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February 21, 2008

A personal approach to buying, selling books

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Micawber’s, an independent bookstore in St. Paul, is a fresh alternative to corporate giants.

Inside a cozy bookstore in St. Paul, my friend and I wander from table to table, browsing the hundreds of books lining the walls and tables scattered throughout. He strolls to a nearby stack, picks up a book and shows me the cover.

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Posted by at 01:01 PM |

February 19, 2008

Race to the DNC

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With record turnouts at DFL caucuses, many may be asking whom should I support?

On Super Tuesday, as DFL caucus goers at Brooklyn Center High School filled out Post-it notes instead of ballots for presidential polling, record Democratic turnout caught state party organizers off guard.

I spoke with both Buck Humphrey, state director of the Hillary Clinton campaign in Minnesota and Michael Donovan, one of Barak Obama's top Chicago interns. I asked each why he thought this election was drawing so much attention and why voters should choose one candidate over another to represent the DFL.

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Posted by at 02:12 PM |

Study Abroad Dollar Running Short

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As more students chose to study abroad, more are heading south as their dollar takes them further.

University of St. Thomas study abroad students are finding lately that their dollar is not taking them very far.

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Posted by at 07:29 AM |

Bottles Bring in Funds

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“The largest number of abortions in our state are performed on college-aged women in Hennepin County,” Lisa Hunter said, the Executive Director of the University Life Care Center.

Baby bottles were passed out in St. Paul a couple weeks ago to raise money for a non-profit life center in Dinkytown in Minneapolis.

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Posted by at 07:15 AM |

February 18, 2008

Daubing Duo

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With hopes of turning my one dollar into more, I enjoy a Tuesday night of bingo differently than what I remember from my grade-school carnival nights.

I can picture Steve Roberts and LeeAnn Juckll scanning groceries at their respective registers in the morning while nit-picking the details of the night’s action at Pot O’ Gold Bingo Hall. Neither would lose focus in their cashier duties as they reminisce about the time when Steve was one daub away from winning the “speedo” round or when the two of them were waiting on O-62 to complete their diagonal and win a round of double bingo.

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Posted by at 08:46 PM |

Building Peace Without the Weapons

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Nonviolent Peaceforce sends unarmed civilian peacekeepers to conflict regions around the world.

Peacekeeping is not just for armies. There are groups that specialize in non-violent intervention in conflict areas all over the world that don’t carry guns, drive tanks or fly fighter planes. One of those groups is headquartered in Minneapolis.

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Posted by at 02:18 PM |

The Art or Vandalism of Graffiti

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Graffiti artists or vandals?

When he gets excited spit follows the words out of his mouth. “Sorry about that,” he said, while wiping saliva off my shirt. He cannot contain himself because of the “beautiful tag” he saw at the Midway bus yard.

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Posted by at 10:19 AM |

February 17, 2008

Swedish heritage comes to life in letters

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One dollar in postage helps maintain a cultural connection to my ancestors' homeland.

When my great-grandpa came from Sweden to work in the Iowa iron mines in 1916, it only cost him a couple cents to write home.

Ninety-two years later it costs 90 cents to send a letter to Sweden, something that is becoming increasingly rare as letter writing is replaced by e-mail. As Americans lose contact with their cultural heritage I try to keep an element of my “Swedishness” alive by sending frequent letters to friends and relatives in Scandinavia.

“With ‘Swedishness’… we mean Swedish thought, Swedish will, Swedish dreams, which we have brought with us as our essential wealth. We mean the planting in American soil of the seed we have not only brought with us, but which we are,” wrote David Nyvall, a Swedish immigrant to Minneapolis in his 1921 pamphlet “Svenskhetens bevarande," published the same year my great-grandpa brought his family to the United States.

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Posted by at 07:21 PM | | Comments (1)