Concordia held the dedication for the Offutt School of Business on April 27, 2013 in front of a crowd of 3,800 people who were there to see Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates speak. Photo by Olivia Gear

In the words of Ronald Offutt, “It’s an epic day for Concordia.”

Saturday morning, Concordia held the dedication for the Offutt School of Business in front of a crowd of 3,800 people who were there to see Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates speak. His talk was preceded with opening comments from President William Craft, Ronald Offutt and the man who made this even possible, Harold Hamm.

Gates had stressed since initially being asked to speak that he wanted to interact with Concordia students and answer their questions. The event was held as a live question and answer session with students who had been selected to ask their prepared questions.

Gates was asked about topics such as donations, vaccines, education and philanthropy work. One of the key points he stressed was the importance of giving back to the world in any way possible.

“Having your eyes open to the needs of the world will help you to pick your career,” Gates said.

He encouraged young people to start giving now, saying, “It’s not just something to leave in your will.”

Gates said some of the biggest issues of our time are education, healthcare and awareness of the great divide between the rich and the poor. In response to a question, his suggestion to improve the K-12 education system was to give more feedback to schoolteachers.When President Craft asked him how to improve higher education, Gates replied that “face-to-face (interaction) is the most important part of higher education.” He spoke to how disengaged young people are when they are lectured in class or told to just read a book.

The United States used to be near the top of education all around the world, but Gates said that now students don’t show as much motivation. Craft replied, “Concordia students are very motivated,” which garnered a round of applause.

Overall, Gates was optimistic about the future of philanthropy and said he was a semi-fanatic about it in the same way he was a fanatic about Microsoft. In response to the question “How can we cultivate philanthropists?” he answered that it starts with family and learning from your parents how to give.

HAROLD HAMM
Forbes’ 35th Wealthiest American
Chairman & CEO of Continental Resources
Member, Global Leadership Council, Concordia College
Speaker, Concordia Corporation Banquet
Net worth: $11.3 billion (Forbes, 2012)

It was a lunch date that started it: the relationship between the nation’s 35th most wealthy individual and Concordia College.

On a beautifully blue-skied 70-degree day in April 2010, Concordia hosted an event called “Lunch with a Titan,” which was arranged to introduce local business leaders and politicians to Harold Hamm, the CEO of oil giant Continental Resources.

Dr. Greg Cant, dean of the Offutt School of Business, remembers this “typically Lutheran ‘let’s meet for lunch’” clearly.  “At the end of it Harold said, frankly, it was one of the best days he’d had in an extraordinarily long period of time,” Cant said.

Not only was Hamm impressed by the conversation with local VIPs, including several Concordia graduates and largest public donor Ron Offutt, but according to Dr. Mark Krejci, Concordia’s provost and dean of the college, Hamm was especially taken with the students. The business school organized a question and answer session for Hamm and around 100 students.

“(Hamm said) they are so engaged, they asked such good questions, they asked about fracking, and how’d you get your start,” Krejci said.

After his day at Concordia, Hamm’s friendship with Offutt and with the school took flight; now, he stands among a group of donors who have given more than half a million dollars to the college, and helped bring Bill Gates to the campus this weekend.

IN THE BEGINNING

Hamm was born the youngest of 13 children in Lexington, Okla., and began his career in oil after graduating from high school. With one small loan Hamm started a one-truck oilfield service, but his intuition and risk-taking allowed his business to expand rapidly. Today, Continental Resources, self-branded as “America’s oil champion,” develops drilling operations in several states, including North Dakota and Montana where the Bakken field, a gigantic oil formation, exists. Hamm’s net worth is $11.3 billion, according to Forbes.

Improved technology and the advancement of hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) have sent the oil industry skyrocketing. Fracking, a process involving deep, horizontal drilling to reach layers of oil previously untouchable, uses rig machinery that injects fluids into the ground at high pressures. This fractures the shale rocks so the natural gas inside can be released.

The resulting economic gains for oil companies, including Continental Resources, have been significant. The Bakken, a giant oil field where Continental has erected multiple drilling operations, produces more than 700,000 barrels of oil per day; at the time of press, the trade price for one barrel was listed around $88. Additionally, the growth of the industry has contributed to low unemployment in North Dakota, which hovers well below the national average at 3.5 percent, according to the US Department of Labor.

Graphic by Emilie Bowman.

However, fracking has recently taken a lot of flack for its unknown but potentially negative environmental impacts, especially where ground water and community infrastructure are concerned. Questions about ground water contamination and health implications have been raised. In the past two months, the North Dakota legislature has debated House Bill 1348, which would require oil wells to reside 1320 feet from any dwelling, as opposed to the currently stated 500 feet. No vote has been taken, according to the Bismarck Tribune.

Multiple calls to inquire about the hydraulic fracturing process at the North Dakota Petroleum Council, North Dakota Oil and Gas Division and Continental Resources offices in Tioga, N.D., Kildeer, N.D., and even the Oklahoma City offices resulted in a carousel of hold and transfer.

DONOR DEBATE

Some Concordia students have expressed concern about the environmental and social impact of oil exploration and Hamm’s involvement in the practice. Krejci said it’s possible that they haven’t considered the source of oil before fracking allowed the national industry to flourish.

“A lot of our students don’t realize what an environmental drain the places the oil was coming from were,” he said. He was referring to tar sands in Canada and refineries in Venezuela and Nigeria, and referenced a National Geographic article he’d read, which detailed some drilling operations in the Arctic Circle that seemed “abyssmal in terms of their safety records.”

“Then you take a look at fracking. It’s legal. It’s regulated. I’d rather have domestic oil produced in a regulated atmosphere than some of the oil that comes to us that isn’t regulated,” he said.

Members of the Concordia community hold varied viewpoints on Hamm’s chosen business, with some concerned about the environmental implications and others in support of his from-the-ground-up, capitalistic success.

With plans for the new OSB facility underway, the college set out with an ambitious fundraising goal of more than $50 million. A major campaign like this, Cant said, could not have been accomplished by alumni donations $1000 at a time, so they needed to reach out and find new sources. The goal was to finish the Grant Center building project without debt.

“When you build something like this,” Cant said, “you either have the money, or your borrow the money. There’s no magic money.”

Krejci said he is not aware of an official college list of individuals or industries Concordia would not approach with a donation request, nor is there a protocol that requires administrators to ask students about their opinions on certain donors.

“The reality is, your college education is being paid for by you, (the student), but also by donors,” Krejci said. “We don’t really go out to students and ask them to weigh in on whether or not we take money from this person or that person. I’m not even involved in that.”

In Hamm’s case, Cant thinks this was a case where he truly bought into the mission of Concordia. Despite the absence of any typical connection to the college (Scandinavia roots, Lutheran faith, or alumni status among them) Hamm made what Cant said was a decision based not on obligation or PR purposes, but on belief in Concordia’s vision.

“It’s the whole ‘your treasure follows your heart’ notion,” he said. “If you truly believe in what we’re doing and you have the capacity, then you’re likely to support us.”

FRIENDS FOREVER

While the financial contribution Hamm has shared with the college was integral to the completion of OSB, perhaps the most significant gift he gave Concordia occurred when he asked Bill Gates to visit campus for the dedication of the business school, which will happen Saturday.

Hamm is among signers of The Giving Pledge, a project created by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, in collaboration with other philanthropic billionaires. The program invites the nation’s wealthiest individuals to give away 50 percent or more of their wealth. This helped link Hamm and Gates, which then helped connect Gates to Concordia.

In an email interview, Hamm said he had the idea to invite Gates to the campus because of its established legacy of preparing students to do great things.

“As someone who is taking on the world’s challenges and inspiring others to join him, Bill Gates will add to that legacy,” Hamm said.

“I respect his accomplishments,” he said, “and it’s my hope that his visit will spark the minds of Concordia students to also change the world.”

Cant points to Gates’ commitment to the OSB dedication as a unique gift that could never be replicated.

“No other person that we know could have said to Bill Gates, ‘Bill, I’d like you to do a favor for me. Come to this college I like and give up a day of your life,’” Cant said.

He believes that having industry leaders like Gates, Hamm, and Offutt present for the dedication positions Concordia in a unique role for national attention and additional prestige, and he’s thankful Hamm took the time to help orchestrate the event.

“On any given day, there are a hundred important things he could do,” Cant said. “A relationship with Harold isn’t a one-off. You really want to stay his friend forever.”

FROM ALL SIDES

Cant and Krejci both agree that open dialogue on campus is welcome.

An ad hoc student group has collaborated with two off-campus groups to hold a panel discussion before the Gates event today at 4 p.m. The panel members include a Dakota Resource Council representative and a MN community member affected by pesticide drift.

They will further explore environmental and social questions surrounding fracking, pesticide use in large-scale farming, and sanitation waste worker conditions.

According to Kelsey Kava, an organizer of the event, Offutt has been the target of lawsuits involving pesticide pollution, while Gates has recently been scrutinized for holding more than 25 percent of shares in Republic Allied Waste Services, whose employees have been on strike for inadequate worker conditions.

“Unashamedly, Harold is in the petrochemical industry,” Cant said. “He digs up oil that gets turned into gasoline. He’s not ashamed of it, and all of us who drive cars probably shouldn’t be ashamed of it.”

With the current technology, few feasible options exist outside of using internal combustion engines for driving, which require gas, and therefore a continuation of the petrochemical industry. Cant, Krejci, faculty and students have all acknowledged the complexity involved.

“(There are) students who’ve seen a movie about water being polluted in Pennsylvania and think ‘wow, we’ve got to stop fracking,’” Cant said, “We should ask questions, but to poo-poo Harold about it is just frankly missing the point.”

Then, some might ask, what is the point? Caitlyn Schuchhardt, a 2012 Concordia graduate, will travel from Bemidji to campus for the panel discussion. For her, this conversation about the wider issues is vital to the future of the college.

“I’m disturbed that Concordia would uphold them as figures of success,” she said. “(But) I don’t want to sound like I’m entirely ungrateful for the money they’re giving.”

Schuchhardt said that if Concordia uses these connections to teach about social and environmental injustices, and not just gloss over the issues or mask them with the philanthropic successes of the donors, then she would feel better about their financial contributions.

“This is a huge game changer for Concordia right now,” she said. “That’s why I’m so nervous. And that’s why I’m so thankful for the students who are organizing events like the panel. It’s really critical for us to be engaged in dialogue.”

The panel discussion is open to the public and will take place in Jones Science Center 212 at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 26.
Gates will speak at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday in Memorial Auditorium. The ticketed event no longer has seats available.

Photo by Gia Rassier. Mike Doyle returned to campus to recognize the third recipient of the President Pamela M. Jolicoeur Endowed Memorial Scholarship, Katharine Spencer (right) at the Celebration of Student Scholarhip. Also pictured: Steph Barnhart and Matthew Gantz, past winners of the award.

Katharine Spencer was named as this year’s Jolicoeur Scholar at last Thursday’s Celebration of Student Scholarship. The scholarship is given to a second semester sophomore that proves to be an emerging leader on campus.

“It came as a total surprise,” Spencer said. “It’s a great honor.”

The Scandinavian studies and religion double major is involved in the Scandinavian club, Office of Ministry, is a co-coordinator for the Campus Ministry Commission, works for the Academic Enhancement and Writing Center, and helps with the Wednesday night church program at Trinity Lutheran Church. Spencer’s future plans include working in global mission.

Spencer was nominated by religion professor Elna Solvang and Pastor Tim Megorden.

Professors receive an email at the beginning of the spring semester each year to nominate students with leadership abilities for the President Pamela M. Jolicoeur Endowed Memorial Scholarship. Engagement, vision, inclusiveness, and community orientation are identified by scholarship materials as some of the indicators of leadership ability.

This is the scholarship’s third year. Stephanie Barnhart was the first recipient in 2011, followed by Matthew Gantz in 2012.

The award was established in honor of Concordia’s late President, Dr. Pamela Jolicoeur, who served as Concordia’s 10th President from 2004 until her death in 2010.

“There was this tremendous outpouring of support. The community wanted to show their appreciation, and everyone connected with contributions,” said Mike Doyle, Jolicoeur’s husband.

The leadership celebrated in the scholarship is not limited to traditional leadership, according to Doyle, but instead may be shown through athletics, music, service, and other activities.

“They’re looking everywhere on campus for potential,” Doyle said.

After receiving notice that they have been nominated, students must submit a current vitae and an essay explaining how the they envision themselves as a student leaders during their final two years at Concordia.

The applications are reviewed by a committee composed of college administrators and two members of the faculty, which alternate every year.

“I think the committee has picked good people every year. I think they’ve picked the right people,” Doyle said.

While the scholarship was originally to be given to a Concordia junior, Doyle suggested that it be moved back to the sophomore year, stressing that it would then go to students with two more years left at Concordia.

“It fosters leadership by not only recognizing stu ents who are doing good things on campus right now, but, to some extent, holding them to a commitment to continue doing good things throughout the rest of their collegiate career,” Gantz said.

Spencer said that she is excited to continue to serve the Fargo-Moorhead area and the global community, but that she does not know exactly what is in her plan for the future.

“It’s about taking the opportunity when it arises,” Spencer said.

Photo by Britt Bublitz. Sarah Raeker performs “In Trutina” during last Sunday’s Oratorio concert.

Concordia’s large spring concert, Oratorio, was especially unique this year. Usually, professional soloists are featured, but for the first time in years, the concert of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana was performed entirely by students.

Rene Clausen, who conducted the Concordia Orchestra and the 350 member Oratorio choir, explained the basic concept of the concert.

“(Oratorio) is a large work, usually a half hour or more, (which is) considered to be for orchestra, chorus and solos,” he said. “Oratorio is that time when… we put all of our choirs together with the orchestra and do a major work.”

Though this is done every year, the concert had an added element to it this spring. Oratorio usually features faculty soloists for the production. Faculty did not partake in the concert this year.

“The vocal performance faculty all agrees that when we have the opportunity, it’s nice to give (the students) that professional engagement,” Clausen said. “We have decided to use students (this year) because we had such a high level of talent.”

Clausen said that the soloists give a professional dimension to the performance, and that the students are capable of the writing, even though it was written for professional vocalists. Thirteen solos were covered by eight students, including Erik Krohg, Chris Kenny, Anthony LaFrinier, Laura Pancoast, Jessie Braaten, Russell Wustenberg, Sarah Raeker and Justine Scarborough.

“I think they are incredible,” Dr. Clausen said. “It’s really something.”

The soloists, who all auditioned for the spots, likewise approve of the decision.

“I think it’s a really neat opportunity, especially for those students looking to go into vocal performance,” said junior Raeker. “A lot of students who got solos are looking to do that, so it’s a really neat opportunity to sing with a full orchestra.”

Photo by Britt Bublitz. Justine Scarbrough and Christopher Kenney sing “Tempus Est Locundum” in front of the orchestra during the performance.

Another soloist, senior Justine Scarborough, agreed.

“It’s a really special opportunity for all of us,” she said. “I haven’t had much opportunity for solos in the past, so I’m just grateful for another chance to sing a solo in choir.”

While it is a great opportunity, Carmina Burana poses a challenge to each soloist.

“I have to be really bold with my singing, especially since it’s in my lower range,” said Scarborough. “My solo is singing over the entire freshmen women’s choir. It wasn’t something that I thought I could do.”

Raeker also found the experience to be humbling. “The other girls that got (solos) are fantastic sopranos,” she said. “It was cool to even be able to audition for (a solo) and to get it was even more cool.”

Photo by Britt Bublitz. Anthony LaFrinier sings “Olim Lacus Colueram” during Oratorio.

The audition process was open to everyone, but certain students were recommended by the voice faculty due to their vocal tone and capabilities. Soloists are chosen not on a basis of age or personality. Each solo is given to the voice which fits it best, according to Clausen.

“It has to be the voice that fits the music the most,” said Dr. Clausen. “That’s always the fairest way. What’s best for the music? What are the demands of the solo and who best fits those demands?”

As the audition process confirmed that the students fit the solos well, the decision to not use faculty members in this year’s Oratorio was maintained.

“The unique thing about this concert is that it is all undergrad,” said Dr. Clausen. “Every player, every singer, every solo, everyone in the chorus (and) everyone is the orchestra (are undergraduates). This is an entirely homegrown production. I think that’s an attainment right there.”

Submitted photo. Sophomore golfer Molly Zavadil takes a swing at a meet this past fall. The men’s and women’s teams don’t officially start their season until August, but they have already started preseason training and will continue to practice throughout the summer.

While the official start of golf season is not until August, members of the men and women’s teams have started preparing for the upcoming season.

Since the weather hasn’t been up to par, sophomore golf player Amy Mireault and some of her teammates have gone to the Bubble, a sports facility in Fargo, to practice. Mireault and her fellow teammates use a simulator at the Bubble to play on virtual courses and hone their skills. The athletes also use the indoor driving range to get more distance on their swings.

According to sophomore Samuel Christian, the men’s team has also been practicing at the Bubble as well as in Concordia’s gym.

The teams have also also made an effort to get outdoors. Sophomore Dana Meslow said that several women on her team have traveled to South Dakota and taken advantage of warmer weather to practice.

As summer break approaches, the women are trying to figure out what they will be doing for the next three months and making sure they put aside time to practice. According to Meslow, head coach Duane Siverson keeps up with the women during the offseason to see what they’re doing to prepare for the upcoming season.

“(Siverson) understands we work during the summer,” Meslow said. “He wants us to stay in shape for the upcoming season.”

Throughout the summer, the players will be working on developing as individual athletes in order to improve their team this coming season.

“Overall, we need to have lower scores,” Meslow said.

Mireault said the women’s golf team will have new players this coming fall and the whole team, returning players and new ones, will come to Moorhead a week before the semester begins to start practicing as a team. Tryouts will take place then as well.

Mireault said she is looking forward to starting off the upcoming season right and can’t wait to see some new faces this coming fall.

“It would be great to get some new players,” Mireault said.

Photo by Olivia Gear. While Concordia operates under a “dry campus” policy, students have stated they feel the regulation is outdated, especially for students over the legal drinking age.

After she left for fall break, senior Natalie Dillemuth got a call from her roommate saying they had gotten an alcohol violation. Dillemuth, who lives in the campus townhouses, was fined $100 for having Mike’s Hard Lemonade in the apartment.

“I know that it was our fault for getting the violation because we shouldn’t have had (the alcohol),” Dillemuth said. “I think it’s kind of stupid because I’m legally allowed to have it.”

College drinking is seen often in movies and TV shows and, for some students, is part of the allure of college. However, most campuses have policies that restrict or prohibit drinking on campus.

Concordia has a strict “dry campus” drinking policy, explicitly stating in the student handbook that “the possession, use and/or sale of alcohol or illegal drugs by any student or their guest is not permitted on campus.”

However, the policy itself isn’t a deterrent.

So far this academic year, there have been 78 alcohol violations, and last year there were 161 violations.

Concordia’s drinking policy isn’t completely unique. Some schools, including St. Olaf College, have a very similar policy. According to their handbook, “the possession, distribution or consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited on the St. Olaf campus, on land owned by the college, and in college-owned honor and language houses.”

However, other schools, such as Gustavus Adolphus College, have different policies.  Gustavus’ student handbook states that the school prohibits the “possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages by persons under the age of 21. Providing alcohol to a minor, or assisting a minor in any way in obtaining alcohol… is also a violation of State law.” However, according to their handbook, alcohol use on campus by someone who is 21 years old or older is permissible.

Gustavus and other schools like St. Johns University align their alcohol policies with State and Federal drinking laws, prohibiting underage consumption along with possession and distribution.

Concordia’s alcohol policy is designed with those laws in mind but still doesn’t allow possession for students over 21 years old.

“If you look at the age of our student population, the number of people who are of legal drinking age is fairly small,” said Sue Oatey, vice president of Student Affairs.

She says that only 25 percent of seniors are living on campus, so most of the students are under the age of 21.

“That plays a part in conversations when you talk about a completely dry campus,” she said.

Dillemuth said that the ease of living on campus outweighed not being able to have alcohol on campus.

“But I’m looking forward to graduation so that way I can drink or even possess alcohol,” she said.

Drinking policies need to be enforced and understandable to students in order to limit the consequences of binge drinking. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, binge drinking is defined as drinking five or more drinks in the span of about two hours.

According to the Century Council, an organization that strives to diminish binge drinking, drunk driving and underage consumption, 41 percent of 18 to 25-year-olds report binge drinking. The rates of binge drinking are highest among this age group.

Some of these are college students just starting college and potentially experiencing alcohol for the first time.

Oatey said this is one possible reason for some of the more serious incidents that have occurred this year involving ambulances being called to campus.

“My concern is if people become ill, often times friends feel like the best thing to do is to bring them home,” she said.  “But if no one is there to watch them, they can become ill and asphyxiate themselves.”

When students are in situations where they made need medical assistance, Jasi O’Connor, the director of Residence Life, says that the school doesn’t allow other students or staff to watch students who are in danger. If staff members determine that urgent care is needed, an ambulance may be called, and students can be taken to the hospital.

There are many other reasons to prohibit alcohol on campus besides health. Campus Security is often an underlying factor in determining alcohol policies.

“By prohibiting alcohol on campus, we can hopefully limit things like vandalism, violence and sexual assault,” O’Connor said.

The annual Clery Act Report, a yearly report that combines crime statistics with policies on campuses, illuminates on how alcohol affects those issues. The 2012-2013 Report for Concordia shows that in the last three academic years only one act of vandalism was reported and four instances of sexual assault.

By comparing the Clery Act Reports from both Gustavus and Concordia College, the differences are staggering. In the 2010 calendar year, Concordia issued 123 violations and had 26 arrests for liquor law violations. Gustavus, however, issued 163 violations and 73 arrests in the same calendar year. Even St. John’s, which has a  policy is similar to Gustavus’, has high rates for violations, coming in with 438 liquor violations and 35 arrests.

Concordia looks at policy violations on a situational basis. Depending on the severity of the violation and how many times a violation has occurred, the penalty may be different.

If a student is in possession of alcohol, they are fined and required to take an eCHUG assessment. eCHUG is an online survey that assesses the amount of alcohol students use and offers statistics about alcohol usage.

“There is a gap in the amount of drinking that students report that they do and the perception that students have in terms of the amount of drinking,” Oatey said. Students typically believe that more students actually consume alcohol than reports actually show.

According to the National College Health Assessment that students at Concordia complete, in 2012 28.3 percent of students on campus report ed never having used alcohol but overall believed that only 1.2 percent of students on campus don’t use alcohol. Also, 49.6 percent of students reported having used alcohol within the last one to nine days of the survey, but overall, students believed that 61.7 percent of students have used alcohol in the last one to nine days.

There are incidents on campus when rumors of high levels of intoxication circulate, but those are isolated. Concordia has fewer violations than many of its MIAC peers, and the policy may be the reason behind that. However, student perception of the policy is mixed.

Junior Jenna Rosvold, who is 21 years old and lives on campus, says the policy is irrational and not well thought out.

“It’s unfair for those of us who are actually 21,” she said.

Junior Nicole Pachan, who also lives on campus, believes that it should be altered for those who are 21 year old.

“If it’s contained in your room or apartment, then you should be able to (drink),” she said.

Sophomore Ashley Robideau says she doesn’t care about the policy because she doesn’t drink, but she feels bad for those students who get in trouble because their roommates are possessing alcohol.

“I think it could be enforced in a better way,” she said.

Dillemuth believes it’s annoying as well as an inconvenience.

“When I cook dinner for my friends, I go to their apartment,” she said. “That way, we can have a glass of wine.”

This article was submitted by Mykayla Zwiener, a contributing writer. She can be reached at mzweiner@cord.edu

Photo by Ali Everts. Long-time men’s basketball coach Rich Glas was promoted to the position of athletic director this fall. Administrators and coaches from the athletic department report that the department is more cohesive and attendance at games is up since Glas took over.

With his first year as athletic director nearly behind him, Rich Glas and the rest of the Athletic Department are reflecting on how Glas’ strategic vision for the department has changed Concordia’s sports atmosphere.

Glas said his vision was to improve Cobber athletics overall and increase Concordia’s MIAC All-Sports Trophy score, which averages and combines women and men’s sports statistics for each school in the MIAC and then ranks the schools based on their scores.  He also wanted to foster a sense of community in the athletic department.

To accomplish these goals, Glas came up with “Cob Mob,” a marketing strategy to increase student participation at games.

“The marketing department has really took my idea of Cob Mob and ran with it,” Glas said. “I think the student population involvement will only grow next year, and I think the support from our Athletic Department family was what really started it.”

In addition to his desire to expand campus-wide support for athletics, Glas has done a lot of work to improve the inner connections of the Athletic Department as a whole, said Rachel Bergeson, associate athletic director.

Bergeson said the first thing Glas did this fall was to hold the first ever all-sports meeting to which all athletes were invited. The event was held in Memorial, and President William Craft came to initiate it.  There, Glas relayed his vision for the department and played highlights from Concordia’s athletic history.  Glas said he wanted each sport to feel represented and know they are valued as part of the Athletic Department family.

“More than any other year that I have been here, we have seen more athletic support because of Glas’s vision,” Bergeson said. “We would see our whole men’s hockey team after practice come over and support our wrestling match or women’s basketball game.  I give credit to every single team who heard the vision and also to our coaches who helped spread that vision throughout the whole year, never letting it die.”

Kristen Hetland, who heads the academic side of the Athletic Department, said that Glas has really brought a sense of renewed energy to the department this year.  She said he has taken on a lot of work that is not required to make the department run and function smoother.

“Glas’s vision has really improved the cohesiveness of everyone in the department because he had a goal of transparent leadership to get everyone on the same page,” Hetland said. “He is hilarious and he constantly stops in your office to compliment or give you feedback.  You always see him, which really builds rapport with everyone.”

Bergeson said that Glas built cohesiveness among the coaches and faculty by holding at least one department meeting each month to improve communication.  She also said that when she looked back on what they have been able to accomplish as a department, there was progress because everyone was well informed on working toward the same goal, such as successfully improving the all sports trophy results and ranking higher in MIAC average scores.

Football defensive coach Kyle Bakken said Glas always makes the coaches feel appreciated and encouraged.  He said Glas doesn’t just preach to them about what to do, but he walks the walk too.

“I have always had a lot of respect for Glas with how he is able to motivate others,” Bakken said, “and not just because of his previous years of coaching experience or because he wears that snazzy sweater vest of athletic director, but because he is able to turn evaluation and reflection back on himself as well. Which is kind of ironic because of his name.”

Another thing Bakken said that Glas did differently this year was provide time for the coaching staff to assess both he and Bergeson’s performance and give them feedback.

“One of the big shifts in management awareness that went on when Glas took the athletic position department was his new idea about evaluations,” Bergeson said. “He wants to be evaluated himself and he thinks that this is really big component in improving.  It also fits in so well with the whole college’s theme of becoming responsibly engaged in the world by reflecting.”

Hetland said Glas understands how hard Concordia’s coaches work.

“He does a great job of making sure everyone has a role on the athletic department team, even if it’s not playing time, and that’s a delicate balance to figure out,” Hetland said.

In future meetings, up to five members-at-large could become members of the forum if confirmed by existing members of the forum. Traditional residence halls will also be allowed to have one student representative, and there will be representatives from Campus Entertainment Commission, Campus Ministry Commission and Campus Service Commission.

“Our rational behind (adding members-at-large) was that we just wanted to make sure that anybody that wanted to be on…SGA had an avenue to serve and get involved,” said Austin Keller, chief of staff.

He gave the example of a student studying abroad as someone who wouldn’t be able to serve all year but may want to be involved while they are on campus. According to the new bylaw, members-at-large must take classes at Concordia’s campus, and they must be nominated and confirmed by current members of the forum.

Each traditional residence hall will also now have the opportunity to appoint one residential hall representative to have voting power at the forum. The halls will select this person using their own methods. In the future, forum members intend to approve the opportunity for campus apartments and townhouses to also have representatives.

A representative from each of the three commissions, CEC, CMC and CSC, will also now have voting power within the forum next year. In the past, members of these commissions attended meetings but did not have voting power.

In other news:

The Executive Assistant position held by Emma Connell was amended and renamed “Chief of Operations.”

“We felt (the new title) reflected the roles and obligations more,” Connell said. “‘Executive Assistant’ sounds a little demeaning.”

The budget proposal of $26,148 for 2013-2013 was approved by forum members. This is the same total as last year with some funds moved around, according to Connell.

Future forum meetings will require a quorum of currently seated SGA members to pass business.

A bylaw proposal to change the approval process for requests from the Special Project and Initiatives Fund was tabled for a later date. The bylaw would have changed final approval power from the executive team to forum members.

SGA President Levi Bachmeier said this change would invest power into SGA as a whole instead of a select group of people, and it would make funding more transparent.

Colin Sullivan, elections and credentials commissioner, said the Elections and Credentials Council had serious reservations about the quickness of this proposal.

“The forum at this point doesn’t have the background knowledge to approve a bylaw change like this simply because…the necessary conversations have yet to take place,” Sullivan said. “I think it’s most important that we just don’t rush into a decision about how to allocate those funds.”

The “We Are One Body” event demonstrates that Christian students on campus are seeking more than dialogue; they are seeking a place of genuine Christian fellowship where we can come together as one body of faith, unified by our belief in God, to support each other and learn from one another. This kind of community cannot occur unless the worship of students who hold different denominational faiths within Christianity is recognized. The “We Are One Body” event underscores the need for more attention in recognizing all Christians on this campus, not just those who worship in accordance with ELCA theology. In order for this to happen, students, administrators, and faculty must ask questions and engage in intentional conversation around this issue.

This conversation needs to include questions such as: how does our Lutheran tradition empower us to engage and accept Christians of other denominations? Where does dialogue regarding intra-faith cooperation fit in as our campus strives for a more pluralistic community? What is worship on this campus, how is it defined, and who defines it? In order to increase dialogue and foster an environment in which students feel comfortable exploring their faith, these questions need to be answered in a way that allows more faith perspectives to come fully to the table.

The purpose of a liberal arts institution grounded in a faith tradition should not be to screen or filter the worship that occurs in this place; rather, the purpose of such an institution should be to foster a diverse environment in which students are able to fully express themselves and explore their faith. In order to prepare students to become responsibly engaged in a diverse and dynamic world, Concordia college and, specifically, the established Christian communities on our campus, need to reevaluate the way in which we invite diverse faith perspectives to the table. As the “We Are One Body” event demonstrated, we can gain better understanding when we promote this type of cooperation. In order to foster acceptance and cooperation, we must engage in intentional dialogue and encourage relationship-building between diverse Christian communities. While we may come from different backgrounds and understandings of our lives as people of faith, at the end of the day, we are, indeed, one body, and this is what makes our community beautiful.

This letter was submitted by the “We Are One Body” planning team.

Steve Schuetz, vice president of Enrollment at Concordia, said that events such as Gates’ visit serve as another way to get the Concordia name into potential students’ ears.

“It raises awareness of the Concordia name,” Schuetz said.

If prospective students are interested, he said, they have most likely already heard the college’s name. However, the more times it’s mentioned and referred to in different contexts, the more likely the students are to investigate Concordia further, he said.

Gates’ visit comes just days before the National Candidate Reply Date on May 1. This deadline is a day colleges use as a cutoff for refundable deposits for the incoming students. After May 1, accepted students can still send in their deposits, but they are non-refundable.

Schuetz said that throughout the past year, the overall number of applications Concordia received was higher than last year. This did not come as a surprise to Schuetz.

“We looked at our communication flow (for reaching out to prospective students) and changed our strategy,” Schuetz said.

In addition to revamping their communication flow, Concordia also worked on getting new publications and messaging out to potential students earlier than in the past. The initial emphasis of the messages sent was based on the experiences offered during their time on campus as well as the outcomes of a Concordia education.

The increase in applications resulted in more admitted students than last year, Schuetz said.

Now, it’s a waiting game to see by how many.

Jasi O’Connor, director of Residence Life at Concordia, said that the incoming class’ numbers will not be solidified until mid to late August. Residence Life is planning on an occupancy level similar to this year, however, some changes may stem from next year’s sophomore class being a noticeably smaller class, O’Connor said.

If changes do need to be made to accommodate the smaller sophomore class, O’Connor said they are prepared to close two female floors, but nothing is definite until they have specific numbers from the incoming students.

Nathalie Rinehardt, assistant director of Student Involvement, said that there is one definite change happening for next year’s student body. The student activity fund, which has been set at $210 for the past four academic years, will increase to $214.

This decision was made not necessarily based on predicted enrollment, she said, but instead due to the increase in the number of student organizations on campus and their requests for money.

“Student organizations started to feel the pinch this year,” Rinehardt said.

The number of student organizations present on campus does not necessarily change with enrollment, nor does it affect what they request money for, such as experiential opportunities.

“There is no way to predict the number of students participating in organizations,” Rinehardt said. “It’s all based on the activity level on campus.”

Although the participation in organizations fluctuates year to year and is not directly impacted by enrollment, the organizations’ funding is affected. Fewer students result in less money coming in for student organizations to access.

After research done by the Student Involvement Council and the Student Business Office, the small increase in the activity fee was proposed to the Board of Regents and passed. This will help sustain and support the work of student organizations on campus next year.

I will be ending my junior year, and it has gone faster than any year here at Cord. I am feeling the finality of having to get everything together in order to leave this place.

This year is a sad one for me because I have a lot of friends that are seniors who will be leaving me, but I am realizing quickly how weird college is.

Think about it, we have to apply to go to a place where we pay to learn, live and eat. We get put in social groups that start out as helpful but soon degrade into a group of people whose habits you detest. You live in a building with 250 other people, only to end up liking about 5.

You are forced to deal with people you haven’t grown up with, and you have to balance your real life with work and school without your parents telling you how to do it. Money is an object that dictates how much or how little you can do, but only the money you have—don’t count the many loans because those aren’t real for four years. For the first time, you are working to impress a significant other that isn’t known by everyone in your life already, finding out who you actually want to hang around with.

It is such a concentrated time to be with people, where you make friends with people who leave in a couple years, you get jobs for only four years, you work your butt off to get into a position of power and then pray that all of that work you did in the super condensed time pays off somehow.

And then, in true over-analyzer fashion, I sit and ponder if anyone who graduates will keep in contact. Because contrary to popular belief I like you sick over-worked people. I also know that unless you unfriend me, I will watch what you do forever because I like to see where everyone goes.

So I guess what I am trying to say is pardon me while I existentially ponder the meaning of my life and what it is going to be next year as a senior, and how I am going to handle leaving the place I have made a home in for three years. Until next year, stay classy Cobber kids.

Not only would using their own laptops cost no money, but also, the functionality of laptops far outweighs iPads for the uses described in the article.  iPads are designed for a single user and wouldn’t allow a user to log in and save data.  Users can use the Internet but that’s about it. To download apps would require an Apple account, which is user specific and requires credit card information.   Users could type up notes using Pages, but if they wanted to keep that information they would have to email it to themselves.  It would be much easier to do all of these things on a computer in the first place, rather than borrowing an iPad to use only during meetings.

Another option for taking notes, rather than using Pages would be to use online word processors like Google Docs, but this could also be done on a laptop just as easily.  If SGA is concerned with some of their members not having laptops, there are many places around campus were students can check out computers for a short period of time including Digital Media Services and the Knutson Info Desk.

Not only are iPads not practical for their intended use, they are also incredibly expensive.  An iPad 2 starts at $400.  Even accounting for a bulk purchase discount of around $20 dollars for each of the first 10 iPads, the cost would total $6,200.  Add to that the cost of the keyboard cases, which are around $60 per iPad, that comes to a grand total of $7,040.

The budget for SGA comes from the Student Activity Fee, meaning that every Concordia student contributes money to fund SGA, thus contributing to this iPad purchase.  In The Concordian article Levi Bachmeier, current SGA president, was quoted saying, “We were trying to decide how can we most responsibly invest (the left over money) into our organization to promote long-term growth.”  But how will investing in iPads create long-term growth?  Functionally, iPads are not the best choice for SGA, and I’m sure that the SGA members were informed of this fact during the discussion process before ordering.  Furthermore, technology becomes outdated very quickly. In a couple of years, the iPads will need to be replaced if SGA want to continue using them during their meetings.  That means an added cost down the road.

At the last SGA meeting held on Friday, April 19, the 2013-2014 budget proposal was reviewed and approved by the current SGA members.  Surprisingly, the total budget was the same amount as for the 2012-2013 school year.  Why, when SGA had a $7,000 surplus, do they require the same amount for next year?  SGA doesn’t require this same amount and should amend the budget to a more reasonable figure.

It is not in the best interests of the student body for SGA’s money to be spent on iPads rather than on something that will directly benefit the campus community.  I call on SGA to reevaluate their need for iPads and take more care in where they spend their money in the future.

Johnson’s interest in cooking and baking began as a way to spend time with her grandma Sonja. This interest has turned into a passion that was the inspiration for creating the “Cobber Cooking Show” on Concordia On Air.

Each summer, Johnson, from Alexander, Minn., spent time in Battle Lake, Minn., with her grandmother. Her grandma always had bars in the freezer for her visit.

“She was always prepared…even weeks in advance,” Johnson said. “She’s the master at baking.”

Grandma Johnson’s love for baking inspired Johnson. In 2011, the idea originated when Johnson wanted to connect her love of cooking to Concordia On Air. Johnson wanted to be more involved with On Air but wasn’t able to because choir rehearsal occurs during the same timeframe. However, Johnson proposed the idea to Executive Director Annie Pattison to get feedback. Pattison thought it would be a nice addition to the show.

When Johnson approached Pattison, there was a five-minute segment consistently open on the show, Pattison said.

“I told Hannah if she was responsible to get it done, I told her it would work perfectly,” Pattison said.

Johnson, a mass media communication studies major, talked to senior Paul Flessland, who agreed to help. Johnson’s had her first cooking segment in the fall of her junior year. In the show’s beginning, Flessland and Johnson got together every few weeks to tape the show. Flessland filmed and then edited the cooking show segments.

“At first, we had no idea what we were doing…but luckily it turned out pretty good,” Flessland said.

The show is taped in segments. Flessland and Johnson figure out what to say before each section is taped.

During each show, Johnson tries to make recipes that would work for college students. She sticks with easy recipes that are simple and affordable, she said.

“I don’t make elaborate recipes,” she said.

Johnson has made banana bread, cake cookies, beer bread and tortilla bites.

For Johnson, making recipes that relate to a wide range of students is the hardest part.

“Something I might really enjoy, others might hate,” she said.

Last fall, Johnson had a class with Tracy Briggs, a local reporter who now has a show called “The Great Indoors.” Briggs invited Johnson to do a few cooking shows on her video blog. Johnson was invited to choose recipes that had some significance to her or to others.

For the show, Johnson has made her personal favorite, grandma Sonja’s recipe called, “Peanut Butter Oat Bars.” She also made her grandpa’s recipe called, “Woody’s Spaghetti Sauce.”

“He is 88 or 89-years-old, so it meant a lot to him,” she said.

Johnson has enjoyed working with and getting to know Briggs.

“Tracy is a joy to work with and encourages me to have fun on camera. I hope to continue working with her,” she said.

When the show aired on the Forum website, Flessland saw it.

“I was surprised to see it,” he said. “It was a pleasant surprise.”

Although Johnson has focused her show on cooking, she says prefers baking.

“Sometimes, I have to bake every night,” she said. “It’s a stress reliever.”

Junior Sarah Raeker is one of Johnson’s roommates. To celebrate Raeker’s birthday last September, Johnson covered their apartment with streamers, strings and balloons. Raeker woke up to a half a dozen giant cupcakes, just for her.

Sometimes, Johnson feels the urge to bake. It usually happens when Johnson’s schedule begins to get full with commitments.

“Then I just start baking. I put everything else on hold. After I bake, the week always goes smoother. It helps me be more productive,” she said.

When Raeker comes home to an apartment full of baked goods, she’s not surprised any more.

“Then Hannah said, ‘I’m just in a baking mood,’” Raeker said.

Johnson has learned some lessons from doing the cooking show.

“Try something new and see if you can succeed. More importantly to use your talents and put yourself out there,” she said.

As the year comes to an end and her workload increases, Johnson says she regrets not being able to produce more shows.

Flessland and Johnson could see the “Cobber Cooking Show” turning into a career option. Johnson’s plans for next year are undetermined, but when she was younger she dreamed of having a cooking show on the Food Channel. Flessland would like to someday work in the video department of the Fargo Forum.

“It’s given us, both Hannah and I, future job experience,” Flessland said.

Career experience aside, Flessland said his favorite part is eating the food that Johnson has made.

The article was submitted by Kaia Lunde, a contributing writer. She can be contacted at klunde@cord.edu

This letter was submitted by Mike Rose, Concordia class of 2014.

First, you gotta go work somewhere alone. I know that Katelyn’s article mentioned spending the night working with friends, but if you’ve got a nine-page-paper due the next morning, you don’t have the time of day (pun intended). Go somewhere by yourself, or if you have to go somewhere with other people, say a dorm computer lab, then wear some headphones. You’ve gotta stay forcused to get through the wee hours.

Second, get yourself a lightly caffeinated beverage. I don’t recommend energy drinks or coffee unless those drinks have little effect on you; I drink tea because coffee and soda make me way too jittery to concentrate well. If you can, use the hot water heater your parents got you when you moved in freshman year so you have a couple cheap drinks to sip throughout the night.

Third, get yourself some binaural beats and utilize these exclusively for studying. A few years ago some researchers discovered that by playing two notes that were similar in pitch through stereo speakers they could alter brainwave patterns. By manipulating the frequency of the pitches, the scientists discovered they could coerce the brain into mimicking brainwave patterns for pretty much any type of activity—including brainwave patterns for concentration and learning. This technology literally induces your brain into a focused state of mind so you can study and work more effectively. The binaural beats sound like white noise in the background and depending on the program you find online (e.g. NeuroProgrammer), you can use them with or without headphones. Some people may find their heads get warm using this technology and that’s simply because the program forces the brain hemispheres to synchronize and so they use more energy. If you want a great free version of this software, check out healingbeats.com. Before you think this sounds like absolute hooey check it out for yourself—I’ve used this technology for the last four years of college to successfully navigate all-nighters. Of course, if you have a psychological condition you should never try something like this without speaking with a physician, but I digress.

Finally, although you may call it an ‘all-nighter,’ give yourself the opportunity to sleep if you really need it. Working on an assignment with your tiredness levels turned to 10 will accomplish nothing. Give yourself a bit of rest if you need it. I suggest sleeping in 90-minute intervals if you really need the Zzz’s as this gives your brain the greatest chance of going through an entire REM cycle. That way, you’re more likely to wake up feeling refreshed than zombified, despite the annoying red 2:00 a.m. on your clock.

I hope that you share these tips with your readers and that any kids studying late for finals or any last-minute assignments take these techniques to heart. They really do help and believe me, without them I could never have overcome the “April from Hell” without professional help.

This article was submitted by Max Muehlip, Concordia class of 2013.

What we ought to question, however, is whether the drastic growth in higher education spending that has ironically made it less affordable for students to attend college has produced desirable results that we should continue. We should also question whether parents and schools ought to be steering more students toward traditional four-year colleges when more and more data indicate that there are literally millions of unfilled high-paying technical jobs waiting for qualified candidates from technical and vocational schools. The market is telling us something important: our higher education priorities are not in order. We are investing in the wrong things, and underinvesting in crucial areas that require greater attention.

I fully acknowledge that, as a privileged recipient of a liberal arts education, it seems out of place for me to criticize the underlying assumptions and practices of American higher education and suggest that liberal arts colleges in particular are providing less of a value than they suggest. But here at Concordia, I think the spirit of “responsible engagement in the world” demands that we deepen conversations about the value of a liberal arts degree in a way that doesn’t necessarily assume its inherent worth from the outset. Perhaps places like Concordia need to reevaluate the emphasis they place on traditional humanities-related subjects and promote science; perhaps they should spend less money on music and athletics and steer more resources toward professions that are slated to grow drastically in the coming years (such as computer science, a field whose absence from this campus baffles every person who understands the value knowledge of coding and programming have in the 21st century innovation-based economy). Perhaps, instead of expending resources to make students physically comfortable during their stays on campus, maximal efforts should be taken to constrain unnecessary spending and control growth in tuition rates. Perhaps, rather than congratulating itself for producing graduates dedicated to the life of the mind and committed to vague Christian values, Concordia ought to really evaluate, at its core, the inherent value of what it does.

There are many immensely talented individuals at this institution. My greatest wish for Concordia is that it emerge as a leader, an innovator and a model other institutions are eager to emulate. I think that part of that leadership must include a role in reforming American higher education and the way it is funded and organized. There must be a greater role for the market to determine which professions and fields receive emphasis in funding. There must be a serious moral debate about the desirability of continually raising the cost of education. Above all, there must be a way for people aware of these realities to step into leadership roles and influence the policy scene today. The competitive future of the U.S., together with the lives of millions of students and recent graduates, are at stake.

For many of us, this means days filled with work, internships, and if we’re lucky, a lake day here and there.

Many Cobbers stay in the area for those fleeting months, enjoying the area’s activities and staying in shape.

Taylor Thompsen, a junior at Concordia, will be residing in Moorhead for the summer, spending her time volunteering and building her resume.

Thompsen, a workout enthusiast, says she looks forward to the warmer weather because it means she can spend more time exercising outdoors.

“I would much rather run outside than on a treadmill,” Thompsen said. “It’s way more distracting.”

For those who, like Thompsen, prefer an outdoor running experience, a list of all of the upcoming races in the area can be found at www.runningintheusa.com.

Not everyone is an avid runner like Thompsen, though.

For those that enjoy more of a team-oriented atmosphere, there are a variety of activities put on by the Fargo Park District throughout the summer months.

There are basketball and volleyball leagues, fencing, kickball, softball and even Frisbee golf.

Junior Kelsey Lofstedt was in a volleyball league last summer through the Fargo Park District.

“It was a lot of fun,” she said. “It was a fun way to get some exercise other than just running or something.”

Lofstedt also said it was a different way to meet people she may have not otherwise met.

“Each league lasts about two months, so you get to know other people pretty well,” she said.

The average cost for activities through the Fargo Park District is about $50 per two-month session, and there’s still time to sign up!

More league and registration information can be found at www.fargoparks.com.

Others spending their summer months in the Fargo/Moorhead area have plans for more intense workouts.

Sophomore Brienna Larson plans to spend her summer days working her way through the p90x program.

Larson said she’s tried completing it before, but with school, she didn’t have the time to commit.

“I’m hoping I’ll have more free time since we won’t be in school to make it through the whole thing,” she said.

Larson said she is excited to see the program’s results and feel a lot stronger and healthier going into next school year.

“I just want to feel confident walking down the sidewalks, you know?” she said.

Whatever your motive, whatever your preference, there is plenty to do right here in Fargo/Moorhead to stay active this summer.

“The group is inclusive and not just meant for secular folks,” senior religion and biology major Kristi Del Vecchio, the group’s publicist, said. “We hope to be a support system, but also (want to talk) about what it means to live a good secular life.”

On April 2, six months after the group’s proposal, executive members received an email from Natalie Rinehart, assistant director of Student Service and Leadership, announcing the committee’s approval.

“We were worried at first,” said sophomore Taylor Tielke, a political science and global studies major, who is the group’s president.

Members of the group had heard rumors saying their proposal had been rejected and others saying their proposal had been accepted, Tielke said. The group wasn’t sure what to believe.

The proposal was submitted in October of last year, only a couple of months after Eboo Patel spoke on campus about the importance of interfaith dialogue and leadership.

Recent graduate Andreas Rekdal, a founding member of the Secular Student Community who graduated in December, thought it was a good decision to submit a proposal following Patel’s speech, Del Vecchio said.

“Eboo had a very powerful message of creating a campus of inclusion,” Del Vecchio said.

The group submitted a proposal because they believed their official recognition would help the campus put Patel’s words into action.

Sue Oatey, vice president and dean of Student Affairs, said the process of approval took longer than usual.

Part of this reason was committees were working to understand the difference between the current proposal and past proposals for a recognized secular club, Oatey said.

A group of students submitted a proposal in 2009 to form a group called Secular Students of Concordia. The proposal was rejected because it didn’t coincide with the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America and College Standards, according to an article posted in The Huffington Post on April 8.

In January 2011, a redrafted constitution was sent in for reapplication. It was rejected.

“Because of history, we wanted to be sure to clarify the differences between the past and present group,” Oatey said. “We wanted to make sure…that there weren’t lingering questions because (people) didn’t understand what the purpose or intent of the (new) group was.”

The Secular Club Community was proposed to create a place of belonging for nonreligious students and to foster dialogue regarding secular values as well as to advocate for seculars’ inclusion in Concordia’s community.

The waiting period before their proposal was accepted was full of “white noise,” Tielke said, because the group wasn’t informed about the direction of the application process.

Communication with the executive members was minimal, Del Vecchio said. The discussion took place predominantly within the faculty and administration.

Now that the group is officially recognized, they have access to Student Activity Fee money and rights to publicize with campus publicity spaces, among other advantages.

“The length of the time it took was both frustrating (and) encouraging, because the institution was taking the time to have this critical conversation about what it means to include nonreligious voices at a Lutheran institution,” Del Vecchio said. “I know it’s not an easy conversation to have.”

Richard Gilmore, professor of philosophy, contributed to the creation of the secular club, as well as Tielke, Del Vecchio, Rekdal, Brittany Widseth, Emma Connell, Evan Marsolek, Riah Roe, Courtney Glasner-White, Jacob Amos and Charlie Tirey.

Additional executive members include Connell, vice-president, and Widseth, secretary and treasurer.

For more information about the club, contact Taylor Tielke.

When we first set out to get the Secular Student Community approved, we did so with the hope that we would be able to remove some of the negative stigma around identifying as a secular and offer a place where anyone could have positive, open dialogue regarding secular identities. Since then we have expanded our goals beyond that. We hope that this group becomes a community that welcomes all students and can offer them a safe place for dialogue they would otherwise be unable to find. Most of all, we aim to fit our group to meet the needs of its members and in turn, act as a resource for them

We look forward to meeting the goals of both of members and the college. The Secular Student Community is excited to have the opportunity to work alongside other organizations through volunteer work both on and off campus in the following years to help construct a stronger campus community built on mutual respect and honest dialogue dedicated to the common good.

If we hadn’t had your support from the beginning, none of what we hope to achieve would be possible. Last semester, this was only something we could dream of. Now that the Secular Student Community is a reality, we hope that we are able to achieve the group’s full potential and pay back our gratitude to the college, and everyone who is a part of it.
From the Secular Student Community, we thank you Concordia.

While I may spend much of my day hopping back and forth between Facebook, Twitter, news outlets, Mashable and a couple of blogs, I want to make it clear that it is a dangerous slope to be that “wired in” to social media.

I use the word dangerous because being that connected and addicted to social media may make you (and me) feel a sort of interconnectedness to the rest of the human internet population, but in reality it’s foolish and unwise to let those online services take over our lives and replace our in-person relationships.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve written several articles about how awesome social media can be in breaking down physical barriers and connecting us with people we wouldn’t connect with otherwise. Different companies or brands have tweeted at me and made me feel like a valued customer. Rich Sommer (former Cobber and current Mad Men star) tweeted me a couple months ago, and it was one of the highlights of my year!

But where social media stops becoming social and turns into a life-sucking, time-sucking, villain (much like Spiderman’s look-alike/bad guy Venom) is when we let our real life, in-person relationships suffer because of it. It’s when we ignore our friends at dinner because a Tweet comes up. It’s when we choose not to make eye contact with anyone walking in the hall and check Facebook instead. It’s definitely when we are Facebook messaging someone and then we see them on campus later and don’t say hello.

It’s detrimental to human relationships and connections when we forget that social media is meant to complement our interactions with one another, not replace them. If we all replace our in-person interactions with social media and texting, what does that say about who we are and what we care about?

I know that I’ve been there before. I’ve made some pretty stupid decisions where I intentionally have a conversation through texting or Facebook chat instead of in person because it’s easier. I bet you have too.

But just because something is easier does that mean we should do it? Don’t we owe it to ourselves to engage with one another? More than just online?

A lot of bad habits are formed when we use social media as a crutch and those bad habits are only strengthened when you intentionally choose the easier path. Sure, today it might be something minor like sending Grandma Florence a text to say happy birthday instead of that phone call that she’d like, but tomorrow you might turn into a cotton-headed ninny muggins like me and decide to break up with someone in a text. Don’t be that Cobber, Concordia.

As always, tweet your thoughts @jtleeman.