2017-2018 Common Read Learning Activites

For background on the Crisis Cabinet at Mankato State College, read the following sections in Out of Chaos: 

1. Judy Mans (pp. 98-102)
2. David Phelps (pp. 106-119)
3. Mehr Jay Shahidi (pp. 130-136)

A. President Nickerson's office was in Old Main on the lower campus.

1. Why do you think Nickerson had the Crisis Cabinet moved to meet in Memorial Library on the upper campus?
2. If we had a Crisis Cabinet on campus today, where do you think would be the best place for them to meet?  Please explain.

B. The above article in the November 9, 1970 issue of the Daily Reporter describes how six bomb threats had occurred on campus in seven days.  The article goes on to explain that the campus administration and President Nickerson had the responsibility of deciding whether buildings should or should not be evacuated during a bomb threat.  The article then states that it believes the responsibility for making this kind of decision should be made collectively with input from both the student and faculty senate. 

1. In your opinion, do you think important decisions about whether to evacuate a building during a bomb threat are best made by a single authority figure or are these decisions best made in consultation with others?  Please explain your position.
2. Do you think you would become immune to a bomb threats if they happened several times in a row?  Why or why not.

C. One of the things students lobbied for in the 1970s and won was to give input on campus affairs.  Instead of hosting Crisis Cabinet meetings, today Minnesota State University, Mankato holds Meet & Confer meetings to exchange information with President Davenport and his administration.  On-campus Meet and Confers are held once a month.  The Meet and Confers About description states,

Minnesota Statute 179A.03, Subd. 10 specifically defines "Meet and confer" as the exchange of views and concerns between employers and their employees. As such, it represents the process by which a public agency, or such representatives as it may designate, and representatives of recognized employee organizations, have the mutual obligation to convene and deliberate promptly upon request by either party for a reasonable period of time in order to exchange freely information, opinions, and proposals, and to endeavor to reach agreement on matters within the scope of representation prior to the adoption by the public agency.

1. Based on the information found on the Meet and Confer webpages (listed above), as a student at Minnesota State University, Mankato which student officers should you contact if you want to bring something to a campus Meet and Confer meeting?  (Note: The page is outdated but the office holder's positions are still applicable.)

D. According to Mehr Jay Shahidi's entry the Crisis Cabinet's mission was to advise President Nickerson on how to deal with the massive student protests against the war on campus. The Crisis Cabinet included faculty, staff, students and townspeople. 

1. If you created a campus Crisis Cabinet who would be on your crisis team and why?
2. In your personal life who would you reach out to in a crisis?  Please explain.