Image by Tatiana Craine

Both of these MnSCU schools have proud hockey traditions, but aren't necessarily known for academics.

Okay, so nobody was about to mistake either of them for Harvard or Stanford in the first place. But still, it's disappointing to see both St. Cloud State and MSU-Mankato on The Center for College Affordability and Productivity's list of the 25 universities with the worst professors.

SEE ALSO: Jim Fetzer, UMD professor emeritus, thinks U.S. government was behind Newtown shooting

The list is based on data culled from RateMyProfessors.com, which allows students to rate professors based on helpfulness, clarify, and easiness, then combines the helpfulness and clarify metrics for an overall score.

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curtaincalltheatre.net

The hoaxer wasn't trying to terrorize people -- he just wanted to see police cars and officers, according to a defense attorney.

More details have emerged about the 12-year-old student who scared the bejesus out of Minnesota with a hoax call last month in which he reported that an AK-toting gunman had injured two people and was still on the loose in a New Prague middle school.

THE BACKSTORY: Report of shooting at New Prague Middle School turns out to be unfounded [UPDATES]

The student, who was later charged with a felony count of making terroristic threats, has special needs and wasn't capable of understanding the ramifications of his actions, according to a defense attorney.

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Some black Hopkins students took serious offense to the stereotypical "rapper" attire worn by white students.

There have been two significant racial incidents at metro schools already this year. In January, racial tensions at Minneapolis's Washburn High School were stoked after a black doll was found hanging from a noose in a school stairwell. Then, the following month, tensions between African-American and Somali students at Minneapolis South High School erupted into an ugly lunchroom brawl.

SEE ALSO: Duluth roiled by two recent blackface incidents [VIDEO]

Now comes word that Hopkins High School is the latest school to be roiled by racial tensions. Two black students there face charges thanks to the way they responded to a "Ghetto Spirit Day" allegedly held by white members of the school's ski team in February.

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Markham-Cousins (left) is out after a six-year tenure as Washburn's principal.

Washburn High School Principal Carol Markham-Cousins will be changing jobs following a reassignment by the Minneapolis Public School District.

SEE ALSO: Minnesota Teacher Licensure Exam results show dramatic racial disparity

According to a Southwest Journal report, Markham-Cousins was told this morning that her time as principal was up.

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Woodard (left) and Daudt don't believe the state's new standards reflect "what Minnesotans expect our students to learn." A judge disagrees.

An administrative law judge has ruled that despite the MNGOP's worries, the state's new social studies standards won't turn Minnesota's youth into a bunch of jihadists after all.

In her ruling, Judge Barbara Nelson called the new standards "needed and reasonable," adding that "It is inevitable that there will be disagreement between people about the content that should be included in academic standards, particularly where, as here, the subject matter involves such controversial topics as economics, history, government, and 'human' geography."

THE BACKSTORY: MNGOP leaders want Dayton to veto insufficiently patriotic social studies standards

Judge Nelson was asked to weigh in on the matter after a group of conservatives, including House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, and Assistant Minority Leader Kelby Woodard, R-Belle Plaine, wrote a letter to Governor Dayton complaining that the Department of Education's new social studies standards make "virtually no mention of the values of American patriotism."

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curtaincalltheatre.net

This, apparently, is the crazy terroristic threat capital of Minnesota.

As it became clear that the school shooting reported yesterday at New Prague Middle School was a hoax, one young New Prague resident offered up this quip on Twitter: "I highly recommend New Prague schools if you like getting out of class for bomb threats and gun threats."

SEE ALSO: Report of shooting at New Prague Middle School turns out to be unfounded [UPDATES]

She wasn't kidding. Today, the school is again evacuated following a bomb threat.

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curtaincalltheatre.net

New Prague Middle School

-- Updates at bottom of post --

Reports are circulating this morning about a possible school shooting at the New Prague Middle School.

UPDATE: New Prague Middle School evacuated again following bomb threat

Details remain scant but WCCO reports that "an ambulance staging area was being set up" and that the school "has been put on 'code red.'"

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The anonymous Facebook page for U of M confessions has over 6,000 "likes."

College students have always wanted to spill secrets, whether over dollar beers or in scribbled graffiti on the library bathroom wall. It was probably inevitable that before long, the bathroom wall would meet the Facebook wall.

As the Star Tribune's Jenna Ross reported last week, Facebook "confessions" pages have become the latest platform for collegians to anonymously bare their souls. The secrets found on the pages range from the serious, like dealing with privilege in the college bubble, to, um... sexting, sexploits, not having sex, and other important extracurricular activities.

When Ross wrote her story, the U of M and the University of St. Thomas both had confessions pages active enough to be irritating the official administrations. Since that article ran, the University of St. Thomas's page was shut down after the page's creator had a meeting with the school's dean of students. The U of M's page though, which hosts comparatively "classy" confessions, is still going strong.

We read through the recent U of M posts, which are submitted anonymously via the tool Survey Monkey, and plucked the 19 best. Here they are, grouped into commonly-recurring categories for your nostalgia-and-contact-hangover-inducing pleasure.

See Also:
- Top 10 Minnesota brands with most Facebook likes
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MSMU might have a few more students than administrators bargained for next year.

Would you still want to attend Minnesota State University Moorhead if the following happened to you?

You get a letter in the mail with happy news -- despite either poor grades or a low ACT score, you've been accepted at MSMU. But some time later, you receive another letter from administrators telling you that there's been an error and you're one of 232 applicants who were mistakenly admitted. "Remember that admittance letter? Our bad -- we actually meant to say you didn't get it. But best wishes!"

SEE ALSO: Post Office apologizes for returning woman's letter to Iraq-based son with "DECEASED" stamp

You're obviously upset by the turn of events, but days later, you learn there's been another change. After MSMU's gaffe was widely reported, administrators decided to admit the 232 students -- including you -- after all.

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Image by Tatiana Craine -- classroom photo from Cherice on Flickr

For mysterious reasons, blacks are having a much tougher time passing the Teaching Licensure Exam than whites.

These days, aspiring Minnesota teachers have to pass the Teaching Licensure Exam in order to get a license. That's reasonable enough, but the exam's results suggest the process isn't working as it should.

SEE ALSO: Twin Cities has far and away the largest black-white unemployment gap, says new study

State data shows blacks are having a disproportionately tough time passing the exam, leading some to believe the exam is racially and/or ethnically biased.

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