(Periodicals postage paid in Seattle, WA) TIME-DATED MATERIAL — DO NOT DELAY Calendar of Events Special Issue Celebrate 17th Happy 17th of May of May in your Vårt hjerte vet, vårt øye ser to all our readers! neighborhood! hvor godt og vakkert Norge er ... Read more in our special 17th of May section on pages 8 – 18 Read more on page 22 – Henrik Wergeland Norwegian American Weekly Vol. 122 No.18 May 6, 2011 Established May 17, 1889 • Formerly Western Viking and Nordisk Tidene $1.50 per copy Gratulerer med dagen! Happy 17th of May from the Norwegian American Weekly What’s inside? News 3 It’s russ season Historic hockey win Business 4 Red- and blue- Norway defeats Opinion 6-7 Sweden 5 – 4 in 17th of May Section 8-18 overall-clad Obituaries & Religion 19 graduating high Hockey World Arts & Style 20 school students Championships In Your Neighborhood 21 celebrate all over 17th of May Calendar 22 STAFF COMPILATION Norway Norwegian American Weekly GRATULERER MED DagEN! On April 30, the Norwegian NINA BERGLUND Views and News from Norway national hockey team made a stun- ning 5 – 4 victory over Sweden during the Group C rounds at the They’re back. Red- and blue- International Ice Hockey Federa- overall-clad graduating high school tion (IIHF) World Championship students known as “russ” have tak- in Slovakia. en to the streets of most Norwegian $1 = NOK 5.2252 The victory was Norway’s cities and towns, intent on partying updated 5/2/2011 first over their Nordic neighbors with abandon and causing a certain In comparison since 1962. amount of trouble along the way. 4/2/2011 5.4894 Martin Roymark scored for New security concerns seem, how- Photo: Nils Bjåland/VG 11/2/2010 5.8413 Norway in the first period before ever, to be taken seriously. Man of the match was Lars Haugen, 5/2/2010 5.9058 Morten Ask and Marius Holtet who saved 42 of the Swede’s 46 at- CONTINUES PAGE 6 Photo: hundesonen.no CONTINUES PAGE 21 tempts. Fewer guests. More personal attention. 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HAL_Norwegian.indd 1 4/27/11 2:40 PM NorwegiaN americaN weekly Online: blog.norway.com/category/news may 6, 2011 • 3 NEWs Parliamentarians Will stella “Haba Haba” to the top? This week on Norway.com Norway elected to UN Commission on doubt own power Stella Mwangi Population and Development represents Norway Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas New polls show low level Gahr Støre commented, “The Norwegian of confidence in Storting in Eurovision Song Government has taken a particular responsi- bility, both politically and financially, in the Contest 2011 efforts to achieve Millennium Development STAFF COMPILATION Goals 4 and 5 on reducing child and mater- Views and News from Norway EUROVI S ION nal mortality and improving access to repro- ductive health services. We therefore look Second to perform in the first semi-final forward to playing an active role in the U.N. Only 10 percent of Norwegian parlia- of the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest is Nor- Commission on Population and Develop- mentarians believe that parliament is the way’s very own Stella Mwangi, who will try ment.” The voting took place in the United most important political institution in the and capture the hearts of the viewers with her Nations Economic and Social Council, with country, the lowest number ever recorded by inspiring and feel-good party song, “Haba three countries – Norway, Spain and Malta researchers. Haba.” – competing for two places. Spain and Nor- The latest study, carried out in April, The Norwegian final was held on Feb. way both won seats on the Commission. shows that 70 percent of parliamentary rep- 12 at the Oslo Spektrum arena. Here, eight (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) resentatives believe that government is the acts battled it out for the top spot but only place where policy is made and decided on. Photo: Charlotte Jensen Many prefer kindergarten one song could win. Stella managed to Stella Mwangi met with fans and the press at the In last year’s poll, 19 percent felt that parlia- achieve a combined jury and televote score press conference shortly after her first Eurovision Many parents preferred kindergarten as the ment was the most important area, while 59 of 280,271! This was a huge amount and left rehearsal in Düsseldorf, Germany. main child-care provider in the daytime. On percent chose government. no doubt as to who had taken home victory the other hand, only a few parents chose Opposition parties were quick to blame relatives or a nanny. 79 percent of children that night. the charts. the government for parliamentarian’s lack of aged 1 – 2 and as much as 96 percent of chil- With comments like “It is a master- Born in 1986 in Nairobi, Kenya Stella confidence. Per Sandberg, the deputy leader piece!” and “This song makes me smile and dren aged 3 – 5 attended kindergarten. 90 identifies herself as a Norwegian-Kenyan percent of all children between 1 and 5 years of the conservative Progress Party, told news dance!” made by the fans, it seems like peo- artist. She moved to Norway when she just a participate in kindergarten, while 11 percent agency NTB that “the total absence of oppor- ple enjoy “Haba Haba.” In addition, her song small child and was brought up in Eidsvoll, are mainly supervised by the mother, father tunities for parliament to have any influence was a huge hit at home in Norway, outdoing or others in the household. CONTINUES PAGE 18 the likes of Lady GaGa and Bruno Mars in CONTINUES PAGE 18 (Statistics Norway) Norway welcomes NTNU professor wins Fridtjof Nansen To the promised land Award bin Laden death The Fridtjof Nansen Award for outstanding Anne Elisebeth Skogen research in science and medicine in 2011 has Støre: “A pleasing been given to NTNU Professor Odd Mag- tells the story of the first breakthrough in the fight nus Faltinsen, of the Department of Marine Norwegian emigrants Technology, for his work in marine hydrody- against terror” namics. Faltinsen is an expert on the hydro- in her performance dynamics of high-speed vessels and sloshing dynamics and has published three scholarly “Through Hell Gate to STAFF COMPILATION Views and News from Norway texts on these subjects. The Fridtjof Nansen the Promised Land” Award is given annually to two research- ers in Norway who have provided scientific Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr contributions of international significance at NORWAY .ORG Støre has hailed the death of al-Qaida lead- the very highest level. er Osama bin Laden as “a pleasing break- (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) through in the fight against terror,” while “Through Hell Gate to The Promised Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg warned that SAS wins award for EuroBonus loyalty Land” is a storytelling performance by Anne Photo: norwayheritage.com “the fight against terrorism is not over.” program Elisebeth Skogen about the first Norwegian The sloop Restauration, which brought the first Speaking to news agency NTB, Støre Scandinavian Airlines’ frequent flyer pro- group of emigrants, who arrived in New Norwegian emigrants to the U.S. in 1825, as de- said, “I praise the American action that led to gram EuroBonus was named winner in the York Oct. 9, 1825. Skogen will perform at picted on a postcard. the deadly attack against Osama bin Laden,” category Best Airline Redemption Ability the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in New for Europe/Africa at the Frequent Traveler who had “finally been held responsible” af- York on Wednesday May 11 at 7 p.m. and Award Gala in New York. The gala was held in the fjords around Stavanger for tourists ter masterminding “one of the worst terror Mindekirken Norwegian Lutheran Memorial in conjunction with the Frequent Traveler and maybe also – in time – cross the Atlantic incidents of our time.” Støre went on to say Church in Minneapolis, Minn., on May 17.