U of M needs nudge to get more fired up?

Ken Powell: not thinking on his feet

It feels odd thinking back to how standards were set so high for my work in my old Sun Tribune days. 

Do you still remember the Sun-Trib name? From the days when the paper published twice weekly? And I was never given a sense that my performance was good enough. 

I remember having a chat with a fellow Morris native who I'd known in school here and was in the newspaper business, Southern Minnesota. This gentleman's name: Seth Schmidt. The two of us played French horn together in school band. 

Seth shared with me a distinguishing trait of having an occupation like ours: "It feels like your work is never done."

I eventually left the Morris paper because too many work pressures were building up. It was an unavoidable decision. My angle for bringing this up today? It is not to make a point about the newspaper/media field. Rather, the point is irony. We in Minnesota have the highly important institution called the University of Minnesota. We have dozed into complacency in the sense we accept unstable or "interim" leadership so much. The periods become extended. 

Common sense suggests that leading the U in an effective, hard-nosed manner is elementary. A person is at the top who should be invested in the mission. The last "permanent" president of the U was permanent in name only IMHO. I shouldn't have to add "IMHO" but it's my old journalist's impulses (cover your back). 

The U board of regents has been through an obvious shakeup which makes us wonder why it came to that. The chief Minnesota newspaper could not come out and say "shakeup" but the conclusion seemed rather to shout at us. A fellow last name of Powell did not pass muster. 

Many of us in Morris were shocked and taken aback when Powell did not have an immediate proper rejoinder to the inappropriate Sviggum comment. Why did Sviggum stick his neck out at all? My, it was because of our little ol' U of M-Morris campus. Called "UMN" now? 

I have said all along that Sviggum had a valid point he wanted to make. But he chose language along the lines of racism - really truly he did - instead of merely talking about how a good idea - diversity - can get gummed up by Byzantine guidelines. 

We're hopeless if we don't all agree that "diversity" is fundamentally good. But we needn't talk about it so much! Or, like academicians are wont to do, "preach" about it. Talk down to the regular people, who really do have more good sense than academics think. 

So all the preaching we once heard emanating from UMM on gay rights caused a backlash. Not that people out here in the hinterlands really want to see gay people in the closet or marginalized. No, it's a matter of personal modesty, how people don't want matters of sex in our faces. 

So I think Sviggum and his constituency would have disapproved of the crusading nature of it all. I have posited that basic gay rights was on its way whether UMM made a fuss out of it or not. 

Torrey Westrom? I think he is totally kin with Sviggum on these matters. 

I will suggest that Sviggum is fundamentally smart and wise. But he sees a college's mission in a different way from many in academia's rarefied air. Let's look at it another way: UMM has shifted its priority toward "grievance majors." Again, is it necessary to assume such a proselytizing tone with the implied suggestion that the outside world needs straightening out? Because, people can obviously be offended by that. Offended more than the academic types might realize. 

Westrom would be more guarded in his words than Sviggum. 

So the U board of regents had some turbulent times. Powell is out. 

The headlines screamed that "Sviggum resigns" but at the time he did not actually resign - I mean he did not resign from the board, and shame on the state's media for misleading us all. Sviggum resigned only as vice chair. 

Powell? He should have felt the immediate obligation to assert that Sviggum's comment on UMM was out of school. Nothing to be taken personally. It simply had to be said. Sviggum could have crafted an appropriate apology, one of those where he says "what I really meant. . ." 

Maybe he ended up saying something like that, I don't recall. I'm not going to hold his comment against him because I think in his own mind, he was oriented in a different way. 

 

UMM and the Natives

Maybe we don't need a collection of policies related to diversity. Well, one very pregnant one at UMM is the free tuition thing for "Native Americans." Surely if the Supreme Court decision on affirmative action is to be interpreted properly, this policy should be immediately overturned, unless it's based on a real "treaty."

If UMM gets a pass on this, how much teeth does the court's decision have? Academic people would be great at doing end runs around such things - sleight of hand with the language, wink. 

We'll probably stick to our status quo here at UMM because it's in line with the "grievance majors." Such majors might have been cute for a time. Times change. 

 

It was anathema

The founders of UMM fought tooth and nail against the idea of a "community college" here, then called "junior colleges." What's in a name? Realistically not very much. But remember the big push by so many colleges to shed the "college" term to become "universities?" They thought the marketing would be more effective, pilgrims. But today? A sage friend of mine asserted that "college" might be a preferred term to "university." 

We'd like to see more activity here

And what of the community college concept? Would that be any less desirable than the state that UMM is in now? 

I'll be blunt: the campus seems almost dormant at times. It's not just me thinking that. I overheard some guys at the restaurant just yesterday. They talked about how we once had students all over the place. They talked about how UMM's athletic teams once seemed so impressive, and how today "we're playing the Little Sisters of the Poor." 

Why in all of God's creation are we having to schedule football games against a little no-name liberal arts school from way down in Missouri? Contradicts basic good sense. Missouri? We used to play the likes of Moorhead State and St. Cloud State and others of that standing. We know all about those places. We had teams that could beat these schools. Our football team beat Northern Iowa. I personally went out to Ithaca NY to cover the Cougars in the NCAA Division III playoffs. 

Maybe we didn't know how good we had it. 

I will share here an email I sent to a friend the other day. It sheds more light:

 

I had my fingers crossed behind my back when I stated that I was done with the U of M Foundation. I will be mailing a $1000 check but I'll mail it to the Twin Cities address, because I don't trust the keystone cops here in Morris. My envelope is all prepared. I do this because blood is thicker than water - it's the family fund. If I get a tax benefit, authorities must assume the $ is going to do some good. If not, we have a lousy system.

In the last 4-5 years I have made a smaller contribution to the WCROC Hort. Garden. I was prepared to do that also, but I just read their fundraising letter that they send out this time of year. Very, very strange: they more or less admit things are going to heck out there and they cite lack of finances as a reason! If you are trying to raise money, don't ever admit that things are going to heck. I could show you the letter if you like. I was pretty well set to write my usual check but now I just can't. I wonder if the letter is more evidence that the U's operations in Morris are really on the skids! What do you think?

 

Public school becomes germane too

Sometimes I get my point across better in emails than straight journalism. So in the spirit of that, I will share also a portion of an email I sent to Mary Holmberg of our public school. There is crossover between the school and UMM with our athletic facilities. I start out talking about my raison e'etre, the media.

 

I won't be able to blog quite as much about Tiger athletics now that Brett Miller has left the radio station. He put a lot of helpful info on the station's website. We don't get any details in the West Central Trib anymore. When the Tigers play a team that the WC Trib covers, we always see "stats not available" for MACA. I have the belief that if our coaches would call in, the paper would accept them and take notes. The Morris paper does not use its website at all for timely MACA sports coverage, instead it's all UMM and I mean almost 100 percent. I find that strange.

That day when I saw you and Mary Ashe outside the softball complex and we talked briefly, that was the day when I began to sense that the complex was not shaping up like I expected. The complex is on my daily walking route.

When I see fans sitting out by the outfield fence, I wonder if this is really where they want to sit. Everyone has to bring their own chairs. This after all the hype of the new "complex?" There's only a small space behind home plate where fans can sit and see whole field.

I feel sorry for fans who try to watch from outside of third base. Not a quality view from there at all. I assume it's the same on the first base side. The old UMM field had a lower fence so an adult of average height could see over the fence from anywhere around the perimeter, as I often did.

I wonder if the new higher fences are required to protect fans from getting struck by hard-hit foul balls? Especially in this age when people are looking down at their phones? Always worries about liability.

I have blogged with great emphasis on how Morris should try to get an inflatable cover for Big Cat Field like St. Cloud State has. If we had that, the softball games could start right after basketball, guaranteed. I think that would be very nice. I have seen the softball Cougars play at Big Cat the way it is now, and I asked my UMM contacts if the high school could do the same. I was told "yes" but I don't know about that. I was surprised how effective Big Cat was for softball, would be neat to see the Tigers there for 2-3 games. Super for fans too!

 

Don't be caught napping

People say I'm "negative" when I really just feel I need to be straightforward. So I'll share further: I notice that the little dirt parking area for the softball complex has a sign at the entry making clear it is to be considered a UMM lot with the permit required. Really? I thought the complex was a joint venture in which UMM was just a partner. But UMM gets to put up this sign which indicates it expects money from people parking there? 

Maybe the revenue should be divvied up some. See? The athletic facilities out by the UMM campus come to be seen as UMM facilities. That's why the "Minnesota Scores" website announces upcoming Tiger football games as being at "UM-Morris." Big Cat is a joint facility. I have inquired with my main UMM contact person about whether MACA softball has equal access to Big Cat in spring. I have seen Cougar games played there very successfully. My contact person replied in the affirmative. What else could this person say? "No, we're stiffing the public school." 

No, I'm not betting that Tiger softball would really have access for spring games when the "complex" has too much snow and mud or whatever. The high school softball season can get compressed down to as little as one month. I am greatly disappointed that our Morris Area school board suckered for the softball complex. The City of Morris at least got smart when the promoters came around asking for more money. The city said "no" and I assume they have stuck to their guns on that. 

 

U should be gung-ho

The U of M needs a leader who steps right in with enthusiasm and a long-term commitment, to work very hard to ensure that UMM has its best mission. The standards for performance ought to be at least as high as for me when I was at the Morris newspaper. Don't hold your breath on that. 

The UMM goalpost incident of 2005 proved to be my downfall at the Morris newspaper. 

I will quote from one more email I sent yesterday:

 

To (name withheld) - Did the Morris paper publish a correction on the spelling of the chancellor's name?

I put check in mail this morning for $1000 to support Ralph and Martha Williams Fund. UMM has an address on the Twin Cities campus and that's where I sent it. Check is made out to U of M Foundation like always.

Maybe the main reason I did this was it increases the odds I'll get a Christmas card from the U. I hardly get any other Christmas greetings, maybe none at all. The last two years, I emailed my cousin Debbie in Hawaii and she did not answer. She's from the family where we got separated from them for many years, due to ugly divorce of parents. My aunt could have gotten killed. Debbie is my age.

Well, at least I send her Xmas message. She is not on the island that had the big fire. I emailed her brother Kenny right away about that.

So if I get a Xmas card from the U, I can prop that up on my main table in the house. That might be the extent of my celebration of Xmas this year. 

However, I am cheering up rapidly because yesterday's elections turned out to be a big loser for the MAGA crowd. I have been waiting for America to get over that. If I see more encouraging signs, I will have a Christmas song recorded next year.

Overheard the gang at DeToy's this morning - Dean Monson et al. - talking about how strange it is that UMM has become so dead. Dean was saying "there used to be students everywhere." I walked over to those guys and told them about how "real" enrollment is only about 500. Dean said our sports teams used to be so impressive, but now "we play the Little Sisters of the Poor." That is very true.

In the letter that I sent today to the U, I included a note about how I hope that the new long-term U president will take a hard look at UMM. It's a nice campus and it ought to amount to something.

I'm getting sick of all this "interim" leadership, both for the U of M and for First Lutheran Church. We haven't even found an interim pastor yet. 

 

Addendum: I don't have a prayer for typing "proselytizing" without having to look up the spelling. Give me five guesses and I still can't nail it. It's the same for "hemorrhaging."

 

- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com