\ngslnil‘q ( :( )iit‘Q'C April 11, 2003 Volume 109 Commission possible: QSU Group gets budget, new status after four tries in last two years Sarah Sletten' CommunityNalues Editor It has taken a year and a half, plus endless hours of campaigning, planning and hard work, but on April 3, 2003, the... Show more\ngslnil‘q ( :( )iit‘Q'C April 11, 2003 Volume 109 Commission possible: QSU Group gets budget, new status after four tries in last two years Sarah Sletten' CommunityNalues Editor It has taken a year and a half, plus endless hours of campaigning, planning and hard work, but on April 3, 2003, the chartered organi- zation Queer and Straight in Unity became a commissioned organiza- tion. Commissioned organizations have paid staff members, budgets, and consistent campus program- ming, whereas chartered groups are less permanent and do not receive budgets or have paid leaders. When QSU first approached Augsburg’s Student Government Association with its request to be- come a commissioned organization during the 2001-2002 school year, - they were well organized and had every expectation of being ap- proved. At one meeting, Senate voted against commissioning QSU. At another meeting, Senate voted to approve QSU’s request but was vetoed by then-president Brendan Anderson. Anderson said his veto was based on the lack of a Senate procedure for commission- ing organizations at Augsburg. Brandi Bennett . News Editor A proposal recommending the reinstitution of Latin honors begin- ning in 2004 is currently being pre- sented to Faculty Senate and the Academic Affairs Committee. If the proposal is endorsed by the two groups, it will be presented to the entire faculty for a vote. This vote could occur during the final faculty meeting of the year in May at the earliest, provided that neither the Faculty Senate nor the AAC de- mand any revisions. “The goal of the subcommit- tee was to see whether or not we could come up with a recommen- dation to the faculty for a proposal to acknowledge excellence in the overall program that was not tied to a specific research project,” said piofessor of sociology Diane Pike. “So the goal was, how do we ac- hiowledge academic excellence in our students?” Pike headed the subcommittee responsible for the proposaL The current proposal would re- store a Latin Honors system that would allow students to graduate Although organizations had become commissioned in the past, there was no structured procedure for organizations to follow in or- der to become commissioned. Anderson and the Student Senate established a Commis— sioned Status Committee. This winter, Senate’s Constitution Com- mittee created mics and guidelines so that organizations that desired to be commissioned would have a set procedure to follow. “Senate is currently very happy with the commissioning procedure,” said junior class rep- resentative Sarah Prozinski. The procedure requires that an organization begin the application process in October of the year and have its progress monitored throughout the year before becom— ing commissioned. QSU brought its application to Senate early in the spring semes- ter. Its application caused a lot of debate over suspending the bylaws, Prozinski said. Many of the sena- tors were in favor of commission- ing QSU but they were concerned with following the rules that they had created. Senate voted to not suspend the bylaws, which pre- QSU continued on page 3 cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude. Under the cur— rent recommendations, cum laude would mean graduating with a 3.6- 3.799 GPA, magna would require a GPA of 3.8-3.899 and summa would require a 3.9-4.0 GPA as well as an oral exam. According to the proposal, stu- dents who are eligible for graduat— ing summa cum laude will be noti- fied during the fall by the Dean’s office. They will be allowed to se- lect one question from a list pre- pared by the Dean in consultation with others prior to the school year. They will then research and write a five-page paper, which will be the basis for the oral review. Stu- dents will then defend their posi- tions before a committee consist— ing of at least three members who will determine whether or not the student passes. If the student does not pass, he or she will be allowed a re-examination or can opt to graduate magna cum laude. “This is a process and an op- pornmity for students to be able to synthesize some components of their overall education to demon- Issue 19 INDEX OPINIONS ................. .. NEWS ........................ .. ......................... ..page 2 ........................ ..pagc 3 ACTION AT AUGSBURG ................ ..pagc 4—6 FEATURES ..... .'. ......... .. SPORTS .................... .. ......................... ..page 7 ........................ "page 8 \ldiitllti A at piniowur‘ 5 nil Bean, KAUG big winners at annual leadership awards Brandi Bennett News Editor On Sunday, April 6, students and staff at Augsburg gathered to recognize the outstanding contribu- tions of many of the students and student—run organizations on cam— pus. Tometria Bcan, recently elected vice president ofthe student body, received the evening’s big- gest honor, the Linda Shrempp Alberg Endowed Leadership Award. This award is given annu- ally to a student who reflects the qualities of leadership and commit- ment to enhancing college life that distinguished the professional life of Linda Schrempp Albcrg. Bean has worked with PASU and the Multicultural Recruitment Team in Admissions. The Dean‘s Award for Leader- ship was given to Aaron Kolb, Torin LEADERSHIP continued on page 3 Latin honors proposal to go before Faculty Senate strate that they have both the oral skills and the written skills to talk about what their education at Augsburg has meant,” said Pike. Students who wish to graduate with Latin Honors will also be lim- ited to only two pass—no pass classes under the current proposal. This requirement will be phased in, however, as current students can- not be disqualified for Latin Hon- ors because they were unaware of the limit. This requirement ex- cludes classes that are designated pass-no pass. “It ends up giving a kind of dis- torted GPA when students have four, five, six classes that are pass- no pass,” said Pike. Graduating with Departmental Honors will still be available for students who wish to complete the requirements. Pike does not expect the numbers of students who gradu- ate with Departmental Honors to change drastically when the new system is installed. “My guess is that the student who has gone the route to Depart- mental Honors is the kind of stu- dent motivated to do that within the LA11N HONORS continued on page 3 Senate sets commissioned groups’ budgets for year Campus Ministry gets less; QSU, $5,000 Shana A. Steele Staff Writer Recently, the Augsburg Stu- dent Government Association ap- proved its budget for the 2003- 2004 school year. Out of the six commissioned organizations at Augsburg, the Augsburg Student Activities Council received the most funding. Although the budgeting is ul— timately decided by the entire Stu— dent Senate, a committee made up of the college’s current student body president and vice president and the newly elected student body president and vice president comes up with the initial proposal for the distribution of funds to each orga- nization. The amount of money al- lowed for each club is dependent upon how much the organization spent in previous years and how much it plans to spend during the upcoming year. All commissioned organiza— tions except Campus Ministry re- ceived an increase in their budgets for the upcoming school year. The Senate Executive Board also took a cut. The Augsburgian will receive $27,600; Link, $12,000; ASAC. $55,000; Weekend College Com» mission, $13,000; and Pan—Afrikan Student Union, $27,500. Queer and Straight in Unity. which was commissioned during last Thursday’s weekly senate meeting, received an initial budget of $5,000. Campus Ministry look a large budget cut. from $31,925 to $21,900. Senate’s Executive Board also had its budget Slashed by more than 11 percent, to $1 1,000. The Chartered Grant Request Fund and the Convocation (‘omv mittee were allocated $25,000 and $10,000, respectively. The Augsbng Echo, whose budget is set at 11 percent of the entire student activity fee, received approxi- mately 530,000. “All money [in the budget] comes from student activity fees." said Grant Jordahl, Student Senate treasurer. BUDGETS continued on page 3 Show less
page 2 three decades. Or not. 6. Volunteer to help refiirbish 7. Try out for American Idol. Spaces. 10. Teach. Just kidding! Augsburg Top Ten ...things for faculty to do in May 1. Take a shotgun and sort out that pesky squirrel problem. 2. Take a shotgun and sort out that pesky student problem. 3.... Show morepage 2 three decades. Or not. 6. Volunteer to help refiirbish 7. Try out for American Idol. Spaces. 10. Teach. Just kidding! Augsburg Top Ten ...things for faculty to do in May 1. Take a shotgun and sort out that pesky squirrel problem. 2. Take a shotgun and sort out that pesky student problem. 3. Finally clean your office, except for you, Prof. Griffin. It’s okay; gen ed is more important. 4. Start spending that $600,000 in Maui. 5. Write the rest of that novel you’ve been working on for 8. Watch paint peel, or watch 200 episodes straight of Trading 9. Go out and meet some people--so you’ll have more mate- rial for name-dropping next year. railroad cars. Hey, it’s a hobby. OPINIONS Squirrel Nibbles ...like Squirrel Bites, but shorter due to having to wait for IT to send the mass email. April 11, 2003 Do you think professors can use May to work on private projects or class research. or should they concentrate on fulfilling obligations to the school (like administration) during this time? “What they should do is teach a class for free. Since they removed J-term, its like tuiton was raised something like $3,000.” -Kirk Rail “I think that we should have a May term in place of J-term, so that stu- dents can earn that extra one credit, or get that GPA boost. Otherwise, maybe we should switch our calander back so that it’s not all out of wack with other other ACTC schools.” -Belinda Wang “Faculty should NOT work on pri- vate projects. May is still part of the fiscal year. Faculty could ful- fill any obligations to the school, etc., that take time away from teaching, advising, or preparing for class. Faculty and students may both benefit from this. If someone is looking for something to do, there is always that squirrel prob— lem on campus...” -Sarah Trebesch “I think that the professors at Augsburg should use the new downtime during May to devise a ,map of the offices in Memorial. That project would DEFINITELY be worthwhile to the school as a whole. By the way... I‘m stuck somewhere on the third floor of this evil building...could someone come and find me?????” -Libby Merrill (a totally lost student) “Professors should focus their free time onalltltreeareasasdescribed in the Echo '5 question, and then some. Simply doing one thing for a whole month would be mind- numbing.” -Adam Johnson Say no to diversity and other millenarianfantasies W. G. O'Connell Contributor While our brave men and women are fighting for freedom overseas. we should turn a small amount of our focus to the troubling domestic issue of diversity on our campus. Those who were following the arguments recently laid before the Supreme Court involving the Uni- versity of Michigan’s admissions policies probably realize just how appalling and contradictory Augsburg’s commitment to diver- sity is. It states in William V. Frame’s all hands speech that Augsburg's commitment to “inten— tional diversity” is a means of real- izing "Manin Luther King’s kind of dream." This is ridiculous in light ofre- cent events. This highly amorphous idea of "diversity" has once again proved itself unworthy of any rec- ognition in our classrooms. It means too many different things to too many different people. It lacks the clear and definable orthodoxy Holding the U.S. to Joseph UnderhiII-Cady Assistant professor of political science _ The Bush administration has made the claim that the cur- rent war is being waged to lib- that an idea needs in order to be transferred from one classroom to another. Whether it is the people who push for “diversification” of ideas expostulated in classes or a “di- verse” student body, the one thing all diversophiles have in common is that they seek to legiti- a) scoring its applicants for ad- mission by using race-neutral means. Augsburg could also en- courage individuals who believe that it is important for race to be represented as equally on college or university campuses as in the general population to volunteer example, if professors were to add new literature to an English class they would have to show that it had achieved more acclaim (based on the findings of experts in the field of literature) than the literature it would replace. But it begs the question: why wouldn’t any students who want to seriously immerse themselves in mize the presence of people and the use of ideas simply because they are “diverse” and not because they are in any way justifiable on their merit alone. Where does this kind of thinking really get So what is diversity really offering us that we don .’t already have? a variety of cultural perspectives that they feel are under-repre- sented in the general curriculum just take an anthropology or lan- guage class? What culture isn’t already anybody? If a prof were to give me a book matlknewlhad to read because of a racial quota Augsburg had set for itself I would consider it a waste of my time. Wouldn’t anyone? If Augsburg were really honest with itself about conducing a “di- verse” student body, and the “diver— sification" of its classes without any form of racism, it would advocate whether these goals would not bet- ter be pursued through the interna- tional community, given that, in the long run, it is only through the in— ternational community that these with their favorite races as children in order to help them compete. b) that any professor seeking to add a so-called “cultural” per- spective to a class do so by clearly justifying its legitimacy outside of the fact that it is simply “different,” “diverse,” “adds to variety,” or “comes from another culture." For its word The lives of U.S. soldiers are as precious as any others, but one price of deciding to start a war is that soldiers will be put at risk. 2. That no U.S. companies (particularly Halliburton or any company with ties crate the Iraqi people from the rule of a brutal dictator and to remove the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction making it into the hands of terrorists. The administration categorically denies that this is about oil or any kind of U.S. imperial aims in the re- gion. The promise to liberate If we see these results, the bloodshed and terror currently being experienced in Iraq may be justified. to the current administra- tion) should benefit finan- cially from this war. What- ever benefits accrue from this war should go directly to the Iraqi people and Iraqi companies. 3. That there is clear and credible evidence that U.S. forces find significant Iraq implies that at the end of the war the Iraqi people will have greater political freedoms and will not be dying from things such as malnutrition or lack of access to potable water. It must also mean that civilian casualties will be very low. since. as one phrase on the sueets these days puts it. it's hard to feel liberated when you’re dead. These are laudable goals. al- though it is still questionable goals can be pursued. If these are truly our goals in Iraq. then we should see the following results: 1. The U.S. military taking ev- ery possible precaution against ci- vilian casualties. even if this means significantly increasing the risk to U.S. soldiers. This is a basic re- quirement of fighting a just war. caches of weapons of mass destruction, and that what- ever increased motivation we are now providing to Arab and Mus- lim militants will be offset by a decline in their ability to get their hands on other weapons of mass destruction that might be floating around out there. The world should be a significantly safer HOLDING THE US continued on page 3 represented in the course offerings of this college or the other ACTC schools? Blacks, Women, Gays, French, German, Russian, Norwegian, Arabic, English, Irish, African, etc., are all represented. So what is diversity really ofl‘er- ing us that we don’t already have? Another reason to resist all things introduced under the aegis of diversity is that by June the Sn- preme Court might very well rule the whole movement unconstitu- tional. Why should We support the “diversification” of any of our classes before the court rules on the U. of Michigan cases? So far it doesn’t look good for diversity in the SC. Students who come back to Augsburg next fall, as well as those who are new, will take classes that are heavily influenced by what could be by then an unconstitutional cultural fad. If this happens, Augsburg will not only be seen as severely behind the times, but will also become a laughingstock when it jumps on the diversity bandwagon just as thejig is up. The flimsiness of the concept of diversity was evidenced when Augsburg reviewed its general edu- cation requirements. It decided to not to approve a motion to add a new general education requirement MlLLENARlAN FANTASIES continued on page 3 Augsburg Echo 731 21st Avenue South Minneapolis, Minnesota 55454 Phone: (612) 330-1102 Fax (612) 330-1666 Email: Managing Editor. ............................................. ..Greg Solheid News Editor Brandi Bennett Opinions Editor Kari Lucin A & E Editor ........................................... ..Deanne McDonald Community/Values Editor .............................. ..Sarah Sletten Sports Editor Paul Putt Copy Editor Kellen Bredesen Photo Editor Naomi Sveom Advertising Manager ...................................... ..Jake Collins Faculty Advisor Boyd Koehler Staff Writers: Lauren Chezick. Nathan Eilers, Julie F albo, Carolyn Herman, Jefi Moons, Paul Peterson, Shana A. Stack, Dan Sweet, Rebeca Welle, Erik Young The Augsburg Echo is published each Friday - except during vaca- tions periods and holidays -— by the students of Augsburg College. Opinionsexpressesdarethoseoftheamhorsanddonotnecessarily refleasthoseofthesupportingstafl‘,adminisuation,faculty,ordie renninderofthe students. TheEchodoesnotnecessarilypromotethe productsorservicesitadvertises. Printedbyl’rimGroupMidweston recycled paper. Show less
April 11, 2003 NEWS page 3 QSU gets $5,000 bUdget Student groups give awards for service LEADERSHIP continued from page I QS U continued flom page 1 vented further action on QSU’s first request this semester. When QSU decided to approach the April 3 Senate meeting. they went in understanding that... Show moreApril 11, 2003 NEWS page 3 QSU gets $5,000 bUdget Student groups give awards for service LEADERSHIP continued from page I QS U continued flom page 1 vented further action on QSU’s first request this semester. When QSU decided to approach the April 3 Senate meeting. they went in understanding that Senate was already considering a proposed budget for the next school year. “I was really nervous,” Prozinski recalled, thinking that the budget would really hurt QSU’s request. “Re-doing the budget would have been a big pain,” she said. But QSU had an alternative, proposing that Senate use part of the chartered grant request fund money to provide a commis- sioned organization budget for QSU. This would allow Senate to commission QSU without having to re-work the entire bud- get. The Senate voted to promote QSU from a chartered student organization to a commissioned student organization. Junior class president Steph Lund felt that QSU’s commis- sioning was “far over-due.” “[QSU] has worked really hard” for commissioning, she said. “The only thing that made them different from a commis- sioned group was that they didn’t have a yearly budget,” Prozinski said. QSU has had a stable membership and leadership for sev- eral years and is one of the fastest growing student organizations at Augsburg. Kelly, Christian Shada, Robert Amaya, Renzo Amaya Torres, Missy Motl, Brad Motl, Erika Jackson, Robert Brown, Greg Solheid, and Kellen Bredesen. Solheid also received an award for Orga- nizational Leader of the Year for his work as Managing Editor of the Augsburg Echo. He also heads up the Writing Lab. Dayle VanDerleest was honored as the Orientation Leader of the Year, while Melissa Bawek was named the Student Ambassador of the Year. KAUG wasnamed Organization of the Year. Several programming events were recog- nized, as well. ASAC was honored for its All— Nighter (Social Program of the Year). LINK won the Community Service of the Year award for its Urban Homeworks program. The Di— versity Program of the Year was Elaine Penn, who was co—sponsored by ASAC and Athlet- ics. The Educational Program of the Year was Anderson Hall’s Stories of Abuse & Recovery. Budgets reflect 20 percent fee increase BUDGET continued fiom page 1 The increase in funding reflects a photo mum») Ml it i! \tatloid \S .l PASU officers Tometria Bean (with daughter Day). Kevlna Nakiwala, Anthony Schaden, Robert Brown Ill and Amy Jones receive awards at the annual student leader recognition ceremony. 1 New plan gives students more honors choices LATIN HONORS continued fiom page I department anyway. [Adding Latin Honors] will give students more choices," said Pike. The Latin Honors Sub-committee was con- vened by Pike last November when Chris Kimball. Several brave students participated in Augsburg College's very own version of The Dating Game last Wednesday night. Contestants were selected from a pool of email applicants. Augsburg Student Activities Council sponsored the event. 20 percent increase in the Augsburg stu- dent activity fee, which takes effect in the 2003-2004 school year. Jordahl said Augsburg’s recent fi- nancial woes had no effect on student organizations” budgets. The attempt to get the Senate out of debt is proving to be successful, as the budgets for each organization were decided and then “cut five percent to be safe,” according to Jordahl. This cut acts as a precaution against overspending and provides a small amount of padding against financial error. Student Senate began the school year with a $69,000 debt. Organiza— tional budgets were limited in 2002- 2003 to accommodate the partial repay- Dean of the College, asked the Faculty Senate to reconsider the current system. under which students graduate with Distinction and Departmental Hon- ors. The Latin Honors system was abandoned in 2000 when Augsburg realized that it was graduat- ing 40-50 percent ofits students with some form of Latin Honors. However. the current Graduation with Distinction program, which was implemented to reduce the number ofstudents graduating with Hon— ors, has backfired. According to Pike. only about ten to 12 students are graduating with distinction each year because ofthe amount of work a distinc- tion project requires. “1 think it’s going to be a really good thing to give students more choices. This new plan is going to result in giving more appropriate percentages of ment of that debt. Diversity not MLK’s dream MILLENARIANFANTASIES continued from page 2 in this ill-defined area of education. This was the right thing to do, but instead of leaving it at that, it was agreed that some classes in the remaining curriculum would be subject to “diversification.” That leaves one to wonder, what does the diversification of a class re— ally mean? Augsburg’s Commitment to Diversity describes the faculty’s difiiculty in actually defining what di- versity is. When it came to agreeing on a definition of diversity, Augsburg discovered that “none of us could explain to a plurality of others, what we meant by it." If it is included in Augsburg’s position on di- versity that its staff aren’t able to agree on its defini- tion, then is it a responsible action for anyone to en- courage it in the educational processes on campus? We should all stop this push for diversity until afier the University of Michigan cases are settled. Don’t let diversophiles get away with a desperate last attempt to maneuver their racist nonsense onto Augsburg’s campus before the fad comes to an end in June. Besides, diversophiles have waited long enough to “diversify” Augsburg; why can’t they wait two more months until June when the Supreme Court makes a ruling on the subject? If, fortunately, the Supreme Court finally rules that the racist practice of diversity and racial quotas is unconstitutional, it still won’t ever change the fact that for the last 20 years these disestablishmentarian malcontents who push diversity have achieved a form of degeneracy that rivals the antebellum South. It’s time they came out from under the shadow of the same civil rights movement that attributes much of its suc- cess to the man who preached that people should be “judged not by the color of their skin, but by the con— tent of their character.” If those are truly Martin Luther King’s sentiments, then Augsburg’s commitment to “intentional diver- sit)?’ is a contradiction of “his kind of dream” at best, and should be seriously rethought. students recognition,” said Pike. Troops’ stay will be limited HOLDING THE US continued from page 2 place in a year, with Tom Ridge feeling bored, military spending de— creased, and general goodwill toward the US. on the rise. Otherwise, it would seem the current campaign will have been counterproductive. 4. US. troops will stay only as long as they are needed to prevent large—scale bloodshed or civil strife, and will then be replaced by a sig- nificant UN (or Arab League) presence, with a majority Muslim and/or Arab composition, with sufficient authority to effectively set up and monitor elections and oversee the economic redevelopment of lraq. 5. We will see the world moving in the direction ofgreatcr dcmoc- racy, a strengthened international order, and see any future military in— terventions motivated by genuine humanitarian aims, such as are claimcd for the present case. 6. As indicated by President Bush just before the war began. that the US. will have done all it can to help settle the conflict between Palestine and Israel, given the degree to which this conflict has fueled terrorism and destabilized the region. If we see these results, the bloodshed and tenor currently being cx- perienced in Iraq may be justified (and a strong argument could be made that we had "regime change," notjust in Iraq, but in the US. as well). If we don’t see these conditions met, this war will not have been justified. It is incumbent upon us now to pay very close attention to how this all turns out, and hold the president to his word. Show less
ACTION AT AUGSBURG page 4 April 11, 2003 Action at Ausburg new “One Day” ACTION AT AUGSBURG Earth Day event to highlight community, diversity TUESDAY, APRIL 22 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Carolyn Herman Through the years. One Day in May has grown and Staff Writer evolved into Action at Augsburg. MPIRG and... Show moreACTION AT AUGSBURG page 4 April 11, 2003 Action at Ausburg new “One Day” ACTION AT AUGSBURG Earth Day event to highlight community, diversity TUESDAY, APRIL 22 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS Carolyn Herman Through the years. One Day in May has grown and Staff Writer evolved into Action at Augsburg. MPIRG and the Coalition for Student Activism have resurrected this tradition in order to provide a forum in which college students may learn about and discuss issues ranging from poverty and race to labor and foreign policy topics. Action at Augsburg is scheduled on Earth Day. and a key part ofthe day is addressing issues surrounding our en- vironment. Finally. Action at Augsburg is designed to be a festival ofdiversity and community. Action at Augsburg is meant to honor the original intent and spirit of One Day in May by addressing the issues on which it originally focused and using them as a springboard ll:00—I2:00 p.m. Convocation Speaker: Rip Rapson, President of McKnight Foundation “From Wilderness to Suburbia: Tracing 30 years of MN Environmentalism" 11:00 a.m.-noon Action at Augsburg is the newest incarnation of the Augsburg College tradition of One Day in May. The original One Day in May took place shortly after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. After weeks of riot- ing and tense race relations across the country. the students and stalfofx‘tugsbiirg College. in the spirit of reconciliation. desig- nated an entire day to discussing the issues of race and inequal- ity. All classes were closed. and the president exhorted the stu- dent body to attend the day's discussions and festivities. 12:00 "1:20 p.m. lnfonnation tables. refreshments, and music Tables sponsored by: MPIRG Twin Cities Campaign to Lift the Sanctions Friends for a Non-violent World Sierra Club Center for (jlobal Education, Augsburg College Resource Center ofthe Americas Minnesotans for an Energy Efficient Economy Students for Justice in Palestine Women Against Military Madness 1:30 3:“) p.m. mscussion #l Marshall Room* Racism in Day—to-day Life: Defined. Identified and Recognized Speakers: Mahmoud El—Kati. Macalester College .ludge Tanya Bransford, Hennepin County District Couxt .loy Bartlett. Augsburg College Kenneth Turner Jr. Augsburg College Discussion #2 East Commons—War with Iraq Phil Steger. Executive Director. Friends for a Non-Violent World Discussion #3 Minneapolis Room—Painting the Town Green: Lessons in Building a Sustainable Community Annie Young. Commissioner ofMinneapolis Parks and Recreation Board, Community Resource Specialist and Catalyst for Social Change 3:104:40 p.m. Discussion #4 NilllllctlpOllS Room~Understanding Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. ‘s Assassination in Social and Historical Context: Rethinking the Decline of the Civil Rights Movement Lats Christensen. Augsburg College Discussion #5 b'larshall RoomMGLBT human rights teach-in 4:50 0:20 p.m. Discussion #6 East Cominons— School of the Americas Jack Nelson-Pallineyei‘. University of St. Thomas Sister Jane MacDonald. Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Discussion 37 Marshall Room——African American Response to War on Iraq Dr. Tauniat Tademe. Human Rights Multi- cultural Education. St. Cloud University 6120- —7:00 p.m. Music by The B.L.E.;\".D. 7:30 » 9:00 p.m. Sateren Auditoritun—Headline Speaker Dr. Tamrat Tademe: “Isssues in War and Peace and Student Empowemtent“ Carolyn Herman Staff Writer Action at Augsburg will begin with an ll a.in. convocation in the chapel. The topic of the day is “From Wilder- ness to Suburbia: Tracing Thirty Years of Minnesota lim ironmcntalism.“ The convocation speaker will be Rip Rapson. president of The McKnight I-‘oundation since 1999. The Foundation focuses on five program areas: children. families. and communities; the arts; the environment: research and applied sci- ence and international development. Rapson served as Deputy Mayor ofMin- ncapolis for four years. There. he was one ofthe primary architects ofthe Min- neapolis Neighborhood Revitalization Program. whose inaugural policy board he chaired. Rapson headed a comprehensive redesign of the city's budgeting process and led a number ofspecial projects. in- cluding the preservation of the Down- town Armory; the creation ofa taskforce BROWN AND THE SCHOLARSHIP to discuss a wide variety of topics. Environmentalism convo to start that caused Henncpin County to abandon a proposed garbage transfer station in fa— \or of the Green Institute; the develop- ment of CulturcTalks. a yearlong initia- tive to develop a cultural plan for the city; and the formulation ofthe Mayor‘s State ofthe Urban Environment addresses. Rapson was a Senior Fellow at the University of Minnesota‘s Design Cen- ter for American Urban Landscape. He headed the Community Connections Project. a multi-year education. research. and policy initiative that focused on the changing social. economic. and political fabric of older suburban communities. Rapson spent two years overseeing the development and passage of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978. while he was a legislative assistant for US. Representative Donald Fraser. Rapson is the co-author of two books. “Troubled Waters." a chronicle of the BWCA legislation; and “Ralph Rapson: Sixty Years ofModem Design." a biography of his father. He is the au- thor of dozens of articles on community I thought for sure I’d get a scholarship. But when I didn't. Brown was there for me. I didn‘t have to give up my dream of going to college because with UPS l can get as much as $23,000 in College Education Assistance. UPS knows how important a college education is. E ll lltll‘ C(ill It's), it \\ \\\A lIlL’ 'HILET HI“ development. design. the environ- ment. regional growth. the arts. and philanthropy. ® WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?w To inquire about Part-Time Package Handler opportunities. contact Jason at: 612-379-6574 ext. 1991 5 METRO LOCATIONS & VARIOUS SHIFTS ARE AVAILABLE! Night 0 approx start time 109m, Twilight 0 approx start time 5pm. Preload 0 approx start time 3am Part-Time Package Handlers enjoy weekends 8. holidays off. earn great pay. get as much as $5,000/year in college education assistance through the UPS Earn and Learn‘ Program. receive outstanding benefits (medical/dental/Iife. 401K) and much more! Equal Opportunity Employer Show less
ACTION AT AUGSBURG April 11,2003 page 5 Panel to discuss Steger to lead “War on Iraq” panel racist encounters Julie Falbo Staff Writer In the Marshall Room at l :30 pm. on April 22. a group of speak- ers will address “Racism in Day-to—Day Life.” as part of Action at Augsburg. The speakers come... Show moreACTION AT AUGSBURG April 11,2003 page 5 Panel to discuss Steger to lead “War on Iraq” panel racist encounters Julie Falbo Staff Writer In the Marshall Room at l :30 pm. on April 22. a group of speak- ers will address “Racism in Day-to—Day Life.” as part of Action at Augsburg. The speakers come from a variety of different backgrounds. Judge Tanya Bransford will be one of the guests. She has served as a District Court judge in Hennepin County District Court since July l. 1994, and she currently presides over criminal. civil. and juvenile cases. Also joining the discussion will be Joy Ellis Bartlett. assistant professor of education at Augsburg College. Her specialties include the teaching of reading, elementary literacy, using technology in the classroom setting. and student teaching development. Kenneth Turner Jr. will join the panel. as well. He has his master’s degree in education and is currently an academic advisor. He also works in TRIO/Student Support Services. Last but not least will be Mahmoud El-Kati, professor of history at Macalester College. He specializes in Afiican American history since World War II and is interested in ethnicity in the US. during the 20th century. Each speaker will talk about his or her experience in encountering racism in daily life. Carolyn Herman Staff Writer Phil Steger. executive director of Friends for a Non- Vrolent World. will lead the “War on Iraq" panel. Through education. through example. and through experiences in non-violent living. Friends for a Non- Violent World says it works “to build a world where all people can speak truth to power. practice alternatives to violence. gain strength from community. and act in a spirit of cooperation to work for peace and justice." To do this. Friends for a Non-Violent World promotes non-violence through education and experience in pris- ons. schools. a summer camp. and in the wider com munity. Some of its projects include Alternatives to Violence Project. People Camp. customized non—vio- i lence trainings. Peace Breakfast. and Minnesota Mili— tary Tax—Resistance Network. Steger has brought medical supplies to Iraq for the past three summers. in spite of the sanctions. trying to alleviate some of the hardships 0fthe Iraqi people. A graduate of St. John‘s University. Steger often speaks on college campuses on a variety ofissues. promoting non-violent means to a better and more just lifestyle for all people. He has also toured nationally. speaking Activist Spent time with Iraqi citizens before war on sanctions. Steger visited Iraq and spent time with Iraqi citizens shortly before the war he— gan. He will be able to pro- vide a unique “daily life" perspectiVe of the situation. The na— ture of the discussion will. in a large part. be deter- mined by the status of the war at that time. As the war changes in a drastic manner. hour by hour. this promises to be a valuable and informatix e dls— cussion with a leader who has wide and deep knoul- edge on the subject. Tademe to speak on student empowerment The Blend truly a blend Carolyn Herman Staff Writer The Blend is a Twin Cities-area band that originally came together in the summer of 2001 at the Lake Street Culture festival. The best way to describe their music is hip-hop. “Our sound has a lot of influences. because all of the musicians began playing classical. jazz. or rock." said band members. Originally, they were just a bass. a DJ. drums. and two emcees. Since these August beginnings. they’ve cut the emcees to just one and added a saw and guitar to make a solid group of six artists. Through all that adding and sub— tracting-and long division with the occasional Cartesian C o- ordinate plane--the band has played at the Red Sea Bar. The Dinkytowner. Bon Appe Tit (when it was still in business). The Loring Pasta Bar. Beloit College. University ofMinne— sota Student Events. Calhoun Square. Augsburg College. Duluth's Battle 0fthe Bands. and other festivals and events. According to the band‘s promotional materials. Lindin Killiam. the saxophone player. comes from a jazz background; Ed Becky. the guitarist. eats. sleeps. and breathes Metalliea: Carlos Ortiz on the turntables knows nothing but hip-hop; Daniel Leusslcr plays his bass in a folk band and Cole Harrison just drums. Toussaint Morrison on vocals brought all these guys together as a crazy idea. and it stuck. since they won that original talent show. To follow up two EP‘S they have released. The Blend has been recording a full-length album with hopes to release it by the end of May. Come and check them out. They‘ll be hard to miss! Paul Peterson S_ta_ff Writer swer session will follow. all students are wel- come to bring their supporting or dissenting opinions to be heard. The Coalition for Student Activism will be holding its annual spring celebration again this year. This year’s Earth Day event. Ac- tion at Augsburg. will involve a number of activities. including the headline speaker Tamrat Tademe. Doctor Tademe's talk will be entitled “Issues in War and Peace and Student Em— powerment.“ Tademe will discuss the timely issue of the current war in Iraq within the context ofhis speech. As a question—and-an- get DeVito in Minneapolis April 1 2 oFull Time Accredited Professional Actors Training Program (Scholarships available) oSix-Week Summer School For application information: H(,)I-LY\X/O()D 800 222 2867 NEW" YORK 800 463 8990 Please Visit www.aada.org Tamrat Tademe has been a professor in the Human Rights and Multi-Cultural Edu- cation Department at St. Cloud State Uni— versity for 14 years. He has won numerous Professor of the Year awards. He has also served as the keynote speaker for the Pan— African Conference for the past eight years. As a reflection of his human rights ad- vocacy. Tademe also serves as an advisor to many student political organizations. He \\ ill be speaking from 7:30-9 pm. on April 22 in Sateren Auditorium. Join the ‘ ranks of AADA alumni.‘ Act no . thC Ameri/ n Acaésm? "of Dramatic Arts ,1 Hollywood & New York Show less
page 6 ACTION AT AUGSBURG April 11, 2003 SOA panel explores Young: green is good human rights abuse .i JV Carolyn Herman Staff Writer The US. Army School of Americas (SOA), based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American soldiers in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics.... Show morepage 6 ACTION AT AUGSBURG April 11, 2003 SOA panel explores Young: green is good human rights abuse .i JV Carolyn Herman Staff Writer The US. Army School of Americas (SOA), based in Fort Benning, Georgia, trains Latin American soldiers in combat, counter-insurgency, and counter-narcotics. Graduates of the SOA are responsible for some of the worst human rights abuses in Latin America. Among the SOA‘s nearly 60,000 gradu- ates are notorious dictators Manuel Noriega and Omar Torrijos of Panama, Leopoldo Galtieri and Roberto Viola of Argentina, Juan Velasco Alvarado of Peru, Guillermo Rodriguez of Ecuador. and Hugo Banzer Suarez of Bolivia. Lower-level SOA gradu- ates have participated in human rights abuses that include the assassination ofArchbishop Oscar Romero and the El Mozote Massacre of 900 civilians. On January 17, 2001, the SOA was replaced by the Western Hemi- sphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC). The name change is for all in- tents and purposes purely cosmetic. as the Institute operates under the same policies and goals. We are fortunate to have two distin- guished speakers to chair this panel: Jack iiliiilo c‘iiiirtcs) iii \licliiicl B;i_\lt‘):\\\H\ L'll’ClC\l\l(llI.Ol"g Nelson-Pallmeyer and Sister Jane MacDonald. Nelson-Pallmeyer is an assistant professor of justice and peace stud- ies at he University of St. Thomas and a noted author of numerous books and articles on hunger, the arms race, faith. and US. foreign policy. He teaches classes on these topics. A social activist, Nelson-Pallmeyer has served on committees dealing with hunger and justice, including the Minnesota-based Hunger and Justice Project for the Lutheran Church. He is also a frequent visitor to Central America. He is one of the foremost authorities on SOA/WHISC in the world. and has had several books published on this subject. Sister Jane Macdonald is one of those rare activists who participate on international, national. and local lev- els. She has traveled to South America and witnessed firsthand the effects of SOA graduates and has been one of the most active public protestors against the institution. She peace demonstrations. She rallies around local causes, such as welfare benefits and social safety nets for disadvantaged women and children. Macdonald is a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, St. Paul Prov- ince, a religious community of women and consociates (lay members) who are working to create a more just world by responding to the needs of the times. They engage in works of compassion and justice that re- spond to the spiritual and mat: rial needs of people today. The do this in a way that challenge heals and reconciles; serves a without distinction; makes knovr through our lives the gospel the also participates in national-level , Co-founder of Green Institute Shares stories of urban renewal in Phillips Carolyn Herman Staff Writer The “Painting the Town Green" panel will be led by Annie Young. Born in Los Angeles and raised in Denver, Annie Young arrived in the Midwest in the early 19705. A resident of the Phillips neighborhood since 1988, Young is serving her third term as an at-large com- missioner. She is a locally and nationally known spokesperson who works for peace, environmental protection, ecological building. social justice. and the development of healthy communities. She is a de- voted community organizer with over 30 years of ex- perience in environmental justice movements. Young will share the story of how East Phillips has been working for the past 20 years to revitalize and build itself into a socially just, sustainable com- munity. Young is also one of the co-founders of The Green Institute. According to its website, the Insti- tute is an “entrepreneurial environmental organiza- tion creating jobs, improving the quality of life. and enhancing the urban environment in inner-city Minneapolis. The Institute encompasses sev- eral programs: the Phillips Eco-Enterprise Center. the ReUse Center, DeConstruction Ser- vices. GreenSpace Partners, and the Green Resource C enter." A fundamental aspect of the Green Institute‘s mission is the creation of high-quality, living—wage jobs for residents of the Phillips neighborhood. an area of concentrated poverty and unemployment. What sets it apart from many similar organizations is its emphasis on sustainable community development: development that simultaneously pursues economic, environmental, and social gains. After serving the Institute for a number of years, Young is now an elected Officeholder in Minneapolis and endorsed by the Green Party. She serves as an eloquent and unifying voice for solutions to urban problems. During her Earth Day message, she will weave to- gether snippets, threads and words of wisdom taken from the stories she shares with audi- ences all over the country. Young speaks about the diversity, innovative solutions and dedi- cation she has given to the City of Minneapolis and the Phillips community these past 30 years. phtlltl CHUI‘ICS) (ll \\ W“ .\\ (HIICDK‘PR‘SSCUIU You can get therefrom here proclaim; and creates a just wor with a particular concern for tl poon “Where we see a need, we a tempt to fill it. We minister health care. education, social se vices and spirituality,” sai Macdonald. “We move alwa) towards profound love of GC and the love of neighbor withoi distinction.” Sister Jane has spent her li exemplifying this credo. ADMISSION POSSIBLE Discover where a legal education from William Mitchell College of Law can lead you. Chief Justice of the United States 0 Executive Director 0 Partner 0 Public Defender 0 Governor - Professor 0 County Attorney 0 Engineer 0 Editor 0 President and CEO 0 Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court - Legislator - Physician - Editorial Director 0 Attorney - Nonprofit Director - District Court Judge 0 Assistant Director of Enforcement 0 Senior Financial Consultant 0 Family Law Specialist 0 Patent Lawyer 0 Associate 0 Patent and License Counsel 0 Deputy County Attorney 0 Superior Court Judge of Arizona 0 Financial and Estate Planning 0 Law Librarian 0 Stock Broker 0 Career Services Director 0 General Counsel 0 Office of the Auditor General 0 Hospice - US. Public Defender 0 Administrative Law Judge 0 Court Administrator 0 Lobbyist 0 Director of Public Policy 0 Commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Help make college a reality ' for inner-city teens. Great opportunity for aspiring teachers! Work w/ 8-12 low-income teens in TC schools; ' teach test prep & help with college applications. Full- and part-time positions available. Agency - Real Estate Lawyer 0 Vice President of Operations and Human Resources 0 Principal Legal Consultant 0 Senior Manager of International Taxes 0 Animal Rights Activist Reserve your place at the next open house: Saturday, April 5, 2003, 10 am. Thursday, May 8, 2003, 5:30 pm. CommmeMSe-fionon Apfill4from3:30-4:30p.m.—in theChristensenCenter’sthall RmmSign—trpintheCenterfor Serviee,Worvk,k?dLeaming A @ m I WILLIAM MITCHELL COLLEGE or LAW 875 Summit Avenue 0 Saint Paul, MN 55105 admissionsewmitchelledu www.wmitchell.edu (651) 290—6329 0 1-888-WMCL-LAW Show less
{w ,9. ~ t t t f 3. April 11, 2003 FEATURES WW Staff appreciation days sponsored by Res Life Jeff Moores Staff Writer Imagine arriving at work every day to 53 toilets, 45 garbage cans, and 46 sinks slob- bered with Ramen noodles and leftover Easy Mac. For the custodial staff of Umess Hall, the... Show more{w ,9. ~ t t t f 3. April 11, 2003 FEATURES WW Staff appreciation days sponsored by Res Life Jeff Moores Staff Writer Imagine arriving at work every day to 53 toilets, 45 garbage cans, and 46 sinks slob- bered with Ramen noodles and leftover Easy Mac. For the custodial staff of Umess Hall, the job is a reality. Despite less-than-perfect working conditions, they are often found smiling and enjoying the service they pro- vide. Residence Life is sponsoring staff ap- preciation days next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. “Tuesday will focus on our custodial staff people, Wednesday’s focus is maintenance and grounds, and on Thursday we are focusing on student staff, including RAs, CLs, and students ambassadors,” said Nancy Holmblad, Umess Hall Director. “[The custodians] do little things that not a lot of people think about; they are taken for granted,” said Jess Jung, a Community Leader in Mortensen. Jung said she she gets "Cherry Orchard” explores changes in Russian society a boost of happiness each day when Shiren Hodges, a custodian for Mortensen Hall, greets her with a bright “Good morning.” ogy, so she took me to the coral reef lab and introduced me to Professor McLaughlin,“ said Goetsch. Most people admit they re- S t u - m e m b e r dents don’t . . the name {galizettgaf “[ The custodians] do little Egghe- pir- ggs d°vyolfg things that not a lot 0f 3?; 31;“; $1,222,353 people thmk about; they said Jung. ’ are taken for granted.” made me S t u — realize that dents often Augsburg claim that feels close they de- and con- cided to come to Augsburg after having a great tour from the Admissions staff. Sopho- more Melanie Goetsch received a personal- ized tour that committed her to Augsburg. “My tour guide was outgoing and friendly; she knew I was interested in biol- nected,” said Goetsch. And who doesn’t remember his or her freshman RA? Whether he or she helped you adjust to your obnoxious roommate or lifted you off the bathroom floor after that long night of drinking, your RA was (or still is) invaluable. “Michelle knew a lot about her residents and paid attention,” said Maureen Parker of Michelle Morse. her RA from 2001 to 2003." “Michelle took us to her family‘s home for a spaghetti dinner and everything. I couldn‘t have registered for second semes- ter without her help.” Parker now works for Residence Life as an RA in Umess. She said she was influenced by Morse and appreci— ated having a great RA. Throughout Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, Residence Life will show appre- ciation to the custodial, Admissions. and Residence Life staff. There are surprises planned on each day to remind the staff people how important their jobs are. said Holmblad. Residence Life is encouraging all stu- dents to show appreciation to staff people in their own ways. Dan Sweet Staff Writer In the program for “The Cherry Orchard” by Anton Chekhov, there is a section that discusses whether or not it is a comedy or drama. The Augsburg College Theater Depart- ment played it safe and mixed both drama and comedy into a produc- tion that gleams with relevancy. “The Cherry Orchard” is a play that shows a society on the verge of change. Everyone in the play knows that a change is happening, but nobody is willing to acknowl— edge it. The approach that director Darcy Engen took with “The Cherry Orchar ” provided an atmo- sphere that the actors could thrive in. Linnea Mohn did an amazing job portraying a woman unable to accept the change that is coming. She provided both the elegance and hypocrisy that her character, Ranyevskaya, demanded. Deanne McDonald gave the character Dunyasha both charm and energy, as she slipped between be- ing a chamberrnaid and a hopeless romantic. The daughters, Anya and Varya, played by Erin Carlson and Sarah Nargang, masterfully dis- played the contrast of feelings in times of crisis. Erin Carlson gave Anya a sweet and supportive di- mension, as she would tend to her mothers tears. With Varya, played by Sarah Nargang, we see an older daughter who Imows that her mother’s for- tune has diminished and rather than consoling her like Anya does, she simply stands aside and observes the situation with a deep, subtle contemplation. Tim McVean played the busi— nessman, Lopakhin, with energy and grace. He created a character that was both suspicious and smooth, but balanced both respec- tively with his greed and desire to buy the orchard. Carson Lee gave the audience a clear journey with his character, Gayev. We see Gayev go from a feeling of contentment to devasta- tion in the four acts. Ryan Sobolik provided the vision of the inevitable to the upper class as he played an intellectual yet honest Trofimov. The conviction of Torfimov’s be- liefs was captured beautifully by Sobolik at the end of his monologue in the second act, when he said, “But listen, it’s only clear that to start living in the present we have to redeem the past.” Kyle Loven gave Firs, an old footman, a sweet and delicate di- mension that filled the atmosphere with hope and charm. The scenery and lighting of this production, created by Michael Burden, provided an atmosphere that was both rustic and haunting. The bare trees floating in the back- ground created an essence of loss and decay that fit very well with this production. The costumes gave this pro- duction a deeper visual meaning. The extravagant gowns and suits provided an atmosphere of irony that visually captivated me. Noth- ing is more ironic than witnessing a bunch of rich people declare they are dead broke while wearing what appeared to be $50,000 gowns and $700 headdresses. The change in society that “The Cherry Orchard” symbolizes takes on a different meaning in the times in which we are currently liv- ing. With the tragedy of war being played out across the world, it seems that something is going to change in our society soon. Like the characters in “The Cherry Or- chard,” we are waiting to see what that change is. In the play, Ranyevskaya says, “There is nothing funny in the world. People shouldn’t watch plays. They should look at their own selves a little more often.” May it be comedy or drama, afier seeing this splendid production of “The Cherry Orchard," you might actually take Ranyevskaya’s ad— vice. ptoto courtesy (It .ioim .. \com' . Tim McVean as Lopakhin and Sarah Nargang as Varya dazzle audiences with their perfOrmances in Anton Chekhov‘s “The Cherry Orchard." Play humorous, poignant Nathan Eilers Staff Writer I came to Augsburg‘s production of “The Cherry Orchard” expecting a serious and thought-provoking performance. I was surprised to find an energized cast bringing new life to the drama set in feudalistic Rus- sia. The emphasis on the humor in the show only made the poignant, underlying themes more effective. “The Cherry Orchard” tells the story of an aristo- cratic family that is running out of money. The family is incapable of facing the idea of selling their house and cutting down their beloved orchard of cherry trees. As the story develops, the viewer is struck with the absurd and sad fate that awaits those who don’t know how to live a life of moderation. All the characters in the play are both tragic and humorous. I found the performance’s stress on the hu- morous aspects very effective and enjoyable. Perhaps most entertaining was the relationship between Firs (Kyle Loven) and Gayev (Carson Lee). The two had great chemistry, and their exchanges were always hi— larious. Gayev also provided plenty of comedy on his own, especially with his phenomenal speech to the bookcase. All the characters seemed to be always laugh- ing; whether it was at each other or at nothing at all. The choice to have the characters always present a happy face made the situation even more tragic. The facade of laughter helps the audience recognize the characters as fakers and aids in the understanding of the symbolic importance ofthe orchard. The acting in the play was nothing short of su- perb. Tim McVean’s portrayal of Lopakhin was fan- tastic, as he explored both the happy-go—lueky and ambititious sides ofhis character. Lee was in top form as Gayev, who is both eccentric and sad. indeed. i think this is the best I’ve ever seen Carson Lee at Augsburg. Briana Young was a flashy, exciting Charlotte, and she added a depth to the show that would otherwise be lack- ing. Linnea Mohn was quite a capable Ranyevskaya. Although she was at times over—dramatic, her perfor- mance inthe third act was achingly beautiful. The rest ofthe ensemble met the difficulties oftheir characters splendidly, and as there are so many different charac- ters and relationships in the play, capable acting was vital. Perhaps the only thing 1 was disappointed with was the set. The scenery was sparse, as is often the ease in black box productions, but the tree backdrop did little to add to the indoor scenes, and the wooden floors made the outdoor scenes seem fake. i would have liked more variety in the scenery, especially in the orchard, be- cause it is so vital to the themes of the play. “The Cherry Orchard" is a play well worth seeing. Aside from the solid dramatic choices and excellent acting, the show is simply enjoyable. The Augsburg players have outdone themselves. Show less
page 8 SPORTS Auggies earn split versus Macalester, 3-5, 10-1 Erik Young Staff Writer After the Auggies‘ most recent outing against Carleton. the Augsburg Baseball team remained at .500 to begin their 2003 cam- paign. Their most recent games were a doubleheader versus the Macalester Scots. The... Show morepage 8 SPORTS Auggies earn split versus Macalester, 3-5, 10-1 Erik Young Staff Writer After the Auggies‘ most recent outing against Carleton. the Augsburg Baseball team remained at .500 to begin their 2003 cam- paign. Their most recent games were a doubleheader versus the Macalester Scots. The two teams split the series. as Macalester picked up an 5-3 win in the first game while the Auggies earned a tight victory, 10-] in the nightcap. In the first game, Macalester came out swinging. scoring four runs in the first two in- nings and one in the fifth. The Auggies‘ bats were silent until the bottom ofthe seventh in- ning, when they tried to make a comeback from down five runs. The Auggies had the bases loaded on the first three batters. with Jon Kozitza, Taylor Pagel, and Sammy Gross occupying the bases. MJ lverson's fly-out to right field had the distance to score Kozitza for the first Auggie run. Page] was unable to score. though, as he was caught at the plate from a throw by the first baseman to garner the sec— ond out. After Pat Marsh earned a walk to again give the Auggies run- ners on the bases, Joe Haehn stepped to the plate and scored a two-run scoring single, with Gross and Marsh crossing home plate. The Auggies again would load the bases with Joe Holman, Andy Nelson and Haehn aboard, but the Auggies left all three runners on base, as the Scots struck out Nick Rathman for the final out. The second game was a com- pletely different story, as the Auggie bats again caught fire like they had during the end oftheir Florida trip. Junior Collin Nash pitched his sec- ond complete game, allowing only five singles and one run. Ben Bauer, Pat Knafla and Pat Marsh started the Auggies off in the second inning with three singles, and the Auggies produced three runs. In the fifth, the Auggies put the game out of reach with a five- run explosion. The main producer of offense was again Haehn, as he hit his MIAC-leading seventh home run, scoring Knafla and Marsh. The Auggies’ bats out-hit Macalester, 1 1-5, en route to the 10- I win. Pat Marsh continued his excellence, going two for three. He currently leads the team, with a .453 batting average. Nash, one of the veteran lead- ers for the Auggies, expects the .v 0 Pat Marsh currently leads the ‘ Auggies with a .457 average. them to continue to produce offen- sively while continuing to shore up the defense. “We have shown ourselves to be good players at the plate and we have to continue to work on reduc- ing how many runners get aboar ,” said Nash." “Both our defense and our pitching will grow as our team gels. Right now, we just need to worry about each game at a time.” Fledgling women’s lacrosse team continues to improve Sarah Sletten Commurflflalvssfiditor Last weekend. the Augsburg women‘s lacrosse team traveled to Moorhead to compete in its first official play-day. A Lacrosse play« day is a da_v-—or weekend-~when teams gather in order to play each other. Teams play not for a touma- ment place but to ensure that they play every team in their division at least once, one ofthe requirements for a team contending for a national title. Other teams invited to the play day were University ofMinnesota- Duluth; University of Minnesota— Twin C ities; Carleton C ollege, UW- Eau Claire and UW-River Falls. Minnesota State University- Moorhead hosted the play-day. After the long drive to Moorhead. the Auggies were slow to get into their first game. as they took on MSU-Mankato. Junior Annie Annunziato was the lone scorer for Augsburg. with her goal late in the first half. Moorhead was better prepared and more experi- enced. pulling off the 12-1 win over the Auggies. Senior goaltender Laura McGowan began her long weekend with a total of ll saves. Then the Auggies were back in action against UW-Eau Claire. one ofthe other teams that is new to the league this year. Eau Claire scored otT a direct shot on the eight yard line to get the game‘s first goal. Augsburg soon answered with a drive by junior Sarah Prozinski. Augsburg suffered a loss when Annunziato was removed from the game on a yellow card. she re- ceived a three—minute penalty for violating head space. Eau Claire capitalized and scored just before half time. The second halfofthe game was more physical. as the long day caught up with the Auggies. As a result. Eau Claire was able to take advantage of several minor penalties. scoring six goals to Augsburg's one. Augsburg's lone second-half goal was scored by Annunziato after a long drive and pass by freshman Anna Roesler. With 10 minuets left in the half. junior Sarah Slenen was re— moved from the game on a yellow card. She received a three-minute penalty for violating head space. The final score was UW-Eau Claire over Augsburg. 9-2. with 13 saves byMcGowan. Sunday was another full day for Augsburg. The U of M began the day by defeating UW-Eau Claire. 7-4. Then it was the Auggies taking on UW-River Falls in their closest game of the week- end. River Falls opened the game with two quick goals. but the Auggies were relentless. as senior Kristen Opalinski shot from close range afier a pass from Annunziato. The game went into half time. with River Falls up 4-1 over the Auggies. The second half saw the Auggies taking control of the game, as River Falls was held to only five shots and one goal. Junior Chris- tina Hughes scored for the Auggies mid-way through the second half to bring the final score to River Falls 5, Auggies 2. McGowan was undaunted in net, with 11 saves. Augsburg and Duluth were up for their last game of the weekend. The Auggies held Duluth to a mod- est four goals in the first half, but they were unable to score. The second half saw the Auggies emerging as a team that never gives up. Both Hughes and Opalinski got their second goals of the year on direct shots. Augsburg was relentless defensively. as Duluth was held again to only four goals. The final score was Duluth 8, Augsburg 2. “The whole weekend was a learning experience, even though we didn’t win," said Prozinski, “and l was really impressed at how positive everyone was.” Junior Steph Lund agreed. “I learned a lot in the game. I just want to play all the time now.” Lund and Prozinski echoed the feelings of the whole Augsburg team. Junior Laura Wade summed the weekend up best when she said, “I fell in love with lacrosse this weekend." The Augsburg women’s la- crosse team continues its season in Minneapolis, taking on both Bethel and the University of Minnesota. On April 16. Augsburg will host Bethel at 4:30 pm. on Shamrock Field, off campus. Immediately following the Bethel game, the Auggies will face the University of Minnesota at 6 pm. April 1 1 , 2003 Florida Relays ready women’s track for season Rebecca Welle Danielle Slack Staff Writers The Augsburg women’s track and field team opened its outdoor season at the Florida State Relays over Spring Break, and afier a week of training in the sun, the team performed quite well against the competi- tion. It came as no surprise to see Tonnisha Bell provisionally qualify for the National Meet in the 100-meter dash. Bell sprinted across the line with a time of 12.34 seconds. Alanna Carter continues to burn up the track in the 200- meter dash. Her time of 25.92 seconds is currently the fastest time in the MIAC. Carter also ran the lOO-meter dash, finish- ing with a time of 12.71 seconds. Kristina Justiniano posted an impressive time in the 400- meter dash. Her time of 61.58 seconds is one of her fastest times recorded since joining the Augsburg track team. Amy Mackner continues to improve her time in the 400-meter dash, as she finished in 64.09 seconds. Also posting a personal best per- formance in Florida was sophomore Angela Van Binsbergen. With a hop, skip and a leap, Van Binsbergen jumped 9.90 meters in the triple jump competition. Augsburg had a strong group of runners competing in the 800-meter run. Ellen Waldow led her heart, fin- ishing with a time of 2:24.01. Angela Bergeson and Andrea Carlson made their season debuts in the SOD-meter run, both racing quite well. Erika Schomstein continues to improve on her 800-meter race, finishing with a season best time. Representing Augsburg in the dis- tance events was junior Rhia Gronberg, competing in the 1,500- meter run. Gronberg had a strong fin- ish and was only a few seconds off her personal best time. Coming off one of the best fin- ishes at conference in the history of the program, the Auggies should con- tinue to turn heads in the outdoor sea- son. They will return to action on April 12 at the St. John’s University track in Collegeville. Auggies compete in Augustana Invitational Edgeton Auggies ’ top scorer Erik Young Staff Writer The spring season for the Auggie men’s golf team is un- derway. as the men took part in a tournament at Augustana Col- lege last Friday and Saturday at Highland Springs Golf Club. The Auggies finished 13'h in the tournament, scoring 317 on Friday and 318 on Saturday, with an overall score of 635. Wisconsin-Eau Claire won the l8-team tournament with a 571 total. The Auggie men were the only MIAC representatives in the tournament. Nate Edgenon had the Auggies” top individual score, with a 45"‘-place finish. He scored 158, with scores of 80 and 78 on the weekend. This year’s tournament was re— markably different from a year ago, when the tournament was drenched by rain on the first day and led to poor weather conditions for the weekend. A year ago, the winning team score, by Central Iowa, was 31 shots higher. Nick Collins and Evan Holmes tied on the weekend for 49th place, with 159 rounds. TJ Sybilrud finished 56‘“, with a 161, while Nick Krasin rounded out the Auggie team score with a 163. Augsburg returns to action at the Wartburg Invitational next Friday and Saturday in Waverly, Iowa. Softball earns first MIAC Victory versus Concordia Lauren Chezick Staff Writer Afier making the long jour- ney to Concordia-Moorhead, the Auggie women’s sofiball team wasn’t going to leave without a victory. Beating Concordia 6—4 in the first game of a double- header awarded the Auggies their first conference win. The game wasn’t in Augsburg’s grip until the last in- ning. Afier scoring four runs in their last at bat, and twice in the top of the 10th inning of tie- brcaking play, a win was well deserved. Senior Jennie LaManna hit a double to get the scoring rally started The second game was close, but one nm short of suc- cess, as Augsburg lost, 7-8. Augsburg and Concordia battled neck-and-neck the entire game, as both teams scored five runs in the first inning, including a grand slam from Auggie sophomore Christine Matthews. Augsburg’s big hitter, Kristen Lideen (.521 batting average), hit her first home run of the season in the sec- ond inning. Nevertheless, Concordia won the game in the last inning of regulation play, stealing the sweep from the Auggies. With their first M.I.A.C. win out of the way, the Auggies look forward to playing their next double header on Thursday, April ID, at 4 pm. The team faces St. Thomas, which is tied for sec- ond in the MIAC. St. Thomas has a record of 4—0 in conference and 13-3 overall. Show less
Augsburg’s Green Future, pg- 4 Augsburg College CHO Gnarls Barkley The Odd pg.11 The College’s Student—Produced Newspaper Couple, Friday, April 11, 2008 Minneapolis. Minnesota \Ollllttc‘ (:XlVLls‘suc ltl The tent people ANDREA SANOW CopyEdiwr Matt Eller simply wants you to pay attention. After... Show moreAugsburg’s Green Future, pg- 4 Augsburg College CHO Gnarls Barkley The Odd pg.11 The College’s Student—Produced Newspaper Couple, Friday, April 11, 2008 Minneapolis. Minnesota \Ollllttc‘ (:XlVLls‘suc ltl The tent people ANDREA SANOW CopyEdiwr Matt Eller simply wants you to pay attention. After spending a week in New Orleans with Pedalers 4 Peace. Eller. a fourth-year at Augsburg. has decided to spend a month sleeping in the quad to raise aware— ness about homelessness in New Orleans. “l want people to just be aware that this is still happening." he said. “I mean, I went down there and I had no idea that there were still this many people without homes." Through his efforts Eller. hopes to raise money and supplies to bring down to the people of New Orleans who are still without homes. Many of them sleep under the Canal Street bridge. and have been there since Katrina hit in 2005. “I want to give them some- thing that makes them feel hu- man." he said. “Whether it be brushing their teeth or being able to write and draw.“ ' Eller plans to make care pack— ages that he and fellow students can distribute when they return to New Orleans in May. “I ’m asking for toothbrushes. toothpaste. tampons. condoms. pens. pencils. notebooks.“ he said. Over spring break. Eller. along with the other students who traveled to New Orleans with Ped— alers for Peace. really under— stood that the effects of hur- ricane Katrina will be hard to ever repair. “it looks like the hurri- cane hit about a month ago.“ he said. “There is no one in the neighbor- hoods." l n s t e a d of biking to Biloxi. Miss. which was their original plan. the pedalers stayed and volunteered their time in New Orleans. They helped residents with their houses and volunteered at the Green Project. “The Green Project takes building materials and recycles them." Ellcr said. “That way. people who might have not been able to afford housing materials before. can now." Because they had planned on camping on the way to Biloxi. the Pedalers didn‘t have money of plans for a hotel. “We slept in the backyard a house.“ Ellcr said. “The guy who owned it helped other residents with the rebuilding." During their stay at the house. the students met Kenny: a horne- less man. “The first night he stayed on the other side of the fence and l‘liitto ht ( rtlt‘r'i Vt ill:.rr‘.~ it'llt‘ Matt Eller, pictured above, is trying to raise awareness about issues for the homeless. talked to us." Eller said. “But. as the week went on he came around and sat and talked with us." “He gave us everything he had. even the coat offofhis back.” he said. “He told us that we would need it more than he would." This interaction with Kenny sparked the idea for Eller‘s project here at Augsburg. "if you can‘t give money. that‘s ok." he said. “l just want my peers. my friends. to be able to talk about New Orleans and tell the story ofNew Orleans so people don‘t forget about it." “As a history major I can‘t help but wonder what the books will say about all of this." he said. After spending a little over a week outside. Eller says he is still feeling good. even if it has been cold. He plans to stay outside until May 3. and invites anyone to stay out with him. A night of transformations Drag queen "Trixie" (Augsburg student Kevin Granzin) points at Emily Shagg (Levi Dokken) during the OSU Drag show last Thursday night. Also pictured is "Derrek." a Bethel student. KRlSTIN DAmELs 51.21”? ti on" Last Thursday the annual QSL Drag Show entertained stu- dents with drag queens. booming music. and roaring laughter One of the most night} at- tended campUs m cm. second onl} to graduation. brought students of all se\u.il orientations together for .i night ofentenaininent In fact. so man} attended. that the} ran out ofcharrs and students stood at the back of the commons just to take part in the festn ities “\Nell. it is the best da} of the )ear." Ke\ in ciranzrn. senior. said "lt is w hen professional drag queens from (Jd) 9H3 come to Augsburg The professionals and amateurs tstudentsi are able to perfect their skills of acting. and performing as the opposite sex " (iranzm performed as one of See DRAG. page 3 The Echo would like to congratulate seniors Erin Olsen and Ashley Stoffers on earning year-long Fulbright schol— arships. Congratulations! i Scholarship and donor brunch celebrates success 7 " M" "WM "TW‘E'W t Krista Costin, a senior at Augsburg and scholarship recipient, performed at the brunch on Sunday. DAVID MOTT Sttifl' ll'riter One hundred students and one hundred sixty donors gathered in the hast Commons this past Sunday to celebrate the tradition ofgiving that has helped so many Augsburg students retrlr/c their dreams. Hardly a seat was left empty with total attendance ton ping 300. The student speaker for the event was Augsburg senior 'l'inzi Nguyen. an international busir ness major. She is an International President's scholar as well as a US. Buncorp foundation scholar. Nguyen spoke with passion about her desire to burld a school for homeless children after she gradu— ates. "I wanted to open a school for these children and pay them to go to school as an inccrrtrtc for their parents to let them attend school." she said, "I w ant to pro— tide them the lt)\t:. the care and education that l haxe and that the). desene." Speaking drrcctl} to the do- nors present at the etc-iii. Nguyen had heartfelt words of gratitude "\Vhat )ou do is \er). impor- tant." she said. “It does haw an impact on in) life and others. and the world ct entuall} as many of us are going to graduate from Augs— burg and burld a new future Horn the bottom of mg. heart. I smc’crc‘l) thank :iUU.“ President l’rrbbenow dis» cussed his \ ie‘w of the excrit in an intertrcw "The exent brings those whose scholarship support makes an Augsburg cdtrcutiorr litisslltlc' together with those who directly benefit from the support.” l’rrhr benow stud. “'l he c\cirt is ti c‘trll' cr‘etc symbol ol’tlic links belw ccir generations til/\tl‘g'slltlly students. alumni and friends. llre gritlrcrv mg marks the common work of supporting Atrgshtirg‘s mission to make tr lllgll'qttttllly education tic" cessihlc to kill students who seek to pursue an Augsburg cdticritioir.” In attendance w cr‘c tlri‘cc Re gents. Jozrn \"ol/. Andra Adolplrson and led (ii'mdtil. 'I here were ulso sc\crtil Regent lzrirci'ilr zil the brunch. Sixteen new scholarships have been added since the lust brunch. dowccl l’icsidcntitil scholarships 'l he l‘. Milton chtcrr lziinily now has three endowed l’iesrdciitiril scholarships. In all. t)\c‘l Sis irrillioir has been donated since the lust scholarship brunch. w itlr oter 750 people hai mg niudc gifts in the lust IX months. l’i’ihhcirow slurred a pinch cal \ic‘w ol the inc‘rininj,‘ oi the brunch "Scholarship support r-. \c'i‘, personal and iiic‘airrngfiil l)c't,t1|l>c‘ It helps to trial-t; [')U\\ll»lc' the hon ormg of likes ‘Ac‘lhlc‘tl. the pursuit of dreams. and thc‘ opportunrtiu to make a difference in the world.” he said “'lhc c\ cut pro". hit“ 11 great chance for all of u“. to lL‘lti4.:ttilic‘t as well as two new c-ir- that the reason wh; scholar ,hrp support is important 1‘: not .ornc abstract notion. but a '. ct} [)L‘l >Ull31l and often emotional experience of supporting or being supported through generous ‘».cholar‘~.hrp gifts " Show less
Page 2 NEWS Minneapolis, Minnesota Friday, April 11, 2008 Augsburg College crime data: accurate arbitrary? BECCA REILLY Contributor Augsburg College‘s cam— pus crime trends are determined by incident totals in the Annual Security Reports, released by its Department of Public Safety each Oct. 2.... Show morePage 2 NEWS Minneapolis, Minnesota Friday, April 11, 2008 Augsburg College crime data: accurate arbitrary? BECCA REILLY Contributor Augsburg College‘s cam— pus crime trends are determined by incident totals in the Annual Security Reports, released by its Department of Public Safety each Oct. 2. in Oct. 2006. data in 11 categories of Minneapolis campus crime were altered. Vice President of Student Affairs Anne Garvey works with students‘ incidents ofliquor, drug. and weapons law violations, which changed data for 2003 and 2004, but not 2005. She said that she and administrative assistant Laurel Christianson revised the totals in 2005. but was aware ofalterations in the Annual Security Report. The later 2006 Report with the altered. and now official. data table for the previous three years went online around Oct. 17. but the Augsburg community was not notified ofthe revisions. The relevancy of these num- bers to each student is shown in the change in crimes for every 1.000 students that were on the campus each year. Some categories had higher numbers. and some had lower numbers after the revision of the data table in the 2006 Report. (iarvey first noticed the changes in November in an inter- view about what the data tables meant. Regarding the lack of any emails or alerts about the revised. and now official. 2006 data table with changed numbers for 2003 and 2004 crimes. Garvey said. “Well. that would‘ve been nice.“ Garvey mentioned two revi— sions ofcrime totals that she knew of. in 2002. she and Christianson lost the data for the three catego- ries they work with. They had to rebuild the database of the past years’ drug. alcohol, and weapons violations among students. In 2005. the Director of the Department of Public Safety John Pack told them that they were incorrectly counting violations, according to Garvey. Each viola- tion must refer to the most illegal thing each student does. “pegged at the higher UC R crime category,” -not the gist of each incident that happens. Once they recounted the 2004 and 2005 incidents in this method “the numbers would’ve gone up." Garvey said. “l think we would‘ve cor- rected it and sent it with the rest of the data. in fall 2006. Garvey said. “I don‘t know." She guessed that Pack had revised the data table midway through fall 2006. She could not comment on the eight other crime categories with changed data. which she doesn’t work with. About these. Garvey said. “One possible thought [among the students. faculty and staff] might be. cool. They‘re making sure we get accurate in- fonnation! Even though it’s late. Another thought might be, can‘t these people count?“ The only way to double-check data without looking at confiden- tial incident reports is to ask Pack for print-outs of old reports‘ data tables, which can be retroactively revised. and were. The 2005 and 2004 reports that one can request from Pack now show data consistent with the revised data of2006. Pack writes each year‘s Re- port himself. links them to the Department‘s web site. www. Editor-in—Chicf Curtiss Schreiber Senior News Editor Katie LaGrave A8LE Editor Sean Stanhill Features ngtor Kari Aanesrad Photo Editor E—mail — echo@augsburg.edu l’ltonc — (612) 530-1102 the students. to revision propriate. Augsburg College Echo Spring 2008 Staff Caleb Williams Becki lverson Cgpy Editor Advertising Manager Andrea Sanow Sarah Gillund Faculty Adviser Boyd Koehler 731 let Avenue 5, CB 148 Minneapolis. Minnesota 55454 The Augsburg Echo is published each Friday —~ except during vacation periods and holidays —‘ by the students of Augsburg College. Opinions expressed in the Echo are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the supporting staff. administration. faculty. alumnirae or the remainder of The Echo does not nn‘essarily promote the products or services it advertises. Adver- tisements can be placed in the Echo by contacting the advertising manager. Submissions are welcome and can be sent to echo@ augsburgedu. All submissions should be between 500-700 words and accompanied by the writer‘s name and con— tact information. All submissions bacome the property of the Echo and are subject The Echo reserves the right to edit submitted material because of space limitations. repetitive subrect matter. libelous content or any other reason the editors deem ap— Printed by Pnnt Group Midwest on recycled paper. Managing Editor Linda Huynh News Co—Editor Davis Jones Opinions/Editorials Editor Aaron Wells Sports Editor Adara Bonnell Layout Editor Tips — echotips@gmail.com Fax — (612) 330-1666 augsburg.edu/dps, and uploads the crime totals to the federal Depart- ment of Education’s campus safety website, http://ope.ed.gov/secu- rity/main.asp. He was surprised to see the 2006 Report as released on Oct. 2. “I don’t know... it was a year ago. I don’t recall making changes,” he said. All old Reports are kept in Pack's digital files. They aren’t stored in Augsburg’s library or the offices of its administration. The only independent agency providing accountability is the Department of Education. apply- ing $27,500 fines to colleges for under-reporting. according to the Jeanne M. Clery Act. Once the current year ‘5 report goes online each October. the previous year‘s report is removed. The same goes for the federal De- partment of Education‘s campus crime profile of colleges. Through- out 2006, the federal profile of Augsburg's 2003, 2004. 2005 crime totals was consistent with Augsburg‘s official data table. A student preserved that year’s profile, which can be found at www.augsburg.edu/~reilly/ federalprofile. Since late October 2007, updated data on the site also shows totals consistent with those accepted by Augsburg‘s Depart- ment of Public Safety. But others saved the 2006 report as it was when the link was first emailed to them. Augsburg’s Center for Counseling and Health Promotion saved a digital copy of it. Regarding its data table, with different data than the of- ficial 2006 and 2007 Reports in 11 crime categories and what that might mean, the C enter‘s Direc- tor. Nancy Guilbeault. and stafi” worker. Dianne Detloff. declined to comment. The first and later ver- sions of the 2006 Report can be found at www.wrongway. org/?augsburgrevisions. In her brief Sept. 26 report to administrators. Garvey included the alcohol. drug and weapons law violations totals of the past three years. Looking back, she noted that the 2004 totals of alcohol (176) and weapons (three) viola- tions didn’t match data in the 2007 Security Report. This report can be found at http://web.augsburg.edu/~reilly/ cabinet. . Obstacles to accuracy at Augsburg remain. While Garvey said that she thinks the student crime totals are overestimates. the Student Advocate thinks they are underestimates. The corner office can wait. Some corners of the world can’t. Graduating? Jumpstart your career with the Peace Corps! Find out more: Information Session with Video and Slideshow Tuesday, April 15 ' 7:00 - 8:00 pm. Haltie G. Brown Community Center 270 North Kent Street St. Paul, MN 55102 For more information, call 1-800-424-8580 or visit www.peacecorps.gov g Community Se Off-Campus Housing rvice Opportunity ‘ «we As a College House Tutor/Mentor, you can support two K-8th grade students in south Minneapolis for 4-6 hours week and help them succeed in school and life! For more information, pick up an application packet at Augsburg Office of Service, Work and Learning OR contact Eric Oines at 612.720.8827 e-mail: eric.oines@ggl-inc.org Apply TODAY! q.-. Show less
Minneapolis, Minnesota Friday, April 112008 7 Page 3 NEWS De'arEditor, Mr. Schreiber, with grace you led a talented staff that supplied the campus community with an outlet for dialogue and news. I wanted to publicly commend your and your colleagues work. The Echo covered projects. which many... Show moreMinneapolis, Minnesota Friday, April 112008 7 Page 3 NEWS De'arEditor, Mr. Schreiber, with grace you led a talented staff that supplied the campus community with an outlet for dialogue and news. I wanted to publicly commend your and your colleagues work. The Echo covered projects. which many students and I worked tirelessly on, Focus The Nation in January and recently the wind ; energy Referendum. ' e The Echo provided the campus with an opportunity to become , more informed voters to pass the Wind Energy Referendum. As a c 5' result, Day students raised enough money to convert every dorm to wind energy. That is the equivalent of taking 9.889 cars of the road. planting 14.834 acres of trees. or taking 121.095.791 lbs of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Faculty, staff. and administration (most notably Michael Lan- sing. Tim Dougherty and Kevin Myren) supported our student led efforts. This collaborative effort is not over. WEC votes on their own wind referendum this May. The Board of Regents will decide whether or not they will match funds raised by students. If everything falls into place. as I think it will. by this Fall semester. the Echo can proudly inform the Augsburg Community that we no 4‘: "’1' HlS"195 —_— Summer SesSion l ' D May 27 tom 27, TuITh, 8:30 AM to noon H isto r9 of longer use fossil fuel energy to power our noble institution. Sincerely. O§U Drag Show attracts many the amateur drag queens. where he wore a skimpy black dress. knee— high stiletto boots. and a sparkly red wig. He believes that having a drag show on campus is not only fun. but also important for the Augsburg community. “It is always fun seeing oppo- site gender roles portrayed." Gran- zin said. “It raises awareness that QSU is here and we can express ourselves any way that we want. even if we dress up as the opposite sex. It’s really no big deal.“ Monica. (‘ici. Roxie and Ca- mille were the four professional drag queens from the Gay 90s that perfonned at the drag show. “They cotne because they love us here." (jranzm said. "It is so taboo for them to perform at a Lutheran college; they also get free public- ity.“ Hannah Carlson. first-year. also attended the event. “The drag queens were hilarious!" she said. “They totally pushed the envelope. The students that participated were also very entertaining. It was great to see your own peers transform." Although putting the event together was stressful. Granzin found the event itselfto be a huge stress releaser. He was cheered on by his peers when dancing. which made him feel very proud. Granzin also performed in last year‘s drag show. and felt a bit uneasy dress— ing in drag. This year. his view has completely changed. “When 1 did it for the first time last year. I felt like this is really weird. because I‘ve never done anything this extravagant to show off my homosexuality.“ Granzin said. “I don‘t really have a low selfesteem problem. but the problem I thought might happen was gay-bashing. Thankfully it never happened. It wasn‘t as scary as i thought it would be." Lahgrinths Studg labyrinths in ancient 8* medieval art 6* literature. Walk lahgrinths throughout the Twin Cities. build a labyrinth in Augsburg's new communitg garden. For more info, contact Phil Adamo, adamo@augsburg.edu Materials for the labyrinth sponsored by the Goliard Society of Medievaiists graduation Cefehmtion 5" lirri .lllllli.ll launder Graduation will L‘L‘lt‘in'dlt‘ the graduatiun . “tilt-mu at him t'illt'lll.‘ til nur lt-shian, go), hisexual, transgender, tilit“ll-‘llll’l::, iiiterscx, and drt‘Xlldi Silldk‘llir. Wednesday ‘April 2 3, 2608 7 p.111. , :Zitielz'ne ‘M. 5011115011 Conference Room, Oreii Gateway Center Show less
Page 4 OPINIONS/ EDITORIALS Minneapolis, Minnesota Let’s not be average DAVID LAPAKKO Dept. of Communication Studia Contrary to popular belief, leadership is not all it is cracked up to be. It has its perks, but the life of a leader can be both lonely and frustrating. It’s lonely because you can... Show morePage 4 OPINIONS/ EDITORIALS Minneapolis, Minnesota Let’s not be average DAVID LAPAKKO Dept. of Communication Studia Contrary to popular belief, leadership is not all it is cracked up to be. It has its perks, but the life of a leader can be both lonely and frustrating. It’s lonely because you can feel that no one understands you, yet you are responsible for things, and people think that you can make even more things happen because “you’re in charge.” And it’s frustrating because leaders are not as powerful as they would like to be; as Ledru-Rollin indicates, often you can only take people as far as they are willing to go. Enter President Pribbenow. I don’t know that he feels especially lonely, but I’m sure he can feel the limits to his power. Heading up any organization is a bit like pilot- ing an iceberg, you hope to nudge it a bit in the right direction, but the iceberg can be very obstinate. Yet, in the midst of all this, people must try to lead. In that sense, I do not envy our President; he has a job that is inherently challenging. Part of leadership is providing a vision, a mission, a set of goals. In a March “all hands” meet- ing held in the chapel, President Pribbenow tried to lay out such a vision. It was perhaps a bit much to process in a mere 30 minutes, but his PowerPoint presentation tried very hard to explain where the college is and where he wants it to be many years from now. The President’s audience was not fixated on what the campus might look like in 2020; it’s prob— ably good it was on his mind, but it wasn’t on theirs. The concerns of faculty and staff are much more immediate. People have lost their jobs. Other people worry that they might lose theirs. Others sense that the “corporate” mindset has so overtaken more humane approach— es to organizing that Augsburg will never be the same. And for a college that should be celebrating “abundance,” it‘s not clear how we are going to find enough money to construct a new science building, much less all the other buildings that are dreamt about in the future. These are the concerns of people on campus right here and now. In his presentation. the Presi- dent made more than one refer- ence to his vision that Augsburg be “nimble and entrepreneurial.” Don’t get me wrong, nimble is good. Entrepreneurial is good. But this is modern corporate busi- ness lingo; it’s not geared toward human relations. I can assure you that no one who feels happy and proud to work at’Augsburg is going to say. "I love my job because we are nimble and entrepreneurial.” To his credit. the President does seem to realize that there are some normal and inevitable tensions on campus. and disagree- ments about certain decisions, most notably. the decision to keep the college open between Christmas and New Year‘s. And. he claims to be hearing and even listening to these concerns. The problem. however. is that listening can seem hollow if you aren’t pre- pared to do something meaningful in response. Near as I can tell. the President’s stance seems to be. “I am listening to you. and I respect your concems, but I disagree with you and that’s that.” In the case of our staff. the President missed an opportunity to score a few points. lfhe had started the March meeting by saying he had re-considered the decision to keep the college open the last week of December, many might have felt glad. Symbolically such a move would say, “I listen and care, and I am willing to concede that I didn’t make the best decision.” No community member wants or expects their leaders to be perfect. What they expect, especially at a small Christian school where caritas is supposed to be more than a Latin word, is a culture and climate that truly supports and celebrates those who are here. “Nimble” and “entrepreneurial” can’t be the rallying cry, even if they are corporate virtues. For me, what can and does make Augsburg special has noth- ing to do with being entrepreneur- ial. I feel most proud of this place when I consider the individuals who are here. For example, there is a gregarious fellow who eats in the dining commons every day but is neither a student nor an employee; that he is welcome here makes me proud. Among our students is a woman who was willing to donate a portion of her liver to a total stranger; that makes me proud. In our copy center is a woman who will perform amazing 55-word stories on command; I’m proud to know her, too. In the end, it all comes down to people-not blueprints, floor plans, or an array of PowerPoint slides. The modern world, including Augsburg, is friendly on a super- ficial level. Underneath it is a sort of dysfunction that can be so sup- pressed that we hardly realize it’s there. Rather than try to reflect the standard practices of the corporate world, Augsburg, as an educational institution grounded in the liberal arts and the Christian church, has the opportunity to create a culture and climate that can rise above the rest. We want for people to feel privileged to be in this environ- ment, to feel they are the luckiest employees on the planet. That’s a lofty goal, but one that is’ worth pursuing, right along with tons of money to build the new science building. I would remind the President that when it comes to “human resources," we have a lot of them, and they can be very helpful to him and the college. We have the Department of Business Adminis- tration, staffed with many people with considerable business acu- men. We have an MBA program and an MAL program that prepare graduate students for leadership in the let century. And we have a Department of Communication Studies that devotes itself to the construction and interpretation of symbols and messages, whatever they may be. Although many on campus feel burdened in their work, they would be flattered to be invited to share their perspec— tives on issues facing the college. Nobody has all the answers, but we have helpful resources here on campus. Leadership is seldom easy. Augsburg’s leadership over the years has hardly been inept or mean-spirited. But I am keenly aware of what is possible, and I don’t want the college to settle for “nonnal.” If you want to talk “vo- cation.“ one part should be to feel a calling to transform our world of work and let that transformation be a model for others to admire and to emulate. -ril 11, 2008 Augsburg’s future looks green SEAN STANHILL Contributor I was sitting in my room with my celebrity roommate, Brian Krohn, talking about Augsburg’s environmental concerns, biodiesel, wind energy and the (student-led)~ Green Vehicle Initiative’s work to get a hybrid security vehicle to replace the current Ford Explorer. Krohn is very involved with a lot of campus-wide projects, working with senior-ranking administration members and department heads. Bouncing between subjects, the same name kept coming up much to my surprise: President Pribbe- now. At first I was surprised but soon it started to make sense. I had seen Pribbenow present at many of the environmental concerns events around campus including the very successful Focus the Nation. It’s not so much that I began to piece together Pribbenow’s own environmental politics, but I was struck by his overwhelming sup- port for student-led environmental stewardship. I know that actions speak louder than words but I wanted to know what Pribbenow’s own thoughts and commitments are to Augsburg. In an email com- munication I have obtained offi- cial presidential statements from Pribbenow himself (which was communicated quite expediently might I add) which I would like to include (edited for length). I wanted to know, in general, how Pribbenow saw Augsburg’s commitment to environmental stewardship. In response, he said, “The Augsburg College commu- nity is deeply committed to what it means to build a sustainable urban environment. We are proud of what we do to honor sustain- ability, but also deeply aware of the need for ongoing vigilance and wise stewardship of the gifis of our environment. I am especially pleased with the new Environ- mental Studies major, which il- lustrates that our commitment to sustainability is both about leam- ing and action, right on the mark for what an Augsburg education hopes to achieve education for service.” With such a strong commit- ment as a community, Augsburg has a lot to be proud of but we also have a lot of work to do. I asked Pribbenow what environmental policies he would like to see on campus, to which he responded, “I have signed the President’s Global Climate Commitment, which obliges us to work on many fronts to ensure that we are reducing our carbon footprint and being good stewards of the environment. In particular, I am interested in responsible energy use, using building materials and methods that are environmentally sound, recycling, urban gardening and local food use, and alternative transportation (including subsidiz- ing public transport, supporting bike and pedestrian traffic, the HourCar, etc.) We also will be working to transition one of our maintenance vehicles to bio-diesel fuel in the next couple of months, and we will work with ourpartners at Sartec (the company with which student Brian Krohn has worked to develop the new biodiesel process) to take our cafeteria cooking oil and produce biodiesel fuel for our campus use.” Most impressive is the Presi- dent’s commitment to student group Green Vehicle Initiative. The group is dedicated to getting our Department of Public Safety to replace their Ford Explorer with a fuel-efficient hybrid. Pribbenow states, “I have worked closely with the Green Vehicle Initiative (a student-led group) and with Cam- pus Security director John Pack during the past couple of months to make plans to purchase new campus safety vehicles that are en- vironmentally friendly, including likely a Ford Escape Hybrid and perhaps another smaller hybrid like a Toyota Prius. John Pack is very supportive of these efforts and we hope to make a formal an- nouncement of our plans later this month.” I want to take this time to congratulate Brian Krohn and the Green Vehicle Initiative’s work and President Pribbenow’s sup- port for student concerns. Next time you see Pribbenow walking in the quad or attending many of the environmental concerns events on campus, thank him for his sup- port and commitment. I’m glad to be graduating from a college with such a good environmental head on its shoulders. Iraq and the betrayal of our liberal traditions LUKE MUELLER Contributor We on the lefi‘ have long been the advocates of a foreign policy that advocates responsibility, partnership, and promotion of lib- erty worldwide. The United States induction into the United Nations, the creation of Peace Corps, the Oslo Accords, and the Kosovar intervention were all orchestrated under Democrats. Furthermore, we are traditionally the largest proponents of foreign intervention and those who want an increased foreign aid budget. We support The United Nations, and base our foreign policy on reciprocity. lntemational involvement and fairness to others is our political keystone. We are proud of our views. We understand that the world’s most powerfirl country has certain responsibilities in the world, and that this includes being actively involved in issues of peace, jus- tice, human rights. poverty and democracy, at home and abroad. We understand that isolationism on the part of the world’s only su- perpower in a globally integrated society is not an option. I do find, however, that many of my friends on the lefl have be- trayed their international involve- ment roots in regards to the war in Iraq. Intervention in Darfur is highly advocated, as it is in Myan- mar and Uganda. but not Iraq. Why not Iraq? Why are my friends so keen to leave a situation that we created, but so ready to intervene against Al-Bashir? Because our invasion, Iraq’s infrastructure and economy Was destroyed. Roads were damaged, shops were forced to close due to instability and families had (and still do) no place to call home. The Iraqi Dinar is weak, and outside of Baghdad, Kurdistan, and parts of Anbar a strong economy is hard to find. Because of our invasion, sec- tarian warfare now plagues much of the country. The Iraqi security forces are not capable of doing the job themselves as of yet, but we on the lefi seem to overwhelmingly advocate abandonment. What hap- pens when Coalition forces leave Iraq is what Colonel Mohammed Faiq of the New Iraqi Army told Frontline - “If the coalition forces lefi Iraq that would be the end of Iraq. You could forget about the country called Iraq. There would be massacres in the street.” What about our Kurdish friends to the north? Years ago, our government promised Kurdish leaders that we would support a Kurdish uprising against Saddam. Our promises never were acted on, and thousands of Kurds were killed. Yet, when we invaded in 2003 we were once again given their trust. With a prior commit- ment to the security of the Kurdish region to the north, do we once again let our Kurdish fiiends suffer this time at the mercy of Turkey? DoweleaveSunniIraqtoSaudi Arabia? Do we leave Shia Iraq to Iran? One might argue that we shouldn’t have been there in the first place. I was myself against the initial invasion of the war, and would be if it were 2003 again but it is now over five years later. It is not part of the traditional lefi-wing foreign policy to invade a country for political purposes, ruin the quality of life for the people of that country, open up the floodgates of genocide and violence, destroy an economy, then tell those same people to fix those problems them- selves. Extraordinary security gains have been made in Iraq during the past year; places where US. troops couldn’t walk without being shot at a year ago are now some of the safest areas in Iraq. Since last February, US. troop deaths have fallen by 65 percent (8] to 29), Iraqi security force deaths by 27 percent (150 to 110), and Iraqi civilians by 80 percent (2864 to 564). Actual political progress is finally being made. Since 1968, the US. govern- ment has stood by and watched or encouraged and helped the various forms of abuse that has plagued Iraq for decades. We have a chance to make things right. Those of us on the left have two choices; we do what the lefi has always done, stand by democratically elected governments and take responsibil- ity for our foreign policy bhmders, or, we can abandon Iraq, along with our principles. Sum Show less
FridzyzApril 11,2008 Minneapolis, Minnesota Page 5 OPINIONS/ EDITORIALS ('rinoon by Malena 'l'hosonx'lZCllf) Count/Pointer-Count: The killing joke SAM SMITH AND COLIN STANHILL Columnists Count It has come to my attention that there are those of you (mainly the churchy types) who are op- posed to... Show moreFridzyzApril 11,2008 Minneapolis, Minnesota Page 5 OPINIONS/ EDITORIALS ('rinoon by Malena 'l'hosonx'lZCllf) Count/Pointer-Count: The killing joke SAM SMITH AND COLIN STANHILL Columnists Count It has come to my attention that there are those of you (mainly the churchy types) who are op- posed to euthanasia. Euthanasia is also known as “physician as- sisted suicide,” “mercy killing,” or “what Clint Eastwood did to Hilary Swank at the end of Million Dollar Baby ." This is an issue that should not be trod around; rather, itshouldbeuodupominorderto nunupnwdirt,asitwem.l(un Vonnegut, in God Bless You. Dr Kevorkiau, had a little fun with euthanasia (just like Jack Kev- orkianl). Perhaps not coinciden- tally. Kurt Vonnegut was also the man who said, “if you believe in telekineties. raise my I realize that there are certain religions that have provisions Dal-inst ending life. The Catholics and the Muslims say no. The Protestants say no. The Jews say ‘oy vey.” But the Catholics have rules against eating meat on Fri- day. and I know like. eight people who don‘t follow that rule. And Jewish people are supposed to be circumcised. but I know this one guy who... Did you know that the Neth- erlands is the only nation which currently has legalized euthamia? I personally think that‘s a little dangerous. What if some insecure young college student wandering aromd Amsterdam gets high on gourmet marijuana and a little bit of X and has a sudden urge to “break on through to the other side?” The right to live and die with dignity is something that everyone should be afl'orded. If the will to live is gone, then it is a greater disservice to allow someone to carry on in misery than to break a social or religious taboo. Plus (and for once I’m serious), that person is taking a hospital bed from someone who still wants to live and experience more of this crap-shoot we call “Life.” Essentially, I am in favor of euthanasia because it gets rid of the quitters. It's like social Darwinism without all that nasty “racism.” Pointer-Count Sam, you fool! You beautiful fool! You dazzling, frightening, adverbing, rootin-tootin-fruitin, nailrnetothedoorandcallme Franklin, squeeze my ears and re- spect me in the morning, slap your mother’s butt and call it a night, blithering, babbling, no-good. Puerto Rican, saintly horticultun'st of a fool! 0 Spirit of'l‘akashi Murakami, forgive him as he knows not what he sayeth! [whispered to a mysterious bottle]: But lest my greatestfear be so. So he believe how he hath spake. I beckon that thy seeds doth sew. So he may die before he wake. If I. one Colin the Ballet. am to undade the words of my erst- while esteemed colleague Sam the Lion, then I must admit that l have imbibed from the same metaphori- cal sippy-cup of the worst kind of person. Admit it I must! My co-col— umnist and best pal has revealed himself not only as an encourager of sin (speaking in strictly secular terms, of course), but as a full- blown philistine and panderer to emo and indie kids alike. For what group, worldwide, has influenced more dreadful fashion movements and obnoxious trends than the Setagaya scalawags and the Shin- juku scheisters? None, 1 say. Allow your mind to journey to the west, to consider those who never were... 0 Han Fei Tzu, Wretch of the San Guo, how dost thou corrupt ever still?! Is it with maliciousness (or is that malitia?) or simple cold— ness that you refer so lightly to those slaughtered girls, or those lefl to rot in the woods, given the opportunity for pain but not for bliss. Did you forget about them or do you truly discard the life of one whose only sin (again, to be taken in the least Catholic [or was that catholic?] sense) was to be born with a second chromosome to mark the spot. Regardless of your answer l must disown you as the absolute worst kind of person: the kind who defies taste, the kind who kills baby girls in the morning and wipes his conscience clean around midday.thekindwhoisnotrne.the kind who supports youth in Asia. A last word from Aaron Wells My fellow Auggies, I wanted to write one last piece for this section and offer some parting words afier a year where I have felt honored to have a position where l have been priyy to the ongoing dialogue of our in- stitution. to a certain extent. I can offer no reason why you should lis— ten to what I have to say. I am not a perfect or ideal student. I have certainly made many mistakes at Augsburg. and I am neither the most liked nor the most respected in my graduating class. I am not certain why I am writing this at all. It‘s probably ego. It usually is. l have been a private and vo— cal critic of Augsburg College over many issues during my time here. and it is not a perfect institution by any means. In my opinion. it is actually severely flawed. Never- theless, I am more grateful to and for Augsburg than any institution in my life. I believe that at the foundation of this is one of Augs- burg’s strongest qualities: it is a community of interactions rather than transactions. 1 have never felt l was purchasing an education from Augsburg, but rather that l was part of a collective where everyone is personally dedicated to education, service, and experi- encing one another and the world around us. This strength of our school creates a unique community and a unique group of students. What I would like to offer, for those of you who are miraculously still reading, are pieces of advice based on the insight l have gained attending such a special kind ofschool. They are my thoughts. They are trite, simple, and unoriginal. You‘re welcome. Be honest, genuine, and com- mitted to connecting with people and letting them know who you are. l know that one iteration or another of that suggestion is made on posters and in self-help books and on day-time television on an almost constant basis, but it is still one of the most important and ignored paths to being happy and enjoying life. A lot of those self-help books and television pro— grams will tell you that everyone will like you if you are sincere. l don’t think that‘s true. I think a lot of people won’t like you. Maybe one out of ten won’t. Maybe nine out of ten won’t. The people who remain, though, are people who you genuinely want in your life, and I can’t think ofanything much better than that. It’s wonderful to be able to love the people around you. Experience the world around you. Of course, we are very for- tunate to have old, middle class white men to lecture us about so- cial justice, I mean that. These are some of the best, brightest. most learned old, middle class white men around. and the have a lot to teach you. But please, go see the world for yourself. In a city with as much diversity as ours. there is no reason to take anyone's word for anything. There is no reason to stay home. either. Go to St. Paul. 00 to Jerusalem. Go to Auckland, Berlin. and Windhoek. Go now. Oh, and read a newspaper for crying out loud. Our planet is too exciting to be ignored. Know your language. English is beautiful. It is expressive. It is easier for you to learn than the four billion people who are go- ing to have to leam it as a second language. You embarrass yourself. your school and your ancestors when you can‘t effectively com- municate in your mother tongue. Read. Write. Learn English. Learn English. Learn English. Get what you need to get done. and have fun. In college. this is all the balance you nccd. I don‘t know why this is so hard for some people. Do what you‘re supposed to do. Have fun. That‘s it. Try everything. You have four years to do or be anything you want. Despite what a loud ofcrap all of the vocation stull‘ we talk about can be. this is not a bad timc to think about what you want to do with your life. You probably have more options than you think. There are a lot ofthings you can do or be, and you should try them all before it’s too late. Don‘t kill yourself. Be good to each other. Augs- burg has fewer students than a lot of high schools and wc all live together. Do yourselfa favor. The world is in really. really rough shape. We are inheriting a mess. We are creating a mess. We are a mess. Please. please try to make things better. Most impor- tantly, however, never ever give up. Smiling is free. lfit makes you feel better, I had to make myself throw up after l typed that. It's true. though. Being happy is easy and fun. Showing people rcspcct. however you show it to them, is the right thing to do. More than anything. be sensitive to your fee!- ings and express what you truly feel. But when you have a choice. why not feel good? Mind your own business. There are enough real problems in the world. Don’t go around judging everyone and making more. You know who you arc. I‘m watching you. Learn. There is too much to see and know to cvcr stop being educated and experiencing. Read. See. Listen. Connect. limotc. Grow. Think. Repeat. This has been an exciting, stimulating, and wonderful year to work for the Echo and to at— tend Augsburg. I am grateful to everyone at the school for keeping Augsburg’s commitment to both scholarship and community alive and dynamic. I am sad to see my time here and this year come to an end. I am also blindly, hopelessly. whole—heartedly optimistic. RS. Write for the [ii-ha! It’s the greatest thing a human being can do. Writing l8” not necessarily same— thing to be ashamed of, but do i! in private and wash your hands afterwards. —Robcrt Heinlein Beauty is truth, truth beam). ' that is all ye [than on earth, and all ye need to know. John Keats Show less
Page 6 SPORTS Minneapolis, Minnesota After a short stint as your Echo Sports Editor, I would like to thank everyone at the Echo for tak- ing me in and also thank the sports department and athletes for their great interviews and information. And of course, I would like to thank my loyal readers... Show morePage 6 SPORTS Minneapolis, Minnesota After a short stint as your Echo Sports Editor, I would like to thank everyone at the Echo for tak- ing me in and also thank the sports department and athletes for their great interviews and information. And of course, I would like to thank my loyal readers because without you, there would be no sports section (well, there would, it just may be a bit smaller and Athlete focus: loyal fans.’). obviously unread, but I know you are out there oh I have had a great time and I hope the Auggies blow all the other MIAC teams out of the water next year: Good luck! Athlete focus: Jolene Ross ADARA BONNELL Sports Editor Jolene Ross is a Senior in- fielder for the Augsburg Softball team. From Arden Hills, MN, Ross has had for strong years on the team and hopes that softball will continue to be a part of her life. She will be graduating this year but has a bit of advice for those continuing on in the sport of softball. When did you start playing soft- ball? I started playing softball when I was five years old playing coach pitch, and then started playing fast pitch when l was eight years old. But, in reality I was going to the softball field since day one watching my sister's play and dad coach. Did you have any influences? My father, Bill Ross, has been my number one influence he has been coaching softball since 1982 and l have been playing catch and practicing with him since I have been three years old. What has kept you in the sport? The love for the game. I never would have gone to college for four years without playing soft- ball. What are your goals for your final year? My team goal is to make the playoffs for the first time of my college career and to surprise teams in our conference because we have a talented team this year. With hard work and practice my personal goals will take care of themselves. Any advice you would want to pass on to players returning next year? Always go 100 percent be- cause your four years go by really fast. What is your major? My major is health and physi- cal education What do you hope to do in the future? I hope to be a teacher and a coach, but I would also like to be a college sofiball coach. Do you see softball as a part of your future? Of course I see sofiball in my future with coaching and maybe someday if I have daughters they will definitely play. What is your best advice to a colle- giate athlete? How did you handle the pressure? My advice is to have fun and to play loose. Manage your time well, and always keep a smile on your face. I handled pressure by staying confident in myself, and being coachable. Overall, what is your main feeling toward your four years playing collegiate softball? I would not trade it for any- thing because it has been awe- some! I love to play and I love to compete. Auggie softball succeeds ADARA BONNELL Sports Editor Spring is in the air and here at Augsburg, it also seems to be our time of year when there are few sporting events to attend. This year however, the Augsburg softball team has been keeping us intrigued and giving us a great spring season. Currently 7—] in the MIAC, the softball ladies seem to be pull- ing out all the stops. Beating St. C atherince 6-2 and 13-5, and Gustavus 9-4, the Aug- gies have proved they are putting up a fight. One oftheir biggest feats was sweeping St. Benedict 7-5 and 5-4. According to the Augsburg Athlet- ics page. this has not happened since 1987. Their first MIAC loss was to Gustavus where they couldn‘t come back from a Gusty lead, losing 7-2. The Auggies are ready to rebound this week and weekend with games against Macalester, Hamline, and Concordia College— Moorhead. The team has also received individual recognition this year. Junior Tiffany Magnuson was named MIAC player of the week this past week. And Junior Sarah Green was named MIAC Sofiball Pitcher of the week at the end of March. Their efforts have added to the already flourishing season. With the season end quickly approaching, the softball team has only a few more teams to play before the MIAC playoffs at the beginning of May. Both Augsburg and St. Catherine will co-host the event prior to the NCAA Division III National Playofi‘Regionals and Championships toward the end of May. Attention sports writers: The Echo is looking for writ- ers to write weekly columns for Echo sports next year. If you are interested, contact the new sports editor Kristin Daniels at: daniels1@augsburg.edu Statistics Batting: Tiffany Magnuson. .418 Sarah Mueller .375 Ashley Westerman. .360 Jennifer Castillo .351 Jolene Ross .320 Whitney Restemayer .279 Sarah Green .250 Jessa Hinz .143 Laura Strandell .115 Melissa Larsen .063 Ashley Whittenburg .023 Katie Johnson .000 Other: ERA — Tiffany Magnu- son 2.56. Runs scored — Tiffany Magnuson 22. Hits — Tiffany Magnuson 38. RBI — Ashley Westerrnan 21. Jeff Stromberg ADAM BONNELL Sports Editor Jeff Stomberg, a senior of theAugsburg Baseball team, has played baseball at Augsburg for four years. As co-captain this year, Stomberg will leave behind a legacy of hard work and deter- mination. Below, hear Stomberg discuss how baseball has played a role in his life. When did you start playing base- ball? I started playing baseball at the age of 7. What position do you play? I play center field. Is there anything that influenced you to play? I would always watch the Minnesota Twins with my dad and I wanted to be just like Kirby Puckett. What has been your biggest ac- complishment as a collegiate baseball player? My biggest accomplishment thus far was my freshmen year when l was apart of the first Augs- burg baseball team to qualify for the MIAC tournament and we took second place. What do you most look forward to each season ? Each year I look forward to the next opportunity to try and win the MIAC championship down in Dundas. Any goals since this is your last season? ' My goal this year is to place in the top four in the regular season to qualify for the MIAC tournament and go down to Dundas and win the MIAC championship to qualify for a regional tournament bid. Any advice to pass on to team- mates who will carry on with the team next year? My advice for teammates for next year would be to keep working hard in the off-season so that they are one step ahead of the competition once the season starts. Also, continue to have fun playing baseball. What do you plan on doing after you graduate? Afier I graduate I plan on get- ting a job and I would like to move on to coaching baseball. What is your major? My major is mathematics. Will baseball be in your fitture? I would like baseball to be in my future as a coach at some level. great pictures. A note from the Wrestlers: The Augsburg Wrestling team would like to thank Caleb Williams, photo editor for the Echo, for all his hard work covering the team while at the NCAA Division [II National Championships in Iowa. After realizing he forgot his camera while on the vab, Caleb got dropped ofl in Southern Min- nesota, got his camera from Augsburg, and then headed down to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to make sure the team would be covered. Thank you Caleb for all your hard work and Editor’s note: Caleb would like to thank his aunt, Carrie, his brother; Jacob, and his father, Jerry. Show less
Friday, April 117, 2008 ‘ Minneapolis. Minnesota 7 Pch " fl? lfi ‘, l ‘h- Above: Senior Jolene Ross (Arden Hills, Minn/Mounds View HS) watches a hit during a game April 5. This season, Ross is hitting 320 over 75 at-bats. Below: Junior Sarah Green (Winnebago, Minn/Blue Earth Area HS) pitches during... Show moreFriday, April 117, 2008 ‘ Minneapolis. Minnesota 7 Pch " fl? lfi ‘, l ‘h- Above: Senior Jolene Ross (Arden Hills, Minn/Mounds View HS) watches a hit during a game April 5. This season, Ross is hitting 320 over 75 at-bats. Below: Junior Sarah Green (Winnebago, Minn/Blue Earth Area HS) pitches during a game April 5. This season, Green has an ERA of 4.17, appearing 18 times over 90 2/3 innings. imam I“ I .Ilu- \\ IIII. l“, H iii) Above: First-year Jessa Hlnz (Richfield, Minn.) celebrates her first collegiate home run during a game April 5. Below: First-year Jennifer Castillo (Minneapolis, Minn/Washburn HS) make a throw to second base during a game April 5. Echo Sports wishes all l HERL ARE No Excuses FOR MISSING Our ON THE SPRING teams success with the F H 4 A Write for the Echo. BRING HEW WITH iF V()U HAVE TO iHEARD SHE. LIKES RAP (-Unlinu MUSIC PERFLC T For: OUR OPENING ACT ’ i ’7 rest of their seasons. KANSER 401 (k), health, dental, life insurance" I“, W, W W, W m MW W 20 weeks vacation” hm I.;.,,I,II.....I.I~; we are lookin for, This sIIIIIIIII‘I. “ml/v IALso HEARD THAT SHE LIKES . 9 ' SWM/WWL,’ (“H-M To SHAKE HER A“. PERFECT FOR SPECIAL GUEST DJ: wnters, ( l” H H” '. J J" THE GHOST OF JANE SEYMOUR PhOtographe'i gnu. m w mu I. and more. and mu) FRIDAY. APRILiB‘rH. 2008 8PM —12AM ’ «m Mir-l «(A'- '-‘ I» 30 NI; .nr 7"! :I .I,I:,;I;:II, BRING A SpAne CHANGE OF UNDERWEAR I‘Wfik' 3‘: ‘iG‘s 5"” YWF‘. En‘r TO You s~ v 3.1:: FS‘EY‘DS ASAC AND VAUG 'Awn as» w- n An" a' t‘c'—‘- Va; ()12'310'6170 " among. blew gym; b'tm ",avIugw-I. Show less
Page 8 Minneapolis, Minnesota FEATURES * Horoscopes Your birthday this week: BY AARON WELLS I’m sorry my fellow Augsburgianites. I know this is a sad day for you. How do I know? Is it because 1 know all? Yes, that’s part of it. But it’s also because I know that this is the last set of horoscopes-... Show morePage 8 Minneapolis, Minnesota FEATURES * Horoscopes Your birthday this week: BY AARON WELLS I’m sorry my fellow Augsburgianites. I know this is a sad day for you. How do I know? Is it because 1 know all? Yes, that’s part of it. But it’s also because I know that this is the last set of horoscopes- the last set, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever. Ever. Ever! Ever. So I was think- ing to myself, “Self,” I thought, “What does a person want to know more than anything?” I went for my weekly acid-aided break-in spree around campus, which, as usual, ended with me on the roof of the sci- ence building conferring with the stars. They told me what you want. This is how you will die. I rule. Aries (March 21 - April 20): Taurus (April 21 - May 21): wait. .._. Everyone you love in this world will conspire to kill you. _ Wham! Wrecking ball. Sorry. Better luck next time. Oh, They will fail. I will succeed. I heard what you said about the horoscopes. Gemini (May 22 - June 22): ‘ .‘tr'f‘ j I ‘r 1' Cancer (June 22 - July 22): Leo (July 23 — August 22): does. George Bush will kill you in your sleep. That’s just what he After a brief, very successful stint as an international singing superstar, an adoring fan will kill you for your skin. ! Judgment Day. Horsemen. Vengeful God. Holy War. Etc. Virgo (August 23 - September 22): it You will have sex on the beach, and later die of complications caused by sand in your butt. Nice job, sand butt. Ha. Ha ha. Libra (September 23 — October 23): . '_'. *. You will die of a curling iron burn afier appearing on the MTV show “Extreme Curling Iron.” Scorpio (October 24 - November 21): C‘ ' e- a.» salute you. You will be the first person ever to OD on marijuana. I Sagittarius (November 22 - December 21): You will do the perfect imitation of Caleb Williams, and then " f you will become Caleb Williams. And there just ain’t enough room in this town for the both of ya’. Capricorn (December 22 - January 19): ? Three words: damn dirty apes. Aquarius (January 20 - February 18): & Pisces (February 19 - March 20): k. ‘01 sun. Weird. Because you’re awesome. You will invent a time machine, but foolishly transport yourself to three minutes afier the Earth crashes into the Colon Cancer. No, just kidding. You’ll live forever. Why? How to lose 15 lbs. in six weeks! . . . without dieting or pills! ANDREW WEBB Contributor Afier a recent checkup and the local clinic in January my doctor told me I weighed 211 lbs and had blood pressure of 138. With ADD and allergies. I didn’t want to take any more pills than I had too. I sat down and thought to myself what 1 was doing that was caused this. I began to realize that all the time I had began to eat myself into a trap. a trap that could have negative effects in the future. I realized that l was over eating on fats. drinking more sodas. and overeating on sugars. I did this be- cause eating late at night felt good. It wasn’t until a friend of mine told me how close I was to having the health of an older person at the age of 24 I realized I had to do something. Regulating what I ate and how much I ate was next. It was really hard for me. At nights I used to order pizza from Dominos or Pizza Hut to make me feel better not to fulfill my hunger. Because of my class schedule, I didn’t eat breakfast. On Mondays, Wednes- days. and Fridays. I had class at 9:00A.M. I just got out of bed. took a shower and purchased something to eat at Nabo or the bookstore. It was quicker for me even though I had a full meal plan to get some- thing to eat. On Tuesdays and Thursdays ANN Lummm Acumm Contributor Walter Gies, Julie Schellack, and Tiffany Ramm have spent the past two months studying in Mexico in a program offered by Augsburg’s Center for Global Edu- cation (CGE), which offers free airfare to Mexico as an incentive to study in the Ausburg programs there. The Augsburg Mexico cam- pus is in Cuemavaca, a city known as the “City of Eternal Spring,” due to its year-round spring-like temperatures (70-80 degrees). Cemavaca is the capital of the state of Morelos. Both the city and the state are important in Mexican his- tory: the palace of the conqueror Heman Cortez borders the central plaza in Cuemavaca and Morelos is known as “the cradle of the Mexican revolution” of 1910 led by Emiliano Zapata, who was born in a small town near Cuernavaca. Although its population is now close to a million, it is a beautiful city with a fascinating colonial and revolutionary his- tory, and is located just an hour and a half south of Mexico City and three and a half hours north of Acapulco. CGE offers programs for Dear Dear Readers, This column is my last “Dear Kari” for the Echo. I have full- heartedly enjoyed these past three years of correspondence with you. Even though I am an amateur ad- vice columnist who is supposed to advise my readership, it is you who have taught me great lessons. I want to take an opportunity to use the next 430 words of the column to thank you, my devoted readers, for the past three years. Thank you for trusting me enough to write to me. I received letters about truly touching, com- plicated, and emotional situations. Your willingness to become vul- nerable to me and to the Augsburg community inspired me to allow myself to be vulnerable to my friends. You taught me that it’s OK to need other people and ask for advice every now and then. Thank you for writing to me. There were numerous Monday evenings before deadline where I panicked because I didn’t know if anyone was going to write in. Then, sure enough, an e-mail from students majoring or minoring in History, Spanish, Sociology, Political Science, International Re- lations, Religion, Youth & Family Ministries, and Women’s Studies. Walter, Julie, and Tiffany are all Social Work Majors par- ticipating in the semester pro- , gram entitled “Social Work in a Latin American Context,” which is offered together with eight other schools of Social Work and is designed to meet the curricular needs of second-semester junior ' Social Work majors. One big advantage of these programs is that they are open to students who’ve had as little as one semester of Spanish to students who are fluent in Spanish since there are both intensive Spanish courses and other courses taught in English. All programs also in- clude internship and independent research options. One of the unique aspects of the program is that most of the learning takes place outside the classroom walls, as the students have participated in numerous excursions to pyramids, museums, rural villages, and indigenous communities. The students travel exten- sively within the country and spend part of the time living with an unidentifi- , able yahoo ac- count showed WD up in my in- box request- ing advice regarding her boyfriend, or roommate, or parents. You saved me from the stress of having to be creative in making up a situation and person to write about. Thank you for being interested in how the column really worked, and asking me nearly every time you saw me in person, “Hey, do people really write into you?” I was always amused at how many people were concerned with either the legitimacy of the column or the severity of Augsburg students’ problems. I half suspect most of the people who asked me if people really write in were just scared they‘were the topic of the column that week. Yes, people really write in to me, but not always. Thank you for giving me op— portunity to utilize my creativity when you didn’t write in. Every issue addressed in this column was real, but not every person was. Sometimes I had to use examples from my own life. I joke that this advice column was the best self- therapy anyone could attempt because I probably helped myself more than anyone else. Mexican host families, both in urban and rural communities. For example, afier the first three weeks of intensive Spanish classes, they spent one week in the' ma! Nabua indigenous com- munity of Amatlan, where they stayed with local families. This gave them a unique opportunity to practice Spanish while leam- ing about indigenous culture and traditions. Next week, the Social Work students will begin a two-week exchange with social work stu- dents at the National Autonomous . University in Mexico City, so they have the opportunity to learn together with Mexican students. After that exchange, many of the students will complete internships in local social service organiza- tions. . The fall programs in Mexico are, “International Business & Global Citizenship” and “Cross- ing Borders: Gender and Social Change in Mesoamerica.” The spring programs are “Social Work in a Latin American Context” and “Migration and Globalization: Engaging Our Communities.” For more information about CGE study abroad programs in Mexico, see http://www.augsburg. edu/global/spa/mexsemhtml. Thank you for reading my column. I can’t express how touched I was whenever I’d walk through Christensen every Friday and overhear people discussing the latest advice, or recognizing me as the columnist, or just reading and enjoying the Echo. The Echo staff worked incredibly hard each week to put out an amazing newspaper, and your interest and support means a lot to all of us. Thank you for bearing with me when I maybe didn’t write the right things or give the best advice. An advice column is sort of a one-way dialogue in which I never really had an opportunity to receive feedback. If I ever wrote something that was either offen— sive or not helpful, please know that I am sorry and was writing with the best intentions. Finally, thank you for being such wonderful people. The Augs- burg community has sincerely been a surrogate home for many individuals. The students, faculty, and staff are what make this in- stitution a family. I have watched you support, encourage, lovingly criticize, hold accountable, and love each other for four years. I look forward to hearing about the great things you all will continue to do in these next years. I will forever be a proud Auggie alum because of who you all are. Thank you. I didn’t wake up at all until 11 in the morning and went to lunch. I was tired of what was happening. For a couple nights I searched for reasons why I was hungry at this time. Then I realized it wasn’t about food, but my body needed water. I immediately cut down my soda intake, by filling up a two- litter coke bottle with water. I used it to trick my mind into thinking I was drinking soda. I also excluded large amounts of fatty grease foods in my diet. There would be nights that I would just sit there just wanting to go to Taco Bell, or order online, but I fought it off. I told myself I’d feel better in the morning. I began eat- ing breakfast, and stopped eating useless calories afier dinner. As weeks went on, I began to include a half hour of cardio exercise afier my five-day a week weightlng program. I rode the bike during at the end of my work out and instead of miles or heart rate; my goal was to reach a certain calorie mark. My mark consisted of 200 to 300 calories in a half an hour. I went back to get my medi— cation and the doctor check up on my vital stats. My blood pressure went from 138 to 129 and my weight went from 211-196le. Now I’m healthier than I’ve been before, and I eat three meals a day. Would my strength-training program suffer from my change of habits? I don’t think it has. In fact before spring break I maxed out at 225lbs on tbebench, and] squatted 3351bs twice. For a person who’s 5fl6 and just barely 2001bs, I think that’s all right. There is a healthy way to loose weight, without taking medi- cation or dieting the solution has to do with ones inner will power to change themselves into healthier people. Show less
or. ,. Minneapolis, Minnesota Page 9 FEATURES 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 -: 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 3o 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 By Molly Dunne Across Down 1. “Famous” cookie name 1. Bustle 5. Son of Abraham 2. French sea 10. Poke 3. The act of... Show moreor. ,. Minneapolis, Minnesota Page 9 FEATURES 1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 -: 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 3o 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 By Molly Dunne Across Down 1. “Famous” cookie name 1. Bustle 5. Son of Abraham 2. French sea 10. Poke 3. The act of being dutiful 14. Money owed 4. Didn’t sit 15. Algerian soccer star Nasri 5. Film speeds 16. Nevada City 6. Vietnam town 17. Sandwich cookie 7. Prayer ending 18. “Marriage of Figaro” genre 8. Light, fluffy l9. Moby D1ck character 9. Word with “king” of “legs” 20. Molly Dunne question part 1 10.Italian designer 23. Theatrical device intended only for the audience 25. Burdened 28. Single 29. Tea Pots 35. Line of sun 36. Actress Olin 38. Spanish queen 39. Fill (as hunger) 40. Molly Dunne question part 2 43. Sh (as wit) 44. Biblical arden 45. Sufiix w1th hero 48. Had been 50. Eucharist plate 52. Where the blackbirds were baked? 56. Molly Dunne question part 3 58. Astronomical “major” 59. Scotch item 60. French milk 62. Teen USA pageant 63. lime periods 64. Memo header 65. Human ancestors 66. Lease 67. Lay down. say 11. 12. ple 13. 21. Drink water again I South Amer1can 1nd1genous peo- Birthday abbr. Just make it .AugSem captains? . Internet Service Provider . “ Peek” . British prep. School . TV Scientist Bill . Time period . Number type (abbr.) . Up to the t1me (abbr.) . Hawaii airport code . Dine . Dined . Barrett of Pink Floyd . Togethemess . Cut with tool again . Juice of a fruit or plant . Anger . Most knowledgeable . Question’s partner (abbr.) . Group of friends . Gather, or assemble . Type of bear . lrrationally angry . Revises . Drop’s partner . Opposite of close . Explosive letters The 1 0th anniversary of the death of Gilbert Toomer JOHN C. CERRITO Department QfBusincss Administration The following article was submitted to and published by the Echo ten years ago this month. The story was about Gilbert Toomer. a former Augsburg student who was shot and killed in the parking lot of a Minneapolis restaurant . Toomer was murdered in the prime of his life. I think that had he lived on. he would have been a good husband to his wife. and a good father to children. I wish that he would have gotten that chance. Had he lived. I think that at the end of it. most would have said that he was a good and decent man. This is a sad story but I am glad the Echo is re-printing this ar- ticle about Gil Toomer on this. the 10th anniversary. of his death. The re-printed Echo article makes reference to Anita Gay Hawthorne. For many years. Anita was the Director ofthe Pan— Afrikan Student Union. She was a _ strong and effective advocate for black students at Augsburg . When I heard that Anita had Lupus disease it set a chill through me. I knew Lupus disease well. Anita fought the good fight. but in the end Lupus took her life just like it took the lives of two of my younger sisters, Joanna and Jan. In the article I also cite my good friend Professor Francine Chakolis of our Social Work De- partment. Francine is still here. In my office, hung behind my desk chair is a framed copy ofthe Echo article along with a picture of the young man the story was writ— ten about ten years ago. Sometimes visitors to my office ask about the framed article and l get to tell Gil‘s story or at least as best I know it. When I leave Augsburg and close my office. I will take down the framed article about the young man. It will always be part ofthat which l carry with me. Tlre/bl/owing article uppeurcrl in the Echo, April 24, 1998. In Memoriam: Gilbert Toomer It would be several years ago now that I received a call from Anita Gay Hawthorne. She said she wanted me to meet and get to know a young man she would be sending to my office. lt didn't take long to agree to the meeting. When Anita asked you to do something. you just did it. Shortly after. a young man did show up and his name was Gilbert Toomer. Gil was from Jersey and he was here to go to school and play some football. He was tall and muscular with a solid athletic build. The color of his skin re— flected his African American father and his Caucasian mother. He was a good-looking kid. We hit it off pretty well. He began to work with me on a study that was investigating the de\ elopment and implementa- tion of self—managed work teams. Gil helped conduct the literature review. assisted in gathering field- based data. organi7ed the data. and helped write the introduction to the study. When the study was com« pleted. Gil‘s name was listed as one of three co—authors of a paper describing our work. The paper was accepted to be presented at a refereed conference in Chicago and was subsequently published in the proceedings. We presented the paper to- gether at a session of the confer- ence that was fully attended by academicians and practitioners. lf Gil was nervous. you couldn't tell. He introduced our work and joined me later to field questions. and at the podium. stood just as straight. tall and proud as a man could be. We drove to the conference in Chicago together. We talked the whole way. 1 had leamed the mea- sure of the man and I liked him. Gil was. after all. a young man. and as such his head was some— times clouded with the dreams of young men. dreams ofyoung men. dreams of fast cars. fancy clothes. chasing girls. and gaining great glory. As a young man. I too had known these dreams. Eventually though. the dreams of young inert give way so that in the end just the man is left. So. it was not that unusual for the distractions ofa young man to complicate the seriousness of life. Overall. Gil produced a checkered record at Augsburg; he demon- strated ability and sometimes he got good grades. but other times he was just somewhere else. Eventu- ally he drifted away. I had not seen Gil for a few years but we had remained friends. Occasionally. we would leave each other voice mail messages and sometimes one of his Augsburg buddies would stop by my office and extend Gil‘s regards. He was doing ().K.. had a good job. was working hard and remodeling a house for himselfand his bride-to- be. He had even completed some college extension classes. Over the weekend. I had skimmed the news about more shootings around Minneapolis. They had become so common that they rarely lead the neWs. You really don‘t think much about it anymore youjust tum the page and read something else. I didn‘t know that the young Black man who was shot to death in the restaurant parking lot was Gil. It was Francine (‘hakolis who first told me that he had been killed. Then a couple ot'days later. one of Gil‘s Augsburg buddies visited me in my office and told me what had happened. Apparently. Gil and two friends went out to (‘hi ('hi‘s for dinner on Saturday night. April 4. One of (jil’s companions run in to another man in the restaurant with whom he had been feuding. When Gil left the restaurant with his friends. a car pulled up and a shooter tired several shots, Gil took a bullet to the temple and died. Nobody else was serioust injured. As the story goes the bullet wasn‘t meant for Gil. but what dill terence does that make anyway. (iil was buried back home. He had come a long way from Jerseyjust to die from a bullet tired in Minneapolis. I couldn‘t help thinking of his mother and how she felt to see her boy come home like this. Ilis spirit is at rest now. comforted within the arms of the One who made him. Still. I wish I could shake his hand. Show less
Page 10 Minneapolis, Minnesota ARTS a: ENTERTAINMENT Middle Eastern Psychedelic Rock Comes to Minneapolis ALIA SCHEIRMAN Columnist Who is Haale? I didn’t know until last Wednesday evening. After I was finished working, I decided to see what was going on at the Cedar Cultural Center which is a few... Show morePage 10 Minneapolis, Minnesota ARTS a: ENTERTAINMENT Middle Eastern Psychedelic Rock Comes to Minneapolis ALIA SCHEIRMAN Columnist Who is Haale? I didn’t know until last Wednesday evening. After I was finished working, I decided to see what was going on at the Cedar Cultural Center which is a few doors down from where I work. Seeing Haale’s description, I was intrigued by this New York native. born of Persian parents. She combines Farsi and Eng— lish and old Persian proverbs to her rock-infused songs. In my opinion. Farsi is a beautiful language to listen to, so I could not pass this concert up. It is always fascinating when two distinct styles of music come together. Haale‘s lyrics are heavily influced by her two favorite poets: Allen Ginsberg and Rumi. In talk- ing about her experiences writing music. Haale mentioned the fact that Americans often view Iran as a completely different planet, populated with people with ab- solutely nothing in common with Americans. In 2003, when she visited Iran, she heard music like Tupac and Nirvana on cars’ speakers, and said, “They can’t buy it in stores, but they’re burning it for each other, and it just comes down to human beings waking up and trying to have a nice day, playing some music and getting to work or whatever.“ This was a reason Haale wanted to merge the sounds of traditional Middle Eastern rhythms and harmonies with rock and roll, to make the statement that there are plenty of things in common with all humans. regardless of what part of the world we each come from. Haale describes the musical elements of her work as being products of her years growing up having listened to Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, and Bjork. Hendrix especially made an impression on her, not only his music, but his written reflections of his music. During the concert, Haale recounted a story of Hendrix’s that she read, describing his time in the military. Even on military duty, he had his guitar with him, and he would tum the daunting sounds of the plane’s engine into music, and incorporate those sounds into his songs. Haale’s song “Floating Down” stems from this story, with lyrics such as: “Falling towards the shimmering waters and the lands where I will be a fighter on com- mand, still my love blooms like the parachutes above me...” Performing on guitar, Haale focused the concert’s program on her most recent album, “No Ceiling” which was released last month. With cello and percussion ac- companiment, her dark, soft voice was captivating. Between songs, she would tell a brief story (such as the one about Jimi Hendrix) or recite a piece of Rumi poetry. One of her songs, “Mast,” used the Farsi word for “mysti- fied” or “enchanted” as the title. The lyrics described her admira- tion for children’s mentality that everything is exciting and new, and as people grow older, it is more and more difficult to be satisfied or impressed by something. The music and the stories behind each one of Hale’s songs during the concert made the expe~ rience of seeing her live amazing. She obviously put a lot of thought into the meaning behind her mu- sic, which makes it very personal and relatable to the audience. If Haale makes a reappearance in Minneapolis someday, I encourage people to make an effort to go. ,A ril 11,2008 Big screen broadcast of ’ Metropolitan Opera’s La Bobeme: A case in contradictions BRIAN HALAAS Columnist When Peter Gelb and Franco Zeflirelli shared the Metropolitan Opera stage after a the curtain fell on a performance of Zeffirelli’s legendary production of “La Boheme,” there certainly must have been a confusing sense of contradiction in the air. Zeffirelli’s numerous pro- ductions of opera classics fol- low a pretty simple formula: enormous and stunning sets filled with hordes of chorus members (and usually some live animals) with a strict respect and atten- tion to the music in its purest form results in giddy audience members and appalled critics. This tradition that started with Zeffirelli’s first production of Falstaff in 1964 has essentially come to define The Met’s entire approach to opera. When Gelb took the post of New York’s flagship opera company a few years ago, he was seen by many as setting out on a conquest to completely revitalize that un- derstanding. Recently, the Met has seen a surge of exciting new produc- tions by theater directors and in the coming years the opera will commission a handful of new operas by unlikely composers such as music—theater composer Adam Guettel, singer-songwriter Rufus Wainright and jazz musi- cian Wynton Marsalis. Probably the most publicized and successful endeavor that Gelb initiated was the move to broadcast live opera perfor- mances in movie theaters across the country. Now, if you live in the Twin Cities, it only takes $22 and a quick drive out to a movie theater in the suburbs to experi- ence what is happening on the Met stage through HD visuals and full audio. This effort has been almost unan- imously lauded by people who are thrilled by the new dramatic depth that arises thanks to well- directed close-ups of world—class performers while also chowing down on a box of popcorn. When John Doyle’s fresh produc- tion of “Peter Grimes” hit the big screens last month, many critics noted that the production was a little limp in real life but was breathtakingly engaging on the big screen. When Franco Zeffirelli’s lavish production of “La Boheme” did the same this month, the result seemed to be the opposite. The problem with the HD broadcast of “La Boheme” comes from the same root cause that made Peter Gelb’s public cel- ebration of Zeffrrelli’s contri— bution to the Met so awkward weeks earlier. I’m not the only one who was struck by the obvi- ous contradiction here. Zeffirelli himself noted in a New York Magazine interview that “[the event] had the smell of ashes. I didn’t feel really at ease in that funeral parade. I felt, I am here for my commemoration, not my celebration.” While Gelb is making an efi‘ort to exalt Zeffirelli’s work, he is at the same time planning to slowly phase out the Zeffirelli productions that are still a part of the Met’s repertory. It was this tension between the old and the new that plagued ‘La Boheme’s movie theater broadcast. The lack of dramatic depth and character complexity that audiences have grown used to forgiving in the context of beautifiil stage designs and out- standing singing, suddenly isn’t forgivable when the soprano’s face occupies an entire movie screen. Certainly Zeffirelli never intended his production to be shared with audiences in this kind of intimate setting, but to the Met that setting is one that has not only brought opera to new audiences but it has flung the door wide open for opera artists to what seems like endless opportunities. It’s probably unfair and equally unlikely that the Met will abandon Zeffirelli’s productions altogether any time soon, but if nothing else. seeing “La Bo— heme” on the big screen is proof enough that the two men are at odds with each other. And, it‘s hard not to side with Gelb over Zeffrrelli on this debate. You could be diplomatic about it and say that the two are simply head- ing in different directions, but as I see it Gelb has a pretty specific direction and Zeffirelli simply isn’t going anywhere anymore. The deadly depressing silence ADRIAN MORAVEC Columnist It has now been two years since I began my stay at the moth- cial post of‘movie reviewer‘ in the Echo. With a great sense of regret (I‘ve made so many mistakes!) and a greater sense of gratitude (I‘ve made so many mistakes and yet life goes quietly on!). this is my last Echo article. I’ve thought long and hard about what to say. Should I go out with a bang? Perhaps I could write a diatribe against current cinema. Or perhaps, I should leave with a whimper. Just write a review of Leatherheads and leave with something like, “If only George C looney knew what he was do- ing.” But both of these approaches seem wrong. and I‘ve decided in- stead to take the middle ground. Yet. this middle ground ap— proach is. oftentimes. what I fear constitutes my greatest sin as ‘film critic.‘ What could be worse than a critic who neither loathes nor loves something? Even worse, what could be more boring to read? As I‘ve consciously thought of. and attempted to deal with this personal dilemma, I’ve found myself avoiding reviewing movies that are, in the simplest of words, mediocre. As such, it is in an ocean of mediocrity that I believe we swim in today. To extend the metaphor further, I think we are drowning in it. While it is extremely rare to leave a theater and say, “That movie was fantastic!“ it is quite ofien that audiences today leave the theater in silence. Of course, it is easy to blame this silence on audiences them- selves, they’re all separated/dis— connected by the airport-like mul- tiplex. they constantly complain about other theatergoers and even stop going to theaters because of them. so obviously they would avoid contact with others. These sons of statements are excuses that don‘t connect with me. When a movie is truly alive today. the audience reflects it. Of course, it is rare that this happens, but the audience isn’t to blame. In fact. there have been many times when I have seen a movie that is quite dead, and yet, in a desperate in the area (music, sports, galleries, theatres, etc.), and there is simply no time at all to do everything. That said, I believe. I truly struggle, the audience tries to be alive to it anyway. This leads me now to that in— evitable point where I, as a movie reviewer, try to convince you as to why film criticism is absolutely essential to achieve an important, meaningfiil, and influential cinema that, at its forefront, feels alive and gives life to the world we live in. This is never a simple task, and I leave little room to do it here, so I’ll be brief. Today, as we drown in cin- ematic mediocrity, we face a film crisis of epic proportions. The sea that is cinema is bigger than ever. In the summer, a new must—sec blockbuster comes out at least once a week. In the winter, there are perhaps three or four must—see ‘award movies’ released weekly. Add to that the constant deluge of DVDs both old and new. the spec- tacle of television (both live and on DVD), and the great number of other artistic ventures that happen believe, that cinema is absolutely worthwhile in this crowded world. Perhaps (and only perhaps), in rare moments, it’s even essential. That is my belief. As such, I ask you to let the movie reviewer be your guide. Beyond this, we must see movie reviews not as the conclusive statement of a film’s merit (just because that movie has a rotten tomato-meter does not mean it‘s bad), but instead as the beginning of a conversation. It is in this conversation that I think a powerfiil cinema hides. When critics begin to connect with audiences then movies will begin to connect with audiences. Now I don’t pretend to have achieved this sort of connection with anyone. In fact. writing in the Echo some- times has felt as if I‘m writing in a journal, as if I’m speaking to a wall. But I sense these same issues in the larger world of film criticism and I can’t help but wonder if it’s at least partially the reason cinema seems so unaffecting and plain today. So I ask a favor of you. If you love movies, take some time and find a critic or two out there in the world that you enjoy reading. The blessing of the lntemet is that you don’t have to buy the New York Times or the New Yorker or any other magazine or newspaper to read the best weekly criticism available. It is all at the tips of your fingers and it is all free. It’s my belief that once you start to read the opinions of people you respect and see a movie now and again with larger ideas in mind, you’ll realize that you start to magically have a dialogue with someone you’ve never met, some- one you’ve never talked to. This is the conversation that’s missing today. I can only wonder what the world of cinema would be like if we lived in that conversation rather than the seemingly inevi- table silence of that theater-leaving crowd. Show less