thrown around, some good, some bad. I wasn’t allowed to offer my own opinions on that day because I was moderating the discussions. {more}

I was shocked to read the Feb. 22 opinion piece, “Tense Moment at African American Studies Conference: Public Conflict between Departmental Faculty Unprofessional, Insulting.” I want to begin by apologizing to Ms. Callahan, who was clearly upset and insulted by my question and comments at the conference. I also want to assure my Anthropology colleagues who were not present that I did not intend to insult them. {more}

The Palestinian flag will not fly at graduation because, according to the administration, this stands at odds with Macalester’s flag policy. For the sake of clarity and comprehensiveness, I will offer four reasons that summarize my rationale behind finding Macalester’s decision problematic. {more}

On Feb. 7, seven Macalester Asian Student Alliance (ASA) members drove to the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign for the annual Midwestern Asian American Student Union (MAASU) conference. {more}

An unruly and intimidating crowd of over 50 people at The Jungle saw first-year Eric Brandt come back from a 7-5, 3-2 deficit to defeat Alex Petersen 10-5 in the deciding third-set super tiebreaker, giving Macalester a 5-4 win over Bethel in the MIAC season opener. {more}

Men’s basketball was eliminated in the MIAC semifinals on Feb. 21 by St. Thomas, 86-77, but not before the Scots fought back in another comeback attempt.

The Tommies took a 61-41 lead with 9:37 remaining in the second quarter before the Scots stormed back with a barrage of three-pointers, cutting the lead to 79-74 with 40 seconds left. However, the Tommies made 11 of their 12 free throws in the last 1:16 of the game to deny Macalester’s push for its second improbable comeback win in two days. {more}

Mixed Blood Theatre’s first look at the disabled community, “The History of Bowling,” is a strong story that uses issues of disability as a catalyst for character growth. It avoids simplistic characterizations and easy remedies to frustrations with fate.

The plot is straightforward: Lou (Ann Kim), an epileptic, decides to use her disability to get out of her college P.E. course. The professor pairs her with 32-year-old freshman Chuck (Bob Ness), who uses a wheelchair, to write a sports-related term paper which, at Chuck’s insistence, will be on the history of bowling. {more}

“Thief River,” now showing at the Guthrie Lab until March 10, explores a homosexual relationship between two rural Minnesota farm boys, Gil and Ray, which spans 50 years. The play flashes between three episodes of their relationship-the night of their senior prom, their meeting at age 43 and finally, their reunion as 71-year-olds. Written by Lee Blessing, “Thief River” is a welcome home of sorts for the Minnesota-born author. {more}

It was last year at New York City radio station Hot-97 FM’s annual “Summer Jam,” that the highly touted beef between two of Hip-Hop’s longtime living legends, Jay-Z and Nas, first began. Unlike the beef between Biggie and Tupac which unfortunately escalated into violence, the feud between Nas and Jay-Z is strictly bangin’ on wax, and at the highest level.

Within the short history of Hip-Hop there have always been lyrical battles. The beef between Bronx-based MC KRS’ONE and Queens-based MC Shan provides one prime example. KRS’ONE proclaimed that “Da Bridge is Over” referring to the failing success of queensbridge MCs as measured against the rise of rappers from the South Bronx. The issue at hand was true ownership of Hip-Hop culture. Each wanted to settle the score and claim that Hip-Hop Culture began and thrived on their home turf, when in fact both places probably had the same amount of youth on the street developing the culture that we know today as Hip-Hop. {more}