Finally, A New Post

Beschäftigt. That’s what I’ve been ever since spring break ended. And with two more tests coming up this week as well, I doubt that I’ll have much free time to do much but study. I guess I can look forward to the fact that I’ll earn my summer vacation in just a little more than a month. Since my last final exam will be on Wednesday evening, I will be able to come back home on Thursday, May 11th.

Although I changed it a couple of weeks ago, this will actually be the first post with the new design of the blog in place. I’m glad those who’ve posted on the Zonkboard like the new look. What I am especially interested in finding out is whether or not anyone is having problems viewing the website. So far, the only problem I’ve run across is in viewing the site in Internet Explorer with a resolution of 800x600. The top picture that says “Mitch’s Blog” and such gets cut off. I wish I could fix this problem, or, rather, inconvenience, but it looks like it’s just some sort of bug with Internet Explorer. All I can advise you to do is switch to Firefox...or a higher resolution. Other than that, the site looks fine at higher resolutions in both Internet Explorer and Firefox on Windows as well as Safari and Firefox on Apple OS X.

USA Today ran an interesting Advanced Placement-related article in the front page of last Tuesday’s life section. I recommend anyone who took or is taking AP classes to go check it out. I sent the link to one Brainerd High School teacher I thought would enjoy it – Mrs. Niemi – but she must have been out of town again this year on another late spring break because she hasn’t responded. Or maybe she just doesn’t want to talk to me anymore (doubtful).

The 37th annual UND Writers’ Conference took place last week. This is basically a weeklong event that brings a small group of nationally-known writers to town to discuss their work and the overall craft of writing with other writers in the area. Besides that, there are also a few movies shown throughout the week that pertain to whatever the particular theme of the year’s conference happens to be. The theme this year was “border crossings.”

Anyway, the reason I brought that up was because I worked – volunteered – at the conference’s information/help desk three nights last week. In so doing, I earned a few of the 12 service project hours that I need to complete this semester as a part of my commitment to the Honors Program.

I probably should continue the rest in a reply to Jake’s comment on the last post, but last Friday evening from 6 to 9 was one of the times I staffed the desk. Therefore, I didn’t find out the score of the Minnesota-Holy Cross hockey game until after it ended and until after you, Jake, were probably back on the bus heading back to the Twin Cities. What a long way to come for nothing. Though Minnesota’s loss made UND’s chances of getting into the frozen four much greater, I, for one, wouldn’t have minded seeing the likely battle that would have ensued at a Minnesota-UND game.

UND certainly is lucky to have had such a wealthy alumnus in Ralph Engelstad. “The Ralph” Engelstad Arena was completed in 2001 at a cost of $100 million. The arena is pretty much only used for hockey-related events, but in the off-season it does get used for some other things like concerts and circuses. Also completed in 2001, The Alerus Center, which is clearly visible from Interstate 29 between the 32rd Avenue South and Demers Avenue exits into Grand Forks, is more of the city’s multiuse facility. In the fall, it’s the home of UND Football; during the rest of the year it houses, among other things, concerts, conventions, trade shows, and exhibition sporting events. The center has well over 20,000 seats, which makes it the biggest indoor arena between Minneapolis and Seattle. When Cher performed there in 2002, she performed in front of what was then her biggest audience ever.

One of the even neater things about the Alerus Center is that a Canadian hotel company is in the process of building a 13-story hotel and entertainment complex next door. When the all the construction is completed, Grand Forks will have this: