For campus conservatives, a new source of information

September 13, 2005

By MARTIGA LOHN, Associated Press Writer

What's wrong with St. Olaf College's focus on environmental sustainability?

Plenty, if you ask the Center of the American Experiment. The Minneapolis-based conservative think tank launched a Web site for college students Tuesday, including a pointed critique of the Northfield liberal arts college's theme for the academic year and a defense of fossil fuels.

"St. Olaf seems intent on dictating to students the 'right' way to live, work, and learn," reads the Web site, intellectualtakeout.com. "This is an altogether unsustainable approach."

The site aims to bolster conservative points of view in campus debates, and includes point-by-point comparisons and links to articles on topics ranging from global warming to affirmative action.

Annette Meeks, the center's chief executive officer, said the student-oriented Internet portal is the organization's biggest project in its 15-year history.

The site's user-friendly approach to students is unique nationally, although it's not alone in its focus on intellectual diversity on college campuses, spokesman Randy Wanke said.

The chairman of St. Olaf's history department said the criticism missed the point. Jim Farrell, who outlined the college's environmental theme in an essay also assailed by the Web site, said Intellectual Takeout wrongly assumed that ecology is the domain of liberals.

"A lot of what we're doing on campus is business decisions," said Farrell.

For instance, St. Olaf bought a wind turbine to generate 30 percent of its electricity, saving $200,000 to $250,000 a year within two years, he said. He said oil companies and other large corporations are focused on conservation as resources become more scarce. Even Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a conservative Republican, has been a champion of ethanol to reduce dependence on oil.

"They think that there's a liberal agenda in it - I'm not sure that's true," Farrell said. "A lot of the American population thinks that sustainability is a mainstream issue."

Both Farrell and Kay Wolsborn, a professor of political science at St. Benedict's College and St. John's University near St. Cloud, said they welcomed Intellectual Takeout as another source of information for students.

"The more the merrier," said Wolsborn.

What really matters in a classroom is whether students master the material - not what they believe politically, Wolsborn said.

"I hope students wouldn't take only classes where they hear what they already know," she said. "Gosh, what a limited education that would be."

Meeks said she hopes Intellectual Takeout will spur debate, perhaps prompting even professors who disagree with the site's viewpoints to promote it.

Brad Short, a senior at Hamline University and a former intern at the Center of the American Experiment, can't wait to use the Web site as fodder for classroom discussions. He says he gets an "overwhelming" helping of liberal views in his classes at Hamline.

"I'm taking an American public policy class right now," he said. "If I'm curious about the other side of the issue, I can go straight to the Web site."