Do you carefully read every email you receive each day? I know I don’t, especially all those listserv messages. If it weren’t for a friend mentioning it in passing, I would have missed an important one–it was just one of the 31 emails I received in my Mac account on October 27. It was this…
Opinion
An argument for the accountability of MPIRG
Full disclosure: I really, really love MPIRG. For a lot of reasons, and for a long time. My love for MPIRG began my first year. It was the first org I joined, and by far the one that has impacted my life the most. I was a co-chair last year, and now I’m managing MPIRG’s…
Opinion
Yes vote for dialogue
If you vote yes next week to keep MPIRG on campus, as I hope you will, it is not the end of a conversation. Rather, you’re allowing conversations about MPIRG’s role on campus to continue. Our purpose is to represent the student voice. We know we haven’t been perfect in fulfilling this role. In recognition…
Opinion
Go far with MPIRG
Since graduating from college, I have had the privilege of doing work that I care about and doing it professionally. I was hired as the Regional Field Director for the Raise Up Massachusetts campaign less than a year out of college, in charge of a large part of the largest grassroots ballot initiative in the…
Opinion
Real Change: MPIRG & the Referendum
On a Friday night, no one wants to picture themselves in Olin-Rice. When it is hailing on April 3, standing outdoors for an hour is not where anyone wants to be. Yet, last spring, we did just that: 120 Macalester students showed up in OLRI for “Pipelines & Comedy: Climate Change Isn’t Funny,” and the…
Opinion
Vote to continue a statewide student voice
I write in unabashed, unequivocal support of MPIRG’s continued presence at Macalester. For over 40 years, MPIRG has been a constant presence on campuses across the state, working to improve life for students on campus, locally and statewide. Though the organization’s model has evolved over the years, the core mission has stayed the same: to…
Opinion
A Carleton student perspective on MPIRG
My name is Sam Neubauer and I am an aspiring organizer at Carleton College, class of 2017. When I came to Carleton at the beginning of last year, I knew that I wanted to be engaged in organizing and activism and immediately got involved in the campus activist scene, but frankly was disappointed with the…
News
Referendum on MPIRG contract to be held next week
On Monday and Tuesday, a referendum will be held to determine the future of Minnesota Public Interest Research Group’s (MPIRG) chapter on campus. If a majority of the voting population votes ‘Yes,’ the referendum will be followed by a renegotiation of MPIRG’s contract with MCSG, while a majority of students voting ‘No’ will result in…
Opinion
Preserve the Mac experience
MPIRG is a unique org on campus that gives students a voice to advocate for change and creates a space to re-imagine what the Mac community could look like. MPIRG is certainly not the only group (nor should it be) that gives students a voice or creates that space, but it was the one I…
Opinion
Support our orgs – repeal the contract
When I first arrived at Mac I had no idea that for the next four years I would be presumed a willing donor to a political organization I’d never heard of. What’s more, it took three years for me to discover that indeed, through the opt-out policy, a substantial chunk of Macalester students’ contributions slated…