Cathedral Choir completes Midwest tour FEATURES 6 Baseball to play Conference Tournament SPORTS 12
LUTHER COLLEGE
“Let the chips fall where they may.”
APRIL 30, 2015
CHIPS
Serving the Luther College community since 1884.
VOLUME 137, NO. 22
Marcks statue vandalized LAURA PROESCHOLDT STAFF WRITER The “Oedipus and Antigone” statue outside of the Center for Faith and Life was vandalized with acid during the early morning hours Sunday, April 19, according to Director of Safety and Security Bob Harri. At approximately 11:30 a.m. Luther College Safety and Security noticed the damages. The statue is a bronze cast of a sculpture created by internationally renowned artist Gerhard Marcks in 1960. According to the Luther Fine Arts Collection, the cast is one of two in the United States and one of six in the world. It depicts a scene from the Sophocles tragedy “Oedipus at Colunus.” According to Luther College Fine Arts Collection Curator Kate Elliott, an acid was applied to the statue, leading to what conservators call “bronze disease.” Bronze disease is progressive, and the statue will require treatment to avoid further damage. “It’s a cyclical [reaction] that would deteriorate and eventually eat through the bronze metal at some point, so it’s not happening instantaneously, but it is serious,” Elliott said. Professor Emeritus Wilfred Bunge (‘53) and his wife, Ruth Jensen Bunge (‘51), gifted the sculpture to Luther College in May 2000. The sculpture became an addition to Luther’s extensive Gerhard Marcks collection given by Marguerite Wildenhain. According to Bunge, he and his wife chose to donate this particular statue because they felt it fit well with the Paideia tradition and the college’s liberal arts mission. Wilfred Bunge sees art as an important part of students’ educational experience. “Artists provide us genuine assistance in seeing the world and human possibilities and understanding them more clearly because that’s what an artist does,” Bunge said. “All majors, all students need to see the world—in part, at least—through the eyes of the artist. The more perspectives that you have for viewing and understanding the world, the better off you are.” Professional conservators from the Midwest Art Conservation Center will come to campus midMay to assess the damage. Two possible treatments include re-patinization (applying a new patina to the outside of the statue) or application of a tinted wax, procedures which will likely be costly, according to Elliott. The vandalism has provoked strong feelings from students and alums. Hans Becklin (‘14) spent STATUE, PAGE 4
Students pay on-campus fees to live off-campus STEVE PETERSON STAFF WRITER As a result of the limited number of people approved for off-campus housing, some seniors will pay for on-campus housing next fall in addition to paying rent for off-campus housing for the 2015-2016 academic year. According to Luther’s Residency Requirement, “All full-time students are required to live in college-owned housing unless married, of nontraditional age (23 years or older), or commuting from their legal guardians’ homes. Off-campus living is limited and is permitted for students only when there is a shortage of rooms in college residence halls. Students must receive written permission to live off campus.” However, students who do not receive college approval to live off-campus but value the idea of living off-campus can get around this policy by paying for an on-campus room and leaving it vacant. Daniel Herman (‘16) plans to take advantage of this housing alternative next year. “When I came to Luther, Res Life made it seem like there would be an option for seniors to live off campus if they were to so choose,” Herman said. Herman’s future housemate Michael Callen (‘16) explains his decision to go off campus in a similar way. “I value the freedom and the responsibility of having and maintaining your own home,” Callen said. “I have been looking forward to off-campus living for a while.” Although this has been a sporadic trend throughout the past, more students are choosing this route for next year as the offcampus housing prospects become more stringent.
ART DEFACED. The statue “Oedipus and Antigone” outside of the CFL was vandalized with acid on April 19. Laura Proescholdt / Chips
OFF-CAMPUS, PAGE 4
Ylvisaker roof leak prompts renovation ELIZABETH BONIN STAFF WRITER Ylvisaker renovations began the week of March 30 to reroof part of the building over the Hall Director’s apartment and social lounge on the east side. According to Director of Facilities Services Jay Uthoff, the construction is due to a leak. The total cost of the repairs will be approximately $123,000, according to Uthoff. The leaks were caused by a combination
of the old building’s age and leaks that kept returning. “All the insulation was wet; it would never really be able to dry out,” Uthoff said. “Once that insulation gets wet, you almost have to remove it in order for it to dry out and then perform like it’s supposed to. Wet insulation is like having no insulation.” Facilities first noticed the leak during the winter, but renovation was not possible with such low temperatures. Because of this, construction began several weeks ago and is still in progress. Although Facilities prefer not to work on construction
during the school year, they wanted to fix this problem as soon as possible, according to Uthoff. “We’ve had some tears in the roof membrane and you can patch [those], but they still get wet underneath,” Uthoff said. “You get to them as quickly as you can and there might be a lot of water, so it’s just better to redo the whole thing and get rid of the insulation and fix some things.” YLVISAKER, PAGE 4