Talk:St. Olaf College/Archive 1

Untitled
Is it just my imagination, of is this page beginning to accrete some rather unencyclopedic material? Williamborg 22:43, 23 June 2006 (UTC)


 * I went to this page awhile ago, and whoever made it didn't keep their language very "enyclopedic" I am working on somewhat of an overhaul, though it could take awhile.Kalossoter 16:30, 30 June 2006 (UTC)


 * We also need a good history of the college. Anyone interested in taking that up with me?--Kalossoter 17:21, 30 June 2006 (UTC)


 * Get it started and I'll pitch in. I've got some materials around here somewhere. Williamborg 03:18, 1 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Sounds good. I'll get it going (at least a little bit) at some point today or early tomorrow.--Kalossoter 17:03, 1 July 2006 (UTC)


 * And here I can't find my history of the college. Have to keep looking&mdash;must be around here somewhere... Williamborg 02:00, 6 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Yes, it almost seems more like a brouchure...130.71.241.100 03:48, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

Parody versions of song
It seems like people cannot resist adding parody versions of Um Ya Ya. None of the attempts thus far have included any references for the parody versions. People, please ask yourself if this would really be useful information for an encyclopedia article before adding it.--Larrybob 22:02, 3 August 2007 (UTC)

I question the statement that this song is one of the few fight songs to mention another college. The following come immediately to mind: "There Goes Old Georgetown" mentions a number of mostly Ivy League schools, including Yale and Cornell. "Nittany Lion" casts aspersions on other Big Ten schools (the words were changed to remove other rivals when Penn State joined the Big Ten). True, this is not Penn State's official fight song, but it is probably the most widely known Penn State song, and might be termed its "school song." Ditto for Kansas's "I'm a Jayhawk," which has undergone at least two changes of words, one when KU joined the Big Eight and another when Nebraska and Colorado left the Big Twelve. "Sons of Westwood," UCLA's co-official fight song says, "and if we chance to see a man from USC, every Bruin starts to roar." Michigan State's "MSU Fight Song" (Falcone Fight) used to mention Michigan. It doesn't anymore, at least officially, though the earlier lyrics are still sung when MSU plays U-M. Again, unofficially, the last line of "I'm a Tarheel Born" is sung with an expletive directed at Duke or NC State when UNC plays those schools. The same is true of Rambling Wreck mentioning Georgia, but there, "to hell!" is in the official lyrics. UC Berkeley and Stanford have a number of secondary fight songs that mention each other, though their official fight songs do not. The same is true of Harvard and Yale. Thus, it can hardly be said that it's unusual for a fight song to mention other schools. I believe this statement should be removed. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Edgy4 (talk • contribs) 01:47, 14 June 2015 (UTC)

Song Meter
I recently browsed this article and noticed the claim that St. Olaf had the only fight song in 3/4 meter. Unfortunately, McNeese State has had a waltz as a fight song for many years called Jolie Blonde. It starts with the Vesti la Giubba piece from Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo but switches to the famous Cajun waltz about fifteen seconds into the piece. WyJBertrand (talk) 17:02, 10 August 2013 (UTC)

However, McNeese's official fight song is "On McNeese." The same could be said of Michigan Tech's "Blue Skirt Waltz," but their official fight song is "Fight Tech Fight."Edgy4 (talk) 02:07, 14 June 2015 (UTC)

Photo request
Steensland Library is on the List of Registered Historic Places in Minnesota. Could someone get a picture of it?--Appraiser (talk) 19:55, 28 November 2007 (UTC)


 * The construction precludes necessary access at the moment. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 20:06, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

The Steensland photo is titled incorrectly: the building currently houses International & Off-Campus Studies. It is most certainly not vacant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nikotfpb44 (talk • contribs) 04:11, 11 July 2008 (UTC)

Notable alumni
I have pruned the list. In general, there shouldn't be any red links, that is, links to articles that don't exist, unless they are clearly missing. WP:BIO guidelines should apply here. The Uninvited Co., Inc. 20:05, 8 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Several of those people you deleted meet Wikipedia notability criteria, but don't yet have articles. I haven't researched them all, but several appear to be notable based on their descriptions here. Robert Flaten, former United States Ambassador to Rwanda (1990-1993), can be presumed to be notable (ambassadors are generally notable, but relatively few have articles). Sidney Rand, former President of St. Olaf and United States Ambassador to Norway, is another ambassador. Academy Award winners are notable, so Barry Morrow, Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Rain Man, is another notable without an article. Erik Paulsen has notability as former Republican majority leader of the Minnesota House, if not also as a one-time U.S. Congressional candidate. Red links in lists such as the list of notable alumni can serve the useful purpose of encouraging people to contribute articles. Additionally, Eric Fawcett and John Ostby may not have articles of their own, but their band Spymob has an article, suggesting that the band is notable and that therefore their association with St. Olaf ought to be acknowledged. --Orlady (talk) 01:57, 9 February 2008 (UTC)


 * While what you say is true, I would postulate that many of those individuals are substantially less notable than those other alumni in the list who have made enduring contributions on a national scale. Spymob, for example, is marginally notable at best.  The real key is not WP:BIO but parity -- those who  are on the list should be substantially more notable than those who are left off, and the value of such a list is in its brevity.  A handful of people in each graduating class go on to make a record or two, likewise with runs for political office.


 * I will also note that, while I am not familiar with the role the individuals you cite played as ambassadors, that such posts are often highly symbolic, perhaps explaining the relative paucity of articles.


 * The Uninvited Co., Inc. 22:43, 9 February 2008 (UTC)


 * The debate is probably over but might I suggest you write a piece of text instead. Say before the list (and no need to subheader it) but write about how there are quite a few alums who have served internationally. Thats the best way to incorporate non-Wikied biographies..:davumaya:. 00:05, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Other claims to fame
Perhaps we should add Phil Busse (see this site). Phil was a 2004 candidate for Portland mayor who resigned as a visiting professor at St. Olaf after admitting he stole John McCain presidential campaign signs. Phil Busse left his job, on Friday after the school talked to him about his essay, "Confessions of a Lawn Sign Stealer" posted on the Huffington Post Web site. He had been teaching a class called "Introductory Media Studies." He admitted pulling out three signs in southeast Minnesota.

Or perhaps I'm just having a bit of fun. Yah - fer shur - you betcha!

Skål - Williamborg (Bill) 03:45, 7 November 2008 (UTC) (class of '68)

What exactly is "metric football", according to the only direct reference i could find, the urbandictionary, it's soccer? - current ole student — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.245.221.194 (talk) 06:22, 10 December 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on St. Olaf College. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20070207025607/http://www.stolaf.edu:80/depts/music/stolaf_choir/about.html to http://www.stolaf.edu/depts/music/stolaf_choir/about.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers. —cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 21:43, 17 October 2015 (UTC)

Edit warring to add "sex education" paragraph
An unregistered editor has begun an edit war to add a new paragraph about a supposed controversy about a sex education event. The text in question:


 * A November 21, 2020 event, co-sponsored by its Political Awareness Committee, a branch of the student government, and student-run Sexual Assault Resource Network and Cultural Union for Black Expression promoted a comprehensive marketing campaign for a vibrator company, under the banner of preventing sexual assault. “Certified intimacy educator” Autumn Morris argued that the earlier people begin to masturbate, the better, (according to Alpha News ) while offering event participants discounts on sex toys.  Some have suggested that controversial programs of this type clash with the Christian mission of the college.

The only substantive, secondary sources for this information are unreliable, partisan sources whose primary mission is to generate outrage among their readership and controversies where none exist. This is tabloid trash that doesn't belong in an encyclopedia article. Even if the sources weren't garbage, we should be very reluctant to devote space in an encyclopedia to a singular event without significant evidence of a lasting impact; this is codified in WP:NOTNEWS. ElKevbo (talk) 20:40, 9 December 2020 (UTC)


 * Sources such as the college's own mission statement and its official Sexual Assault Resource Network (SARN) hardly seem "partisan". A quick scan of internet sources comes up with absolutely no articles countering the news sources referenced as "unreliable".  Can User:ElKevbo cite sources showing that the listed references are "unreliable"?  Certainly the event described by the original editor reveals controversy that is not in line with the official mission statement of this Christian-based college. In the meantime, it would appear that other editors (User:AlsoWukai) have improved the new paragraph without commenting here.  If there is "edit warring" on-going, it would seem that the attacker is User:ElKevbo. 172.93.177.60 (talk) 05:41, 18 December 2020 (UTC)


 * In this context, the institution's mission and website are primary sources and my statement above was that the secondary sources - Alpha News and The College Fix, in this instance - are unreliable, partisan sources. The burden is on those who believe a source is reliable to establish that it is; this would be an appropriate venue to ask for assistance from editors who have a special interest in evaluating the reliability of sources.
 * An edit that has to cite primary sources to make a novel point is almost certainly original research which isn't permitted in Wikipedia. ElKevbo (talk) 06:28, 18 December 2020 (UTC)

Merger Discussion
Request received to merge articles: Hong Kierkegaard Library into St. Olaf College; dated: May 2022. Proposer's Rationale: The library is already mentioned in the St. Olaf article. I think, given the information available about the library, it does not warrant a standalone page. Discuss here. Happyecheveria (talk) 23:09, 23 May 2022 (UTC)