Kevin Harlander: Firefighter, outdoorsman and student
Carrier carries: Running back leads Duhawks to victory against Rockford
Page 7
Page 12
September 13, 2012 — Vol. 91, Issue 1
Transportation
Campus Dining
‘The Jule’ offers free bus rides
It’s a wrap: Pub introduces new menu
An array of changes receives mixed reviews from students
By Mary Agnoli news editor
By Matt Koch copy editor
Controversy surrounds the Pub once again at the beginning of the school year. Last year, the absence of chicken wraps sparked complaints early on in the year, and Aramark brought them back. This year there are two changes to the Loras Pub that have opinions flying. First, the Pub again finds itself without chicken wraps. Second—and not altogether unrelated to the first—the Deli side to the Pub has completely changed with an entirely new menu featuring different Panini and sandwiches options. The revamped Deli is not just new to Loras, but a new Aramark program, piloting on a handful of colleges. “There were many schools applying to get this pilot, and only 15 were chosen,” said Dean of Students Art Sunleaf. Pub nixes The idea behind daily the pilot is obvious: wraps and offering healthier and tastier options akin to introduces a Subway or Quiznos “Wrap product. When Sophomore Wednesday.” Patrick Krieger was asked if he liked his sandwich from the deli, “It was good, but I don’t want to wait 20 minutes to get it.” Similar sentiments have been voiced, saying that long waits and slow service have plagued the Pub. However, with this being an entirely new program, it makes sense that employees will have to learn the ropes. Unfortunately, this is not the only problem seen by students. Others complain that the menu is too rigid. If a sandwich has Swiss cheese, American cheese cannot be substituted; if a Panani comes with ranch, mayonnaise cannot be requested instead. And again students are asking where are the chicken wraps. Due to the lack of selections, Meg Smith called this a “change for the worse.” She first said this puts a major stress on the student workers caused by unhappy customers and learning an entirely new program. She thinks these changes miss the fundamental problem. “They can take away our options and discourage personal orders,” said Smith, “without the repercussion of customers simply walking next door to a different pub.” Art Sunleaf said it’s too early to criticize, reminding students that this change is in its infancy. The rigid menu scheme and long waits are growing pains for a new program; everything is subject to change and improve. “The goal is to find a balance between offering the tried and true and introducing new items.” He also makes it clear that snack wraps are not gone. Aramark is finding a place to work them in, instituting “Wrap Wednesday.” When interviewed about the Pub, Sunleaf’s reiterated several times the need for patience and that these changes are not set in stone. Any new program is subject to change, relative to Loras student feedback. Susan Dubois, affiliated with Aramark, was unavailable for comment.
photo by Nick Joos
Students stroll along Loras Boulevard past the opening to Cox Street. Officials expect the new sidewalks to be available for foot traffic within a couple of weeks.
The dirt on Cox Street I
By Nick Joos
executive editor
t has been over a year since Loras purchased Cox St., a cobbled, unsafe thoroughfare bisecting upper and lower campus. The school purchased the street from the City of Dubuque in hopes of utilizing its centralized location on campus, and over the summer, construction commenced on the project. Now, Loras Parkway is materializing faster than some anticipated. The paving process is estimated to be completed by the end of this week, or early into next. The sidewalks will be opened soon after the concrete is dried and cured. “We are basically done with the paving from the 17th St. intersection heading south up past the Physical Plant,” said John McDermott, the director of the Physical Plant. “By the end of next week, we should be substantially completed with our concrete requirements.” Even so, getting this far was not easy, due to the fact that Cox St. is built on an old ledge constructed in the early 20th century. “(Over the summer we) created the base onto which to put the concrete,” McDermott said. “We had to stabilize the soil out there. The area that Cox Street is built upon has some unique features. It was a quarry ledge originally, and there were some areas that had pretty rough terrain. In the ’20s, when it was originally turned into a road, it was basically a cow path. So there was a lot of stabilizing, and that took place in June and July.”
Weather over the summer helped as well. Due to the lack of rain, advancement was swift. Now it is a job for the concrete pavers. “Horsefield Construction is the main player in terms of paving and the prep,” McDermott said. “It became Loras’ responsibility to deal with the utilities. We had to relocate the gas lines, relocate the sanitary sewer, the water lines coming in.” Which, as they found out after completing the gas line relocation, was a difficult job, but beneficial to the college’s utility costs. “(The lines) are old. The water line, for instance, went back to somewhere around 1914,” McDermott said. “The gas line ended up being in the road bed, and as we attempted to flatten the street out and make it a more pedestrian friendly, we lost the cover of the gas line. That caused us to shuffle things around. It also ended up being beneficial for the college because we hooked to a different gas meter, the boiler
continued on page 2
Due to a grant from the Iowa Department of Transportation and three of Dubuque’s colleges coming together, Loras students can now ride The Jule, Dubuque’s public city bus, at no cost. Students need only to show their school ID to receive free transportation across Dubuque. However, this is not the only renovation from the Department of Transportation. A new route, the Nightrider, will be introduced to the Dubuque community on Sept. 21. “We did surveys (in 2010) at the University of Dubuque, Clarke, and Loras in order to develop a route that would benefit their students,” said Director of Transit Operations Barbara Morck. The Nightrider will run Friday and Saturday evenings between 6 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. for the late-night college student. The routes will run from each campus to the westend, which includes Walmart, Buffalo Wild Wings, and more, as well as the downtown district. With this new route, students will avoid pricey taxis and cold walks home after a late night. The plan was originally to ask the three colleges to pay full price for the opera- The Nightbus tion of the Nightrider, will stop however that quickly at various changed. “80 percent of the locations, costs are being covered including by a grant from the Iowa Clean Air AttainWalmart ment Grant Program,” and Buffalo explained Morck. This left the institu- Wild Wings tions responsible for only paying $11 per student for the entirety of the school year. This is a significant decrease when compared to the normal fee of $35 for a monthly pass. Although they will have to pay the full price, the late night bus routes are available to anyone in the Dubuque community. “It’s geared specifically for college students, but it’s open to the public,” said Morck. Due to the Iowa Department of Transportation, students can now avoid walking up Loras Boulevard’s hill after a night downtown or a late shift at work. “We hope to see good ridership,” Morck said, “because if we don’t (the Nightrider) won’t be sustainable, and it can’t continue.”
-Message from the President-
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff, Welcome to a new academic year. It was a pleasure to see and visit with so many of you as we renewed friendships after a busy summer and welcomed a large number of new members to our campus community. In addition to new people and a new year, we also have a number of new happenings on campus. The most visible of these is the near completion of the parkway at the center of campus. I thank you all in advance for any inconvenience you experience as we complete the first phase of construction, but look forward to the enhancement it will provide around Homecoming. We begin this year with a number of new programs and opportunities. We now have an academic major in neuroscience. We have two new study abroad options – one in Lisbon, Portugal and the other in Rome, Italy as part of a Loyola University partnership. Also, in collaboration with the city and local colleges, a new transit
option is being unveiled, the Nightrider. Know that we will keep bringing about new and innovative opportunities, but we will not sacrifice delivering the strong faith based, academic and cocurricular experiences which serve as our hallmark. We have great people at Loras – access us and don’t be afraid to ask for assistance. We have terrific programs – look into them and find ways to get involved. We believe in you – make good decisions, prioritize and maximize the academic experience for which you are primarily here. Students, please accept my best wishes for a rewarding and transformative year. Faculty and staff, thank you for all that you do to welcome, challenge, educate and serve our students. God bless, James E. Collins (’84), President