DecoRide 2023 DecoRide Bikes for a Cause

On Saturday, May 6, a group of Luther College students hosted the first-ever DecoRide. It was a chilly, rainy morning, but a large group of riders gathered together at Will Baker Park. With apples and water bottles in hand, bikers set off on the 11-mile ride. After a brief student pep talk, the riders were off to the races.

DecoRide was organized in hopes of raising money for the Decorah Free Clinic. The clinic provides healthcare and health based education to uninsured or underinsured individuals. Services which the clinic provides range from medications and lab tests to dental screenings. Member of DecoRide organizing team, Souksakhone Sengsaisouck (‘23) reflected on the ways in which the event hopes to give back to the community.

“We were really happy to see the turnout of the event, especially with the rain,” said Sengsaisouk. “We are donating all of the registration fees and t-shirt collections to the free clinic, so we are super thankful to people for coming out and participating.”

The event was open to the entire community, and there was a large turnout of both community members and Luther students. Many who came to the event were motivated by its goal to raise money for the Decorah Free Clinic. Student attendee, Mariah Huenke (‘26), reflected on the experience, saying that she felt it was worth it despite the weather.

“Even though it was raining, it was nice to bring my friends out and experience it,” Huenke said. “It was only a $5 registration fee and I knew that it was going to a good cause.

Once the weather cleared it ended up being a super nice bike ride with friends.”

As for the ride itself, there were stops along the 11-mile route to allow riders to air up their tires and grab water and a snack. There were plenty of volunteers who helped keep everyone on the trail. Rider Alexis Hardwood (‘26) who faced a few difficulties throughout the ride was grateful for the help.

“It was super helpful to have the stations and people helping along the way, especially when my bike tires got flat,” Hardwood said. “Several people helped me and got my tires pumped up and gave me water along the way.”

In total, the event raised $1700 and had 107 riders. It can be said that it was a successful first DecoRide.

DURAH ALBADR, STAFF WRITER

Since late December, the Brandt Hall water damage incident has been on the minds of both current and displaced Brandt residents, as well as many other students on campus. On December 27, while students were away on winter break, an email was sent to Brandt residents informing them that the West Wing had flooded due to a burst water pipe. Some rooms suffered water damage on the ceiling and others had damage to the floor.

Approximately 120 students from Brandt West were permanently displaced from Brandt and are living in other campus residence halls until the end of the academic year. The damage assessment and cleaning were handled by two companies: ServPro and Advanced Environmental. The discovery of asbestoscontaining materials in some damaged ceilings led to abatement as part of the repairs.

While students in Brandt Center and Brandt East remained in the building during the abatement and cleaning process, Brandt West was isolated from the remainder of the building. The isolation was done using sealed barriers and air pressure. As students arrived back on campus, Luther provided them with $100 for needed supplies for their rooms and $40 for food.

In light of the college’s efforts, students have expressed mixed experiences with the results. Some reported positive experiences, while others negative. Students like Lily Nuland (‘26) reported that the money Luther gave them was not enough.

“This wasn’t enough to replace all the necessary things we needed,” Nuland said. “Not having access to things I needed was very difficult. We were expected to have money to buy the things we needed. Not every student has money to buy things. I had no bedding, no toiletries, no books, no nothing.”

Other students, like Abhay Chhabra (‘26), reported getting reimbursed for the things they needed, but only after some time.

“I was back on campus on the [January 3],” Chhabra said. “I got the 140 dollars straight up, but I had to wait for the other money for five or six weeks. It definitely took time. In the end I got everything I needed. They did a good job, but the process was pretty slow.”

Residents were told to set their reimbursement estimates to cover just what they would consider necessary. However, Julia Wendt (‘26) believed that these estimates seemed very arbitrary.

“They were kind of like ‘we’re only going to reimburse things that you need, so if you’re spending your money on random stuff, we’re not going to reimburse that,’” Wendt said. “They did kind of tell us to lower the expectations, but I feel like they have a different definition of what you need than what a student would.”

Other students, like Maggie Hickman (‘26),