Svennungsen attains historic post Pastor becomes first female bishop of largest ELCA synod By Manitou Messenger Staff
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America’s Minneapolis Area Synod elected current St. Olaf interim Pastor Ann Svennungsen as its new bishop at the synod assembly on Feb. 17 and 18. Svennungsen is the first woman to serve as bishop in the state of Minnesota. Exactly one week after her mother’s funeral and amidst dealing with her son’s leukemia diagnosis, Svennungsen felt a sense of calm and serenity throughout the election process, which she called “prayerful and thoughtful.” “There’s something about dealing with such serious issues that puts an election like this into perspective,” Svennungsen said. “I was surprised by the calm and deeply grateful.” Unlike her run for bishop ten years ago, conferences were allowed to nominate candidates in November, as well as at the assembly in February. One of 18 who agreed to put their names forward in advance, Svennungsen was able to participate in a forum in January and prepare a two-page biography for the assembly that could help voting members get to know her. “I think the more information and insight people bring to the assembly, the better,” Svennungsen said. She boasts a variety of experiences within the church, including service as president of Texas Lutheran Uni-
versity and resident scholar at The Ecumenical and Cultural Institute, before serving as St. Olaf ’s interim pastor. “The diversity of my leadership experiences [exists] both in terms of region of the country but also the institutions that I’ve led: small to large congregations, university setting, ecumenical organizations,” Svennungsen said. “I’m delighted with the chance to take all the learnings that I’ve gained from those experiences and use them in this wonderful calling of the Minneapolis Area Synod.” The complete ballot, including additions made the weekend of the synod assembly, had 46 names in the first round of voting. Narrowed to seven, these candidates addressed the assembly and were then pared to five. These five participated in a question and answer session, and two more were eliminated. The remaining three spoke to the assembly once more. At last, it came down to the final two: Svennungsen and Pastor Kelly Chatman. The election of either finalist would have led the church to a historic moment – the first female bishop or the first African-American, respectively. In the end, Svennungsen took the election with a vote of 339 to 317. “One of the very important priorities of the church [is] that we hope to proclaim this Gospel of wel-
come, and we hope for representation in our leadership that reflects the diversity of both the church we are and the church we want to be,” Svennungsen said. Among her personal priorities as bishop is a plan to familiarize herself with the 155 congregations in the Minneapolis Area Synod, the largest in the United States with a baptized membership of 188,710 as of 2010. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to use my gifts and ministry in a mission to which I’m deeply committed and to be given the opportunity to be a steward for what I believe are the gifts and experiences given to me by God,” Svennungsen said of her new calling. Svennungsen’s installation will take place on May 6, 2012 at Central Lutheran Church, but her exact start date is still uncertain. She said that she will work hard to make the transition smooth before that time. “I think transitions are really critical times in the lives of communities,” Svennungsen said. “[The pastor’s office is] working very hard so that there’s a strong sense of continuity.” Even though Svennungsen will leave St. Olaf earlier than originally planned, the pastoral call committee is confident that its original timetable will stand. “We plan to stay with the timeline we have,” said Paula Carlson, vice
JACKIE SCOTT/MANITOU MESSENGER
Pastor Ann Svennungsen poses in front of Boe Chapel, where she has led services during the last five months. After a multi-stage nomination process involving 45 other candidates, the Minneapolis Area Synod elected St. Olaf’s current interim pastor as its bishop.
president and liaison to the Board of Regents, who oversees the call committee. “We expect the new college pastor will spend some time visiting on campus toward the end of the semester and then start in the position in early summer.” The committee has received over 60 applications to date and expects several more within the coming
week. Review of applications has already started, as the priority deadline of Feb. 15 has passed. “I’m very excited for Pastor Ann,” said Scott Krepsky ’12, a student representative on the call committee. “I think she will do a tremendous job serving as bishop for the Minneapolis Synod.”
Service fair facilitates worldwide connections The Worldwide Service Fair on Friday, Feb. 17 provided a place for students to explore opportunities for internships, volunteering, postgraduate service programs and full-time service work. “The event went really well this year,” said Assistant Director for Career Connections Miriam Samuelson. “Getting to connect personally with students is so important to these organizations. We got great feedback from organizations and from students about productive conversatons they had.” The event was open to all class years and included a session sponsored by the CEL to discuss how best to approach the fair in light of students’ individual academic, vocational and career goals. lohmanna@stolaf.edu
NATE BISHOP/MANITOU MESSENGER
Campaign aims to Network links participants to alumni end wasteful habit By Kevin George Staff Writer
By Abby Grosse Staff Writer
You may have seen them tabling in Buntrock, heard them speak to one of your classes or been asked to sign a petition. The Environmental Coalition is putting its own spin on “Ideals to Action” by campaigning to ban bottled water at St. Olaf. Their effort is part of a national movement called Take Back the Tap (itself a subset of the nonprofit Food and Water Watch). Although the Coalition’s ultimate goal is to see an official ban put in place by the administration, it is devoting the early stages of the process to raising awareness about bottled water’s harmful effects and encouraging reduced usage. The members know that they will have to persuade the student body of their cause’s worthiness so that they can truly claim to represent the majority when lobbying the higher-ups. “This is a very complicated issue and we are taking many different approaches to it so we can get full support,” Will Lutterman ’15 said. “We know we are going to run into student backlash on the issue, and we want to inform them fully and convince them that our cause is indeed a correct course.” To wean students off of a dependence on bottled water, the Coalition is working with Bon Appetit to get filteredwater stations, like the one at the Cage, installed around campus. They are also aiming to have admissions cut back on their distribution of bottled water by instead offering
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It’s no secret that getting a job right out of college or getting into graduate school is no easy task right now. Luckily for students here on the Hill, we have a program that can help. The Career Network for Oles is a seven-week program run by the Center for Experiential Learning. Its main principle? Helping Oles get help from Oles. More specifically, the program connects current students with St. Olaf alumni in their fields of interest. Students write short profiles describing what kind of information they are looking for, whether it be about networking and internship opportunities or advice for their graduate program search. After that is completed, their profiles get sent out weekly to members of the St. Olaf Parent and Alumni network where volunteers from every career field offer their best information to the students. Now in its third year, the Career Network for Oles is helping current students get more information and opportunities in their fields of interest than ever before. On the whole, students have experienced mixed results. While some students have gotten job interviews out of the connections made, others have had less productive conversations. Will Reily ’12 joined the program to seek information and opportunities in environmental science. “I’ve had a pretty good response rate, but the conversations haven’t really resulted in much past a couple of emails,” he said. The conversations have mostly provided Reily with information about the world of environmental science that he already knew. “I just haven’t been given a lot of information that was very helpful,” he said.
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However, there are others who have certainly gained from the Network. Eric Klein ’12 experienced what he considers incredible success with the program. “I went into this year’s program with one goal in mind: getting advice on getting a job,” Klein said. The Network certainly granted his wish. “I got an overwhelming response,” he said. “I got so much information, tons of great sites to look for job postings and the whole time I felt like there was this sense of community.” Klein also took part in the Network last year, and he made sure to point out that there are ways to increase the likelihood of getting quality responses. One strategy in particular is to structure your request in a way that is manageable for prospective connections. Klein, looking for experience in education, sought a job, internship or other experience for the coming summer during the program last year. “There just aren’t a lot of opportunities for education experiences for undergraduates in the summer,” he said. While Klein did get some responses in his first year participating in the Network, he did not feel that they really answered his questions. But he also did not feel that this reflected poorly on the program; students have a responsibility to ask for achievable connections and favors. “If you’re looking for the world’s greatest internship, you’re probably not going to find it through the program,” Klein said. “But if you ask for something reasonable, you’ll probably find a lot of support and help.” Even though there have been some mixed responses, this is not a reason for students to despair. The general
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Opinions
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THE MANITOU MESSENGER Established 1887 Olivia N. Koester Executive Editor
Paula K. Skaggs Managing Editor mess-exec@stolaf.edu MANAGING TEAM Business Manager (mess-advertise@stolaf.edu) Gabby Keller DESIGN TEAM Visual Director (mess-graphics@stolaf.edu) Katie Lauer Photo Editor (mess-photo@stolaf.edu) Jackie Scott Staff Illustrators Libby Koehl Noah Sanders Daniel Bynum SECTION EDITORS News Editors (mess-news@stolaf.edu) Stephanie Jones Amy Lohmann Opinions Editors (mess-opinion@stolaf.edu) Ethan Hiedeman Alyssa Lynne Sports Editor (mess-sports@stolaf.edu) Alana Patrick Arts and Entertainment Editors (mess-ae@stolaf.edu) Bri Wilson Sarah McGivern Features Editor (mess-features@stolaf.edu) Solvejg Wastvedt COPY EDITORS (mess-copy@stolaf.edu) Kate Wilson Kaitlin Coats Becky Meiers Ellie Vondracek ONLINE EDITION Online Editor (mess-online@stolaf.edu) Shannon Cron ADVISING Faculty Advisor Jan Hill Submission Policy The Manitou Messenger encourages contributions from students, alumni, faculty, staff and administrators. Opinion articles are open to all political, social and philosophical viewpoints. The views expressed in all letters, editorials and articles do not necessarily represent the views of the student body, faculty, administration or Messenger staff members. “A word from our editors...” is written each week by the executive and managing editors. The Manitou Messenger reserves the right to edit all submissions for length and/or content. Letters must be signed and must include the writer’s full name, telephone number, year in school and major, title or occupation. The Messenger will verify the authenticity of all letters before they are published. Letters submitted by an organization must be signed by an author representing that organization. Letters or articles containing offensive language, libelous material or misleading information must be rewritten before publication. Letters based on two-party disputes will not be published. Letters must address issues affecting the larger campus community. Letters must be submitted via e-mail to <mess-opinion@stolaf.edu>. Letters must not exceed 400 words. Letters exceeding 400 words will not be published until they are edited by the author to meet this specification. Letters must be received by 5 p.m. the Sunday preceding the publication date. The Manitou Messenger does not endorse the content of its advertisements. They are exclusively the opinions of the advertiser and do not represent the views of the newspaper or its staff. The Editorial Board of the Messenger reserves the rights to review the content of advertisements prior to printings or to refuse publication. All content and editorial decisions of the Manitou Messenger remain in the hands of the students. If you wish to contact us you may reach us at our office in Buntrock Commons, Room 112. All staff members are available via e-mail at the addresses listed above. The Manitou Messenger is a student publication of St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn. It is published weekly during the academic year except during vacations, exam periods and interim. The cost for one year’s subscription is $50. Postage is paid in Northfield, Minn. The paper can be found online at: www.manitoumessenger.com. Address:
February 24, 2012
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Religious freedom at stake in birth control issue By Izzy Peris The debate over President Obama’s new mandate on contraceptives continues. The president recently announced that Catholic institutions will be able to opt out of providing free contraceptives, instead shifting the cost of contraceptives to insurers. This new revision has rested well with some Catholic organizations like the Catholic Heath Association and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. A New York Times article from Feb. 14 quotes the president of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities as saying, “I really am appreciative of what the president did last Friday. I’m optimistic and hopeful, and I feel the religious liberty issue has been addressed.” KATIE LAUER/MANITOU MESSENGER However, this view is not of the United States Conference of Catholic shared by Catholic bishops. For one thing, Bishops, states, “We are still afraid that we some religious organizations still object to are being called upon to subsidize something paying an insurance company that will prowe find morally illicit. . . . What right does a vide free contraception to the employers. federal bureau have to define the who, what, To them, this means that they are essentially where and how of religious practice?’” being forced to provide free contraception, Dolan brings up a hot-button issue, one despite their moral objections. that people tend to overlook. The issue is not Hannah Smith, senior counsel at the about contraception per se, it’s about whether Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, told the the government has the authority to tell the Huffington Post, “This is a false ‘compromise’ church what to do. And it’s not just Catholics. designed to protect the president’s re-election Honestly, I’m tired of all the Catholic-bashing chances, not to protect the right of conin the media. I hardly think that any religious science.” institution would appreciate the government She raises a valid point. Is Obama simply trying to regulate the way they live. trying to gain popularity with more conserIt is easy to say that the Catholic Church vative voters by trying to appease them with is just being stubborn, but the freedom of this new compromise? While I don’t have an religion is not just a Catholic issue. Just answer to that, I believe that conservatives are recently, evangelicals have joined this fight, right to be skeptical of the deal. which is noteworthy because evangelicals A much larger issue is that of religious do not oppose contraception. Tony Perkins, freedom. Catholic bishops feel that President president of the Family Research Council, is Obama has crossed the line in issuing the quoted in USA Today saying, “We will not mandate. In the aforementioned New York tolerate any denomination having their reliTimes article, Archbishop Dolan, president
gious freedom impinged upon by the government.” According to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Yes, we have all this great legal jargon and an idealistic view of the land of the free and the home of the brave, but do we really live in a land of religious freedom? As I watch this particular debate unfold and listen to current presidential candidates speak about their “Christian values,” I don’t think so. Until that larger issue is sorted out, I believe Catholics are perfectly within their right to fight for what they believe is the right course of government action. After all, they do have the freedom of speech, right? Izzy Peris ’12 (peris@stolaf.edu) is from St. Paul, Minn. She majors in sociology/anthropology and Spanish with a concentration in linguistics.
Facebook obituaries go too far By Bri Wilson It’s no secret that recent generations have subscribed to expectations of instantaneous connections on academic, professional and personal levels. Professors willingly post lecture slides and test scores online, job sites like LinkedIn foster professional relationships and Twitter boasts free advertising for businesses and easy-access stalking for celebrity fanatics. While multi-faceted, the online frenzy is largely driven by social networking sites. No site is more prominent than Facebook, which boasts over 800 million users. Aside from its notorious functions like virtually stalking campus crushes or living vicariously through friends’ study abroad photos, Facebook has been credited with impacting global and political issues. It allegedly helped ignite movements such as the Arab Spring in Egypt through the pleas of Tunisian adolescents who uploaded videos of a Tunisian fruit seller’s public self-immolation. Such a demonstration would never have been aired without the aid of Facebook, due to the country’s corrupt government. In this way, Facebook and its revolutions have unfortunately been a cause of death, but never before has the site’s impact reached beyond death, as a new application claims to do. “If I Die” allows users to record and save their last sentiments in either text or video format. The application mandates that you designate three of your Facebook buds as “trustees,” who are responsible for confirming your death and thus activating your messages from beyond. Once confirmed, the message is unlocked and easily accessible to all virtual friends. Ironically, Facebook ensures that users’ future messages will remain completely confidential until their time has come, when the message goes public. Already launched, the application’s page has already attracted nearly 12,000 “likes” from the Facebook community. According to Eran Alfona, co-founder and CEO of “If I Die,” Facebook anticipates over 100,000 users to subscribe to the application in the next few months. Upon agreeing to the terms of the application, a hazy blue banner greets users by asking in an almost threatening and abrasive way, “(insert name here), WHAT WILL YOU LEAVE BEHIND?” Though a looming question, don’t ponder too long. The application offers the option of changing your message at any time, ensuring that last words are as easily changed as a relationship status – you know, in case you break up with your significant other and wish to remove gushy senti-
ments about him or her from your last words. Forget the conventional method of leaving your legacy, a memoir or a sentimental, hand-written note to your best friend. Why would you choose that sort of message from beyond when you could share an impersonal video or text message to 1,256 of your “closest” friends, most of whom could be considered dormant in terms of personal contact? To be fair, however, Facebook claims it will offer a more discreet feature in the future that will allow users to personalize who is authorized to see their final posting. The video feature is currently limited to five minutes, with the stipulation that you may contact Facebook if you feel this is too short. But realistically, in the world of instantaneous communication, five minutes should be sufficient to sum up a lifetime, right? One positive feature of the application is that it limits your death post to one – at least this way, your friends and family will only have to be virtually haunted once. Unfortunately, Facebook plans to expand the application to incorporate multiple last postings. While talk of a “last message” spurred conversation about last wills and testaments, attorneys have publicly voiced the discredit of Facebook wills, saying the paper copy will maintain the trump card. For convenience’ sake, it is somewhat logical that younger generations consider Facebook a news source. They can effectively multitask by checking up on friends and reading the latest headlines, particularly those about celebrity deaths. Most devout Facebook users have indubitably discovered an acquaintance’s death through eerie and somber wall posts. But there is a fine line between discovering the death of a far-removed celebrity or acquaintance on Facebook and that of a good friend, and Facebook seems to be straddling it stealthily. “If I Die” could potentially disrupt the concept of resting in peace. The way this is going, obituaries will become obsolete and funeral processions will be replaced by videos of flowers atop sleek black coffins. Is it irony that the first question that Facebook addresses on the application’s frequently asked questions page ponders whether the application is a joke? Not in the slightest. Whatever lies on the digital trend front, let’s hope it is less morbid. Arts and Entertainment Editor Bri Wilson ’13 (wilsonbr@stolaf.edu) is from Madison, Wis. She majors in psychology with concentrations in women’s studies and media studies.
The Indiana State Congress recently passed a resolution celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts and all the organization has done for American women. The resolution had almost total support – with the exception of one man, Rep. Bob Morris. Morris declined supporting it, instead saying in a letter to his fellow congressmen that all the women the Girl Scouts consider role models are “feminists, lesbians or Communists,” the organization is rampantly “sexualizing young girls” and the Girl Scouts support a radical, pro-homosexuality agenda with goals similar to that of Planned Parenthood. With that last comment, Morris was referring to the Girl Scouts’ recent decision to allow a young seven-year-old transsexual self-identifying girl into a local troop, with the organization eventually deciding that the Girl Scouts were open to having any members that identified as girls and desired to be in the organization. As for the criticism that the Scouts sexualizes young girls (because, you know, there’s nothing more sexualizing than merit badges), the Girl Scouts of Northern Indiana Michiana released a statement clarifying that the organization believes its role is to “help girls develop self-confidence and good decision-making skills that will help them make wise choices in all areas of their lives” and that they leave all matters regarding human sexuality, birth control and abortion up to the parents to address. Similarly, girls must have the written consent of their parents before the troops embark on anything even remotely controversial or sexual in nature. Rep. Morris, there are many things in this world that we can consider a threat to America – terrorists, fast food chains, nuclear weapons . . . the list goes on. But the only thing radical about the Girl Scouts is their cookie prices. Young girls today are growing up in a scary, scary world. Every day, the news is filled with stories of bullying in schools, and even the Disney Channel stars are baring all just to get attention. In this kind of landscape, the Girl Scouts of America serves a unique function: It’s a place for kids to just be kids. Through meetings, activities and community service, these young girls develop a moral compass, are inspired by positive role models and meet people who may be very different from them, thus broadening their entire worldview. If these are the kind of things that Rep. Morris thinks are bad for America, then one can only imagine what he thinks are positives. Over the past 100 years, the Girl Scouts has fostered generations of powerful female leaders. And, hopefully, they can continue to foster many more. Plus, any organization that can come up with something as heavenly as Samoa cookies can be nothing but great news for our country.
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MANITOU MESSENGER
February 24, 2012
U.S. should use diplomacy to check Iran’s nuclear aspirations By Seth Ellingson
After detonating the first nuclear weapon in the Mojave desert, humanity changed to accommodate the power to destroy worlds. Robert Oppenheimer, the “father” of the atomic bomb, and the other scientists working on the project expressed skepticism and remained uneasy with its sheer power. Today, we are faced with the same moral problem that befell the scientists in Los Alamos, except that we are preventing the spread of atomic technology to other countries, such as the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran has a nuclear energy program, one that may or may not also be used to create atomic weaponry. In addition to this problem, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has also threatened Israel, saying, “The Jewish state in Israel should be wiped off the map.” Iran claims it is only pursuing peaceful uses of nuclear material for energy purposes, but foreign officials aren’t convinced. Their current strategy toward Iran’s nuclear program consists of denying them all nuclear technology. However, this proves to be a nearly impossible feat. Uranium, the chief material in atomic bombs, is more prevalent around the world than tin. Enriching uranium or plutonium to a level usable in fission reactors or weapons requires the use of centrifuges. Centrifuges allow any country to develop a nuclear system of its own, but the only problem is that centrifuges are 1950s technology and it’s 2012. One of the major problems with preventing countries such as Iran from developing nuclear weapons is that countries without nuclear weapons would do any-
thing to acquire them. Before Pakistan developed the bomb, for example, Pakistani officials said, “We will develop the bomb even if our people have to eat grass.” Thus, economic sanctions on Iran will have a negligible effect. Both Pakistan and North Korea easily bypassed embargoes and found ways to acquire the highly enriched uranium and plutonium. If a country wants to develop a nuclear weapon, it can and will develop it. The U.S. has no power to control the nuclear pursuits of Iran. Instead, it should shift its policy from denial and hard threats to one more open to diplomacy and discussion. The U.S. also has the most on-call nuclear weapons in the world, numbering just under 2,000. Any attempt to force another country to disarm looks rather hypocritical given our large stockpile of world-destroyers. Additionally, the U.S. should also consider the possibility, however unlikely, of a preemptive strike against Iran. First, all integral Iranian nuclear facilities are located deep underground, ruling out a direct bombing. Second, the prospects of an invasion for Iran are not good. Iran would most likely not even challenge a U.S. invasion. No country has the power to stand up to the U.S. military in a uniform conflict, but given our track record, any country could easily harass U.S. forces in a guerrilla war. Many advocates around the world are calling for a preemptive strike for peace. This is the same call Americans experienced in the late 1940s with the Soviet Union. At that time, the U.S. was the only nuclear power, and once news of a Soviet nuclear program reached the Western
world, even the most staunch pacifists were advocating a war to dismantle the Soviets’ nuclear capacity. These days there are not two, but nine states with nuclear weapons (the U.S., Russia, the U.K., France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea), and as nuclear technology becomes more and more democratized, the prospect of preventing it wanes. The U.S. should instead look to an
approach that favors more soft power. This should center on nuclear disarmament to set an example to the world that nuclear weapons are not something any country should possess, instead of keeping a massive stockpile and telling other countries what they can and cannot have. Seth Ellingson ’15 (ellingss@stolaf.edu) is from Powder Springs, Ga. He majors in political science and Russian.
NOAH SANDERS/MANITOU MESSENGER
Houston not the first celebrity to be commodified in death By Sagirah Shahid The thing about lightning is that when it strikes, you can’t help but drop your jaw a little. On the rare occasions that we, the masses, encounter a natural phenomenon, we have a tendency to want to bottle it up and capture it. In the case of Whitney Houston, her awe-provoking voice made her a star. In a flash, we gave Whitney, like most celebrities, an obsessively superior status, arguably much to her own demise. Whitney’s ongoing battle
with substance abuse shadowed the singer’s distinctive career up to her last days when she was found dead in her hotel bathtub earlier this month. It’s no secret that with great stardom comes the even greater cost of living underneath the strict scrutiny of the camera lens. Even in death, we demand the full cooperation of our celebrities as we watch them prosper or suffer under the pressure with which we smother them. As is the case with most celebrity deaths, I
think now is a good time for us to take a long, hard look at our seemingly innocent affections toward celebrities and ask ourselves, are our fixations with the lives of complete strangers healthy? When I think of some of the greats – John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse and now Whitney Houston – I can’t help but wonder how much of a role we, as a society, played in their tragic deaths. Why does having exceptional talent in today’s world equate to a life of sadness, substance abuse or tragic death? Even more, why do we feel like it’s any of our business to know the intimate details surrounding the lives of the so-called superstars? Let me backtrack for a moment and clarify. I don’t think anyone should be held accountable for the actions of another. No one forced Kurt’s suicide, made Amy a drug abuser or placed Mark Chapman’s finger on the trigger. But we did worship the Beatles and Nirvana, and we had one heck of a time watching Amy make a fool of herself. I recently came across an article on the Fox News website that said the outfit Whitney Houston wore in her movie “The Body Guard” is being auctioned off to the “highest bidder.” Even in death, she has become a commodity, a key point asserted by celebrity auctioneer Darren Julien in the article. “You buy items just like a stock,” Julien said. “Buy at the right time and sell at the right time, and they just increase in value.” The celebrity auctioneer went on to explain that Whitney Houston is “someone who’s going to maintain a collectability.” When did we arrive at the point where a person can’t be buried for more that a few days before we start trying to divvy up what’s left of their memory? Our obsession with the celebrity is unnatural. I’m just as guilty as you. The sheer existence of this article proves that much. I was and
still am enamored with Whitney Houston. I can remember being a young girl – six or seven years old – and singing along to her cover of “I’m Every Woman” or “I’m Your Baby Tonight” with my mother as she washed dishes or drove around Minneapolis, running errands and blasting a Whitney cassette. The thing is, you can’t help but attribute personal memories to a favorite actor or singer. And as much as we want to claim a portion of that person’s talent, to love him or her because of those connections, we have to remember that those memories are only relevant to us. There is a fine line between admiration and obsession, and far too often we tend to cross that line for celebrities, with little or no judgment upon ourselves. What seems to follow the celebrity death is a celebration of their greatest accomplishments and the official “We’ll forgive your shortcomings now that you’re dead” sentiment. Sure, these people were beyond wellpaid during their lifetimes, and yes, they are indeed cultural icons, but at the end of the day, when the cameras leave and the makeup is wiped off, they are only people, and people die every day. For example, the U.N. estimated that over 5,000 Syrians died last year due to Assad’s crackdown on civilian protests. The deaths are still piling up. As much as I love Whitney Houston’s music, I don’t think her life is more valuable than those lives. I think it’s high time we reevaluate our priorities and give the “celebrity” the peace and quiet – the lack of coverage – they deserve. Sagirah Shahid ’12 (shahid@stolaf.edu) is from Minneapolis, Minn. She majors in English with concentrations in ARMS and Africa and the Americas.
LIBBY KOEHL/MANITOU MESSENGER
What would your spirit animal be and why?
Kate Peterson Sophomore
Vax Podsiadlo Senior
Justina Stern Sophomore
Rachel Johnson Junior
“A hummingbird because I’m “Jeff Goldblum. It doesn’t “A fox because I’m a ginger “A tapir. I fed one once.” and they are gingers.” little and I like to travel.” need any explanation.”
Juan Yanqui-Rivera Connor Foote Sophomore
Sophomore
“A bunny because they are “A mongoose. They’re quick cute and fluffy.” and pretty cool.”
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Entertainment
February 24, 2012
MANITOU MESSENGER
Student films show off interim creativity By Ashley Belisle Staff Writer
On Wednesday, Feb. 15, Oles gathered in the Lion’s Pause to view the fruits of their peers’ cinematographic efforts at the Interim Film Festival. This year’s festival included 13 films – more than double the number of entries in the 2011 festival – and directors from all four class years. As the Pause grew crowded before the event, enthusiastic chatter filled the room. Most of the directors wore dresses or ties and were filled with the anxious excitement of artists about to show their work publicly. “I’m nervous,” Ben Pelegano ’15 said when asked how he felt before the festival began. Other actors and directors had similar jitters. Audience members, however, were nothing but eager to see their classmates’ films; every chair was filled. “It’s a great way for Oles to be together,” Maddy Gamble ’15 said. She, like many, came to the event to support her friends who had directed and acted in the films. The Interim Film Festival opened with an introduction from Maddi Frick ’12, the organizer of this year’s contest. Though Frick entered a film herself as a first year, she was not involved again until this year when she was asked to organize the festival.
“I created my own major around media, I’m getting a concentration in media studies and I have a penchant for organizing events,” Frick said. “It sounded like a really fun opportunity, and it has been.” To those of us unfamiliar with the competition, Frick explained the rules. Students had the month of January to create a film no longer than 10 minutes that did not include any copyrighted material. As long as those guidelines were met, students had the freedom to go wherever their creative whims led. And creative they were. This year’s film repertoire included comedy, drama, mockumentary, action, adventure, horror and even zombie apocalypse movies. Though the showings lasted nearly two hours, the audience was not at risk of becoming bored. The festival opened with “Flight,” a quirky short film directed by Phil Schramm ’13 about a college student named Flynn, as seen through interviews with several of his peers. Other highlights of the festival included “A European Minute,” directed by Anthony Balbo ’13 and shot on location in London, England; a horror-style film called “The Hill-Kitt Haunting,” directed by Lauren Kingsbeck ’15, Sophia Butler ’15 and Emily
LIBBY KOEHLMANITOU MESSENGER
Reeves ’15; “Brainstorm,” a zombie film created by Leah Baird ’13 and Michelle Sturlaugson ’13; and a film submitted by seven sophomore boys called “The Ole Conspiracy,” in which the bad guys (dressed in St. Olaf snuggies) fought against the good guys, two Public Safety officers. Though the Interim Film Festival was just that – a festival – it was also a competition. The films, which had to be submitted by the final day of interim, went on to be evaluated for a series of awards by five judges. The attendees of the festival determined one additional prize, the Audience Choice Award, and faculty chose the rest. “Paths,” directed by Matthew Aguilar Champeau ’14, Adam Wolinsky ’14 and Isaac Burton ’14, was awarded for best cinematography and editing. The screenwriting prize was given to Anders Nienstaedt ’12 for “Paul is Dead,” a film that explored the idea of a Paul McCartney conspiracy theory. Ben Pelegano ’15 and Jay Egan-Wright ’15 took the prize for best overall acting with “I’ve Been Here Before,” one of the two films they entered. Hannah D. Olson ’15 co-starred with Pelegano in the movie. The judges gave the prize for best sound score to “The Socially Awkward Network,” a spoof on “The Social Network” directed by Neil Gleason ’14. And the Palm d’Ole, the prize for the overall best film, was presented to Schramm for “Flight.” “I felt very humbled by winning the Palm d’ Ole.” Schramm said. “I put a lot of work into it and I felt touched to be recognized for my hard work.” The audience choice award went to “The Socially Awkward Network.” Though contestants and attendees alike were decidedly impressed with the outcome of this year’s Film Festival, Frick notes that the process was not always easy. “Finding good cameras, getting film onto computers, making editing software work [and] burning DVDs . . . may all sound simple, but in practice feels like pulling teeth,” Frick said. But, she added, the whole goal of the festival is “helping students get practice and experience in film production.” Though actors, directors, judges and organizers all encountered challenges along the way, this February’s Interim Film Festival came to a successful end. “I met some really great people while filming that I wouldn’t have met otherwise,” Amy Jeppeson ’15 said of her experience starring in “Hot Chocolate,” directed by Caroline Holden ’14, Ben Harvey ’14 and David Niccolai ’14. Zach Greimann ’15 agreed, adding, “I had a blast working with all the other actors and am really glad I did it.” belisle@stolaf.edu
Carleton exhibit explores facets of femininity By Nick Coe Lalla Essaydi’s “Converging Territories #12” and Siona Benjamin’s “Finding Home #57” highlight a stunning collection of art inspired by women featured in “A Complex Weave-Women and Identity in Contemporary Art.” The exhibit, which runs through March 11 at the Weitz Center for Creativity at Carleton College, examines aspects of femininity through a variety of lenses, including religion, sexuality and sense of place. One of the more striking pieces included in the exhibit was the aforementioned “Converging Territories #12,” a chromatic print on an aluminum backing. In this picture, Essaydi depicts two Muslim women and a background completely covered in Arabic scrawling. The walls, the women’s clothing and their skin are filled with handwritten passages from the Quran. In portraying the women this way, Essaydi challenges us to see past the gender of the subjects to something that constitutes a deeper part of their identity – the faith that they hold. The photograph mesmerizes the viewer. Another praiseworthy work at the exhibit was Zoe Charlton’s “Bibi (Pink Socks),” a work of graphite, gouache and acrylic on paper from “Undercover Series.” In this work, the artist seeks to portray the objectification of women in sexual terms. A single female figure is depicted, nude except for high pink socks, a pink bib and an unattached hood worn over her head, hiding her identity. Her bottom half is a caricature of female sexuality in a pornographic age. In hiding the woman’s face from the viewer, Charlton shows how such portrayals of female sexuality lead to objectification and loss of feminine identity. The piece is not to be missed. Also on display is the deeply personal work of artist Siona Benjamin, who was born in Bombay, India, but moved to the United States midway through her life. This transition shines through with clarity in her work, most noticeably in “Finding Home #57,” gouache and gold leaf on a wood panel. In this work, Benjamin’s old world meets her new one. Set astride her immigration papers for entrance into the United States is a beautifully drawn Indian style female figurine engaged in a dance. It is a classic clash of cultures: The exuberance and color of Benjamin’s old culture meet the cold formality, order and security of the new. “A Complex Weave” is not without its flaws. Several of Judy
Gelles’ works seem to be much more related to generational conflicts than to gender, distracting from the overall theme of the exhibit. And some works, such as Helen Aylon’s “The book that will not close . . . ,” seemed superfluous, mimicking almost exactly Essaydi’s style, but with biblical verses in place of passages from the Quran. Still, this exhibit was certainly worth the trip. “A Complex Weave” is a surprisingly nuanced look into how women define their identity in the context of other factors in their lives, whether it be religion, sexuality or a sense of place. The exhibit runs through March 11. coe@stolaf.edu
KATIE LAUER/MANITOU MESSENGER
When I say “r-word,” I am not talking about some trendy slang or even a newlyinvented swear word. No, I am simply talking about romance; a word that seems to have a social stigma nowadays, hence the “r-word” abbreviation. I know I am a sex columnist, and that it seems odd to be emphasizing romance and not focusing on sex. Trust me, I love sex. I love talking about it, and I especially love having it. I’m certainly not suggesting that romance and sex go hand-in-hand. In fact, I often think they have nothing to do with each other; however, since Valentine’s Day has come and gone this year, I thought it would be the opportune moment to stop and reflect on romance and its role in our college bubble. It seems to me that romance has a reputation of being too mushy and emotionally involved for people. In a college setting especially, romance is for those who live in fairy tales and sit around and daydream. Who has time for that in college? We are busy working, studying and trying to fill up our resumés to impress the real world we have to enter after a short four years. And then free time? It’s spent going out on the weekend and letting your hormones do the talking for you. It’s hooking up with the hot guy or girl across the table. Or, if you are in a relationship, it’s trying to fit in some quality time and a quickie before your roommate gets back for the night. There is nothing wrong with just going balls to the walls and having a one-night stand, casual hook-ups or just regular sex with your partner. As I said earlier, I love sex, and I encourage you all to go out and have lots of it (of course practicing safe sex); however, it isn’t necessary that romance be completely removed from the equation. I believe that romance manifests itself in a variety of ways. I also do not think that there is one standard definition for romance, especially in the college bubble. Figure out what you think romance means for you and go for it. For example, romance may mean going on a walk into downtown Northfield and having a quiet, intimate dinner. Or, it could be watching a movie that you have both conveniently seen before and engaging in non-verbal action that ranges from cuddling to feeling each other up. Romance can also be having the most passionate night of sex where you see stars in your eyes and forget your own name because the orgasm is so amazing. Basically, romance is what you want it to be. This is the new way of looking at this traditional concept in our collegiate culture. Romance does not have to be intimidating, and you do not have to be in a serious monogamous relationship to partake in it. Romance can be anything from holding hands to having crazy hot sex. We do not have to have some abbreviation for it because we fear that if we invoke the word, doom shall rain down upon us. We can do this. We can be people that choose to include romance in our vocabularies and in our lives, and we do not have to give up the magic of one night stands. Be the people that aren’t afraid to treat their partners with a extra bit of special attention. And for God’s sake, do not let this idea of having to include romance encourage you to light candles on every surface of your dorm room. After all, I think we all know that candles are not allowed in the dorms.
To submit questions, comments or concerns to the sex columnist, e-mail sexcolumnist@stolaf.edu.
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Entertainment
February 24, 2012
MANITOU MESSENGER
Lunar New Year brings Asian culture and cuisine to Pause By Chencheng Yang Staff Writer
This year, one of St. Olaf’s most diverse festivals, the Lunar New Year, celebrated its third birthday on Saturday, Feb. 18. Over 200 students gathered in the Pause to celebrate the traditional festival, and students introduced the most unique sides of Asian culture to the St. Olaf community. During the week of ticket sales, many students stopped by the Lunar New Year table outside of Stav Hall to inquire about the event. Xiaochen Mao ’14, a Chinese student tabling for the event, said this was his second year participating and that he was looking forward to having more people attend this year. On the day of the event, the Pause turned into a global theme park as the space was filled with students’ laughter, fragrant food and both modern and traditional Asian music. Tibetan, Chinese, Vietnamese and Hmong students celebrated with guests at
each table. This facilitated intercommunication among international students and many ethnicities at each table. Andrew Switzer ’14, an Asian language learner who just returned from China after a January interim there for the Asian Conversation Program, said that he really enjoyed both the food and the show and that it made him miss the trip to China. His favorite performances were the Lion Dance and Kongfu. The event was the first time that the Lion Dance Troupe from the Hung Vuong Association of Minnesota performed onstage at St. Olaf. The dance is traditionally performed on the eve of the first day of the Lunar New Year in many Asian countries, particularly in Southeast Asia. The Lion Dance, which was accompanied by Asian cymbals and hand drums, was the favorite of the emcee. “It is a great show, though it’s very long,” she said. The dance featured children around the age of 10, who
dressed up as blue lions and ran into the audience, earning praise and applause. Other traditional performances included a fashion show, spring festival riddles, chorus songs, prayers and a Tibetan dance. While the performers charmed the audience in one sense, the food attracted much attention as well. The Chinese Culture Club (CCC), the Vietnamese organization Inspiring Cultural Engagement (VOICE) and Team Tibet provided traditional Asian food. The meal was served family-style and included dumplings, sticky rice balls, cold chicken salad and butterfly crackers. “The process of making food and enjoying the taste of home is a way to heal international students’ homesick,” said Sijia Wei ’13, an experienced cook and an active member of the Lunar New Year food committee. The Chinese students’ chorus ended the show with a song called “Tomorrow Will Be Better,” a crowd-pleasing sing-along. The song was filled with desire for home and the sparks of cross-cultural communication.
“I learned a lot about Chinese culture and enjoyed the humor,” William Hardy ’15 said. As the lights faded, the festival came to a close with the final curtain call. After a long applause, all international students went on stage for a memorable photo of the 2012 rendition of the Lunar New Year. The festival tradition started three years ago in 2010 with a mission to spread Asian culture and maintain Asian traditions at St. Olaf. Duc Nguyen ’12, a student from Vietnam who has performed in each of St. Olaf’s Lunar New Year festivals, said, “This is my last year of Lunar New Year, and it is a really great one. I hope the tradition keeps on.” This mission of St. Olaf emphasizes global citizenship and commitment to community. This festival reflected these themes well and will continue to do so year after year. yangc@stolaf.edu
HANNAH RECTOR/MANITOU MESSENGER
Oles rang in the Lunar New Year with traditional music, dancing and cuisine.
emo sub-genre at the time. Also, the lyrics always reach far beyond the juvenile fare of their first few releases.
On Campus Casino Night will take place in the Tomson Hall atrium on Saturday, Feb. 25, starting at 8 p.m. Come dressed for gambling success and ready to emulate Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face.” Twitter Accounts to Follow @AdelesExBF, @free, @hipstermermaid, @Lord_Voldemort7, @manitoumess Song Recommendations “Touch the Sky (Carlos Serrano Remix)” by Kanye West and The xx “Wild Ones” by Flo Rida feat. Sia Plug of the Week Sunday, Feb. 26 through Friday, Mar. 2 is Relay For Life Kick-Off Week on campus. Don’t miss the events around campus and make sure to sign up for the event itself, which will take place on April 28. Discovery of the Week STA Travel, a website that can get you anywhere on a student’s budget. The site offers discounted rates for college students. Spring break, here we come! Make your last minute bookings at www.statravel.com.
Music on Trial By Wyatt Engl Staff Writer
Guilty pleasures OK, so this week I decided to write about a couple of albums that I should probably be ashamed of liking, but, alas, am not. 1. Good Charlotte – “The Young and the Hopeless” I’m sure you are currently asking yourselves, “What the hell was the Mess thinking, giving this numbskull a music column?” Well, I don’t know either, but they still keep me around. Good Charlotte has actually put out some surprisingly well-crafted music, with most of it concentrated on their first two albums. Skeptics, check out “Moving On” and “Say Anything.” Once you get over the delusion that these guys are not punks in any sense of the word, you can’t help but notice that they used to produce pretty good pop/rock. Anyway, this album was the soundtrack to my life from approximately ages 11 to age 13. Then I discovered Blink-182. The more things change . . . 2. Blink-182 – “Blink-182” With their 2003 release, Blink-182 took the standard pop/punk formula and smashed it into approximately 5,248,432 pieces. My beef with people who write off this album is that few of them have actually bothered to listen to it. They heard “Enema of the State” or “Take off Your Pants and Jacket” and simply wrote Blink-182 off as a bunch of losers cracking poop jokes. This album has more complex ideas than just about anything else in its genre, with the possible exception of Green Day’s “American Idiot.” Take, for example the outro to “Feeling This,” a simple yet effective four-part harmony. Something that only Brand New and Taking Back Sunday were even attempting in the pop/punk/
3. Daniel Amos – “Vox Humana” A Christian band that consists of neither a Daniel or an Amos, DA began their career in the late 1970s performing traditional country with an evangelical bent and later evolved through new wave and eventually settled into an adult alternative sound by the end of the ’90s. This album was released in 1984 and falls firmly into the “Christians-trying-to-ape-the-mainstream” category. “Vox Humana” is the third entry in the ALARMA Chronicles, a concept piece spanning four albums. It is as pretentious as it sounds. However, the heart-on-sleeve earnestness of the songs makes it so you can’t help but be drawn in. Highlights include “Travelog,” “When Worlds Collide,” “Sanctuary” and “William Blake.” 4. Metallica – “St. Anger” Metal fans know why liking this album is a fauxpas. Metallica stripped themselves of guitar solos and played in drop C tuning. Also, Lars Ulrich recorded his drums with the snares turned off. However, I have always respected Metallica as artists because they never allowed themselves to be pigeon-holed into a little crevice labeled “thrash metal.” They have always experimented with their sound, and on this record, they documented a band that sounded like it still had something to prove. Metallica knew they could just make “The Black Album” part two and just sit back and watch the cash roll in. But they didn’t. I can’t remember who, but one reviewer said something to the effect of, “‘St. Anger’ sounds like a band jamming in the garage for the first time. It just so happens that this band is Metallica.” How true. engl@stolaf.edu
COURTESY OF EASTSCENE VIA FLICKR.COM
Sports
page A6
February 24, 2012
MANITOU MESSENGER
Oles plagued by third-period blues Men’s hockey unable to maintain leads in Gustavus series By Alana Patrick Sports Editor The men’s hockey team finished fourth in the MIAC despite suffering a loss and tie to second-place Gustavus Adolphus last weekend. In both games, the Oles gave up early leads. Unable to answer to the Gusties’ thirdperiod goals, the Oles were forced into overtime, eventually emerging from the weekend with one conference point. The series opened at the Northfield Ice Arena on Friday night. Early in the second period – after a scoreless first – Ross Trousdale ’13 netted a goal for the Oles on an assist from Aaron Molstad ’12. Less than two minutes later, the Gusties’ Ross Ring-Jarvi was sent to the penalty box for hooking, giving St. Olaf a one-man advantage. The Oles capitalized, making the score 2-0 with a goal from Jack Nicoll ’13. The Gusties’ Adam Smyth responded, scoring two unanswered goals at 13:06 of the second period and 9:06 of the third. When the score remained tied at the end of 60 minutes, Gustavus continued their roll in overtime: Dane Erickson’s goal with 1:55 remaining gave the Gusties the victory. Saturday’s game was a similar story, though with a slightly happier ending for the Oles. This time, Gustavus played host at Don Roberts Ice Rink in St. Peter. Again, St. Olaf was the first to strike, adding three secondperiod goals from Nicoll ’13, Britton Smith ’12 and Peter Rohn ’12. However, Gustavus had an answer for all of the Ole tallies, scoring three times in the third period to force overtime. Neither team was able to convert in the five-minute overtime stretch, leaving the final score 3-3. St. Olaf goaltender Ben Leis ’12 made 41 saves while the Oles were outshot 44-26. For his effort in scoring three goals against the Oles for the weekend, the Gusties’ Adam Smyth was named the MIAC’s Men’s Hockey Athlete of the Week. Despite surfacing from the weekend with one out of four possible points, the Oles maintained their position in the MIAC, gaining the fourth seed in the playoffs. The team hosted fifth seed Hamline University at Northfield Ice Arena on Feb. 23. The outcome of this game is unknown at press time. patrick@stolaf.edu
PAULA SKAGGS/MANITOU MESSENGER
Underwear controversy By Paige Miller-Hughes Staff Writer
EBRU YAYLA/MANITOU MESSENGER
The St. Olaf men’s hockey team took on the Gusties, but tired in the third period on both Friday, Feb. 17 and Saturday, Feb. 18. The Oles fell 2-3 in overtime at home and came away from St. Peter with a tie, 3-3. Still, the team maintained its MIAC position, fourth seed as playoffs begin. The Oles play Hamline on Thursday, Feb. 23 at home. The outcome of this game is unknown at press time.
Women’s basketball finishes on strong note By Alexandra Ripperger Staff Writer The St. Olaf women’s basketball team defeated Carleton 60-57 on Saturday afternoon in a cross-town rival matchup, earning them a home game in the first round of the MIAC tournament. Both teams struggled with shooting for the day, with the Oles shooting 38.2 percent from the field and Carleton 37.3 percent. Despite
ST. OLAF SCHEDULE Men’s and Women’s Alpine Skiing La Crosse Nagy Memorial FIS Race in La Crosse, Wis. on Feb. 25-26 Baseball vs. North Park University @ Minneapolis Metrodome on March 1 Men’s Tennis vs. Macalester @ Owatonna on Feb. 24 Women’s Tennis vs. St. Cloud State @ Owatonna on Feb. 25 Track and Field MIAC Championships @ Macalester on March 1-3.
ST. OLAF SCOREBOARD Team
Opponent/ Tournament
Men’s Basketball
Carleton
Women’s Hockey
Gustavus Adolphus
Result
Date
W 73-69 2-18 (OT) L 0-5. W 5-2
2-17, 2-18
Men’s and 2-16, Women’s MIAC 2nd/8 2-17, Swimming Championships 2nd/11 2-18 and Diving
this, the Oles pulled ahead 11-4 in the first 10 minutes due to four Carleton turnovers. But the Knights took advantage of five missed jump shots by St. Olaf and went 9-9 from the free-throw line to tie the score 26-26 by the end of the first half. The second half was characterized by scoring runs and droughts between the two teams. The Oles came out looking recharged, as MacKenzie Wolter ’13 and Nikki Frogner ’15 each hit a three to contribute to a 14-2 run to start the second half. The Knights took over for the next five minutes with an 11-0 run of their own to make it 41-40 with 11 minutes to go. Wolter ’13 and Kirstee Rotty ’13 hit back-to-back threes to help bring the Oles back, but Carleton refused to go away in the final minutes, with Skylar Tsutsui hitting a long three with 40 seconds
left to keep the Knights’ hopes alive. With the Knights down 58-57, Wolter was fouled and hit two free throws. Carleton’s last second “Hail Mary” failed to drop, giving St. Olaf the 60-57 win. Wolter led all scorers with 20 points while shooting 6-11 from the field, including 4-6 from three-point range. Elise Raney ’14 added 12 points, and Frogner contributed nine points from off the bench. Rotty dished out three assists. The win kept the Oles in fourth place in the MIAC with a 14-8 record, 17-8 overall. The team hosted fifth-seeded St. Mary’s on Feb. 21 in the first round of the MIAC conference tournament, but fell 52-55 to close the season. ripperge@stolaf.edu
Swim standout Weiss feels “right at home” NAME: Meghan Weiss ’12 SPORT: Swimming HOMETOWN: St. Paul, Minn. HIGH SCHOOL: Convent of the Visitation School MAJORS: Psychology and exercise science WHY I CAME TO ST. OLAF: I decided to transfer after my first year at the University of Minnesota. I loved the small-school environment and the community that comes with that. I also loved the swim team and the family atmosphere that it creates. I felt right at Weiss ’12 home here. PRE-CONTEST RITUALS: If I swim well on one particular night, I will wear that same warm-up suit the next day. I eat Noodles and Company (buttered noodles, chicken and broccoli) the night before. And I will give a thumbs up to my parents before my race.
FAVORITE SPORTS MOVIE: “Hoosiers” THREE FAMOUS PERSONALITIES YOU’D HAVE OVER FOR DINNER: Oprah, Ellen DeGeneres and Tim Tebow FAVORITE PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES: Andy Roddick and Natalie Coughlin FAVORITE SPORT OTHER THAN SWIMMING: Basketball RANDOM FACT: My left eye is a lot smaller than my right eye! FAVORITE BOOK: “To Kill a Mockingbird” FAVORITE RESTAURANT: Chipotle MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT AS AN OLE ATHLETE: This year at Conference! It was so much fun to be a part of such a wonderful and talented group of Ole swimmers! This team is inspiring! PLANS AFTER OLAF: Graduate school for psychology - Alana Patrick
We all remember the controversy sur- rounding proper swimsuit attire following the summer Beijing Olympics with the Speedo LZR racing suits that led some to claim that the new swimsuits should be considered “technology doping.” Now the controversy over sportswear that gives the athletes the advantage has moved to skiing. Alpine skiers and coach- es are frustrated with the lack of concrete rules in response to new plastic-neoprene . . . underwear. Yes, that’s right. Underwear. On Jan. 8, a Slovene skier, Tina Maze, who finished second in the super-G in Austria, was accused of wearing plastic undergarments that gave her an unfair advantage. The Swiss Ski Federation pro- tested Maze’s one-piece undergarment, but after it was confiscated and tested, it passed permeability standards. In response, officials advised that the skiers not wear the underwear because of safety concerns. The debate over underwear then moved to men’s professional skiing where, at one of the World Cup competitions, the race director Gunther Hujara held up a piece of cloth and warned coaches, “If we see something like this, we will not hesitate to disqualify immediately. We do not go through a test, we disqualify. And then you, or somebody who wears it, has to prove that what he wears does not endanger athletes’ health.” The cloth he was holding was slightly different than the material that Maze wore, but the statement was made in response to learning that a few of the teams had plastic-neoprene suits that would be worn under the racer’s suits. (These haven’t been seen in women’s com- petitions . . . yet.) Fabric that has been plastified may prevent athlete’s skin from breathing and releasing sweat properly. But according to coaches, the focus of the debate is really about whether the new fabric gives athletes a competitive advantage. President of the International Ski Federation Gian Franco Kasper said, “We have to change our rules . . . It has to be made very clear – if [underwear] is plasti- fied, it is forbidden.” The current rules have been criticized for leaving too much room for interpretation. Currently, the rule states: “Competition suits and clothing worn underneath, such as underwear, etc. may not be plasticized or treated by any chemical means (gas- eous, liquid or solid) and must have a minimum permeability of 30 liters per m2/ sec under 10 mm of water pressure.” Coaches have complained that new guidelines do not offer a set way to test whether new material will be acceptable for competitions. Sasha Rearick, the U.S. men’s ski coach, has expressed his frus- tration by saying that there are still a lot of questions, and it is unclear what it is exactly that is making the skiers faster. Is it the underwear, is it new suits or is it some sort of combination of the two? The plastic in underwear prevents air from moving through the fabric and around the athlete, thus reducing the amount of wind resistance. This reduction in resistance may be all a skier needs in a sport where podium spots are determined by seconds. Skiers and coaches have reacted to the controversial underwear guidelines, both in support and in opposition. “It’s like doping,” said Didier Cuche, a Swiss skier and winner of the World Cup downhill skiing championship in 2011. “If you don’t follow the rules, then that’s bad. It’s bad for the sport.” On the other side, Maze opened her suit after placing third in a race a week after the controversy erupted and revealed her sports bra on which she had written “Not your business” in black marker. millerhu@stolaf.edu
page A7
News MANITOU MESSENGER
February 24, 2012
WeCar offers new transportation By Amy Lohmann News Editor
It is easy to forget that there is a world outside of the Hill upon which we live. While there is a system of buses and shuttles to the Northfield and Twin Cities communities, oftentimes it is difficult to arrange one’s schedule in order to catch them. In response to this inconvenience, a new rental program, WeCar, has been introduced on campus designed to give people access to a set of wheels. WeCar advertises itself as a membershipbased car sharing program for people who are looking for an alternative method of transportation that lowers the cost and reduces the hassles of traditional transportation. According to Steve Abbott, Director of Auxiliary Operations, the student body and parents have been requesting a program like WeCar for some time. “Several vehicle rental companies were evaluated and Enterprise’s WeCar program seemed the best fit for St. Olaf,” Abbott said. Other college campuses have implemented similar programs. Carleton has been on a program like this for two-and-a-half years. Robyn Frankel, a publicist at Frankel Public Relations who works with WeCar by Enterprise, had plenty of information to offer about the program and its reception at other schools: “It has been very successful, and the students really like having an option to get a car when they need one to get around,” Frankel said. “WeCar, which is now on more than 50 college campuses, has also been growing across the U.S. throughout the past few years as car sharing has become more popular.” In accordance with the St. Olaf campus green initiative, the company affirms that it is also concerned with the environment. WeCar states that most cars in the its fleet are hybrids, and all are very fuel efficient. The ability to share one car among multiple drivers helps reduce the total number of cars on the road and thus contributes to a cleaner, greener environment. “Having WeCar on campus not only helps reduce the need for cars on campus and contributes to St. Olaf ’s sustainability efforts, but also alleviates parking hassles
and the financial burden of having a car at school,” Frankel said. The WeCar vehicle will be parked conveniently in the Buntrock Commons parking lot and will be available around the clock. The vehicle will be accessible to anyone 18 years and older with a valid driver’s license. To actually rent the cars, students can go the WeCar website (wecar.com), log in, and reserve their vehicle, which can be accessed with a WeCar membership smart card. In addition to fuel, basic physical damage to the vehicle and state-required liability protection, the rate also includes 200 miles per car share period. If the program becomes popular on campus, the issue of a scarcity of parking spaces for students who have purchased permits may come up. Abbott doesn’t believe that this will be a problem as the availability of the program might influence student’s decisions to invest in campus parking. “In other colleges with a program like this, the number of students that bring cars to campus has decreased somewhat,” he said, admitting that the effect does vary from college to college. The student body might even prefer the switch, as it would give them, and faculty and staff, another transportation option at little cost to the college. The program is currently in operation. The designated WeCar vehicle, a red 2012 Ford Focus, arrived on Monday, Feb. 5, and will remain parked in the Buntrock parking lot. Abbott expects that a second vehicle will be added at the beginning of the fall semester, although this addition may occur earlier if there is sufficient demand for it. “The WeCar program will be available for St. Olaf students, faculty and staff, as well as Carleton students, faculty and staff,” Abbott said. “The current St. Olaf vehicle will be made available to Carleton students if their vehicles are in use and the Carleton vehicles will be available to St. Olaf students if the St. Olaf vehicle is in use.” Abbott added that currently he is the only contact on the St. Olaf campus for WeCar, but the company is looking to hire an intern from the college to promote the program and answer student questions about it. lohmanna@stolaf.edu
STEPHANIE JONES/MANITOU MESSENGER
St. Olaf’s new WeCar sits in its parking spot outside Buntrock Commons. The program, which allows registered participants to utilize the red 2012 Ford Focus for moderate fees, may expand its fleet in the coming months if student demand is high enough.
Tap - Group builds support for ban Continued from A1 free, reusable bottles. When the Coalition eventually moves from raising awareness to pursuing concrete policy change, the power to effect such changes rests with the president of the college and his cabinet. For some students, this endeavor may come off as invasive or too restrictive, especially on a campus that already bans certain liquids of interest. Yet, the Coalition stands behind its position as being essential to the good of St. Olaf and society as a whole. “Students claim that their personal liberty is being violated when ‘the selling and distribution of bottled water on campus’ is banned – not true,” Lutterman said. “We need to work together as a community to ultimately reduce waste, to stop inefficient processes, to stop supporting corporations who privatized a human right and to show to the world that St. Olaf College is a place where future-looking students can come together with solutions to counter problems that exist in the community.” The national Take Back the Tap move-
ment cites a combination of environmental, financial and health information to support its mission. Its website states that bottled water is thousands of times more expensive than tap water, that the amount of energy used by America’s bottled water industry in 2007 was enough to fuel 1.5 million cars for a year and that bottled water is no less contaminated than typical tap water. Olaf is not the first Minnesota college to join the bottle battle. Macalester College, Carleton College and the College of St. Benedict were already trying to “take back the tap” before the movement launched on the Hill. The Environmental Coalition will present its proposition to the Student Government Association on Tuesday, Feb. 28. They are hoping to have a school-wide referendum during Earth Week 2012 in mid-April. grosse@stolaf.edu
COURTESY OF RACHEL JOHNSON
Members of the Twin Cities contingent of the 2011 Leaders for Social Change program enjoy a home-cooked meal together. Living in an intentional community with other program participants is a key component of the LSC experience.
Program develops local leaders By Kate Fridley Staff Writer
A collaborative endeavor often leads to lasting and fruitful results. This generalization was proven true last summer, when two groups of St. Olaf students came together to work toward the common goal of social development and change. These students are now alumni of Leaders for Social Change (LSC), a yearly program that accepts selected students to participate in community-based internships and research projects. Along with a core internship, which comes with a $2,300 stipend, a .5 internship credit and free rooming, participants attend a variety of other structured reflection activities. These activities include retreats, as well as civic engagement seminars which take place for three hours weekly and often include field trips around the community. The goal of the program is to provide students with professional skills for future civic and work roles while allowing them to explore their vocations and examine approaches to social change from a variety of perspectives. Through the Center for Experiential Learning’s broad network, enrolled students find work with nonprofit, public or for-profit organizations in Northfield and the Twin Cities area. Participating organizations are geared toward community and economic development, education, poverty reduction and environmental sustainability. LSC has been a beneficial program for students in that it focuses on practical as well as integrative learning. “My internship placement was a great sort of intersection of the kind of direct service stuff you hear about when you think about social change, and then also some of the more almost policy level stuff that we’ve heard about before,” Karl Turnlund ’12 said, referring to his internship experience. Turnlund worked for the Healthy Community Initiative in Northfield, and had the opportunity to teach at the Northfield Area Learning Center. “As a sociology/anthropology student, seeing how the [school and community] systems work together was quite possibly one of the most fascinating parts about it, and then to know that I personally played a part in that,” Turnlund said. Eric Klein ’12, who hopes to teach English in high school, had a similar experience under the Summer PLUS program through the Northfield Public Schools. “I was able to directly see how different aspects of society affect teaching. It is not restricted just to the classroom,” Klein
said. Some students chose to integrate their LSC internships with a research project through St. Olaf ’s Collaborative Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (CURI) Program, which involves a separate application but is compatible with the LSC program. Bob Kelly ’12 and Ally Lynne ’12 applied their passions for civic engagement through a research project on the economic impact of the arts in Northfield, an experience which Kelly said was valuable in that it was both community and research focused. While LSC Oles engage in active community learning through their respective research and internships, they also have the chance to participate in development on a more personal level. Students are placed in one of two community living houses with five to eight fellow residents in either the Northfield or the Twin Cities area. The goal of this arrangement is to foster a supportive environment and build relationships between students. Most of the alumni agreed that the combination of a community living, and internship experience makes LSC an ideal program for anyone interested in development on many separate levels, including both community and personal. “I learned a lot about social justice on a macro-level but on a micro-level as well,” Kate Bjorkland ’13 said of her time living with her previously unknown housemates in the Twin Cities house. “You really start to appreciate what it means to be in a community, and there’s a sense of justice that works at that level too, making sure you’re not putting yourself before the group.” LSC applications for the coming summer are due Wednesday, Feb. 29, and are open to current sophomores and juniors. The application includes a brief essay as well as a short video statement. The video does not have to be professional and is meant as a casual opportunity for applicants to introduce themselves in a more personal manner. Students of any major are encouraged to apply. For additional information about the LSC Program, visit the CEL website at http://www.stolaf.edu/services/cel or contact the program directors, Nate Jacobi (jacobi@stolaf.edu) and Kris Estenson (estensok@stolaf.edu).
fridley@stolaf.edu
Network - CEL sparks connections Continued from A1 consensus is that the program is a low risk, high reward situation. There is a little bit of work required up-front in creating a profile, but the possibility of receiving advice from people who are looking to help provides a powerful incentive. “These are people that look at you and know what you’re going through; they see themselves in you and want to help,” Klein said. One factor in the program’s success is that the Network takes the initial contact out of the students’ hands. For many students, cold-calling an alumnus is a fearinspiring task. The program reverses the roles to some extent. Even though stu-
dents are still required to write their own profiles, the CEL makes that initial contact for them. Getting an email from an already interested former Ole is a lot easier than making that inroad yourself. The third-year program continues to expand and may undergo substantial changes over time. The CEL takes responses from students at the end of each year and looks to make the Network better with every iteration. While responses have been mixed this year, students are generally optimistic about the opportunity for future success. george@stolaf.edu
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“Sometimes even music cannot substitute for tears. ” – Paul Simon
page A8
Features MANITOU MESSENGER
February 24, 2012
Putting Together the Para-pieces By Solvejg Wastvedt Features Editor
If you’ve ever walked down the stairs to St. Olaf Avenue and looked to your right, you’ve seen some fragmented human bodies on display in a sculpture called “Para-Pillars.” If you’re observant at official college functions, you know that Professor of History Jim Farrell sports some pretty strange headgear with his academic regalia. Surprisingly, both of these phenomena have roots in the same piece of St. Olaf’s past. Where’s the connection? The short answer is that both memorialize the Paracollege, a parallel branch of St. Olaf College that operated for over 30 years and offered an alternate, student-directed route to a B.A. Farrell’s funky hat alludes to Paracollege commencement practices, in which graduates created homemade hats to accompany their traditional gowns. For the real story, though, we have to step back in time a little. The year was 1969, a time of turbulence and radical change in the United States. It was a year of unrest, when massive anti-Vietnam War protests gave a voice to thousands of young people questioning established ways of life. It was also a time of innovation. Apollo 11 completed the first manned moon landing on July 20, and Americans across the country envisioned new horizons of intellectual and technical achievement. Into this atmosphere came the Paracollege. It was an answer to the era’s thirst for something new. “[For students at that time] the watchword was relevance,” said Associate Professor of Religion David Booth, who tutored in the Paracollege from 1985 to 2001. “They didn’t want an education that would reproduce their parents’ boring lives. They wanted to know the truth about reality so they could bring about peace and liberation.” The Paracollege offered this relevance through a student-directed approach to learning. Members of the Paracollege participated in two types of courses: seminars and tutorials. Most students took several classes of each type during their time at St. Olaf and rounded out their program of study with classes in the general college. Paracollege seminars operated much like today’s upper level St. Olaf classes, offering in-depth consideration of a specific topic to a small group of students. These seminars, however, were often team-taught; cross-disciplinary faculty pairs collaborated on a single subject. Tutorials, on the other hand, were unique to the Paracollege and served as the program’s distinguishing feature. Most students
took several tutorials during their time in the Paracollege. In order to arrange this oneon-one learning, a student first formulated a question or general area of interest. Then he or she browsed a booklet entitled “Paracollege Tutors & Proposed Tutorial Topics,” which listed each tutor with his or her corresponding specialties. Upon finding a possible match, the student met with the faculty member to focus in on a specific course of study. “For example, a student would come to Jim [Farrell, Paracollege tutor from 1977 to 2001,] and say, ‘I’m really trying to understand how my daily decisions reflect certain values. Can you help me read and learn about that?’ because they had seen ‘The Moral Ecology of Everyday Life’ [listed in the booklet],” Booth said. “Our role was to be the experienced learner,” explained L. DeAne Lagerquist, senior tutor during the college’s last five years and current professor of religion. “We would walk into the book and say, ‘Maybe I haven’t read this book . . . but I’ve read a lot of books and I’ve studied some similar things, so I kind of know how to go about it even if I don’t have the content.” Farrell added that tutorials gave students the chance to get to know faculty better and learn in a flexible setting. “The Paracollege was a place for intellectual play,” he said. “[Tutorial students] tended to be really enthused and work about twice as hard as normal students because they had chosen the topic and helped to choose the books.” This out-of-the-box educational philosophy helped convince current St. Olaf President David Anderson ’74 to become an Ole. “I was very attracted to St. Olaf, but in some ways it seemed a little bit like your father’s Buick,” he said. “But then when the Paracollege came along I said, ‘Great!’ Here’s a chance to go to a place where I admire the college, but in a way that it doesn’t just feel like your father’s Buick.” The Paracollege wasn’t solely a progressive innovation, though; it also had roots in the centuries-old Oxford and Cambridge educational model. The Paracollege continually worked to balance its liberal and conservative philosophies. As a consequence, it attracted students who tended to be outside the norm in both directions. It was the place for the hippie radical who, according to Booth, “didn’t trust anyone older than 30.” It was also a home for the socially conservative student
who wanted to design a program of study in keeping with his values. Such a diverse student body may not seem likely to generate a tight-knit community, but Booth pointed out that this very dissimilarity served to bond the Paracollege. Students and faculty met every Tuesday for “Paradinners,” shared meals that usually included some type of activity such as a play or a game of Paracollege quiz bowl. Farrell remembers one faculty member, a chess Grandmaster, who occasionally spent a Paradinner playing against all of the students and faculty at the same time. He usually beat them all. In 1998, big changes came to St. Olaf. Severe financial difficulties forced then President Mark Edwards to make tough restructuring decisions. One of these spelled the Paracollege’s demise; the cut provoked intensely emotional reactions from many faculty members and students. “I was devastated,” Booth said. “It was a very tense and hard time for the college. I do want to say, though, that the people who decided to close the Paracollege were acting in good faith. I don’t hold any ill will to the persons who made that decision. They were doing what they thought was best for the college.” “I was hugely sad, as were a lot of people,” said Susan Carlson, Paracollege program assistant and current CIS program coordinator. She added that many Paracollege graduates also felt the loss keenly. “We did hear from alums who felt that the college had just up and abandoned an idea and a philosophy that had been the core of their college experience.” “I was furious,” Farrell said. “And I still am.” Farrell dealt with the loss by helping to form the American Conversation program, which replicates some aspects of the Paracollege’s team-teaching atmosphere. Booth took a different direction by working on establishing the Center for Integrative Studies, which lets students design individual majors. Anger over the institution’s closing also manifested itself in the student body. Protesters tented on the quad for the entire month of May and marched in a demonstration with signs that read “Save education from the almighty dollar” and “Learning well is the best revenge.” As the Paracollege community accepted the inevitability of its coming elimination, Lagerquist sought ways to bring the institu-
tion to a graceful close. She resolved to make the death of the Paracollege an occasion to remember. “I thought [closing the program] was a really bad decision,” Lagerquist said, “but I said, ‘We’re going to do this with panache. We’re not going to hide our heads and just go away. We’re going to be who we are.’” Lagerquist assumed the role of “designated sad person” throughout the closing period. She dyed her hair pink, a color that had represented the Paracollege throughout its existence. During the Paracollege’s final year, she helped put together a lecture series entitled “Something(s) We Learned in the Paracollege.” In a preface to the series, Lagerquist stated, “Although we didn’t realize it at the outset, what Jim and I had organized was something like a wake. We came together to remember what would soon be gone from among us.” Finally, at the last Paracollege commencement, each graduate of the institution handed a flower to President Edwards, “evoking, they hoped, from the 1960s that iconic image of a soldier with a gun, and someone has put a flower in the barrel of that gun. We tried to make it appropriately somber without defeat,” Lagerquist said. The Paracollege as an institution may be dead, but the mentality of its students is one that any Ole can cultivate. Booth emphasized that the Center for Integrative Studies program, which evolved as a continuation of Paracollege ideals, can help with this pursuit. “CIS encourages a student to form in their own mind the meaningfulness of their course of study. This is thinking like a Paracollege student. Every student on campus ought to consider designing their own major. I don’t necessarily think every student should complete an individual major, but [everyone] ought to spend a lot of time asking themselves, ‘What’s the relationship between one course I took and some other course I took?’ That would be Paracollege in the 21st century.” Whether by pursuing an individual major or simply looking for connections in their course material, St. Olaf students can ensure that the spirit of the Paracollege stays alive and well on today’s campus. The student body has the power to make the legacy of this bygone institution live on through more than just a few “Para-Pillars” and a funny hat. wastveds@stolaf.edu
COURTESY OF ST. OLAF ARCHIVES