Student Union
Saying Goodbye to My Fargo
– American actor William H. Macy.
Macy was talking about his leading role in the Oscar-winning comedy/thriller Fargo, which takes place in the Midwest states of North Dakota and Minnesota.
Fargo, the biggest city in North Dakota and the film’s namesake, was the very place where I studied as an international exchange student for the past year. I used to complain about it being remote and boring, and it is, but now that I’m back at home, watching the movie Fargo makes me nostalgic for the city’s incomparable goodness.
If you’ve never seen the movie, it’s pretty dark, and often disturbing. But it also shows the love for this region by the filmmakers (Joel and Ethan Coen, who grew up in Minnesota) and the actors. Both William H. Macy and I know the real Fargo that ever brightened our heart.
In this last post for the Student Union, I’d like to share some pictures with my dedicated audience to present my Fargo – a marvelous land that most travelers to America will never know.
Landscape
Fargo, like other parts of Midwest, has very huge plains all the way down to the skyline. And in the winter, these plains turn into sheets of snow and ice.
I totally understand how Fargo writer/director Joel Coen described growing up in Minnesota. In a documentary about the making of the film, he said, “The real, strong memories I have from my childhood is my mother kicking me out of the house when it was 20 degrees below zero and then expecting me to horse around in this sort of blank, white landscape.”
As a matter of fact, numerous lakes on the border of North Dakota and Minnesota freeze completely, and you can walk, or even drive on them! These lakes, for sure, are part of this white landscape!
Nice People
Another thing that the actors and directors of Fargo talked about when they discussed making the movie was how nice the people are in this part of the country.
“It is called ‘Minnesota Nice.’ It is very true that it’s a very polite culture.” Joel Coen said. Macy agreed, “‘Minnesota Nice’ is that politeness that is bred in from childhood.”
I feel completely the same way. I’ve already described in previous posts the great generosity of my friend Maia Randklev and her parents and relatives. They accepted me as part of their family for their Christmas celebrations, and even took me skiing a couple of times.
End
Taking the plane to Los Angeles earlier this year for a spring break adventure, I didn’t expect I would feel right back home when I returned to Fargo. Nor did I imagine when I boarded an eastbound train to Washington, D.C. in June for my internship that Fargo would in my heart.
But when I came across a buffalo, the symbol of North Dakota, in the National Museum of the American Indian in D.C., I burst into tears. I kept missing Fargo all through my travels in D.C., Boston, New York City, and now all the way in China! The city is already part of me!
An American professor once told me about her experience as a young woman when she spent time in Turkey. She recalled that she missed home when being in Turkey but, similar to me, she turned to miss Turkey very much when resettling down in America.
It might be that people tend to miss something when they are far away from it, but I prefer to think in another way: Turkey and Fargo are the places where we spent the most formative time of our life. They have been permanent landmarks of our greatest enthusiasm that should be treasured forever.
So it’s time to end up this article? Oh, no, I should have kept in mind that the article this time would be the one to end my one-year exploration of writing with VOA’s Student Union. But I hope I will come back and share some of my experiences back in China later this summer. Anyway, here at this temporary transit station, please allow me to give my most sincere thanks to the Student Union, the most splendid stage and the most dedicated friend I’ve ever met. Without her hand-in-hand guidance and step-by-step encouragement, I could never go this far. Thank you, my dearest Union and dearest boss Jessica <3
[See all of Dandan's previous posts about studying in North Dakota and life as a Chinese student in America]
See all News Updates of the Day
- By VOA News
What types of graduate student housing are there?
Anayat Durrani of the US News & World Report breaks down the options. (April 2024)
Pro-Palestinian protests spread on US university campuses
U.S. university campuses are seeing pro-Palestinian protests daily. Students are demonstrating against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and demanding that humanitarian aid be allowed to flow into the territory. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.
US police clash with students who demand colleges cut financial ties to Israel
Police tangled with student demonstrators in the U.S. states of Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
At the University of Texas at Austin, hundreds of local and state police — including some on horseback and holding batons — clashed with protesters, pushing them off the campus lawn and at one point sending some tumbling into the street. At least 20 demonstrators were taken into custody at the request of university officials and Texas Governor Greg Abbott, according to the state Department of Public Safety.
A photographer covering the demonstration for Fox 7 Austin was arrested after being caught in a push-and-pull between law enforcement and students, the station confirmed. A longtime Texas journalist was knocked down in the mayhem and could be seen bleeding before police helped him to emergency medical staff who bandaged his head.
At the University of Southern California, police got into a back-and-forth tugging match with protesters over tents, removing several before falling back. At the northern end of California, students were barricaded inside a building for a third day at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt. The school shut down campus through the weekend and made classes virtual.
Harvard University in Massachusetts had sought to stay ahead of protests this week by limiting access to Harvard Yard and requiring permission for tents and tables. That didn't stop protesters from setting up a camp with 14 tents Wednesday following a rally against the university's suspension of the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee.
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war are demanding schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies enabling its monthslong conflict. Dozens have been arrested on charges of trespassing or disorderly conduct. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus.
Columbia University averted another confrontation between students and police earlier in the day. The situation there remained tense, with campus officials saying it would continue talks with protesters for another 48 hours.
On a visit to campus, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, called on Columbia University President Minouche Shafik to resign "if she cannot bring order to this chaos."
"If this is not contained quickly and if these threats and intimidation are not stopped, there is an appropriate time for the National Guard," he said.
Shafik had set a midnight Tuesday deadline to reach an agreement on clearing an encampment, but the school extended negotiations, saying it was making "important progress."
On Wednesday evening, a Columbia spokesperson said rumors that the university had threatened to bring in the National Guard were unfounded. "Our focus is to restore order, and if we can get there through dialogue, we will," said Ben Chang, Columbia's vice president for communications.
Columbia graduate student Omer Lubaton Granot, who put up pictures of Israeli hostages near the encampment, said he wanted to remind people that there were more than 100 hostages still being held by Hamas.
"I see all the people behind me advocating for human rights," he said. "I don't think they have one word to say about the fact that people their age, that were kidnapped from their homes or from a music festival in Israel, are held by a terror organization."
Harvard law student Tala Alfoqaha, who is Palestinian, said she and other protesters want more transparency from the university.
"My hope is that the Harvard administration listens to what its students have been asking for all year, which is divestment, disclosure and dropping any sort of charges against students," she said.
Columbia encampment inspires others
Police first tried to clear the encampment at Columbia last week, when they arrested more than 100 protesters. The move backfired, acting as an inspiration for other students across the country to set up similar encampments and motivating protesters at Columbia to regroup.
On Wednesday about 60 tents remained at the Columbia encampment, which appeared calm. Security remained tight around campus, with identification required and police setting up metal barricades.
Columbia said it had agreed with protest representatives that only students would remain at the encampment and they would make it welcoming, banning discriminatory or harassing language.
On the University of Minnesota campus, a few dozen students rallied a day after nine protesters were arrested when police took down an encampment in front of the library. U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar, whose daughter was among the demonstrators arrested at Columbia last week, attended a protest later in the day.
A group of more than 80 professors and assistant professors signed a letter Wednesday calling on the university's president and other administrators to drop any charges and to allow future encampments without what they described as police retaliation.
They wrote that they were "horrified that the administration would permit such a clear violation of our students' rights to freely speak out against genocide and ongoing occupation of Palestine."
Netanyahu encourages police response
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the pro-Palestinian demonstrations on U.S. college campuses in a video statement released Wednesday, saying the response of several university presidents has been "shameful" and calling on state, local and federal officials to intervene.
Students at some protests were hiding their identities and declined to identify themselves to reporters, saying they feared retribution. At an encampment of about 40 tents at the heart of the University of Michigan's campus in Ann Arbor, almost every student wore a mask, which was handed to them when they entered.
The upwelling of demonstrations has left universities struggling to balance campus safety with free speech rights. Many long tolerated the protests, but are now doling out more heavy-handed discipline, citing safety concerns.
At New York University this week, police said 133 protesters were taken into custody and all had been released with summonses to appear in court on disorderly conduct charges. More than 40 protesters were arrested Monday at an encampment at Yale University.
Columbia University demonstrators in talks with administration officials
Officials at Columbia University were continuing talks Wednesday with student demonstrators from the Gaza Solidarity Encampment as the protest reaches a full week.
At 9:41 p.m. Tuesday, university President Nemat “Minouche” Shafik sent an email to the Columbia community setting a midnight deadline for an agreement to be reached about dismantling the encampment and dispersing the protesters.
“I very much hope these discussions are successful,” she wrote. “If they are not, we will have to consider alternative options for clearing the West Lawn and restoring calm to campus so that students can complete the term and graduate.”
As midnight passed, Columbia University Apartheid Divest posted a statement on X saying, “We refuse to concede to cowardly threats and blatant intimidation by university administration. We will continue to peacefully protest.”
The statement also said the university had threatened to call the National Guard. But after visiting the university earlier in the week, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said Tuesday she had no plans to deploy the National Guard.
As midnight approached on Tuesday, a student organizer announced that the deadline had been extended to 8 a.m. Wednesday.
At 4:09 a.m., the Office of the President sent an email saying the discussion deadline would be extended for 48 hours, given the constructive dialogue, and the university would report back on progress.
The email announced that leaders of the student encampment had agreed to remove a significant number of tents, get non-Columbia affiliates to leave the encampment and comply with New York Fire Department requirements. They also agreed to ensure that the encampment is “welcome to all” and to prohibit “discriminatory or harassing language.”
This development comes nearly a week after more than 100 students were arrested at the school on April 18, after Shafik authorized police to clear away protesters. Some of the students received suspension notices from the school.
Columbia’s action prompted an onslaught of pro-Palestinian demonstrations at other universities and responses from faculty and politicians.
Students at other campuses, such as Yale, Stanford and New York University, have also rallied around the Palestinian cause, calling for their universities to divest from companies with ties to Israel and for a cease-fire in Gaza. Many also have put up tent encampments on their campuses. About 150 students and faculty were arrested at New York University Monday night.
Columbia also announced Tuesday morning that classes on the Morningside main campus, where the protests are taking place, will be offered in a hybrid format for the remainder of the spring semester. The last day of classes is April 29.
- By VOA News
Paper: International students faced extra pandemic challenges
Astrobites, which describes itself as "a daily astrophysical literature journal written by graduate students in astronomy since 2010," focuses on the challenges international students faced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
It examines a paper published in the Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education entitled The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on International Students in a Public University in the United States: Academic and Non-academic Challenges.
Read the Astrobites article here. (April 2024)
