Another Sunday in this most anomalous winter of 2024. In the spirit of procrastination I was going to wait until the first big winter storm to get a snowblower at Town and Country. I am getting old and more in need of the device. No storm ever came. Amazing. Could keep a little more money in the bank.
Most often I will check on the Morris and Minneapolis newspapers by stopping in at our public library. Word is, things are back to normal for our library post-covid. Such good news obviously.
The library has not had to worry about inadequate snow removal by its front entrance this winter. Looking back a few years, I regret not volunteering to shovel snow there for Melissa when she was librarian. It crossed my mind but I believe I only did it once or twice. You can argue that the City of Morris should have done it. The service could be quite limited or negligible. People would track snow into the library.
Of course that was very small potatoes compared to when the place got flooded! What a disaster that was. I eventually learned from a retired city employee that a softball was responsible, which got lodged in the drainage system. And at about the same time, a wine bottle did the same number at St. Mary's School. I opined that it seemed rather Biblical. Are the Catholic priests behaving themselves these days? Why don't they get rid of celibacy?
Ahem, so I'm in the library on Saturday and there's the newspapers I want to look at, Morris and Minneapolis. I get seated, relax, and do not expect anything momentous to arise in this examination. But wait, here I see where Morris is in the news! We're in the statewide news, in the glow of the Star-Trib out of Gotham. We ought to be proud maybe?
Sometimes it's notorious to be in the news. Our community made the international news with the goalpost incident at UMM in 2005. I'm guessing that Sam Schuman was haunted by that for the rest of his life. I'm haunted too because I was the newspaper's representative at the campus that day but was not present for the big tragic accident.
What's up now on this Sunday of February 2024 when we might think it's actually March? Most of the winter has really seemed like March. Well, the State of Minnesota, belatedly perhaps, sees issues with UMM's performance. Enrollment has been heading steadily down. UMM simply does not seem like it once was. We can ponder the various factors.
The state legislature is getting restless, impatient maybe, and maybe there is no silver bullet to amend that statement, I might suggest. There is no silver bullet for restoring UMM to what it was as a liberal arts bastion. I think that train has left the station.
The Strib article from last week reports on a new model that maybe will inject new life? Notice the question mark. I don't have the paper beside me as I write on this very early Sunday morning. I'll go with impressions that I made. Surely other people made the same impressions, like that UMM is pushing this novel approach wherein a three-year degree is just as good as the standard four years.
I think more people have begun wondering through the years if four years is a bit much. This seems like such a simple solution: three years instead of four. It appears UMM is walking a tightrope on this, as it's quick to add that the studies will remain intense and a student might have to attend in summer. My reaction is that summer study has always been available, hasn't it? Nothing new there?
And some kids are going to be pushed to exit their high school classes so as to begin acquiring college credit? Kids are doing this through this thing called PSEO. A good thing? I have demurred on that. I might suggest it's a ploy for colleges to try to prop up enrollment numbers in this challenged time for them. "Invade the high schools," you might say.
I might have felt rather indifferent about PSEO had I not learned a couple years ago that our high school band was losing prime talent because of this. I became greatly concerned actually. I'm inclined to think that high school kids should just stay in high school because it's the place to be for them: appropriate socialization. "You're only in high school once."
Frankly, I think many of the people who read the Star Trib article are going to come away thinking that this "magical" three-year degree plan might be a way for institutions to reduce costs. Get kids through in three years instead of four. Shall we just "look the other way" and think no more of this?
Students probably don't need the four years because these days, as they grow up, they have the Internet to fulfill them in myriad ways, putting them frankly light years ahead of the pre-digital generations. And if this is true to the extent that seems apparent, we might question not only the four-year degree - especially the "liberal arts" degree - but college itself! Shazam! A painful thing to ponder here in Morris.
My personal priority
I have begun putting myself forward as an advocate for the Morris campus but not necessarily for the U. In December when I sent a check to the Twin Cities campus, a check for the betterment of our UMM music department, I included a note that stated "I hope the new U president will take a hard look at the Morris campus and make sure it is delivering maximum benefit for the state. "
Don't you think that is reasonable? If the U isn't prepared to do this, maybe the campus could come under some other umbrella. And I don't care. "I couldn't care less." (Remember that it's "couldn't care less " and not "could care less.")
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| An engaging campus |
I have gotten compliments on the family monument, so that's nice. It's a bench - feel free to sit there any time courtesy of the Williams family. You'll read there that my father was "founder of UMM music." Cool. My father was the only music faculty in the institution's first year, back in the Pleistocene Age of course.
Our Morris campus has gone through significant changes in its history. There would be precedent for significant new change. "Whatever it takes" is my attitude now, whatever it takes to get a campus with about 2000 students. A school of nursing maybe? To at least be part of the mix?
The Morris newspaper
On Saturday I examined the Morris or "Stevens County" newspaper. Oh my, how embarrassing or disgusting: the wrestler's name is misspelled in the headline. What moron committed this mistake?
The paper misspelled the name of the UMM chancellor in a headline after the inauguration. Obviously I wonder "what would people be saying about me if I made these mistakes?"
The mistakes make me wonder if I could actually get back to being involved with the paper. Times are totally different. The print media has been through a steady siege to try to survive, ever since I walked out the back door of the Morris paper on June 2, 2006. Such an abrupt departure - that was hard to deal with. The paper was owned by Forum Communications. Forum Communications has a reputation of being quite heartless with employees whom they decide should just mosey on down the road.
For a while I thought I had escaped that fate, then I got run over. Because of the lingering effect of the goalpost incident? Because of a letter to the editor from a pompous Morris physician who was a throwback to the days when local doctors didn't just do their jobs, they were supposed to be local icons. We had a dentist like that too. The less said about him the better. He eventually left town (fortunately).
I get cards and letters, you might say. Emails to be precise and current, and two of these received Saturday are worthy of quoting here:
Hello Brian,
I stumbled onto a complete digital version of the newsletter for UMM alumni sent out in the spring of 1995.
Thought
you would find this part interesting which I included in a screenshot
here. Amazing to see that from 1979 to at least 1995, the UMM Concert
Choir toured across the U.S. and Europe.
So
sad to see how far the once-mighty UMM music program has fallen. Doc
Carlson is rolling in his grave, God bless his jazzy soul.
Randy And. . .
To: Brian Williams
Yes, UMM is becoming known for the 3-year degree thing. I’m not in favor of that. The kids get college credit for taking certain classes in HS that are determined to be “college level”, but still taught by HS teachers. For example, they get college credit for being in Wanda (Dagen's) band. So, some kids get enough credits in advance to be able to skip 1 or even 2 years of college. 2 things wrong with that - first, they are missing out on the “college experience” which will cost them some emotional growth. Then, if a 19 or 20 year old is applying for the same job as a 22 or 23 year-old, even if both have the same credentials, which is more apt to be hired?
(end of quoted email)
Keep the focus
I elucidated some more with my thoughts re. UMM to a friend Saturday. Might as well share portions here. Thanks for paying attention. Hope I can help focus people's thoughts on UMM, even if readers might want to read this with clenched fist!
Del - Just got back from downtown, went to library to examine Morris and Mpls. newspapers.
Oh my, Morris in the news! UMM as some sort of forerunner with the 3-year degree concept?
What do you make of that, besides a hat, a brooch or a pterodactyl?
You know how my cynical mind is going to work. Just cheapen the degree, lower institutional overhead costs and hope you can fool everyone into thinking the degrees here are as good as they ever were. Presto! Will it work?
So not only have the numbers been tumbling here, we have all the Indians getting to go to school with no tuition. That makes the money picture more daunting.
Looks like the Twin Cities campus heeded my little note I included with my check in December: "I hope the new U president takes a hard look at the Morris campus to make sure it is delivering maximum benefit to the state."
Hint: I don't think it is. Does that make me a rat here in Morris? Actually if the institution can make a radical adjustment of some kind, what could better cement its future? But it could be a tough pill for some people to swallow. I have written regularly that a group of legislators should usurp the role of the board of regents. The legislators need to know what's going on everywhere. The regents have been like a buffer, giving the legislators "cover."
The Morris paper looks like it is being made with cheaper paper. It is not as "white" and you can see through it a little.
Look at the headline on the front sports page: "Gipson" instead of "Gibson." It's Grayson Gibson. Imagine if I had made that mistake. And they only have one paper to put out each week, lots of time for proofreading.
Just ate at Pizza Ranch! My body has been aching for more meals like this, as you could tell. Now I'll try to be real disciplined next week. But right now I'm on cloud nine. I'm actually not hungry. I spent about ten months feeling a little bit hungry all the time. I will eat nothing tonight. When will Wanda (Dagen) get word on the School Foundation grant? Are schools everywhere going to have to give up making trips like this due to $ ? Jenessa of the School Foundation knows all about my efforts to support the band trip. She drove to my house.
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| First Lutheran Church |
I can't see attending for the 11:00 time. At some point we will hear that the church is dissolving. Karen Uphoff told me she was worried about Pastor Emmy getting "burnout." Serving our church would only worsen that.
How the mighty have fallen. Remember how we used to have two service times on Sunday? We had the big "UMM Sunday" with pot luck meal. Maybe you could write a little analysis of how we've declined so far and I could share it on by blogs. I have already shared my views and maybe this is one reason I shouldn't attend any more.
I cannot see attending for the 11:00 service time. I wonder if we'll hear sometime that First Luth. is dissolving.
- BW
OK so Trump wins South Carolina
I shared immediate reaction to Trump's victory remarks from South Carolina on Saturday night. I posted this on the "Newsmax" YouTube site.
I'm watching this Trump speech and it is a "dark art." Have noticed this all the way back to 2016. And Trump is very, very good at it. If he truly had benevolent intentions for the U.S., I would be happy for him and his gift. But my goodness. I can see what's going on as he ingratiates himself so lavishly. It's hard to describe this appeal in words. I am exhausted trying to find the words. We can hope that Trump will finally be humbled but I am absolutely not betting on it. I see storm clouds ahead, getting worse as Trump has happier and happier "rallies."
Not a fan
Postscript Sunday a.m.
Feeling downright cheery as the sun is out on this Sunday morning. Had breakfast at Caribou Coffee where I often see a UMM faculty friend of mine. This sage individual said of the new 3-year emphasis of UMM, that well - my words - it's a little ballyhooed out of proportion. Many colleges have been doing this, he said. It's just that it's being more "formalized" here.
I'd surmise the U is pushing attention toward Morris for marketing reasons. Would other colleges be a little resentful of this attention? Because, all colleges are scrambling for students now, right? So they notice that UMM might be enticing kids to come here who can spend one less year being encumbered with studies and costs? Not that simple I guess, but on the surface one might think this.
Do I have laser focus? Well, "Mongo just pawn in game of life."
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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