Newt Gingrich focuses on the future
PAC speaker presents amid controversy over funding, message
By Solvejg Wastvedt
Executive Editor
When Newt Gingrich stepped up to the
podium in Boe Chapel on Thursday, April
10, the standing-room-only audience greeted
him with enthusiastic applause.
“That’s a very warm welcome, and I was not
quite sure,” he said.
Gingrich quickly moved on from this
opening comment, claiming it was not due
to protests occurring outside Boe Chapel, but
it was hard not to interpret his statement in
light of the on-campus controversy that had
preceded his visit. Shortly after the Political Awareness Committee (PAC) announced
Gingrich as its spring speaker, “Boycott Newt”
posters appeared around campus. Plans also
surfaced for an alternate event titled “General
Assembly: Money in the Chapel, Students to
the Quad.” Event organizers objected to PAC’s
collaboration with the Young America’s Foundation (YAF) in bringing Gingrich to campus
and to the increasing role that money plays in
politics.
“We are paying an organization [YAF] run
by a man who has brought about a disparaging twist in campaign finance,” organizers said
in an open letter summarizing their position.
“We do not all oppose conservatism. We oppose the increasing role of money in political
campaigns, and we oppose hypocrisy.”
Organizers also doubted the relevance of
Gingrich’s message.
“When Newt Gingrich says things like
‘There is a gay and secular fascism in this
country that wants to impose its will on the
rest of us,’ as he did in his presidential campaign, it obliterates respect and paves the way
for manipulative politics,” event coordinator
Brody Halverson ’14 said. “Gingrich may have
been politically relevant 15 years ago, but [he]
now appears to us as little more than an aging
political celebrity, a lobbyist and a pundit.”
PAC coordinator Rachel Palermo ’15 re-
BEKAH ENGSTRAND/MANITOU MESSENGER
PAC spring speaker Newt Gingrich delivers his speech, “The Future of Conservatism,”
to students in Boe Chapel on Thursday, April 10. Gingrich received a warm welcome
despite controversy surrounding the conservative politician’s presence on campus.
Students to start Project Pengyou chapter
By Katie Hanson
Contributing Writer
With hopes of learning how to be
ambassadors for Chinese study abroad
programs and, ultimately, U.S.-China
relations, Kyle Obermann ’14 and Andrew Switzer ‘14 attended a four-day
leadership summit at Harvard University as part of Project Pengyou’s inaugural
leadership fellows group.
Project Pengyou, which fittingly
means “friend” in Mandarin, is a new organization working to improve relations
between the United States and China.
The organization encourages American
students to study abroad in China and
create lasting and meaningful relation-
PHOTO COURTESY OF KYLE OBERMANN
ships. Additionally, the program is part
of President Obama’s 100K for Strong
China campaign, which has the similar
goal of strengthening U.S.-Chinese relations through travel and Mandarin language learning.
Obermann, who brings the political science knowledge to the team, and
Switzer, who has studied Chinese language and culture through the Asian
Conversation, were two of 40 China
study abroad veterans across the nation
who were invited to attend the conference. While there, students learned more
about the current state of U.S.-China
relations in addition to grassroots organization so they could be well-equipped
to establish Project Pengyou chapters at
their campuses upon return.
Because of their personal travels in
China, Obermann and Switzer have
taken it upon themselves to establish an
on-campus chapter of Project Pengyou,
which will also include Carleton College.
“The organization is all about building bridges,” said Switzer, who participated in Term in China. “We want to
build bridges between the Chinese and
American students on campus.”
Many students are unaware of the opportunities St. Olaf already provides to
get involved with issues related to China.
“Most students don’t know we have
a Chinese Fulbright scholar on campus
and really knowledgeable professors,”
said Obermann, who did research
on sustainable development and
environmental NGOs in China for
the experiential component of his
environmental studies concentration. “We want to bring awareness.”
While Obermann and Switzer
are seniors, they have been working hard upon their return to get
the chapter up and running. Last
Friday, they held a meeting for
all students who are interested in
learning more about U.S.-China
relations. “We want to have one
collaborative event with Carleton
before the end of the year and
eventually collaborate with other
organizations on campus,” Switzer
said.
“The organization’s goal is to
have 40 chapters in the United
States by October,” Obermann
said. At St. Olaf, Project Pengyou
will generate interest about this
important relationship, educate
students about their study abroad
options if they wish to travel to
China and connect alumni of China programs with one another.
“By creating this organization,
we can really tap into our resources,” Obermann said.
The pair is working to set up a
leadership team to ensure the success of Project Pengyou next year.
hansonk@stolaf.edu
Kyle Obermann ’14 and Andrew Switzer ’14 attended a leadership summit at Harvard University as part of Project Pengyou’s leadership fellows group. They hope to
establish a St. Olaf chapter of Project Pengyou in conjunction with Carleton College.
www.manitoumessenger.com
sponded to these objections with a reminder
that PAC works through agencies for all guest
speakers.
“It costs less with an agency like this because they work with him regularly,” she said.
“I can’t say specifically how much it cost,
because if a school makes public how much
they’re paying, then a school nearby can [negotiate for an identical price], but even with
the agency’s contribution it still ended up
being significantly less than Bob Woodward
[2012 PAC fall speaker]. It was comparable to
Stephanie Cutter [2013 PAC fall speaker].”
Palermo went on to emphasize the necessity of bringing diverse political opinions to
St. Olaf.
“I think the point of college is to hear a
wide variety of viewpoints,” she said. “We’re
not a school affiliated with the Democratic
party. I had more people be upset that people
were upset he was coming. Republicans were
saying, ‘We feel like our views aren’t as wellaccepted here, so why can’t people at least let
someone bring in a more conservative speaker without being upset about it?’”
Inside the chapel, Gingrich presented a version of that conservative viewpoint in his talk,
titled “The Future of Conservatism.”
“My goal is to move conservatism from the
left versus right model that has existed since
1932 to a future-past model,” he said. “I want
to build a better future.”
Gingrich invoked examples of the individual creativity that he believes will drive
that better future. He glorified the policies of
Ronald Reagan that inspired his own 1994
Gingrich...
continued on A7
Cindy Corrie
shares story
By Julia Pilkington
Staff Writer
On April 8, the words “forget the fear,” repeated
from stories of children in Gaza, were repeated in
Viking Theatre through a speaking event by Cindy
and Craig Corrie, the founders of “The Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice.” Cindy and
Craig encouraged students and community members of all ages to work to resolve the issue in Gaza
in any way they could imagine.
“It’s the critical issue of our time. It connects to so
many others,” Cindy said.
The eleven-year-old foundation was created in
memory of their daughter, Rachel, a peace activist
in Palestine who was crushed by a bulldozer while
protecting the home of her host family.
After the confusion of September 11, Rachel
sought to understand all that she could about the
conflict of cultures, including eventually traveling
to Gaza to participate in nonviolent protests against
the Israeli government’s presence in the region.
There, she wrote of her observations and sought to
raise awareness about the shootings, governmental
intimidations, destruction of wells and clearing of
neighborhoods that she witnessed.
“Writing is brave. It is maybe the only brave
“The children of Gaza still
dream. It is truly a prison
[there]. Now more than
ever.”
- Cindy Corrie
thing about me,” Rachel wrote.
During her time in Gaza, Rachel stayed with the
Nasrallah family and practiced the “BDS” approach
to protesting: boycott, divestment, sanction. She
also slept by wells in order to ensure that they were
not destroyed in the night and held a press conference on the roof of a demolished neighborhood.
On March 16, 2003, Israeli government-funded
bulldozers reached the Nasrallah family’s neighborhood. Activists stood between the houses and the
bulldozers, and the machines consistently pushed
the protesters out of the way but did not harm
them. When Rachel tried to maintain her ground
to protect the house, however, the bulldozer continued forward, rolling over her and then retracing its
tracks, despite demands to stop.
The Corrie family sought legal justice for the
Corrie...
continued on A7
News
page A7
April 18, 2014
Manitou Messenger
Model U.N. team succeeds at Wisconsin conference
By Kassandra DiPietro
News Editor
The St. Olaf Model United Nations team
recently won several awards at a conference
they attended in Wisconsin, marking a significant first for this young team. The conference was at the University of River Falls
over the weekend of April 3-6. Caitlin Connell ’17 won Best Delegate Honorable Men-
tion, the second-highest award at the conference, and Ben McManamon ’17, Maggie
Connell ’17 and Hannah Brown ’17 won
Best Delegate Nominee, the third-highest
award. Overall, the team received Best Delegation Nominee for their work representing Austria. They were in the top five delegations out of 58 teams, mostly from the
Midwest, to attend the conference.
“We won several awards, but I am most
PHOTO COURTESY OF HANNAH BROWN
The St. Olaf Model U.N. team had a successful weekend on April 3-6 when they
attended the Arrowhead Model U.N. Conference at the University of River Falls,
Wisc. The team was named Best Delegation Nominee.
pleased about the interactions we had with
delegates from other schools,” Thomas
Weihe ’17 said. “Most of them seemed very
happy to have worked with us, and we were
happy to work with them.”
This was the first time the team attended the Arrowhead Model U.N. Conference
(AMUNC) at the University of River Falls,
and they did not know what to expect.
Typically, the team only attends one conference a year in Chicago. They plan to continue into the next academic year by again
attending the Chicago conference and are
bolstered by their success this year. They
will add to their victories by bringing in
new members, practicing more and hopefully attending more conferences next year.
“We hope to continue attending the conference in Chicago and the Arrowhead conference in future years,” Maggie said. “We
really want to continue to develop the program by working more with our surrounding schools to run smaller simulations.”
Maggie’s twin sister, Caitlin, is also a part
of the first year-dominated team. “We want
to invest more in preparing for the tournaments so that we can get more out of them,”
Caitlin said. “We have a team composed of
a ton of freshmen this year, so we have a lot
of time to improve and develop the team,
which is really exciting.”
Model U.N. involves students representing a country by writing resolutions and
negotiating for that country. They work to
emulate the process of actual United Nations meetings and assemblies. For a conference, schools sign up for the country they
want to represent before attending. Before
and during the conference, students research how their country would respond to
situations and prepare resolutions. They are
also required to prepare speeches for opening remarks and arguments for their resolutions. Each person on the team is assigned
to a different committee as a delegate. The
committees range from environmental to
economic to women’s rights councils.
The overall goal is to learn more about international affairs while developing writing
and public speaking skills.
“I joined Model U.N. because I really love
public speaking, and international politics
are a huge interest of mine. This program
has really given me better insight into how
the U.N. works,” Maggie said.
The Model U.N. team was excited to have
accomplished so much this year, but they
are eagerly awaiting next year and the new
talent and development it will bring. With
this year’s success, the team will just have to
wait and see where they go in future years.
St. Olaf Model U.N. is one of three main
competitive clubs on campus, along with
Mock Trial and Debate, that involve both
politics and public speaking.
dipietro@stolaf.edu
Gretchen Morgenson discusses journalism careers
By Nicholas Bowlin
Staff Writer
On Friday, April 11, Gretchen Morgenson ’76 gave St.
Olaf students interested in both journalism and finance an
in-depth look at the professional world in both fields. Morgenson is currently the assistant business and financial editor
and writer of the weekly “Market Watch” column for the New
York Times.
Morgenson spoke at length about her long and varied
career. Aside from her position at the Times, she has also
worked as the executive editor at Worth magazine, a business
writer and editor at Forbes magazine and as a staff writer at
Money magazine. She also gained experience in the financial
world as a stockbroker for Dean Witter Reynolds.
“Sometimes the path goes in a lot of weird directions, but if
you learn from every experience you had, good and bad, and
if you keep in mind what you really enjoy doing, you’ll end up
doing what you really love,” Morgenson said.
Morgenson arrived at the New York Times in 1998, where
she was able to combine her interest in finance and knowledge of Wall Street with her skills as a journalist. In 2002, she
won the Pulitzer Prize for Beat Reporting for her coverage of
Wall Street.
The session, which lasted just over an hour, concluded with
a question and answer period in which Morgenson addressed
the rapidly evolving nature of the journalism industry. Newspapers have declined in popularity in recent years with the
rise of the Internet, social media and blogging. The tradi-
tional big names in the industry, such as The New York
Times and the Washington Post, have had to adjust their
business models in order to stay relevant. Nevertheless,
she emphasized the importance of journalists and the
newspaper industry.
Morgenson herself is an example of the relevance of
journalists. Since the financial crash of 2008, she has devoted much of her time trying to uncover the true causes
of the financial meltdown. In 2009, she co-authored a
book with Joshua Rosner entitled “Reckless Endangerment: How Outsized Ambition, Greed, and Corruption
Led to Economic Armageddon,” which explained how
oversights by officials in Washington D.C. contributed to
the crash.
Morgenson went on to dismiss the idea that newspapers were dying or becoming irrelevant. Reporters, she
said, are crucial since they inform the public and uncover
abuses by those in power. Financial reporters are especially important in this aspect since they help keep Wall Street
relatively honest. While it is true that the industry needs
to evolve, there will always be a need for news.
“The Internet has upset the business model, but I think
there is still a keen desire for news, and I think the importance of what good journalists do is undeniable as far
as shining the light on the dark corners where sometimes
bad times happen,” Morgenson said.
bowlin@stolaf.edu
HANNAH RECTOR/MANITOU MESSENGER
New York Times journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner
Gretchen Morgenson at a previous visit to St. Olaf. On
Friday, April 11, Morgenson talked journalism and career
possibilities with students over lunch.
Gingrich - Contested PAC speaker draws crowd inside and outside of Boe
Continued from A1
Contract with America document, a list of actions the Republican Party promised to take
if it regained a House majority in that year’s
Congressional election. He also praised the
Wright Brothers for their perseverance and
self-reliance.
“They were doing it because they had passion, and they were doing it because they
wanted to create a better future,” he said.
Gingrich indicted government bureaucracy and partisan politics as “prison guards
of the past” and impediments to the country’s
progress. In a progressively more digital and
fast-paced world, he said, the government’s
inefficiencies become increasingly unacceptable.
“This is not a Republican or a Democrat
issue,” he said. “It shouldn’t even be a liberal
or conservative issue. It’s a future-past issue.
The gap between the convenience of your cell
phone and the inconvenience of the government becomes wider every day. I am opposed
to reform because I think it’s a total waste of
time. I want to replace these systems.”
During the question-and-answer session,
Gingrich reiterated many of the positions
that have made him such a controversial figure. A long line of students did not hesitate
to address tough topics like climate change,
reproductive rights and the role of money in
politics. Gingrich offered direct, often blunt
answers, once simply answering “sure” before
going on to explain. However, the event remained respectful, and the closing applause
gave Gingrich a send-off to match his welcome.
wastveds@stolaf.edu
Corrie- Inspiring activism
Continued from A1
death of their daughter by raising a
trial against the State of Israel. After 15
court dates, the single judge decided in
August 2012 that because Rachel had
died in an “act of war,” the Israeli military was not guilty.
Disgusted with the results, the family formed the foundation and appealed
to the Israeli Supreme Court. The case
will be heard May 21, 2014.
Meanwhile, Rachel’s story has been
transformed into two stage plays. The
first, “My Name is Rachel Corrie,” is an
internationally acclaimed production
that in the past year was successfully
performed in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
The other is the work of St. Olaf alumnus who adapted the play in 2010 from
Rachel’s published journals and letters.
This production, “I Stand Alone,”
explores the many facets of Rachel and
how she was more than any one role
that she played in life. A video of the
performance was played during the assembly in Viking Theatre.
In the same strain of remembrance,
the Rachel Corrie Foundation works to
promote education, the use of writing to
advocate for equal rights and the provision of resources to grassroots groups.
Suggested ways to contribute include
“adopting a newspaper,” in which the
reader chooses a newspaper or media
outlet to monitor. When an article concerning the Israeli-Gaza conflict comes
up, the reader critiques the article if it
seems too vague or incomplete and sends
a thank you note for accurate reporting.
“The children of Gaza still dream,”
Cindy said. “If you can think of anything
to change the situation, not just help the
people, but change the situation, it is truly a prison [there]. Now more than ever.”
The Corries wished Oles for Justice in
Palestine luck and expressed their hope
that students will explore the organization. Cindy also advised that the group
network with more groups like it in the
area.
“Everyone makes a difference in any
small way,” she said.
pilkingt@stolaf.edu