A touching start to this memorial event

"Jurgs"

Priceless how Fr. Schneider began the final rites for Chris Juergensen yesterday (Thursday). Many people including many young people were present for the event at the funeral home. Fr. Schneider started off the ceremony by saying "are there any sports fans here?" "Jurgs" was part of the local sports scene lifelong. His enthusiasm included UMM in a big way. 

It won't be the same with "Jurgs" no longer seen around the community. The time came when he started using a cane. I have noticed that with more and more of my old acquaintances. Knock on wood re. the possibility that time might come for yours truly. My late father never took to using a cane or a walker. People are different. 

It is unfortunate that at age 71 I have to monitor the obituaries regularly. My family came here in 1960 or '61. We did rent a place in Starbuck on Lake Minnewaska for a few months before settling in "Motown." So I remember the "stuffed animals" at the laudromat in Starbuck! We came to these parts because of the historic launching of the U of M-Morris. 

I remember watching basketball at the old "P.E. Annex," no longer standing of course. St. Cloud State had a building like this, "Eastman Hall," which got renovated instead of torn down. I assume you've heard in the news that a substantial portion of the St. Cloud campus is set to be demolished including some buildings that surprise me. I believe they are still waiting for the money. 

Speaking of waiting for the money, is our Congress going to disgorge significant funds for this treacherous "war effort" abroad? The government will always say there are reasons for a war. So the new disgorgement is $200 billion? The Persia interests may have a strategy as they've done before of dragging us into conflicts that damage our economy. Spending $ on the war only drains us. 

Can't everyone agree that it is odd that our president had a major campaign priority of "no new Mideast wars?" If you are a Trump supporter - odds are high that you are, out here in western MN - can't you agree with me that it is odd or even mistaken? I expected our congressperson Michelle Fischbach in her latest email dispatch to emphasize the need to support the war effort. No such mention. 

The Trump people - certainly Fischbach is one - usually sing in unison. 

Sports is an opiate that diverts our attention from such things. It's an opiate to keep us from feeling down because of the daily headaches of life. Of course that's the glass-half-empty assessment. I grew up during Vietnam so I plead with you to understand how I can express such an attitude. 

Trump is profoundly troubling. On so many levels. But compare our current state of affairs to when young men were drafted and sent to Vietnam. We are so fallible as a human species. 

 

SDSU in the NCAAs today (Friday)

Go "Jacks!" 

I just noticed there is a basketball game that we should be paying attention to today (Friday). Today we should all be cheering for the "Jackrabbits." Boy I laughed the first time when hearing that nickname. It was on my car radio. "Jackrabbits" is the nickname for South Dakota State University. 

Institutions like SDSU were considered quite second-tier when I was young, but boy they can be competitive with the big boys today. But I'm not talking boys right now, I'm talking girls. Actually "women" as the SDSU Jackrabbit women of hoops are set to play in the most prestigious college event. It's time for the "NCAAs." 

And SDSU is right in there albeit as a pretty big underdog today. They are seeded 11th and will play No. 6 Washington at 1:30 p.m. Well I'll certainly have fingers crossed for an upset! I am acquainted with a current SDSU student. Campus is in Brookings SD. 

I remember when I was with the Morris newspaper, someone wrote a letter to the editor quite strongly making the point that Brookings was more welcoming to its student population than our UMN-Morris. I am hopeful that the local climate is changing on this front. And I really think it is. 

For much of its history, UMM has not been the most happy place. It has been oddball in certain ways and this has to end. 

 

Bolstering its future (hopefully)

I implore you 

I am overdue in making the following suggestion but I will lay it out: UMM does not need a "student newspaper." The paper through the years has been far more trouble than it is worth. It has done anything but prompt a smile on so many occasions. It is not needed for any "democratic" ideal. 

Student-run publications should not seek the shield of the "First Amendment" for anything they do. If they are not serving a constructive purpose for the campus, they should disappear. A student-run newspaper is run by a group of students who may not be representative of the campus with their outlook or personality. Ax-grinding sometimes arises. 

And it has made wider the cultural gap between the campus and community. If UMM is to survive at all - yes we need to worry - well that gap needs to be tamped down or eliminated. 

The new chancellor in whom I place faith has stressed how he is going to be talking to public school leaders in this part of the state to see how UMM is perceived and how the image can be made more agreeable for kids out here. I already know some of the things he is going to hear. Don't make me spell it all out right now. The kids and their families out here believe in personal modesty and a sense of decorum that departs from what UMM has exuded all along. 

Is there time to make repairs? Well I'm not sure there is. We can hope. I won't say "hope and pray." But if you want, you can pray for the Jackrabbits of SDSU right now! 

It was nice to see Chris Juergensen "Jurgs" get such a nice send-off to heaven on Thursday. We'll never forget the guy.

 

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