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The Olaf Messenger

The Student Newspaper of St. Olaf College

The Olaf Messenger

The Olaf Messenger

The Messenger Wars: Tote Bags vs. Backpacks

The Messenger Wars: Tote Bags vs. Backpacks

Catherine Lyons and Lizzie Elsenpeter October 15, 2025

Tote Bags by Lizzie Elsenpeter In the heated debate of tote bags versus backpacks, there is a clear winner: tote bags. Tote bags are the perfect accessory for any outfit and fit much more comfortably...

ICE raids in Chicago: sowing the seeds of chaos

ICE raids in Chicago: sowing the seeds of chaos

Abbey Weitzenkamp, News Editor October 15, 2025

A crackdown on immigration enforcement in Chicago has begun. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has made arrests throughout the city. ICE raided an apartment building and arrested a number of residents...

What is Pete Hegseth going on about?

What is Pete Hegseth going on about?

Sadie Kolehmainen, Contributing Writer October 15, 2025

“You kill people and break things for a living. You are not politically correct and don’t necessarily belong always in polite society.” I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t be particularly...

Breaking down President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard

Breaking down President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard

Lydia Lucke, Contributing Writer October 15, 2025

Since the start of his term, President Donald Trump has deployed the National Guard to Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; and most recently, Portland, Ore. and Memphis, Tenn. He first sent 4,000 members...

Running up that hill: how to stay active

Running up that hill: how to stay active

Julia Sikorski Roehsner, Variety Editor October 15, 2025

If I added up all the times I’ve said to myself, “I wish I’d gone on a walk today,” in that time, I could probably run a marathon. And I’m not a fast runner. I love wandering in the Natural...

St. Olaf’s Performative Masc Lesbian Contest is a social experience

St. Olaf’s Performative Masc Lesbian Contest is a social experience

Louise Skokan, Staff Writer October 15, 2025

Girls wearing carabiners, backwards-facing baseball caps, bandanas, all-thrifted outfits, and wired earbuds; holding matchas and tote bags; wearing Doc Martins and any and all kinds of jewelry; professing...

Cows, comments, and confessions: I do not love the Mohn piano

Cows, comments, and confessions: I do not love the Mohn piano

Anonymous October 15, 2025

In the basement of Mohn Hall, between the kitchen and the ping-pong table, lives a piano. Upon it is a framed sign pleading, “Please LOVE this piano.” But, I must confess, I do not love it. I’m...

“I and Thou:” A book that will change your life

“I and Thou:” A book that will change your life

Evan Atchison, Sports Editor October 8, 2025

When my friends ask me for book recommendations, I’m inclined to recommend something I think they will enjoy reading. Not all books should be enjoyable reads, however: just because a book is a tough...

ICE: the boiling point

ICE: the boiling point

Garrett Fitzgerald, Contributing Writer October 8, 2025

On Sept. 26, Ian Roberts was arrested in Des Moines, Iowa, and charged the following week. An American-educated contributor to academics across the country, Roberts has lived in the States for nearly 30...

Artists as everyday activists

Artists as everyday activists

Juliet Stouffer, A&E Editor October 8, 2025

I know as a college student it can feel like there is no real way to affect the world. With all the assignments due and hours taken up in the day, how are we meant to change the world? How are we meant...

Cruising for a bruising: A plea for the abolition of scooters

Cruising for a bruising: A plea for the abolition of scooters

Henry Merrell-Van Sickle, Contributing Writer October 8, 2025

The other night on my pilgrimage from Skoglund back to New Hall, I made the rookie mistake of putting my AirPods on noise cancellation mode, deafly stumbling along, unaware of the new lurking menace that...

Cave diving: A guide to the best C-Store deals

Cave diving: A guide to the best C-Store deals

Gabe Simon, Contributing Writer October 8, 2025

Ever since its unforeseen usurpation of the Cave, the C-Store has faded into the background of campus life on the Hill. Current upperclassmen will remember mourning the loss of the little nook with comfortable...

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