Nov. 15, 2012, Lorian

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Iconic Bonds Daniel Craig is the 6th Bond in the series

Playoff soccer Both teams play in the “Sweet 16” this weekend.

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Pages 11-12

November 15, 2012 — Vol. 91, Issue 8

Student Life

Profile

The songs of Summers

Assignment: Help hunt for missing girls

Liturgical coordinator releases his 1st EP by HANNAH WAY copy editor

by MATT KOCH copy editor

There is currently a major push in the field of education to integrate new teaching methods into the curriculum. Professors at Loras are no stranger to this, and many have developed new ways to enliven their classes. Ron Collins, a professor of business management, has come up with a unique project for his Principles of Management class that encourages hands-on learning in real-life situations. The semester-long group project for half of his class is to help raise awareness for the two missing girls from Evansdale, IA. Elizabeth Collins and Lyric Cook were last seen July 13, riding their bikes near their house, and have been missing ever since. With law enforcement apparently having exhausted its best leads, community awareness might be the last best help— getting as many people as possible looking for the girls. The family has resolved to connecting with people all over the country in an attempt to find them. This is precisely what Chris Stechman is doing. Stechman, a relative of Elizabeth Cook, has been trying to raise awareness through his personal and business connections, hoping to spread the message. One such connection Stechman has is Ron Collins. “During Chris’s time at Loras, he was in the service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega, and I was an advisor for it at the time, having been in it myself as a student,” said Collins. “Knowing each other through that, he came on campus a few months ago trying to meet with me and raise awareness on campus.” Collins immediately saw this as an opportunity for experiential learning in which students could apply what they learned in class and their personal talents to aid this cause. “I told Chris that having a team of students take on this really large project would give them the opportunity to apply knowledge and let them see how their talents can come together to help someone,” Collins said. “And that fits in well with our mission here at Loras College.” Half of the students in his management class are engaged in the semester-long group project that strives to raise awareness for the missing girls. The group is asked to apply lessons learned in the classroom as students organize, plan, and allocate their time, talents and resources to achieve this goal. The students are not tasked with bringing the girls home, but rather to assist the family and law enforcement ins spreading the message through word of mouth, media and social networking. “With regards to management, the students hopefully will apply the core concepts, like the four functions of management, for instance, in order to achieve their goal,” Collins said. “This is an opportunity for them to apply what they have learned in a real-life example.” Ultimately, this is another attempt to take what is learned in lecture and apply it. Moreover, it provides students a unique opportunity to help a family in time of tragedy, and learn valuable academic lessons while participating in a project where there is something more important than a letter grade. “I could lecture all day about these topics,” Collins said, “but I realize if students are going to really learn, they need to have the opportunities to perform these tasks and see their importance not in a textbook but in real life.”

illustration by AYUSH SUBEDI

The Lenovo Edge Twist is favored among students. It runs the latest Windows operating system, but one negative about the new computer is its lack of CDDVD drive.

Laptop flip by COLIN HALBMAIER

A

features editors

group of students gathered around a small table in the ACC Monday afternoon. Dan Kurt, the microcomputer specialist for the Loras Help Desk, held in his hand a Lenovo Edge Twist, which he showed off to anyone willing to stop and listen.

On the table was a Lenovo ThinkPad T430, one of the latest computers in the company’s ThinkPad line of products. Both devices are more than shiny attractions to the students gathered - they are the way of the future for their laptop campus. Every other year, Loras students are eligible to trade in their laptop for a new and improved model. Last Friday, the campus was surprised to find an announcement on the Loras portal, asking them to vote for the next computer to be distributed to the eligible students. Both the Lenovo Edge Twist and T430 were options being considered by the technology staff. The T340u, a slimmer version of its counterpart and the third option being offered, was unable to be displayed at the showcase, but it was still a part of the discussion. The Lenovo T430 is a continuation of the series of laptops currently used on campus,

down to the operating system and hard drive. The T430u sacrifices its DVD drive in favor of a slimmer design. It was the Edge Twist that was the star of the show, however. Not only is it a smaller and slimmer device, but it also comes with Windows 8, the latest operating system available. It is also equipped with a touch screen that twists into a tablet. “I think a tablet is a better choice,” said junior Payne Finn. “While most campuses are moving forward with technology, we’re stuck with the ThinkPads. Moving up to a tablet catches us up with technology.” Dr. John Eby, professor of history, shared a similar sentiment. “I think the touchscreen is way better. That’s the direction technology is going, and we need to keep pace with that if we’re going to call ourselves a laptop campus.”

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In a world saturated with musical talent, an artist needs something extraordinary in order to get noticed: enter the wild antics of Lady Gaga and Ke$ha. Yet there are artists, especially local singers and songwriters, who are driven by passion and rely solely on talent and songwriting abilities in order to produce music. Loras’ own David Summers is one such artist who has recently released his first extended play, or EP, “My Father’s Son.” Summers is a 2008 graduate of Loras, where he obtained a bachelor of music degree. He now can be found in his office next to Christ the King Chapel where he works as the liturgy coordinator. As the liturgy coordinator, he has been able to have an outlet for the passion he feels for music, a passion that he has had since he was a child. “I have been writing lyrics, melodies and songs in one form or another for as long as I can remember and singing even longer than that,” said Summers. “My poor family and roommates over the years have had to hear more than their fair share of my vocalizing.” It was this love for music that led him to start writing lyrics more seriously. “During college, while working on my music degree and piano skills, I eventually started writing some more fleshed out pieces which I would perform for Dessert Pops or on Antioch,” said Summers. “Then during my first year on staff at Loras, Cassie Koetz (’12) and I established a wonderful songwriting relationship. She had much more refined piano skills, and I had a knack for words and melodies, so we started a beautiful time of music making.”

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He’s got a cushy life

A local business owner builds versatile furniture for versatile people with the guy who delivered it. I was looking for a job and (picked) his brain.” Taking that job turned out to be the best The bell jingles upon entering, and Andy decision of his entrepreneural life. He Parker is in the back, stuffing a mattress with quickly found his love: futons. a multilayers of foam. He is methodical in his work. dimensional piece of furniture he finds to The man’s passion seeps from every zipper be both comfortable and useful in today’s and stitch, spreading through his business economy. and out the door into the community. “It’s functional and highly useful and His showroom doesn’t resemble an IKEA practical,” Parker said. “I was really on warehouse, nor does it resemble a 1,000board of the product’s concept for those bucks-a-pop furniture emporium. No, Parkreasons. It felt like a different kind of alterer’s business is unlike those beasts, and it’s photo by NICK JOOS native approach to traditional furniture. easy to see his idea of the perfect family Andy Parker builds a mattress for the “I decided to move back to Dubuque business. Girl Scouts of America in his workshop. after school in the summer of 2006,” he Parker creates custom futons, and, possaid. “I graduated in May of 2006 and had sibly to avoid confusion to the contrary, aptly coined his business the doors open in June.” “Custom Futons.” And after 6 years in the business, he’s as happy An impressive turnaround, no doubt. And hard work took Andy as ever, because he’s still living his college dream. Parker a long way, but it wasn’t all he needed. “I worked at a futon shop while in college for four years after I continued on page 2 bought a futon from there,” Parker said. “I had a good conversation

by NICK JOOS

executive editor


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