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Recent alum Ervin Liz (‘17) and his venture into coffee production
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Symphony Orchestra concert
Track and Field does not compete because of weather
COLLEGE
LUTHER “Let the chips fall where they may.”
VOLUME 140, NO. 17• EST. 1884
APRIL 12, 2018
Community responds to hate incident
“Facing the Strange” through art MARTEL DEN HARTOG STAFF WRITER Gallery Coordinator David Kamm and Professor of English Lise Kildegaard finished the 2018 Paideia Texts and Issues Lecture Series with a presentation titled, “Turn and Face the Strange: Creative Activity as a Catalyst for Change,” in the Center for Faith and Life Recital Hall on March 20. Inspired by David Bowie’s hit song, “Changes,” Kamm and Kildegaard invited the nearly 100-person audience to consider how art can be used to confront the realities communities face. “Be the Change” is the Paideia Texts and Issues theme this year, and one of its guiding questions, “How can we confront the feeling that nothing can be done?” prompted Kamm and Kildegaard’s presentation. Kamm’s art exhibit, displayed on the second floor of the CFL, was used as a springboard for the conversation. “Part of what we’re talking
about is the strangeness of the times we live in, where school shootings, for example, seem to start feeling routine, almost expected,” Kamm said. “We’re using creative response — the art exhibit — as a lens to face issues that seem strange or even beyond the reach of any individual to somehow deal with.” During the presentation, Kildegaard and Kamm discussed Kamm’s creative process and pieces from his show. The show consists of pieces constructed with hateful or violent materials, such as bullet casings and strips of paper from “The White Man’s Bible.” Kamm and Kildegaard acknowledged the transformative nature of this art. “His art demonstrates how materials can be transformed,” Kildegaard said. “The art is not reducible to a message, but he is trying to reveal something. And one of the things I think he reveals is that hateful objects can be transformed. And if that’s
MARTIN DONOVAN STAFF WRITER
Gallery Coordinator David Kaam holds a brass bowl with 80 bullet casings. Some of the casings contained pieces of paper with the names of victims of the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012. Photo courtesy of Rachel Miller (‘18) true, that does help us imagine a world where a hope is more productive than hate — where hope is possible over hate.” The presentation engaged listeners and encouraged reflection on Kamm’s work. Comments from the audience noted a resemblance between guns blowing objects to bits and pieces that looked like broken, radiating, oscillating fragments. Some
said that though the pieces are composed of words from “The White Man’s Bible,” the meaning has dissipated in the mosaic patterns. Attendee Max Skrzypek (‘19) articulated how although those hateful words have been transformed, conversations are not over. “It’s important to talk about
In the wake of the hate incident on March 11 at Carlson Stadium, the Luther College community mobilized to condemn bigotry and racism. Luther’s administration as well as numerous departments, student organizations, and individual community members have publicly denounced the hate incident. Vice President of Communications and Marketing Aimee Viniard-Weideman and Interim Dean of Institutional Equity and Inclusion Lisa Scott highlighted the administration’s sense of urgency to respond to the hate incident. “Once we understood what had occurred, it was decided that we would call the community to gather on the football field Sunday evening to reclaim it as Luther’s community space,” Viniard-Weideman and Scott said. Additionally, the administration utilized three listening sessions on March 13 and 15 to compile students concerns and suggestions to help shape Luther’s future actions. Luther will respond to these concerns at a community meeting on Monday, April 16. Furthermore, Luther held a faculty workshop on social justice pedagogy on April 5 and will hold an anti-racism workshop on May 5. Luther was also recently approved to work with the Sustained Dialogue Institute during the next academic year, which is a nonprofit organization based out of D.C. that
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RESPONSE | PAGE 4
Baker holds energy saving competition GILLIAN KLEIN STAFF WRITER The Center for Sustainable Communities organized an energy reduction competition between residents of Baker Village from March 12 to 17. A total of 18 units participated. Energy advocate co-chair for the Center of Sustainable Energy Nathan Campbell (‘18) analyzed the results of the competition through comparing energy usage. “We compared energy consumption from a week in February to the week of March 12 to 17,” Campbell said. “Over this last week, the village used 20 percent less energy. Out of all the houses, Trondheim six reduced their energy usage the most, by 57 percent.” The Center for Sustainable Communities’ preparation for the energy competition began during the fall semester of the 2016-17 academic year. Assistant Director of the Center for Sustainable Communities Maren Beard (‘08) shared why this project aligned with Luther’s environmental issues. “Years ago, Luther set a 2 percent per year reduction rate in energy usage,” Beard said. “Our theory is that, through this project, we are giving students access to
energy information specific to their usage and connecting students to their energy intake.” In order for students to access their energy information the Sustainable Council recruited a web developer to create a mobile-friendly website later launched as “Baker Village Appening” in mid-February. In early February, sustainable educators — part of the Sustainable Council — ran a secret competition about phantom energy usage. Phantom energy is the energy that is consumed by devices not in operation but still plugged. The competition compared reduction in phantom loads per unit since the release of the website. The data from this week was used as a comparison to the competition week in March. Phantom loads, according to Oslo resident Liam Fraser (‘18), were one of the easiest ways to reduce energy consumption. “A phantom load is the energy you are using when you aren’t charging or powering anything,” Fraser said. “Just unplug anything you are not using, like phone chargers or BAKER | PAGE 4
Baker Village.
Gillian Klein (‘20) | Chips