Colleges

What is your favorite part about spring?

Abby: As the earth reawakens, so do I. I get motivated to do things I would never do in January – go to the gym for longer than 10 minutes, meditate, take vitamins, etc. It doesn’t really last, but I like to pretend it will.

Bri: It is once again time to go bask under the windmill without being frigidly cold. It will never get old. No rhyme intended.

What is your favorite song of the moment?

Abby: “Riders on the Storm” by the Doors, because when I’m above-average stressed-out, I have to listen to music about how nothing means anything.

Bri: I would have to go with “Trojans” by Atlas Genius . . . but ask me in 10 minutes and that answer would likely change.

What is your most magical suggestion on how to avoid studying?

Abby: Maximize your slacking by doing multiple unproductive things at once. For example, order a pizza while catching up on “Modern Family.” Do some online shopping while belting the “I Don’t Care” song (you know you love it). If you’re going to shirk responsibility, you might as well go all-out.

Bri: Make a fort with all of the extra blankets, sheets and pillows lying around. It makes for great procrastination and results in a cooler place to study. I’m still working on getting my housemates to agree to this suggestion . . .

What is the best thing to do while it is raining?

Abby: Put on your favorite elastic-waistband pants or, even better, your bathrobe. Hermit in your room. Stare out the window and sigh repeatedly. Feel all your feels.

Bri: Put on a non-white shirt, wrap your iPod as best you can in a plastic bag and start running. Don’t stop ’til you get enough (shout out to Michael Jackson).

What is the best thing to do in the summer?

Abby: Anything you would normally do, except on the beach. Swampy, Midwestern lake-beaches count!

Bri: Go to the local farmers’ market and buy all fresh ingredients. For all of the Madison-lovers out there, I’m talking about fresh cheese curds and Stella’s Hot & Spicy Cheese Bread, which is way overpriced at $10 a loaf but more than worth it.

American journalist, blogger, columnist and St. Olaf Political Awareness Committee’s (PAC’s) spring speaker Ezra Klein visited St. Olaf College’s Boe Chapel on Wednesday, April 24, to discuss with students, faculty and community members why “the city in which I work, live [and] raise dogs […] is horrible.”

The “horrible” city to which Klein referred so colorfully in the opening of his speech is Washington D.C. He developed a speech revolving around the relationships both within and between the American public, the mass media and, most importantly, the increasingly partisan national Congress, claiming that “polarized parties break the American political system.”

Klein’s speech included flashy and humorous slides of charts, graphs and cartoons projected onto a large screen behind him to emphasize his points. He quickly turned his speech over to the audience for a prolonged question and answer session.

Klein played his role as the young, hubristic journalist well. As PAC Coordinator Kevin George ’13 read off Klein’s accolades, including his successful role as manager of the Washington Post’s “Wonkblog” (a contributor-based forum that covers various facets of policy development) and his work as contributor for both “Bloomberg” and numerous outlets at MSNBC, Klein utilized the backlit projection system to create silhouettes of himself kissing his muscles and standing in superhero stances.

“Ezra is very engaging,” said George, when asked why Klein was chosen for as the PAC spring speaker. “He’s young, up-and-coming and accessible.” Additionally, George noted, PAC has not brought in an economic voice since before the recession.

While Klein did not focus his speech on the particulars of economics, these principles were implicitly present throughout his presentation. According to Klein, the reason that budgeting has become so difficult for the government as a whole stems from the prevailing polarized political system.

“We are not more polarized today as a people than we were 50 years ago,” Klein said. “However, we are a more polarized political system. The purpose of the majority is to govern the nation. The purpose of the minority is now to simply become the majority.”

Klein blamed divergent discourses on the sequester, budget disputes and health care reform on this lack of bipartisanship and then continued to blame the media for putting too much focus on “the man in the White House,” instead of the individual members of Congress who should, in theory, hold control of policy and development.

“Some people believe we should look at the American political system like ‘underpants gnomes,’” said Klein, referring to a 1998 “South Park” episode in which curious gnomes make an over-simplified business strategy that ultimately makes little sense. “They believe that step one is that the president should lead. Step two is merely a bunch of question marks. Step three? Profit. Obviously this is flawed.”

Klein spent a large portion of the allotted time fielding questions from audience members. They were interested in matters ranging from the elaborate role of the media in elections to how potential educators should approach good citizenship within the classroom. Klein’s responses were at times snide, at other times brutally honest and occasionally, as when a student asked how to fix the broken political system, he simply couldn’t give an answer.

Klein’s visit to St. Olaf began and ended with more intimate meetings with students, including a dinner with members of PAC and, following his speech, a reception with faculty members and students interested in politics and media.

“His whole presentation was very non-partisan,” said Chiamaka Isiguzo ’14, a PAC member, following the speech. “He wasn’t trying to dumb things down for us, but he certainly got his ideas across. I recognize now why the system is broken.”

In the final competition before next weekend’s conference championships, about two-thirds of the Carleton College women’s track and field team participated in the Meet of the UnSaintly, an unscored contest hosted by Hamline University. Carleton’s top showings came in the 800-meter run and the field events.

The Carleton College women’s tennis team successfully defended its MIAC Playoff title from a year ago by posting a 5-1 victory against Gustavus Adolphus College and a 5-0 triumph over University of St. Thomas. By winning the conference tournament, the Knights clinch the MIAC’s automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA Championships.

After a dramatic comeback 5-4 victory over University of St. Thomas during the semifinal round, the Carleton College men’s tennis team did not have enough magic left and saw its season come to an end with an 8-1 loss to national No. 18 Gustavus Adolphus College in the finals of the MIAC Playoffs.

Behind the arm and bat of Kevin Johnson, the Carleton College baseball team salvaged a split at Concordia College. After the Cobbers ran away with game one, 14-1, the Knights answered with an 8-4 victory in the nightcap, a contest in which Johnson went the distance for the victory and contributed a 4-for-4, 3 RBI performance at the plate.

The Carleton College softball team took part in the MIAC Playoffs for the first time on Friday. The Knights were the No. 9 seed in field and opened pool play with an 11-2 triumph over fourth-seeded Saint Mary’s University. Carleton could not hold a late lead against No. 5 seed Gustavus Adolphus College and was unable to advance out of the pool play stage.

For the second consecutive year, C.J. Dale placed fourth overall at the MIAC Decathlon, securing All-Conference Honorable Mention. Teamates Evan McNeil and Colby Seyferth both withdrew from the competition due to injury. Both ranked among the top five at the time of the injury.

Amelia Campbell earned All-Conference distinction with her third-place showing at the MIAC Heptathlon. She was the only competitor in 14-person field to finish among the top four finishers in all seven events. Campbell’s overall finish was the best by a Knight since Kestrel Schwaiger ’07 won the heptathlon in 2006.

The National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame (NFF) recently announced the members of the 2013 NFF Hampshire Honor Society and six Knights made the list. The Carleton seniors that received this honor are Paul Hoffer, Caleb Hyde, Pete McNeely, Max Timm, DJ Turner, and Andy Zweber.

Carleton College juniors Zach Wood-Doughty ‘14 (Madison, Wisc.) and Nick Jones ’14 (Evanston, Ill.) have earned the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. John Cho ’14 (Los Angeles) earned an honorable mention. Both of Carleton’s winners are computer science and math double majors. Only 14 of the 271 students who were awarded Goldwater Scholarships were computer science majors, marking a major accomplishment for those Carleton departments and the two students. The Goldwater Scholarship tries to provide a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers by awarding scholarships to college students who intend to pursue careers in these fields.

Four Carleton College seniors have been awarded the highly competitive Fulbright Fellowship to pursue graduate work abroad. The recipients include: Milan Cvitkovic ’13 (Seattle), Shantrice King ’13 (Bronx, NY), Molly Rapaport ‘13 (Ridgewood, NJ) and Sophia Daudon ’13 (Seattle). The Fulbright United States Student Program is the largest United States exchange program offering opportunities for students and young professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and primary and secondary school teaching worldwide. The program currently awards approximately 1,800 grants annually in all fields of study, and operates in more than 155 countries worldwide.

David Williams ’14 (Chicago), a philosophy major, has won the esteemed Beinecke Scholarship. Each Beinecke scholar receives $4,000 immediately prior to entering graduate school and an additional $30,000 while attending graduate school. There are no geographic restrictions on the use of the scholarship, and recipients are allowed to supplement the award with other scholarships, assistantships and research grants.

This Sunday, May 5, marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard.

And St. Olaf College, which is home to the largest collection of works by and about Kierkegaard outside of Denmark, is preparing to celebrate in style.

The college will host one of the largest celebratory conferences around the globe this summer. St. Olaf, which houses the Howard and Edna Hong Kierkegaard Library, will use the Seventh International Kierkegaard Conference to honor the existentialist.

“I thought this would be quite small because of so many competing conferences this year,” says St. Olaf Professor of Philosophy and Kierkegaard Library Curator Gordon Marino, who wrote a piece honoring Kierkegaard that was published in the New York Times global edition this weekend. “It turns out that it will be an enormous conference, with around 70 paper presentations and attendees from more than a dozen countries.”

The conference will feature a cast of impressive Kierkegaard scholars. The keynote speaker will be Bruce Kirmmse, a renowned Kierkegaard scholar who is currently stationed at the Soren Kierkegaard Research Center at the University of Copenhagen.

This year's conference could even top the one at St. Olaf three years ago that is widely believed to have been the largest gathering of Kierkegaard scholars in history.

The conference attendees are not the only ones who will be spending time with Kierkegaard at St. Olaf this summer. Around 50 scholars visit the library each summer to conduct research. The library also hosts the participants of the Young Scholars Program, which meets in July and brings together more than 20 undergraduate seniors and recent graduates for a month to study the famous philosopher.

The number of scholars and students who visit the library each year is a testament to its success. “Most people are surprised to find a collection of this caliber at an undergraduate institution,” says Marino. “We have people coming from Denmark to do research because we have such good access to very rare volumes. Here everything is on the shelf.”

The library began with a donation from Howard and Edna Hong's private collection in 1976. The Hongs fostered a passionate interest in the works of Soren Kierkegaard and over the years devoted themselves to the task of providing a new English translation of the philosopher's writings.

“That’s what Howard really wanted,” says Marino. “To have the library be really accessible to people who are interested.”

Carleton College infielder David Stillerman was named to the Academic All-District Baseball First Team, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The award recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their performance both on the field and in the classroom. Stillerman is an junior Economics/Mathematics/Statistics major with a 3.82 GPA and ranks among the MIAC leaders with a .379 batting average and a .492 on-base percentage.

The annual Carleton Interscholastic high school track and field meet will be held at Laird Stadium. Running and field events begin at 10 a.m. Heat sheets with the event schedule can be found by following the link above.

The lecture that Ezra Klein recently delivered at St. Olaf College will be broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio May 6.

The Washington Post journalist, blogger, and columnist visited St. Olaf April 24 to discuss "How Washington Really Works."

Klein, the St. Olaf Political Awareness Committee's spring speaker, talked about the impact that the lack of consensus and bipartisanship in Washington, D.C., is having on the U.S. and many countries around the world. His lecture was streamed and archived online.

Klein currently manages the Washington Post's Wonkblog, a contributor-based forum that covers various facets of policy development. His own pieces for the blog tend to cover health care and budget policy. Additionally, Klein is a columnist for Bloomberg and is a contributing policy analyst for numerous outlets at MSNBC, including The Rachel Maddow Show and Hardball with Chris Matthews.

In 2010 The Week magazine named Klein Blogger of the Year for his coverage of the health care debate and Congress’ passage of the Affordable Care Act. In 2011 GQ magazine named him one of the 50 most powerful people in Washington and Time magazine labeled his blog as one of the 25 best financial blogs.

"Ezra does real analysis of issues: the kind of thing that you really need to know to make an informed judgment, but that’s all too rare even in financial journalism," Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote for Klein’s bio in Time. "[He] was absolutely invaluable during the health care debate."

The Carleton College baseball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader against national No. 2 University of St. Thomas. The games, decided by scores of 10-2 and 5-2, were shifted from Carleton to the Tommies’ home field due to wet weather.

Tennis women fall 2-7 in first home match of the 2013 season

The St. Olaf women’s tennis team fell to conference opponent St. Catherine University 2-7 on April 26 at Carlson Courts. The Wildcat victory sealed the MIAC title for St. Kate’s, who boast an unblemished 10-0 conference record.

The sole Ole victories came in the singles competition. Julia Ellis ’13 stopped Wildcat Michaela Burroughs 4-6, 6-4, 10-4. Erin Hynes ’15 defeated her opponent in a straight set, posting scores of 6-2, 6-2 over Wildcat Angie Lorenzen. Meanwhile, Oles Alisa Hall ’16, Maya MacGibbon ’16, Kristi Kroker ’15 and Lizzie Carlson ’14 were unable to top their opponents. All fell in straight sets.

In doubles play, Ellis and Hall posted the closest score, falling 4-8 to Wildcats Kylie Ketcho and Victoria Bravo. Meanwhile, Kent and Kroker were defeated 1-8, MacGibbon and Andrea Jumes ’15 0-8.

Left: Julia Ellis ’13 prepares to serve the ball. In singles competition, Ellis defeated Wildcat Michaela Burroughs with scores of 4-6, 6-4, 10-4. Right: Bailey Kent ’16 serves the ball alongside doubles partner Kristi Kroker ’15. Kent and Kroker fell to Wildcats Burroughs and Maria Koval 1-8. The Oles were swept in doubles but gained two points in singles.

St. Olaf lost to conference opponent Carleton College 2-7 on May 1 in their final regular-season match. With the loss, the Oles’ record stands at 6-4 in the MIAC. Next up are the MIAC playoffs, which begin May 3 in St. Peter, Minn. The Oles are seeded fifth and will open play against St. Thomas, seed four.

“We are looking ahead to the conference tournament,” Carlson said. “We want to be playing the best tennis of the season. It’s all a matter of stringing everything together, being mentally tough and playing smart. We have a very strong conference, so it’s tough, but it really goes to whoever is playing better that day and – in the end – who wants it the most.”

 

patrick@stolaf.edu