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Please send letters intended for publication to Letters to the
Editor, Macalester Today, College Relations, Macalester College,
1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105-1899. Or by e-mail: mactoday@macalester.edu.
We reserve the right to edit letters for conciseness and clarity.
Republicans, continued
I read the letter about Republicans in the Summer issue and I thought a response was warranted.
Being a Republican at Macalester is a true challenge indeed. Upon discovering your political identity, you can almost always expect the question "Why?" to pop up. This is usually followed by several diatribes about how Bush is killing the planet and how if you support him, you're killing the planet, too.
When you walk into class, occasionally you will find your professor speaking about how much she or he hates Republicans because of all the horrible things "those religious rightists" are doing. And don't even think about trying to change the Macalester ideology through activism. Your rewards will be a lot of wasted time and possibly some new enemies.
This is the atmosphere I was confronted with last year. Macalester's ideal of embracing, or at least tolerating, different world views seems to be in serious question to me. In fact, I'd say that Macalester is downright intolerant. I suppose that liberals will take this as a good thing, but I am one Republican who respectfully disagrees.
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Small world?
Tell us about it.
We often hear stories about a Macalester
alum's unexpected encounter with another Mac alum. Tell us
your story about an unexpected meeting with another Mac person—whether
a friend or someone previously unknown to you. Short replies
(200 words or less) are preferred. We will publish as many
as space permits. Write: mactoday@macalester.edu.
Or Macalester Today, College Relations Office, Macalester
College, 1600 Grand Ave., St. Paul, MN 55105.
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Rog and Jack
I read with great fondness the article in the Summer issue regarding the retirements of Roger Mosvick and Jack Rossmann. They were two of the most influential teachers in my life.
As a speech communication major, I had many interactions with Roger Mosvick, in classes and also working for him as a student assistant. As much as I learned from him in class and through his books, my favorite "Rog" memory is a dinner we shared just before my graduation. Over that memorable meal, he shared with me a lot of life philosophy that I carry to this day. He was a man who taught me as much outside the classroom as he did in the classroom.
My senior year, I was fortunate to be part of a program on aging involving the consortium of colleges in the Twin Cities, which was directed by Jack Rossmann. The program combined classroom work with students from five area colleges, and most importantly, internships with Twin Cities-area social agencies. Through my involvement in this wonderful program, I was exposed to the real-life suffering and needs of senior citizens in the Twin Cities area. It was the single most rewarding experience I had during my Macalester years.
Your headline hit it on the head. Roger and Jack are "teachers, scholars, mentors and friends." It is people like them that made my Macalester experience unique. Godspeed to both of them in the years ahead!
Jerry Webers
I saw the heading "Jerry Webers" for the Summer letter from Magnus Leslie '94. Adding another voice from another generation, I think back to when Jerry joined the geology faculty as I went into my senior year. The evolutionary process that took me from Jerry's conodonts to working as a policy adviser with the Government of Canada can only be explained by the wonderful influence of people like Jerry.
Thanks, Jerry!
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Macalester College Alumni Travel Program
Jan. 26Feb. 10, 2005, in Vietnam
You are invited to join Macalester English
Professor Robert Warde on a journey through Vietnam, Jan.
26 – Feb. 10, 2005. Professor Warde has been to Vietnam
and teaches a course on the literature of the Vietnam War.
The tour is designed for a group of up to 24 alumni and guests
who have Macalester in common. You will enjoy a degree of
freedom and independence not available on conventional group
tours plus the expertise of a Macalester faculty member.
—Carol Polk, Associate Alumni Director.
For more information, call or e-mail me:
888-242-9351 or 651-696-6037
polk@macalester.edu
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Mac connections
Although I missed Reunion Weekend at Macalester while I was on the road this summer, I ended up experiencing a Mac reunion of another kind. While traveling with the Wheels of Justice Tour, I found myself meeting up with Mac connections in unexpected places along the way.
The Wheels of Justice is a nationwide speaking tour that travels the country in a colorfully decorated school bus, offering eyewitness accounts of the occupations in Iraq and Palestine. We spoke in schools, colleges, churches and community groups, focusing on nonviolence, universal human rights and the connections between the ongoing occupations of Iraq and Palestine.
For the final two weeks of the tour, I was privileged to work with fellow Mac grad Jeff Leys '86, who had traveled to Iraq on two separate occasions in 2003. His stories of families he met in Iraq paint a much different picture of war and occupation than those commonly available in the media. It is these first-hand experiences and person-to-person connections that make a difference in how you see the world, which is a lesson both Jeff and I took from our time at Macalester.
One of the best parts of being on the tour was meeting the many local activists around the country. Not surprisingly, this is precisely the places you find Macalester connections. In Toledo, Ohio, we met Emi Baldoni '02, and in Traverse City, Mich., our local host's daughter will be a first-year at Mac this fall.
I was pleased to make these new connections, and proud to be associated with so many who are working for justice. I'm sure there are many more Mac connections out there, working hard for justice in their respective communities, and I hope our paths cross.
'Why I Teach'
Minnesota Institute for Talented Youth has been located on the Macalester campus since 1970. I always enjoy reading the Macalester Today magazine, and the "Why I Teach" article was especially interesting.
The group photo of teachers at the Jean Lyle Children's Center
had a number of people who have worked for MITY in its new YES program.
YES—Your Extraordinary Saturday—is for talented
1st4th-graders and is held on four Saturday mornings in
the fall and spring.
Holly Lindsay '75 is the YES coordinator, Matt Crosby '98 and Joe LaFerla '99 taught for YES, Maria Steen '05 has been a YES intern and Michele Forde '72 was a substitute teacher at YES. What a wonderful job they've all done!
I also enjoyed reading about Matt Entenza '83 in the same issue—he served for six years on the institute's board of directors. It's exciting to see how both Macalester and MITY are enriched by such talented individuals.
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