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We write to take issue with your editorial, “Franken or fiction?,” (12/7/07).Not only does this editorial continue The Mac Weekly’s history of biased coverage of Mr. Franken, it failed to acknowledge the strong and strengthening bond between Al’s campaign and our student body.

Al has visited Mac twice since launching his campaign ten months ago. At this point in the 2006 race, candidate Amy Klobuchar had not visited. And in this cycle, while we have seen candidate Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer once, the rest of the field – Mike Ciresi, Jim Cohen, and Senator Norm Coleman – have not seen fit to join us on campus. Al has given more attention to Macalester students than any other Senate candidate during our time here.

And during his visits, Al has paid particular attention to the opinions of Macalester students, engaging in a spirited discussion of the issues and making plenty of time to answer questions one-on-one. Last spring, he stayed until 11:30 p.m. after the Mac Dems meeting, which began at 10:00 p.m.

Most of us intern with Al’s campaign, or have volunteered for him in the past. We support Al because he offers the prospect of a healthier economy, universal healthcare, a federal government committed to reducing atmospheric carbon, and an end to this horrible war. Best of all, he wants to work with us to make these goals reality.

Despite The Mac Weekly’s statement, some of us do claim Minnesota as our home for four years, if not more. We drive on Minnesota roads, walk through Minnesota parks and live by Minnesota laws. The Mac Weekly would apply a college-student definition of community membership; we reject this and would encourage the editors to do the same.

Your glib, uninformed dismissal of Al’s candidacy and our work for him does an injustice to our community, and suggests that you are out of touch with the Macalester student body.

Signed,
Grace Linder
Kelsey Hornbach
Margaret Nigro
Anna Rockne
Jake Levy-Pollans
Alex Roselli
Nisha Singh
Daniel Braman
Amy Hill
Ellen Bubak
Nick Honan
Will Howell
Thomas Klink
Stephanie Potter
Molly Griffard
Nick Christenson
Emily Cohen
Paul Swartz
Heather Kunin
Alex Katz
Zach McDade
Lucia Marincel
Ben Pierson
Ahna Minge
Maria Princen
Andrew Mirzayi
Erin Lowrey
Stephen Miller
Elliott Niblock
Erin McCabe
Emma Locatelli