This is News in :90 for Wednesday, March 6, 2010.

Cretin-Derham Hall High School. (Bobak Ha'Eri/Creative Commons)

Cretin-Derham Hall was on partial lockdown this morning, after an e-mail threat that said something would happen Wednesday at the Catholic high school in St. Paul.

The school received an e-mail Wednesday morning about a “vague threat on the Internet,” Principal Richard Engler wrote in an e-mail alert to parents.

St. Paul Police Sgt. Paul Schnell said the threat indicated that a shooting would happen in or near the school, according to Minnesota Public Radio. Investigators continued to search for the source of the threat, believing it might have come from outside of the U.S., according to the MPR report.

Police were at Cretin-Derham Hall to investigate, with officers posted at every door, Engler wrote, adding that the school was not “going into full lockdown” and that classes would continue as normal. Students were being kept in their classrooms at all times except during period changes, Engler wrote.

An elementary school also was locked down for a time because it was near Cretin-Derham Hall, according to MPR.

“We are continuing to work with the police department,” Engler wrote to parents. “Our utmost concern is the safety of the students. We are confident that the school is safe and secure.”

All Minneapolis public schools also were in lockdown Wednesday morning after school officials received “unspecified threats,” said Stan Alleyne, communications director for the school district.

Alleyne told MPR that a tip received from law enforcement agencies came from social networking sites. The threat led the school district to begin a “code yellow lockdown,” with students remaining in their classrooms and access to the schools “limited.”

The two threats were not thought to be related.

St. Thomas basketball fans had to travel to Concordia-St. Paul for "home" games this year, but the schools' neighborhood bond grew as a result. (Josh Kleven/TommieMedia)

Construction of the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Complex left many St. Thomas sports teams homeless and the school’s pockets a bit lighter, but while the school’s bank account took at hit, its relationship with neighboring Concordia University-St.Paul blossomed.

Despite having a good relationship with schools around the area, finding a temporary home wasn’t a cheap endeavor for St. Thomas.

Tom Rubbelke, Concordia-St. Paul’s athletic director, couldn’t give exact numbers, but he estimated that renting out the Concordia-St. Paul’s Gangelhoff Center could cost a team upwards of $2,500 per event. Rubbelke said St. Thomas paid a flat rate from the onset of the sports season instead of paying each time they used Concordia’s facilities or at an hourly rate.

“I’m sure the [money] was good for CU, and I’m sure it helped with their budgets, but that wasn’t why we did it.” Rubbelke said. “[St. Thomas was] a school in the area who needed some help, and we were just trying to help them.”

If Rubbelke’s numbers are accurate, and St. Thomas paid for each home event at the beginning of the year, then it’s possible the school paid around $52,500 for use of the facilities for its temporary home. That number does not include the cost of St. Thomas using Concordia-St. Paul’s dome facility, which does have an hourly rate, or the handful of “home” games that were played at Macalester College.

“It’s been a long year for everybody, but when you see the new facility going up … the excitement of that has certainly overshadowed the difficulties of the year,” said Steve Fritz, athletic director and men’s basketball coach.

This year St. Thomas teams, including volleyball and men’s and women’s basketball, played a combined 21 “home” games at Concordia-St. Paul’s Gangelhoff Center, and played a total of 49 games at various road venues.

Junior basketball player Alex Healy said the staggering statistics didn’t bother him and his teammates.

“It was tough having to play off campus compared to playing at Shoenecker [Arena] last year, but overall it was not that bad,” he said. “I think we handled it pretty well. We only lost one home game this year against Carleton.”

The hardest part for all the schools involved was working around each other’s schedules.

“I think the practice side of things is the biggest challenge,” Fritz said. “It’s never like being in your own facility. You have to add on time of travel.”

Rubbelke said his teams had to be creative in scheduling their home games so St. Thomas had ample opportunity to have a normal routine not because St. Thomas demanded it, but rather because he felt it was the right thing to do.

“Steve Fritz is a great guy; I’ve known Steve for a long time,” Rubbelke said. “We were just trying to make it as much as a home court as possible for them.”

Fritz stressed that the money issue is secondary compared to the helping hand local schools offered in St. Thomas’ search for a temporary home.

“We were looking for somewhere that wanted us, and would treat us well,” he said. “I think Concordia was very good to us.”

Rubbelke said that kind of camaraderie between all the local schools makes it easier to open up their facilities to one another. No one is afraid to offer help because they know each school would do it for them, he said.

“I think we’ve always had a great relationship with all the MIAC schools in the area I hope this strengthens [the relationship],” Rubbelke said. “If they came into this situation again we’d do anything for them in a heartbeat.”

Ben Katzner can be reached at bekatzner@stthomas.edu.

Associate engineering professors Greg Mowry and John Abraham are the brains behind the proposed turbine, which St. Thomas would use for research only, not as an energy source.

“We would like to have it set up before the end of the summer or sooner if possible, but yet in science there’s a lot more said than done,” Mowry said.

Both Mowry and Abraham specialize in alternative energy and developing wind-powered structures for research. However, distance currently prevents them from using the structures with students.

“We’re looking at a particular wind turbine to implement on our campus so we don’t have to drive two, three hours to the actual sites where these things work well,” Mowry said.

But for now, generating cost-efficient power for the school is not in the fold. Instead, the turbine would provide energy to cell phone towers, Mowry said.

“The purpose of doing the research is to make sure the benefits outweigh the costs,” Mowry said. “In an optimistic sense, you go into those things with the hope that it’s going to work or expectations that, ‘Yeah, it’ll work,’ but you have to go prove it.”

Macalester and St. Olaf have similar turbines in place, although Mowry said they serve demonstration purposes as opposed to research ones. And while those schools’ turbines are off-the-shelf models, the current proposal would allow Mowry and Abraham to entirely design the structure themselves.

Undergraduate co-op students or students who work under grant programs for either an internship or summer research would be allowed access to the turbine if the funding pulls through. But not everyone agrees with moving forward with the project.

Freshman Kyle Milbrath, a prospective engineering student, said he prefers that St. Thomas not allot the money for this kind of endeavor until it could pay dividends for the school.

“I think they should be spending money on the wind turbine if they also use it to help reduce energy costs throughout,” Milbrath said. “I think it’s a waste to just get it for research. I mean you might as well put it to use.”

Milbrath said his current engineering path probably won’t allow him to access the structure if it does go up. However, he said some students and faculty could benefit under the right circumstances.

But according to Mowry, those circumstances are still up in the air.

“Basically, until you get the money, you don’t get to do it,” he said. “Once you get the money, you have to go through several cycles of making sure the buildings can withstand the forces. How are you going to put them on the buildings, and how do you put them up?”

Mowry said he has hopes that if such a venture were to pass, more might go up in the future and, with more research, may eventually generate power for the school. But that will take some time.

“In the crawl-walk-run sequence, you have to do the research to show the viability before you get there,” he said.

Patrick Stumpf can be reached at stum3488@stthomas.edu.

Freshman Megan Boyd (Michael Ewen/TommieMedia)

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has canceled the air pollution health alert it issued for the Twin Cities and Rochester areas Tuesday.

But some St. Thomas students were left in the dark about the alert in the first place.

Freshman Hallie Lundell said she didn’t hear about the warning on her morning commute to campus.

“I think I’d be a little freaked out if I heard it,” she said. “But the only difference I notice outside is the change of weather.”

Freshman Megan Boyd said the pollution alerts could raise some red flags in the future.

“I guess it’s more of a long-term thing,” she said. “It means we need to be more cautious about our environment.”

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency reported those with respiratory or cardiovascular disease, young children, the elderly and individuals who participate in activities that require heavy exertion are the most sensitive to elevated levels of air pollution.

Senior David Riley (Michael Ewen/TommieMedia)

Junior Josh Wilson said he isn’t worried about the side effect.

“It’s just air to me,” Wilson said. “It hasn’t affected me yet, so I don’t pay attention to it.”

An air pollution health advisory will remain in effect for the Twin Cities area through Wednesday.

Regardless, senior David Riley said he won’t sweat the advisory.

“It smells like spring,” Riley said. “That’s the only difference I can notice.”

Zach Pagano can be reached at paga7147@stthomas.edu.

The C-Store doesn't carry the flavors of Pringles recalled. (Patrick Stumpf/TommieMedia)

Procter & Gamble recalled two versions of Pringles chips because of concerns about potential Salmonella exposure.

The Cincinnati-based consumer products maker said Cheeseburger and Taco Night versions of the snack are recalled. The company is offering replacement coupons or refunds.

Joshua Moldenhauer, C-Store supervisor, said those flavors aren’t sold at St. Thomas, and Pringles is one of the lowest selling products on campus.

Procter & Gamble said the two varieties represent only one-half of 1 percent of Pringles’ U.S. volume. The company said there have been no reports of illnesses.

Procter & Gamble is the latest company to recall products with flavor-enhancing hydrolyzed vegetable protein made by Las Vegas-based Basic Food Flavors Inc.

Federal authorities say Salmonella, an organism that can cause serious infections in young children and others with weakened immune systems, was found on Basic Food’s processing equipment.

Patrick Stumpf can be reached at stum3488@stthomas.edu

St. Thomas first published a yearbook in 1918. Aquinas, the school's current publication, will release electronic copies this fall. (John Kruger/TommieMedia)

Some colleges around the country have decided to scrap their traditional yearbooks, blaming the age of Facebook and budget cuts.

The University of Virginia is the most recent school to join a growing group of colleges that no longer publish yearbooks as more students have decided to share memories through social networking.

But Aquinas, the St. Thomas yearbook, will remain in hard copy for now, although plans are in the works to start releasing digital copies this fall.

Ann Kenne, St. Thomas’ head of special collections and university archivist, said the first yearbook published for St. Thomas was a combined yearbook with the St. Thomas military academy. The yearbook was called the Kaydet and was released in 1918.

Although Facebook provides instant documentation of memories, some students say they like to hold something in their hands. Much like concerns that arose with phasing out The Aquin student newspaper, some students aren’t ready to completely lose the hardcover yearbook and solely make memories on the Internet.

“I’m a tradition guy,” senior John Busch said. “I like tradition, so I’m so used to having a paper copy of a yearbook. I like to have something physical that I can look at, something tangible.”

Aquinas adviser Cecilia Petschel said the hard copy of the yearbook should stay.

“I think it’s really important to always have a way to document the year,” she said. “[Students] are making memories on Facebook between their own friends, but kind of something all across St. Thomas is really valuable, and it’s good to have something to look at. I mean Facebook is great, but it’s not the same as the yearbook.”

But with the age of Internet and social networking comes the transformation from page to screen. The Aquinas yearbook will follow that trend, although the hardcover version will still be available.

“I don’t necessarily think that we need [yearbooks], but I don’t think that Facebook is a replacement for them,” senior Lauren Miller said. “I think [a yearbook would] be something nice to look back on. I think it’s definitely a nice thing to have for the future.”

The total budget for Aquinas is $68,281, a number that may decrease with the release of an online version of the yearbook. That version will be available in the fall 2010, and Petschel said that after gauging response to the digital version in the next two years, the number of hard copy versions may decrease for sustainability and budget reasons.

“It’s one of those neat traditions that, like The Aquin, [people] are sad when it’s gone,” Petschel said. “So what we can do to keep it current is really important.”

Petschel also said the reasons for moving to a digital copy of the yearbook include expansion of space, which means unlimited copy and photographs as well as the addition of videos. The yearbook is completely student created, so expansion would mean highlighting the talents of photographers, designers and more.

“I think with the technology we have, you almost expect it that it should be online,” Busch said. “With how prominent the Internet is, it’s expected that things should go from paper copy to Internet. With the possibility of having audio and video, it really would set it apart from the paper copy.”

Stephani Bloomquist can be reached at slbloomquist@stthomas.edu.

This is News in :90 for Tuesday, March 9, 2010.

Sophomore Laura Blaser (Miles Trump/TommieMedia)

Saying farewell to the Metrodome also meant saying goodbye to the much-loved Dome Dogs.

But the Minnesota Twins will serve new hot dogs at Target Field. The team announced Monday that it signed a contract with Schweigert Meats, a subsidiary of Cargill Inc.

Target Field will offer four new hot dogs starting opening day: the Twins Big Dog, Dugout Dog, Dinger Dog and Original Twins Dog.

“It’s the end of a tradition, but new ones can start,” said sophomore Laura Blaser, who holds season tickets for the Twins and Milwaukee Brewers. “I’ve been to games without the Dome Dog. I can live without it.”

The Twins Big Dog is a quarter-pound all-beef hot dog, and the Dugout Dog is an old-fashion pork and beef hot dog in a natural casing. The Dinger Dog is an extra-long pork and beef dog, and the Original Twins Dog is made from the same recipe as the hot dogs served in the team’s first ballpark, Metropolitan Stadium.

Senior LJ Stead (Miles Trump/TommieMedia)

But for some, the new variety simply won’t make up for the hot dogs served in the Metrodome.

“I can’t fully enjoy a baseball game without a Dome Dog in my hand,” senior LJ Stead said.

Kristian Kircher and Miles Trump contributed to this report.

Mary Kenkel can be reached at mlkenkel@stthomas.edu.

Eleven women gathered at the South Campus grotto bridge Monday afternoon in honor of International Women’s Day. The event was one of many “Join Me at the Bridge” demonstrations sponsored by Women for Women International across the world. The peaceful gatherings are ways for men and women to bridge messages of hope to women in need.

Professors, faculty and other community members assembled together to reflect upon what women are dealing with internationally and how others can help them. Music professor Sarah Schmalenberger organized the event, calling it “Women: the Finest in the Arts.” She asked participants to “bridge to women we may never meet … and celebrate some women in their resilience.”

Participants joined each other in song and reflection. Each woman was asked to read statistics and stories about the treatment of women in different countries. The statistics allowed the participants to reflect upon their own fortune.

“Seventy-five percent of civilians killed in a war are women and children,” Schmalenberger said. “Seventy percent of people affected by poverty are women.”

The readings were followed by discussions of how one could reach to women in need. The group’s ideas included teaching people and raising awareness of treatment. English professor Amelia Kritzer talked about theater as an effective way to creatively present such issues.

“The arts are a way to move people,” she said.

All the women made prayer poles inspired by ones often seen in Tibet. Some women wrote prayers and tied them to the poles, while others decorated the poles with vibrant ribbon. The women proceeded to cross the grotto bridge while humming in unison to symbolize their connectedness in this effort. The poles were placed in the thawing ground and left there.

Schmalenberger passed out flower seeds to participants as they walked back across the bridge and exited the grotto. The seeds were forget-me-nots and marigolds, which are the flowers of despair. Schmalenberger described the flowers as a way to remember what women around the world are going through.

“[It's a way] our prayers and thoughts can cross over to our own lives here,” she said.

Schmalenberger said she selected the grotto bridge because it’s a “bridge most people don’t even notice.” While there were a number of high profile “Join Me at the Bridge” events around the world Monday, Schmalenberger emphasized how the St. Thomas group’s event can still have an impact.

“This little stone bridge tucked away on our campus can help us consider how the smallest bridge to connect with others can facilitate change,” she said. “A simple walk across a short distance – a stream, a street, an aisle in the grocery, a school hallway – has the potential to bridge gaps of understanding in our own neighborhoods.”

Theresa Malloy can be reached at mall5754@stthomas.edu.