Once completed, the Anderson Athletic Center will be easier on the eyes than the O'Shaughnessy Educational Center. (Zack Thielke/TommieMedia)

With ambitious building plans and a $500 million capital campaign amidst annual tuition hikes, six-figure salaries for university administrators, obscenely high on-campus housing prices and numerous examples of wasteful administrative spending, it’s understandable that some students feel gouged out of money by the university.

I’ve worked three January Terms calling alumni and parents for money in St. Thomas’ phone center and all three years we had the lowest or second-lowest percentage of alumni donations of any school in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.

If I called anyone reading this article, I’m sorry for bothering you. It’s not fun for student workers either, but it did give me a lot of perspective on why many people dislike St. Thomas and why our alumni giving rate is so low. Dissatisfaction over the price of a St. Thomas degree as well as administrative decisions were both popular answers.

While one can take issue with the way St. Thomas handles money, I don’t view the Anderson Student Center and the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex as net losses for students. They will benefit Tommies for decades and I personally think they’re long overdue.

For years, St. Thomas’ leadership channeled construction dollars to building McNeely Hall, the three other campuses or upperclassmen apartments. But these new facilities will benefit all undergraduate St. Thomas students, not just the handful that travel to Owatonna or Rome.

Our buildings have an impressive architectural style on a compact campus, both traits I approve of, but the Modernist eyesores of O’Shaughnessy Education Center and the Murray-Herrick Campus Center blight St. Thomas’ otherwise-stately Lower Quad. And while we are stuck with both for the foreseeable future, upgrading the student center was a gesture I’m glad our administration made.

Murray-Herrick Campus Center is still functional and probably decades away from demolition talk, but it has no business being one of the most important buildings at a school as big and influential as St. Thomas.

I wouldn’t feel honest referring to the Blue Lagoon as a student union and our cafeteria’s kitchen was built for a much smaller student body. The mail room interior is how I imagine government offices looked in 1983.

As for athletics, O’Shaughnessy Hall was built back when men were expected to wear hats in public.

The pool is too small to hold meets in and some of the equipment in McCarthy Gym looks like it was salvaged from the Titanic. Our swimmers and other athletes deserve better, especially our many student athletes who rank among Division III’s elite.

Change and growth are healthy and I think these new projects should be welcomed. With one caveat: I can’t approve of graduating at the Metrodome unless we’re allowed to run the bases after commencement. Seriously, that site easily ranks in my top five least favorite St. Thomas decisions from my time here and I’m a Twins fan.

I graduate in May, so I won’t get to enjoy either the new athletic complex or student center. But it doesn’t really bother me, because more future Tommies will be able to enjoy campus amenities in line with what the school charges. Better late than never, I suppose.

Zack Thielke can be reached at zsthielke@stthomas.edu

With an August 2010 opening date, fall athletes can have their preseason practices in the new athletic complex. (Zack Thielke/TommieMedia)

Construction on the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex is progressing ahead of schedule, as Opus Northwest work crews continue building the structure and its exterior.

As specialty and interior features are installed starting in 2010, the size of Opus Northwest’s workforce is expected to more than double from what it was in the summer of 2009.

The complex’s opening date was recently changed from October 2010 to August 2010, which would allow fall athletes to conduct their preseason practices in the new facility.

Although unpredictable winter conditions may hamper progress, few obstacles are expected to hamper Opus Northwest’s progress on St. Thomas’ new athletic complex.

“There’s really nothing on the horizon that’s going to cause any concerns about the timeline,” Vice President for Business Affairs and Chief Financial Officer Mark Vangsgard said.

As O’Shaughnessy Hall is evacuated, the asbestos will be removed beginning early 2010. In February or March, the building will be demolished to allow completion of the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex’s southwestern corner.

This will then allow groundbreaking for the Anderson Student Center to begin. The student center was recently approved by St. Thomas’ Board of Trustees Executive Committee and is currently pending city approval.

The student center is scheduled to open August 2011, and will occupy the space where Lot H is.

Renovations for Murray-Herrick Campus Center and South Campus’ McCarthy Gym are also scheduled, but are not officially determined at this time.

Zack Thielke can be reached at zsthielke@stthomas.edu

The bill includes, among other measures, a death penalty for “repeat offenders,” and charges three year prison terms for parents, teachers or landlords who fail to denounce homosexuals within 24 hours of learning their sexual preference.

Yakov Smirnoff once joked, “We have no gay people in Russia – there are homosexuals but they are not allowed to be gay about it. The punishment is seven years in prison with other men, and there is a three year waiting list for that.”

In all seriousness, there’s little practical social benefit to this law, which justifies itself by claiming to protect heterosexual families from gays corrupting and converting children to their lifestyle.

Personally, the only parts of the law I feel protect children are the harsh measures against engaging in or touching with the intention of homosexual acts with children, in which case I believe the death penalty should be used against repeat offenders.

But killing gay adults for practicing their sexuality with loving, consensual partners to me is cruel beyond words. I think it’s pathetic that religious leaders and their followers have largely been silent on this issue.

Religions are supposed to have answers

National Catholic Reporter correspondent John L. Allen Jr. said the bill called for Catholics to “take a stand” but never said for which side, and explained the law’s rationale by saying, “many Africans regard homosexuality as a western aberration.”

My mom’s ancestors were Welsh, so she had me baptized American Episcopalian. I’m used to hearing my religious heritage dismissed by Catholics. We differ on morality, interpretation of scripture and philosophy of hierarchy, among other things.

But speaking as a straight male, the ways Catholics discuss and respond to gay people has never made me want to convert. You can feel any way you want about sex, but everyone needs love. Most importantly, they are actually really good at raising adopted children that straight families couldn’t take care of.

As I understand it, the Catholic Church used to believe homosexuality was a choice that could be prayed away or changed. In the 1970s, the leadership decided that because gays were made in the image of God, they could still be saved if they remained celibate and lived alone their entire lives. Recently, Pope Benedict XVI declared the priesthood ineligible for anyone who even supported “the so-called ‘gay culture.’”

Catholic catechism 2320 says that the murder of a human being is contrary to the dignity of the person and the holiness of the creator. So, Catholics are supposed to be against supporting homosexual behavior, but are also supposed to be against killing people or imprisoning straight people for not snitching on gay relatives or associates.

Ugandan Catholic officials seem generally compliant with the proposed law, and the Vatican has not yet issued a statement to my knowledge.

Still waiting on a verdict

Uganda is roughly 40 percent Catholic and has strong St. Thomas ties. The Rev. Dennis Dease builds medical clinics there and brings students to study here. Disagreements on some issues aside, I have tremendous personal respect for Dease and think these efforts rank among his noblest accomplishments.

Because Uganda is likely to be a Catholic powerhouse over the coming decades, I expected to see more lay Catholics publicly endorsing or denouncing the proposed law, because their leadership hasn’t and this law would affect the lives of many Catholics in poverty.

Personally, I think it’s disgraceful that Uganda’s Anglican Church has not spoken out against it. I’ve seen firsthand that gay people, as well as any kind of woman, make excellent clergy.

But our many churches are used to disagreeing and doing their own thing. American Episcopal clergy were free to emigrate to become ordained in Uganda in protest of openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson’s appointment and at least 30 did.

Don’t get me wrong, Uganda is a sovereign country free to make and enforce its own laws. But that doesn’t mean you can’t talk about it. Influential religious leaders – this responsibility applies to you especially.

This bill appears likely to pass regardless, it is what it is. But I haven’t heard the Catholic side yet, and I think it demands comment.

Zack Thielke can be reached at zsthielke@stthomas.edu

St. Catherine University offers a community garden titled "Celeste's Dream." Come spring, St. Thomas could join St. Kate's and Macalester College by placing a garden on campus. (Aaron Hays/TommieMedia)

A subcommittee composed of faculty, employees and students from the biology, environmental studies, and justice and peace studies programs, in addition to the physical plant, is proposing what would be the largest increase in on-campus agriculture since Common Ground’s community garden.

“I think this will be really good for keeping us on the sustainable path,” said Green Team member Amy Schmelling, a junior. “Students should care about where their food comes from and we want to give them a local option so they don’t have to travel off campus to farmers’ markets.”

The garden likely would be placed in the grassy gap between McNeely Hall and Summit Classroom Building. Garden activities would be open to the St. Thomas community, including student groups doing service projects, summer Child Development Center guests and neighborhood residents.

Although they had hoped to break ground this fall, committee members are optimistic the garden will be approved in time for the spring planting season. The harvested produce distribution plan is not final, but unclaimed fruits or vegetables likely would be donated to local food shelves.

“They already have clientele, so we wouldn’t need to go seek them out,” said biology lab coordinator Chester Wilson.

Megan Sheridan, senior coordinator for the Green Team, said the three main goals of the garden are service opportunities, education and community engagement. Sheridan said relations between members of the St. Thomas community are sometimes strained because of construction or students’ use of alcohol, but that local neighborhood boards had expressed approval thus far. Macalester-Groveland’s community council even offered to write a letter of support.

“We wanted to see how we could build a way for students, community members and faculty to all interact on a positive scale doing positive things,” Sheridan said.

The venture proposal was drafted by the Sustainability Committee’s food garden subcommittee, and the biology department will anchor much of the garden’s educational activity.

The biology department already collects discarded coffee grounds from different places on campus and uses worms to process the waste into rich fertilizer, which could provide a nourishing soil for the garden’s plants. Approximately three 20-gallon tubs of fertilizer have already been generated this school year and indoor composting can continue during winter months.

Students have requested money from St. Thomas’ Beverage Committee Funds to offset start-up costs including gardening tools and raised plant beds.

Wilson, biology assistant professor Adam Kay and recycling coordinator Bob Douglas are among those coordinating this proposal, and students from several departments and clubs are also involved. According to the proposal, an environmental studies student worker would work during the school year, and two students would be hired to tend the garden during the summer. Greenhouse manager Steve Trost would likely handle seed selection and lead planting activities.

Zack Thielke can be reached at zsthielke@stthomas.edu

In September, Multimedia/Web Editor Grant Goerke wrote a logical, reasonable piece about St. Thomas’ “partying problem.” Observing that because St. Thomas, Public Safety, St. Paul Police, Ramsey County and many neighborhood residents have an uncommonly low tolerance for people openly drinking alcohol, perhaps inescapable and harsh drinking policies contribute to many of the problems our neighbors and administrators frequently rail against.

I agree that much of the “partying problem” can be attributed to our authority figures’ draconian rules. These expectations drive students consuming alcohol out of sight, or all out into the streets at once, regardless of the amount students intend to consume or their behavior when intoxicated. Goerke called for a compromise built on safety and respect, so students have a place to go besides bars or Minneapolis, should they choose to partake.

Yes, underage drinking is against the law and not every student drinks. Yes, college students’ judgment is compromised when intoxicated. And yes, sober people get annoyed when their attempts at sleep are disturbed by young people loudly singing along to Lady Gaga. But unless St. Thomas students are less capable of making sound decisions than students of other colleges, it doesn’t make our strict policies any more defensible. Enough with the sanctimonious piety.

Every college has to deal with students drinking in a recreational fashion, it’s been a traditional rite of passage at least since Sir Isaac Newton got tanked on grog or ale while studying at Cambridge. I also suspect that at a school founded by Irish Catholics, many people here know their way around the bottle.

Certainly there is a place for regulation, public health and respect for the people we share this part of St. Paul with. But because of the harsh, uncompromising stances adopted by authority figures, and neighbors’ tendency to snitch, students looking to party are given no quarter anywhere near campus.

Princeton Review calls St. Thomas’ alcohol policy ‘ungodly strict’

St. Thomas’ alcohol policy was called “ungodly strict” in the Princeton Review’s 2007 survey of college students. The policies of St. Paul and Ramsey County are stricter still. Our school even pays for additional officers to bust parties in the surrounding area during warm-weather months.

I don’t see the social host ordinance making college students any safer, it only adds another financially ruinous threat that we will have to take greater pains to avoid. More importantly, I feel it will encourage underage drinkers to only gather with other underage drinkers, even when their close friends or roommates are of age, which is a terrible idea.

Saturday before midnight, St. Paul police officers broke up a Rubik’s Cube party I attended under the pretense of a noise complaint, sending everyone home and threatening us with arrests and citations if they had to return. Thanks to a system of individually-numbered wristbands, there were no underage persons present. No one was acting disorderly, and most of the guests were in the basement, underground and with several closed doors between them and the outside world.

It’s difficult for me to think of any more precautions my friends could have taken, but we were flushed out into the street regardless, despite hosts taking extraordinary measures. Unfortunately, far too many St. Thomas students can relate to this experience.

While it is easy to paint St. Thomas students as disrespectful whelps who desecrate your neighborhood with their voices and bodily fluids, or irresponsible lightweights who black out and fall from roofs, in reality most of us are the kinds of people you’d be proud to have your children to associate with in their early adult years or to marry.

Believe me, you could do much worse than us as far as neighbors go. Remember that the presence of our school contributes heavily to making your property so valuable, and that Tommies have been getting drunk since this neighborhood was forest and pasture.

Neighbors, we are trying to meet you halfway on this issue and we appreciate when you show us understanding and don’t act like a crabby old man yelling at kids in his yard and confiscating their toys. To me, growing up means accepting things you don’t necessarily like, and cooperating to resolve disputes so all parties involved get something they want.

Goerke was right, compromising to build a community we can all live peaceably in is the most logical solution to this widespread resentment. And adults, since your ridiculous policies won’t ever keep us from drinking on weekends, there is going to need to be some give and take on everyone’s part if we want to resolve this matter without coming to blows. Given the hostile St. Thomas-area drinking atmosphere, I doubt students’ calls for compromise will be heeded anytime soon.

Zack Thielke can be reached at zsthielke@stthomas.edu

At a time when the burdens of our military commitments fall on an increasingly small sliver of our society, it has never been more important for us to honor our many veterans with tangible, actual help, not just superficial gestures and shallow rhetoric.

Wearing a T-shirt that says “Freedom isn’t Free” or slapping a yellow ribbon onto your vehicle is nice sentiment, but it doesn’t accomplish anything aside from expressing a vague and abstract idea.

Today’s veterans returning from deployment will need actual support and empathy, from physical or mental health care to gainful employment to marriage counseling. I encourage everyone to put the politics aside and show all of our veterans some compassion like our founder, Archbishop John Ireland, who was a Union chaplain during the Civil War.

There are more than 369,000 active-duty troops currently stationed outside of the United States, on all six habitable continents. According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there are currently 24 million American military veterans, including 131,000 veterans estimated to be homeless on any given night.

According to a study released by the Harvard University School of Medicine, 2,266 veterans under the age of 65 died last year because they had no health insurance. There are 1.2 million members in the nonprofit Disabled American Veterans, a number likely to increase as wounded soldiers continue to be airlifted from the explosive front lines of America’s “Global War on Terror.”

I expect post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide and substance abuse to be very real issues for returning veterans in the coming decades, not to mention the many physical ailments already received in combat. I hope my generation shows respect and understanding for these men and women, not callous dismissals of courage like from many of those who avoided Vietnam.

America has been at war since I was in middle school. It is my generation’s responsibility to assist in veterans’ return to civilian life. And because so few of us can relate to their experience, our veterans deserve to be listened to and aided, not asked how many people they killed.

My grandpa joined the Navy in World War II as a mechanic on a submarine hunter, and was chief of an escort ship’s engine room during the invasion of Palau. I have an older cousin enlisted in the Army, assigned to provide psychological counseling to “Global War on Terrorism” veterans. Personally, I would never have considered attending college here if I hadn’t enrolled in St. Thomas’ Air Force ROTC program. I’m still a member of the Air Force Association.

During my sophomore year, I helped found St. Thomas’ Silver Wings chapter. It’s a student organization emphasizing military-civilian community service projects, open to new members from any background. In addition, the VA offers many voluntary service programs and always accepts donations of time or money. My mom works at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center, and has told me about the pathetic state of many veterans. Clearly some of them could benefit from our assistance.

According to the U.S. Army Center of Military History, President Woodrow Wilson spoke to the first observance of what would eventually become Veterans Day in 1919 when he said, “the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory.”

If you see a uniform on campus or anywhere else, thanking the people for their service is one way to show your gratitude and there are other ways to give thanks too. Supporting our troops is something we can all agree on, but actions are more supportive than words will ever be.

Zack Thielke can be reached at zsthielke@stthomas.edu

Since his Oct. 23 release from Regions Hospital, Mubwa has returned to the hospital for checkups and will attend biweekly heart rehabilitation therapy sessions.

“I was really surprised [to collapse],” Mubwa said. “It’s never happened to anyone in my family.”

Unconscious for two days, Mubwa has no recollection of the incident beyond what people tell him and footage of the event.

“[The video] is my only souvenir of what happened,” Mubwa said.

In Mubwa’s week-long absence from St. Thomas, classmates and friends showed their love for Mubwa, leaving messages on a get well banner outside of the international student services office in Murray-Herrick Center. A Facebook group was also created called “Let us pray for Gauthier to get well.”

Mubwa collapsed while participating in an event sponsored by the African Nations Student Association. He has performed in Scooter’s before, without incident.

Freshman Ahmed Al-Dhafeeri hung out with Mubwa the night before and the day of Gauthier’s medical emergency, and noticed no suspicious behavior from Mubwa.

“We were in Scooter’s playing pool,” Al-Dhafeeri said. “He was fine.”

A blood sample was taken from his brother to test for any possible hereditary causes for the heart attack, since Mubwa has no medical history of heart problems. His doctors suggested installing a pacemaker for any future heart attacks that might happen with no one around to assist him.

“I’m still thinking about that,” Mubwa said. “It’s a tough choice.”

Zack Thielke can be reached at zsthielke@stthomas.edu

Broszko, a 2006 graduate of St. Bernard’s, is co-directing the school’s December production of “Scapino” with fellow St. Bernard’s aluma Theresa Rotter. Recruited by departing director and theater mentor Matt Stovall, Broszko and Rotter took over a theater program that once drew 91 auditions in a school of about 220 students.

“I’ve credited it all to Stovall. [Taking the job] was an honor but also bittersweet, because we didn’t want to see him go,” Broszko said. “It was too cool of an opportunity to pass up. It’s weird not acting, and to be coming back [to St. Bernard’s]. Things are a little different, but it’s kind of like I never left.”

Directing is a new role for Broszko, who has always enjoyed theater.

“[Rotter and I] put a lot of work into the program before the kids showed up, so they knew they were in good hands,” Broszko said. “The challenge of being in charge, for me, is that I’ve always been an actor. This is the first time people come to me for help.”

Participating in seven plays in three years at St. Thomas, Broszko played several prominent roles, including the title character in “Macbeth,” the final official St. Thomas theater production.

“He can do Shakespeare and he can do ‘Godspell,’” said senior Christy Spampinato, who has seen several of Broszko’s performance. “He’s got a really wide range of skills and talents.”

Although Broszko said taking the director job at St. Bernard’s would have been a more difficult decision had he been involved in a St. Thomas play, he is disappointed he can’t direct talented students interested in college theater toward St. Thomas.

“Many of them are talented enough to go on to acting in college, just probably not at St. Thomas.” Broszko said. “Which is kind of sad, because there are community colleges with good theater departments and theaters.”

Junior Matt Potter lived two doors down from Broszko in Brady Hall, and had an education class with him on the Minneapolis campus.

“On the bus ride home, we had a tradition of singing the beginning of [Michael Jackson’s] ‘Billie Jean,’” Potter said. “He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met, I think he’s one of those people who you see and it’s the best part of your day.”

Time directing “Scapino” is balanced with Broszko’s other job as a resident adviser in Ireland Hall.

“When I’m with freshmen I’m in college mode, but when I work with high school students I kind of have to throw that away,” Broszko said. “I get many opportunities to teach and that’s pretty cool.”

Zack Thielke can be reached at zsthielke@stthomas.edu

In this case, St. Thomas’ student-run news organization arguably displayed more concise and sober news judgment, analysis and coverage than the network branding itself “The Most Trusted Name in News.”

TommieMedia spent much less time covering balloon boy than CNN did, but still managed to accurately cover the story for what it was proven to be: a claim, which grew into a national event that was later proven unfounded.

Bolkcom explained how a 6-year-old in Colorado and a weather balloon became a national story, wrapped it up and then moved on to a more substantial news event.

Meanwhile, more than half of CNN’s coverage during the Oct. 16 “News in :90” run time consisted of press interviews with the Heene family or recycled footage of the balloon’s flight. The coverage would continue all weekend.

While TommieMedia summarized the story in less time than it takes some people to tie their shoes, CNN provided a nonjudgmental national spotlight for much of the weekend.

The story’s real break came Saturday, when the sheriff’s office declared the event a hoax. Despite days-long media saturation, no news teams on the scene were able to get this scoop before hearing it from police.

CNN’s tagline as the balloon drifted to Earth Thursday afternoon was “Breaking News: Boy Floats Away in Balloon,” which was both alarming and incorrect.

Balloons are subject to physical laws and their behavior can be predicted. Someone who knew about gas laws could have evaluated whether such a balloon could have made it to 7,000 feet with a child inside.

Helium is expensive, but buoyancy properties are available in any chemistry textbook and an educated hypothesis could have been shared with the audience, before focusing the nation’s attention on a two-hour weather balloon flight.

A writer for Popular Science estimated that the helium balloon could have achieved flight with the boy inside only “if the balloon material and any attached components weighed less than about nine pounds.” CNN knows scientists and the network could have addressed this instead of covering the balloon boy stunt like it was a celebrity death.

Speculation and chatter overtook newsgathering and verifying on cable TV. And even if this story inspires Halloween costumes, the overkill reflects poorly on a network we’re supposed to be learning from. News on a 24-hour feed is especially nauseating when it’s devoted to a single, undeserved subject.

Sometimes it only takes 90 seconds.

Among them were Steve and Mary Kulseth, parents of sophomore Chris and junior Diane.

The Kulseth couple is taking a third Spanish course together and the classes have already changed one part of the family’s interaction.

“They’re always trying to speak Spanish with us,” Diane Kulseth said. “My brother and I took Spanish all through high school. But my dad had never learned it and my mom’s Hispanic. Now we can all talk together [in Spanish].”

Parents of St. Thomas students can take up to eight free undergraduate credits per semester for each son or daughter enrolled full time, not including additional expenses such as lab fees. Many parents choose to audit courses, which do not award a grade or credit. But some do pursue an undergraduate degree.

“After they get done paying for their kid’s degree, [parents] just switch their money into their own education,” said registration coordinator Carol Hagen. “A lot of them are already in business, or they own a business, and lots of things have changed since they were in school.”

Business classes in accounting, real estate and management are among the most popular courses taken by parents. Also popular are language and social work courses.

“Parents wish they could [take history], but they have to work during the day so their kids can go to school [at St. Thomas],” Hagen said.

Adults taking St. Thomas classes generally have more responsibilities than students less than five years out of high school, such as a full-time job or family obligations. Usually, parents have been out of school for years or decades and are unsure what to expect when they return to the classroom. While auditing, adults don’t have to worry about accumulating points on Blackboard, but those learning for credit are held to the class’ grading standards.

Food service worker Harriette Peoples takes a language class after work for credit. Although her daughter graduated from St. Catherine’s, full-time employees who have worked for at least one year are granted eight credits of fully reimbursed St. Thomas tuition per semester, the same as parents.

Peoples says computer proficiency and the emotional distance of classmates are hurdles not shared by younger peers. For many adults, professional demands are expected to take priority over academics.

“Being a worker here, my job comes first,” Peoples said. “A lot of times when I leave here, I’ve done my work and half of my students’ work, and I’m tired. I guess I’ve got something to prove.”

Although the program is announced to parents during freshman orientation, Hagen said many parents aren’t aware of the free education available while their child attends and wish they had learned about the perk sooner.

“As long as my parents aren’t in my class, it’s not a problem,” said freshman Lauren Crawford, who says adults are sometimes more likely to ask questions in class. “They’re just like big kids.”

Parent-on-campus registration forms must be completed online every semester to ensure parents are not charged tuition. Qualifying parents can take any undergraduate class on a space-available basis. Class availability and forms are posted online in the registrar section of St. Thomas’ Web site.

Zack Thielke can be reached at zsthielke@stthomas.edu