March 3rd Edition of the Lorian

Why South Korea’s Presidential Election has huge implications for the U.S.

How political dialogue strengthens our democracy in the U.S.

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March 3rd, 2022 — Vol. 100, Issue 9

RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE Russian forces advance into Ukraine, causing worldwide condemnation and harsh economic sanctions on Russia’s banking structure

by KEEGAN GODWIN executive editor

The Russo-Ukrainian War has been building up for years.

Even since Russian forces annexed the territory of Crimea in 2014, the war between Russia and Ukraine has not been an ‘if ’, but a ‘when’. On Feb 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized two separatist regions, Donetsk and Luhansk, in Ukraine as independent nations. This move was widely condemned by nations all around the world as the United Nations called this a ‘violation of international law’ and disrespected Ukraine’s sovereignty as a nation. After recognizing these regions, Mr. Putin ordered his military forces to enter the regions under the title of ‘peacekeepers’.

The United States Ambassador to the United Nations called this move “nonsense”, saying “we know what they really are.”

After his occupation of the regions, Mr. Putin went on Russian state-sponsored television and called Ukraine the ‘aggressors’ of this conflict – Russia had amassed between 150,000 and 190,000 troops at this time. The next 48 hours brought tensions and fear from both the people of Ukraine and the people of Russia. A former advisor to Mr. Putin, Gleb Pavlovsky, stated “this hatred you could read in him [Putin] so clearly, it wasn’t fake”, after seeing a speech from Mr. Putin in regards to the separatist regions.

On Thursday, Feb 24, 2022, Mr. Putin declared the beginning of a special military operation in Ukraine, lighting the spark in the Russo-Ukrainian War. Within minutes of this declaration, Ukrainian cities were rocked by explosions from the Russian military. Nations across the globe immediately condemned Mr. Putin for his actions.

Mr. Putin claimed that the expansion of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, eastwards towards Russia left the nation with ‘no choice’ but to invade Ukraine. Mr. Putin also issued a grim warning to the entire world; “Anyone who tries to interfere with us, or even more so, to create threats for our country and our people, must know that Russia’s response will be immediate and will lead you to such consequences as you have never before experienced in your history.” In response to the invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy fully deployed all assets of the Ukrainian army and banned males ages 18-60 from leaving Ukraine.

The Russian aggression did not go without harsh economic punishment. The U.S., along with every other major Western power, vowed to not send their own troops to Ukraine to help fight, but rather provide weapons and economic aid. The U.S. launched sanctions against Russia

photo by AS.COM

A Russian tank moving through the Ukrainian streets. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a ‘special military operation’ on Feb 24 that started the invasion of Ukraine. .

that included freezing all Russian assets in the U.S., freezing economic assets of Russian elites, including Mr. Putin himself, and withdrew support for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in Europe. Germany announced that the pipeline, which would drastically help reduce the energy crisis in Europe, would be halted in response to Russian aggression.

Many world powers followed these economic sanctions including the European Union, Japan, Switzerland, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Canada. Other nations have also imposed economic sanctions, virtually isolating Russia from the entire world.

The invasion by Russia has not only drawn criticism from foreign countries, but from the Russian people themselves.

Protests erupted in cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg, leading to the detention of more than 5,000 Russian citizens, according to OVD-Info, a Russian-based group tracking the Russian government’s human rights violations. With freedom of the press being extremely limited in Russia, it is difficult to obtain an accurate number of protesters across the nation. In Berlin, more than 100,000 marched in solidarity with Ukraine.

The Ukrainian c a p i t a l , Ky i v, h a s b e e n u n d e r h e av y siege by the Russian military. The United Kingdom’s intelligence has concluded that the Russian attack on Kyiv has made very slow progress. The U.S.’s intelligence has concluded that the photo by VIACHESLAV RATYNSKYI/REUTERS Russian military has a 40 mile long convoy Ukrainian soldiers at a fortified checkpoint in the city of Zhytomyr. Ukrainians men heading for Kyiv due between the ages of 18-60 were banned from leaving the country in war efforts to stop Russia.

In the previous edition, we made a mistake in our headline. The correct headline should have been “Bonjour Loras”, not “Bon Jour Loras” We apologize for the mistake.

to the brave resistance by the Ukrainian military. Despite the growing threat of the Russian military overrunning Kyiv, Mr. Zelenskyy has refused to leave the city. The U.S. extended an offer to the Ukrainian government to evacuate government officials, including Mr. Zelenskyy. He remarked, “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride…We are not putting down arms. We will be defending our country…

Glory to Ukraine.”

‘‘

The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride...We are not putting down arms. We will be defending our country...Glory to Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy

,,

President of Ukraine

Growing increasingly frustrated by the lack of success, the Russian military has begun targeting civilian targets and residential neighborhoods. Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, has reported a rocket attack that destroyed a local hospital, resulting in several deaths and injuries.

Mr. Zelenskyy has accused the Russian government of committing war crimes – the U.N. has reported at least 136 civilian deaths, including 13 children since the start of the invasion. The U.N. has also stated that at least 660,000 Ukrainians have fled the country in response to Russian attacks.

On Feb 28, Ukrainian and Russian diplomats met on the border of Belarus to engage in peace talks. Despite the two parties talking for more than five hours, no cease-fire was agreed upon. However, Russian media outlets announced that another peace talk is scheduled for Mar 2..

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March 3, 2022

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Richard’s Picks - The Most Binge-Worthy Shows Out There Today The show is about a new FBI agent named Elizabeth Keen and she is a profiler. A most wanted mysterious criminal named Raymond Redington For many of us, binge-watching was really not a thing. But then, WHAM! Along comes the lockdown turns himself in and only speaks to Elizabeth Keen.

He helps them solve cases as well as take down and we were left at home with not much more than the blacklist of criminals. The main actors are our TV or tablet. Suddenly, many of us fell prey to the veteran, James Spader, who plays Redington, the binge.

This is the first installment in my new series called Megan Boone who plays Elizabeth Keen. I highly Richard’s Picks where I will list television series’ that recommend watching this because it has great storytelling and will definitely keep you in suspense.

I highly recommend watching. I like a wide range #2 Lucifer. On IMDB the premise for the show of themes when I binge watch – everything from is described as: “Lucifer Morningstar has decided horror, to sci-fi, to comedy, to action. I am a huge he’s had enough of being the dutiful servant in Hell binge watcher and I have probably binged over a and decides to spend some time on Earth to better hundred series so I speak from experience. The first understand humanity. ” Sounds good, right? set of shows I am recommending are all available on If you are into dramas, fantasy and crime Lucifer Netflix. just might become your go-to series to binge! It #1 The Blacklist. If you are into crime and premiered on January 25, 2016, and has a total of criminal shows this is the show for you! It is available 6 seasons.

Each season has about 12 episodes each to stream on Netflix, Hulu and for free on Peacock. with an air time of 45 minutes each as well. Similar It has a lot of action as well as suspense and thrills. to blacklist.

Morningstar settles in Los Angeles, The show came out September 23, 2013, as an NBC also known as the City of Angels, where he opens a network television series. There are currently 8 nightclub.

He ends up meeting this detective and, seasons with episodes airing about 45 minutes each. together, they work to solve murder cases.

There are about 20 episodes per season so, with It is based on the DC Comics character. This about 160 episodes, this show is prime for bingeshow has a whole lot of both action and drama. watching!

Lucifer stars, Tom Ellis who plays Lucifer Morningstar, Lauren German, who plays Detective Chloe Decker, and Kevin Alejandro who plays a cop named Daniel Espinoza. All of the actors in this show are excellent! This is my second favorite show that I bingewatched and would highly encourage you to try it out. #3 The Vampire Diaries. While the show is described as a “teen” series, I think people of all ages will enjoy TVD. The show originally aired on the CW where it premiered on September 10, 2009. The series ended on March 10, photo by TV INSIDER. 2017, having aired 171 episodes over eight seasons. So it’s also a great want to gorge multiple episodes at a time!

This one has a bit of everything – drama,

by ALEXANDRA SIRE 4. Here students can leave the fantasy, sci-fi, and thrills guest writer classroom as they please. In France all wrapped up in one. this is not possible or at least very rare As noted last week, there are 11 If you like any of those students attending Loras this semester and it must be due to an imperative. genres, you will love 5. Here the classes are between 50 from Nantes, France. We thought it this one! The show has and 80 minutes. In France, it is rare to might be interesting for them to tell actors such as Nina have one-hour classes when you are at us some of the ways that life here is Dobrev who plays Elena, the university. The shortest courses are Ian Joseph who plays different when compared to their life usually two hours, and it is common to Damon Salvatore, and in France. Five differences, or cinq have courses that last four hours. choses in French (pronounced, sank Paul Wesley who plays shows). The students will be checking Stephen Salvatore. in regularly to add more items to their list.

1. Here, there is quite a bit of homework to do for class and it is discussed during class. In France, you usually spend the whole class taking notes without stopping and you have only one assignment to hand in at the end of the semester. Here, all the work is done beforehand.

2. The students are all mixed in the courses. For example, in France, in the second year of the master’s program, we usually only have classes with students from the same year of study as us.

3. Mandatory office hours for professors: in France, professors come to give their classes and can go home directly, there is no compulsory attendance. So, if you want to talk with a professor, you must either make an appointment or look for him/her everywhere in the university at the risk of never finding him/her (this happens a lot).

by RICHARD HERNANDEZ staff writer

Cinq Choses

TVD is about brothers Stefan and Damon Salvatore. Stefan and Damon are returning to their original town of Mystic Fall, Virginia. Stefan meets a high school girl there named Elena Gilbert whom he instantly falls in love with. But his brother Damon, a vampire, is after his brother’s girl to pay him back for making him turn into a vampire in 1864.

I absolutely love this show because it has a lot of action and it’s like a mystery unsolving. Similar to twilight. Each season has a great set of episodes.

If you finish the series there’s a spinoff called “The Originals” which is also part of the vampire diaries.

So after you finish binging TVD, you can binge another series that follows the same theme. #4 Arrow.

This is another DC Comics show which also started on the CW network.

“Arrow” is based on the superhero Green Arrow.

If you love action movies and action figures and superheroes you will love photo by ROTTEN TOMATOES. this show.

“Arrow” came out October 10, 2012, and it ran for eight seasons.

In my opinion, the best seasons are the first three or four.

Some of the actors are Stephen Amell who plays Oliver Queen and David Ramsey who plays John Diggle, a security guard, and Emily Bett who plays Felicity Smoak. The show is about Oliver Queen who is stranded on an island after his father’s yacht crashes. Five years later he is found alive, well after he was presumed to be dead. He returns to his hometown of Starling City where he begins his crusade to rid his hometown of nasty villains, drug dealers, and criminals by becoming an arrow shooting vigilante. I highly recommend seeing this it’s action-packed!

Well, that does it for the first installment in my series. I numbered these shows from one to four, starting with my favorite. But I really think, if you asked me four different times, I would likely put these in a different order each time. They are all that good. So, give them a shot and, happy binging!

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Mar 3, 2022

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The Moral Argument for Vaccine Mandates

by MARK MEDERSON faculty advisor

“Prior to our vaccine requirement, tragically, more than one United employee on average *per week* was dying from COVID. But we’ve now gone eight straight weeks with zero COVID-related deaths among our vaccinated employees — based on United’s prior experience and the nationwide data related to COVID fatalities among the unvaccinated, that means there are approximately 8-10 United employees who are alive today because of our vaccine requirement.”

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby in an interview with NBC News in last month On January 13 of this year, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for businesses that employed more than 100 people. Loras College would have been part of this mandate requiring employees to get the shot. The day after the Court’s decision, Loras president Jim Collins informed employees in an email that they would no longer be required to be vaccinated.

In a Council on Foreign Relations webinar in November of last year, Dr. John Fea, professor of American history and chair of the history department at Messiah University, talked a great deal about vaccinations and religion throughout American history. Fea noted that, for most of our history, religious leaders have strongly advised their followers to get vaccinated. This was particularly true when the polio vaccine was introduced to school children in the middle of the twentieth century.

“Christians and other religious groups, I would say most of them overwhelmingly saw the vaccine as a gift from God, right?” Fea said. “I mean, it’s amazing to read newspapers in the 1950s and 1960s, and seeing these religious leaders of all types, including evangelical Christians, talking about the polio vaccine as something that God has brought as a special gift to fight disease.”

So, what changed? Why have many people who identify themselves as devoutly religious decided that they are opposed to a mandate in 2022 when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine?

Fea noted, late in the twentieth century, an article was published by Andrew Wakefield. In the article, Wakefield claimed the vaccines most of us get before we can go to primary school, mainly mumps, measles and rubella, or MMR, caused autism.

Although Wakefield’s claim has been thoroughly debunked, over and over again, Fea believes the rise of cable news in the 1990s, and then social media in

this century gave this claim an audience that helped it to spread. This may be one reason why a small percentage of Americans (about 10% according to a December survey from the Public Religion Research Institute and the Interfaith Youth Core), are claiming a religious exemption to getting vaccinated.

“So, I think this is the point where we are at now,” Fea said. “Again, I think most of the religious exemption claims that I see are coming from—not entirely, but coming from Evangelical Christians and conservative Catholics.”

The Associated Press reported last month that Pope Francis, in his annual speech to ambassadors who are part of the Holy See, said that getting the COVID-19 vaccine is a “moral obligation.”

Through his advisory board, Francis, who is 85, had previously called getting the COVID vaccination a moral responsibility. The Pope also warned against allowing political persuasion to inform personal beliefs regarding the vaccination.

“Frequently people let themselves be influenced by the ideology of the moment, often bolstered by baseless information or poorly documented facts,” Pope Francis was quoted saying in the A.P. story.

“Vaccines are not a magical means of healing, yet surely they represent, in addition to other treatments that need to be developed, the most reasonable solution for the prevention of the disease.”

For those who believe that, based on their Catholic faith, they are pro-life, it would seem to make sense that they welcome the Pope’s call to vaccination. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ website, or HHS, the more people who get vaccinated, the better chance that community has for reaching community immunity, also known as herd immunity. That is, getting the shot does not just help you but the whole community. It preserves life.

“Germs can travel quickly through a community and make a lot of people sick. If enough people get sick, it can lead to an outbreak. But when enough people are vaccinated against a certain disease, the germs can’t travel as easily from person to person — and the entire community is less likely to get the disease,” HHS says on their website. The fewer people who get the virus, the fewer people who will be hospitalized and will die.

Dr. Sherita Hill Golden wrote a piece for the Johns Hopkins University medical school’s website. The purpose of her article was to try to convince people who were vaccine hesitant to get the vaccine. She noted that, because of medical issues, not everyone

is able to get vaccinated. Therefore, you are not just putting yourself at greater risk by not getting the shot.

“Older people and those living with chronic medical conditions such as heart disease and diabetes are more likely to experience severe — even fatal — cases of COVID-19 if they catch it,” Golden wrote. “The more people who receive the coronavirus vaccines, the sooner vulnerable people can feel safe among others. Also, since every COVID-19 infection gives the coronavirus a chance to mutate, being vaccinated helps prevent variants.”

As we have witnessed, COVID is not like many other viruses. It has the ability to quickly evolve. This means that simply getting infected by one strain of the virus does not create a natural immunity to other variants. The Cleveland Clinic’s website reported in December that, “… if you’ve had COVID-19 already but are not vaccinated, you may be at an even higher risk of getting sick again.”

This is why herd immunity is unlikely for COVID-19 without extremely high – 70-plus percent – vaccination rates. The Lung Association, on their website, says, “Vaccines are typically required to achieve herd immunity. Childhood illnesses such as measles, mumps, diphtheria, polio, chickenpox, etc., all reached herd immunity through this approach. We have seen measles outbreaks in communities who have lost herd immunity due to anti-vaccine movements.” That is, without continuous vaccination, some of these diseases that we thought were gone can make a comeback.

The Mayo Clinic says on their website that more than 200 million Americans would need to be infected before we got anywhere near that 70% rate needed for herd immunity. Based on the infection to death ratio, that would mean millions of Americans would die. Again, the vaccine is the only way to effectively reach herd immunity and get our lives back to normal. It is pro-life.

Some public anti-vaccine Americans have developed a level of celebrity over their willingness to lose their job over a mandate. One of these was Washington State Trooper Robert LaMay. The governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, required all state employees to get the shot. During his final radio sign off from his patrol car, LaMay recorded a video of himself as he quit his job.

“This will be the last time you hear me in a state patrol car,” LaMay says in the video. “And Jay Inslee can kiss my ass.” continued on page 6

Sold on a Monday - A Review

by CALASANDRA SPRAY mind and soul editor

New York Times bestselling author Kristina Morris has sold nearly a million copies of Sold on a Monday. Inspired by a tragic time in history, this work stuns readers with its gutwrenching plotline, background love story, scandals, and the love of family.

I was drawn to this novel due to its brilliant cover photo and the blurb relating the fiction piece to a real world event. A real life photo that shocked the nation. Sold on a Monday holds nothing back, delving into hot button topics of truth in journalism, poverty, affordable healthcare, separation of families, mental illness, and the challenges of single motherhood and mothers in the workplace. While the novel is set in the past, these issues transient time and ring with truth even today.

The photo that inspired this novel depicted four children perched on a stoop with their pregnant mothers face turned away. In the foreground was a sign stating that the children were for sale and buyers could inquire within.

When doing research for the novel Kristina

learned that the children were sold for two dollars a piece as farm hands and reunited later in life. The photo in question was taken by a reporter, inspiring the chilling adventure of Ellis Reed.

An era of breadlines, bankruns, and impossible decisions, 1931 had desperation sweeping the country. Many people lost everything they had, their jobs, homes, land, family and any means of making a living. The great depression affected everyone. When things got really bad, children were dropped off at churches, orphanages, and yes even sold. What a decision – to sell your children.

When Ellis Reed happens upon just such a family he can hardly believe his eyes. A photo snapped for personal use, a reminder of a broken childhood, transports Reed from an underdog reporter to the big leagues. The consequences of his fame are unimaginable.

Exploring the life behind the lens, readers take a journey of ambition, love, sacrifice, strife, and how our actions affect the world around us. Reed must hurdle the obstacles of morality and choose between being his authentic self, or making a fortune when the world is going

under.

Lillian Palmer, hiding secrets of her own, prompts Reed to be a better human.

Encouraging him to right his wrongs, not get lost in the glory of fame, and to remember the value of family, Palmer acts as a bit of a conscience to Reed when he gets lost in the scandals he writes about.

This novel pulls at the heartstrings while it explores the ins and outs of the Depression era. It gives a particular emphasis to what the newsroom looked like, commenting on a multitude of social issues. However, if you’re a fan of fast paced novels this one may not be for you. While a phenomenal example of history with plenty of twists and turns, it is a tad on the slower side. For such an action packed book, it takes a while for the main plotline to unravel.

Morris takes her time setting up the characters, the history, and the theme. Unfortunately, this means that nothing truly happens until about a third of the way into the novel. If you can stick it out through the backstory though, it’s a terrific read.

Four out of five stars.

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Mar. 3, 2022

F eatures

F eatures

The Lorian

Secrets from the Seminary Part 1

by GREGORY KINSER staff writer

The Lorian

Mar. 3, 2022

The best offense is a good autoimmune defense

by ADAM GOETZ guest writer

Many people in today’s world are committed to having faith in materialism and determinism. It is not wrong by any means; in fact, it would only be natural for one to invest in the real, practical world. We commit to this all the time when we notice that running into objects hurts, gravity causes things to be attracted to the center of the world’s mass, people take medicine to get better, two hydrogens and an oxygen form water, among many other phenomena.

From these we gain knowledge (coming from the word scientia in Latin) and form sciences from these patterns, calling them laws, equations, or axioms. This works to our advantage and disadvantage, however, for there are other phenomena that are determined to happen no matter how we look at it: from smoking cigarettes or being exposed to unclean fumes, free radicals are induced into the body. In response to these free radicals, the body will often be adversely affected by this as the free radicals might induce the body to improperly genetically produce new cells and form cancerous masses. Every time one exposes themselves to smoke, whether third-, second-, or first-hand, they are playing this risky game.

A way to think of this is seen in the example of dice rolling: the more instances that one rolls the twenty-sided die (or a D-20, for those Dungeons and Dragons fans out there), the more chances one has of rolling a natural twenty. And of course, with increasing the intensity of exposure, one would be justified to operationalize that to increasing the amount of dice rolled for each increase of exposure intensity.

If you are a man who loves the Catholic Church, you should be thinking about seminary. I fell in love with the Church and became Catholic my senior year of high school. For some reason, even though the Catholic faith was new and exciting to me and I wanted as much of it as I could possibly get, the idea of becoming a priest never crossed my mind. Looking back, I think it’s simply because no one ever told me to think about it. It seems like most seminarian discernment stories pivot on a moment where someone confronted him, telling him that he should become a priest. So, in short, this is me telling you to consider seminary.

With these realities considered, one might be wondering if I am turning this into an anti-smoking PSA. Not quite, for I definitely understand there is healthy fraternity to be had in the occasional cigar or attending the bar scene with friends. Instead, I would like to turn this into a health-oriented, preventative article in order that we might have healthier and happier Duhawks.

In order to combat these free radicals and oxidation produced in the body as a result of smoke exposure, I want to suggest people keep themselves healthier with foods high in anthocyanins while avoiding diets high in fructose and fats. Anthocyanins are the chemical component found in blueberries, blackberries, cherries, plums, eggplants, and other produce which naturally gives each their attractive blue or purple hue. Anthocyanins act as healthy antioxidants and help prevent free radicals or excessive oxidation in the body (Tran & Tran, 2021). Then for the other dietary recommendation, if one’s diet is high in fructose and fats, this often hinders the body’s ability to properly process sugars and have glycemic control, inducing diabetes mellitus, concurrent obesity and cardiovascular difficulties, or even weakening the blood-brain barrier’s ability to protect the brain from free radicals (Lin et al., 2017).

Every Catholic man needs to think about joining the seminary. If you think it’s not for you or you’re not “cut out” to be a priest, think and pray about it all the more. I have heard from many priests and formation leaders that more often than not, the men that become ordained are the ones they expected to discern out and the men who discern out are the ones they expected to make it all the way through.

Obviously, these two recommendations are hard to maintain as fruits themselves are high in fructose and the Westernized diet runs amok everywhere.

Ultimately, as we approach Lent, giving up sweets for the forty days might not be as penitential as it seems; it might even be helping us get healthier!

The Lord makes all things new and through our weaknesses, He makes us strong, so do not be afraid. If you’re not sure what a calling to the priesthood should feel like, you’re right! There is no one way to be called to the priesthood. The Lord made you distinct from everybody else and will call you how He sees fit. It may be as simple as a feeling of curiosity or wonder about the priesthood. Often it is merely through our desires that God is speaking to us, showing us the way; God doesn’t always speak with a booming external voice; sometimes He wants us to look and listen within our own hearts.

Works Cited: Lin, C. I., Shen, C. F., Hsu, T. H., & Lin, S. H. (2017). A High-Fructose-High-Coconut Oil Diet Induces Dysregulating Expressions of Hippocampal Leptin and Stearoyl-CoA Desaturase, and Spatial Memory Deficits in Rats. Nutrients, 9(6), 619. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9060619 Tran, P., & Tran, T. (2021). Blueberry Supplementation in Neuronal Health and Protective Technologies for Efficient Delivery of Blueberry Anthocyanins. Biomolecules, 11(1), 102. https://doi.org/10.3390/biom11010102

If you’ve never considered the priesthood, think about it. If you don’t think you’re cut out for it, think again! If you think you might be called to the priesthood or simply want to ask some questions but you’re not sure who to ask or where to turn, talk to a priest. Here at Loras, we are blessed with the lion-hearted priest Father Vu (Dustin.Vu@loras.edu). He would love to meet you and/or talk to you about the priesthood.

Women’s History Month

by CALASANDRA SPRAY mind and soul editor

Washing Machine

by DR. JAMES POLLOCK professor of English

Weighs your duds with joggles, with brief whirls.

Satisfied, locks the glass door with a click that says leave. Poured water hisses, steam curls to fog the window. Such work’s on the clock.

Later you hear a crazy racket from the basement: gush of water from a hose, rhythmic churn, the unbalanced pounding of a drum.

Someone’s beating the shit out of your clothes.

[Originally published in Geist magazine, Vancouver, Canada; forthcoming in the book Durable Goods, from Signal Editions/Véhicule Press, Montreal, Canada, in 2022]

Tuesday, March 1 to Thursday, March 31 is Women’s History Month. This year marks 35 years that the month of March has been dedicated to remembering and celebrating women’s contributions to history, culture, and society. This annually celebrated month began as a single day, March 8, in 1911. Decades later in 1978, a school district in Sonoma, California, built a week around Women’s History Day. This led to a 15-day conference about women’s history in 1979 at Sarah Lawrence College. Gerda Lerner, an influential figure in the development of women’s history and gender, along with National Women’s History Alliance advocated for women to have more than a day of recognition. In 1980, Women’s History Day became Women’s History Week. By 1987, it was allotted the full month of March.

Women’s History Month means celebrating the accomplishments of women and recognizing their contribution to society. In doing so, we are able, as a society, to equip, empower, and encourage women to believe in themselves and the accomplishments they can achieve. Many school districts build their curricula around the national months; with the month of March dedicated to Women’s History, equality of the sexes is promoted in the classroom. Promoting strong, influential women in history allows for a more rounded understanding of our past.

Contributions of women to society stretch back to the founding of the United States. Empowered women mark milestones in our history. Every year, Women’s History Month is given a theme to focus our appreciation. This year’s theme centers around women providing healing and promoting hope. The theme was chosen as a tribute to the ceaseless work of caregivers and frontline workers during the ongoing pandemic. In addition, the theme recognizes the myriad of ways women of all cultures have provided hope and healing throughout history. The National Women’s History Alliance urges organizations throughout the country to utilize this theme to recognize and honor women in their own communities, organizations, and agencies, rather than select national honorees.

To me, Women’s History Month is a time to honor the women who were and are comfortable with the uncomfortable. Throughout my life, I have encountered women who inspire others in their community. In my own life, my second grade teacher told me that I could be a writer one day and it sparked my imagination.

A Girl Scout troop leader showed me the joy of caring for others. A high school teacher taught me that difference is sensational, because if all great men think alike then all great women would have to think differently. Entering my adult career, a professor demonstrated that a community doesn’t have to mean one place, it could mean one mindset, a positive mindset. There is a profound beauty in the symmetry of women’s softness, care, love, and devotion we are capable of providing to ourselves and our communities, contrasted against the hardness women are bound to endure.

Every time I show up for myself, I know the perseverance of being a woman. This month marks a time when I am reminded to look in the mirror and be proud of who I am, a woman.

During this month, I encourage you to write a piece for the Lorian telling what Women’s History Month means to you and honoring a woman in your life who you believe is an inspiration in our Loras community and the greater Dubuque community.

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March 3, 2022

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All Eyes On South Korea

by DEVYN SHEA opinion editor

There is a lot happening in the world right now. As we might think that the Ukraine crisis is at the top of America’s foreign policy list of worries; we should look to another continent as well, because South Korea might take a close second. On March 9, the country heads to the polls to vote for their next president. Presidents in South Korea are elected to one five year term. This election could have important effects on our country’s foreign policy and affect the world.

To give background and context to what is happening, we have to take a look back to the presidency of Park Geun-hye. Park, the daughter of the former assassinated dictator of South Korea, had first run for president in 2007. Having narrowly lost the conservative party’s nomination to Lee Myung-bak (who would be elected president that year), she ran for president again in 2012.

The presidential election in 2012 was originally a threeway race. The far right conservative assemblywoman Park versus progressive assemblyman Moon Jae-in with centrist businessman Ahn Cheol-soo. Ahn dropped out of the race to back Moon and on election day Park, who had been leading the polls by a good margin, had barely won. Park became the first woman president of South Korea in 2013.

She came to power a little under a year after South Korea’s neighbor North Korea had Kim Jon-un start leading their country. During her tenure as president, threats from North Korea increased and tensions escalated. Political stances in North Korea are usually labeled progressive, for having a softer stance/tone towards North Korea, and conservative, for having a tougher tone. Park was starting to implement a much harsher conservative tone towards North Korea in her final year as president as tensions sped up quickly between the two nations. Her presidency, however, came to an early end. She was wrapped up in a scandal and charged with corruption. The legislative branch, the National Assembly, then voted to impeach her in December of 2016. The supreme court then upheld the decision to remove her in March of 2017, just under two months before the next presidential election. Park left office with around a 5% approval rating.

photo by KOREA JOONGANG DAILY

The next president of South Korea’s agenda may well affect US President Joe Biden’s foreign agenda in Eastern Asia.

warmer relations toward North Korea. Moon, as the South Korean head of state, got to address a crowd of North Koreans for the first time in history. His presidency also saw the prosecution of two former presidents for corruption, Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak. Moon started off with high approvals, but over the past year he has been consistently under a 50% approval rating.

The race to succeed Moon has been very competitive.

It is between a former governor from Moon’s Democratic Party, Lee Jae-myung and the country’s former prosecutor general under Moon from the conservative People Power Party, Yoon Suk-yeol. The most competitive third party challenge is from Ahn Cheol-soo and his more centrist People’s Party. Ahn received over 20% in the last election five years ago, but is only getting around 10% in the polls this year. Assemblywoman Sim Sang-jung of the Justice Party, a more left wing political party, is also in the race, but is only receiving a few percent in the polls.

One major issue for South Koreans is real estate.

Seoul, the capital city of South Korea and home to roughly half the country’s population, has had a high demand for housing. The high demand, however, has been met with a slim supply and incredibly high prices. President Moon has been focusing a lot of his term on real estate by tightening restrictions and trying to provide more through the public sector. Prices for apartments and houses have been increasing and Moon’s photo by THE KOREA HERALD policies have had negative effects on middle and President Moon has remained unpopular amongst the lower class families, however. He’s handled the majority of South Koreans over the past year. situation so poorly that Lee, a member of his own party, has apologized for Moon’s policies and has 2017 brought Moon Jae-in back into the fold of committed to decreasing regulations that have hindered presidential politics. The election was practically a fivebusinesses and failed to meet the results intended by way race with three of the five candidates being the most Moon. Yoon will also decrease regulations and try to viable. Ahn Cheol-soo had mounted another third party decentralize the issue, so that the private sector can take candidacy, cutting into the support of the conservative over. party. Moon won the election by nearly twenty percent The two major candidates differ on foreign policy in with 41% of the vote. Moon’s presidency saw somewhat regards to China and North Korea. Lee has been fairly silent about bringing back US-South Korea military exercises that former US President Donald Trump stopped back in 2018.

Lee and the Democratic continued from page 3 Party want to de-escalate tensions with North Korea LaMay became a celebrity when he was to do because it saves lives,” Kirby said. and aim at working with featured as a patriot on Fox News. Both Kirby noted that about 200 employees their northern neighbor Laura Ingraham and Maria Bartiromo either quit or were fired over the mandate. to bring peace to the praised LaMay during live interviews While that may sound like a lot, it is only peninsula. Yoon and the with him on their shows. Tucker Carlson a small proportion of the 67,000 people People Power Party are and Sean Hannity have also lauded antithe airline employs in the United States. more in favor of being vaxxers as blue-collar mavericks. On Yes, the infection numbers have dropped tough on North Korea January 28, LaMay, a 51-year-old father of recently but this is a virus that has shown and may be tempted to four, died of COVID. After featuring him that it can pivot. Just when we think we bring back these military as a hero, Ingraham and Bartiromo did have it down, it pops back up. Now is not exercises. Both candidates not mention his death on their shows. the time to declare the pandemic is over. are in favor of having That gets us back to where we started It is too soon. Vaccines are the only way economic agreements with – United Airlines and their vaccine to end it. Requiring vaccines is the only North Korea in the future, mandate. CEO Scott Kirby has stood way to make sure that we get the rate Yoon only when the nation by his decision to require the vaccine. of vaccination necessary to reach herd becomes denuclearized.

“And while I know that some people still immunity and truly get our lives back to Yoon is also in favor of disagree with our policy, United is proving normal. ramping up the missile that requiring the vaccine is the right thing

The Morality of Vaccines

defense system against North Korea THAAD that China dislikes. Lee is against this, because of what he sees as not a reliable defense system and the harsh sanctions China imposed on South Korea back in 2016. The two candidates also differ on how to approach China. South Korea is stuck in the crossway of deciding between the US and China. Both acknowledge the importance of China economically, but Yoon is more in favor of aligning with the west in being against China, going as far to say “most South Koreans, especially young people, dislike China”.

When having to choose between the US and China, South Koreans favor the US with only 4% in favor of China according to a KoreaJoongAng Daily survey. Lee has come out against Yoon’s rhetoric stating that China is an important factor in the economic success of South Korea as well as bringing peace and security to the peninsula especially in regards to being a sort of mediator between the two Korean nations.

Both of the major candidates have been marred in scandal. Some regarding corruption from Lee’s son and his illegal gambling and Yoon’s wife falsifying her record in order to get teaching jobs a decade ago. Lee has been trying to capitalize off of being the governor of the most populated province in South Korea, his rare rags to riches story, and his comparisons with the working people of South Korea. Yoon has been characterized as a political newcomer, having been a prosecutor his whole life, and can be seen as a potential candidate to help clean up the corruption mess in the country. Yoon has got himself into more potential trouble after he apologized to the recently pardoned former president Park for his investigation into her wrongdoings during her administration, which led to her impeachment. This could persuade some potential conservative voters that oppose Park to vote for Ahn or another third party candidate. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has also taken front and center stage in the South Korean presidential race. As Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky’s popularity is surging on the global scale, in part due to the media, Lee has dissatisfied many voters over his remark that the war broke out in Ukraine due to Zelensky’s lack of political experience and failures in diplomacy. This remark has faced backlash and Lee has since apologized. Yoon is currently barely ahead of Lee in the polls, making Yoon nervous and has previously called for Ahn to drop out and join forces. Ahn was expected to join forces with Yoon and unite under one candidate, but decided against it.

This election is very important even for people in the US and around the globe. The election of Democratic candidate Lee could see the US lose an important ally to China, the election of the People Power candidate Yoon would see South Korea solidify its allegiance to the US and the principles we as Americans value. The election of Lee would see a warmer diplomacy toward North Korea as more in line with current president Moon and former US president Trump, while the election of Yoon would see a more stand off and skeptical approach toward North Korea. This could be the global test of China’s influence and America’s power on the global scale. Will we still have an ally in South Korea? Will China’s influence and power expand? The fate of the balance of power in the world will lay in the people of South Korea’s hands.

7

March 3, 2022

O pinion

The Lorian

More dialogue in our politics strengthens our democracy

by DEVYN SHEA opinion editor

There have been talks that Donald Trump is going to run for president for a third time in a row. President Joe Biden has also publicly stated that he plans on running for reelection. I feel that both of these men would be doing a great disservice by running for president again and I have a few names in mind that would be better candidates and can strike good dialogue between each other.

When it comes to Republicans, whether you like Trump or not, they need to find a candidate that balances his base with expanding the party’s demographics.

Sort of like a Glenn Younkin type of character. Now Younkin would be a year into his term by early next year, when the presidential race starts to kick off, so he may not be the best choice for Republicans. Ron DeSantis would be a good choice to take on the America First banner and the movement Trump started.

The two align fairly well politically and were once close allies. Even some Trump supporters would support DeSantis over Trump. Another candidate could be Francis Xavier Suarez who is the incredibly popular latino mayor of Miami.

Suarez could be the candidate to push the GOP to align with the times. He is a big supporter of crypto currency and did not support Trump or DeSantis in their respective races over the controversies surrounding their candidacy. Chris Christie would be a good candidate to throw into the ring to tell it like it is on the debate stage and Ted Cruz or Rand Paul would be good to give more libertarian members of the GOP a voice. I think Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger should run as well to give a voice to GOP voters who were angered by January 6. Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland would be a good option for moderates and even old style GOP voters and could potentially help in blue states on the east coast. Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire would also be a good bet for those wishing to seek a balance between Trump’s base and getting independent or undecided voters to support the GOP. Democrats should run one or two members of the Biden administration such as Pete Buttigieg or Kamala Harris to give those that like the Biden administration a chance to continue his policies and agenda. Biden himself should not run due to his low approval rating and the fact that he would be in his 80s throughout his second term, but he should have a member of his administration run. Democrats should also have a more conservative democrat run such as Senator Kirstin Sinema of Arizona or Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. A sitting governor would help as well like Roy Cooper of North Carolina or Laura Kelly of Kansas. A Bernie Sanders protege like Alexandra Ocasio Cortez and more libertarian members of the party like Colorado Governor Jared Polis would also help strengthen the dialogue in our country.

Even if these candidates have low chances of winning or do not want to run, I think they should. The more dialogue in our country the better. It helps to hear all sides of the political spectrum in a democracy. In fact, I think it helps strengthen our democracy. It takes all hands on deck to get things done in this country. Let’s get all voices heard before we start.

Concert Review: REO Speedwagon Right in our backyard, REO Speedwagon is still showing the world what good rock and roll looks like

by ARJA KUMAR staff writer

Legendary Midwest rockers REO Speedwagon made an appearance in Dubuque last week on February 23rd.

The ’70s-’80s rock band originally hails from Champaign, Illinois, and first achieved significant commercial success with platinum certification on You Can Tune a Piano, But You Can’t Tuna Fish and eventually diamond on their bestselling album Hi Infidelity (selling over 10 million copies). The band has performed thousands of concerts and had countless radio spins in every city they set foot in.

Needless to say, REO has ridden to the top and stays rocking to this day, thrilling fans old and young alike with their timeless tunes.

The show’s opening act was the special guest band, Levon. The country trio originally hails from Nashville, Tennessee, and debuted at the Grand Ole Opry in 2018. (Interestingly, Ryan Holladay [guitar, mandolin, and harmonies] was the youngest person ever to perform at the Grand Ole Opry!) The band itself is rooted in their musical passion for the 1970s and places emphasis on singer/ songwriter generation lyrics and melodies that have remained relevant after their time on the charts. The trio performed a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s The Chain, Eagles’ I Can’t Tell You Why, and a few of their original songs. I found them to be a charming group that blended the vibes of contemporary country and golden oldies nicely.

After the opener, REO Speedwagon appeared amidst a puddle of smoke. The crowd buzzed with excitement as the song Music Man played first. People started jamming along immediately and were dazzled by the sight of – Kevin Cronin (lead singer, guitar, piano). Kevin is iconic, and I personally love the 70-year-old probably as much as my own grandpa.

The man is always smiling during his performances and looks genuinely happy, which I adore. Many seats-hopped and moved around to get a good view.

The audience population was pretty interesting, as it mainly consisted of elders and middle-aged folk along with some of

their children. You could feel the after-work stench of these folks, but they seemed to be making the most out of a Wednesday night and enjoyed it.

There was then a transition into Keep Pushin’ and a speech made by Kevin about the troubles of the world and how we are all lucky to be living in our country.

A sense of patriotism permeated the air, and it totally gave off hippie movement vibes.

Sadly, Kevin croaked photo by FIVEFLAGSCENTERCOM during Take It On the REO Speedwagon played at the Five Flags CenterRun. I expected more Arena in Dubuque on Feb 23 and will return for a fifth pizzazz from this iconic time in March. cornfield-cruising and singing into her husband’s ears like song. Both the instrumentals and vocals a siren. Never did I expect to see a man sounded underdone – like a meagerly getting an exotic dance to Keep on Loving cooked steak. Yet, Dave Amato’s guitar You. solo was solid and saved the song from There were a couple of headbanging crumbling. There was a young high school mullet teens to Ridin’ the Storm Out couple slow dancing to Take It On the Run who looked like they were straight out (which is supposed to be a breakup song). of MTV’s Beavis and Butthead. Yet, the I found this quite amusing since they best song of the night was Time For Me seemed to be looking very lovingly into to Fly. Kevin’s vocals were on point and each others’ eyes. poignantly emotional – as if he were Can’t Fight This Feeling got the entire reminiscing his whole life to this song. The sea of slow dancers out on the floor. It felt band’s instrumentals were smooth. Bryan like a 1980s prom, and I was living for it.

Hitt was vibrant on drums, and Bruce Hall Kevin redeemed himself during this song, was rich on bass. putting in his pure emotion and belting The night closed with Roll With the out notes pleasantly. Keyboardist Neal Changes, which was perfectly fitting.

Doughty strung the song together like a Everybody was totally psyched out at seamless stitch with his seasoned playing. the sight of seeing REO Speedwagon at The power ballad Keep on Loving You this point. I still couldn’t believe my eyes was one of the most captivating songs of either. I first discovered REO Speedwagon the night. Personally, this is my favorite as a young high school kid. Their tunes REO Speedwagon song. Interestingly, always played in places like gas stations, Cronin once called it, “The most painful grocery stores, or dental offices. I will song he ever wrote.” The swelling intro never forget hearing their music on some piano got the audience roaring and excited random radio station while cruising the to sing along to this once Billboard Hot rickety roads of Illinois (and once getting 100 song. Kevin’s vocals kept powering on flipped off by some trucker to Take It throughout the piece, tempestuous and On the Run). The show was a success, raw with intention. The elderly couple in and REO Speedwagon’s performance front of me was a hoot. The woman was brought me back to my Illinois roots and probably the greatest ’80s dancer I’ve ever sent many alike on a nostalgic trip down seen. (I mean that sarcastically). She was Midwest rock memory lane. clearly reliving her teenage dreams to REO

Will “The Batman” Beat Out the Best Batman Movie Ever?

by SETH CORRIGAN staff writer

In preparation for the upcoming DC Comics movie, “The Batman,” fans everywhere are re-watching their favorite Batman movies in anticipation. If there is one movie to go back and re-watch, it would be the 2008 film from director Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight,” starring Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, and the late Heath Ledger.

Following the events from the first film, “Batman Begins,” Batman has been able to help keep many of the criminals

off the streets of Gotham, with the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon, played by Gary Oldman, and D.A. Harvey Dent, played by Eckhart. However, a new criminal arrives, the Joker played by Ledger, and puts the Batman at moral odds as he wreaks havoc over Gotham.

Ledger’s performance as the Joker is the reason that this film is so great.

The way he transformed himself into this character is something that no one expected he’d be able to pull off. Even writer Jonathan Nolan couldn’t understand the casting choice saying “No one got it, the studio didn’t get it. Everyone was coming at Chris saying ‘we don’t see it,’” he said an article written

by NME. Ledger was able to win an academy award for his portrayal of the Joker role, but had sadly passed away a year prior due to an overdose, six photo by THEBATMAN.COM months before the release of the film.

Bale’s performance as the Batman is also a standout performance in the film. Batman has always had the moral backbone to never kill the enemy.

However, the Joker has created such moral tension and wants him to hurt and kill, leaving Batman to decide what’s best for him and the city of Gotham as well.

Eckhart’s performance as Harvey Dent, which then leads into Two-Face by the end of the film, is also a performance that I love on screen. At the beginning of the movie, you see him as one the protagonists who wants to help save Gotham the proper, and by the end you see him turn and want to take out o the Joker himself, doing whatever it took, ethical or not.

The Dark Knight is currently streaming on both Netflix and HBO Max. Several online movie sites (CBR.com, sreenrant. com) have called “The Dark Knight” the best Batman movie ever. “The Batman” will be released in theaters on March 4th, with early showtimes starting on March 3. The buzz is that it just might give “The Dark Knight” a run for its money.

8

March 3, 2022

S ports

The Lorian

Duhawk Wrestling Sending Four to Nationals

by NATHAN CAMERON

athletics communications student assistant

Feb. 26, 2022 - The NCAA Division III Lower Midwest Wrestling Regional came to a close on Saturday night at the Five Flags Center in Dubuque, Iowa as some of the top-ranked wrestlers in the country clashed under the same roof. After two days of competition, the No. 2/7 Loras College wrestling team saw four Duhawks punch their ticket to the NCAA Division III National Championship in No. 6 Zeke Smith, No. 13 Gabe Fiser, No. 5 Jacob Krakow and No. 2 Shane Liegel.

Smith made his way to the championship match in the 157 lb. weight class but first had to go through Joaquin Bautista from the University of the Ozarks. Smith made easy work of Bautista, winning by an 18-0 technical fall before breezing by Cornell College’s Killian Perrigon in the second round, winning by another dominant 18-1 technical fall. Smith secured a spot in the championship match after downing North Central College’s No. 13 Cole Cervantes by a 5-3 decision. In the championship bout, it was an American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) rivalry matchup between Wartburg College’s No. 2 David Hollingsworth, seeing Smith qualify for Nationals after finishing second in the weight class.

Wrestling at 165 lbs. for the Duhawks was No. 13 Fiser, whose weekend started with a first-round tilt against Huntingdon College’s Gabriel Pittman. Fiser made his way into the next round after an 11-2 major decision victory over Pittman before taking down Wartburg’s Antwon Pugh in a nail-biter of a match, winning by 3-1 sudden victory. The junior secured his spot in the championship match after taking down Cornell’s No. 11 Casey Allen by a 3-2 tiebreaker to face Millikin University standout No. 2 Bradan Birt in the championship where he took second, securing his spot at

nationals.

No. 5 Krakow cruised his way through the 174 lb. bracket after earning an opening-round 16-0 technical fall over Augustana College’s Jack Patting before going toe-to-toe with Jacob Sherzer of Cornell. Krakow recorded his second-straight technical fall with a solid 16-1 victory over the regional foe before he met Coe College’s No. 9 Tristan Westphal. The senior made his way to the championship matchup after taking a 2-1 decision over Westphal and earned Regional Champion accolades after Wartburg’s No. 2 Zane Mulder was forced to medically forfeit, punching Krakow’s ticket to Cedar Rapids.

No. 2 Liegel, the Duhawks highest-ranked wrestler, competed at 184 lbs. and opened up his weekend against Ozarks’ Vincent Christy, winning by fall in just 1:35. The junior grappler then had to go up against Luther College’s Isaiah Mitchell where Liegel earned his second pin of the weekend to advance and take on Coe’s No. 9 Ryan Schott. Liegel was just one point away from a technical fall over Schott, walking away with an impressive 15-1 major decision before he saw Wartburg’s No. 1 Kyle Briggs in the championship match. In rematch from the rivalry dual two weeks prior, the two best wrestlers in the country battled for seven minutes but Liegel walked away with a vengeful 6-0 win by decision to be named Regional Champion and earn a spot at Nationals.

Five Duhawks earned podium finishes on the weekend with No. 11 Jared Hensley finishing fourth in the 125 lbs. bracket while Aiden Evans finished sixth at 133 lbs. Jalen Schropp, the Duhawks’ 141 lb. competitor earned a fourth-place finish in the tournament and No. 9 Daniel Ruiz took fourth at 149 lbs. Brady Vogel rounded out the Duhawks’ podium finishers with a fourth-place finish at 197 lbs. as the Duhawks took second in the team scores with a combined score of 149.5 points.

Loras Women’s Track Running Toward a Repeat

EDITORIAL STAFF

executive editor: KEEGAN GODWIN features editor: MARY FELLERS opinion editor: DEVYN SHEA sports editor: CAMERON ARVIDSON mind and soul editor: CALASANDRA SPRAY assistant editor: GENEVIEVE REED advertising: COLIN KLAPPERICH

ABOUT US Circulation: The Lorian is published on a weekly basis, with exceptions of holiday breaks, examination periods and January Term. The newspaper is available in all main academic buildings and residence halls across campus on Thursdays during the afternoon/evening.

Editorial Policy: The Lorian is the official student-led, award-winning newspaper of Loras College. The opinions expressed in The Lorian are those of individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the students, faculty or administration.

The Lorian reserves the right to edit submissions for taste, length and grammar.

by DAVID GRINTJES

staff writer Last spring the Loras women’s track team accomplished something no previous team had done. They won the NCAA Division III National Championship.

This past weekend they scored another first when they won the American Rivers Conference indoor championship beating out perennial favorite Wartburg. Marion Edwards, a senior sprinter, said previous Duhawk teams simply did not have enough members to beat out the schools with much bigger teams.

“We often have the quality individuals to win but are often beat out by the larger group,” Edwards said. “This year I think we were able to show that we may be small, but we are mighty!”

Coming in to this season the women’s track team’s plan was simple. Stay consistent.

But with their historic levels of success, one has to ask the question - is there is something more than just consistency?

Head Coach Matthew C. Jones believes that, while there are a number of extremely talented individuals on this team, talent alone will not win you championships.

“We had a number of women really step up in a big way,” Jones said.“It’s a credit to their hard work and consistency in putting in the work necessary to be a championship level team.”

Jones believes that there is a culture that has been developed in the women’s track program. One that not only works hard but does so on a regular basis. In their last meet before the conference championship, the Duhawk women had well rounded and record-breaking performances all across the board.

It started with their distance medley relay crew. With a time of 11:53.66, the team of Ellie Osterberger, Stevie Lambe, Valerie Herbst, and Kassie Parker had the second

THE

CONTACT US On campus: 259 Hoffmann Hall 675 Loras Boulevard Dubuque, IA Phone: 563-588-7954 Mailing address: 1450 Alta Vista Street Box #243 Dubuque, IA 52001

photo from DUHAWKS.COM

The Women’s Track team holding the ARC Champtionship trophy.

fastest time in Loras track history. Elayna Bahl set a school record in the 60-meter hurdle prelims with a time of 8.81 seconds.

Grace Alley ran the ninth record in program history with a time of 9.46 seconds. Finally, Marion Edwards tied her career best in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.71 seconds.

Jones says that his athletes only get to practice as a team about half of the year so they have to be committed to maintain their training even when the coaches are not around.“They have to be committed out of season,” Jones said. “We talk a lot about being accountable and doing the work when it’s not mandatory. If you are only preparing for half of the year, it’s very difficult to expect to continue to grow in this sport.”

Although most people see the individual athletes competing in track and field events, Edwards said the Duhawks very much work together as a team.

“We push each other mentally and physically to be better because we know when championships like this are on the line

that it’s going to take that extra push to win it all,” Edwards said. “We are winning not only for ourselves but for each other.”

Edwards noted the other element that has helped to make this team historically successful. “ … our coaches hold us accountable, and push us to want more from ourselves. They help us see the talent that we have and the amount of work it takes to make that talent thrive.”

At the moment it looks like the NCAA Division III indoor track championships, scheduled for March 11 and 12 in North Carolina, are a go. They were cancelled the last two years due to COVID so Edwards and her fellow Duhawks are itching to get back on that track.“We are not letting the opportunity to show up and show out go to waste,” Edwards said. “The nerves may get to us most of the time but at the end of the day, we know that we have put in the work and it’s just about having fun at that point.”

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