A reader passed this on to me a few days ago. It looks like Karen Himle, the woman at the center of last fall’s uproar over the “Troubled Waters” environmental-agricultural documentary at the University of Minnesota, has talked about her experience at that time in a speech in Minnetonka. You may remember that Himle, who Read more →
University of Minnesota ecologist David Tilman, who appeared in Troubled Waters — and had publicly doubted that the university bowed to outside pressure in its pulling of the film — told me when I asked him about Karen Himle’s resignation: I envisioned we’d be hearing something like this. I’m not surprised this happened. Troubled Waters Read more →
I think it’s appropriate. — Rep. Jean Wagenius (DFL), co-chair of the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, a legislative body that oversees close to 70 percent of the funding of the film. Wagenius had criticized the U’s handling of Troubled Waters, saying that it damaged its reputation, and had called on President Bob Bruininks to Read more →
After the news of the resignation of Karen Himle, the University of Minnesota official in the middle of the Troubled Waters documentary flap, I talked to Brian DeVore, communications coordinator for the Land Stewardship Project. The nonprofit environmental organization has been perhaps the most vocal critic of how Himle and the U have handled the Read more →
MPR reporter Tim Post reports that Karen Himle, University of Minnesota Vice President for University Relations, has resigned today at a regular Board of Regents meeting. Bruininks said Himle’s resignation was because of the impending arrival of Eric Kaler, who will be the university’s new president next year. He said she had always intended to Read more →
Unsatisfied with the investigation into the internal emails behind the University of Minnesota‘s Troubled Waters mini-scandal? Now you can look into it yourself. The Land Stewardship Project, an environmental nonprofit that has been one of the biggest critics of the U’s handling of the film controversy, has posted a database of what it considers the Read more →
Both the Land Stewardship Project and the Minnesota Daily have reported on an e-mail that reflects outsider input — if not influence — from an agricultural interest into the editing of Troubled Waters, the controversial environmental documentary on agricultural pollution of the Mississippi River. As you’ll remember, the University of Minnesota last month canceled its Read more →
The whole film flap in six easy bites For those of you coming late to the University of Minnesota’s Troubled Waters drama — and/or trying to understand the e-mail dump I chronicled on Friday — here’s a boiled-down version of the story and its main issues — with links:
I remember walking out of Troubled Waters thinking it was nothing like a Michael Moore film — no grand-standing, no tear-jerking, no milking the subject. Looks like Karen Himle, the University of Minnesota’s VP for university relations, disagrees vehemently. I’ve posted a document or two showing that she called the Troubled Waters film “propaganda,” and Read more →
Alex Friedrich