CHIPS May 5, 2016

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LUTHER COLLEgE

“Let the chips fall where they may.”

CHIPS

MAy 5, 2016

Serving the Luther College community since 1884.

VOLUME 138, NO. 23

NASA hosts rally against sexual assault lAurA proeScholdt STAFF WRITER Over 100 students, faculty and staff attended the Rally Against Sexual Assault sponsored by Norse Against Sexual Assault (NASA) in Marty’s on Saturday, April 30 from 4 to 6 p.m.

According to NASA member Hannah Butler (‘16), the goal of the rally was to “bring greater awareness and sensitivity” to the sexual assault that occurs at Luther College and elsewhere. Butler hopes that attendees left the rally with “greater empathy” toward survivors of sexual assault.

The rally included speeches by sexual assault survivors; a performance of Lady Gaga’s song written for sexual assault survivors “Til it Happens to You” by a cappella groups Beautiful Mess, Bromatic Progression and Undeclared; a performance of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by members of Aurora and Norsemen; a poetry reading by Shasa Sartin (‘19) and Hannah Maxa (‘17); talks by Luther administrators President Paula Carlson and Associate Director of Human Resources and Title IX Coordinator Matthew Bills; and video and theater presentations about consent by Top Banana and Luther College theatre students and volunteer players.

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Student performers act out a scene about consent in Marty’s on April 30.

Laura Proescholdt / Chips

Nordic Studies dept. Residence Life rejects continues to grow all off-campus housing lily kime STAFF WRITER The Nordic Studies department has been experiencing a significant amount of growth in the past several years. This growth is attributed to the changes made to the program in the 2013-14 academic year. Along with those changes, temporary adjustments concerning staffing are currently in the works for the 2016-17 academic year.

A few of the changes the department went through during the 2013-14 school year included the name change from Scandinavian Studies to Nordic Studies and a shift in the number

of credits students need to fulfill a major or minor in the department.

One of the most significant changes was the alterations made for the culturecore classes. These are the classes that are focused entirely on the culture of the region of study. In order to take a core culture class before the 2013-14 academic year, a student needed to be proficient in the language because the class itself would be taught completely in that language.

After the change, this requirement was removed, making the culture classes more accessible for more students.

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Assistant Professor of Nordic Studies Maren Johnson speaks with students in her class which Tonje Savitne (‘16) will take over in fall 2016.

Lily Kime / Chips

applications for 2016-17 mAtijA Nikolic STAFF WRITER Residence Life decided that no students would be approved to live off-campus for the upcoming 2016-17 school year because there will not be a shortage of housing spaces on campus in the fall.

The decision encouraged landlords and realty businesses who rely on the Luther studentmarket to reflect on their business model and even consider selling or remodeling their houses in order to make them suitable for families. Other landlords have taken a more negative stance in criticizing Luther’s policy change.

However, Housing Coordinator Vanessa Wiest explained that private individuals do not influence Residence Life decisions, as the first priority is meeting the full-campus capacity. This capacity is influenced by a large number of factors that change over time.

“When we look at [deciding] the number of students that we are allowing off campus, it’s actually built upon a number of factors including the size of upperclassman classes, including the [students] that will be studying abroad, student teaching and students that are participating in the Rochester [nursing] program, the Chicago program and those sorts of things,” Wiest said. “We also look at the number of people of non-traditional age, who are at least 23 years old, married or commuting from their

legal guardian’s home, and also additionally a number of people that will leave Luther.”

Makeda Barkley (‘17) claims that she is not disappointed with the outcome because it was made clear to all students when they were signing their enrollment that Luther is a four-year residential college. However, she believes that the housing process as a whole has space for improvement.

“Overall, the room-draw process is inefficient, but the off-campus decision was fast,” Barkley said. “I just don’t get why they would let us apply if they didn’t approve anyone.”

According to Wiest, students were informed in the fall that the likelihood of off-campus approvals will be slim, but that they were still given a chance to apply because Residence Life did not yet know all the factors at the time application were due.

“It’s difficult for us to predict,” Wiest said. “We had applications due on March 7 and on March 9 we put our numbers together. We held the application process and waited until the last minute to have the true, most clear picture. We didn’t want to give people false hope. We sent out an email in the fall saying that it is not looking very good. We try to be as transparent as possible, and we will re-visit our numbers as there is still a possibility for this year through a waiting list.” lANdlordS, PAgE 4

News

Page 2 May 5, 2016

News editors: katie NelsoN & jacob warehiMe

48 seniors inducted into Phi Beta Kappa Joram mutenge staFF writer On Sunday, April 24, 48 seniors were inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa society.

The ceremony took place in the Center for Faith and Life Recital Hall.

The Phi Beta Kappa society was originally founded by students at the College of William and Mary in 1776.

The society is now nationally recognized and is considered the U.S.’s most prestigious academic honor society with 270 chapters located on different college campuses across the United States.

Professor of Political Science and Chairman of Luther’s Phi Beta Kappa Chapter Michael Engelhardt said that the

society selects people who have demonstrated excellence in the liberal arts education.

Engelhardt explained the selection process.

“We only choose a maximum of 10 percent of the graduating class,” Engelhardt said. “In order to get in, [students] need to have three semesters of foreign language, 140 or above level of mathematics and 94 credits of liberal arts courses.”

Because the selection process is not a public affair, many students were surprised to find that they were selected. Emily Mueller (‘16) said that her acceptance in the society was unexpected.

“I just received a letter in my SPO saying, ‘Congratulations you’ve been accepted,’” Mueller said. “I don’t know how it

happened.”

Ryan Goos (‘16) had a similar experience with his selection.

“It’s not secret, but it’s not super well-known how people are chosen,” Goos said.

Engelhardt also said that part of this surprise comes from the fact that there is no fixed GPA requirement for the selection process.

“The GPA varies from year to year, but the general GPA is very high,” Engelhardt said. “There is a cutoff point, but it changes depending on the number of the graduating class.”

Engelhardt said that after the requirements have been set, invitation letters are sent to eligible students and that students are free to accept or turn down the invitation.

Engelhardt said for students

there are many benefits that come with being a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

“Everyone knows about Phi Beta Kappa in the academic and in the business world and having it on your resume will tell people that you’re liberally educated,” Engelhardt said.

“You also receive newsletters to see what other members are up to.”

According to Engelhardt, 17 U.S. presidents out of 44 were Phi Beta Kappa members, and 38 Supreme Court justices and 136 Nobel Prize winners were also members of the society.

Goos hopes that being a member of the society is going to make it easier for him to achieve his goal of becoming a professor.

“I am thinking about going

into academia as a professor and I think it’s especially a big deal if I apply for a job as a professor at a university,” Goos said. “I think it’s really big for academia recognition.”

Inductee Amanda Jenkins (‘16) said that she was happy with the idea of having something in common with many important members of society.

“The lineage that comes with [being a member] is a really great thing,” Jenkins said.

“Having something in common with the presidents and the Nobel Prize laureates is great.”

Engelhardt added that most colleges and universities do not have a chapter on their campuses and that it is an honor for Luther College to have one.

Student creates panel to explore disagreement on college campuses elyse grothaus staFF writer Senior philosophy major Webster Gehring (‘16) created a panel to discuss what it means to disagree with others. Part of his senior project, the panel was titled “Creating Space to Disagree on College Campuses” and was held on Thursday, April 28 in Valders 2 Panelists Betsy Fawcett (‘17), Dean for Student Life Corey Landstrom, Assistant Professor of Communication Studies Thomas Johnson and Associate Professor of Religion Sean Burke joined with Gehring by discussing questions in a casual, open setting. They discussed the value of free speech, what it means to disagree with others and how different people can help create the space needed to disagree both in the Luther community and the rest of the world. The panel also took questions from the audience about the nature of conversation, especially in classrooms.

Gehring initially became interested in the subject after reading philosopher John Stuart Mill’s book “On Liberty” in a philosophy class about tolerance. Gehring said he connected with the idea that people need to listen to and hear those who hold opinions that they do not necessarily agree with.

“I really hope that everyone walked away

[from the panel] with one thing that they will do differently when they talk to people,” Gehring said. “Hopefully people realize that the people they disagree with are not crazy and maybe they are just thinking about things differently.”

Associate Professor of Philosophy Storm Bailey served as Gehring’s senior paper adviser.

The two spent time discussing this topic during a course that Gehring took from Bailey in fall semester of 2015. When Gehring had the idea to put together a panelist discussion on his research, Bailey helped with the planning and logistics of the event.

“Web is very interested in the nature of conversation on college campuses,” Bailey said.

“He wanted to make a space to talk about these issues in our lives and our community. He was trying to make a conversation happen, and I was there to support him, and he was able to make that space where everybody felt open enough that they could say what it looks like from their own perspective.”

Philosophy major Brenna Hafner (‘17) said she attended the event to join the larger discussion about what it means to disagree, and the value of understanding a different point of view.

“It was an interesting dynamic to have professors up there talking about what they

webster gehring (‘16) introduces the panelists. the panel and discussion were both part of gehring’s senior project. Pictured are panelists thomas johnson and betsy Fawcett (‘17).

Annie Goodroad / Photo Bureau can do,” Hafner said. “I think generating conversation about how to generate conversation is very important. I liked the answers, too, because I don’t think any of them were perfect, and that’s the point.”

Assistant Professor of Communication Studies Thomas Johnson was a panelist at the

discussion. He originally became involved in the event through his colleague Assistant Professor of Philosophy Holly Moore, who also served as Gehring’s senior project adviser.

“I was impressed by the questions that were posed by students, particularly in thinking about different angles and ways of considering key issues,” Johnson said. “There is no grand answer to a lot of the questions that we asked, but when we can come to a space where we can understand where the other person is coming from and we can see why they are thinking the way they are thinking or why they are doing what they are doing, then we can start to have empathy toward one another and recognize that we are all human beings.”

The Center for Ethics and Public Life and the women and gender studies program also hosted a panel to keep conversation going through titled “What Does ‘Safe Space’ Mean for Us?” on Tuesday, May 3 at 5:15 p.m. in Olin 102.

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life outside luther: steVe Peterson MaNagiNg editor

Trump Win in Indiana prompts Cruz dropout:

According to CNN, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump solidified his bid for his the party’s presidential nomination after winning the Indiana Primaries on Tuesday. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who had been gaining momentum against Trump dropped out of the race soon after the defeat.

Trump now holds 1,041 of the 1,236 Republican delegates need to secure the GOP nomination for president. Kasich has 153 delegates

Obama at last White House Correspondent’s Dinner: President Obama made his final appearance at the White House Correspondent’s Dinner last Saturday, April 30. The annual dinner which is attended by journalists, celebrities and politicians is a scholarship benefit for students in college journalism programs. According to CNN, Obama took shots at nearly all the candidates for next year’s election before concluding with “Obama out” and a literal mic drop. assistant Professor of art joseph Madrigal instructs students during his ceramics course.

Karl BaDger staFF writer The faculty of the Visual and Performing Arts Department will vote on potential changes to the art program. The vote will occur on May 24 during the final fullfaculty meeting of the 2015-16 academic year.

The proposed changes include ending the intermedia arts major, making the art history minor a correlative minor and reforming the senior project format. In addition to those three potential changes, art courses previously taught by retired professors would be removed from the course catalog, while three new courses—a 4D art lab, a 2D studio course and a 300-level graphic design course—would be added to the catalog.

The proposed changes come from the culmination of years of conversation within the art program. The process included an external reviewer from Carleton College who made suggestions to the art program in the spring of 2015.

Associate Professor of Art and Art Chair Benjamin Moore (‘02) noted that the process of making these changes is similar to the process that any other academic

program undergoes at Luther.

“This is the process to move forward in any academic program,” Moore said. “There’s a lot of vetting that happens. Even as a department, many of the revisions that we’ve done to our courses and how we tweak the language of our major have actually been in conversation for three years, and the last program revision we did was five years ago.”

One of the more prominent proposed changes would be the removal of the intermedia arts major, which is an interdisciplinary major that combines art, theatrer and dance.

Moore felt that while the intermedia arts major was good in theory, it suffered from issues such as low enrollement.

“The intermedia major was a beautiful idea,” Moore said. “It was a pretty wild idea, but students didn’t jump on it like we expected [the low turnout] is indicative of specialization that happens within art, theater or dance.”

If the proposal passes, another reform would be to make the art history minor a correlative minor to the art major. This means that classes would be required outside of the art program in order to fulfill the art history minor. Because of this, art history would be coded

Maddie Miller / Photo Bureau

as “ARTH” instead of “ART” in the course catalog.

Assistant Professor of Art Joseph Madrigal explained the reasoning behind this decision.

“The rationale and the reality is that art history is an established discipline,” Madrigal said. “Luther has lumped art and art history under one acronym, but in reality art history is a very different discipline than studio art.”

The final prominent proposed change would be to reform how art majors complete their senior projects. The senior project is currently a four-credit course taken in the spring of senior year.

It includes both a senior paper and the creation of a piece of art. If the proposed changes are voted into effect, the senior project would be divided into two two-credit courses with one class per semester.

Art major Rachel Madryga (‘16) felt that she would have preferred to have this type of project in her senior year.

“Art majors do a lot of things that people don’t realize,” Madryga said. “I’ve been working on my work all year, and then I wrote a huge paper. Doing both at once was really stressful, and if I would’ve been able to split it up, I could’ve focused on my artwork instead of having to work on my paper.”

Target boycott gains support:

According to The Washington Post, the online petition to boycott Target stores garnered over 1 million electronic signatures as of Tuesday morning.

The petition comes after an announcment by Target to allow transgender people access to the bathroom of the gender that they identify with.

Target has supported their move under the federal Equality Act, “which provides protections to LGBT individuals, and opposes action that enables discrimination.”

Groups like the American Family Association have led the charge against Target arguing that this new policy poses a danger to women and children.

China passes law bolstering security controls on foreign NGOs:

According to The Guardian, the Chinese government passed a new law increasing their ability their control of foreign NGOs. The controversial new law gives security forces the abiliuty to interrogate members of NGO groups operating in the country.

Critics argue that this law will deal a severe blow to non-profit groups which deal with civil issues such as the environment, human rights, health and eductation.

President Xi Jingping is being criticized by many for trying to rein in criticism against the Communist Party.

‘Hamilton’ nominated for 16 Tony Awards:

According to the New York Times, Broadway’s hit show “Hamilton” was nominated for a record 16 Tony Awards on Tuesday.

The show, which centers on the life of American founding father Alexander Hamilton, uses hip hop to tell its story as opposed to traditional “showtunes.”

News

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News editors: Katie NelsoN & JaCob warehiMe

Enrollment rises in Nordic Studies department nordic StudieS, Page 1 According to Nordic Studies student Race Fisher (‘19), these changes have had a direct impact on the rapid growth of the program in the last few years, and this growth also has to do with the connection the Nordic Studies department has with other departments within Luther College.

“They’re trying to have classes that aren’t strictly Norwegian,” Fisher said.

“They’re tapping into other areas of study, like history classes that also cover Nordic topics and English classes that also cover Nordic topics.”

A temporary change in staffing will take place during the fall 2016 semester.

The Nordic Studies department had been searching for someone to fill Assistant Professor of Nordic Studies Maren Johnson’s position for the semester while she is on maternity leave. The decision was made that Tonje Sakvitne (‘16) will fill the position as a Language Teaching Assistant.

Sakvitne has only been here at Luther College for one year but started her higher education in Norway. Once she graduates, she will be trained as a Norwegian math, science and social science teacher.

She was initially introduced to the Nordic Studies department as a part of her work study because was interested in working in a job where she would use her knowledge and skills as a native Norwegian. Because of her training in education and ability as a fluent speaker of Norwegian, she was chosen to fill

Johnson’s position for the fall of 2016.

“I really appreciate this opportunity, and I’m really honored that they asked me to fill in for [Johnson],” Sakvitne said. “I just hope that, when she comes back, that the students know some Norwegian. I’ll try my very best.”

Johnson expressed her enthusiasm for the choice of her replacement soon after the decision had been made.

“I am very excited that it will be possible for Tonje to serve as my replacement in the fall,” Johnson said.

“She is a dedicated and talented teacher, who is passionate about Norwegian language and Norway. She will be a fabulous part of the program in the fall.”

Not only has the department been doing work within Luther, but they have also been reaching out to the community to further students’ knowledge and to serve the community.

Nordic Studies student Matthew Dosland (‘19) has experienced working within the community to learn more about it.

“We’ve done a lot of work with the Versterheim,” Dosland said. “We’ve been learning history of the Decorah community and area, which involves a lot of Norwegian and Scandinavian history.”

Luther students who are involved in the Nordic Studies department find many different opportunities to work within the community. Over the summer, Fisher, Alex Aakre (‘19), and James Miller (‘19) will be working with Johnson on a project based on Nordic myths and fairy tales. The goal of this

project is to gather stories and create games to help teach these stories. Then, the students will teach the stories and create games out of stories they have researched themselves.

According to a number of Luther students involved in the department including Matthew Lunning (‘16), there has been an increased amount of interest in the department not only because of the changes it has gone through but also because of the area of study itself.

“I’d always heard that Norwegian was a fun language to learn because everyone is used to taking Spanish or something else they’ve taken in high school,” Lunning said. “I took it because it was different.”

No matter the inspiration for initially becoming involved in the department, many students connected with Nordic Studies encourage others to experience a class within the department. Nathaniel Koch (‘17), a student who has taken numerous Nordic Studies courses since his first year, encourages his fellow students to explore areas of study that are not in their major, including the Nordic Studies department.

“I know at Luther we stress our liberal arts education, but I think sometimes people get really sucked into their major,” Koch said. “I think it’s good to branch out from that and get some new experiences, to get some different cultural experiences.”

Maren Johnson teaches Norwegian in Main.

Lily Kime / Chips

Decorah landlords Survivors speak at rally set to lose renters against sexual assault for the 2016-17 year naSa, Page 1

houSing, Page 1 According to Darrell Schmitt, a landlord to students for almost two decades, it is reasonable that Luther is changing its approval numbers under the current enrollment issues, but he still believes that students can benefit from living off-campus.

“Students can develop themselves through cooking, paying their own bills and doing their own laundry.” Schmitt said.

“You get that essential experience before moving to the real world.”

Interim Director of Residence Life Kelsey Boyce explained that other institutions similar to

Luther are experiencing a similar situation.

“A lot of our peer-institutions have very similar policies when they have a four-year living on campus requirement,” Boyce said.

“I’ve heard of Gustavus, which is a very comparable school to Luther, that last March they approved 200 of their students to live off campus, and this year they approved none. I think that any Luther student who talks with friends at other similar schools will hear that they are experiencing the same thing, and they shouldn’t sign leases until then they are approved to live off campus.”

Four survivors, Rachel Madryga (‘16), Cecilia Mitchell (‘18), Brigid Burke (‘18) and Jennifer Hickey (‘19), shared their stories at the event. Burke said she hoped listeners learned three things from her story: that people should ask survivors how they would like to handle the situation rather than telling them what to do, that “little things” like slut-shaming accrue to form rape culture and that sexual assault has a lasting impact on survivors.

Burke hopes her talk helped to make the issue more real for the Luther community.

“For me it’s always scary talking about it openly, but I think honestly people don’t realize how prevalent the issue is until they can put a face to this problem,” Burke said. “I know a lot of friends that

President Carlson speaks at the rally against sexual assault.

Laura Proescholdt / Chips

said, ‘I didn’t become passionate about this until I found out that someone I knew had it happen to them.’”

Burke also hopes that the event provided a sense of solidarity and support for survivors.

“Obviously we don’t all have the same stories, but we all understand the feeling of victimization and isolation and we’ve all had backlash against us, so I think being able to unite with other people is really cool,” Burke said.

Madryga wanted listeners to come away from hearing her story with a better understanding of the universality of sexual assault.

“I wanted people to take away that it can happen to anybody,” Madryga said. “It doesn’t matter who you are. You could be the strongest person anyone has ever met.”

Advocates from the Riverview Center, a resource for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence in Iowa and Illinois, attended the rally to provide information and support to allies and survivors.

NASA formed in the fall of 2015 and includes students, faculty and staff committed to bringing attention to the issue of sexual assault and supporting sexual assault survivors, according to Butler. The Rally Against Sexual Assault is the last in a series of events sponsored by NASA throughout the month of April, which is Sexual Assault Awareness month.

Other events included a lecture by feminist writer Kate Harding, a screening of the documentary “The Hunting Ground,” a sexual assault awareness chapel and bystander intervention training.

NASA welcomes anyone to attend their public meeting on May 5 at 7:00 p.m. in the Mott-Borlaug Room in Dahl Centennial Union to plan for fall semester.

Arts & EntErtAinmEnt A&E Editor: JEnnA nElson

PAgE 5 mAy 5, 2016

family foundationS. (From left) Emily garst (‘17), maggie sulentic (‘16) and Cierra Buckner (‘18) rehearse in storre theatre where the performances will take place on may 7 and 8.

Emma Schlabach / Chips

Student playwright presents “Predisposition” emma Schlabach stAFF WritEr “Predisposition,” a play written by Emma Cassabaum (‘16) and directed by Maggie Sulentic (‘16), follows a grandmother with Alzheimer’s disease and how her daughter and her adopted Native American granddaughter cope with their situation through a complicated family relationship. Both Cassabaum and Sulentic produced this show for their senior projects.

The cast of “Predisposition” is comprised of Emily Garst (‘17), Cierra Buckner (‘18) and Sulentic. Cassabaum aided Sulentic in directing the show as part of their senior projects.

“The show explores family relationships between women and multi-generations, as well as how our genetics and our family can affect our outlook and how we live our lives,” Garst said.

Buckner describes the show from the perspective of her character, a Native American girl who was adopted as a infant.

“There is something to be said about the uncertainty that comes with the things we are predisposed to,” Bucker said. “Along with that there’s definitely this questioning of, ‘Do I define myself on this family that I have come

into or am I defined by where I came from?’”

The origin of Cassabaum’s project developed from a final exam question she had in her junior year. She was asked to write the plot for the next great American novel in the context of other classic American literature.

“It started with Professor Andy Hageman’s American Literature course’s final exam,” Cassabaum said. “I did not prepare for the final essay at all, but when I sat down to do it, the idea just showed up!”

The roots of the story are very personal to Cassabaum; she based one of the characters on her grandmother.

“My maternal grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s when I was in high school, and her disease really progressed in the years I have been in college,” Cassabaum said. “The two of us are very close, and she tends to be at ease with me, so I tend to be the messenger for my dad and his siblings for things that need to get to her.”

Cassabaum’s project was not always a play, but it started as a short story that was based on research and interviews she did the summer before.

“I got back in the fall and started writing like I was putting together a novella, and that failed miserably,” Cassabaum said. “Suddenly I just

had this light bulb go off and thought, ‘What if it was a play?’”

Although the project took a new form, Cassabaum still utilized most of her prior research.

“I went back to the drawing board, did some more research and tried my hand at a couple of scenes that I had written before, and there I found out this is exactly what it needed to be,” Cassabaum said. “[Garst] plays a character that is more or less based on my grandmother, so a lot of her dialogue is things that my grandmother said in those recordings.”

After the script began to take shape, Cassabaum recruited Sulentic, Garst and Buckner for her project.

“It was definitely the mutual connection [that brought the cast together] and it just sort of happened,” Garst said. “We hang out a lot outside of rehearsal and have become a really close-knit group.”

Buckner attests to the sense of community

the group has.

“I didn’t know [Cassabaum] really well until this year because I was in a show with [a mutual friend],” Buckner said. “But [Cassabaum] has become my big sister over these past few months.”

Buckner comments on the rare opportunity the cast has to perform a play in which they have such control over.

“What’s really unique about this experience is that I’m not working with a script that hundreds of people have performed before,” Buckner said. “Any cast becomes a family, but this is so different because we have all had our own authority with [the play], such as the rehearsal process and the evolution of the script, which is so different from any other production.”

The performances will take place in Storre Theatre on May 7 and 8 at 7:30 p.m. A segment of the show will also be presented as part of the Student Research Symposium on May 6.

home. director maggie sulentic (‘16) and Cierra Buckner (‘18) rehearse a scene that takes place in the eclectic living room set.

Emma Schlabach / Chips

Features

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Features editor: erika storvick

laTe nighT aT luTher Panel. From left: vice President and dean for student Life corey Landstrom, Marlon Henriquez (‘15) and ken Barr discuss strengths.

Jana Mueller / Chips

Thrive with Your Strengths jana mueller staFF Writer On Tuesday, April 26, the Director of Student Strength Development at Kalamazoo Valley Community College Ken Barr visited Luther’s campus to give an interactive lecture, “Thrive with Your

Ken Barr.

Photo courtesy of Gallup Strengths Center

Strengths,” in Valders 206 at 7:30 p.m. It featured Luther’s StrengthsQuest program and included a panel discussion, “Late Night at Luther.” A gallery of student-made strengths posters featuring each student’s top five strengths was also shown.

This interactive event was held at the end of the year to celebrate the program, emphasize the relevance of the program for students and teach students how to incorporate their strengths into their everyday lives.

Luther’s Strengths-Based Servant Leadership Program aims to support students as they discover their talents, develop them into strengths and apply those strengths to their daily lives. Students take an online test that measures their various strengths and ranks them from 1-34. The assessment then gives a brief description about what each strength means specifically for

each student.

According to Strengths Program Coordinator Ann Landstrom, Barr has worked with Luther’s Strengths program before. He interacts with Kalamazoo students on a daily basis as a one-onone coach and strives to help students learn how to use their strengths to accomplish their goals.

“Ken was originally here for Super Strengths Saturday in 2015,” Landstrom said. “At that time, the strengths program was mainly being used for RA staff and faculty. This year, we have used it for not only those groups, but Immersion program students and more than 400 Fit and Well students of the freshman class as well.”

Barr focused much of his attention on using strengths daily and developing those skills.

He believes that awareness of people’s strengths is essential to working in a group setting.

“If you know that a person has mostly strategic-thinkingtype strengths, you will know that that is how they function,” Barr said. “So if they seem like they are angry or not very friendly all the time, it is not because they don’t want to interact with you, it is because that is what their personality is.

Knowing each other’s strengths allows for a better functioning environment.”

The funding for the Strengths-Based Servant Leadership Program was granted to Luther by Mick and Sandy Lee in 2013. Some alums provide continued financial support for the program as well. While the program is relatively new to Luther, the StrengthsFinder program has been used around the world for much longer.

The purpose of the program is to promote greater selfawareness, engagement and well-being among students as they discern their calling and

prepare for their career.

“Strengths Finder allows us to gain affirmation and awareness for goals to pursue as well as for direction and focus in our lives,” Landstrom said.

Those involved in the program emphasize the importance of keeping the conversation going outside of various seminars and lectures.

“Many people may think that talking about strengths is awkward or it should only happen during seminars,” Strengths Assistant Alyssa Wildenauer (‘17) said. “But if you make a habit of bringing it up in everyday conversation, you will find that you can talk normally about it, and it may even help you to grow in understanding of yourself and those around you.”

According to Barr, in order to actively develop your strengths, it is just a matter of making a plan and sticking to it.

“Make a commitment every day to practice using your strengths,” Barr said. “Similar to marking in a planner that this project needs to be done by a certain date, you can make a point of carrying out a specific strength.”

According to Barr, strengths development does not have to be formal. Even simple activities can aid strengths development.

“You can feed your WOO strength, for example, by taking someone out for lunch,” Barr said. “Engage in activities that really enhance that particular strength. This will get you more in tune with who you are.”

Features

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Features editor: erika storvick

May 5, 2016

Namibian bishop visits campus as part of his tour of the united states, Namibian Bishop ernst //gamxamub spoke in chapel. ana lóPez staFF Writer Bishop Ernst // Gamxamub from Namibia, as part of a visit to Luther’s campus this past weekend, was invited to speak during chapel on Friday, April 29. A choir of students who participated in the January term Choral Singing in Namibia and South Africa course performed. Bishop Ernst’s visit, his first to campus, aimed to strengthen the connection between Luther and Namibia. //Gamxamub’s chapel talk was part of his current tour of the United States, which covers several Lutheran colleges and churches and will last until May 8. He made the visit in order to strengthen the relationship with Namibia. According to Campus Pastor Mike Blair, the Northeast Iowa Synod, of which Luther is a member, partners with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia.

“It’s great to be in the U.S.A. and tour among friends and companions,” //Gamxamub said. “We in the Republic of Namibia share the same faith and stand on the basis of Lutheranism.”

Namibia is a predominantly Lutheran country. As such, the faith and the Lutheran church connects these two different countries.

“It helps bring together these partnerships and connection that we often know from a distance,” Blair said.

During his speech in chapel, //Gamxamub focused on harmony, unity and partnership among people of different origins. He also took the opportunity to recognize and thank Luther College by handing President Paula Carlson the emblem of the Lutheran Evangelical Church of Namibia.

“Please accept this on behalf of many people in Namibia,” //Gamxamub said. “We love the USA.” During his chapel talk, //Gamxamub highlighted the influence of the Lutheran church and the U.S. in the Namibian struggle for independence and talked about unity under the same faith.

“Where is the place where we can all be united?” // Gamxamub said. “Is it not God’s sanctuary? This one, where we are taught what unity is… They are also one

Brunch and converSaTion. Bishop ernst // gamxamub enjoys brunch in Peace dining after speaking in chapel.

Ana López / Chips of those who contributed toward the independence of our country, and therefore we value this friendship.”

The relationship between Luther and Namibia is very close, as every four years during J-term, a group of students travel to Namibia and South Africa to participate in a choral cultural exchange.

The J-term Choral Singing in Namibia and South Africa course began in 2006 with Gregory Peterson (‘83) and former music faculty Tim Peter, who has since been replaced

by Assistant Professor of Music Andrew Last (‘97).

Students who participated in the J-term course in 2014 performed some of their songs during chapel on Friday.

“The J-term Africa choir has been a really rich connection [through] musical exchange between Luther College and communities in Namibia,” Blair said.

“It just brings some really core values together.”

The directors of the J-term choir select about 24 students who want to learn traditionally western music and share it throughout Namibia. Students then get to learn and sing Namibian music.

“It is really a choral exchange and it actually is a really good [example] of what intercultural is,” Peterson said.

The chapel service Friday attracted many members of the Luther community. Among the attendees were students, alums and other members of the community.

Merve and Anne Kristofferson (‘62) are members of the Decorah community and attended the chapel service.

They are familiar with the Namibian-Lutheran bond as they had the opportunity to work with Namibian students.

“In 1986 we started bringing Namibian students to the college I was president of in Nebraska, another Lutheran college,” Merve Kristofferson said. “We met a lot of wonderful Namibian students.”

They also appreciated the choral performance as part of chapel.

“It was wonderful,” Merve Kristofferson said. “I didn’t realize that [the choir] had learned all of that as part of their class. We were part of the Americans who were cheering for Namibia to become independent.” //Gamxamub explained that the purpose of his visit to Luther was to maintain the pre-existing relationship with the college.

“The purpose of our visit is to strengthen the relations that have existed since 1945,” //Gamxamub said. “We are here to look after the solid base that was laid by our predecessors to be in partnership and form a strong base.”

After chapel, Ernst // Gamxamub had lunch with President Paula Carlson, students and other staff before continuing his tour.

“it’s great to be in the u.s.a. and tour amongst good friends and companions.”

-Bishop ernst // gamxamub

Building relaTionShiPS. President Paula carlson and Brandon Peck (‘16) listen attentively during brunch with Bishop ernst // gamxamub.

Ana López / Chips

ARtS & EntERtAInMEnt

PAgE 8 MAy 5, 2016

A&E EdItoR: JEnnA nElSon

luther brass ensembles in concert

tuba or not tuba. Associate Professor of Music Michael Smith conducts the tuba and euphonium choir at the concert. sidney larsen StAff WRItER The Luther College Brass Ensembles and Clarinet Choir showcased the hard work and time dedicated to their respective instruments over the course of the semester with a concert on April 27 in the Center for Faith and Life.

The brass groups included a trombone choir, trumpet ensemble, tuba and euphonium choir, French horn ensemble and a combined brass ensemble.

All of the ensembles featured in the concert practice for about an hour once a week throughout the semester as a seminar. Adjunct Faculty in Music and director of the horn choir Rebecca Boehm Shaffer described some of what the horn studio focuses on during their rehearsals.

“Every one of the ensembles meets during seminar times,” Boehm Shaffer said. “We work on the pieces and study various aspects of horn playing and of musicmaking through the pieces. It gives us an intimate chance to discuss problems we have as horn players and things we have to learn.”

According to Assistant Professor of Music and director of the trumpet ensemble John Cord, while it may seem odd to include the Clarinet Choir in a Brass Ensembles concert, it gives the clarinets which they otherwise would not have.

“It does seem a little awkward because it’s all brass,” Cord said. “But they don’t have that opportunity to do a woodwind studio concert, and we happen to have a huge clarinet choir, hence them being in our recital.”

According to Cord, the trumpet

studio had an especially interesting line-up of pieces for the evening because each has a tie back to the Luther trumpet studio.

“Last night was really special for us,” Cord said. “Our four pieces were very representative and personally connected to this studio and even the city of Decorah.”

The concert included a piece composed by trumpet player Benjamin Sides (‘17), a piece commissioned especially for the trumpet studio, a piece written by a recent Decorah High School grad and a piece arranged by Cord himself.

The final piece performed at the concert was played by the entire combined Brass Ensemble and was titled “Canzon No. 35” by Tiburtio Massaino, arranged by Associate Professor of Music and director of the low brass choir and trombone choir Michael Smith.

This combined ensemble received mixed reviews from professors and musicians. Boehm Shaffer, who directed the large group piece, appreciated the chance to bring such a large and talented group of student musicians together.

“I thought it was loud,” Boehm Shaffer said. “It was exciting to put all of the kids together because we have such a large brass department here at Luther. It’s large for any school, let alone one our size, and the skill level is very high. It’s exciting for them to play together in a big brass group and it’s fun for the faculty to hear them respond to that.”

Member of the trumpet ensemble Liam Fraser (‘18), on the other hand, did not feel that the large group piece effectively displayed the skill of the musicians involved.

“I personally don’t like it,” Fraser said. “It’s just loud and it’s at the end

of a long concert, and we have one rehearsal to put it together. It’s like, ‘Alright that was kind of neat,’ but also kind of like not representative of how the studios have been, so personally I’m not a fan of the mass brass piece.”

Fraser explained that the length of the concert could be acting as a possible deterrent for student attendance of the concert.

“It’s never very well-attended by students because they kind of know its going to be long and they’re not very interested, which is a shame because we spend all semester putting this together just to showcase for a little bit,” Fraser said.

According to trombone player Kenneth Goins (‘17), there was an increase in the turnout this semester.

“Honestly, I think it was more than we usually get because last

bring in the band. the brass concert featured over 100 student musicians.

Sidney Larsen / Chips concert I could count the number of people in the crowd, and this time there were a lot more people,” Goins said. “They also made us stay out and watch the other ensembles, which is really nice. It’s nice to be able to perform in front of your peers so they can see what you’re working on.”

Boehm Shaffer said that she is extremely proud of what the musicians accomplished and showcased in this concert, and that these ensembles help to make the Luther bands and orchestras better.

“We’re all really proud of them because they really take their performance seriously and work hard to make it the best they possibly can,” Boehm Shaffer said.

“A lot of camaraderie comes out of these groups, and they carry that on into their large ensembles and it’s fun to see them work that way and grow.”

Sidney Larsen / Chips

OPINION

PAGE 9

MANAGING EDITOR: STEVE PETERSON

Luther College Chips Chips is a student publication of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. The paper is designed, composed edited and managed entirely by Luther students. It is published weekly during the academic year, excluding the month of January.

The opinion section is designed to provide a forum for Chips, its staff members and the Luther community.

Opinions expressed in articles, editorials and columns do not necessarily represent the views of the Chips staff.

The author is solely responsible for opinions expressed in Chips commentary.

Chips will not accept submitted articles or campus announcements.

Submissions for letters to the editor should be submitted as a Microsoft Word document to chipsedt@ luther.edu with Letter to the Editor as a subject line.

Letters to the Editor are subject to editing without changing the meaning of the letter. Authors will not be notified of changes prior to publishing. Letters must be signed, 300-400 words and submitted before Sunday at 5:00 p.m. the week before production. Publication of all letters is at the discretion of the editor.

Contact Chips: Phone: 563-387-1044 Fax: 563-387-2072 Email: chipsedt@luther.edu Advertising: chipsads@luther.edu Website: lutherchips.com Facebook: facebook.com/LutherChips Twitter: @LutherChips

Spring 2016 Staff Editor-in-Chief: Managing Editor: News Editors:

Anna Jeide Steve Peterson Katie Nelson Jacob Warehime Features Editor: Erika Storvick A&E Editor: Jenna Nelson Sports Editor: Danny May Staff Writers: Karl Badger Elizabeth Bonin Elyse Grothaus Lily Kime Sidney Larsen Ana López Katrina Meyer Jana Mueller Joram Mutenge Matija Nikolic Laura Proescholdt Emma Schlabach Head Copy Editor: Cameron Meyferth Copy Editors: Bethany Seavers Templeton Olivia Benson Ad Representatives: Alex Brandt Jesse Anderson Ad Accountant: Tyler Hovey Layout and Design Technician: Cameron Meyferth Photography Coordinator: Katie Nelson Photographer: Steve Peterson Web Manager: Michael Vann Social Media Director: Nora Sell Distribution Manager: Elizabeth Hurley Adviser: Laura Fuller

MAY 5 , 2016

The problem with parking at Norby Letter to the Editor Recently, there have been a few reccurring issues regarding Norby house residents and their ability to park in the designated Norby lot. There is only one partial row for the residents of Norby house to park in. The stickers given to Norby residents mean that they can only park in that one partial row. Throughout the year, there have been several problems with the amount of spots available to Norby residents.

Originally, there were enough spots for the residents with cars.

However, as the year progressed and more students brought cars on campus, the number of cars was greater than the number of spots that were available. Although this problem was fixed by the addition of spots to the Norby row, it took time for the fix, and in the meantime students with parking passes were left without a spot to park and were still subject to fines when finding an alternative spot in general parking or on the street. As of right now there are exactly enough spots for the residents of Norby with cars to each have a spot in the lot.

The other problem that comes into play is the fact that several times throughout the year Facilities cars have been parked in the Norby lot. Because there are only an exact number of spots, Norby residents were left to fight for a place to park, and if you were the odd car out you had to

risk parking on the street next to Norby. This was a risk that could result in getting a parking ticket from Luther College. This problem has occurred for multiple students throughout the year. When security was informed of Facilities cars being parked in the Norby lot they said that they were unable to fine the Facilities cars, but when they had time they would move them to their designated part of the lot. In the meantime, the students’ cars were still at risk of being fined.

On a separate occasion when we were told that we needed to move the cars from the street, we asked where we should move them. We were told we could park in one of the general parking lots, but we could still possibly receive a ticket. All of these options are not viable options for the student. Why is it that when a student parks in the incorrect spot, they immediately get a ticket, but when a department parks their cars in the incorrect spot they are not given a ticket? Why when a Luther student had paid for a parking spot they are not guaranteed that parking spot?

The problem is not isolated to Norby, however.

There are complaints about the parking system from people living in Baker, College Apartments and even from people with general passes.

Throughout the semester there has been some interaction between Facilities and Security, and now Security is allowed to give tickets to Facilities cars that are incorrectly parked. This is a small step towards solving the problem. However, it is clear that the problem has yet to be completely solved. As recently as May 1 there were three facilities cars parked in the Norby lot. Why do students not get what they paid for?

“Why is it that when a student parks in the incorrect spot, they immediately get a ticket, but when a department parks their cars in the incorrect spot they are not given a ticket? Why when a Luther student had paid for a parking spot they are not guaranteed that parking spot?”

-Kassondra Johnson (‘16) and Alanna Spencer (‘16)

Signed, Kassondra Johnson (‘16) Alanna Spencer (‘16)

Target bathroom boycott is against family values Editorial Target has come under scrutiny lately for its new rule which allows transgender people to enter the bathroom of the gender that they identify as. After the announcement earlier in April, an online petition to boycott Target stores has garnered over a million electronic signatures in less than three weeks.

The American Family Association is leading the charge against the Minneapolis-based company, decrying their new policy on the theory that it is dangerous for women and children.

Certain groups and individuals that won’t join the boycott are instead threatening violence, vowing to

bring weapons into restrooms as means of protection.

In the wake of these threats, Target has continually supported their new bathroom policy with the statement that “Everyone deserves to feel like they belong. And you’ll always be accepted, respected and welcomed at Target.”

Groups that are boycotting Target for this policy argue that it primarily will be a danger to women; biological males can, in theory, just walk into a women’s restroom without being stopped. However, what their argument really centers on is maintaining family values.

We at Chips find that the desire to boycott Target stores in order to protect “family values,” goes directly against what those values

actually preach. In the opinion of the editorial staff, a family should promote inclusion and support regardless of idealogical differences.

A strong family supports its members regardless of differences.

The idea that sexual assualts will now rampantly take place in public Target bathrooms without hindrance is neither compelling nor logical. we doubt that the risk is so high as the critics claim.

Target has not changed their policies to increase profit, but to foster a welcoming community to those who don’t feel like they belong.

Chips commends the Target Corporation for promoting what we believe to be true family values in the face of adversarial claims.

opinion

pAge 10 MAy 5, 2015

MAnAging editor: steve peterson

Student suggests languages underrepresented at Luther Letter to the Editor As an American who has studied Chinese for two years at Luther, people often say to me, “I could never learn Chinese! Isn’t Chinese super hard?”

To me this question reflects a general attitude that people have toward things which they don’t understand. People commonly assume that learning Chinese is impossible or at least extremely difficult for foreigners. And they are

right. Chinese is very different from English, and because of that, it takes lots of work to learn. But any skill, especially one as complicated as learning a new language, can be very difficult and take lots of work to master. To me, what makes Chinese especially hard is that very few Americans learn (or even try to learn) the language. At risk of stating the obvious, it is difficult to understand things which we make no effort to understand.

I believe that one of the major reasons that people think Chinese is so hard is because they have absolutely no exposure to it and are completely unfamiliar with it. These are valid reasons for thinking this way, but this does not mean that

this is not still a problematic attitude to hold regarding Mandarin. Just because we do not know much about something does not mean that we should ignore it, in fact we ought to do the opposite and learn as much as we can about it!

Not learning Chinese because it is so foreign to us makes it even more foreign to us; the longer we go without learning about something, the longer we perceive that thing to be incomprehensible. If we try to understand Chinese, then we have already gained a greater comprehension of it. And doesn’t this kind of attitude spill over into how we view other cultures?

If we think some other group is so very different from us, and we go about our

lives never truly trying to understand this other group, then we will always assume that our initial impression was the right one.

In China, English is taught in schools to children starting at a young age.

Presumably, they are doing this because they believe that to live in the globalized world of the 21st century, learning the second most commonly spoken language in the world is probably important. When will the time come when Americans view it as important to learn the most commonly spoken language in the world?

Signed, Sam Kaplan (‘16)

The Norse Poll: What language would you like to learn and why?

-“I already know so many languages. I know Spanish, Latin, French, Hebrew and English. I guess I would learn ancient Greek just because then I could read a lot of the old texts in their original language. That’s be cool.”

-Abby Mark (‘18)

“To be honest I’d say Spanish because it’s becoming so needed right now. I’m taking German so I don’t know anything about Spanish.”

-Karl Nycklemoe (‘18)

“It would be either Spanish, because a lot of people know it, or Mandarin because it is one of the most spoken languages.”

-Evan Woodard (‘16)

Student encourages Student Senate to reconsider college readership program Letter to the Editor “Do all dances nowadays have police waiting outside?”

An elderly woman asked me that after I attended church in Lanesboro this past weekend. I was taken aback by the question to say the least. She was referencing the Antigo Wisconsin Prom Shooting, an event earlier in the weekend where a rifleman shot two students as they exited their high school’s prom. Police were already on the scene and were able to get the situation under control, their very presence even before a foreseeable threat stirred the curiosity in the woman.

This situation hit close to home having known people who attended Antigo High School, but in all honesty, if she had not brought the shooting up I would probably have gone on without ever hearing about it. That is one of the few downsides to being at such a place as Luther. I have no idea what is going on in the world beyond the Oneota Valley. For all I know, Trump has already started to build his wall and Wyoming has outlawed tacos.

I used to grab the New York Times every morning and sit and read it over breakfast. This daily ritual brought me world news and occasionally offered up the opportunity to make an absolutely stunning paper hat.

I guess at some point the Student Senate declared war against my outdated ritual and my paper hats and ended our subscription to that glorious chronicle of the East. They gave good reasons for doing so. Too many professors were reading it, and it was just as convenient to find the news online. (The former may seem like a joke but it was one of the major reasons why the subscription was terminated given by the president of senate in a Chips editorial.) I accepted these reasons at the time and switched over to reading the New York Times website.

Yet over time, little by little, I check the site less and less. Until I got to where I was on Sunday, being told the news by an elderly woman in the basement of a Lutheran church. Which, to be honest, is still the prefered method over waiting for LC Secure to load The New York Times on my laptop.

A major downside to the online sources is that without a paid subscription you are limited on what articles you can read. Now I will be the first to admit The New York Times is not as excessive when it comes to limitations as say, the Wall Street Journal is, but our access has been limited.

Considering the senate took us from a full subscription to absolutely nothing. It’s basically the equivalent of a man getting rid of his TV because he can just watch his

neighbors with a pair of binoculars for free. Its really inconvenient and he will never get a say in which channels he watches, but man, is he going to save a bundle.

As far as addressing the complaint that too many professors were reading the paper, I don’t really care if a professor reads a copy; we all should be reading a copy.

Luther is a community based on the pursuit of knowledge and global understanding, one which includes professors and staff, whether people like it or not.

I know the news is out there if I want it, but honestly, if it’s not staring me straight in the face as I walk to check my SPO, then it becomes a heck of a lot easier to just ignore.

If money is an issue then unsubscribe to USA Today and retain the The New York Times, or if you, for some reason, cannot bear to part with USA Today, then simply lessen the amount of copies that we do order.

There are reasonable alternatives to just killing the entire program, and it is my belief that these alternatives were not fully explored.

I wish the best of luck to all of those running for Student Senate and ask that once in office they might look at their predecessors’ shortsighted decision to end our news subscription. The New York Times contains a wealth of knowledge, one that we as a community should have the right to access.

Signed, Alex Aakre (‘19)

SPorTS

PAge 11

mAy 5, 2016

SPorTS edITor: dAnny mAy

Freya Ultimate team wins bid for national tournament

The Freya Ultimate team poses after a tournament in Ames, Iowa, earlier this season. makeda barkley volUnTeer wrITer Luther’s women’s Ultimate team, Freya, will travel to the Division III National Tournament in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on May 2122. The team earned the third nationals qualifying spot in the North Central Region.

The women played in the conference-regional tournament on April 16-17 in Ames, Iowa, in which they earned the third

and final bid for the national tournament by defeating Grinnell College 13-4. After advancing from pool play, the team lost in the semi-finals to Carleton College and had a three-game uphill battle to earn a spot in the national tournament. “[The mentality] was just ‘take it one game at a time, see how we do,’” Cassandra Kiener (‘19) said.

“I think that was a really good mentality to have.”

By winning all three games, Freya secured a bid for the

Photo courtesy of Freya Ultimate team Facebook page

national tournament that will take place during Luther’s commencement weekend.

Because of the conflict with commencement, the team will be losing several senior players who have chosen to walk at commencement instead.

“We are losing about seven players, and that is going to be a difficult challenge for us at nationals,” Co-captain Rachel Johnson (‘17) said. “We have maybe 14 people going [to the national tournament] versus

Sarah Feltault (‘17) flicks the disc to a teammate during Freya’s tournament in Ames, Iowa.

other tournaments where we’ve had 22 or 23 who are able to play, and so being able to push through two days of tournament [play] is going to be a challenge.”

Nearly half of the team consists of seniors, which mandated discussion about how to handle the conflict between commencement and the national tournament.

“After a lot of deliberation, we decided that seniors [who] wanted to go to nationals could go and seniors [who] wanted to

Photo courtesy of Freya Ultimate team Facebook page

stay for commencement could stay,” Team Manager Meg Ostrem (‘16) said. “It’s a really personal decision, and we are supportive either way.”

After a week off since its tournament in Ames, the team has been preparing for nationals by integrating intensive conditioning into its practices to prepare for the adjustment to fewer team members. “[All of the players have] been developing their skills a lot and have done a lot of technique work in practice, so we’re all looking pretty good,” Johnson said.

“Now that we’ve qualified, we have started working a lot more conditioning into our workouts and drills because we noticed our endurance is down from the indoor season, so we have a few weeks of conditioning to get that back up before nationals.”

Despite the challenges that the team faces, the players are preparing for their journey to nationals with a positive outlook and focus. Ranked sixth in the nation by USA Ultimate, the team feels confident about the journey ahead, according to Ostrem.

Kiener reflected on the season and the team’s progression into the national tournament.

“To look back and see how far we’ve come and be able to say we’re going to nationals makes us really excited,” Kiener said.

“None of us can picture spending this time any other way.”

SPORTS

PAGE 12

SPORTS EDITOR: DANNY MAY

MAY 5, 2016

Men’s golf team wins Iowa Conference title

Weekly Standings Softball

IIAC 11-1 8-4 7-5 8-6 6-6 7-7 2-10 1-11

#6 Luther Simpson Buena Vista Central Coe Wartburg Loras Dubuque

Recent Scores

Overall 34-2 29-8 20-15 22-14 24-8 17-23 16-20 8-28

Apr. 23 vs. Central (doubleheader), W 1-0, W 4-0 Apr. 26 vs. Loras (doubleheader), W 15-5, W 2-1

Upcoming Schedule

May 7 vs. (winner of Coe-Central), 11:00 AM

Baseball

#19 Wartburg #23 Buena Vista Luther Dubuque Coe Simpson Loras Central

The Luther men’s golf team, 2016 Iowa Conference Champions.

KATRINA MEYER STAFF WRITER The Luther men’s golf team captured the Iowa Conference title on Saturday, April 30 at the Oneota Golf & Country Club in Decorah. In rainy conditions, the Norse finished five strokes ahead of rival Wartburg College and qualified for the NCAA Division III Golf Tournament at the conclusion of the final 36holes.

The conference title was Luther’s 10th in school history and first since the 2008 season. This weekend’s tournament was the final two rounds of the four-round conference tournament. The first 36-holes were played at Finkbine Golf Course in Iowa City, Iowa, on April 22-23.

The men posted a 72hole total of 1220. Leading the Norse amidst the 40-player field was Elliot Horst (‘16), who tied for second place, with a scorecard of 74-72-78-77301. Peter Kephart (‘17) finished eighth (79-7475-78-306), and Joseph Fewer (‘19) tied for ninth (77-77-74-81-309). Fewer, Kephart and Horst all earned all-conference honors.

Other top finishers included Andrew Betts (‘17), who finished in a tie for 11th (73-7981-77-310) and Adam Turner (‘16), who finished

in a tie for 14th (76-8274-80-312). Head Men’s Golf Coach Scott Fjelstul (‘83) was named the Iowa Conference Coach of the Year for the ninth time, which is a conference record.

According to Fjelstul, the Norse have not played at home in almost a decade but have practiced enough at the Oneota Golf & Country Club to know the intricacies of the course.

“We know the course really well because we have played through it so many times,” Fjelstul said.

“We haven’t had a home meet in eight years, so we are really excited to be able to play in front of friends and fellow students.”

Eleventh-place finisher

Photo courtesy of David Blanchard

Betts also explained how the team had an advantage because of its familiarity with the course.

“We have a huge advantage [by playing at home],” Betts said. “We play [at the Oneota Golf & Country Club] four or five times every week, and we know every nook and cranny. We also have a huge mental advantage because we know where the best place to hit [the ball] is, or where not to hit it versus our opponents who don’t know where the tough spots are.”

Second-place finisher Horst said that the Norse approach the Iowa Conference tournament no differently than other golf tournaments.

“[We approach the conference tournament] like any other tournament,” Horst said. “We don’t want to change anything. This is an important week, and we’re at home, but we just want to keep being fearless. It has carried us through the spring season, so why should we change it?”

The NCAA Division III Golf Tournament will be held at Midvale Country Club and Mendon Golf Club, both in Rochester, New York, on May 10-13.

Out of the 41 teams and five individuals that will qualify, 15 teams and six individuals will advance to the final two rounds after the first 36-holes of the tournament.

IIAC 21-3 19-5 13-11 12-12 10-12 8-14 6-18 5-19

Overall 28-8 28-8 24-12 19-17 14-16 11-23 12-22 8-28

Recent Scores

Apr. 22-23 @ Coe (two doubleheaders), W 3-0, W 8-3, W 9-2, W 6-5 May 1-2 vs. Buena Vista (two doubleheaders), L 4-5, L 0-2, L 2-10, L 1-10

Upcoming Schedule

May 6-7 vs. Dubuque (two doubleheaders), 1:00 PM

Women’s Tennis Coe Luther Central Wartburg Simpson Loras Dubuque Buena Vista

IIAC 7-0 6-1 5-2 4-3 3-4 2-5 1-6 0-7

Overall 15-10 15-7 11-5 9-15 5-15 7-12 1-13 0-10-1

Recent Scores

Apr. 30 @ Central (in Cedar Rapids, Iowa), W 5-0 Apr. 30 @ Coe, L 1-5

Men’s Tennis #34 Coe Luther Wartburg Central Loras Dubuque Simpson Buena Vista

IIAC 7-0 6-1 4-2 4-3 2-4 2-5 1-6 1-6

Overall 20-6 17-10 12-11 10-9 9-8 5-16 10-11 2-20

Recent Scores

Apr. 30 @ Central, W 8-1 Apr. 30 @ Simpson, W 9-0

Upcoming Schedule

May 6-7 @ Iowa Conference NCAA III AQ Tournament

Adam Turner (‘16) crouches to sight a putt.

Breanne Pierce / Photo Bureau