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“Let the chips fall where they may.”
aPriL 28, 2016
Serving the Luther College community since 1884.
VoLume 138, No.22
New solar arrays dedicated on earth day Joram mUTeNge Staff Writer Luther College celebrated Earth Day by dedicating three new solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays. The new arrays are capable of producing 820 kilowatts (kW) of electricity. With the additional arrays, Luther College now hosts 1,100 kW of solar PV capacity, which is the most solar PV in the state of Iowa. The celebration took place at the college’s solar field site on Pole Line Road. President Paula J. Carlson gave welcoming remarks, and Campus Pastor Mike Blair delivered an invocation. In addition, students Hannah Sutcliffe (‘18) and Liam Fraser (‘18) from Professor of Religion James Martin-Schramm’s environmental ethics class gave readings. Other distinguished members of the community present were U.S. Representative from Iowa’s 1st district Rod Blum and owner of Oneota Solar LLC Larry Grimstad, both of whom spoke as well. Assistant Director of the Center for Sustainable Communities Maren Beard (‘08) said that the main reason for the installation of the new solar arrays was to achieve a set of sustainability goals the college set back in 2008. “One of the goals was to reduce our carbon footprint 50 percent by 2015,” Beard said. “[With the new panels] we have achieved that now, and the celebration will be about acknowledging this achievement.” Martin-Schramm, who was also present for the event, said that a recent ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court was the reason that Luther could afford the installation of new solar panels. “The ruling permitted third-party power purchase agreements,” Martin-Schramm said. “Up to that point, we could only buy electricity from our electric utility.” Becuase of this ruling, Luther was able to purchase the new arrays from local business Oneota Solar LLC,
Luther President Paula J. Carlson cuts the ceremonial ribbon, officially dedicating three new solar photovoltaic arrays. Will Heller / Photo Bureau instead of from a larger company such as Alliant Energy. Currently, Luther is renting the arrays at a fixed rate over the next 10 years. However, after 10 years Luther will retain sole possession at which point the arrays will belong to the college. Martin-Schramm said that if the Iowa Supreme Court had not made the recent ruling, they would have not been able to afford
Attorney Steve F. Downs lectures on civil rights karl badger Staff Writer Attorney Steven F. Downs delivered a lecture titled “Tribal Justice and the Erosion of Civil Rights: How Scapegoating Muslims Threatens Us All” on April 21 in the Center for Faith and Life Recital Hall. The event was the last lecture of the 2015-16 Religion Forum Lecture Series. For the past decade, Downs focused his career on raising awareness of and providing legal assistance to those who have been convicted by way of preemptive prosecution. Preemptive prosecution is when a person is prosecuted on the suspicion that they could possibly commit a crime, despite whether they have actually committed a crime or not. Downs’ work has focused particularly, but not entirely, on preemptive prosecutions of Muslims in the post-9/11 world. As a part of this process, Downs helped co-found Project Support and Legal Advocacy for Muslims (SALAM), which became one of the founding
the new arrays. “At the moment we are paying a fixed price for that amount of electricity to Oneota Solar for 10 years, which is better than paying a rising price to Alliant Energy,” Martin-Schramm said. Solar paNelS, Page 4
“Paper Tigers” documents “trauma-informed” teaching elizabeTh boNiN Staff Writer
members of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms (NCPCF), which focuses on ending profiling and preemptive prosecution. Downs’ lecture was organized through conversations between the religion department and members of the NCPCF living in Decorah. NCPCF Director of the Education Committee and Editor of the NCPCF Digest Melva Underbakke (‘70) felt that Luther would be a good environment to receive Downs’ lecture. “I think Luther has a lot of potential for changing things in the world,” Underbakke said. “So I thought it was important to have [Downs] here.” Downs began the lecture by asserting that humans by nature are defensive in a triballike manner. Downs argued that part of the reason that the U.S. government has profiled entire religious or ethnic groups using preemptive prosecution can be attributed to this tribal fear.
The social work department held a screening of the documentary “Paper Tigers” on April 20 in two classrooms in Valders. After the showing, a panel discussion was held with various representatives from social service organizations in Northeast Iowa. The documentary, directed by filmmakers James Redford and Karen Pritzker, follows six teens who attend Lincoln Alternative High School located in Walla Walla, Washington, a school considered to be a “trauma-informed” school. According to Assistant Professor of Education Jill Leet-Otley, “trauma-informed” is a relatively new term within the social work world that has come to mean recognizing that students have traumatic issues that affect their ability to learn in a school setting. “It’s a much more compassionate way to think about kids and education and ways to help the whole child,” Leet-Otley said. “It’s not expecting them to sit still and learn when they’re dealing with these traumas and issues. You just can’t ignore them.” According to Leet-Otley, who also served on the discussion panel, the Adverse Childhood Experiences Study (ACES) shows that the more traumatic experiences a child has, the more physical and psychological issues the child will have as he or she grows into adulthood.
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