Menards Hall collapses at North Dakota State University.

Definition of “Creeping Meatballism” The idea of thinking individually has become a big joke. Old Thomas J. Watson of I.B.M. came up with the idea for a sign which just said: “Think”. And today, it’s a gag! This is the result of “Creeping Meatballism”.

On the first of December, Dr. Richard Hanson became the interim president of NDSU. I recall thinking at the time that he might becoming president of an institution on the verge of collapse.  I had no idea that it might happen literally.  I’m referring, of course, the collapse of the north side of that grand old structure Minard Hall.

For those unfamiliar with the NDSU campus, Minard Hall is the four floor yellow brick building with maroon trim across Albrecht Blvd from the NDSU Library, sandwiched between Askanase Hall(the Little County Theatre), the heating plant and Festival Hall.  It was built in three stages, the first being in 1901. It houses the College of Arts, Humanities and social Sciences, as well s the Mathematics and Psychology Departments of the College of Science and Mathematics.

For those not involved in higher education at a research university, this is a catastrophe of indescribable proportion.  To me, it is symbolic of the neglect  a state with a billion dollar surplus and its population treats its higher education system.  I don’t expect to make any friends by saying this, but for me, this is the straw that broke the camel’s back.  I no longer care whether the youth of North Dakota get quality education or not.  Much as I love my students, the state just doesn’t deserve the effort.

So let’s return to Minard Hall, clearly one of the most important buildings on campus.  Currently it is closed to everyone.  There is hope to get the offices and classrooms not affected by the collapse ready for the start of spring semester.  There will supposedly be a window of opportunity for faculty with offices in the safe part of the building to return to their offices to retrieve important materials, such as books and papers, before the building is closed again.  I find that many don’t understand that NDSU is a research university, meaning that just because classes are not in session does not mean the faculty don’t need to use their offices.  I think the NDSU administration, in particular provost/academic vice president Craig Schnell, and, for that matter, some of the students, of publicizing the fact that many of the lost books and papers are irreplaceable.  I can only imagine how much research has been lost.

Bruce Frantz, who is in charge of the physical buildings on campus, would have us believe that this was an unforeseeable accident, and there were no mistakes made by his office or the contractor.  Snort.  This is an engineering school with a strong construction engineering program and excellent construction engineering faculty.  They just didn’t pay attention, in my view.  Franz is probably right to say the collapse happened at one of the few times no one would get hurt.  I’m glad, of course, that no-one did, but if someone had, I would have enjoyed the embarrassing national publicity that might have followed.

Franz would also have us believe that the damage can be fixed(for half a million.  The loss to the affected faculty, of course, can’t.  Even if it could, it turns out that NDSU carries no liability insurance).  I question whether Minard Hall should be repaired.  The building has been an expensive disaster for decades.  My office is in Minard Hall, but not in the affected area.  But my library and research papers and very probably my health has suffered much over the years.

Sometime in my first few years at NDSU the roof above(by a floor or two) sprang a leak and much of my library, carefully and costfully assembled while I was a graduate student and new faculty member, was drenched, rendering many of the books unusable, as the pages are all stuck together. This has happened so many times since that during a rain storm there is apparently a stand-by crew available  that can go rushing into faculty offices and cover everything with plastic if the roof leaks.  I read something about this once, but since I’ve observed it happening a few times, there’s no need to cite it.

Air quality has also been an issue in Minard Hall, due to its proximity to the heating plant.  In fact, the state health department once declared my office as uninhabitable.  My department and college administration was unable to find another office for me, but fortunately I was able to generate two invitations from departments in other buildings to reside there.  Yes, that is a dig at the problem solving abilities of the NDSU administration.

So, what we have here is an historic building that houses many important departments and in which many classes are taught that is virtually collapsing.  We didn’t have enough space for our 14,000 students before this happened.  And all of this at the end of an eleven year term of a president, Forum’s man of the year, that could raise millions for athletics, but couldn’t keep a major building safe in a state with a billion dollar surplus.

There’s many more problems Chapman left us with, but that could be the topic of another essay.

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff,

Earlier today, I tendered my resignation to Chancellor Goetz. Serving as
president of North Dakota State University for the past 11 years has been
the greatest privilege of my academic career. Together, we have taken
this institution to new levels, and I take great pride in all we have
accomplished together. Gale and I have made friends and community ties
here we will cherish for the rest of our lives.

Controversies in recent days have created distractions that have made it
impossible for me to provide the leadership this institution deserves.
Students have always been paramount, and I fear these distractions have
impaired my ability to serve their interests.

I have full confidence NDSU will continue to thrive and contribute to the
prosperity of North Dakota well into the future.

I thank you all for your kindness and support.

Joe

WASHINGTON — President Obama urged the nation on Tuesday to see the economic crisis as reason to raise its ambitions, calling for expensive new efforts to address energy, health care and education even as he warned that government bailouts have not come to an end.

In his first address to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Obama mixed an acknowledgment of the depth of the economic problems with a Reaganesque exhortation to American resilience. He offered an expansive agenda followed by a pledge to begin paring an ever-climbing budget deficit. Read more

I think everyone knows our country is in trouble.

Most politicians and civic leaders alike agree that we desperately need to put differences aside and work hard to get us out of this mess.  Everybody, it seems, except Republican Congressmen and a certain far right talk show host I’ll mention later.

To set the record straight, I consider myself a-political.  Some strong conservatives call me a liberal, but when asked to define liberal, it seems to be anyone that disagrees with them.  Those more moderately conservative call me a conservative.  I think of myself in terms of a line from an old Kingston Trio Song, “… and I don’t like anybody very much.”

Cheered on by the far right, it seems to me that President Bush, while spouting much rhetoric about preserving freedom, proceeded to remove much of our freedom through the Patriot Act and Homeland Security.  I don’t really believe either of these is necessary, but that’s another issue.  It is true that you could at least be investigated if not arrested for bad-mouthing the President, had to be screened in order to hear him speak, without the opportunity to plead your own case, and that those citizens choosing to exercise several of their first amendment rights in his presence(petitioning the government for redress of grievences is one of these rights) had to do so out of his sight and, presumably, hearing.

What’s all this got to do with the present, when Bush is out of office?  Well, the other day I saw a full page ad in a local publication showing a large photo of talk show host Scott Hennen, with the quote “I hope Obama’s socialist policys are a disaster.

Mr Hennan, if you had said a similar thing about your hero Mr. Bush you could well have wound up in jail.  You would at least have been investigated.  I would point out that in Mr Obama’s town meeting in Indiana, people that disagreed with him were admitted without screening and allowed to question him.  If you have an issue with his polices, it seems that you can go ask him about them instead of being screened out.

One might question conservative talker Scott Hennen loyalties at this point.

Fear the Lutefisk

In our last installment, we discussed some positive signs in the race relations situation.

I have now graduated from college and am hanging around Raleigh, taking courses and working for the Raleigh Recreation Department in preparation for graduate school in the fall.  This was the summer of 1963, called by some the “long hot summer,” or by others, the summer the police turned around.

To set the time frame, this was the summer of the Greensboro lunch counter sit it, the Selma, Alabama march and other large acts of civil disobedience in which African Americans let it be known that they would no longer accept second class citizenship.  Many cities in the Southeastern United States  were  “integrated” thus, and Raleigh was no exception.  The only difference was that the leaders of both sides agreed to keep the press out of it, and the only coverage was short articles on the back page of the Raleigh News and Observer.
Read more

CHICAGO – President-elect Barack Obama asked the White House if his family could move to Washington earlier than normal, but aides say the White House couldn’t give them the official guest house as early as his family wanted. Read more

BREAKING NEWS: Gov. Blagojevich, wearing a black and blue jogging suit, appeared before a federal judge this afternoon on corruption charges. U.S. Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan set a $4,500 personal-recognizance bond for the governor, who was arrested at his North Side home this morning. Blagojevich and his chief of staff were arrested at their homes this morning in a probe involving the governor’s quest to fill Sen. Barack Obama’s open Senate seat and focusing on wire fraud and bribery charges.
Read more

In the last installment, we discussed life in the segregated rural south in the mid 1950.s Now, I don’t want to leave the impression that I totally did not like the south or its people.

In general, it’s a relaxed area of the country in which to live and the people an inherent gentility that we midwesterners can’t imagine. But on the issue of race they were at that time in my opinion totally misguided. And they didn’t particularly care for goddamnyankees.

To set the time line for this period, George Preston Marshall was popularizing the then small-time NFL by, against the advice of his colleagues, televising the games of his all white Washington Redskins throughout the southeastern United States. The civil rights movement had started and African Americans who exercised their first amendment right to peaceably assemble in order to demonstrate for the right to vote, for example, were tear gassed and cattle prodded by the police and sheriffs that should have been protecting them from the seething white mobs that surrounded them.
Read more

Blatant & Latent Racism in North Carolina & the Midwest

Previously, we had discussed racial perceptions in affluent suburbs of Chicago during and after WWII.  It is perhaps well to realize that at this point in history, the armed forces were still segregated, with black units often drawing the most unsavory assignments.  Accomplishments such as those of the Tuskegee airmen went unnoticed.  In fact, it has been only recently been public knowledge that the first colonist killed at the Boston Massacre was black: even the classic painting of the event revises history to make him white.

  Read more

Is E. Rahm Tough Enough?

You Tell Me.

Emanuel once mailed a pollster a big dead fish. Enraged by disloyal Democrats during Bill Clinton’s first presidential run, he blew away dinner guest by calling out the names of the offenders, punctuating each name by shouting, “Dead.” and stabbing the restaurant table with a dinner knife.

Once he summoned a reporter to his office, shut the door and yelled at him like he was the Chief of Police in a bad Cop Movie. Each sentence was filled with profanity that would make a drunken sailor proud. His face was beet-red. At one point, he suddenly stopped, jumped out of his chair and whipped the door open. He then delivered the coup de grâce, declaring “And, dear sir, the horse you road in on.” , loud enough for people in the Outer office to hear.

As far as getting things done. There’s not much doubt about that. Some people may not like how, but by golly it gets done. Here’s what some Washington people have to say:

“He is competitive, hardworking, hard-charging and street smart, … At the end of the day, you send him to get a mission done, he’ll get it done.” -Rep. Thomas Reynolds (NY), who ran the Republicans’ House election committee in 2006 while Emanuel ran the Democratic counterpart.

“He is the perfect choice. He knows the Hill, he knows substance, he knows politics, and most importantly, he can get the job done.” – Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y

“Rahm knows Capitol Hill and has great political skills … He can be a tough partisan but also understands the need to work together.” - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

“No one I know is better at getting things done than Rahm Emanuel” President-Elect Obama

That common theme of getting things done is going to be vital during the upcoming presidency. We are facing so many problems right now that taking immediate action about some of them is imperative. Rahm seems to understand this.

“We often disagree, but I respect their motives,” Emanuel said. “Now is a time for unity, and, Mr. President-elect, I will do everything in my power to help you stitch together the frayed fabric of our politics, and help summon Americans of both parties to unite in common purpose.”

For the last two years, Emanuel and Rep. Ray LaHood, (R-IL), have put on dinners for small groups of lawmakers from both parties.

“These intimate, yet no-holds-barred dinners have underscored something that I believe is very important for a functional Congress: To get things done on Capitol Hill, one must work in a bipartisan manner,” LaHood said. “Rahm Emanuel shares that belief.”

That’s what Washington needs right now…One Big Dinner Party

Some of the Rumored Guests at the Party:

James Jones was being discussed as secretary of state
former Secretary of State Colin Powell interested in becoming education secretary.
Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel(R)
Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar(R)
and I definately wouldn’t count out Warren Buffet.

Here’s my personal favorite part. Ari from “Entourage” is based on his Brother Ari, an agent in Hollywood. Gotta love that!

~Casper

By: Kirsten Jackson

This is definately an historic moment….someone that was left out of the picture from the previous article is Martin Luther King.

Obama is going to be a historical figure and I have felt since the beginning that he is our Martin Luther King. That doesn’t have anything to do with the color of his skin. Personally, I am really tired of hearing that he is black….what about the other part of him that is white? Why is that always forgotten?
This election has brought out the best and the worst in people. I am reminded of the ignorant Americans in this country that refuse to educate themselves and embrace every American the same. It is 2008….why are we still worried about what color someone’s skin is? I wonder if we will ever get past that but on the other hand realize that there will always be people out there that truly believe that they are superior than other’s. There will always be people that don’t educate themselves and open their eyes to the changing world around them. Where have you all been the last 8 years? Obviously not watching the news or picking up a newspaper. Have you not been affected in some way the past 8 years? I have, countless times, and not in a positive way.
I didn’t vote for Barack Obama because of the color of his skin or his ability to ignite a crowd and speak so eloquently. I voted for him because he is the beacon of hope that this country needs, our light at the end of a very long, dark tunnel. He wants this country to heal, not divided into red and blue states, but actually be the United States! Who cannot be moved when listening to what this man has to say? He represents what our country was supposed to be when the constitution of the United States was written.
While online today I finally got the Republican viewpoint. Two comments made by people that consider themself Republican. The first was “now all of our guns are going to be taken away” and “now all of our money is going to be taken away.” OK WHAT??? Are you serious? That’s what I thought, these people have not been listening! Someone else said that they voted on their morals, that they didn’t need to listen to what they have to say. WOW! First and foremost, Obama does not want your guns! In fact he wants you to keep your right to bear arms! He would like to keep, for example, an AK-47 out of the hands of a gang member. And money….he wants to give you money, that is, if you don’t make over $250,000/year. Obama makes over that amount and he doesn’t mind paying higher taxes because he has the money! Wow…that is quite a concept! Personally, I don’t know anyone who makes over $250,000/year. In fact I would feel rich if I made $100,000/year. I know plenty of people that live paycheck to paycheck, don’t have a dime in savings, and don’t have health insurance. Do I feel these people need tax breaks over the rich? Definately! I want my kids to grow up in a different world than we have now. I believe in Barack Obama and I believe he is going to show everyone what an amazing person he really is.

FDR, JFK, Lincoln?

I’m hoping for some wonderful combination of the above. One things for sure he will be remembered. No Franklin Pierce presidency in store here. His name will never be lost in our nations history. Will he be able to bring together our country and guide us through Our Generations Great Depression. I certainly hope so. No matter what your feeling were/are about Obama everybody better get on board cause this country is in for some very very rough times.

The Choices that he makes in the next few weeks will really tell us what kind of policy changes are coming.

It will also tell us a great deal about how much bipartisanship the next term(s) will have.

The social election of Obama are amazing. I guess I really hadn’t thought alot about how much this will change the way future generations will view race. Or more importantly how they WON’T be thinking about it. Exciting times.

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