LET THE MADNESS BEGIN
A QUIZ FOR THE PROF
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What is it like to be Dr. Moser for a day?
The NCAA tourney is underway
March 21, 2019 — Vol. 97, Issue 13
Maren Nielsen Out of everything you’ve been involved in, what was the most significant thing you’ve been involved in?
by AUDREY MILLER staff writer
Maren is a senior Sociology major and Peace & Justice minor, originally hailing from Des Moines, Iowa. She has been involved in cheerleading, Spiritual Life (retreats, mass ministries, and an internship), the Student Ambassador Program, Dance Marathon, and bringing Art Club to campus.
Why did you choose to come to Loras? I was dead-set on not even going to college, but everything worked out too perfectly in order for me to come here. The initial draws were making the cheer squad, the Catholic aspect of Loras, and how many opportunities Loras offered.
Art club, for sure! When I came here, I wanted to pursue an art minor but after my freshman year they took away the program. I felt a little tug on my heart to start the club, so I did. I could not have done it by myself, though. I am so lucky to work with some of my best friends while building the club (Ruth Berning and Erin Cain). It was kind of frustrating to get it started initially, but our adviser (Tricia Borelli) and professors (especially Dr. Waldmeir) have been so helpful. The relationships I’ve formed through the club have been the most rewarding part. Some of my best friends have formed through this club.
How have you seen yourself change over your four years at Loras?
opportunities.
What is some advice you would give to a younger student who is just starting their Loras journey? I wish someone would have told me to just go to the things you want to go to. Even if no one you know is going— just go. Once you’re doing the things that feed your soul, you’ll meet people with similar ideas and build friendships beyond the classroom or party scene.
If you had one word to sum up your Loras experience, what would it be and why? Full. I never felt like I wasn’t able to do something here. Loras does such a good job of playing to our strengths and using them for good. It truly felt like the students are the ones who make the campus come to life, and faculty and staff are always so supportive.
I have learned how to be more intentional with everything I do. Through my classes and opportunities at Loras, I have learned that everything I choose to do makes an impact in some way. I owe Loras for helping be move from being an individual whose main focus was being secure, to becoming someone who is now open different ideas, people, and
Junior honors groups kick off projects with Kahoot Trivia Night 2 groups join forces while working to raise promote sustainability by AUDREY MILLER staff writer
Two junior honors groups are teaming up today to bring a Kahoot Trivia Night to campus to discuss sustainability and their respective honors projects: “Chain Reaction” and “Save our Ashes.” “Our goal is to not only raise awareness about sustainability, but our projects as well,” said junior Jamie Engelke. “We chose to collaborate because both our projects relate to sustainability. Since both of our projects will take place on campus, we would like to inform students about our projects and get the students excited for them as well.” S o, w hat are these projects all about? “Our project, Chain Reaction, is focused on bringing a greater awareness of biking to the Loras College campus,” said junior Caroline Breitbach, a member of the Chain Reaction honors group “Our project was originally centered on the idea of bringing a bike share program to Loras, but throughout campus surveys and research, we’ve come to realize that more students want storage
and safety for the bikes they already own. The goal of our project is to put up a bike shelter by the residence halls to fulfill these needs for the students.” Members of this biking group include Breitbach (Media Studies and English: Creative Writing double major) and junior Joey Lyon (Math and Computer Science double major). So far, they have surveyed the Duhawks on what our campus actually wants in terms of biking resources and met with Tri-State Trail Vision, a bike advocacy group in the Dubuque area. “Now that we’ve gotten acclimated to the world of biking, we can see the positive influence it can have on a community,” said Lyon. “At one point, we just had this ambiguous idea with little direction and a dream of making it a reality. Now, our final goal is within reach and it will be satisfying to see our hard work come to fruition by giving Loras students a resource to use for many years to come.” The group has also been researching suitable shelters, getting quotes for those shelters, finding suitable areas on campus for a bike shelter, coordinating with the college on installation, and researching grants to secure funding for the project.
“During this winter, we saw many bikes buried in snow unprotected, and so our project wants to benefit the Loras community by providing resources, such as the shelter, to students to encourage cycling, alternative transportation, and healthy living with exercise,” Breitbach added. The “Chain Reaction” group has also partnered up with the “Save our Ashes” group, whose goal is to bring awareness to campus and the Dubuque community about the dangers of the emerald ash borer infestation that has been taking down ash trees in the area. Members this interdisciplinary group include junior Jamie Engelke (Business Administration and Marketing major), junior Connor Halbmaier (Creative Writing and English Literature major), junior Patricia Patnode (Philosophy major), and junior Gabriel Smith (Biochemistry major). “To begin, we were going to focus educating the community on the effects of the emerald ash borer,” said Halbmaier. “When we were told that it wasn’t that big of a problem on campus, we decided to expand our project to include planting trees on campus. Of course, it turned out the bug was a problem, so we made the decision to focus on planting trees this spring, Continued on Page 2
Duhawks and Knights by ALEX RHOMBERG staff writer
Loras is home to many campus based organizations that aim to accomplish a variety of things for the betterment of the community, and Loras as a whole. The Knights of Columbus is one such organization is a charitable organization that consistently has worked to enhance the Loras community. The Knights of Columbus are a universal and fraternal organization founded by Michael J. McGivney in 1882 aimed towards charitable action by Catholic men of faith. Over 2 million Catholic men are involved worldwide within councils of their own. What makes Loras’ council different from the rest is the turnover in members. The Knights of Columbus offers fraternity for members within church communities for long periods of time. With council 9224 being campus based, there is a lot of turnover in members every year. The council is by no means the same as it was four years ago, which can be a cause of challenges in consistent organization and leadership. The last couple of years have been a time of restoration and rebuilding for the Loras Knights. Grand Knight Charles Putbrese said, “We are really excited about our future commitments and involvement here on campus. We have undergone a period of restructuring in our council, and have updated our knowledge on events and organizational requirements. We hope to have a greater and more impactful presence on campus in the coming years with our growing numbers and voices.” Council 9224 has been able to host a series of events throughout the year, and has many in store for the coming months. These events include pancake breakfasts, Chipotle dinners, Knights vs Fraternity Flag Football, Knight o Grams, Knights vs Seminarians basketball, and the upcoming famous Night with a Knight auction event. Members of the council also had the opportunity to attend the Iowa Rally of College Knights at Drake University. “IROCK was a great experience to meet up with members of other college councils in Iowa. We bonded and grew as brothers in Christ over a short period of time, and gained a lot of useful information to take back with us to our campus councils” said Putbrese. The Knights focus their efforts and actions on Faith, Community, Family, and Life. Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said, “We are answering Pope Francis’ call to go to the peripheries. We can reach halfway around the globe to help those in need and we can reach to our neighbor next door. And we do that every day. That makes us witnesses to the faith.” Grand Knight Putbrese said, “Many of our events have been primarily focused on fundraising over the past couple of years. We are hoping to change the mindset and focus our efforts more towards community and campus wide service projects and helping out Loras organizations however we can.” The Knights here at Loras are always welcoming new members. “If you are interested in joining, we would love to have you! The time commitment is what you want to make of it. We hold meetings after Sunday evening masses about once a month. We highly encourage anyone who is interested to reach out to myself or any other members of the council on campus to get some more information” said Putbrese.