October 18, 1973 - Both teacher unions, the MEA and MFT, are holding conventions. Speaker Richard Foster at the MEA asked whether accountability will create change or not. At the MFT meeting Senate Majority Leader Nick Coleman said a recent error discovered in state birth projections means some 300,000 fewer students will be in elementary and secondary schools in the 1980's and 1990's. He remarked the teacher/pupil ratio would have to be cut to just over eleven to one to employ the current number of teachers, and that won?t happen. In ten years we won?t need the state college system as it presently exists as there won?t be that many students. Plans should be made now to deal with that reality.
October 21, 1973 - Writer and philosopher Ayn Rand speaking at Ford Hall Forum. Rand’s address was titled “Censorship: Local and Express.”
October 23, 1973 - MER’s Dennis Rooney interviews Joseph Roche, a member of Minnesota Orchestra, about the death and legacy of Pablo Casals. Roche shares experience of being a part of Casals Festival.
November 8, 1973 - John Borchert, director for Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at University of Minnesota, speaking to the Commission on Minnesota's Future in Alexandria. Borchert’s speech was on the topic of the ways and extent to regulate, without violating our democratic precepts.
November 13, 1973 - Professor Herman Schwartz speaks on his critical view of the U.S. prison program. Topics include history of modern prison system, inhumane conditions, guards, and race. During the tragic inmate uprising at Attica State Prison in 1971, Schwartz served as the first intermediary between the prisoners and the prison administration.
November 14, 1973 - U.S. Representative Don Fraser remarks on nomination of Gerald Ford and why political system doesn't cleanse self of those who abuse power.
November 19, 1973 - This MER Special presents a tribute to famous Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who passed away on September 23, 1973. Program contains various readings and commentary of Neruda’s work, performed by Robert Bly and others.
November 20, 1973 - Produced with the encouragement of the late Robert Weaver, this Options program is a unique survey of Solzhenitsyn's work, with dramatic excerpts from One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch, and the voice of the author reading his own poetry (recorded clandestinely in his garden in Moscow before he emigrated to the U. S.).
November 23, 1973 - MPR’s Paul Gruchow interviews Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn experts and translators Keith Armes, Arthur C. Hudgins, and another guest about the first English translation of Solzhenitsyn’s Candle in the Wind, published by University of Minnesota Press.
November 27, 1973 - While many media outlets worry about individual industries suffering from lack of fuel, economists such as Frank Booty see that the energy crisis will affect local and individual businesses, but will probably not derail the entire economy. Discussion of chain reaction of fuel shortages to economic shortfalls included in interview.