April 18, 2006 - All Things Considered’s Tom Crann talks with Jacob Reitan, director of the Soul Force Equality Ride; and Jay Barnes, Bethel University's Provost, about a visit of the cross-country bus tour by gay-rights activists to Bethel University.
April 21, 2006 - Governments in every part of the world encourage tourism as a way to boost their economies and improve the standard of living in their nations. But a certain percentage of tourists aren't traveling to see the sights or enjoy the weather. A conference at the University of Minnesota this weekend looks at the disturbing growth of sexual trafficking of children and how leaders in the tourism industry can help combat the problem. One of the keynote speakers at the "United Front for Children" Conference is the head of the United Nations Children's Fund, Ann Veneman. Veneman is a former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and has led UNICEF for nearly a year. She says the underground nature of the problem makes statistics hard to come by, but the U-N estimates that 1-point-2 million children are trafficked around the world each year.
April 28, 2006 - MPR's Marisa Helms reports on Neighborhood House, a St. Paul community center providing services for the growing numbers of immigrants and refugees in the metro area. Neighborhood House is celebrating the grand opening of its new building in St. Paul, which is named after Paul and Sheila Wellstone.
May 19, 2006 - MPR’s Brandt Williams reports on the opening of new Minneapolis Central Library. Visitors to the five story, 365,000 square foot building will likely first notice its eye-grabbing architecture - complete with a 90-ton structure that looks like an airplane wing resting on top. Inside patrons will have access to more than three million books and other reference materials as well as an art gallery, nearly 300 public computers and special sections for young library people and immigrants.
May 29, 2006 - MPR's Brandt Williams reports on Girls in Action, a new mentoring program at North High School in Minneapolis. Administrators say they've seen improvements in the grades and attendance in the young women. They also say fights and other behavior problems among girls at the school in general have decreased.
May 30, 2006 - A dramatic reflection of rural Minnesota's changing demographics lies in Pelican Rapids' recent inclusion in a state integration program that grew from efforts to desegregate schools in urban areas. Consider this statistic: nearly one-half of Pelican Rapids second graders come from homes where English is not spoken. That number along with other measures of diversity in Pelican Rapids schools forced the district into a program that now requires Pelican Rapids to work with neighboring school districts which are far less diverse. Minnesota Public Radio's Mark Zdechlik reports on the program and broader concerns about how so-called "integration revenue" money is spent.
June 15, 2006 - The recent opening of the Minneapolis Public Library drew a lot of attention to the new look of libraries, with state of the art technology, cafes and comfy chairs. But libraries aren't just changing physically. MPR's Marianne Combs reports on how libraries are becoming less about books, and more about people.
September 19, 2006 - MPR’s Perry Finneli interviews "Mr. Mark" Thompson, a teacher at Como Park Elementary School in St. Paul, about being named as Minnesota's 2006 "American Stars of Teaching" by the U.S. Department of Education for his work with Hmong English Language Learner students. Thompson also discusses the creation of a Hmong-English dictionary to help students.
September 19, 2006 - A St. Paul teacher has won a national award for his work teaching English to Hmong students. Mark Thompson of Como Park Elementary won the American Star of Teaching award from the U.S. Department of Education. Thompson created a picture dictionary to help Hmong students learn English which he says is now widely used.
October 20, 2006 - The two state-supported higher education systems are hoping to take advantage of a rosier financial outlook to boost budget appropriations from the coming legislative session. Both the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system aim to boost the state's share of the cost. But students and faculty say the effort isn't enough. Minnesota Public Radio's Art Hughes reports.