$100K Reward

The United States Post Service is offering up $100,000 to anyone who turns in information leading to the arrest of the involved people who have sent bomb threats to over 16 different Post Offices in Minnesota. The Fairbault Daily News also received a letter yesterday with a threat! Many of these letters right now are in Rice County and other southern, Minnesota cities, but the problem is continuing to spread. These threats have been happening since early February and to this point there has been no information found about who is doing this!

I can't say I am suprised, but find myself extremely dissappointed that these acts are continuing to go on. The tragedies that have already happened from bombings throught the country, and even the world for that matter, are so devastating that for someone to go around making threats is a little disturbing. The fact that it has continued to happen and that it seems we are no closer to catching these people is also disturbing. The USPS is an enourmous business and daily everybody is receiving mail and to have to worry about the buuildings themselves, but also what could happen if our mail or the mail system had something like this happen is very scary to think about. Even though many items we used to use the mail for has turned to be done through the internet, I know I pay a few bills by mail and also do a lot of work through ebay so the USPS system is one that affects me a lot! Hopefully someone has some information and can get these people arrested and then they can receive the $100,000 reward!

March 6

A community I am becomming more familiar with recently is that of St. John's University. I attended school there for 3 years and then made the decision to leave based on personal, academic, and an assortment of other reasons. It had been 2 years since I attended school before this current semester and my long or I guess short term plan depending on how you look at it is to return to school there again in the fall. So I have been visiting up there recently, A. because I still have some friends that attend there, but also because I know the transition to going back to college will be difficult and I am trying to make the transition as smooth as possible, so I figure a little time here and there in that enviornment is good for me.
That being said in that community many of the leaders are the Brother, Sisters, Priests, and Nuns and on my last visit over the weekend I ran into Father Bob, who was the Faculty Resident on my hall my last year I was there. He said a very big issue that he is seeing right now is the uncertainity of the job market. Many students who are leaving with four year degrees, who a few years ago were shoe ins for higher level positions are having a more difficult time getting "career orientated" jobs, where many are just trying to find something that can pay the bills. The economy is also an issue. With the cost of tuition being where it is at private schools he wonders if that will play a much bigger role in where students choose to attend school in the near future. He says he is still very optimistic on what the future holds, but yet these are key issues that we are being faced with right now and hopefully we have seen the worst, but only time will tell!

Feb 20 (Late)

At the time this was due I hadn't really thought much about what a good place this would be and was unsure exactly what to write about. That was until I attended a meeting last week. A good friend of mine was recently laid off and he asked if I would attend a meeting with him that was for unemployed people and what to do now. The meeting was at his Church in Wayzata and during that meeting out of the blue this assignment ran through my head. The meeting almost initially felt like what you stereo typically would consider an AA meeting. Everyone sat in a circle and it was in the beginning as if people we ashamed to be there, but that mood quickly left as conversations started brewing about all kinds of different topics. The economy and the current job market obviously took up most of the conversation, but politics, Presidnet Obama, the school system and many other topics came up throughout the meeting. What was a little suprising and also relieving was the positive outlook the group had as a whole. I felt uncomfortable at first because I thought it was going to be a very negative atmosphere with people bitter about where the economy is and that they were let go from their jobs, but many people saw it as a new opportunity to do what they have always wanted or pursue something bigger and better. I think it is great for places to hold meeting like this in their community because it opens up so many doors to people and they can network and meet new people and get ideas they never would have priorly had. In the end it was refreshing to listen to the positive attitudes of those people and it made my out look on where the economy is at more positive!