Photo by Michael Voeller

The results of the thirty-fifth annual Tug of War are in, and Gay Hall has fallen victim to a coalition of residence halls unlike any in recent memory.  After a stunning end to the tug of war in 2007 that ended in an unprecedented tie, students will now find solace in the ability to instruct their colleagues to meet them on David C. Johnson-Independence-Pine Lake.  The victory brings the all-time record to a tie, with each hall having emerged victorious in 17 confrontations.

Crowds began to swarm into the stands of Big Cat Stadium hours before the event.  This rallying of the forces was accompanied by the Powder Puff football game.  From the beginning, tensions between the two teams were high.  Sophomore player DeAnna Ricci stated that, “I think the freshmen were the most forceful.  They had a lot more trash-talk.”

In the background while the grueling confrontation played out, there was activity in the stands.  Cheers and rallying cries were heard throughout the stadium. Even as the metal of the stands rang out with the crashing of feet, activity was afoot.  A voter registration drive was taking place at the back of the stands by Morris Votes.  Ashley Gaschk, who successfully registered 30 students, described the program as a “nonpartisan coalition of UMM student organizations and interested students.” A collection of ghosts from various other residences on-campus wandered throughout the stands.  One ghost, Jay Jech, lamented that he was “disappointed by the lack of power pellets to attract Pac-men.”

Photo courtesy of Janell Kolden

Rewarding academic excellence through recognition has long been a tradition at the University of Minnesota, Morris (UMM). The latest example of this tradition is found in the 2008 Scholarship Jubilee, held Saturday, September 27 in Oyate Hall in the Student Center.

The jubilee is an annual event that has been steadily growing since its earliest beginnings back in the nineties, according to Madeline Maxeiner, Associate Vice Chancellor of External Relations. What began as a Thursday evening reception to recognize a few scholars and donors has developed into an important campus event.  Students now have an opportunity to meet, visit with, and properly appreciate those generous contributors who help to make their education possible.  Parents are also now invited to attend, and the original handful of scholarship recipients has ballooned into an impressive 200-plus individuals accepting awards from over 70 sources.

“We have more scholarships and donors every year,” Maxeiner commented. “It’s one of our [UMM External Relations’] most successful events.”

Photo from www.flickr.com/Barack Obama

Republican candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Barack Obama went head to head in their first of three debates last Friday night.  UMM students gathered in Student Center TV Lounge with Associate Professor of Political Science Paula O’Loughlin to watch the televised event. O’Loughlin commented on the event on Monday saying, “They [Sens. McCain and Obama] staked out their positions and they both made some efforts to frame their opponents in a less than favorable fashion. Really, nothing new was said.  They pretty much gave back at each other sound bites from previous speeches.”

Though most polls of the ordinary American citizen showed Obama to be the “winner” of the debate, O’Loughlin’s American Government and Politics class felt that McCain came out ahead in regards to actual substance. “[My students] felt that McCain won substantively.”

The debate was nearly postponed because of McCain’s promise to stay in Washington until Congress passed a bailout plan to aid America’s current financial crisis.  The events on Wall Street last week, which have continued in the early part of this week, surely made for some grave questions by moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS’s The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.