Authorities in the Indian state of Maharashtra are seeking the arrest of Religious Studies Professor Jim Laine for statements contained within his most recent publication, Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India.
{more}
On Tuesday night, the Macalester College Student Government (MCSG) voted to add a referendum considering a Wal-Mart boycott to the Executive Board election ballot on Thursday, April 15.
{more}
Local environmental activists Chuck Dayton, Jon Hunter and J. Drake Hamilton presented locally-focused strategies for combating global climate change on Thursday night at the Kyoto Protocol Forum in the Weyerhaeuser Memorial Chapel.
{more}
Assistant Dean of Students Myra Garnes will leave her position at the end of this year. The position description and name will change next year from Assistant to Associate Dean of Students.
{more}
On Thursday, March 25, native rights activist Ward Churchill lectured on “Pacifism as Pathology” in the Campus Center. Around 150 students and activists heard Churchill’s argument that pacifism is an inappropriate method of activism in the post-Sept. 11 United States.
{more}
The Admissions Office recently released a class profile of the students admitted for the class of 2008.
This year, 4,402 high school students applied for admission to Macalester, vying for an estimated 465 spots. Applications have increased by over 50 percent in the last six years.
{more}
The Latin American Studies program will be housed in the Spanish Department starting next fall. The Spanish Department will be renamed Hispanic Studies.
{more}
Rick Lechowick ’04 recently won a Watson Fellowship, which he will use to travel throughout India, Thailand and Sri Lanka to study the music and dance of the Ramayana. This Indian epic has extensive cultural influence in these regions, according to Lechowick.
{more}
The 2003-2004 Environmental Studies Distinguished Speaker Vandana Shiva spoke to a crowd of approximately 300 students, faculty and community members in the Kagin Ballroom on Tuesday, March 30.
{more}
Macalester’s chapel will undergo a visioning process’ this spring. A team of faculty, staff and students will collaborate with four external chaplaincy authorities to examine the past and future 10 years of programming in the chapel, as well as programming on other college campuses.
{more}
Chartered at the end of last semester, Pasifika is a group of students working on representing and providing awareness of Pacific Island cultures, languages, nations and experiences. The term Pasifika refers to an alliance or collaboration of Pacific Rim nations including, but not limited to, Polynesia (Hawai’i, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, Niue, Marquesas, New Zealand, etc.), Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc.; a collective pan-Oceanic identity, if you will. We welcome and embrace all people—from those who didn’t know islands existed beyond New Zealand to those who still ardently believe that Samoa is an African nation. Our inclusiveness also includes the people that maintain the conviction that most Hawaiian women typically wear long grass skirts, perfumed leis and bikini tops. As a united organizational force, we want to work toward eradicating stereotypical images and notions spread by media misrepresentation and exotification.
{more}
1) Raising living standards is a good thing. Just about any way that you define development, progress or happiness can be called “living standards.” Rising living standards means that you can do more of whatever it is that you like doing.
{more}
I love Macalester in the springtime—who doesn’t when the entire student body throws itself outdoors for Frisbee, sun-soaking, soccer and people-watching? I love how the population seems to quadruple in size as people emerge from their holes in the library, Olin-Rice, wherever, to talk and laugh and smoke and smile. I love how Macalester starts to smell like growing things and how the warmth of the sun is a surprise after the excessive winter. I love walking across campus and feeling irrepressibly happy to be young, here, now. Spring makes me a little giddy about everything, Macalester included.
{more}
The conservatives are coming! The conservatives are coming! There is a campus rumor that an invasion by conservatives is imminent. As is often the case with rumors, there is some truth to this. The Center of the American Experiment, located in Minneapolis and often called a “conservative think tank,” has launched an initiative designed to reach college and university students. This “action program,” known as “e-Pluribus” has as its goal to make conservative ideas—and the students who embrace them—more visible and influential on campuses. Directed by Kathy Kersten, well-known local writer, lecturer and activist, the plan is to create a network for conservative Minnesota students, bring outstanding “right-thinking” speakers to campuses, link students with alumni and create a cutting-edge web site and electronic newspaper which will provide “intellectual ammunition on hot topics.”
{more}
I know that writing this column may be unpopular, but Macalester has always been a place of open dialogue and there may be a few facts that students are overlooking. When I first heard the rumors that “killer” Coke was out gunning down union members and involved in elaborate cover-ups, I immediately stopped buying the soda. After studying it for awhile, I have decided that the idea of a Coke boycott may hurt those who we presume to protect. Now it seems that whenever I have a Diet Coke in my hand, people look down or frown as they go by. I can practically hear their thoughts in the style of Gollum’s whisper … “murderer.” There is a widespread movement on campus now to only look at the www.killercoke.org site. I wonder how many people have run over Coca-Cola’s own response to this, the site www.killercoke.com. I will not go over all their arguments, but encourage readers who are interested in the issue to look at the facts surrounding the allegations (both sides). Personally, I have a hard time finding a motive for Coca-Cola to assassinate union members that don’t have much power in Colombia, and if there was a motive I doubt the conspiracy goes all the way up to Coca-Cola headquarters. Also, Coca-Cola does benefit the community in many ways.
{more}
Last Friday, Luis Cardona spoke at Macalester in an appeal to students to act in solidarity with Colombian unionists in their struggle against Coca-Cola. In a translated speech Cardona told of Coke having a fellow union organizer murdered inside the plant where they worked. He was then kidnapped by paramilitaries and ordered into a car to be taken to his death. He told of running for his life, of being forced to flee the country with his wife, daughter and the clothes on their backs. He spoke of the ongoing struggle by workers in Colombian Coca-Cola plants for justice and basic human rights.
{more}
The Macalester baseball and softball teams both hosted their first home games on Wednesday, March 31. Timely sunny weather and afternoon start-times encouraged fans to enjoy the friendly environs of Shaw Field—armed with newly installed outfield fences—and the baseball field. Larger student turnout at the softball game on Shaw Field was likely motivated by softball’s earlier start, and the fact that a game on Shaw Field requires no long trek to enjoy a Macalester sporting event. Students and Macalester fans were treated to closely fought games at both venues.
{more}
On Saturday the Macalester men’s tennis team played host to the No. 2 ranked team in the nation, the Gusties of Gustavus Adolphus. After a 2-3 Spring Break swing in sunny Hilton Head, S.C., the Scots returned to the friendly confines of the Macalester Field House fully confident they could hand the Gusties their first MIAC loss in 15 years and dethrone last year’s national runners-up. Aiding this confidence was the return of suspended No. 3 singles player Nick Werth ’06, who finished serving his four suspension last week due to “conduct kind of detrimental to the team, but not really.” The Scots would, however, be forced to pull off the miraculous upset without No. 4 singles player Spencer Edelman ’06, who was kicked off the team for the season due to “conduct kind of detrimental to the team, but not really, but apparently enough that he should be kicked off the team and off campus for the year.”
{more}
WATER POLO
The Scots achieved a 13-1 win over the University of Minnesota women’s club team on Saturday, March 27 in Leonard Natatorium. Hayley Campbell ’04, Macalester Athlete of the Week, led the Scots with seven goals and two assists. Jackie DeLuca ’07 added three goals and five assists and Kate Larson ’05 scored two goals. The Scots are 6-11 for the season.
{more}
Dev Oliver is a senior who loves Macalester. This makes him special. He is from Jamaica and he majors in Computer Science. Although hesitant at first, he let me interview him after our French class on Monday afternoon.
{more}
On Tuesday, March 22, on a quest for a certain je ne sais quoi, we shed our hippy-chic sensibility in exchange for a level of sass not often achieved in the Mac-Groveland neighborhood. Janna needed to match her shoes with her clutch and Emily had been anxiously awaiting an opportunity to step out in what have become, in some circles, infamous heels. Clearly the edgy, urban pavement of Uptown was the proper runway for our Tuesday evening notion of high fashion.
{more}
With the onset of spring, there has been a marked change in campus attire. As many members of the community break into their summer wardrobes, I have made a shocking revelation: these sophomore girls are sluts! You probably know what I’m talking about. Young vixens sporting slinky t-shirts with the neck cut to show more than a hint of collarbone, buxom temptresses strutting their stuff in the cafeteria, outright sluts who smile as they pass you on the sidewalk. These chicks will have sex with anyone!
{more}
In 1985, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) spent a whopping $2.5 million on a single piece of art—one of the best Roman copies of the now—lost Doryphoros, arguably the most famous piece of classical Greek sculpture. Despite (or perhaps because of) this purchase, the MIA has since done little to enrich their paltry collection of ancient Mediterranean art.
{more}
As much as I usually hate reading 10 best lists, there was plenty to respond to in Andrew Barron’s choices for the most important musicians of the 20th century, which appeared in last week’s issue. For one thing, the list was completely devoid of composers (Was the list simply about the second half of the century?), leading me to wonder whether important was supposed to mean popular.
{more}
Last Saturday, the band Old Time Relijun held an hour-long musical revival here in St. Paul while touring in support of their latest release, Lost Light (K Records). Rather than play a more conventional venue like Big V’s or Minneapolis’ Triple Rock, they opted instead to perform in the basement of a nondescript residence on Young Street inexplicably known as the Haunted House. Accuse me of music snob wankery, but let me say that this band and others like it represent valid routes of musical (hell, artistic) expression, something which ought to speak to us more than that jukebox which we half-listen to during dinner.
{more}
As new to the field of scratch DJ technique as I am, I’m frequently thrown questions to the tune of “What are you doing?” “Can you teach me to do that?” “What is Turntablism?” and “Did you forget to take your medication this morning?” Despite the fact that I’m pretty much self-taught as far as scratching goes, I can certainly impart wisdom I gleaned along the way to expedite any future-scratch DJ’s education.
{more}
Heyward Gualandi ’05 tosses a Frisbee in front of Kagin Commons. Photo by Peter Bartz-Gallagher.
The Mac Weekly is an entirely student-produced publication. The opinions expressed in this document are those of its authors and editors, not of Macalester College.
News Links