An old struggling prof, his wisdom

People my age can remember some of our old college teachers pretty well. Sometimes we might test to see what's online about some of these souls. Might some of their old academic work be online? I have found that with some of these people, there is nothing there. Surely these people shared their research, ideas and analysis in writing. But there is nothing like a "fossilized" record, as it were, for some of these people in the only forum that counts today: our electronic devices. 

Such devices did not exist, hardly even as a flicker in people's hopes and dreams, in the former era. We would consult the old "card catalogues" in the library. Stuff on paper was the norm. 

I can cite an example of when I plumbed the Internet for evidence of a long-ago teacher. Images pop back into our heads so readily. These people had real influence over us. Today there are more channels for one's development that provide an alternative to the old "classrooms." Teachers at all levels have learned considerable humility because of this. College teachers act as if they're "hanging on" to their occupation, as they literally are in many cases. 

We can say "welcome to the club" with regard to this. Welcome to the world of true accountability. Teachers used to argue they were above that. They could proclaim this because our systems then did in fact accord them latitude with power. Everything boils down to power of course. 

I remember a particular professor who was actually a guest of another prof in one of my classes. This was an academic discipline that I think is on the margins, quite, for necessity now. When I type it here you might smile. The waves of college freshmen from my era would trudge into a classroom for "Sociology 101" or some such introductory classification. And yes, we endured it. 

We endured the very opinionated nature of so much that was dispensed. It was obviously a left wing political viewpoint. In observing this I do not dismiss left wing thinking out of hand, heavens no. I have used the term before "paternalistic liberalism." The '70s were quite the glory time for the strain of teaching/indoctrination. Our instincts told us to listen attentively and respectfully. 

A few of us would get brainwashed at least for a time. Then we'd come out of it, not necessarily to be raging contrarian conservatives but just to be more realistic and sensible. The sensible strain has asserted itself in a true victorious sense. 

I remember the guest instructor with the initials L.H., about whom I heard through whispering that he was a 100 percent alcoholic with much distress hounding him in that regard. And he looked it. But alcoholism is a disease, as we increasingly were being advised had to be weighed for the sake of mercy. No it was not a character failing, according to the new CW. Some reacted with shock to the new assumption. The shock was pushed aside by the new CW. 

I typed the name of the prof into my Internet device a couple years ago. Nothing there, not a trace. I have found the same with other "academicians." 

Evidence of online activity is a stamp of legitimacy today. You and your thoughts matter. 

The academicians of old had papers stored away as with whatever materials were needed for one's graduate degree. Stuffy papers. Papers with topics so narrow, we're puzzled how they could find an audience. Today your sheer ability to get an audience matters a lot. In the old days, academics operated in some quarters as a private club which was relevant only for giving academic people their job security. 

So we're talking tenure. 

Hasn't the concept of tenure gotten rather on the ropes now? Try proposing the concept of tenure for the profession of car salesman. Oh, you think these people are second-class citizens? That's an old notion. Today I'd make no assumption about a "teacher" being sharper than a salesman or even a Starbuck's barista. 

Am I suggesting diminished respect? I am only suggesting that scholars show their value in a measurable way. In the '70s it could be quite intangible. We were just supposed to defer and understand, lest we reveal ignorance. 

The alcoholic prof that I remember did have a fascinating point to make one day. It has always stayed rather top-of-mind with me. He talked about women and their "secondary sexual characteristics." 

 

Dead-on with insight

Profs like to act like they know better than the rest of us. And in this case, hey I'll credit this guy for really knowing something. The guy was knocking down the established norms for how men judge women's "attractiveness." In my college days the ideal was represented by Raquel Welch. Some guys would mention Elke Sommer as something like a "close second." 

The guys who talked this way probably had an impulse in the back of their minds that it really was crass. I did. Why was it a struggle to achieve the preferred outlook on this? Well, it was our hormones, our irresistible hormones. 

Most of us grew up with Victorian parents: sex is an awful thing to acknowledge - it's very existence! And the older folks were horribly negligent in terms of the guilt, confusion and denial planted in boys' heads as the boys dealt with adolescence. I would argue it was a form of torture. Boys had great difficulty getting access to images of unclothed women. When we did, we were gripped by the feeling that it was taboo. 

Fast-forward to today: It's a sea change with the easy and free access to this thing called "porn." 

Politicians might have gotten porn suppressed if not completely prohibited, but the problem for them is that they can't. You see, the Internet is bigger than them! So they assess that reality and move on. Society has all this free porn and the old stigma or guilt has gone away. 

Which means what? With the limitless amount of naked images in all their glory, well, the novelty is gone. And so men and boys have their brains totally re-configured. Because of the ubiquitous nature of porn, the secondary sexual characteristics of which the prof spoke - and let's cite "big breasts" right at the start - don't mean much if anything. 

In the old days, big breasts helped women's sexual characteristics stand out, for stimulating men in a world where women were expected to be fully clothed. If I were a woman today, I'd feel totally liberated by the existence of limitless porn. Men are subdued because they can satisfy their most base impulses. They say that men become "desensitized." That's the big term. 

Well amen and hallelujah. Men can evaluate women on totally reasonable criteria now and completely eschew "secondary sexual characteristics." And women should be celebrating this. They should be celebrating porn wholeheartedly. 

At the same time, men have largely gotten tired of porn. Amazing. In past times adolescent boys would about go out of their minds hoping to get an occasional look at a "nudie." How absolutely quaint.  Today? Sex on videos can get boring and almost puzzling, irritating. Odd how God creates our bodies this way. Blame God. 

Blame God for the quintessential divisive issue of abortion too. It's the way it is. And sex is more likely to be viewed today for its primary purpose of procreation. 

So we're all better off? As with all things connected to the digital age, we must conclude "yes." Overwhelmingly. Playboy Magazine! It's more than a throwback now. 

The old alcoholic professor was right: "secondary sexual characteristics" were quite that: secondary. It's just that our old culture forced men to accede to them. Let's see, who was  No. 3 behind Elke Sommer?

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Morris in the news thanks to Reusse

We probably don't feel awe about a Star Tribune writer coming out here, not like we would have in a past time. We have all become so empowered with communications. 

Newspapers have not faded as fast as certain experts like Michael Wolff once predicted. We heard so much doomsaying. A part of me was suspicious through all that. The people who own newspapers like to project adversity like they might be going over a cliff. Crying wolf?

This is not to say newspapers haven't had to confront some pretty daunting challenges. And yes, many of the "journalists" have lost their livelihoods. Remember Doug Grow of the Star Tribune? Some have maintained their positions through the shifting times. This circle includes Patrick Reusse. 

Surprises me a little because Reusse made a name for himself appealing to the cynical side of boomers like myself. We understood National Lampoon Magazine. Our parents would not. So Reusse engaged in pretty hard-edged skepticism at times, leveling it against the more pretentious people around us. He built a following. 

His cynicism came through at Thanksgiving with his "Turkey of the Year." Over the years I have often been curious about who he'd target next. I don't follow sports as well now.

I remember at least one letter writer to the Strib who thought Reusse's attitude could become excessive. Reusse had written some uncharitable things, I guess, about Mike Lynn of the Minnesota Vikings. Lynn was the guy in charge although I can't remember his exact position. He took a lot of brickbats generally speaking. 

The CW was that Lynn had to keep expenditures down and this of course limited the Vikings' competitiveness. So he'd draft players partly on the basis of whether they would be easy to sign. Mardye McDole? 

Reusse as columnist appealed to the sports crowd who had no empathy for a frugal sports team manager. Reusse probably got a little hard-edged in his writing. This prompted a response from someone who suggested we need to be gentler with people when it comes to their "human failings." That kind of resonated with me. 

Reusse expanded his "Turkey of he Year" to a supplementary "award" and this was "Herschel the Turkey." So notorious was Herschel Walker in Vikings annals, what with the price the Vikings paid to acquire him, Reusse pilloried the acquisition with a mock award. But the memory of Walker and his notoriety faded within a few years. I believe Reusse abandoned the extra award. 

You know what? I don't even know if Reusse still does the Thanksgiving thing. His attitude with that has become so dated, as our culture has "flipped" to reject the old cynicism, the disrespect that came from National Lampoon and like material. Young people of today would examine the old deconstructionist stuff and just be puzzled. We're supposed to believe in our leading figures and institutions now. 

Young people would say "why shouldn't we?" You kids, you don't know what it was like growing up in the 1960s with an older generation and its fossilized views regarding war and conformity. You just have no idea. The war instinct actually hung on for a long time. Its last spasms were for Afghanistan? Appears might be the case. 

We aren't going to get drawn into that for Israel, are we? Might be an easier case to make than for Vietnam. But I personally disapprove of Israel, wish it would just dissolve. Imagine all the tragedy this would prevent, even among the Jews over there. The American people are ahead of our elected leaders on this matter. Or maybe it's a case of our elected leaders still being unduly influenced by AIPAC. 

But I grew up under the specter of Vietnam and then Watergate in a time before the right wing media machine had gotten built enough to shield the crazy autocratic conservatives. Look at the maddening molasses-like progress of the legal wheels turning vs. Donald Trump. We may never get there. So many power-seekers working to run interference for Trump. They now have a means through the contemporary media to apply a blowhorn to at least influence people. 

In Watergate the wrongdoing and the appropriate punishment came forward in starkly clear terms. Then it was over. 

If this thing with Trump cannot be stopped as I fear it cannot, the U.S. as we've known it could be doomed. It's anyone's guess what will rise up to take its place. 

 

A generous tone

Maybe Reusse the Star Tribune scribe is mellowing some. You might be aware that he paid some attention to our humble burg in the last few days. When I was a kid, any Minneapolis writer who paid attention out here would have us excited. That is not the case now. But it still does draw attention. 

So Reusse came here and it was not with his generally snarky attitude. He did not come here to poke fun at anyone. I wonder if he made clear to UMM officials what his approach was going to be: charitable. Reusse wrote about us with a fawning mindset like we're underdogs I guess. Like we're not on the bandwagon with the lust for power and attention with the rest of college football. He fell into the gentle mindset very comfortably. The fact that he was writing about minorities helped. 

So he acknowledged how our institution means much for Native Americans. I can't really determine if our policies with Natives reflects a "treaty" or some other kind of measure enacted long ago. But to be frank and direct on the matter, I fail to see how UMM's policy on this can really pass muster in light of the Supreme Court ruling nixing "affirmative action." I mean, if words and laws mean anything. 

I know that Stephen Miller is trying to send out his attack dogs on this. And he's a subordinate of the real power-seeker Donald Trump. How much power do they have with education institutions that have wielded a fair amount of their own power? 

I will suggest that when the Native American policy was first enacted many moons ago, the cost of college was a whole lot less than today. So, the free tuition thing did not handicap the institution as much as it almost certainly does today? Do I think it's fair? Really no, not in the year 2023, and a pregnant question to be asked is "what is a Native American?" 

One-fourth Native? Is that enough? I don't think it should be. Maybe half would be better if not more. And how is all this really proven? Where entitlements are concerned, "funny stuff" happens. I may agree with much of what Elizabeth Warren stands for politically, but she does not seem at all to be a Native American. So I say to UMM: consider ending the policy if you have the latitude to do that. 

The bottom line with Reusse's column was that it sort of pulled at our heartstrings: this football program out here good for opening doors for players who might find barriers elsewhere. Cute. The UMM administration would be approving.

 

Erratum

It appears that Reusse completely missed the dartboard with some of his facts. I assume he was just fed some erroneous stuff. From an email from a businessman friend:

 

Reusse must’ve been fed the company line on some of his stats, as we know that the real enrollment is considerably less than he wrote. I also had thought that the enrollment had hit 2000 for one year – if you remember that year, there wasn’t enough dorm space for everyone so the school rented rooms at the Sunwood Inn to house students for the year (or at least the first semester). But, whoever Reusse talked to probably wasn’t around then, so they don’t know much about UMM prior to their arrival (see also UMM music department staff). Speaking of UMM football, I remember you were puzzled a few weeks ago when you thought you heard/read about them playing the same school 2 weeks in a row, and assumed another typographical error. But, no – they did play Westminster College 2 consecutive weeks, October 14th and 21st. I heard someone on the radio say it was a “fluke due to a scheduling error.”

 

Here's from Randy Olson of Bonanza Valley:

 

Hello Brian!! I managed to read the entire Star Tribune column by Reusse on my cell phone. Apparently the "cookies" haven't told the StTrib servers that I have viewed too many stories, which allowed me to read his column without a "Paywall" warning or "Paywall" block.

I really enjoyed his column, and it was certainly a puff piece, a feel-good story. I think if I'm Reusse and near the end of my career that's a fitting type of thing to write about. I'm surprised that someone at UMM gave him incorrect information on the construction of Big Cat Stadium. I am 99% sure, in fact I'd bet the $20 bill in my wallet, that Big Cat Stadium was opened for the 2005 season with Coombe Field used last in 2004. That's my recollection without actually looking it up. I think I could dig into the UMM sports website football archives and it would tell exactly which year Big Cat was first used. (Reusse's column said 1997)

 

It was 2006?

Yours truly responds: How could I forget the 2005 football season? That had to be the fall of the goalpost incident. I left the Morris newspaper in June of 2006 as part of the fallout from that. Sam Schuman had to be haunted the rest of his life. I left the paper just before Big Cat was opened for football. I never got to cover any games there. 

An asterisk for that: Starting in 2010 I got perched on the sidelines and took photos with my "film" camera of Tiger and Cougar football for my Flickr account online. For blog posts too. I'm so proud to have done that for a few years. I assembled whole albums on Flickr for the various seasons of MACA. 

I have to be pretty close to certain that Big Cat opened for football in the 2006 fall, about three months after me leaving the paper. One's memory can always get distorted though. 

I of course spent countless seasons covering Tiger football at Coombe Field. Today? I enjoy writing about Tiger football when I can get the raw information from other media sources. I don't have the standing to talk to coaches. 

Brett Miller has left the radio station and this deals a blow to my efforts, unfortunately.

 

And there's more

My current post on "Morris of Course" takes the U of M to task for what I see as a flaccid situation with administration/leadership. Can't help but draw that conclusion. Did you get the recent annual fundraising letter for the Hort. Garden? Before getting the letter, I was ready to make my usual contribution. After reading it, decided not to! Can you blame me?

I invite you to read my post:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2023/11/u-of-m-needs-nudge-to-get-more-fired-up.html

  

Addendum: Mike Lynn once said something like the following: "If you think my wife is attractive now, you should have seen her 15 years ago." Uh. . .

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Jaguars impress through state quarters

BBE 28, Mayer Luth. 6

Fans certainly enjoy the offensive complexion of BBE Jaguar football games. 

Like point-scoring? The Jags come through, like they did in their opening post-season game which was a 60-8 win! The win was over ACGC at BBE. 

The Jags have played away from home since. What a journey it has been and continues to be. 

The Jags put up 36 points in beating Upsala/Swanville. After that 36-12 success in Fargo, the squad was in for the prestigious state level. They rumbled forward again. BBE is fresh from its 28-6 win over Mayer Lutheran. No roof overhead for this game as it was played at St. Cloud Apollo on Friday. I'd say the weather was accommodating. 

So now what? Now we'll see the big-time surroundings of U.S. Bank Stadium for the next step. That next step is the state semis set for next Saturday, Nov. 18. The Jaguars are matched against Minneota for the 11:30 a.m. game. Very nice to see the afternoon start time. 

The prospect of facing the Vikings of Minneota seems daunting. The Vikings are the defending state Class A champions. And my, take a look at how they did in their most recent game: a 55-0 win over Braham! That game was played at St. Cloud Tech. 

The Jaguars took charge in similar fashion versus Mayer, building up a 22-0 lead. The first quarter saw Jack Lundberg find daylight for a 27-yard TD run. The quarterback Luke Dingmann went to work for the next two scores. First the signal-caller thrilled with a 91-yard touchdown run. His passing arm did the work on the next score. Luke flung the ball to Luke Illies for a scoring strike of 14 yards. 

Dingmann then got hurt as he was making a routine tackle. He brought down Isaiah Ingram of the Crusaders. He hurt his shoulder and would play no more. An ice pack was applied to his right shoulder. A void needed to be addressed at QB so on came Illies. Illies gets snaps in practice regularly so he was in sync for the second half. 

Truly the Jags were prepared for this misfortune. 

As of this morning (Saturday), I can't find update info that would make clear that Dingmann can come back. Coach  Chris Moscho is quoted describing backup Illies as "a phenomenal quarterback." So maybe the adjustment will be seamless? We hope Dingmann can put his injury completely behind him. 

Maybe the defense felt a little more pressure after halftime. Whatever, this unit performed. It limited Mayer runningback Jack Grimsley to 45 yards on 20 carries. Defensive back  Ryan Jensen excelled with an interception and fumble recovery. 

Mayer had a real throwing quarterback. You can sink or swim this way. My, Levi Hahn put the ball in the air 41 times. The Jags were up for limiting his effectiveness: just 18 completions. Levi passed for 156 yards. He connected with Ingram for a TD from 17 yards with 10:29 remaining. 

Mayer's cheers quickly gave way to a subdued mood as BBE's Lundberg found daylight along the left sideline: a 75-yard kick return for six. Coach Moscho said "Jack's touchdown, that sealed it." 

The defense really bore down after that. So it's on to the state semis for the Jaguars along with my old newspaper friend Randy Olson of Bonanza Valley. Stay busy and enthused, Randy! Oh, he most certainly will. What a contrast he presents to our newspaper in Morris! Randy believes in presenting a dynamic website, very timely, exciting and informative. 

The Stevens County Times website is not even worth checking, very sad. The SCT site is dominated by UMM stuff on the sports side, and UMM can be followed 100 percent from UMM's own site. Why the apathy and indifference toward our MACA Tigers? Is our whole community just apathetic? Is that it? Well, this is Morris where people try to get out of town on weekends every chance they get. 

Randy has the pleasure of covering a team that is now 11-0. Mayer was left at 8-3. 

BBE had seven first downs yesterday. Dingmann rolled up 95 rushing yards in just five carries! Lundberg's rushing total was 40 yards, nine carries. And Ryan Jensen's stats were 35 yards, four carries. 

Dingmann had efficient passing numbers of five completions, ten attempts, 57 yards, plus the significant number of zero interceptions. Illies struggled some at one-for-six, eight yards, but again no INTs. Here's the receiving corps: Brett DeRoo (two catches, 11 yards), Lundberg (1-4), Illies (2-19) and Hayden Sobiech (1-31). 

Harley Weber had a quarterback sack. He had three solo tackles, one assist. Also on defense: Toby Cebulla (five solo, three assists), Sobiech (5-0), Joshua Walstrom (5-0), Maximus Hanson (3-5) and Carson Gilbert (3-4). 

Get fired up Randy Olson for another big journalistic commitment: the Saturday game in the state semis! Jaguars are exciting!

Click on link below to read my review of the Jags' 36-12 win over Upsala-Swanville for the section title. This post is on my "Morris of Course" site. Thanks.

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2023/11/bbe-football-flashes-offense-en-route.html 

Bonanza Valley pride on the gridiron!

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Power of reproductive health rights

Stardate September 8, 2023. The elections held around the U.S. yesterday indicate that the women of America are not taking the Supreme Court decision on abortion lightly. They are mobilized. I am not "pro-abortion." However I do believe we must support women's reproductive health rights. 

The matter is more complicated than all the Bible-thumping people would want to believe. We can't blame doctors for wanting to have nothing to do with problem pregnancies now. They might be forced to consult with an attorney, rather than to just work one-on-one with the stressed female patient. 

The most legitimate resolution might be to "blame God." God created our human bodies in a manner leading to this thorny matter of abortion that distresses so many. Try out that argument with all the Bible-thumping types: "blame God." We must live in the real world. I thought conservatives were good for promoting that: "Live in the real world and dismiss the utopian-type thinking of the 'lefties.' " 

William F. Buckley once wrote a book "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking?" Poor Bill, his TV show would not work today because he talked too slow. He was too erudite for today's conservative crowd. 

So women made a statement last night. They'll obviously go the direction of the Democrats on this. So all you righties in the Morris area, who greatly outnumber me, you'll have to recognize that when this wave of Democrats gets elected due to reproductive health rights, guess what? You'll get everything else the Democratic Party has to offer. 

Chris Matthews

That's OK by me to a point. I will always listen to liberal/progressive arguments. Chris Matthews the former MSNBC host said "liberalism always wins in the end." Not sure I even like the prospect of that, at least not in full. I was a "Reagan Democrat." 

My recognition of the Christmas holidays will be almost nil this year. I am way too fearful of the resurgence of Donald Trump. He survives all obstacles. He contradicts logic. I am so fearful of what could be coming for all of us. 

Do not listen to those politicians or pundits who say Trump's comeback is unlikely. We so badly want to nod our heads with these people. We are so passive as we listen to such, when we ought to be gripped by some panic: Consider nothing more than the polling now. No one is close to Trump in his party. Can the wave of Democratic Party enthusiasm brought by women's interests blunt the Republicans' thrust for more power? 

Consider our Western Minnesota. It is virtually hopeless trying to talk up the Democratic Party here. Don't even try. You might say we're an extension of the Dakotas. We're right next to South Dakota of course, where their wayward former attorney general Jason Ravnsborg came within a whisker of escaping impeachment/removal. He could well have survived. A Democrat in that position would have been beaten down and condemned horribly under the same circumstances. 

Can we start seeing a shift to where people can at least be more reasonable, weigh a broad range of facts and issues dispassionately? This, as opposed to voting automatically for those with the "R" next to their name? Can we come out of our national delusion? I mean, there should have been a consensus within 24 hours after what happened on January 6. For a short while I thought there would be. 

Obviously, nothing like Jan. 6 would have happened if it were not for the outgoing president behaving like a total madman. I didn't hesitate for a second drawing that conclusion. And when I heard that none other than Liz Cheney had come forward reflecting my stance, well I thought wisdom was going to prevail. In the back of my mind, though, I had worries based on the reaction of "conservativve media." 

My worries were borne out totally. 

Has our justice system failed us? People in justice ended up approaching the Jan. 6 matter in a way not uncommon for them, i.e. go after the "small fish," squeeze them and then they'll lead you to the top. The process got lost in the total mud that our system can become when high-priced lawyers and "name" glory-seekers get involved. People saw opportunity for themselves getting on board with MAGA. 

Glory-seekers could go on media outlets like Newsmax. And of course Fox News which has emanated such a foul stench for so long. People ought to be well familiar with certain outlets and commentators, to file away such commentary in context. 

It seems the onslaught from the political right has worked. So Trump is truly in position to seize power again. And, based on his pronouncements on how his new term would operate, should we all not be scared to death? He truly is planning a military style dictatorship, the pure Fascist model, and couldn't our elected representative Michelle Fischbach speak out on this? Couldn't she assure us that she is actually offended by such talk that is coming from Trump? 

You confront these people and they don't wish to address the pertinent angles, the real facts. They will push back by accusing you of all sorts of things that are extraneous. Obviously it can get personal. I have experienced that. They'll accuse you of having "Trump derangement syndrome." So the pushback falls along those lines: they'll imply that I am the delusional one. 

I end up groping to keep the debate going. But it is never really a debate. Trump appears to be coming back and his supporters had better be ready to answer for what all is going to happen. They themselves will likely end up as losers. That's what happens to everyone who tries to get close to Trump. Many have said he never returns loyalty. And yet people want to kiss the ring. 

They say Kevin McCarthy propped Trump up after Jan. 6. I think it would have happened anyway. So what can stop this sinister man and his inevitable wave of support? Nothing? I guess that's what I am implying. 

I am trying to warn everyone today. If I am so skeptical, why am I doing it? Good question. Maybe because I want to preserve this miracle called the United States of America.

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Disruptive effect of the time change

It occasionally makes the news! The actual threats to one's health, especially if you're older, of the time changes when we go off/on daylight savings time. 

All things being equal, everything can be harder for adjustment when you get older. I do not consume any standard TV any more. If I were to watch some mainstream type of news programs, I would be more likely to get the heads-up on the time changes. Actually I think more people get "fooled" on this than we realize, because we're too embarrassed to admit it. 

I had a strange experience Sunday morning. My only way of becoming aware of the time shift was through my "atomic clock." Fine, I became aware, at least for awhile. I made a trip downtown for my breakfast sandwiches at Caribou. Everything fine. Upon getting home I checked my watch which I had not adjusted. Maybe because I am getting older - having attended my 50-year high school reunion recently - I went and forgot about the time change. 

So I drove into town an hour early in my attempt to attend church. I arrived at church and realized almost immediately the reality: basically no cars parking around the place. Although I later joked with a friend: "I might have thought this was just an average Sunday at First Lutheran." Rimshot on that? 

First Lutheran does not have the hardy air it once did. We don't have a pastor but this is actually no big deal for me at present. I think the idea of a well-paid guy wearing a robe who composes an original sermon every Sunday, helping lead and inspire his flock, is really quite antiquated. But I see value in church as something "different" to break up the week and for seeing certain people regularly in a social way. 

Such experiences are harder to come by in the post-covid age. We do not mix in social situations as much - we do not take this for granted as part of our lives. But church can provide some relief for that. 

I am bothered that the ELCA Lutherans of Morris are divided into two churches. This is totally unnecessary. The word now is that Faith Lutheran is doing so much better than First. It's too bad we have to compare at all. We are Americans and we are naturally competitive. Having two churches in town means we'll compare. Maybe it's part of our sinful nature. We go to church to be reminded of that, but I don't need some guru wearing a robe to remind me. 

I got to church an hour early Sunday, pulled into the courthouse parking lot and had the opportunity to chat with a nice person out walking her dog. She confirmed my mistake in understanding what time it was. I'm not too embarrassed to admit it. I went to Willie's to get a snack and then went home, not to return that day. 

I took a look at our YouTube post for the service and again surmised that we are not doing well with numbers. Many in our church are old including me, and it would be reassuring to get more young families in the ranks. I hear that Faith Lutheran is doing that. Congratulations to them. 

Churches can change their image through the years. First and Faith have definitely been through this. Faith long had the image of being more of the "working class church." That's such a generalization, I'm not sure it means anything. Stereotype? Sometimes an image grows just because of the presence of a small group of people. First Lutheran was once associated with the Eidsvolds. It was blessed this way. I don't know to what extent the Eidsvolds might still be tied to Morris institutions - I think they still make gestures for UMM. 

UMM like First Lutheran Church has really come upon some shoals, some adversity. Is it bad luck for them that I am associated with both? I would not want to be a hindrance. 

We are approaching the end of the year so I have to consider writing a check to the U of M Foundation, in support of the fund in my family's name. To benefit music. I don't know how much this helps if UMM music is so desperate as to charge $10 admission for the Homecoming concert. I believe there was a time when this concert was free - a nice gesture for those taking the trouble to come and support UMM. 

Hey, ski-U-mah

UMM is trying to "squeeze" us now, at a time when "real" enrollment has seriously, almost catastrophically, shrunk. The overall U has not had capable leadership for a long time. I'm incredulous about that. Nevertheless if I were to share concerns, a fair number of the usual glory-seekers around town would pillory me, condemn me, insult me on personal grounds which is something I have had to deal with all my life. I just try to "call 'em as I see 'em." 

I don't even believe in PSEO. High school kids should stay with their peers and progress toward maturity in the standard way. Of course colleges want to get their mitts on high school age kids because colleges need bodies. So then the public subsidizes that while at the same time continuing to pay a fortune for our standard K-12 system. Jim McRoberts taught me the expression "figures lie and liars figure." 

I plan to bite the bullet and make my usual $ contribution to the U of M Foundation, designated for the Ralph and Martha Williams Fund at the U of M-Morris. I don't even know if "UMM" is the correct reference any more. UMN? Things can get so crazy out there. Well, government is involved. People are embedded with their own self-interest in bureaucracies. As a newspaper person I learned to see through all of this. Nothing I can do to change anything. 

Maybe we'll get a new U president who seems really truly invested in how our U performs and serves the state. We had a U president for three years who came here from South Carolina - culture clash, yes - and it appears now she was one of those people who never stops sending her resume around. I detest that. 

I have began feeling great skepticism about our vaunted "board of regents." The term regent once inspired some awe in me when I heard it. Heavens, that has certainly changed. How do we know that certain regents don't just like "schmoozing" with administrators? I think a small group of really focused state legislators, even if they were Republicans, would do a better job of oversight. Maybe especially if they were Republicans, and that's a hard statement to get out of me. 

The Democrats' one biggest weakness is that they put up with largesse in public education. Maybe some progress is being made with that, but not nearly enough. Republicans are less likely to be impressed by the flowery, lofty talk coming from the education bureaucracy do-gooders. 

What is to become of the U of M? What is to become of First Lutheran Church in Morris? I will now have a full week to prepare for the correct time of day. I went for my usual walk last night and found darkness was setting in by surprise - should not have surprised me as we were off daylight savings time. I am getting older and sometimes struggle to be aware of everything. 

I had to change my walking route so that I would not be walking along the bypass east of town after dark. The risk is that you could be accosted by cops. This happened to me once. It was an unmarked vehicle. For a moment I tried ignoring the guy but he followed me. I was walking properly on the proper side of the road, on the shoulder of course and facing traffic. I wonder what would have happened if I steadfastly refused to talk to him. Would I have been tased? 

I will start my walks an hour earlier now. In the '80s I was a jogger and often out at night. But we lived in a much more relaxed world then. Today things are so nervous, I will not walk through the UMM campus after dark. At age 68 I might look suspicious, which I would claim is an unfair stereotype. Being old and male and a loner, I have to be careful. Gender should not figure in. UMM is not supposed to stereotype anyone - it's against their ethos, isn't it?

 

Addendum: When I send my check to the U Foundation, to a Twin Cities office where I know things will be more orderly than here, I may include a little note saying I hope the new U president - heavens whenever that person comes along - will take a very hard look at UMM. Maybe that person will just be more interested in glad-handing which is always tempting. So we may have to call on the Republican Party after all.

 

Addendum: I know of at least one person in the UMM bureacracy who would laugh at me because of some of the things I write here. Belittle me. Minimize me. Mock me, whatever. I've seen it all.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

Night owls travel to see MACA defeated

DGF 35 Tigers 14

Why does our high school sports system permit such a late starting time as for the MACA Tigers' Friday game? 

Late starting times sometimes happen for post-season games. When you get into the post-season, especially after the first couple rounds, some of the fans have a pretty hefty travel burden. Many of these fans are so primed with emotions, they'd move mountains to get to a game. They might use questionable judgment in driving home at an unreasonably late hour. 

A friend of mine wondered if the MACA fans for the Friday night game were all going to stay over in hotels. Maybe they did, I wouldn't know. But there's extra cost involved in that of course. I assume many fans would simply assume they can drive home OK, whatever the hour. 

My concern is always this: people maybe getting drowsy at the wheel. Who wants to drive a long distance in pitch black darkness anyway? The people should be comfortably and safely in bed. But many of these people would do anything to get to a kids' game and watch it in full. 

Was there maybe a fan bus Friday night? I wouldn't know. I would have advised that strongly. Still, the start time was unreasonable. The announced start time was 8 o'clock. A friend advised me during the day that the time could easily get pushed later. And it appears that's what happened. I myself would have been in bed by the time the game started. I tend to retire early and then I get up in the middle of the night for a couple hours, open my laptop, contemplate a little. 

I learned this morning (Saturday) that things did not go well for the Tigers at the Fargodome. The Tigers were matched against a team with a long string of Section 8AAA success. That team was the Rebels: Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton. So the Rebels have entered the 3A state playoffs again, fresh from their 35-14 win over the Tigers. They garnered their fourth straight section championship. 

Their coach Anthony Soderberg submitted quotes after the game that were totally boilerplate! I don't know why the Forum writer even bothers typing and sharing quotes like these. The writer could get right to the stats. Actually I cannot find a stat summary per se on this Saturday morning. I wish the coaches would submit info on the "Minnesota Football Hub" site. MACA stats have been there occasionally in the past, I stress occasionally. 

"It's all the kids," ol' Soderberg said. Oh really. "They showed what they can do and they got the job done." Yeah, and you gotta take 'em one at a time. 

I'm afraid there was no suspense in this game. MACA fans had to endure a steady pattern of "mo" for the Rebels at the expense of our Tigers. We were down 21-8 at halftime. Brody Friend scored twice with the ground game in the first half for DGF. His teammate Caleb Johnson had a rushing TD of 23 yards. 

I'm afraid the players who were quoted by the Forum were generic in their comments just like the coach. "I'm excited to make a run in the state tournament." Another sample: "To win this for the last three years is really special." Really? 

DGF polished things off with a pair of second half scores, both by Bodey DeVries. First DeVries scored on a 27-yard pass from Caleb Johnson. Then he dove a yard into the end zone. The Rebels had a drive that ate up time in the fourth quarter. Must have been an ordeal for the MACA fans to watch. And the very long drive home awaited them. 

The Forum writer quoted DeVries saying he hoped "the Rebels can make a run similar to last year." 

Well. . . 

MACA fans could greatly enjoy our two touchdowns which were by the passing route. The thrower was Drew Huebner. Jackson Hallman was determined as he made a bobbling type of catch. He had to focus on staying in bounds. His focus was rewarded with a signal of "touchdown." Huebner completed a 38-yard TD pass that had Riley Asmus on the catching end. 

The Rebels advance to play Albany which comes out of Section 6AAA. Interestingly the DGF vs. Albany game will not be indoors under a roof, even as we are advancing into colder weather (or the likelihood of such). So the DGF vs. Albany game will be at Alexandria, Friday, Nov. 10, 7 p.m. 

Oh no, coach Soderberg is quoted saying he expects a "smash mouth football game." I had thought that expression was on the back-burner now because of all the efforts to try to ensure that football is safer. I remember when Jerry Witt used the expression. We do not want players "smashing" into each other. School activities should protect the basic safety of the kids, n'est-ce pas? You don't disagree with me, do you? 

Speaking of safety, I sure hope the fans who drove so late at night, or past midnight into early morning, were able to endure the drive with comfort and safety. I was just fine in bed! 

And what might our kmrs-kkok website be reporting to us about last night's game? Just as I expected the radio station site is falling into a pattern of just reporting "scores." So I see the score, that's all. I guess Brett Miller is no longer at the station. 

The final MACA won-lost is 7-4.

 

Volleyball ends season

Our MACA Tigers of the volleyball court were defeated by sub-section top seed Paynesville. I write about this match on my companion site "Morris of Course." You may click to read:

https://morrisofcourse.blogspot.com/2023/11/volleyball-tigers-fall-to-paynesville.html 

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com

How a "futurist" might assess UMM

From an email I received from a friend Monday evening:

There was a short report on KSTP TV news at 6 this evening about how the “outstate” U of Minn campuses were struggling with severe enrollment declines, and how “staff adjustments will have to be made,” but they didn’t elaborate. Didn’t sound rosy.  

 

My response to him included: 

Excess spending by the U of M has been an issue for a very long time. Remember how Ventura got so peeved with Yudof? With enrollment going down, push may come to shove. Our football team is in such a weak conference and has such a pathetic schedule, I don't know why people put up with it. We used to take pride in getting really good athletes here. Now we just try to have a weak schedule and pretend nothing is wrong.

 

More from my email: 

I could never have predicted that UMM would go downhill so fast. I asked Janet Schrunk-Ericksen if there was any metric besides enrollment for judging UMM's performance, and she said NO. So that's that. I let (name withheld) know my feelings about the $10 charge for the Homecoming concert. He throws his weight around some. 

I go through the north end of the campus when I take my standard walks, but outside of that I try to completely avoid the campus now. And heavens, I certainly wouldn't go there after dark. I could get tackled by campus security. It's a nervous place. When you are a male age 70 and you are alone, people are suspicious of you.

 

A faux discipline?

There was once a fledgling branch of academia in which the practitioners described themselves as "futurists." Seemed intriguing to me. Much of my online writing has been devoted to cultural changes and trends, and how we might extrapolate into the future. For example, the early seeds of change planted with digital tech easily pointed the way for waves of change to come. It's just that we needed time to seize on all of this. 

Futurists could envision all sorts of things. There seemed little doubt about their prescience. 

The old ways were not going to give way immediately. Vested interests sought to cling to the old ways. But the really prescient people - the true futurists - could see easily, I felt, that the new influences could push past everything. 

George Ure is an online writer who prophesied quite correctly about a decade ago. Many of us, Ure wrote, would like to stay in the comfort zone of doing things by old habits. Writing paper checks for monthly bills? Receiving paper checks for work done? We mastered such practices and thus got a sense of comfort from them. But the new ways were bound to bulldoze us over. 

I nodded as I read such predictions as from Ure. Ure has his "Urban Survival" website. Perhaps misnamed. What's in a name in the online world? You've noticed the "handles" people go by when submitting comments on news items. The sheer randomness or silliness of these signatures. 

All of what I'm writing here is a lead-in to my prime subject which is our University of Minnesota-Morris. Would Jack Imholte even recognize the place today? College campuses once had such a rarefied air of "academic rigor." Young people were made to suffer with thick textbooks - dry as hell also - and challenging exams for which they "crammed." A futurist would say the expression "cramming for finals" has been retired from our parlance. 

OK what's going on? The salad days of the "boomers," my generation, is quite gone, hence colleges cannot count on all the young people just flooding their campuses like it was a rite of autumn. Man, I remember St. Cloud State. 

Today there is far less of a "product" sought by colleges. They need students. That's their end of the bargain. The students are supposed to benefit, or else why are they there? 

There was a time when students assumed they were going to have to suffer through college with difficult classes and instructors who weren't always very thoughtful in how they laid things out. Why would instructors be that way? OK here's the answer: they had a quota system for grades. They all knew that, would admit it if they had to. 

High school teachers were much the same. If every student in your class had the ideal enthusiasm and maturity, and if all of them grasped the subject matter exactly the way you liked, well then what would you do? Because you could not give all of them an 'A' grade. Even if you'd prefer doing that, the system would not allow you. If you tried, your superiors would flag your work and you'd have some serious explaining to do. 

You might have to do some remediation. Correct your work so you could cleverly (and cynically) orchestrate lessons in such a way to guarantee some students struggling. A speaker in the "TedX" series said this could be done by testing the kids with some questions on matters that were not covered in class. The very brightest students might be hip to answering these questions. Others would not, and these others would be left feeling deflated by the experience. They might "pass" but with their self-esteem shot down. 

I don't think this approach is "cool" today. First and foremost, colleges have the most fundamental of instincts/motivation: survive. 

Jack Imholte

Am I correct that the term "academia" isn't heard much anymore? It always had a rather odious sound to it, i.e. effete, elite. (Hey, that rhymes.) 

I think our former chancellor Jack Imholte here in Morris rather liked the days of effete academia. And if he did, he saw the attitude as one of promoting our interests, of projecting an air of superiority about UMM. 

I have my own self-centered interests for having developed bitterness about it: I knew as a young person I could never "cut it" here. It was a mistake for me to ever put myself up against such a yardstick. 

The solution would have been this: for yours truly to "talk up" UMM and everything it stood for, for years and years, as if I was totally invested in it; while at the same time, having nothing to do with it for my own life, my own goals, my own aspirations. 

You might say I'd be living a lie. Well yes. I came from a UMM family and I was forced into thinking about this a lot. Obviously, too much for my own good. 

I felt as though I had to at least pretend I could communicate with UMM people on their terms. Try to come across as erudite etc. But here's the deal: even though the people in this dinosaur called academia saw themselves as quite superior, the way to score points with them was not to try to be like them. They would not have even wanted that. A lot of their talk about being superior was rather like sheep-dip anyway. An act. Posturing. 

If you really wanted to be accepted by UMM people, just fall into your own natural niche and do your own particular thing well. You don't need to use any 50-cent words. Let them do that as part of their identity. 

I once had a friend who taught economics at Southwest State U (saxophone player BTW). He would sometimes smile and mock the pretense of academia by using "inundatious" as an all-purpose 50-cent word. I played trumpet. Speaking of which, there was an MAHS band concert Monday night. Ah, the night before Halloween. Fierce and cold wind blowing across the prairie all day. 

A friend wondered why I did not attend. I am a 68-year-old male who happens to live his life alone most of the time. People might see me at public events and wonder why I'm there. I am not a parent. I don't have adult children or grandchildren I can pay attention to. I can attend church every Sunday because I'm not out traveling around to "visit grandchildren." 

Do you ever wonder if some of these kids would just like to be left alone with their own parents? Churches need the presence and support of their older parishioners. But so many of these people want to stick like glue to their "grandchildren." Of course, what could be more precious than one's children and grandchildren, your flesh and blood after all? 

I reminded my friend that when we were young, parents had the real fear of losing their sons in the Vietnam war. Why oh why did our nation put up with it? Our own parents had their lives affected by World War II. Maybe our grandparents were impacted by World War I. If you managed to survive those wars, you probably saw benefits coming to you like with the GI Bill. 

In addition, WWII was seen as bringing America out of the Great Depression. Seems to me, WWII only called for the expenditure of tons of government money. So that's what did it? Well then let's just spend like crazy again. 

The guys who survived the big wars could always talk like their experience was a badge of honor. Some could put on a funny hat and give a speech for Memorial Day. "Freedom isn't free." 

Were we to talk with all the soldiers who were killed in wars, we might get a different take on the heroic nature of war. 

 

Whither UMM? UMN?

How would a "futurist" assess where our UMM is likely headed now? Why the sharp headwinds for our school, why the dropoff in numbers? Cost? Student debt? I remember when Bill Clinton made statements about what government was doing to "help the parents of college students." And you know what that meant? Understand human nature much? Every time the government "did something" to help parents of college students with cost, the colleges merely responded by raising tuition. 

A rabbit chasing the carrot on the stick. I may not have been smart enough to attend UMM, but I sure do understand this.

The U has had issues with leadership of late. Maybe the "regents" are overrated. We'll get a new permanent U president or at least a president who is not interim. How much pressure will this individual be under from the legislature to achieve accountability and performance? Are we in Morris wedded to the liberal arts? Maybe we should not be. I have been an outlier in our community for a long time broaching this. I assure you that if there is fundamental change and something new takes over, all the denizens of this place who have recited "liberal arts" as a mantra will forget about it. 

I always try to speak the truth. That's another reason I am often an outlier.

 

Addendum: I can't help as I wrap up this piece thinking how certain holdovers from "academia" might respond to me, if they'd want to respond at all because they wouldn't want to acknowledge I have enough credibility to warrant a response. Perhaps I have a talent for "touching a nerve" with how I relate things. Because, some of the people I criticize can get so vicious and personal. They'll pick one little thing in my post today that may not conform to all the grammatical or stylistic rules. Or they will bristle at how I imply "futurists" never got traction in academia. Maybe they'd offer evidence to the effect that futurism is in fact viable. I just don't hear the term anymore. 

But it wouldn't be enough for these people to just disagree with me. They'd make their point and then at the end refer to me as a 

"dumb s--t." I have dealt with this for a long time. Like I said, I must be touching a nerve.

 

Addendum #2: Got prodded by nostalgia the other evening, listening to WDAY Radio out of Fargo as the guys discussed Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) football. Fewer of us in Morris remember when the Cougars were in with those teams. It was the "NIC" when I first did some coverage of the Cougars for the local media. And the Cougars were very strong in its ranks. 

Then something changed of course. We slid downhill and this was not remedied for some time. Finally it was remedied with UMM shifting to a different conference. 

The NSIC includes well-known schools. It's too bad we couldn't stay with them. A huge irony is that we have this classy artificial turf facility now, just beautiful, but we have to accept a lower caliber of competition. We play many no-name schools, schools you have to look up just to get a modicum of knowledge about them. They still seem shrouded in obscurity. 

Oh to be in the same conference as Moorhead State and others with that stamp of legitimacy. I suppose we can "pretend" now that all is fine as we can win periodically. And if the public doesn't know the difference? Well, that's life. Or that's Morris. I sure wish I could have heard the WDAY panel mention Morris a couple times. 

But can we even say "UMM" any more, or has that given way to this "UMN" thing in an official way? "UMN" simply means "University of Minnesota" and it does not point to location. When UMM first started, which I realize may seem like the Pleistocene Age to you, Dean Briggs thought it important to impress the name "Morris" on people. So my father incorporated that in the music he originally wrote for the school. 

A few years later the philosophy did an about-face, as no longer were we really proud of "Morris," instead we just wanted to be known as a branch of the big 'U'. I may disagree but what does that mean? "Mongo just pawn in game of life." 

Much is going to depend on the new long-term U president. Presumably more than three years, but who knows now? The U has been flailing. It is run with tax dollars.

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com