St. Thomas passes on Al-Ahmed profile, punts on moral stand

St. Thomas’ decision not to run an alumni profile in the business school’s magazine because the Saudi government could not be reached for comment is a familiar one. The decision drew comparisons to online comment boards in October 2007, when an invitation for Archbishop Desmond Tutu to speak at a campus event was pulled because of concerns it would offend the Jewish community.

Again, our school sided with a powerful minority over an internationally respected voice expressing concerns over the treatment of human beings.

Health care needs to be changed, now

Reforming America’s health care system is a daunting task largely because it is so dysfunctional to begin with. We pay more for health care than any other country in the world by far and have some of the worst overall health outcomes. Our costs are also rising faster than most other countries.

Letter: A matter of civility and respect

One issue that we always find ourselves dealing with at the beginning of each school year is the behavior of students in our St. Paul campus neighborhood.

Students have a lot of energy, and especially at the end of the week they are ready to relax, to get together with friends and to party – and that’s fine. Neighbors know that is going to happen. They once were college students, too, and they know there always will be a certain level of activity.

Counseling could have spared families’ heartbreak

Sept. 21 was World Alzheimer’s Day, as well as Respect for the Aged Day in Japan. This is meaningful to me because my grandmother has been slowly deteriorating from Alzheimer’s disease for much of my life. She is currently in the moderate-advanced dementia stage, meaning she is completely dependent on the caregivers at her nursing home.

Plaques and tangles cling to much of her brain like barnacles, and the gradual, irreversible withering of higher brain function has choked out any real sense of awareness, reasoning, personality, memory or recognition.

Check local laws before brandishing a samurai sword

Early Tuesday morning at Johns Hopkins University, an undergraduate student heard noises coming from behind his off-campus residence, and noticed the door to his garage was open. The student then grabbed his samurai sword, and investigated.

Discovering an intruder in his garage, the would-be ninja threatened to call 911. According to police, the suspect then lunged at him, and the sword-wielding student sliced the suspect’s left hand, almost severing it. The intruder was mortally wounded with an upper-body cut, and was dead when police arrived.

Making sense of the health care reform

President Obama rallied citizens for national health care reform Sept. 12 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Using Rochester’s Mayo Clinic as a model, Obama called for accessible, effective health care at a sustainable cost, as Congress discusses the most ambitious health care legislation since 1994. It’s difficult to write a thrilling speech about reforming …

About time St. Thomas had a sick student policy

The first day of class was a time for professors to set the tone and share their expectations for the semester. While reading their syllabi, many students may have also noticed the pandemic prevention advice regarding the H1N1 virus expected to circulate this fall. In addition to providing annual flu tips like using hand sanitizer …