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Buzz, Buzz, really buzzedWINONA, Minn., Oct. 31, 2005 -- A Winona State University student dressed up as a bumblebee for Halloween -- and, after a couple parties, buzzed to the wrong place, the police station. Officers found the student outside and asked for her ID. Twasn't hers. The woman, 20, was charged with underage boozing and carrying her 23-year-old sister's ID. Police said her alcohol was running .16, twice the state definition for drunkenness.
Court nominee has free-speech recordWASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2005 -- President Bush's follow-up nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court, Samuel Alito, has a free-speech advocacy record, including a student newspaper case at the University of Pittsburgh. Alito wrote a unanimous opinion for a three-judge federal appeals panel last year to strike down a Pennsylvania law banning alcohol advertisements from student newspapers. Alito expressed concern that the policy hurt the newspaper's budget and thus indirectly hindered the paper's news-gathering abilities financially. Also, he said, there was little evidence that the law had accomplished its goal of cutting student alcohol consumption.
In another case involving campus speech, Alito sided against a state college policy to prohibit honorariums from being paid to controversial speakers: Wrote Alito: "If government were free to suppress disfavored speech by preventing potential speakers from being paid, there would not be much left of the First Amendment."
Alito has been on the federal bench 15 years, on the Philadelphia-based Third Circuit Court of Appeals for Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the Virgin Islands. He now faces Senate Judiciary Committee hearings for the U.S. Supreme Court seat that will be vacated by the pending retirement of Sandra Day O'Connor. Bush's first nominee, Harriet Miers, withdrew in an uproar over competence and cronyism. Miers has since returned to Bush's White House staff.
Alito, considered conservative for his stance on abortion, has become a lightning rod since his nomination Monday. Women's organizations, civil libertarians and Democrats quickly piled up on him. Even so, the record shows that Alito took the side of free expression in numerous cases. These include a suit by two State College, Pa., high school students against a school policy that prohibited them from voicing their religious belief that homosexuality was a sin. "There is no question," he wrote, that the First Amendment "protects a wide variety of speech that listeners may consider deeply offensive." The First Amendment's protections of such speech, he said, outweigh concerns that the speech might disrupt the educational environment.
In a 2001 higher-ed case, Alito joined the Third Circuit majority in ruling in favor of a former prof at William Paterson University who alleged that her supervisors had harassed and fired her because she was an observant Jew. In a concurring opinion, Alito wrote that the law does not permit employers "to manipulate job requirements to the purpose of putting an employee to the 'cruel choice' between religion and employment." In a 1995 case from East Stroudsburg University he held that the university had not violated the due-process rights of a campus-police officer in suspending him without a hearing after learning that he had been arrested in a drug raid. |
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SAMUEL
ALITO
President Bush's Plan B for U.S. Supreme Court |
COMMENT
SCALING
MOUNTAINS OF GARBAGE
Todd Oulette is one sick dude. Just look at the nonsequitur arguments and demented rantings on his website. But those who would silence this occasional Winona State University student are forgetting that the foundation of a free and democratic society is free expression, no matter how outlandish, seditious, blasphemous, ill-reasoned or obnoxious. No one has put it more elegantly than John Milton in 1644. To paraphrase slightly: "Let truth and falsehood grapple, whoever knew truth put to the worse in a free and open encounter."
No one said a free and open society is painless. But if we are indeed the children of Milton, then we must be committed to free expression for all -- the wise and the stupid, the brillant and the twisted, the genteel and the brash. Either you believe in free expression or you don't.
Amid Oulette's wild bashing of people and institutions, there are grains of truth. The Catholic church in the United States has failed its faithful followers with massive coverups of transgenerational sex by hundreds of priests. This is hardly to say that Oulette's personal attacks on Catholics or a general anti-Catholicism are justified, but no less authority than the U.S. Council of Bishops has confirmed the church's failure. Oulette asserts there is a conspiratorial elite that conrols Winona, including news coverage. Like all conspiratorialists, Oulette grossly stretches the evidence but he's not wholly off base. Winona does have what political scientists and sociologists call a Power Elite, but it's neither as Catholic nor cliquish nor sinister as Oulette argues.
We need to listen to Oulette and everyone else who contributes to our social dialogue and to sort the wheat from the chaff. Only then can we move on with confidence that we have a better understanding, that we are nearer truth for having thoroughly considered everything that's been put into Milton's "marketplace of ideas." Yes, this does mean sorting through a lot of whackiness and garbage, including Todd Oulette's.
Silencing Oulette is not an option in a free society. The answer to "bad speech" always is more speech. Let those who disagree with Oulette speak out. And also those who shared his views. Only then, after considering robust exchanges, can we have confidence we've given attention to the fullest range of options in revising our thoughts and forming new and better conclusions.
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Background: Erstwhile student rails against Winonan
Background: Comment: The Winonan's conceptual mess
WSU SECURITY REPORT
WEEK ENDING OCT. 30, 2005
Oct. 31, 2005: A student reported that at 9 a.m. her vehicle was struck while parked at the East Lake dorm.
Oct. 30, 2005: A dorm supervisor reported at 6:55 p.m,. that a tenant reported that she was sexually assaulted at an off-campus location. Police were notified.
Oct. 30, 2005: Several students were cited for an alcohol violation at the East Lake dorm at 1:50 a.m.
Oct. 30, 2005: Several students reported witnessing occupants of a vehicle near the Tau dorm throw a pumpkin at a vehicle on the street at 1:15 a.m. Police were notified
Oct. 29, 2005: Several students had a dispute at the Sheehan dorm at 1 a.m.
Oct. 28, 2005: AS student reported at 6:40 p.m. that a DVD was taken from his room in the Quad dorm several hous earlier.
Oct. 28, 2005: A student reported at 2 p.m. that her wallet was taken from her purse during the previous evening fromher unlocked dorm room in the Quad.
Oct. 27, 2005: A student reported at 11 a.m. that his unlocked bike was taken from outside of Kryzsko Commons earlier in the day.
Oct. 27, 2005: A fire alarm activated at the Physical Plant at 9:22 a.m., a false alarm.
Oct. 27, 2005: A non-student was removed from campus for causing a disturbance. at 10 p.m Police were also notified.
Oct. 24, 2005: Astudent reported at 12:40 p,.m. that her purse was taken from her unlocked dorm room in Lourdes. The theft occurred between 9:30 p.m., Oct. 23, and 8:30 a.m., Oct. 24.
Oct. 24, 2005: Astudent was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia in the Quad dorm.
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WSU is forum for School Board pitchWINONA, Minn., Oct. 31, 2005 -- The superintendent of Winona schools, Paul Durand, and School Board members will conduct an informal question-answer session at Winona State University. The referendum, which includes a property tax increase, has been supported by the faculty and student senates at the university.
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 2
Time: 1 p.m.
Place: Library Atheneum
Cost: Free |
Background: Flynn: Student Senate had all the facts
NEWS AND COMMENT
WINONA MEDIA WATCH |
THE CONCEPTUAL MESS
AT THE WINONAN
As editor of the Winonan student newspaper at Winona State University, Kate Weber has inherited a conceptual mess. It's hard to figure out the paper's mission. For years there was as much about Vikings professional football as the Warriors. Columnists have meandered all over the landscape with commentary, much of it not campus related. To fill gaping holes when reporters didn't generate encough campus coverage, wire copy from the global Associated Press news agency was slapped in as fill. Talk about journalistic Afghanistanism. Or, in today's parlance, journalistic Uzbekistanism.
To be sure there have been improvements. Sports editor Ian Sauffer has returned his section's focus to Winona State. Weber and her news editors have much improved campus coverage. This is all to the good. If the Winonan doesn't cover Winona State, the paper's unique niche in the journalism, then much of the Winona State story will go untold. That has been the tragic Winonan lapse in recent years.
It also is why the Winonan is in its current mess with local crank Todd Oulette, who is crying foul that his views on a wide range of issues, few of them with a bonafide campus connection, aren't making it in the paper's reader letters section. In effect, Oulette is asking a reasonable question: If the Winonan can cover Uzbekistan, why not my ramblings on any and everything, campus-related or not? The correct answer should be that his comments don't fit the mission of a campus newspaper, but that's a hard case to make considering the Winonan's recent helter-skleter focus.
Weber is absolutely within her editorial perogatives to decide what letters are worth her readers' attention. There's never enough room. Selection is what editors do. Weber also is on course in narrowing the Winonan's focus to campus, doing what it as a campus sheet can do best. But she's inherited a lot of unfortunate conceptual baggage from unfocused predecessor editors. About Oulette's letters, Weber should give them every consideration for publication within a defined letters policy that precludes actionable libels and other uniformly defined criteria that must include campus relevancy.
A tougher issue for Weber is Oulette's willingness to pay for advertising space. There, too, the Winonan needs a clearer policy. A suggestion is to look at the New York Times, the premier U.S. forum for advocacy ads. The Times makes paid advertising space available to anyone whose messages meet specific requirements against slander and poor taste. In short, the Times will accept money from anyone who wants to make an ass of himself and pay for the privilege, as well as for serious contributions on significant issues. Advocacy ads, even those from lunatic fringes, add to the rich diversity of dialogue that marks a free society.
The Winonan can do this too, but it will take a better-defined vision and a level of journalistic leadership than the paper has had in recent years.
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Background: Erstwhile student rails against Winonan
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HARLON HILL TROPHY |
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WSU's Hynes in regional running| FLORENCE, Ala., Oct. 31, 2005 -- Winona State University senior wide receiver Brian Hynes has been named to the Northwest Region ballot for the Harlon Hill Trophy. Hynes is among six players named to the regional ballot. Hynes is joined on the region ballot by North Dakota linebacker Digger Anderson, St. Cloud State running back Matt Birkel, South Dakota quarterback Wesley Beschorner, Nebraska-Omaha quarterback Brian Masek and Concordia of St. Paul quarterback James McNear. |
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BRIAN
HYNES
Senior wide receiver |
Erstwhile student rails against WinonanWINONA, Minn., Oct. 31, 2005 -- An on-again, off-again Winona State student, Todd Oulette, has conjured up another hotmail address for a spamming campaign, this time directed at the editor of the Winonan student newspaper at the university. The e-message, signed WSUCatholicsScrewKids, accuses Kate Weber of refusing to run his ads "about a local pedophile scandal." The message was sent, it is believed, to all student senators. It is the Senate that provides most of the funding for the Winonan.
The message claims that Weber sees "the issue of WSU officials covering for a pedophile" as "inappropriate" for the Winonan. The message includes a reference to a website in which Oulette, thinly disguising his identity, accuses a wide range of people in covering up a sex scandal that sent Randy Waite, a Winona girls' softball coach, to prison after police, acting on a parents' complaints of inappropriate contact with their daughters, found child porn cached on his home computer.
The Waite case was widely covered by Winona and neighboring media at the time. There was never a Winona State connection in the case.
Under a pseudonym Oulette first sent e-messages last week to freshmen senators. Not knowing Oulette's history, some of the freshmen senators, in office only a month, began talk about an investigation into Winonan editorial decision-making. In a later e-message Oulette widened his address list to all senators in what seemed to be a call for Senate action against Weber.
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TODD
OULETTE
Progenitor of conpiracy-theory website
His latest e-mail address: wsucrooks@
hotmail.com
WINONAN EDITORS
STACY
BOOTH
First
Winonan
target |
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KATE
WEBER
Now
his
focus |
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Two years ago Oulette launched a campaign against Winonan editor Stacy Booth after she cut off running his letters to the editor and then refused paid advertising for his causes. Booth said she felt physically threatened and convinced university attorney Tess Kruger and campus security chief Don Walski to restrict Oulette from the Winonan office in the Kryzsko Commons basement.
Oulette, who fancies himself a champion of loosely connected liberal causes, has had scrapes and near-scrapes with the law. He has been arrested for scaling a security fence at the White House. While in the Washington area he faced assault charges in suburban Virginia, although they were dropped. During the 2004 state Legislature campaign in Winona, Republican candidate Nick Ridge, a Winona State grad, told police that Oulette approached him on Third Street at mid-day and punched him without provocation. Ridge did not press charges.
Oulette's current campaign alleges a conspiracy among town Catholics to cover up the Randy Waite child-porn case. He alleges a conpiracy to silence his slander-laden pyrogenic rantings aimed at an ever-growing circle of people who, he claims, control the news in Winona in their own selfish interests. His targets, mostly Catholics but not all, include State Sen. Bob Kierlin, R-Winona; State Rep. Gene Pelowski; D-Winona; Chuck MacLean, county prosecutor; Jerry Miller, mayor; Monica Mohan, city clerk; Richard Blahnik, city attorney; Bruce Nelson, assistant city attorney; Kent Gernander, attorney for the Winona State's fund-raising arm; Gary Evans, chief executive at the Hiawatha Broadband cable company; and Dave Bostrack, deputy police chief. There are, also, swipes at St. Mary's University, a Catholic college.
A centerpiece of Oulette postings in recent months has been a refusal by Hiawatha Broadband to air a self-produced television program on a cable channel that, by law, is open to all citizens. Evans, chief executive at Hiawatha Broadband, eventually granted Oulette airtime. Oulette also has lambasted other Winona news media over the years.
On his current website Oulette flails widely against Catholics. Under a photo of Winona State mass communication prof John Weis, Oulette, grammatically mangling first and third person, writes: "I got this quotation from John Weis' own website. 'He is a traditional Catholic, so if you think Vatican II was a good thing, he'll be happy to talk with you about it...but only in Latin :-).'" Then, under pictures of Weis' grandchildren, ripped from Weis' site, Oulette adds: "Go into his office and ask him what he would do if the local Catholic priest raped his grandchildren. Hint: Put $$$ in the plate and shut the hell up." Oulette's sites are full of items, mostly ripped from other sites, of officially sanctioned coverups in many Catholic dioceses nationwide of priest abuses of adolescents and children.
Oulette vilifies university President Judith Ramaley on his site for failing "to respond to complaints about corruption and discrimination at WSU." He does not elaborate on his allegations. In his tirades against Hiawatha Broadband, which goes by the corporate initials HBC, Oulette criticizes Teresa Nelson of the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union, a Winona State grad, who, he says, "refused a judge's offer to accept a legal brief on HBCI discrimination." In an earlier posting on Oulette's ever-changing site he accused Judge Larry Collins, of Winona County District Court, of going light in sentencing Waite, also as part of a conspiracy.
Background: Ugly Winonan exchanges continue; warning issued
Report: Lab animal lab uncheckedWASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2005 -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture has engaged in shoddy enforcement of federal rules against abuse of research animals in university labs, according to audits by the agency's internal nvestigators. Auditors found that 50 majors universities frequently under-report the number of animals used in experiments and that governemnt inspectors do not check the figures. Winona State University of Minnesota, whose biology and psychology departments have rat labs, was not mentioned. About the universities where records were checks, auditors called for better tracking of violations. The auditors suggested that the maximum fine per violation be increased from the curent $2.700 to $10,000.
WSU broadcasters win regional honorsWINONA, Minn., Oct. 31, 2005 -- A Winona State University broadcast student, Carrie Libera, was named regional public information officer of the year by the National Broadcast Society. Libera also won first place for a video news package and honorable mention for a video feature package. Mike Williams won best website and honorable mention for a video commercial. Andrew Liebetrau won first place for audio sports play-by-play.
19 vehicles in WSU staff fleetWINONA, Minn,. Oct. 31, 2005 -- The fleet of Winona State University vehicles:
ASSIGNED
2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV
2005 Chevrolet Impala (silverstone) sedan
2006 Chevrolet Impala (glacier blue) sedan
2003 Chevrolet Impala sedan
2005 Chevrolet Malibu (driftwood) sedan
AVAILABLE FOR CHECK OUT
2001 Chevrolet Malibu sedan
2001 Chevrolet Malibu sedan
2002 Chevrolet Impala sedan
2004 Chevrolet Impala sedan
2004 Chevrolet Impala sedan
2005 Chevrolet Impala sedan
2000 Chevrolet Impala sedan
2000 Dodge Intrepid sedan
2002 Dodge Grand Caravan minivan
2005 Dodge Caravan minivan
2005 Grand Caravan minivan
2004 Chevrolet van
2003 Chevrolet van
2003 Chevrolet van
2003 Chevrolet van |
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Judith Ramaley, university president
Ken Gorman, vice president
Tess Kruger, vice president
Rochester campus
Rochester campus |
| Overnight alternate-side rule effective at 1 a.m., Nov. 1, to April 1.
Odd side on odd-number dates, even side on even-number dates. Monday, Nov. 1 is an odd-number date. |
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Background: Verbatim: City parking ordinance
Slam-the-students author a mysteryWINONA, Minn., Oct. 30, 2005 -- Winona State University will not respond formally to a recent newspaper opinion letter that accused students of being drunken, promiscuous slobs. A formal response to the letter, which appeared in the Daily News, would suggest that the letter was intelligently written and warrants a response, said Tom Grier, director of communications who is President Judith Ramaley's spokesperson. "Even if the president wanted to issue a response I would advise her not to," said Grier.
Grier said he has no idea who wrote the letter, which was signed Norville Rogers, but he doubted its authenticity from the start: "Right after I read the letter, I questioned if it was legitimate because of the harsh language and unrealistic claims against students." Grier also began to investigate the author of the letter, supposedly Norville Rogers, but found no one who lived in Winona with that name. Grier said the only Norville Rogers he could find any information on was the one who is a character on the cartoon Scooby Doo.
Grier said he contacted Daily News editors to make them aware of the possibility of the hoax. Grier said he was informed that an editor had been in contact with the source before printing the letter but would do some more investigating.. Jerome Christenson, opinion page editor, who initially brushed off any chance of a mistake when questioned by a student reporter, later concluded there had been an error and the letter was published under a false name. The Daily News issued the following statement, signed by Editor Darrell Ehrlick and Christenson, in Sunday's edition.
"Note to Readers: While we verified a letter published in Thursday's edition written under the name of Norville Rogers, the identity was subterfuge, discovered upon further investigation. We regret that the letter was published without accurately identifying the author."
Grier said he did not ask for any retraction or correction. Grier said that he expected the Daily News would receive quite a few responses to the letter, many from offended Winona State faculty, staff, students and alumni. Christenson, meanwhile, said the Daily News had received many letters but that letters on the pending Winona school referendum, on the ballot Nov. 8, need to take priority.
University President Judith Ramaley was not available for comment, but her office confirmed that she was aware of the letter, which she called "bogus." The president's pffice also confirmed they had been contacted for comments by a few major news sources, including the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Reporter: Alison Paulseth
Background: Will Norville Rogers please stand up
Background: View: WSU as a drunkfest incubator
Will Norville Rogers please stand upWINONA, Minn., Oct. 31, 2005 -- The writer of a recent opinion letter in the Winona Daily News, which paints Winona State University students as drunken idiots who make impossible neighbors, is nowhere to be found, but the Daily News insists the letter is not a hoax. Doubts about the letter, signed Norville Rogers, Winona, sprouted immediately on campus, where students were offended at the sweeping condemnations and because Rogers could not be located. The Daily News opinion page editor, Jerome Christenson, insists that the writer is real and that he has corresponded with him by e-mail and has his contact information, including address. Christenson declined to share the information, calling it confidential. However, Christensen confirmed the address was in the city.
Christensen said letters submitted to the opinion page must include a name, address and contact information. A writer is contacted directly for verification before a letter is published, he said.
Norville Rogers is listed in neither the Winona phone book nor city directory. Calls to every phone number listed for a Rogers found nobody knowing anyone by the name of Norville. A Google search yielded only Shaggy, the clumsy sidekick in the Scooby Doo cartoon series. Shaggy is the nickname for a character whose real name is Norville Rogers.
Christenson said just because Rogers is not listed does not mean that he does not exist or that the letter is a hoax. "We also had a John Kennedy who lived here in town," said Christenson. "He wasn't the president."
Rogers does include a clue about himself in the letter, saying he did go to college in the past. St. Mary's University alumni department could not find an alum by that name. At Winona State an official deferred to a policy not to give information about alumni, not even to confirm if he or is an alum.
In his letter Rogers directs some attack against City Council member Deb SalyardÕs proposal to limit the number of rental properties in the Winona State neighborhood. A call to Salyard for comment was not immediately returned.
The letter lumps all college students together as "imbeciles," among other things. At-large student Sen. DJ Danielson said the letter is dripping with sarcasm. Referring to Rogers' implication that student are big into heroin Danielson said, "Any reasonable person knows that there is not a heroin problem among students at WSU." Danielson said the sarcasm may have some effect on whether the letter is taken seriously. "On the surface the sarcasm could have an effect because of the referral to WSU as a "free love give away" and "drunken debauchery fest," he said. "Comments like that may cause people to not take the letter seriously." The exaggerations, however, may focus new attention on neighborhood problems, including run-down rental units and parking congestion, he said. Danielson said he did not know yet if the Student Senate would discuss letter or respond.
Meanwhile, speculation perculates about who is this Norville Rogers and whether the Daily News was taken for a ride. So will the real Norville Rogers, if there is one, please stand up. |
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| NEWS AND COMMENT
WINONA MEDIA WATCH |
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News media are vulnerable to people who for whatever reason pass themselves off as more than what they are, or less, as chronicled by no less an authority than Curtis MacDougall, the dean of journalism education, in his 1940 book "Hoaxes."
Hoaxes called "dirty tricks," played out in the news media, were a speciality of Richard Nixon adviser Donald Segretti in the wayward days of the 1972 election.
At the Winona State University, the Winonan once ran a letter signed Aerola Rubricose.
The Daily News itself engaged in a fun-and-games spoof two years ago with a short-lived gossipy column, signed only by Nosy Neighbor -- a kind of harmless hoax on the readers.
Eventually editor Chris Steinbach fessed up that he he was the Nosy Neighbor and then moved on to a bigger, better job Idaho.
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Reporter: Alison Paulseth
Background: View: WSU as a drunkfest incubator
Schyde's overcrowded? We'll never know| WINONA, Minn., Oct. 30, 2005 -- Responding to a report that Schyde's bar was over capacity, police responded to find the management clearing the joint out. Policed arrived at the 1 a.m. closing time. |
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SCHYDE'S
102 Johnson Stt |
Background: Bars still snub fire safety crowd limits
THE NEW UNIVERSITY
A.K.A. THE WINONA EXPERIENCE
A.K.A. LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY |
Is Ramaley going down Krueger path?WINONA,Minn., Oct. 30, 2005 -- The president of Winona State University, Judith Ramaley, is finding herself in the same trap as her predecessor in rallying support for the New University initiatives, a motley collection of academic-related reforms now renamed Learning in the 21st Century. In a "listening session" she arranged, Ramaley said that it has been difficult to communicate something that has not fully taken shape. It was the inability of recently retired Presdient Darrell Krueger to encapsulate the New University to a few words, except that it would require mega-bucks to implement, that led to a student protest over his proporsed tuition surcharge. In the end, a week before his retirement, the state college trustees turned down the funding Krueger needed.
Ramaley has resurrected the plan under the L21 moniker (Learning in the 21st Century, L21, get it?), but, as she conceded, it's a concept that's not easy to get your head around. She said that facilitators are working on how to capture the whole and present it to students.
At Ramaley's listening session, several students mentioned the lack of communication among staff and students involving L21. In responding, Ramaley realized she slipped into a Krueger-esque mode, which, at one point last March , resulted in him declaring angrily that stduents were ignorant because they didn't share his enthusiasm for the project. Ramaley said that if she were to send out an e-message, a student may or may not read it, and if they feel they don't, they'd zap it. Then, they say that they weren't communicated to. "You feel you weren't communicated with, and I get upset because I did, damn it!" she said.
It was a slip, and Ramaley, always quick at humor, laughed boisterously.
Trying to get back on track, Ramaley said that the L21 model involves looking into the future and adapting a way of education that is relevant. "In 2020, what will the engineering field be like?" she asked. L21's path, she said, is to take those questions and mold them into a liberal education at Winona State. Ramaley said that the L21 initiative is only the tip of the iceberg: "The first step is visible in academic efforts. The second step involves redesigning the basic support structure. The third step is designing basic business functions to cultivate this new form of learning.
At least 13 projects are being activated this year as a part of the L21 Initiative, she said. These include an extensive travel studies program, community-based or service-learning, residential colleges, and an arts program, she said, adding that there also is "inclusive excellence," which is a diversity-oriented program. One program currently in place is peer tutoring, she said, explaining that students receive one credit for "going to class again." They repeat their experience from a class by tutoring a student the second time around. "This teaches student tutors to interact with others while building their confidence and clarity. Plus, students learn the material better," Ramaley said.
Science Dean Nancy Jannik, current leader of the L21 initiative, said that she has begun putting together a website to describe the L21 Initiative in detail. "It will be like an open notebook, giving information about who's doing what with whom, and to what effect," she said.
Ramaley recommended the chapter in a book titled "The Field Guide to Academic Excellence." The chapter, "Moving Mountains," reflects how her brain works, she said: "Functionality and working groups. That's how my brain works." |
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|  JUDITH
RAMALEY
Hesitant to put her thoughts in writing for students
Unlike Krueger, she stopped short of saying students are ignorant
It's just that they zap their e-mail |
Reporter: Shelli Daniels
Background: President expalins L21 to doubtful students
Background: Krueger testy in showdown with students
Background: Trustees spurn last-ditch NewU plea
Background: Trustees refuse WSU's NewU funding
COURT CONVICTIONS
WEEK ENDING OCT. 30, 2005
IN WINONA COUNTY DISTRICT COURT
UNDERAGE CONSUMPTION
Brittany Kayla Barb, 19, Marshall, Minn., $177.
Timothy James Bollis, 18, South Milwaukee, Wis., $177.
Benjamin Joseph Doering, 19, Bloomington, Minn., $166.
Kerry Louise Howard, 20, Chicago, $177.
James David Orth, 20, Rochester, Minn., $$402.
Peter Edward Ostrowski, 20, Anoka, Minn., $$277.
Lindsay Rae Place, 20, Wausau, Wis., $277.
Michael John Price, 18, South St. Paul, Minn., $177.
Logan Jan Ramer, 18, Fouintain City, Wis., $265.
Danielle Veronica Robinson, 20, West St.Paul, Minn., $177.
Dustin Allen Schmidt, 19, Chippewa Falls, Wis., $477.
Elizabeth Grazce Schroetke, 18, Minnesota City, Minn., $277.
Sarah Louise Schurbet, 20, Pepin, Wis., $177.
James Robert Tolbert, 20, Phillips, Wis., $277.
LOUD PARTY
Dustin Allen Schmidt, 19, Chippewa Falls, Wis., $477.
Heather Ann Wetterlin, 19, Chanhassen, Minn., $377.
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 | SOCCER (MEN'S)
Santa Cruz 9, SMU 0 |
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Statistics
Ramaley: Put drunks to work on the streetsWINONA, Minn., Oct. 29, 2005 -- A more effective system is needed for punishing alcohol abusers, such as occurred over Winona State's homecoming weekend, university President Judith Ramaley told student senators in a discussion on campus boozing problems. Ramaley suggested folding community needs into punishments, something she called Adopt A Street. Instead of wayward students being assigned manual-labor chores on campus and in dorms, they could be assigned to designated street to pick up trash. A key to reforming alcohol excess and serving a larger good revolves around joint ventures, Ramaley said. She suggested that clubs and other organizations, as well as community leaders, need to promote activities that will take the place of drinking. Students can begin to change the culture of alcohol in a positive way, she said.
After Ramaley proposed her Adopt A Street idea, the student senators as well as faculty representatives nodded in approval. "It's about joint ventures -- community involvement and student retribution," she said.
Student President Ryan Flynn said that the current short and easy service hours to which students are sentenced won't fix the situation. Students aren't encouraged to think through their boozing habits. "The service hours assigned to students caught drinking in the dorms just gives them an hour or two to think about how not to get caught while they're stapling bulletin boards." The campus underage drinking culture needs to change, he said: "It's a culture of 'what can I do next time to not get caught.'"
In the free-wheeling discussion,, Ramaley said that as president at the University of Vermont she toured a detoxification facility to which students hopelessly drunk students were sent. The visit terrified her, she said: "I know, most students think, 'Yeah, but that will never happen to me,' but they're not getting calls at 2 in the morning saying that one of their students has died of acute alcohol poisoning."
Student affairs Vice President Cal Winbush noted thay several students from SHAPE, short for Spreading Health Awareness Through Peer Education, set up booths in the Kryzsko Commons last weekagainst irresponsible drinking. Winbush and campus health educator Ruth Schroeder explained tehir Call To Action initiatives designed to change the campus culture. The proposal includes coffeehouses, weekend events sponsored by clubs, and more options as alternatives to alcohol. The proposal encourages UPAC, the student government's amusements committee, to sponsor more campus weekend activities.
said that the drinking hype moves in cycles. Three years ago, he said, the city developed a three-strikes-and-you're-out policy to shut down rental units with repeated partying and noise complaints. Also, the boozd bus began running to ferry drunk students home from the bars and cut down hooliganism. Things cooled down, but now this year the problems are back, he said.
Unmentioned in the exchange was an aborted scheme by Winbush three weekend ago to ban booze-theme homecoming t-shirts. Students shouted down the proposal as a restriction of their free expression rights and as countrary to state college policies. Reportedly Ramaley was behind the t-shirt initative, but she kept her distance, letting Winbush take the heat and humiliation of having to back down. |
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| JUDITH
RAMALEY
Horrified at detox visit
RYAN
FLYNN
Current punishments seen as a joke
CAL
WINBUSH
Campaign against excesses has lost ground
RUTH
SCHROEDER
Non-alchohol weekend activities needed |
Reporter: Shelli Daniels
Background: T-shirt ban dies without fight
 | FOOTBALL (MEN'S)
NORTHERN SUN |
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The week ahead:
MSU-Moorhead (1-5, 1-8)
Bemidji State (4-2, 7-2)
UM-Crookston (0-6, 0-10)
Northern State (4-2, 5-5)
Winona State (6-0, 8-2)
Wayne State (3-3, 3-7)
Concordia of St. Paul (5-1, 8-1)
Southwest Minnesota (1-5, 4-6)
MARY AND UPPER IOWA JOINING CONFERENCE IN 2006
Mary
Upper Iowa
COMMENT:
THE ARMY AND ACADEME
A HOMOPHOBIC RELIC
The Army was forced kicking and screaming into racial integration in the 1950s. Why such resistance? The Army, one of society's most tradition-bound institutions, said that putting blacks and whites and other racial groups into the same units would hurt unit cohesion, morale, good order and discipline. Wiser heads prevailed. President Eisenhower ordered that the ranks be integrated.
Talk about deja vu. The Army today discriminates against gays. Regulations are specific: "Military life is fundamentally different from civilian life and concludes that the presence of individuals in the armed forces who engage in homosexual acts creates an unacceptable risk to unit cohesion and standards of morale, good order and discipline."
The Army talks about a policy of don't ask, don't tell.But the reality is that the Army is one of the few remaining bastions in society that discriminates so openly against gay people. The regulations are draconian:
"If a soldier admits publicly to being a homosexual, or the commander has credible evidence of a soldier committing a homosexual act, the commander will start an informal inquiry or investigation to determine if credible evidence exists to warrant separation. Credible evidence includes a statement by a reliable person that the soldier has engaged in a homosexual act, heard the soldier state that he or she was homosexual or that the soldier had married or attempted to marry a member of the same sex, or a statement by a reliable person that they had observed or discovered a soldier saying or putting in writing a statement acknowledging a homosexual act or the intent to engage in a homosexual act."
And this is the kind of organization that wants to ensconce itself in the Winona State University curriculum with uniformed faculty who's job, in part, is to weed out opernly gay students. Some advocates of restoring ROTC at Winona State argue that military science is worthy of a place in curriculum. Perhaps so, but an organization so homophobic that it plainly articulates discriminatory policies on sexual orientation has no place in any university community.
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Verbatim: The Army regulation
Background: Ramaley unsure about Army ROTC
Comment: Homophobia has no place at WSU
Hurricane-struck Xavier halfs facultyNEW ORLEANS, La., Oct. 29, 2005 -- Xavier University laid off more than half of its profs, 143 in all, and also half of its supporrt staff in an effort to recover from Hurrican Katrina damage and the possible loss of half its students. Cleanup costs will be staggeriung, said Warren Bell, a spokesperson. Fewer than half of Xavier's 4,000 students are expected to return in January, when classes resume. The layoffs will save $5.8 million this academic year. Rebuilding the campus is expected to run more than $90 million.
Cops predict quiet HalloweenWINONA, Minn., Oct. 29, 2005 -- Officials are not expecting any extra trouble from college students on Halloween. Both Winona State campus security guards and city police will be staffed at their usual number. "Typically the only problem that we have is some small vandalism things, like smashing pumpkins, but we cannot pin that on college students," said Tom Williams, deputy police chief. Don Walski, head of campus security, isn't expecting anything unusual either. "I know that students get dressed up and partying, but they are not mischievous like they used to be," said Walski.
Downtown bars are not planning on a big crowd either, although they may be running some specials. Brothers, a college hangout, has promoted a costume contest and drink specials both Saturday and Monday. These events are designed on to draw people to the bar instead of house parties, a bartender said. Not expecting too big of a crowd Brothers will not be adding any additional bartenders, she said. One or two additional bouncers may be brought in, she said. "Halloween isnÕt the same as homecoming," she said, noting that lots of students go to Madison or Halloween house parties. The Halloween falls on a Monday puts a damper on festivities, she said.
Madison, however, may be less a destination than in past years, when crowds have rioted. This year officials in Madison sent letters to outlying campuses, including Winona State, to discourage a trip to Madison. The letter warned about doubled fines and a ban on visitors at campus dorms. The letter also warned that the mayor will shut down all Halloween celebrations if there is another bad year. At Winona State, Walski is doubtful taht the letter will have any effect: "Students are still going to go to Madison because it is tradition. They do not go there with the idea to start riots, but with the environment once they are there sometimes one thing leads to another."
Reporter: Alison Paulseth
| FOOTBALL (MEN'S)
NORTHERN SUN |
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Winona State
Concordia St. Paul
Bemidji State
Northern State
Wayne State
Southwest Minnesota
MSU-Moorhead
UM-Crookston
JOINING CONFERENCE 2006
Mary at Black Hills State
Northwesern Oklahoma at Upper Iowa
| CONFERENCE
6-0
5-1
4-2
4-2
3-3
1-5
1-6
0-6
--
--
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| OVERALL
8-2
8-1
7-2
5-5
3-7
4-6
1-8
0-10
(7-1)
(2-6)
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| FOOTBALL (MEN'S)
NORTHERN SUN |
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Winona State 38, Wayne State 6
Bemidji State 27, MSU-Moorhead 13
Northern State 64, UM-Crookston 13
Concordia of St. Paul 21, Southwest Minnesota 17
* Nonconference
MARY AND UPPER IOWA JOIN CONFERENCE IN 2006
Mary at Black Hills State
Northwesern Oklahoma at Upper Iowa
| CROSS COUNTRY (MEN'S)
SMU (10th)
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| CROSS COUNTRY (WOMEN'S)
SMU (8th)
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| SOCCER (WOMEN'S)
SMU 1, St. Catherine's 0
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| VOLLEYBALL (WOMEN'S)
SMU 0-2
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Ramaley unsure of Army ROTC programWINONA, Minn., Oct. 29, 2005 -- The president of Winona State, Judith Ramaley, said she's open to the idea of an Army officer-prep curriculum at the university but she doesn't know much about what's being proposed. Ramaley said in an interview that she has never met Lt. Col Stewart Fearon, the commander of the Army ROTC unit at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, who showed up at a Student Senate meeting two weeks ago to pitch the creation of a Winona State unit. In an interview this week, Ramaley sidestepped questions about the Fearon presentation. She said she was unaware of what Fearon told the Senate therefore couldn't say whether she supports the plan.
At the Student Senate, Fearon and two Winona State students enrolled in the UW-La Crosse ROTC unit, told the senate about their plans. They were listed under the meeting agenda as "guest speakers." They did not ask for support but brought information to the senators.
Ramaley, now on the job three months, said she is aware Winona State has a memorandum of understanding with UW-LaCrosse that provides student access to UW-L's military science courses. The agreement dates to 1991, when the Army shut down its Winona State program due to insufficient enrollment. Fort students intent on an Army career, both Winona State and St. MaryÕs University agreed to accept credits earned in military science courses at UW-L. The memo of understanding also allows Army recruiters from UW-L to offer information about the program at appropriate times, such as fall orientation. Recruiters have frequently come to Winona State and handed out Army paraphernalia. As recently as last week, recruiters set up climbing walls and handed out business cards and information to students.
Ramaley said that the memo of understanding allows the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse unit to offer military science courses at Winona State, but until this August nobody had not, as far as she knows, asked for classroom or other space to do so. Even now, Ramaley saidshe does not know what the ROTCÕs space requirements are. Any discussions on space must have have been conducted with others on campus, she said.
Ramaley sees space as a problem. With the Pasteur science building gutted for remodeling and with Howell Hall scheduled to be torn down, a space problem exists that won't be solved for two to three years, Ramaley noted. "We are currently experiencing a serious shortage of academic and office space due to the remodeling going on at WSU and cannot accommodate their needs until the space shortage eases up," she said. One option may be to build a separate ROTC building, she said.
Ramaley says she understands that Lt. Col. Fearon, the ROTC commander at UW-La Crosse, has asked Winona State to offer military science courses under Winona State course numbers. But according to Minnesota state college system and campus academic policies, those courses, not offered since 1991, have lapsed. The process for reinstating courses has a specific path through a faculty review process. Restoring the old military science courses would be difficult, Ramaley said.
Ramaley has called for a faculty-student task force to review the university's relationship with UW-LaCrosse and to report back to her by the end of the fall semester. In the meantime, Ramaley said, she has delegated the responsibility for studying the Fearon initative to the task force and at this point cannot answer detailed questions. About Lt. Col. Fearon, she said she has never spoken with personally and has received nothing from him in recent weeks.
Ramaley also said the initative for a Winona State program cannot originate on campus. "The process of actually creating an ROTC detachment at WSU is a matter for the Pentagon and cannot be started by a campus without formal approval from the military," she said. |
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|  JUDITH
RAMALEY
Has more questions than answers
ROTC PATCH
For uniform shoulder |
Reporter: Shelli Daniels
Background: Army eyes WSU for officer training
Background: Army also courting SMU
Background: "Supporting ROTC not same as supporting war"
Background: Cadet: ROTC push originated locally
Background: WSU been pondering ROTC since summer
| VOLLEYBALL (MEN'S)
Northern State, WSU 1 |
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| SOCCER (MEN'S)
WSU 1, Concordia of St. Paul 0 |
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| FOOTBALL (MEN'S)
WSU 38, Wayne State 6 |
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Warriors gain share of league titleWAYNE, Neb., Oct. 29, 2005 -- Winona State University gained a share of its third straight Northern Sun conference championship by building a 35-0 lead and going on to beat Wayne State College 38-6. Sophomore quarterback Drew Aber guided the Warriors with 288 yards in total offense. Aber connected on 14 of 27 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns. He added 94 yards rushing on four carries, one of them a 62-yard run for a touchdown. The Warrior defense held Wayne State to fewer than 96 yards rushing and forced two turnovers that were converted to touchdowns. Jay Fogelson, Luke Lokanc and John Tackmann all had eight total tackles. Craig Martindale came up with one interception and Shawn Cunningham blocked Wayne State's extra-point kick attempt.
Background: Statistics
R.I.P.: Harriet Elizabeth (Flemming) BuckbeeUTICA, Minn., Oct 28, 3005 -- A Winona State Teachers College grad, Harriet Buckbee, 84, died at the family farm. She taught grade school in Adams, Chatfield and Lewiston, Minn., and La Crosse, Wis.
| SOCCER (WOMEN'S)
WSU 4, MSU-Mankato 2 |
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| VOLLEYBALL (WOMEN'S)
MSU-Moorhead 3, WSU 0 |
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COMMENT: WAR IN IRAQ
OUR GRUESOME TALLY
This will seem gruesome, which it is. Imagine rounding up every Winona State Univeristy freshman, men and women, and shooting them dead. The grisly toll would be only a few bodies short of the death tally of U.S. troops in the Iraq war, which passed 2,000 this week. Another 7,000 soldiers have been wounded so badly they will be maimed or scarred for life. None of this to mention 30,000 Iraqis who have died since the United States initiated hostilities.
So far the grim toll has not touched Winona State directly, but it surely will. The soldiers in Iraq are largely from Reserve and National Guard units, made of many college students who enlisted for supplemental income for tuition. Of the officer casualties, many came from campus ROTC units like the Army wants to set up again at Winona State.
When will this madness end? President Bush has insisted on a blank check. It'll be over when it's over, he says. The president has declined to offer specific goals. There is no blueprint. The neat, clean war he envisioned when he ordered the invasion has swollen out of control.
The American people deserve a plan for ending the war. And our troops deserve our support. Yes, support our troops. Bring them home, alive.
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| SOCCER (MEN'S)
SMU 4, UC-Hayward 3
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WSU energy session examines wind turbinesWINONA, Minn., Oct. 28, 2005 -- The Winona Community Energy Summit, to encourage discussion of renewable energies and promote a proposed wind turbine project, will be held at Winona State University. The Summit is sponsored by the county Economic Development Authority and the university. The keynote speaker will be David Morris, a renewable advocate, present "Making Minnesota Petroleum Free." A panel include Toby Dogwiler, a geoscience prof; Linda Grover, county economic development director, Price Hatcher, renewable energy murchasing manager for Xcel Energy. Jim Nichols, a western Minnesota farmer, will discuss profits from Turbine ownership.
| VOLLEYBALL (WOMEN'S)
Dubuque 3, SMU 0
UW-Whitewater 3, SMU 0
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WSU ex-student exec busted for noisy partyWINONA, Minn., Oct. 28, 2005 -- A former Winona State University student vice president, Tim Donahue, has paid a $277 fine for a raucous booze party at the house he rents with fellow students, according to court documents. Donahue had been cited under the city ordinance against noisy gatherings and loud parties after police responded to a complaint on Sept. 2. Donahue admitted to the violation and forfeited his right to a court appearance by paying the $277 on Sept. 29, according to court documents.
It was not Donahue's first scrape with partying problems. Last spring during Student Senate elections at Winona State, pictures of Donahue drunk and rolling in the floor appeared on the student-posted FaceBook.com website. Donahue, who was running for student president, lost the election. Also in the picture, also grinning drunk for the camera with a thumbs-up gesture, was one of Donahue housemates, student Sen. Adam Fredrickson, who has since resigned. Fredrickson also has a drunk-driving conviction on his record from last winter.
In the September case, neighbors complained about a loud party at 206 Wilson around 10:45 p.m. In their report, police said they could hear loud voices and screaming from well over 50 feet away. When the revelers spotted the cops, everyone ran inside, police said. The officers then knocked on the door and broke up the party of about 100 people. Booze paraphernalia was scattered throughout the front yard, they said.
Donahue was identified as a renter by his Illinois driver's license and ticketed, police said. Because one of Donahue's housemates, Chris Warringron, actually owns the house, the rule that evicts renters after three noisy party complaints likely won't apply. |
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TIM
DONAHUE
Former Student
Senate president
FACEBOOK.COM
ROLLICKING
Thumbs up, hic |
Reporter: Zack Stogenson
Background: Flynn on how he won
Background: Senator's rap sheet: 0.19 blood-alcohol
Background: Fredrickson: FaceBook photo irrelevant
Background: Effect of booze photos? Generally slight
Walz ready to "knock off" GutknechtWINONA, Minn., Oct. 28, 2005 -- Mankato school teacher Tim Walz, who is seeking the Democratic congressional nomination, spoke optimistically at Winona State University that he could knock off incumbent six-term Gil Gutenechkt. "People are angry," Walz said. ŌThere is weariness in people, with no sense of optimism for the future, and things keep getting tougher in a dangerous world, and to me that is very unhealthy," Walz said. Walz was on campus to make a grassroots pitch to students and community members. So far, he said, his travels have included 21 county fairs and 37 parades. In those across southern Minnesota's First Congressional District, he said he found the Iraq war , energy and education are on the minds of a lot of people.
Walz, himself former soldier who served in Iraq, said the war in Iraq "was based on false pretenses, poorly planned, poorly thought out, and that authentic leadership was not listened to, but with that said, we have a moral obligation to clean up the mess we made." As for the Winona school referendum, Walz called it "completely unfair for the school to be put in this position in the first place." The state government has been remiss in blaming local school boards for their financial binds. The problem, he said, is that the state has failed to make a commitment to education.
Walz opened the session by talking about his campaign strategy and how he would work for individuals and their families -- not corporations. Walz opened the floor for questions and reveled in being peppered by questions. In a slap at Gutknecht, he said that being put on the spot is something "my opponent won't do." |
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TIM
WALZ
Bidding for Congress |
Reporter: Phil Dawson
Background: WSU Democrats sponsor Walz visit
Background: Campaigns campus people are watching
Background: Iraq war vet announces for Congress
Students call for textbook rental studyWINONA, Minn., Oct. 27, 2005 -- Student leaders called on Winona State University's president, Judith Ramaley, to create a task force to review whether a textbook rental or loan program could reduce student costs. Ryan Flynn, student president, who has worked with the idea since his freshman year, said one idea is for the faculty from each department to pick textbooks for general education courses and use those books over a few years, instead of getting new editions every year. Flynjn acknowledged that the idea would not work for courses that revolve around current events.
Under the proposal, the bookstore would sell the books at 60 percent of the cost. Students would then return the textbook to the bookstore and the next student to purchase it would pay 40 percent.
The university's cultural diversity director, Alex Hines, said he is working with the idea of loaning textbooks to students in critical financial need. Books would be available first come, first serve basis, Hines said. Students would return books at the end of a semester.
The discussion was at a periodically scheduled meeting between stduent senators and university administrators to discuss issues that both parties bring to an agenda.
The committee also discussed the so-called Academic Bill of Rights introduced in the Minnesota Legislature and also in other states by reactioanry right-wing legislators. Flynn termed the legislation not a good thing: "The biggest fear I am concerned with is the unlimited potential that it has in affecting the university." The idea is for students to have right to disagree with a professor's teaching by walking out of class without any penalty, being able to refuse to take the prof's test on the subject, and still pass the course. Ramaley said that this issue needed to be discussed in more depth so that if Winona State were to become a target of the proposed legislation, the university would know prepared to deal with it. |
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| Attending the meet-and-discuss session were:
Judith Ramaley
university president
Cal Winbush
university
student affairs
vice presdient
Jim Schmidt
university
public relations
vice president
Dave Gresham
acting
university technology
vice president
Vicki Englich
community relations
Nancy Jannik
dean of
science and
engineering
Alex Hines
university cultural diversity director
Ryan Flynn
student president
Kari Winter
student
vice president
Rotney O'Shea
senior senator
Sachin Padhye
senior senator
Jared Stene
sophomore senator
Jon Jacob
liberal arts
senator
Erin Feger
Student Senate
secretary
| |
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Reporter: Kathleen Kulkay
Fall Clipper drug dealer gets four yearsWINONA, Minn., Oct. 27, 2005 -- One of the last of 15 defendants from the Fall Clipper drug raids a year ago, Mario Brainnard Davis, 25, was sentenced to four years in prison. Davis had pleaded guilty to six felony drug charges. At his sentencing hearing Davis asked Judge Larry Collins to recommend him for drug treatment in prison. If all goes well in prsion, Davis could be out in 28 months. Four months in the county jail are counting as good time. Davis fled after the October 2004 Fall Clipper raids but was apprehended in Rock Island, Ill.
In an interview with the Daily News, Davis womanfriend, Kwana Evans, offered some insight into the police investigation that led to the Fall Clipper warrants. She said a man who worked up a friendship with Davis over several months was actually a police informant. She said the informant had even stayed at the home and attended her church.
Of 15 people named in Fall Clipper warrants, only Dionte Terrell Banks remains at large.
Background: Fall Clipper trial delayed; more coming
Background: Who cops snared last November
Quixtar recruiters target college studentsWINONA, Minn., Oct. 25, 2005 -- An internet company criticized for being a pyramid scheme, Quixtar, has been recruiting students at Winona to pick up extra cash by selling household products and other items. Promoters for Quixtar held recruiting sessions in Classroom 200 at St. MaryÕs Hall at St. Mary's University, where students were tantalized about working 10 to 15 hours a week and then, by creating a distribution system through friends and neighbors, multiplying their income to hundreds and thousands of dollars. Three Quixtar recruiters, who called themselves "independent business owners" at the company, were present at one meeting on Wedneday, Oct. 12. The invitation-only meeting, arranged by St. Mary's juniors Matthew Bonath and Jeffrey Shutte, included Winona State students.
Bonath, a junior in business, said he had been a part of Quixtar for eight months. Shutte said he had been with the company a year. Addressing the issue of legality, Shutte said that Quixtar had been around for six years and is represented in the Bureau for Better Businesses website. Shutte said that Quixtar levels the playing field and gives everyone an opportunity to achieve financial success. The company formerly was known as Amway.
The St. Mary's vice president of student development, Chris Kendall, said that he had no knowledge of Quixtar using the university's classrooms. Asked if St. Mary's policy allows university facilities to be used by companies for soliciting, Kendall said that the students involved probably found an open classroom and had not asked for permission.
At Winona State, sophomore Sen. Jared Stene said in that in general pyramid schemes are illegal. Stene said that he is working on how to promote awareness among students concerning pyramid schemes.
Under its former name of Amway, Quixtar had its fair share of trouble and controversies. In a 1979 ruling, the Federal Trade Commission determined that Amway was not an illegal pyramid scheme because it enforced rules requiring distributors to sell to at least 10 retail customers per month and to sell 70 percent of the products to customers. In 1983 Amway was fined for $25 million by the Canadian government for criminally defrauding the Canadian government of customs and excise duties.
Reporter: Shanthal Perera
PHOTOGRAPHER: LAUREN ASHLEY
 |
| BRA LINE
Pink Day coming |
Bras strung at WSU for cancer awarenessWINONA, Minn., Oct. 26, 2005 -- A Winona State University club, Colleges Against Cancer, strung up two lines of bras between trees on campus to support breast cancer awareness. Facts about breast cancer hung from the bras with facts and stats -- like every 24 seconds someone is diagnosed with breast cancer in the United States. Michelle Povlich, cloub president, said the bras were to support Where's Your Pink Day, when everyone is encouraged to wear pink.
Reporter: Lauren Ashby
WSU hits Best Buy list 10th timeWINONA, Minn., Oct. 26, 2005 -- Winona State University has been named among 100 leading college bargains by a Georgia-based ratings service for the 10th consecutive year. The publication " America's 100 Best College Buys" draws on comparatuve data compiled by Institutional Research and Evaluation of Rome, Ga. Winona State University is the only Minnesota college included in the new edition. The report profiles the schools that are the highest rated academically but also have the greatest value as a function of academic quality, cost of attendance and financial aid available.
According to Lewis Lindsey Jr., president of IRE, the company researches 1,459 accredited colleges nationwide that offer four-year undergraduate degree programs and which provide facilities for both room and board. Of the institutions surveyed, more than 1,200 schools responded. To be considered, a college must meet specific requirements. They must be an accredited four-year institution; offer full residential facilities including residence halls and dining services; have an entering freshman class with a high school grade point average and an SAT or ACT colege-entrance exam score above the national average; and the cost of attendance must be below the national average. In a preface to the report, the publisher notes, "No college or university has paid to be included in this book. Institutions are included solely on the basis of merit."
Carl Stange, admissions director at Winona State, said he was pleased the university has continued to be recognized. "This is continued validation that we're competitive at Winona State," Stange said. "Our excellent facilities and faculty ensure a quality experience for our students. At the same time, we are able to provide the college experience with affordable tuition and fees."
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"AMERICA'S BEST COLLEGE BUYS"
Annual ranking by cost, quality |
VERBATIM
THE CYBERINDEE IS YOUR NEWS SOURCE OF RECORD |
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Winter parking rules in effect TuesdayWINONA, Minn., Oct. 27, 2005 -- The Winona aternate-side parking ordinance goes into effect at 1 a.m., Tuesday. The ordinance
CITY CODE 61.56
ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING
No person shall stop, park, or leave standing any vehicle on any street or in Municipal Parking Lots 1 and 3 in the city on any day from November 1st to April 1st between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., except as hereinafter provided:
On even-numbered calendar dates vehicles may be parked on the near
side of the street adjacent to lots and houses which have been assigned
even numbers in accordance with Section 25.06 of this Code;
On odd-numbered calendar dates vehicles may be parked on the near
side of the street adjacent to lots and houses which have been assigned
odd numbers in accordance with Section 25.06 of this Code.
On even-numbered calendar dates vehicles may be parked in Municipal
Parking Lot 1 on Second Street between Center Street and Lafayette
Street between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.
On odd-numbered calendar dates vehicles may be parked in Municipal
Parking Lot 3 on Center Street between Third Street and Fourth Street
between the hours of 1:00 a.m. and 6:30 a.m.
Exceptions:
Ben Street between Fifth Street and Third Street.Ewing Street, easterly side, from a point 20 feet south of the south line of Fourth Street to a point 113 feet southerly thereof.Fourth Street between Harriet Street and Huff Street.Francis Street between Gilmore Avenue and Howard Street.Front Street. |
| VOLLEYBALL (MEN'S)
Gustavus Adolphus 3, SMU 2 |
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View: WSU as a drunkfest incubatorWINONA, Minn., Oct. 26, 2005 -- In case you don't know what Norville Rogers really thinks about students renters in the Winona State University neighborhood, he let it all hang out in a letter to the Daily News opinion page. He doesn't much like collegian behavior. Rogers also came down hard on neighbrhood people who whine when what they should do, he feels, is move.
"Fact: College students are filthy, immoral drunkards. This is a fact, and there's nothing you can do to change it. What with the drinking and drugs and whoring around that goes on these days, I'm glad I went to college back when I did and not now.
"What I'm really sick and tired of, though, are the residents around the campus complaining and trying to figure out how to smoke out these imbeciles. I'm not a real estate agent, but I'm pretty sure there is no way to show a house in that neighborhood and magically make disappear the crowded streets, the broken-down rentals, and, of course, the 'colorful antics' of the 'bright future of America.' It seems like the residents knew what they were getting into.
"If you're dumb enough to buy a house in that kind of neigborhood, don't whine about what it's like. What's more is this talk of bringing families into that neighborhood! Think of the children! If you want to raise your children right, don't do it in the middle of some 'free-love' give-away like WSU. Unless, of course, you want your kid to pierce its god-knows-what and by injecting heroin by the time they're in middle school, that is.
"All this proposal limiting rentals is going to do is push the little hellions out into the rest of this community,dragging down the property value and appeal of respectable neighborhoods where families can (and should) live! I don't want students living around me. That's why I don't live by the campus. The university isn't going away, so if you don't want to live by the drunken debauchery fest, don't live near it.
"If you're dumb enough to live by the campus, stop whining. If you don't like it, move. If you're too stubborn and are going to stay put, then shut up."
Background: Plan to cut student rentals on track
VERBATIM
THE CYBERINDEE IS YOUR NEWS SOURCE OF RECORD |
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Army regulation: No active homosexualsWASHINGTON, Oct. 25, 2005 -- This is the Army regulation on homosexuality, which has become an issue in whether Winona State should accept a proposal to established a Reserve Officers' Training Corps unit at the university:
1. In 1993, Congress made a finding that engaging in, attempting to engage in or soliciting another to engage in homosexual acts is grounds for discharge from the military.
2. United States Code Title 10 addresses homosexuality in the armed services. The code recognizes that one of the most critical elements in combat capability is unit cohesion. The code affirms that the armed forces must maintain personnel policies that exclude persons who would create an unacceptable risk to unit cohesion. Title 10 recognizes that military life is fundamentally different from civilian life and concludes that the presence of individuals in the armed forces who engage in homosexual acts creates an unacceptable risk to unit cohesion and standards of morale, good order and discipline.
3. The U.S. Army Homosexual Conduct Policy - DonÕt Ask DonÕt Tell. On 26 July 1999, the Secretary of the Army signed Army Regulation 600-20, entitled Army Command Policy. Chapter 4-19 defines the ArmyÕs homosexual conduct policy. The policy implements section 654 of Title 10, United States Code and states that suitability to serve in the Army is based on conduct and the ability to meet required standards of duty performance and discipline. Homosexual conduct is defined as an act or a statement by a soldier that demonstrates a propensity or intent to engage in homosexual acts, the solicitation of another to engage in a homosexual act or acts, or a homosexual marriage or attempted marriage.
4. In the Army treating soldiers with dignity and respect is a bedrock value for the Army. There is no room for harassment or threats in the military. The Army is determined to implement the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy with fairness to all concerned. This policy must be clearly understood and fairly enforced. Army policy is a balance of the legal prohibition of homosexual conduct with the privacy rights of Soldiers.
5. According to Department of Defense and Army policy, a personÕs sexual orientation is considered a personal and private matter that is not a bar to military service unless manifested by homosexual conduct. Upon entry into the Army, applicants may not be asked nor required to reveal their sexual orientation. Applicants will not be asked if they have engaged in homosexual conduct. While on active duty, soldiers will not be asked about their sexual orientation unless there is credible evidence of homosexual conduct.
6. "DonÕt Tell" means that soldiers should not disclose or discuss their sexual orientation or conduct. If a soldier admits publicly to being a homosexual, or the commander has credible evidence of a soldier committing a homosexual act, the commander will start an informal inquiry or investigation to determine if credible evidence exists to warrant separation.
7. Credible Evidence includes:
a. A statement by a reliable person that the soldier has engaged in a homosexual act, heard the soldier state that he or she was homosexual or that the soldier had married or attempted to marry a member of the same sex
b. A statement by a reliable person that they had observed or discovered a soldier saying or putting in writing a statement acknowledging a homosexual act or the intent to engage in a homosexual act
8. The Army is determined to implement the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy with fairness to all concerned. This policy must be clearly understood and fairly enforced. There is zero tolerance for Harassment |
| SOCCER (WOMEN'S)
Bethel 2, SMU 1 |
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| SOCCER (MEN'S)
SMU 3, Bethel 1 |
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Security loosened at Gordon appearanceWINONA, Minn., Oct.24, 2005 -- There were no metal detectors or security guards positioned outside of the courthouse Tuesday -- as there were on Paul Allen Gordon's previous court dates. For the family of the victims, it was anti-climatic. The hearing, scheduled as a pre-trial review of evbidence, became a fotmality to transfer the case from the jurisdiction of Judge Larry Collins, whose retirement from the bench is pending, to Judge, Jeff Thompson. Said Cheryl Hodge, mother and grandmother of the victims, who hasn't missed a single Gordon court appearance, said: "I just want this all to be over and done with." Hodge said that she understands CollinsÕ decision and that she's pleased that he withdrew before a trial rather than during the trial. Collins will retire on Dec. 16, exactly a year from when the murders took place, after nearly 24 years as a Third Judicial District judge.
Hodge said she is elated that Judge Collins is the only person involved in the Gordon case who is leaving. Over the summer, County Attorney Chuck MacLean had applied for a judgeship in Waseca County. Had MacLean been appointed, the Gordon case wuld have been putin the hands of his assistant prosecutors. "I was betting so hard that he wouldn't get that job," Hodge said. Hodge has faith that MacLean and his team of assistant county prosecutors Tom Gort and Kevin OÕLaughlin will convict Gordon: "They're going to do a wonderful job
In the meantime, Hodge said she tries to go about her daily life, which includes frequent visits to Nodine Lutheran Cemetery, in rural Winona County, where her daughter and granddaughter rest. She said she placed Halloween decorations, including a scarecrow and ghost, on the gravesite: "It's looking pretty festive." |
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PAUL
ALLEN
GORDON
Accused in Winona strangulation murders |
Reporter: Mollee Sheehan
Background: New judge assigned in triple deaths
New judge assigned in triple deathsWINONA, Minn., Oct. 24, 2005 -- A hearing for the man accused of triple murder in the brutal Sugar Loaf Apartments slayings in december, Paul Allen Gordon, will have a new judge for the case. Judge Lawrence Collins removed himself from the case because of his pending retirement. According to the Court Administration Office, Judge Jeff Thompson will replace Collins. Gordon's next hearing, whihc had been scheduled Oct. 25, now is postponed. Gordon is accused of killing former Winona State University student Stacy Lee Ziegler Smith, 29, and her 10-year-old daughter in mid-December. Smith's unborn child also died.
Collins'retirement follows another possible hitch in thje case. County Attorney Chuck MacLean had applied for a judgeship in Waseca, Minn., which would have ended his role as the lead prosecutor against Gordon. MacLean was passed over for the Waseca bench. He has been silent on whether he would apply to Gov. Tim Pawlenthy for the pending Winona vacancy created by Collins' departure. If MacLean indeed is appointed to the bench, he would have to be replaced as prosecutor in the Gordon case.
Gordon's next hearing, technically called an omnibus hearing, gives the defense a chance to object to evidence on his murder charges and to challenge the grand jury indictment. Gordon's public defender, Julie Maxwell, said slow progress in the case is understabdable: "This is a very complicated case with an enormous amount of evidence to sift through. That's why this case is moving along much slower than most other criminal cases." Maxwell called the next hearing a critical stage, a "stepping stone to what happens next."
Maxwell said that Gordon will not enter a plea at the omnibus hearing. When will Gordon make a plea? "If the outcome of the omnibus hearing is not favorable, then we may enter a plea," Maxwell said. "The plea will likely be not guilty We almost always enter a not-guilty plea." Gordon is expected to appear in court next month but no specific date was set, according to the Court Administration Office. |
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PAUL
ALLEN
GORDON
Accused in Winona strangulation murders |
Reporter: Letisha Graf
Background: Gordon's drug, assault hearing due
Background: October hearing key to Gordon's future
Background: Hearing delayed in murders case
Background: Guilty or not, attorneys provide defense
Background: Gordon team looks for evidence holes
Background: A grandma's shopping trips, no more
Background: Waseca lawyer to judgeship over MacLean
Background: Drug, assault arrest detailed at hearing
Background: A mother and a grandmother's burden
Background: Gordon's life expectancy chances in jail
Background: Mother's pained question: "Why live?"
Background: Gordon's drug, assault hearing due
Background: A grandma's shopping trips, no more
Background: How many murders: Two or three?
Background: The night of the Sugar Loaf murders
WSU Democrats sponsor Walz visit |
