facebook.com/LutherChips
www.lutherchips.com
Kony 2012: Our take on the use of social media Opinion 8
@LutherChips
Take a tour of the lab Features 7
CHIPS LUTHER COLLEGE
Please Recycle
“Let the chips fall where they may.”
March 15, 2012
Vol. 134, No. 17
Since 1884
Dieseth fines reach all-time high Lauren Maze
have been far fewer signs returned this
Staff Writer year than in previous years, likely due
Fines for residents of Dieseth Hall are already almost five times higher than The current cost per resident, excluding individual floor fines, is $20.23, with over two months of school remaining in the academic year. This number is well above the fines of 2010, residents were fined $12.60 for Students who have lived in Dieseth before agree that this year the damage and attitude toward the building is much different. “Although I lived on a different floor last year, I feel like the conditions are definitely worse,” Shari Huber (‘13) said. “It seems that most people know that the dorms are outdated and therefore don’t respect things in the dorms.” The overall building fine is to pay for damages to the building, such as several damaged drinking fountains, false fire alarms, cleaning of spills and stolen signs. While sign stealing this year has been a large problem all over campus, missing Dieseth signs alone have amounted to $2700 in cost and only $500 worth of those signs have been returned. There
to the upcoming remodel process set for this summer. “Stealing signs is just such an unnecessary thing to do and it’s very expensive,” Director of Residence Life Kris Franzen said. “The signs are new and are not part of the remodel process, and I don’t think students are aware of that, so they think, ‘if I steal a sign, it’s not going to matter.’” In addition to the entire building fine, there are also additional fines that vary by floor. Currently, third and first floors have the highest floor fines, which owe an additional $9.43 and $8.56, respectively. These additional costs are damages to a drinking fountain. Similar to the new signs, the drinking fountains are also not part of the remodel process. “The water fountains are not part of the remodel, so the same units will stay in,” Franzen said. “Everything [the students] seem to have targeted are not on the list to be replaced.” Residence Life hopes the upcoming remodel process will defer students from damaging the building and stealing signs. Dieseth continued on page 10
Women and Gender Studies hosts new series Megan Creasey
Staff Writer
The discussion panel after the recent performance of “The Vagina Monologues” and the upcoming
conversation series called “Spotlight on Sex and Gender,” hosted by the Women & Gender Studies department. The series will feature three events each semester for three years. The aim of the series, Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow in Communication Studies Thomas Johnson says, is “to bring faculty, students and community members together to consider and discuss key questions relating to sex and gender.” performance panel after “The Vagina
crowd. old daughters,” Johnson said. “To have them in the crowd along with faculty and
Associate Professor of Dance Jane Hawley, who is spearheading the spotlight series, says dialogue is imperative in overcoming prejudices and misconceptions regarding sexual orientation and gender. “When we don’t know how to talk about something, a lot of damage can be done,” Hawley said. Johnson discussed the importance of picking apart problematic representations that are often accepted as normal. “Oftentimes we accept things at face value and say, ‘That’s just how it is. This is just how men are and this is just how women are,’” Johnson said. “We need to rupture that and get people starting to question that idea.” The screening and discussion of “Miss Representation” on March 28 will offer the Luther and Decorah community a look at the way women and girls are represented in the media, especially in regard to politics. Sex and Gender continued on page 10
Upcoming vote on revised honor code Melissa Erickson
students will feel more comfortable reporting
Editor-in-Chief instances of academic dishonesty as they would
Students may soon be asked to vote on a revised Honor Code that is being proposed by Luther’s Student Life committee. This proposal comes at the end of a three year process that began with a gradual revision of the student handbook, according to Vice President and Dean for Student Life Ann Highum. “Last spring we got pretty serious about getting [the Honor Code] revised so that we could make it clearer and more transparent to students, so that we could have more agreement between the faculty and the student versions and so that we could somehow better address education of students about the Honor Code,” Highum said. Major changes proposed include expanding the Honor Council from 6 to 12 students, including an anonymity clause in the Honor Code and establishing an Honor Council Educational Committee. Students will have the opportunity to run for the 12 Honor Council positions as part of the general elections later this spring. One goal of the anonymity clause is that
have the option of remaining anonymous throughout the review process of a complaint. “Right now I think that a lot of students are afraid of ratting out someone who’s going to know it’s them, and with this new anonymity piece it’s going to allow students to promote academic integrity and also protect themselves,” Student Senate President Jonathan Grieder (‘12) said. students would no longer sign a copy of the Honor “Faculty members will be encouraged to put [the code] on tests so that students will get a more constant reminder of it so that you don’t do it once when you come in and then not think about it anymore,” Highum said. Also aimed at improving Honor Code awareness is the proposed Educational Committee that would be composed of six students. Honor Code continued on page 10