News

Student work positions for the cafeteria will be cut back due to excessive hiring this fall.

With the Sodexo transition, there were several changes for the positions of cafeteria workers, and therefore more students were hired. Next year, Dining Services will down-size in order to revert to the original budget.

Luther College’s website is currently undergoing design changes. While no screen shots of the new site are yet available, LIS and the Publication Staff will implement the changes as soon as they feel the model is ready.

According to Executive Director of Communications and Marketing Rob Larson, there are several projected goals for the new website.

Recently, Sodexo posted plans outside Marty’s Cybercafé to remodel Luther’s cafeteria.

The remodelling is an attempt to give the cafeteria a new look to suit the current generation of Luther students and will incorporate some elements of the Oneota Market, according to Vice President and Dean for Student Life Ann Highum.

On April 23, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law SB 1070 Support our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act, creating one of the farthest-reaching immigration laws of any state so far.

With Dr. Craig Arnold leaving, Luther is on the search for a new director of choral activities and has narrowed its selection of candidates down to four. During the past two weeks, the final four candidates have each visited campus, directed Nordic Choir and undergone evaluations by students and faculty.

While the President and the Dean ultimately decide who is hired, the music department is highly involved in the evaluations of the candidates.

Many professors are examining their grading methods as Luther undergoes discussion about grade inflation, following a nationwide trend in addressing this concern. Dean Craft created a grade inflation study group in January to collect data and examine grading.

Luther College faculty and students are seeking community input to revise the land stewardship plan. Together they will decide whether approximately 1,000 acres of Luther-owned land should be developed or utilized by the college.

Currently Luther’s proposed land stewardship plan is drafted and open to community input before finalization at the Regents meeting in September.

Brandt Hall Sustainability Council, along with Scott Barnes, Luther College plumber, installed 75 low-flow shower heads this year in five residence halls.

BHSC member Adam Voss (‘13) did some testing and found that the original shower heads release approximately 2.5-2.7 gallons of water per minute.

“We can greatly reduce the amount of water we use campus-wide just by using more modern low-flow shower heads,” Voss said.

After a three-year pilot program, the first-year advising program was changed this past May to better accommodate the needs of new students arriving to Luther.

Participants in this year’s hunger banquet, sponsored by Luther’s chapter of ONE, were met with a different scenario than in previous years.

In the past, each person was given a colored slip of paper that determined where they would sit. A lucky few were served a three-course meal on linen-covered table, some sat at a table with a bowl of rice and beans, but most were exiled to the floor with a small bowl of rice and no silverware to symbolize how many people are underfed across the globe.

A new animal welfare group is emerging on campus. The five members of Animal Allies has been recognized as an official organization consisting at Luther.

Leader Lindsey Johnson (‘13) explained that visiting Assistant Professor of Religion Scott Hurley encouraged her to start the group after she took his J-term class Religion, Ethics and Animal Welfare.

“I have an activist background, so he asked if I’d lead it,” Johnson said.

Paideia II has recently drawn much attention from faculty and students alike, who are asking whether Paideia II really contains elements that relate back to Paideia I. This question has compelled Luther faculty to review the program and address course questions from students.

Although both Sodexo and Food Council report positive relations between the two organizations, the recent removal of council member Ben Weiss (‘10) has raised questions as to how Food Council handles student dissatisfaction with their current food provider.

Food Council is comprised of 10 students and two dining services members and aims to address students’ food concerns.

A theological dispute has turned into a breaking point for many churches in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. ELCA churches around the country are distressed after the August 2009 ELCA Churchwide Assembly, where a number of controversial resolutions on human sexuality and homosexuals in ministry were passed.

In an effort to make college government more efficient several proposals are currently under review. Two such proposals may do away with the College Council and the Community Assembly.