What's Campus Buzz?
Campus Buzz is a monthly publication of the Office of Communications and Marketing
designed to complement the online C-News
and distributed to Concordia faculty and staff.
For the most current Concordia news, please
visit www.ConcordiaCollege.edu/cnews.
Scholarship
and activities information may be submitted to kappes@cord.edu.
Amy Kelly, Editor
Office of Communications and Marketing akelly@cord.edu
At first they were individuals from many different cities and high schools in the Midwest.
Then they were all members of Orientation Club 20 and classmates in Dr. Peter Hovde’s Inquiry Seminar on leadership. They read the same books, discussed their ideas, and debated political philosophy in attempts to reach consensus on issues like helping the homeless.
Now, they’re friends.
“Oh yeah, we feel much better about talking in class because we’re so comfortable with each other,” says
Ali Demmer ’11, Albert Lea, Minn.
Inquiry Seminars are required of all first-year students, as the college strives to be more deliberate in helping them assimilate into the liberal arts curriculum. The courses are designed to provide solid communication skills while introducing students to the wide world of scholarship through collaborative investigations of interesting topics.
Students in each Orientation club also enroll together in the same Inquiry Seminar.
Hovde’s seminar, paired with a communication course taught by Dr. Stephanie Ahlfeldt, looks at leaders ranging from Ronald Reagan, Gandhi and Napoleon to Aristotle. The students are also simulating the legislative process by writing and introducing bills, debating and voting – in front of cameras in the television studio. Videotape replays help them study the persuasiveness of their arguments.
“It really helps to know each before classes begin,” says Britta Suter ’11, Murdock, Minn. “Now we’re
not intimidated; there’s less fear in class. We’re ready to test things and express our ideas.”
Banquet Draws Attention to Local, World Hunger
The Nov. 13 hunger banquet, hosted by several student organizations, helped shine the light on the challenges faced by many people of the world, including some in our own community. The annual event included a homelessness panel, a discussion about hunger issues and the banquet itself.
Campus Service commissioner Maria Anderson ’08, who also represented Student Association of Social Workers on the Hunger and Homelessness Week committee, says participants were randomly divided into three groups, representing high, middle and low income classes. While the upper class was served an elaborate three-course meal at round tables, the middle class went through a buffet line of beans, rice and milk and sat on chairs. The lowest income group was forced to sit on the floor and share from one bowl of rice and pitchers of water.
“Our hope for this is that people actually felt what it would be like to be oppressed,” says Liz Sand ’08, a member of the committee and organizer of the homelessness panel. “And we encouraged everyone to take action in a number of ways, whether it be through volunteering, charity, advocacy or education.”
Finding a meaningful way to draw attention to hunger is what the banquet is all about.
“In our community at Concordia, it’s easy to forget there are millions of hungry people in our world and that the decisions we make can greatly affect the lives of others,” Anderson says.
Goldberg's Art in National Shows
Two intaglio prints by Heidi Goldberg, associate professor of art, were chosen for national art exhibits recently. Intaglio is a printmaking method in which a plate is etched or engraved and ink is filled in the recessed areas that will make the print.
Goldberg’s “Cairn” was chosen for “Dia de los Muertos,” a juried exhibition for artists/printmakers in Auburn, Ala. The second print, “Purple Field,” was one of
37 pieces selected from a field of about 500 for “Rhythm & Blue,” a national juried exhibition exploring artistic interpretation in Rockville, Md.
Goldberg says works are typically selected for a show based on quality and how well they fit the theme. She says its gratifying when her work is accepted and she enjoys the camaraderie of taking part in the national art scene.
“Entering shows is part of the fun of being involved in a larger community of artists who enjoy sharing a dialogue about the work as well as résumé building,” Goldberg says.
From Ear to There: Kernels Popularity Continues to Grow
From the cornfield to the football field, Kernel makes his presence known. Since his debut at the first home football game last year, he has become quite an a-maize-ing hit across campus and beyond.
Kernel makes frequent appearances at athletic events, parades, Corn Feeds and other special events in the area. His T-shirts are a hit at the Cobber Bookstore.
Kernel may look like just another feisty vegetable, but he is not too different than any Concordia student. When Kernel isn’t firing up the crowd, he can be found procrastinating on Facebook, with more than 200 Facebook friends.
He may be up to his ear in friend requests, but Kernel isn’t letting his newfound fame go to his head. He represents what it means to be a Cobber.
“Every second of each sporting event, students should feel the tingle of excitement and the rush of pr
ide for the simple reason that we are a Cobber family,” says Grant Vanderford ’09, who frequently dons the Kernel costume. “To be the representative of that spirit means so much.”
Scholarships and Activities
Greg Carlson (CSTA) and Jesse Hackey ’08 presented their paper “The Transcendence of Adolescence in ‘Days of Heaven’ and ‘The Spirit of the Beehive’” at the Midwest Popular Culture Conference Oct. 13 in Kansas City, Mo.
Nancy Jones (English) had a featured commentary on the role of community newspapers in the Oct. 21 issue of The Forum. Jones teaches feature writing in the English department’s print journalism program.
Dr. Douglas Anderson (mathematics and computer science) spoke about self-adjoint matrix equations on time scales at the Mathematical Association of America North Central Section fall meeting Oct. 20 at Bemidji (Minn.) State University.
Dr. James Postema (English) presented a paper titled “A Slough Runs Through It: Colonization, Despair, Garrison Keillor, and the Prairie Home Cemetery” at a conference focused on Iconic Places and Characters in 20th Century American Culture.
Dr. Gretchen Harvey (history) presented the paper “Cherokee and American: Ruth Muskrat Bronson and the Struggle for Dual Citizenship” during the American Society for Ethnohistory’s annual meeting Nov. 7-10 in Tulsa, Okla.
A new book edited by Dr. Arland Jacobson (Charis) and Dr. James Aageson (religion), titled “The Future of Lutheranism in a Global Context,” has just been released by Augsburg Fortress Press. Dr. Jan Pranger (religion) contributed the opening essay, “Lutherans in the World Church: An Overview,” and President Jolicoeur provided the foreword. This volume of essays is an expansion and continuation of the conversation begun at the 2004 Faith, Reason and World Affairs Symposium about the future of the Reformation tradition.
Dale Thornton (American Indian Outreach) has participated in two training opportunities relative to American Indian youth and education: the Minnesota Indian Education Association annual meeting in Mahnomen, Minn., and a workshop sponsored by the Minnesota Youth Intervention Programs Association titled “It Ain’t Easy Being Native: A Modern Experience of American Indian Life.”
A book written by Dr. James Aageson (religion), “Paul, the Pastoral Epistles and the Early Church,” has just been published by Hendrickson Press in the Library of Pauline Studies Series. The book traces the legacy of the teachings of the Apostle Paul within the canonical Pastoral Epistles and in the post apostolic and early Christian communities.
Dr. John Flaspohler (biology) had his research, titled “Signaling in Trypanosomatids-What the Genome Tells Us,” presented Oct. 13 at the International Conference of Environmental Parasitology and Community Health Care in Agra, India.
Dr. Carroll Engelhardt (history emeritus) spoke by invitation about “Railroads and the Birth of Fargo and Moorhead” at the 19th annual Governor’s Day Conference on North Dakota History. An interview by Engelhardt about his recently published book, “Gateway to the Northern Plains,” aired on “Prairie Pulse” Nov. 16 and 17.
Please send scholarship and activities submissions to kappes@cord.edu. Banner at Concordia
Moving from Planning to Implementing
Substantial progress was made to the banner initiative during October. All of the hardware was installed, configured and tested successfully. Due to environmental concerns within our current Lorentzsen Hall computer operations center, all of the new Sun hardware was installed at 702 Communications in downtown Moorhead. The hardware is securely connected via high-speed fiber to the college network. The banner software was also successfully installed and tested in October.
The Banner Steering Committee begins its regularly scheduled meetings later this month. The executive Committee meets on the first and third Tuesdays of each month and the full Steering Committee meets on the second and fourth Tuesdays. The Steering Committee has broad membership representing the entire college. The committee is co-chaired by Dr. Mark Covey, division chair of Sciences and Mathematics, and Chief Information Officer Bruce Vieweg and has substantial responsibility to "oversee" the banner initiative and to assure that it remains on time and on budget.
Substantial implementation events begin this month, including work on the student, finance, development
and alumni, and human resources systems. There will also be an introduction to oracle technical training session.
Contact banner project manager Marla Branden (mbranden@cord.edu) for a detailed calendar of all banner-related events.
Each month, this section of Campus Buzz will provide specific details on Banner, the new commercial information system at the college.
