Absolutely Stunned

Well, it's been 11 days since I last blogged. I had intended to write a lengthy post today about my trip to DC and the rest of spring break, but something far more important is on my mind tonight.

I returned to Maple this afternoon and signed into Messenger as usual. Sadie asked if I had seen the news, which prompted me to turn on the TV and discover that there had been a shooting at Red Lake High School. This, the second high school shooting in recent years in Minnesota hits far too close to home for reasons that extend beyond the geographic closeness of Bemidji and Red Lake...

Someone I know works inside that school. Amy, a friend from Writing Methods class who is one of the most passionate future teachers I've ever seen, is currently doing her student teaching internship there. She is known and loved not only by the English Ed majors but also by some of my other friends, Julie in particular. As of yet, there's been no word from her.

I've sat here for the last couple of hours, watching TV, checking websites, and chatting on Messenger, just stunned...trying to make sense of something out of which very little sense can possibly be made. And all the while, I think of Amy...her passion and dedication to those kids, in that rough and tough school, and how much she should be admired for it.

And now this senseless violence befalls the place and students she cares about so much. It's just horrible. All we can do now is hope and pray that she's safe, and that they can find some answers to this unfathomable tragedy.

DC, Here We Come

That's right, the day is finally here. It's been a crazy week getting ready, and now it's just about 6 am and we leave for the cities in half an hour. Then, a 24 hour bus ride. Long, but it surely will be well worth it. It will definitely be an interesting week.

Shopping Spree

I went shopping today...that's right...shopping. Those who know me probably know that it's not something I do much of. But, I figured I'd get a few items of new clothing in advance of the DC Summit. After all, you need to look good if you're going to be meeting people from all over the country, not to mention people on Capitol Hill.

Nicole was nice enough to offer to take me around, so we headed to Target, Kmart, Herberger's and JC Penney. I went nuts, and ended up buying way too much, but most of it was on sale. Here's what I ended up with:

• Four pairs of pants, two of them Dockers (on sale), and another pair that was only $10 (needed new pants anyway)
• Dress socks
• A very nice pair of black shoes
• New shoelaces
• Two new dress shirts
• A new tie
• T-shirts
• A rolling suitcase ($25, marked down from $100)
• 2 12 packs of pop
• Ream of printer paper

All that for about $170, not bad huh? It really pays to shop the sales...and I guess going shopping with Nicole helped...I would never have found half the stuff she did. Had I been left to my own devices, I likely would have paid much more. She certainly has an eye for good deals.

How Many College Students...

Does it take to screw in a light bulb? Find out here...it's pretty funny. Notice Bemidji...I knew we were in the sticks, but no electricity? Ha!

Give it a Couple Years...

Apparently, 76 percent of Americans still do not know what blogs are. Somehow, I have a feeling that number is going to decrease dramatically in the next couple of years. So many people are using them now, it'd be hard for people not to run across one somewhere.

"Baby Got Book"

Someone found this during break in class last night, and I find it quite funny. I also saw it linked on another blog today.

Busy Week

It's been a busy week. Lots to do, little time or motivtion. I haven't blogged forever, which is crazy.

I feel like I am getting the cold that's been going around, which really sucks. I have a midterm tomorrow which I still need to study for. I have lots of work to do, and a trip to prepare for. I need to get a haircut and go shopping.

I can't afford to get sick!!

Internal Affairs...Round 3

Went to St Cloud with Jake for another IA meeting. This one was about 3.5 hours, and we actually got out of there on time...amazing for an MSUSA meeting. Had 6 of 7 campuses...Mankato opted not to attend, and instead sent an email stating that they were happy with the changes discussed two weeks ago, and trusted the rest of us to finish the job. Hopefully they sing the same tune when they see the revised draft of the Bylaws.

And they should. I wouldn't say too many of today's changes were particularly huge...most of those had already been hashed out. But I think we closed some gaps, and did it fairly efficiently. One thing I will say is THANK GOD we did today's meeting "live"...some had fought for ITV at the last meeting, and after sitting through an ITV meeting for the Rev Fund yesterday, I can say that an IA meeting via ITV would have been horrible. There is a lot to be said for sitting around a table together, especially for something like this...going through documents and designing changes that are huge for the organization.

In general, this experience thus far has been pretty cool. A year ago, campuses were at each other constantly, the big school small school mentality was raging, Board, delegation and staff morale were low, and the issues with the ex-ED were just beginning to hit the fan. The organization was a mess. If anyone would have told me then that we'd be sitting today together, trying to work things out, and that progress was actually being made, I probably would not have believed it....

Fast forward to today: new leaders, new staff, new ideas, and perhaps the best campaign the organization has ever run. And we sit together, not as 7 parts regularly bickering, but as a whole, working toward a common goal to improve things for everyone's benefit. We've all made compromises, and we've gained in return. We've been able to put aside our differences and reach some consensus for the first time I can recall.

It's really something to be proud of.

Coffee as a Class?

Apparently, your morning cup of joe is more than a drink...it's an academic subject.

Coffee a popular topic on college campuses

Urban Dictionary

On TechRhet today was a post directing us to check out the definition of blog on Urban Dictionary. Here are a couple of other words I found.

blogalicious
(adj.)1. The state of being in which one finds joy in updating one's blog.2. A blog or blog entry that one finds highly enjoyable.
"I'm feeling particularly blogalicious today!"
"That is one blogalicious entry there!"
Source: Rann, Oct 4, 2004

blogariffic
For those that have a blog, it must have subject matter. Subject matter that is of particular interest shall be deemed as "blogarrific."
#1) Did you guys see the picture of that 3-headed frog? Now that's what I call a blogariffic amphibian.
#2) That whole request for another $80 billion is going to be quite blogariffic.
Source: MikeyP, Jan 25, 2005

10 Percent...on the Dot

Turns out 10 percent for the purpose of elections was 330 votes. We got exactly 330. Wild, huh?

Musings on Senate Elections

Today was day one of the annual spring elections that continue tomorrow. We're also doing the referendum on smoking in the residence halls, for which we need to register a 10 percent turnout of the student body...actually of those students who are taking classes on campus. That means we need to get about 400 people to vote.

Sounds easy, right?? NOT. Getting people to vote is like pulling teeth sometimes. Many students are willing to come vote if you ask, some are even eager to do so. However, too often our efforts are met with "I don't care" or "Yeah, I did it"...when it's clear they haven't and they are just brushing us off. Body language and tone of voice say a lot. In the worst cases, students just walk by, staring straight ahead, and don't even bother to acknowledge we exist. All we can do is laugh it off, but it's really rather rude. Granted, they may not wish to vote, and the elections are usually far from competitive, but the least a person could do is offer a simple "No" when asked if they want to vote. We are not invisible!

Who knows if we'll get the numbers we need. I guess we just have to be thankful for those that we ARE able to convince to vote. Hey, Nicole even met Erin, who she's only known in blog form up to this point, and I saw an acquaintence I thought transferred after last year, which was kind of funny.

We shall see what tomorrow brings.

8 Minutes, 25 Seconds

Shortest Maple Hall Council meeting of the year.

And a quote from our hall director in reference to the cards being used for an upcoming hall Bingo game...

"They're really old, and they smell like your Grandma"

Trying Something New

As you can see, I've changed my template. Actually, it's basically the same with a new color scheme. The old one was getting boring. Change is good, at least for a while.

Back From the "Dead"

Apparently Lindsi decided not to "kill" her blog after all. Welcome back!!

Blogs at BSU: Why Not?

Toward the end of our discussion last night, we got to talking about the use of blogs at BSU, and a big question: When, if ever, will we have them attached in some way to the University? (eg offer something like UThink).

The desire to blog is certainly here, not only personally but in an academic sense. As Morgan points out, it is a teaching tool that can be used widely if it's organized and implemented in the right way. We've already got the test cases (Weblogs and Wikis etc) lets give it a shot.

I'll go a step further...we're a fairly small school looking for ways to grow. The University knows it has to attract students, and students are becoming more tech savvy all the time...if we can show them that there is space for student weblogs, wikis, and websites exists, combined with courses that are using the new technology (WW, Elements of E-Rhetoric, TWWT, etc) , it might encourage them to take a closer look at our programs.

Presentation a Success

Well, the presentation for TWWT last night went well. We were so nervous to get up in front of the group of Grad students as the only three undergrads in the class. There was good discussion, which we wanted. All in all, a good experience.

Proof Our Voices Matter!

We received word today that State Sen Carrie Ruud, who had been against the tuition freeze as recently as last week, has decided to support it, based in part on what she heard at Friday's Town Meeting.

See also:
Nicole's Freeze blog
Julie's thoughts

We still have many battles to fight, but this is a major victory for us. To anyone who has questioned whether students/student leaders have the ability to make things happen...this is proof that we DO have a voice.

Putting Words In My Mouth-UPDATE

So, this morning I decided to email the author of that article where I was misquoted the other day. Text Follows:

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[Author]

I saw some WSU colleagues at a meeting over the weekend who mentioned that they were surprised to see my name pop up on the CyberIndee independent news website. I was fairly surprised to hear about it, so I checked when I got home, and sure enough, my name was in a story about Rally Day. You appeared to be the author of the story.

I think it is prudent to inform you that the quote you attributed to me is incorrect..."One speaker, Berne Christiansen of Bemidji State, told the crowd: "We students have taken on more than our fair share of the burden of balancing the state's budget, and we need some relief." "Those are not my words. In fact, I never addressed the crowd during the Rally. I don't know how my name became attached, and I am sure it was an honest mistake. As a journalism student I am certain you are aware of the need to be diligent and correct when quoting others in the media.

On a positive note, I am happy to see that you are paying attention to the Tuition Freeze Campaign, which is perhaps the biggest project MSUSA has undertaken.

Have a great day!
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His Response:

Mr. Christiansen ~ I am sorry about the mistake, i asked a friend about who a particular speaker was, and they said your name. i will try to be more careful about this in the future. Thanks for letting me know.
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Lets hope they double check quotes from now on. I am really curious to know who this friend is, because it must be someone I know, and for anyone I know to mistake me for someone else is, well, funny.

Bloggers Beware

Found this article linked on Michelle's blog...

Free Expression Can Be Costly When Bloggers Bad-Mouth Jobs

The debate continues. Should an employer be allowed to fire you because of what you say about them on your own website, on your own time, when you don't even name them...or yourself? I think not.