Connected. – Dec. 10, 2009

In this week’s edition of “Connected.”, St. Paul’s social host ordinance starts Dec. 12, two students start textbook exchange program, study abroad causes distance between relationships and parking changes take place over holiday break.

Tommie Award elections create buzz with voters

Every year, the St. Thomas community sifts through a multitude of candidates in hopes of finding just the right person to win the prestigious Tommie Award. While naming a “Tommie of the Year” is one of St. Thomas’ oldest traditions, it seems that this year’s well connected group of candidates might bring a little more buzz to the process.

“Comparing it to my freshman through junior year, it’s definitely more amped up,” candidate John Busch said.

Phishing e-mails have hooked several accounts

Some St. Thomas e-mail accounts were compromised yesterday when phishing e-mails were sent from legitimate St. Thomas accounts.

The e-mail included a link that looked similar to that of St. Thomas’ Web application called Portal. When clicked on, the link brought users to a fraudulent site that was designed to look like the application.

St. Paul declares snow emergency

The City of St. Paul has issued a snow emergency effective 9:00 p.m. tonight.

Included are all streets posted with signs that say “NIGHT PLOW ROUTE” and one side of all north-south residential streets posted with signs that say “NIGHT PLOW ROUTE-THIS SIDE OF STREET”. Parking is banned until streets are plowed full width to the curb. There will be tagging and towing ahead of the plows.

Social host ordinance starts Saturday

The social host ordinance will go into effect this Saturday, Dec. 12, in St. Paul and it may change weekend plans for some students in the St. Thomas area.

John Hershey, St. Thomas’ neighborhood liaison, explained that the social host ordinance is intended to hold people responsible for hosting events where underage people are drinking, even if they don’t provide the alcohol.

“It’s to help close the responsibility loophole in hosting parties, and basically to hold people responsible who create the atmosphere for underage drinking and/or disruptive events,” Hershey said.

Heavy snow to blanket Twin Cities tonight

The National Weather Service expects heavy snow across southeastern Minnesota tonight.

The Twin Cities could see as much as 2 inches of snow by late Tuesday afternoon, according to the Weather Service. By Wednesday morning, 5 to 8 inches of snow could accumulate around Minneapolis and St. Paul.