commentary
Commentary
The Scroll: Change Confronts Us All – and Not Just a New President
11 Mar 2013 by Dave Nimmer / No Comments
Dave Nimmer wants to talk about change. The timing is good for the conversation, he writes today in The Scroll, because a new president will arrive soon with a load of challenges and will need our help.
The Scroll: Rats on a Wheel
06 Mar 2013 by Susan Alexander / No Comments
Susan Alexander has run across an interesting study about the effect of exercise on rat intelligence, and she suggests today in The Scroll that the results that be useful to us humans, too.
Witness to History: A Purple Papal Pilgrimage
05 Mar 2013 by Kate Metzger / No Comments
St. Thomas Catholic Studies students and St. John Vianney seminarians studying at the Bernardi campus in Rome had aisle seats as Benedict XVI took one final drive through St. Peter’s Square in his Popemobile. Newsroom editor Kate Metzger recalls the morning she spent with them and 300,000 others in front of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Depth of Field Icons: Harry Truman
26 Feb 2013 by Mike Ekern '02 / No Comments
St. Thomas President Father Vincent Flynn (left) greets U.S. President Harry Truman (center) and Sen. Hubert H. Humphrey on Summit Avenue as Truman and Humphrey travel from Minneapolis to St. Paul’s Hotel Lowry on Nov. 3, 1949.
The Scroll: Google vs. UST
26 Feb 2013 by Susan Alexander / 5 Comments
Susan Alexander was intrigued when she read that Google had been named Fortune magazine’s best place to work in the world for the fourth consecutive year. Just what kind of amenities does Google offer? She checked them out and offers a report – and her analysis of how St. Thomas stacks up – today in The Scroll.
The Scroll: The Legend of the ‘Sciarpa della Vittoria’
22 Feb 2013 by Lisa Weier / 3 Comments
Junior Lisa Weier is studying in Rome this semester – studying and, of course, checking out the Italian culture and bargaining with street vendors for their wares. In The Scroll today, read about her adventure in buying a scarf.
Educating the Whole Lawyer
19 Feb 2013 by Robert Vischer, dean of the School of Law / No Comments
I firmly believe that St. Thomas fosters the professional formation of each student to internalize a deep sense of responsibility for others better than any other law school in the country, and our success on this front is one reason why I am excited to serve as your new dean.
The Scroll: It’s Take a Tommie to Lunch Time!
19 Feb 2013 by Diane Kulseth '11 / No Comments
When Diane Kulseth graduated from St. Thomas in 2011, she decided not to get over-involved with activities for a year. Then she saw the Take a Tommie to Lunch invitation and couldn’t resist, having been mentored by an alumna during her senior year. Diane writes about that experience today in The Scroll in hopes that you – students and alumni alike – will sign up for the program by March 5.
The Weigh-In: Joseph Ratzinger’s Lasting Legacy as the ‘Scholar Pope’
13 Feb 2013 by Don Briel, Ph.D. / No Comments
Pope Benedict XVI maintained a calm and prayerful expression of the papacy in a time of extraordinary turbulence, a time for which in some ways he was ill-equipped to respond but in other ways for which his papacy has been uniquely providential. We asked Don Briel to reflect on Benedict’s legacy.
The Scroll: Hail to the Seniors!
13 Feb 2013 by Dr. John Tauer / No Comments
Over the last four years, Dr. John Tauer has had the pleasure of coaching five outstanding student-athletes who will be honored Wednesday at “Senior Night” when the men’s basketball team takes on St. Olaf in Schoenecker Arena. In The Scroll today, Tauer reflects on the special character of these men, who have contributed to a 98-15 record and four consecutive MIAC championships.
Depth of Field: Cardinal Ratzinger on Campus
11 Feb 2013 by Mike Ekern '02 / No Comments
Before he became Pope Benedict XVI, he was known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger — and he visited St. Thomas in 1984 to celebrate the 15th anniversary of St. John Vianney Seminary.
The Scroll: One Gone, One Gained
11 Feb 2013 by Carol Bruess / 3 Comments
St. Thomas junior Rachel Murray didn’t think she would have anything in common with Cierra, a Cristo Rey High School student, when they began working together last fall as part of a St. Thomas class. But then Cierra stepped up and comforted Rachel as she dealt with the death of a friend, and Rachel’s impression of the teenager changed dramatically. Carol Bruess writes about their encounter today in The Scroll.
For the Record: Passing the Torch
08 Feb 2013 by Neil Hamilton / No Comments
It was an honor to serve as the interim dean of the University of St. Thomas School of Law, and it is an even greater honor to introduce the new dean, Robert Vischer.
The Scroll: Observations From the ‘Peanut Gallery’
06 Feb 2013 by Dave Nimmer / No Comments
Dave Nimmer has some suggestions – he calls them “obstreperous observations” – that he wants to share about what’s going on at St. Thomas, and he hopes people take him seriously. Read about what’s on his mind today in The Scroll.
The Scroll: Myth or Fact?
01 Feb 2013 by Susan Alexander / No Comments
(Mis)information drives Susan Alexander crazy, regardless of whether the issue is as global as the effectiveness of the gold standard or as local as whether St. Thomas has special programs to recruit and support veterans. She addresses those issues today in The Scroll and also offers a quiz!
Final Thoughts: The Importance of National Championships
01 Feb 2013 by Doug Hennes '77 / No Comments
I will never forget the looks on the faces of three St. Thomas coaches when their teams won national championships.
Post-Election Reflections on Civility
28 Jan 2013 by Father Dennis Dease, president / No Comments
One evening, I noticed a framed photo of the late Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic. He’s standing next to a painting depicting a Gospel writer with an angel whispering in his ear. Havel, with a sheepish grin, is cupping his ear as if to eavesdrop for a little “inspiration.”
Depth of Field: Black and White World
17 Jan 2013 by Mike Ekern '02 / 2 Comments
The first “real” photos I took, with even a bit of photo knowledge in my head, were on T-Max 400 black and white film for The Aquin and The Aquinas yearbook. For the next three years black and white was all I shot as I learned how not to make a complete fool of myself with a camera.
On Meaningful Work and the Good Life
14 Jan 2013 by Christopher Michaelson / 4 Comments
Before my grandfather died, I said to him that someday I would write a book about our family. I’m not sure that the book on meaningful work that I recently began will turn out to be the book he was expecting, but I would like to think he would recognize its origins.
A Passion for Alternative Energy That Crosses Borders
10 Jan 2013 by Greg Mowry / 1 Comment
There is a great need for social entrepreneurship with the goal of developing economical and robust systems that provide fresh water and electricity. The engineering challenges are significant but surmountable. It simply takes will and funding.
From the Assembly Line to the Classroom
03 Jan 2013 by Chad Brinsfield / No Comments
How this professor’s business experience impacts his teaching and research.
The Scroll: Snow Turns Students Into Good Samaritans
19 Dec 2012 by Doug Hennes '77 / 4 Comments
There is nothing like a foot of snow to turn Tommies into roving Good Samaritans, Doug Hennes writes today in The Scroll. He cites three thank-you notes written about students whose good deeds helped neighbors deal with the nasty weather and, in the process, spread “the true Christmas spirit” and inspired a girl to act with kindness toward others.
Depth of Field: Photo Services’ Best Photos of 2012
19 Dec 2012 by Mike Ekern '02 / No Comments
Simple blades of prairie grass silhouetted in the moments before night. The exultation of an improbable victory. A firm touch as a final goodbye. We’ve picked these moments, and the others you see here, from the more than 5,000 we collected in 2012 as our best of the year.
The Scroll: The Smiling Face of Coffee Bené
18 Dec 2012 by Dave Nimmer / 9 Comments
Traves Lundberg has a special place in Dave Nimmer’s heart. He brews a perfect cup of coffee in Coffee Bené in O’Shaughnessy-Frey Library, and he loves fishing. As a result, Dave calls Traves a “five-day-a-week Christmas present” today in The Scroll.
The Weigh-In: Beyond Grief at Sandy Hook
17 Dec 2012 by Bruce Kramer, Ph.D. / 4 Comments
After the killing of so many children and their teachers, our human journey is at a crossroads where our intentions – beautiful and transcendent, compassionate and caring, loving and forgiving, intelligent and thoughtful – continue to retreat in confusion and horror from the enormous evil we can and will inflict upon one another. For Bruce Kramer, Sandy Hook is personal.