LUTHER COLLEGE CHIPS
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4
December 12, 2013
Powell recognized for work with NE Iowa Humane Society Humane Society continued from page 4
feet, because his claws had grown into his feet. “We submitted Jake’s story to the Ellen DeGeneres Show for a contest,” Powell said. “Petco and Ellen DeGeneres are running this competition where rescue groups around the country are invited to submit the stories of animals that they rescued. The prizes range from $100,000 to $5,000.” The monetary incentive is appealing to Powell not for any personal benefit, but
because she plans to use the funds to help abused animals. “One of the producers called us and informed us that Jake’s story was especially moving and was one of the top choices,” Powell said. “We won’t find out for a while if Jake places at all, but the $100,000 will help with the construction of the Humane Society Center we’re starting in the spring.” The Humane Society is planning on breaking ground and building a shelter for Northeast Iowa in the spring. Information on the outcome of the contest won’t be available for a few more weeks.
Photo courtesy of Kim Powell
Man’s best friend. Jake the dog was rescued from abusive owners by the Humane Society and his story could be featured on the Ellen DeGeneres show.
Office damaged in Olin Torgerson receives bonus after retirement and to mitigate the damage.” White said that for the time being, she before we got some of our staff in there with must also share an office with Professor Amy extractors and Wet-Vacs.” Wrightsman, as the damage to her office Arneson said that about 85 percent of the requires that it be completely restored. third-floor offices Alex Kalal (‘14) is one in the north wing of many students who had were affected by the their classes canceled that flooding and that the day due to the ongoing water also leaked damage investigation and down into second remediation. floor classrooms “A little bit [of the and bathrooms. This flooding] happened in made removal of the my classroom on second computers from some floor, and my class on of the classrooms Monday, Dec. 2 was necessary. cancelled,” Kalal said. The office in “It’s lucky that Mike which the flooding Johnson was there. If he started belongs to -Alexandra White hadn’t been there, who Assistant Professor knows how bad it could of Management have gotten.” Alexandra White. It is unknown at this time whether any of the “All of my books and documents were computers in the second floor were damaged, destroyed, along with some personal items,” but according to Arneson, LIS picked them White said. “I was very fortunate that I had up shortly after the incident. Arneson also taken a few key textbooks and my laptop said that he hoped that the repairs would be home with me over Thanksgiving break done by the end of J-term. and that I had entered grades for my recent “I’m extremely happy with my crew,” exams. Both Luther Facilities and LIS did a Arneson said. “Everybody I called came to great job responding quickly to the situation help, even though it was a holiday weekend.” Flooding
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“Both Luther Facilities and LIS did a great job responding quickly to the situation and to mitigate the damage.”
Torgerson’s salary continued from page 1
for the institution, decided to award Torgerson a bonus for his many years of employment,” Professor of English Lise Kildegaard said. “While I do not know [the Board of Regent’s] reasoning, I have been told that it is a common gesture in similar situations.” Paul Torgerson, the Chairperson of the Board of Regents, and Richard Torgerson could not be reached for comment.. This amount of money has been referred to as a “sabbatical.” According to the 2013-2014 Faculty Handbook, “a faculty member becomes eligible to apply for such a leave [sabbatical] when (1) he or she has tenure; (2) he or she has completed six academic years at Luther since hired or has completed five academic years since previous sabbatical; and (3) he or she will be able to teach at least two years following return from leave.” The handbook does not have a policy on
the basis of retirement. When asked about of the source of the money, Kildegaard said, “We have a certain amount [of the budget] that comes from endowments and annual gifts, but by-and-large our budget comes from net tuition.” The net tuition is the amount of tuition charged minus the amount of money given out in scholarships. Diane Tacke, the Vice President of Finance and Administration, declined an interview. “The Board [of Regents] thought that this was worthy,” Professor of Political Science John Moeller said. There continues to be mixed feelings among faculty on this issue. “Rick Torgerson had several years of extraordinary service at Luther College,” Kildegaard said. “I myself do not feel that he was undercompensated. But many of our Regents are successful business people. I imagine that our salaries at the college look quite modest to them.”
Sodexo employees face loss of benefits Sodexo continued from page 1
These changes are taking place now because they will go into effect in the new year. The main problem the affected employees at Luther have with this situation is how quickly it is happening. “Most of us had no idea of the issue until HR came, and even after that we thought if we already had insurance we would be fine,” Davis said. “There was still confusion after receiving our letters in November, but we soon came to understand that we could either pay for the insurance ourselves, or go without.” There were not as many Luther employees affected because many of them have the opportunity to work throughout the summer. Until recently, employees were not aware that by taking time off, they could jeopardize their health benefits. “They always encouraged us to take some time off in the summer and use our vacation time,” Davis said. “I wasn’t aware that I would be penalized in the
future.” There are available hours and employees will have continued opportunities to pick up more hours in the future, unlike some of the other places being affected. Many Dining Services employees depend on the benefits package that Sodexo provides for full time staff. “They will no longer have the benefits package which includes sick pay, vacation time and disability along with other things,” Tudor said. “But they will still have the 401(k) and will be getting a raise of their hourly rate to make up for what they would have gotten.” According to the letter sent out by the Sodexo Benefits Center, eligibility requirements will be reviewed annually to see if the employee’s eligibility changes for 2015 or future years. “This has not been a pleasant experience for any of us,” Tudor said. “We were told three days before the letters got sent out to the nine Luther employees. We were hoping to know as soon as possible so we
Casey DeLima/Chips
Learning from the best. Student workers such as Tanner Viedenkamp (‘17) will not be affected by the benefit cuts, but their bosses will be. could help them, but I didn’t even get a chance to notify all of them before they received their letters.” Davis agreed that the change would be
difficult. “Most of my paycheck goes to insurance for my family of four,” Davis said. “To no longer have that is devastating.”