Lögberg-Heimskringla - 10.05.2002, Page 1

Week at a glance
Embassy in Ottawa one year
old
Page 3
Laxness' 100th birthday cele-
brated at the University of
Manitoba Page 6
Friday, 10 May, 2002 • Number 16 / Númer 16
Lögberg
Lögberg stofnað 14. janúar 1888
Heimskringla stofnað 9. september 1886
Sameinuð 20. ágúst 1959
Maí, 2002
Heimskringla
THE ICELANDIC WEEKLY
www.logberg.com
Registration no. 08000
Agreement no. 1402161
116th year /116. Árgangur
ISSN 0047-4967
Fréttir • News
Flugvél Ólafs
Ragnars snúið við
eftir að elding lenti
í vélinni
Ólafur Ragnar’s air-
plane turned around
after being hit by
lightning
he SAS airplane with Óla-
fur Ragnar Grímsson
President of Iceland, Halldór
Ásgrímsson Minister of
Foreign Affairs, and their
escorts aboard, on their way to
Russia on an official visit, was
tumed back to the Kastrup air-
port in Copenhagen after being
hit by lightning a-few minutes •
after take-off on April 18,
2002. Nobody was hurt.
Information from Morgunblaðið, Á. H.
íslendingur til
Kanada
Icelander to Canada
PHOTO COURTESY OF MORGUNBLAÐIÐ
The Viking Ship íslendingur
he Viking ship fslendingur
is probably going to
Canada. The ship has been for
sale on the ebay.com intemet
market for the last little while.
One bid for 60 million
(approximately 10 million
CAD) Icelandic krónur came
from a Canadian. Gunnar Marei
Eggertsson, the shipper and
owner of the ship, will be con-
sidering the offer. He had
offered the Icelandic govem-
ment the opportunity to buy
Islendingur.
“I have no alternative but
to sell the ship,” said Gunnar.
He is heavily in debt after hav-
ing sailed íslendingur to New
York in the year 2000. “I have
tried to fínd work for the ship,
but without success.”
Information from Morgunblaðið, Á. H.
Minnésota/Iceland Exchange Extended
HJohn
Askelson
St Paul, MN
In addition to the recent
festivities hosted in
Minneapolis for the
Icelandic National League of
North America (INL/NA)
annual convention was a cele-
bration of the twentieth
anniversary of the formal
exchange relationship
between the University of
Iceland and the University of
Minnesota. The ocpasion was
marked by a reception and
dinner April 18th at the home
of University of Minnesota
President Mark Yudof; a sign-
ing ceremony extending the
relationship another five
years April 19th on the cam-
pus of the University of
Minnesota; and as the theme
of the Samkoma dinner at the
INL/NA convention April
20th. Representing the
University of Iceland was
Rector Páll Skúlason with
honoured guest, former
President Vigdís Finnboga-
dóttir. Vigdís last visited the
University of Minnesota
twenty years earlier during
the inauguration of the
PHOTO BY JOHN ASKELSON
Professor Carol Pazendak
accepts medieval shawl from
Páll Skúlason, a gift to rec-
ognize her contribution to
the exchange.
exchange.
Speaking at the signing
céfemony Rector Skúlason
commented that the founda-
tiori of cooperation between
these two universities dates
back much further than twen-
ty years. He noted that during
World War II, when the insti-
tutions of Europe were closed
to Icelanders, Val Björnson, a
Western Icelander serving as
a Navy Intelligence officer
stationed in Iceland, directed
scholars to the leading aca-
demic institution in his home
state of Minnesota.
Speculating the number of
Icelanders with a University
of Minnesota education to be
in the range of three to five
hundred, Skúlason stated,
“this is of no small impact
upon a country the size of
Iceland.” He continued,
“there are many agreements
between universities, but few
which mean something more
than the paper they are writ-
ten on. This is one of them.”
Skúlason also recognized
University of Minnesota
Professor Carol Pazandak for
years of commitment to this
cooperation. She relates the
program’s origin. “Back in
1981, the University of
Minnesota President, at that
time, C. Peter Magrath visited
the University of Iceland as
part of a tour of European
universities. This was also the
occasion of the 70th anniver-
sary of the University of
Iceland, founded in 1911. The
Rector, Guðmundur Magnús-
son, was eager to establish
international connections for
his institution, and President
Magrath expressed interest in
partnering with Iceland. The
initial agreement, calling for
exchange of students, faculty,
and library and resource
PHOTO BY JOHN ASKELSON
University of Minnesota President Mark Yudof signs the
agreement to extend the exchange for five years. Rector Páll
Skúlason of the University of Iceland on the right is prepar-
ing to affix his signature.
materials, was sketched out
during a visit to Minnesota by
Rector Guðmundur Magnús-
son in November 1981. The
exchange was formally
approved by both
Universities in March 1982.”
As the first visitor under
the exchange Professor
Pazandak assisted in the
development of student coun-
selling and academic servic-
es. [At that time 1] “served as
the dean for student services
in the College of Liberal Arts
and President Magrath sug-
gested I take on the Icelandic
assignment.” Pazandak now
divides her time between res-
idences in the United States
and Iceland.
Cooperation continued
through the ‘80s with the help
of a United States Information
Agency (USIA) Linkage grant
which supported a dozen facul-
ty and staff visits between the
two institutions. During the
‘90s Iceland summer study pro-
grams in geology and geogra-
phy were hosted by faculty
from both universities. And last
spring, seven students partici-
pated in a pilot course in mod-
em Icelandic language and cul-
ture arranged under the auspices
of Ulfar Bragason, Director of
the Sigurður Nordal Institute.
Intended for students from
throughout North America,
three weeks of intensive
instruction were offered in
Minnesota followed by three
weeks in Iceland. The course is
being offered again this May
with' a current enrollment of
five students.
A program for the
exchange of students began in
the fall of 1983 and has con-
tinued without interruption
since. Val Seaberg from
Minnesota and Sölvina
Konráðs from Iceland were
the first scholars. Financial
support is provided by the
University of Iceland to the
scholar from Minnesota and a
tuition grant is provided by
the University of Minnesota
to the scholar from Iceland.
Additional cost of living
expense is funded by private
donations to the Val Björnson
Please see Exchange on
page 10
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