see MAINTENANCE page 4

see AMENDMENT page 3

HAMLINE UNIVERSITY | ST. PAUL, MN | 9.18.12 | VOL. 130 | NO. 3 | HAMLINEORACLE.COM

CYCLING

PHOTO | ANDREW MAAS ORACLEBicycle Bob’s owner Bob Jones fixed the wheel of a bike during Safety and Security’s bi-annual free bike maintenance and safety clinic last Tuesday.

ACTIVISM

Administration urged to take a stanceAdvocacy e!orts aim to foster discussion and express support to oppose the proposed marriage amendment.

Kendra Boyle Hoban kboylehoban@hamlineoracle.com

A concerned group of Hamline commu-nity members have been actively urging Hamline administrators to take a stand against the state amendment that would place a ban on gay marriage in Minnesota’s constitution.

Kristin Mapel Bloomberg (‘90), chair of the women’s studies department, is one of the faculty members and alumni at the forefront of these efforts. Mapel Bloom-berg believes taking a public stand against the amendment would be in line with both Hamline’s social justice-driven values and its mission.

“As a Hamline alum and faculty member, I believe that we need to do all the good that we can by standing up and letting the world know that we as a community value all of our community members, and we are seri-ous when we talk about our vision and our

mission,” she said.On Nov. 6, voters will have the opportu-

nity to either support the marriage amend-ment by voting “yes” or oppose it by voting “no.” If the amendment were voted down, gay marriage would still be illegal, as there is already a state statute in place that pro-hibits the marriage of same sex couples in Minnesota. However, if the ban is passed and added to the constitution, legalizing gay marriage in the future would very difficult due to the complex process involved in repealing constitutional amendments.

On Aug. 22, the president of Augsburg College, Paul Pribbenow, announced that Augsburg opposes the constitutional ban on gay marriage, making it the first and only traditional university in the state to publicly do so. The faculties of Macalester College and St. Olaf College also recently voted to stand against the marriage amendment, but the respective schools are not planning on publicly announcing an institutional posi-tion. Many Hamline students, faculty, staff and alumni hope that Hamline will be the next school to take an open stand against the amendment.

Social media has been one of the primary ways members of the Hamline community have publicly voiced their desire for Ham-

line to denounce the marriage amendment.On Aug. 30, sociology professor and

Hamline law school alumna Melissa Emb-ser-Herbert created a page on Facebook called “Hamline Supports the Freedom to Marry” in order to mobilize interest in the cause. Mapel Bloomberg is a co-administra-tor on the page.

As of Sunday, 2,729 people had been added to the group. On the page’s wall, Hamline students, faculty, staff and alumni have posted messages that implore Hamline to oppose the marriage amendment. Many individuals on the page also encourage Hamline community members to voice their opinion by writing a letter to President Hanson, the provost, the dean of students, or the dean of development and alumni relations. Some have shared their own per-sonal letters on the page for public viewing.

The page also hosts a link to a virtual petition started by alumnus Dana Harper (‘11). The petition states that its signers “urge President Linda Hanson, as our repre-sentative, to publicly oppose the marriage amendment.” As of Sunday night, the peti-tion had 518 signatures.

Mapel Bloomberg and Embser-Herbert also believe that Hamline should publicly oppose the marriage amendment due to

Hamline’s affiliation with the United Meth-odist Church.

According to Nancy Victorin-Vangerud, the director of the Wesley Center and a clergy member of the United Methodist Church, the Minnesota Annual Conference of United Methodist Churches recently voted on whether or not to publicly stand against the state marriage amendment. The motion passed with 70 percent of the clergy members and delegates at the conference voting to say “no” to the amendment.

Victorin-Vangerud was among the clergy members who voted in favor of taking a theological stand against the amendment.

“I think that regardless of what the con-ference did, there is enough in our church-related legacy, mission and values to take a stand as an institution that we support saying, ‘no,’” she said.

According to Victorin-Vangerud, on Aug. 10, Steph Wilenchek, the Hedgeman Center’s assistant director of Gender and Sexual Orientation Initiatives, assembled a group of staff and faculty in order to discuss Hamline’s role in opposing the marriage amendment.

see VOICES page 5

LOCAL LEGENDWalking tour explores author F. Scott Fitzgerald’s historic St. Paul.

INCIDENT LOGEDITORIAL & PRODUCTIONEditor in ChiefPreston Dhols-Graf

Managing EditorHannah Porter

Senior News EditorExecutive Staff

Associate News EditorKendra Boyle Hoban

Local EditorLaura Kaiser

Opinion EditorSteven Rotchadl

Arts & Entertainment EditorMegan Bender

Sports EditorJosh Epstein

Voices EditorLaura Kaiser

Copy ChiefJackie Bussjaeger

Copy EditorJake Barnard

ReportersSarah Erdman, Jena Felsheim, Maria Herd, Gabrielle Landsverk, Brianna Mason, Daniel Schauer

ColumnistsJake Barnard, Danielle Jagelski, Steve Merino

PhotographersMarisa Gonzalez, Andrew Maas

Web EditorSam Reimann Adviser Professor David Hudson

POLICIESThe Oracle has been published by Ham-line students since 1888. The paper is funded through a student fee levied by the university’s Student Media Board. We are a public forum. The opinions expressed within are not necessarily those of the student body, faculty or staff. We do not discriminate in employment.

Our mission

To cover news, trends, events and enter-tainment relevant to Hamline under-graduate students. We strive to make our coverage accurately reflect the diverse communities that comprise the student population.

Corrections

The Oracle welcomes corrections of quo-tational and factual errors. Please send such commentary to: editor@hamlineoracle.com and place “Correction” in the subject line.

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2 News The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

Safety and Security crime prevention tip

! Never leave doors propped open. Close doors if you find them propped open, especially in residence halls.

! Ignore and walk away from panhandlers or tell them that you will call the police.

! Avoid walking alone at night. Call Safety & Security for an escort at x2100 instead of walking alone.

Sept. 7, 12:30 p.m. Lost WalletSafety and Security received a call from a student who left her wallet in the Bush Center. O!cers were able to retrieve the wallet with all of the contents intact. The property was returned to the owner.

Sept. 8, 2:15 a.m. Noise ComplaintA resident advisor placed a noise complaint with Safety and Security about a room on the second floor of Manor. When o!cers responded to the scene, they found the room empty with a radio playing. O!cers turned o" the music.

Sept. 8, 9:03 a.m. Possible Break-inA caller informed o!cers of a possible car break-in attempt on Englewood Avenue near Sorin Hall. When they arrived at the scene, O!cers found that a student had locked himself out of his car. They assisted the student with a car door unlock.

Sept. 10, 6:32 a.m. Medical EmergencyA Hamline coach called Security to request assistance with a student who severely injured his finger in Walker Fieldhouse. An ambulance was called, but a Security o!cer drove the student to Regions Hospital.

Sept. 10, 1:08 p.m. Medical Assistance Security o!cers responded to a report that a student had fainted in class in Drew Fine Arts. The student was not transported to the hospital.

Sept. 12, 2:49 p.m.Stolen BikeA student informed Safety & Security that his bike was stolen from the bike racks outside of Klas Center. The student stated that he did not lock the bike. Dispatchers reviewed camera footage of the area and an o!cer took a report.

ADMISSIONS

The class of 2016For the second year in a row, Hamline has seen the largest incoming class in its 158 year history. Along with an increase in the size of the student body, the demographics continue to diversify. Here’s the class of 2016 by the numbers:

CorrectionIn the Sept. 11 issue of The Oracle, it was reported that the diversity meeting with Provost Eric Jensen happened as a result of the anonymous letter distributed on campus. The meeting was actually scheduled prior to the distribution. Also, Professor Veena Deo will not be facilitating diversity initiatives bi-weekly but rather will have o!ce hours for Multicultural and Diversity Initiatives twice a week. The Oracle regrets the errors.

165 are transfers23 are using veterans’ benefits

99% receive financial aid

30% are athletes

Total First-Years: 54223.4 % were in the top 10% of their high school class

47% were in the top 25%

27% self-identify as students of color

In state: 78.7%Out of state: 21.3% 25 states represented

36.7% are male63.3% are female

1% are international students

News 3The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

“A group of us were brought together by Steph Wilenchek to meet with JacQui Getty that included Kristin Mapel Bloomberg, Carlos Sneed, Alan Sickbert, and myself. The group of us came together to formulate questions that were sent to Kathy Wassberg [vice president for human resources and general counsel] and Jeff Rich [vice presi-dent of marketing and enrollment manage-ment].”

Wilenchek said Getty, Hamline’s strategic communications director, was present to collect their questions and forward them to the administration.

According to Carlos Sneed, director of the Hedgeman Center, the group is getting the message from the administration that the faculty and staff should be engaged citi-zens and state their beliefs, but their respec-tive offices don’t have the right to speak for the university.

Sneed said one of his concerns going into the meeting was that he didn’t want the Hamline community to ignore the issues surrounding the marriage amendment.

“I didn’t want people to look the other way and I am happy we aren’t,” Sneed said. “One of my concerns was that the discom-fort would be so high that we wouldn’t talk at all about it. This was in the summer, so it was hard for us to gauge the student involvement and the student interest, but now we can see that there is a visible number of students that are interested, curi-

ous, and demanding opportunities to talk and reflect.”

Students groups such as MPIRG and Col-lege Democrats have been vocal supporters of defeating the marriage amendment.

Junior Ben Surma, chair of Hamline’s MPIRG chapter, said his group has been actively working to defeat the marriage amend-ment since last spring.

“We started last year and had two very successful events called ‘Speak Out.’ It was basi-cally an open mic event where we allowed anyone to come and speak about marriage or the amendment, or any way it will affect them,” Surma said.

He also said they are hoping to do another “Speak Out” before the election and that they have been handing out pledge cards around campus. They hope students will sign the cards to show their support for voting “no” on both the marriage and voter ID amend-ments.

College Democrats will also be hosting a non-partisan event called “Hamline Community United for All Families” on Sunday, Sept. 23 at 7 p.m. in Klas Ballroom in order to facilitate more dialogue regarding the amendment.

Other students are also taking an active role in urging Hamline to announce its institutional opposition to the amend-ment. Sophomore Josh Wood said that he and others who were part of the recent diversity awareness discussion on campus

are in process of collaborating with multiple organizations and brainstorming ways to get more involved in the marriage amendment cause.

“I think that the goal is to try and find a way to push public dialogue on this issue as a first step. From public dialogue we can move forward and hope-fully get Hamline to publicly make a statement,” Wood said.

He said they were encour-aged by the response they received from the dialogue that was sparked when he and other students gathered in front of Old Main to publicly discuss diversity awareness and are considering holding a rally in the near future.

“As we know from sitting out on the lawn, Hamline doesn’t really like public displays of

dissent, and that’s one way we might be able to force a conversation,” Wood said. “So there might be a public rally or something.”

However, some students are conflicted

on whether or not it is in the university’s best interest to take a stand.

“Personally, I would like to see the school take a stand against the marriage amend-ment, but I don’t know, I guess I can also understand if they didn’t, because that wouldn’t be representative of the opinion of all the students at this school,” sophomore Mariah Cannon said.

In last week’s SpeakOut section of The Oracle, several students also said they felt the university should not take a stand on the issue in the interest of neutrality.

However, sophomore Rachael Barnes thinks if the majority of the students want the marriage amendment to be defeated then Hamline should also stand against it.

Mapel Bloomberg believes a majority of the Hamline community feels that marriage is a human right that should be able to be accessed by everyone.

“The President needs to know that, in my opinion, that is the majority will of the people here. We act as honoring the person-hood of all and we act in ways that encour-age the interaction across different kinds of diverse lives,” she said. “She needs to under-stand that we are serious about that and we want her to be serious about that.”

President Hanson and Eric Jensen, the provost, could not be reached for comment.

(continued from front)

AMENDMENT: “We can … hopefully get Hamline to publicly make a statement.”

“We can see there is a visible number of students that are interested, curious, and demanding opportunites to talk and reflect.”Carlos Sneed

Director of the Hedgeman Center

Hamline introduces new multidisciplinary major progams in health sciences and digital media arts, featuring brand new courses and professors.

Brianna Mason bmason@hamlineoracle.com

While incoming first-years were the first to enjoy the new Anderson Center, that wasn’t the only experience unique to the class of 2016. They are also the first class to be able to declare health sciences, co-chaired by Sharon Preves and Presley Martin, or digital media arts, chaired by Bill Wallace, as their major.

While those majors may seem worlds apart they both share an interdisciplinary focus. There are several different departments involved in the digital media arts program while the biology department and the anthropology department are collaborating on the health sciences pro-gram.

According to Preves, the health sciences program recently hired Professor Lisa Furgeson Stegall to teach core courses.

“We hired Lisa Stegall this year and she is teaching public health and global health. Those courses are brand new,” Preves said.

Both Preves and Martin said there was a high level of student interest as well as a number of students who had already declared health sci-ences as their major.

“Something Professor Stegall did her first day of courses […] was an info survey to see ‘what are people interested in,’ ‘what year are you,’ ‘are you interested in majoring’ and a considerable number of students in both classes were sopho-mores and juniors and looking at majoring in health sciences,” Preves said.

All three of the faculty agreed that the name health sciences doesn’t accurately describe the program. Martin said students saw the name health sciences and assumed that it was a pre-med program.

“That was something that we’re looking to make sure is more clear and I think that in natu-ral sciences they’re probably encountering that with students more because they do the pre-health advising. It’s people who are interested in the applied health profession like medical school, nursing, dentistry [...] whereas health sciences is more akin to public health in terms of looking at [...] some of the broad issues,” Preves said.

Both Martin and Stegall agreed that a major in health sciences would not only benefit stu-dents hoping for careers in public health but also students focusing on medicine. As part of its multidisciplinary nature the program features two separate tracks, a natural science track that focuses on the biology of disease, and a social science track that focuses on people within public health.

As the chair of the sociology department, Preves focuses on the social science track. She said that students who choose this track will be able to choose from a variety of careers.

“Someone [in] the social sciences could do something with health care administration, […] they could work maybe in a social work field within a hospital setting or a hospice setting working with families,” Preves said. “Whether they are working in an insurance company a clinic or something else they really are going to have a lot to bring in terms of everything from human resource issues to more more helping family social work issues.”

The digital media arts program also hired a new professor last year to teach most of the digi-tal media classes.

According to Professor Aaron McKain, who is currently teaching “Digital Media Theory,” Professor David Ryan is teaching two introduc-tory level classes this semester, “Introduction to Digital Media Arts” and “Introduction to Digital Audio.”

“Right now I know [Ryan is] offering a digital media production class. And I’m offering the critical digital media class through the English department,” McKain said. “It’s actually been nice that we’ve had some students taking both at the same time.”

The program has already attracted a number of students, from first-years to upperclass-men and some have already declared it as their major.

“I know we had a number of students who expressed an interest or even declared that as a major coming in right off the bat,” McKain said.“I was pleased that in the critical digital media class [...] we’re full at this point or right by it and I know [Ryan] had no problem filling up the classes right away.”

Classes within the digital media arts program are taught by faculty within the English depart-ment and the art department, as well as Profes-sor Ryan. While Ryan teaches the core digital media classes other departments offer elective classes.

“I know the English department is commit-ted to offering these classes in digital media theory and I know Professor Hudson is offering a class in sort of online journalism and even some coding and web design stuff right now so the English department is totally on board with this,” McKain said.

Both Preves and McKain said that there were plans to hire new professors within their respec-tive majors. However, according to Preves, new hires would be contingent upon continued stu-dent interest.

“Since I was on the search committee for Pro-fessor Ryan, I know that the plan was, within a couple years, to make another hire in that field.” McKain said.

Preves reflected McKain’s enthusiam about continuing to expand both of the new programs with additional faculty.

“In our planning we had hoped to be able to, depending on the student interest, have another professor come in who’s hired within health sciences. Sort of a second to Professor Stegall since she’s the first full hire and maybe that can happen in a couple of years depending on bud-getary issues, depending on student interest, but things look encouraging, at least from the student enrollment perspective.” Preves said.

“Health sciences is more akin to public health in terms of looking at … some of the broad issues.”Sharon Preves

Sociology Department Chair

“We had a number of students who expressed an interest or even declared [digital media arts] as a major coming in right off the bat.”Aaron McKain

English Professor

New year offers new majorsACADEMICS

The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 20124 News

HAMLINE EVENTS

TUESDAY, SEPT. 18Delta Tau Sorority’s Cookies n Moo JuiceGLC Lobby11:20 a.m. - 12:50 p.m.

School of Education Info Ses-sionKay Fredericks Room5:30 - 7 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 19Delta Tau Sorority’s Game NightBush Library Patio4 - 6 p.m.

2012 Welcome Back Veterans and Military Student BBQAnderson Center Terrace4 - 6 p.m.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 20 Freshman 15: Eating Healthy at CollegeANDC 11111:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

The Constitution and U.S. Politics TodayEast Hall 10611:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

LGBTQIA Welcome ReceptionAnderson Center, Commons B3:30 - 5 p.m.

Delta Tau Sorority’s BonfireDelta Tau House 8 - 10 p.m.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 21No events scheduled.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 22Piper Athletic Association An-nual Meeting and ReceptionKay Fredericks Room5 - 7 p.m.

Lyra Baroque presents Japp ter Linden conducting “From Bach to Mozart”Sundin Music Hall8 - 10 p.m.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 23Duo-pianists Stella Sick and Marianne Bryan present an-nual concertSundin Music Hall3 - 5 p.m.

MONDAY, SEPT. 24No events scheduled.

To have your event featured in the events box, e-mail us at editor@hamlineoracle.com

STAFF PICK EVENTCheck out the World Fest: Food Bazaar in the Bush Center Ball-room on Monday, Sept. 24 from 4 - 6 p.m. to sample a variety of dishes from all over the world, prepared by Hamline’s interna-tional students, study abroad alums and various student orgs.

O"ce of Safety and Security collaborates with Bicycle Bob’s bike shop to o!er cycling safety and maintenance clinic for students and faculty.

Daniel Schauer dschauer@hamlineoracle.com

Broken brake and shifter cables, bent rims, flat tires and bad seats all passed through the hands of Safety and Security Officers Robert Coder and T.J. Fetrow and bike shop owner Bob Jones on Tuesday, Sept. 11.

The three men tuned, polished and fixed 58 bikes for students and faculty on the Bush Memorial Library patio during their second bi-annual free bike maintenance clinic.

According to Director of Safety and Security Jim Schumann, the Office of Safety and Security worked in collaboration with Jones, who owns a bike shop in Prescott, Wisc. called Bicycle Bob’s, in order to help with the event. The idea to hold a bike clinic came about during student appre-ciation week last spring when Safety and Security wanted to give back to the students.

“Last spring we were looking at student appreciation week and what we were going to do and we decided we’d put on a bike clinic. We have bike officers that are trained to use the bikes but also to work on the bikes and have a bunch of equipment for working on bikes,” Schumann said.

Safety and Security currently employs four officers that have gone through bike officer training, which is an intense course that, according to Coder, is similar to squad car training in that they teach you to ride bikes defensively. Coder said Hamline bike officers were added about two years ago and Fetrow said that bike officers are extremely useful in a setting like Hamline’s.

“Response time is a big thing with the bikes. If you’re anywhere on campus you can get anywhere on campus in close to probably 40 sec-onds on the long side on a bike. And visibility, students walking around, staff walking around, they want to feel safe.” Fetrow said. “Big bright yellow shirts and bikes always going around, they see that.”

Safety and Security plans to hold a spring and fall clinic each year. Coder said the spring checkup last year was perfect because students were just getting back on their bikes after a long winter without them.

“One of the main reasons we did the first clinic in the spring was people haven’t ridden their bike all winter. You want to check it up right away and make sure everything is good. That’s when you do a more in-depth check, and every time you get on check the little stuff and make sure your tires are good,” Coder said. “You only got two tires instead of four on a car so it’s that much more important that they are both good.”

Coder and Fetrow recommended that bikers check their bikes every time they ride and do two to three more in-depth checks throughout the year. They said that checking for tire pressure and punctures as well as keeping your chain maintained are some of the more important things to look for during checkups, but that riders should also address prob-

lems as they come up.“A bike is just like a car. You start turning your steering wheel, you

feel a little groan, same with a bike. You pedal, you feel something in the drive system, you turn, you feel something in the head. You know when something is wrong and that’s when you should [fix it],” Fetrow said.

The officers also stressed safety to students riding bikes. They said bikes follow the same rules as cars and should follow all traffic laws just as a car would. The officers said to always have a helmet, taillight and headlight and use a U-Lock, rather than a chain, to lock up your bike even when running a quick errand. However, they also said the most important part of riding a bike is to assume and recognize that no one notices bikers and to act accordingly.

“Just like a motorcycle you assume nobody sees you, and you always watch everybody,” Fetrow said.

Schumann said the bike clinic was one of their most successful events and they had to stop accepting bikes because there were already working on so many. Both Coder and Fetrow said they enjoyed working on the bikes and they think it is a great thing for students because it offers them a free service for something that could cost $50 or more.

“We want to be able to interact with the students and have them get along with us and know that we’re here to help them out,” Coder said.

Repair clinic puts a fresh spin on old bikesMAINTENANCE

PHOTO | ANDREW MAAS, ORACLEBob Jones of Bicycle Bob’s in Prescott, Wics. works on a bike wheel during Safety and Security’s bike maintenance and safety clinic held on the Bush Library Patio.

Hamline’s chapter of Theta Chi wins national award and sets new goals for the coming year.

Maria Herd mherd@hamlineoracle.com

Theta Chi, Hamline’s only fraternity, recently received the annual Alter Award for Chapter Excellence, awarded to the top five percent of Theta Chi’s 133 chapters.

Senior and Theta Chi President Coleton Hanson traveled to Palm Springs, Calif. with Theta Chi alumni to receive the Alter Award for Chapter Excellence at the Theta Chi National Convention in July. The convention takes place once every two years.

The award is based on a variety of aspects including philanthropy, G.P.A of the members and campus involvement.

Hanson believes Hamline’s Theta Chi chap-ter stood out because they are one of only two dry Theta Chi houses.

“We don’t get to use alcohol as a crutch to plan our events,” Hanson said. “We have to be creative.”

Grayson Gessner, junior and marshall of

Theta Chi, believes they also stood out because of their exceptional recruitment rate.

“We recruit 25 percent or more students than we currently have every year,” he said.

There are currently 33 undergraduate mem-bers of Theta Chi.

Another difference between Hamline’s Theta Chi chapter and others is that they don’t rush, which is the process most fraternities and sororities utilize to recruit new members.

“We go out into the community and get to know people socially. We look for natural leaders,” Hanson said. “We also have fantastic alumni relations.”

Theta Chi’s most recent event, “Down in the Basement,” was a benefit concert for Relay for Life.

“Relay for Life is our main philanthropic event,” Hanson said.

The concert, which took place last Friday, consisted of three acoustic acts, one hip-hop group and three bands including a faculty and staff band. Through accepting $2 to $4 dona-tions at the door, Theta Chi raised $175 for Relay For Life.

“Our next big push is to increase our overall G.P.A.,” Hanson said.

Theta Chi currently has an overall G.P.A. of

3.2, but their goal is to raise it to 3.35. Hanson is working with the Dean of Students Office to help reach that goal.

GREEK LIFE

Fraternity places top in the nation

PHOTO | Courtesy of Coleton HansonTheta Chi President Coleton Hanson accepts the annual Alter Award for Chapter Excellence at the Theta Chi National Convention in Palm Springs, Calif. this July.

Voices 5

The building is old and brown and the cocoon of trees that line the nearby sidewalk blanket it in partial shadow. The archaic design that would other-wise be remarkable is plain among a street of late 19th and early 20th century houses. There is no domineering fence, there are no vigilant security guards and there isn’t a gaggle of people crowding around the street: the only indica-tion that the building is anything but ordinary is a small sign planted in the garden.

If someone passing by paused to read the sign, they would learn that this was once the home of Mollie and Edward Fitzgerald and that this was the house where their son, Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (better known as F. Scott Fitzgerald), finished his first novel. He’d pen it as “This Side of Paradise” and it would skyrocket him to a level of liter-ary prominence that would extend well beyond his death.

This brownstone building is one of the many stops on the F. Scott Fitzgerald walking tour taking place this year. On Sept. 22 and 23, the James J. Hill House will be leading walks around the St. Paul neighborhood where Fitzgerald spent many years of his life. Ann Melhus and Nancy Tracy of the Hill House will guide the tours. This is the third year that the tours have taken place. Although suc-cessful in the past, the new resurgence of interest in Fitzgerald thanks to the upcoming “The Great Gatsby” film will likely draw in a new crowd this year.

“He is a native son that people can brag about,” Melhus said when asked about Fitzgerald’s continuing popularity in St. Paul.

Indeed, it’s hard to escape Fitzger-ald’s legacy in St. Paul. Several of the places that were significant in his life bear plaques commemorating him. There are also several statues of him scattered around the city, and the famous Fitzgerald Theater bears his namesake.

It is commonly believed that Fitzger-ald’s own experiences in St. Paul were the foundation for many of his works.

“He basically is the protagonist of his own stories,” Melhus said.

The characters are lifted from people he knew while growing up, the settings are reminiscent of St. Paul, and many of his characters live in or come from the Midwest.

“At times he puts down St. Paul but at other times he’s nostalgic about it so there’s kind of a mixed feeling there too,” Tracy said.

Melhus agreed, adding “He has a real love/hate relationship with it.”

Fitzgerald was born in 1896 to an upper middle class family in St. Paul. His mother was determined that Fitzgerald and his sister become mem-bers of the upper class, and actively encouraged her children to be seen in society and to pursue relationships with their wealthier neigh-bors. Fitzgerald spent his childhood in New York until his family returned to Minnesota in 1908. He cultivated his interest in writing but was a poor student and constantly struggled in school. He attended Princ-eton before dropping out in 1917 to join the army and fight in World War I. After he returned home, he met Zelda Sayre at a country club and persuaded her to marry him after the successful publication of his first novel, “This Side of Paradise.” Together the couple had one daughter. Fitzgerald struggled con-stantly with alcoholism and financial troubles. Zelda suffered from schizo-phrenia and was eventually hospital-ized. He published only four novels in his lifetime (his fifth novel, “The Love of the Last Tycoon”, was published after his death) but he was a prolific writer of short stories. He died of a heart attack in 1940 at the age of 44.

“He lived a very hard life,” Melhus said.

Fitzgerald’s writings reflect his life-long desire to be a member of the upper class. The main characters in his stories are usually on the fringes of wealth and, as Fitzgerald did, join the world of the upper class.

“The impact that St. Paul had on

him is his feeling of being on the out-side looking in,” Melhus said. “So that’s his writing — someone looking in with their face pressed against the window at the party inside this room and that’s Nick Carraway watching Gatsby having parties across the bay.”

It is this class struggle that makes his works particularly poignant today. With the recent Occupy Wall Street movement and its slogan that has since become famous — “We are the 99%” — Fitzgerald’s examination of the extrava-gant lifestyles of the very rich seem to mirror society’s current criticisms of wealth. A new film adaptation of “The Great Gatsby” is slated for summer 2013 and is hot on the heels of the worst recession the U.S. has faced since the Great Depression. It’s almost impos-sible to ignore the parallels between

the time when Fitzgerald’s works were written and the current socioeconomic situation.

However, while Fitzger-ald’s writings are critical of the wealthy, they also offer a tantalizing glimpse into the decadence that the 1920s allowed the upper class. Fitzgerald’s

works were groundbreaking in their unabashed description of that lifestyle. His characters inhabit a world of flip-pancy and loose morals splayed against a backdrop of selfishness and base desires.

“I actually got to sit in on a couple of meetings for the Fitzgerald centen-nial with Garrison Keillor and in one of them he said something like, ‘Scott wrote about all those things our parents warned us about.’ Drinking and party-ing and dancing and staying out too late. So he wrote about all those entic-ing things that we’re warned about as children and as teenagers as things to say away from. So that’s kind of what his appeal is,” Melhus said.

Regardless of exactly why Fitzgerald’s works are still popular, he undeniably remains a cultural staple of St. Paul. From the grand Commodore Hotel where he and Zelda spent hours drink-ing and socializing to the brownstone building on Summit Avenue where he completed his first novel, Fitzgerald’s presence lingers in the city.

The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

The great FitzgeraldThe F. Scott Fitzgerald walking tour highlights the places in St. Paul where the famous author lived and socialized.

Jena Felsheim jfelshelm@hamlineoracle.com

LOCAL HISTORY

PHOTOS | MARISA GONZALEZ, ORACLE

“He is a native son that people can brag about.”Ann Melhus

Tour Guide

Top Left: 593/599 Summit Ave., St. Paul, where Fitzgerald wrote the final version of his first novel “This Side of Paradise.”Top Right: A plaque outside of 593/599 Summit Ave. Middle Right: Fitzgerald’s birthplace, 481 Laurel Ave., St. Paul. Bottom Right: The Commodore Hotel, where Fitzgerald and his wife Zelda lived when their daughter Scottie was born in 1921.

TOUR INFOSept. 22 and 23

1 p.m. and 3 p.m.RESERVATIONS AND PRE-PAYMENT REQUIRED

$12 adults, $10 seniors and college students, $8 ages 6-17 $2 discount for MNHS members

website: http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/jjhh/

6 A&E The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

in the midst of romance in the 21st century dangerous vampires continue to seduce their way to the top of the bestsellers lists. Although the vampires in these novels remain relentlessly fearsome in the name of love, the English scholars at Hamline present a new twist in the plot to further arouse trepidation in readers. Along with the thought-provoking student-professor scholarship of alum Mikayla Zagoria-Moffit and senior Thressa Johnson, Professor Kris Deffenbacher seeks to expose the role of the heroines with a breaking dawn of criticism. “I am always interested in adaptations of ‘Jane Eyre’ so when ‘50 Shades of Grey’ came out, as a feminist and cultural critic, I noticed in some of the reviews as being not just a fanfiction of ‘Twilight’ but as a reworking of ‘Jane Eyre’,” Deffenbacher said. “I felt like as a Victorian scholar and as a feminist scholar of pop culture, I needed to read it. I am always interested in why women are reading what they are reading.” As women continue to immerse themselves in the culture of paranormal fantasy fiction, it was a concern of Deffenbacher’s to address the comparisons between the heroines of the distant first and third waves of the feminist movements. The first wave of feminism began in 1848 and the focus of the suffragists centered around the right to vote, ending in 1920 in the United States. Presently, the United States is experiencing third wave feminism, which in itself is compromising between the first and second wave in which sexual liberation and reproductive rights were the focus of women’s rights activists. “Of course as a feminist I don’t dismiss romance out of hand, but what worried me particularly about these texts was not just that these heroines aren’t the best role models in the world … they are set up by their authors to be heroines and roles models; particularly in moments in ‘50 Shades of Grey’ where the author compares her heroine to 19th century

heroines and even says she’s stronger, not as afraid, and as liberated,” Deffenbacher said. Although contemporary heroines may be placed on a pedestal above 19th century heroines, Deffenbacher argues that it is a misguided belief posed to cover up the tracks of former novels modeled by first and second wave feminist heroines. “The women who seem to be set up as these third wave feminist heroines really aren’t feminist. They just borrow the trappings and the easiest way to do that is to use this shorthand of comparing heroines to, particularly, Elizabeth Bennet and Jane Eyre, who are so incredibly popular and even if people haven’t read the books they know these figures. They are the archetypes of pretty much every romantic comedy,” Deffenbacher said. Borrowing the framework of early feminist literature and utilizing rhetoric to rework the characters of Elizabeth Bennet has troubled Deffenbacher, even to the point in which the heroines’ physical mannerisms (both heroines in “Twilight” and “50 Shades of Grey” are described as “clumsy”) prove to be the crux of this misguided representation. “[Meyers and James] are using all the language of choice and liberation but they are in fact sacrificing themselves and not independent and not able to stand on their own two feet, I mean literally,” Deffenbacher said. Johnson further elaborated on her experience two years ago in Deffenbacher’s J-term class on women in literature. “People kept bringing up ‘Twilight’, and it was interesting that instead of while people are reading ‘Twilight’ they are comparing it to the classics, but instead

it is the other way around, so while you are reading these classics that were there years before “Twilight” was even in Stephanie Meyers’ womb,” Johnson said. “There was a lot to be learned by looking at it in juxtaposition.” Zagoria-Moffit worked alongside Deffenbacher to produce an article illustrating that exact juxtaposition of interplay between texts that was published by Palgrave Macmillan in a book called “Bringing Light to Twilight: Perspectives on a Popular Culture Phenomenon in 2011”. “I think that inter-textual readings between contemporary novels that engage with questions of women and romance and the ‘classics’ like Austen or Bronte are not only valid, they’re very important,” Zagoria-Moffit wrote in an e-mail. “The ideas and deeper understandings generated by reading texts like these side by side really give you a different perspective on both contemporary and ‘classic’ novels, especially when it comes to observing the roles of women and romance in the narratives.” As the texts continue to overlap and confuse the role of a strong liberated heroine, Deffenbacher urged readers of contemporary fiction to “look elsewhere” in her article, “Lesser Shades of Jane.” Zagoria-Moffit offered her own solution that may provide readers with the choice to search for heroines with a promising stride of their own. “If someone is looking for empowering heroines in contemporary literature that would depend a lot on what you enjoy reading. If you’re interested in teen fantasy fiction novels, Kristin Cashore and Amelia Atwater-Rhodes are two of my favorite authors,” Zagoria-Moffit wrote. “I’ve also recently been reading George R.R. Martin’s

‘A Song of Fire’ and ‘Ice’ series, which is more straightforward fantasy for adult readers ... he has

a lot of very interesting and compelling female characters who can be read as incredibly

empowering.” To read more of Deffenbacher’s

analysis, check out her article “Lesser Shades of Jane at http://

www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/159709-lesser-shades-

of-jane/.

50 steps backwards for literary heroinesStephanie Meyers’ “Twilight” series and “50 Shades of Grey” by E.L. James have Hamline English scholars critiquing the roles of women in contemporary literature.

CULTURAL CRITIQUE

Megan Bender mbender@hamlineoracle.com

“[Meyers and James] are using all the language of choice and liberation but they are in fact sacraficing themselves and not independent and not able to stand on their own two feet, I mean literally.”

Kris Deffenbacher

English Professor

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION | LAUREN THRON, ORACLE

A&E 7The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMER 18, 2012

Additional Info.

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The new season of Hamline poetry slam will begin this year with an old favorite: alumnus Lewis Mundt (‘12) returns not as a student, but as the new Poetry Slam coordinator. Previ-ously a member of Hamline’s student organization Hamline University Poetry Slam (HUPS), Mundt is now affiliated with the Creative Writing Programs. He explained that while he receives a stipend through the Creative Writing Programs, he is not an official Hamline staff member or employee: his work is part time and not confined to a regular schedule. “I will be essentially doing what I’ve done for the organi-zation in the past two years,” Mundt said, adding that a lack of student responsibilities, like classes and homework, will give him more time to focus on HUPS. According to Mundt, this includes adding more program-ming and events to HUPS’ schedule. “I’d like to start bringing workshops to campus ... to make it not only competition

and performance based, but craft, creativity and community based,” Mundt said. He specified that a workshop on how to run a poetry slam could be featured in the near future. As poetry coordinator, Mundt also plans to improve the struc-ture of the organization, but emphasized that he in no way considers himself to be the sole authority of the club. “I’ve never thought about HUPS as being a thing that I run alone,” Mundt said. “I think of it as a very community-based, university-supported and com-munity-supported space and I’m eternally grateful for that.” Mundt said two previous HUPS members of the nation-als team will be returning this year, senior Thressa Johnson and junior Kevin Yang. However, he was reluctant to attribute too much power to any single member of the club, preferring a community-based model of organization. “Everybody who comes out to perform has a leadership role,” Mundt said. This year, however, Mundt plans to introduce slightly more formality into the club in the form of regular organizational meetings and possibly a pro-gramming board. “A lot of what I was doing in the past two years has been fig-uring it out as I’m going,” Mundt said. “I would definitely like to

start forming that structure this year...because it brings longevity to the organization.” Yang expressed enthusiasm for Mundt’s plan of reorganizing HUPS. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. Competition is great, but there’s so much more you can do with spoken word,” Yang said. He also added that he feels Mundt is well-qualified for the job. “One of my favorite things about Lewis is that he has a lot of connections,” Yang said.“I respect his leadership a lot ... he’s like the Prometheus of [spoken word] at Hamline.” As a recent college graduate, Mundt has extensive experi-ence as both an artist and as a facilitator of others’ artistic work. Along with hosting an open mic series at local Ground-swell Coffee and appearing in local collaborations like the Red Bird Broadside Project and Poetry Observed, he has self-published two compilations of poetry, one of which generated enough funds for him to live off for several months during the summer. “I call it Beard Poetry,” Mundt said. Currently, he is in the midst of creating a chapbook/zine hybrid called “Circumstance”, which he says features the best of two different styles of publi-cation.

“Zines sometimes sacrifice quality for the sake of being DIY, and chapbooks sacrifice the hu-man touch for the sake of being professional, so we wanted to meet somewhere in the middle,” Mundt said. A release party for Circum-stanc took place on Sept. 14 at Maeve’s Cafe, where Mundt works part-time. For Mundt, being a part of HUPS through the Creative Writing Programs represents a more career-oriented addition to this independent work. “It’s a really great opportunity that could lead to something really great things that I’d like to accomplish in my life as an academic, an artist and a per-former,” Mundt said. “I’ve been very very lucky.” As for HUPS, the future looks bright, since Mundt says both first-years and transfer students have expressed interest in the club, and HUPS members had a table at the Student Org Fair. The first official slam of the sea-son took place last Sunday, Sept. 16 in the HUB, and featured lo-cal spoken word legend Guante. The top three poets of the slam will go on to compete for a spot on the Hamline Nationals team during the Grand Slam in February. For more information, check out the HUPS Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hamline-University-Po-etry-Slam/207185122639366

“I’d like to start bringing workshops to campus ... to make it not only competition and performance based, but craft, creativity and community based.”Lewis Mundt

HUPS Coordinator

Bearded poet returns to coordinate campus slam

Hamline grad Lewis Mundt continues work with Hamline Poetry Slam through Creative Writing Programs.

Gabby Landsverk glandsverkr@hamlineoracle.com

POETRY SLAM

Missing summer? Even as the temperature drops and winter creeps closer, Hamline students can find a taste of the tropics hidden in Drew Fine Arts, where drum circle Batucada do Norte heats up the chilly fall nights with samba and other Brazilian rhythms. The group’s name is Portuguese for “Drum Group of the North”, according to co-founder Pat O’Keefe who began the group six years ago with his brother, Tim O’Keefe, after traveling to Brazil to study Brazi|lian music. After contacting several Brazilian drum groups in the Twin Cities, the O’Keefes built a core group of members who came together to explore the different rhythms of Brazilian drumming. “It’s something we’ve been interested in for a long time,” O’Keefe said of the group’s inception, explaining that Bra-zil’s rich history of music includes a wide variety of regional styles ranging from the samba of Rio De Janeiro to funk, reg-gae, and a local trend called “maracatu.” Some of the styles are more than one hundred years old, according to O’Keefe, and some incorporate more contemporary genres like rock and hip hop. “They mix [lots of different influences] together and then they put out something that’s uniquely Brazilian,” O’Keefe said. “The world of Brazilian music is gigantic.” He recommended looking up various styles of music on YouTube, and suggested the bands Monobloco, Olodom, and Timbalada as well as legendary artists Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil whom he says are “the Lennon and Mc-Cartney of Brazil.”

When asked about his personal favorites, however, O’Keefe only laughed. “My mind is flooded with a thousand names. That’s the answer,” O’Keefe said. This is no surprise, given O’Keefe’s exten-sive background in a wide range of music genres. A classically trained clarinet player, he spent five years with a professional orchestra and now teaches at the Univer-sity of Wisconsin-River Falls. O’Keefe, who has also studied Turkish music, said other cultural styles offer a completely new way of thinking about and playing music, and can enhance both creativity and technical skills.“It forces you to be more flexible as a musi-cian . . . it’s a nice challenge,” O’Keefe said. But Batucada do Norte isn’t just for professionals; the group is open to the whole Twin Cities community, regardless of experience level. “We try to make room in some way for everyone to be involved,” O’Keefe said. He also welcomes spectators, but with a minor caveat. “Anybody who comes and watches, it’s going to be hard to stand by and not get involved,” O’Keefe said. “I dare you to stand there for two hours and not be itching to play.” This, in fact, seems to be part of the group’s recruitment strategy. Many members join after seeing Batucada do Norte perform at local events, like the Twin Cities May Day Parade, and Carnival celebrations in the spring. Others find the group through their rehearsals in local parks during warm weather. The O’Keefe brothers brought their music to Hamline when, after rehearsing outdoors through the summer, frigid Minnesota weather forced them to seek a space inside.

Hamline Summer School faculty Mira Kehoe of the theater department, and percussion instructor Will Kemperman of the music department, both participants in the group and friends of the O’Keefe, managed to secure a room in Drew Fine Arts, where Batucada do Notre now regularly rehearses on Wednesday nights. As a result, O’Keefe says they’re mak-ing a special effort to invite Hamline students. “We’re really, really thankful to Hamline for providing us a space, so we want to be able to give back by making this available to any Hamline students who want to check it out,” O’Keefe said. To get involved, students can join or enjoy Batucada do Norte’s rehearsals every Wednesday night from 7 to 9 p.m. in Drew Fine Arts 222. For more information, clips of the group’s music, and upcoming performances, visit their web-site at www.batucadadonorte.org.

Brazilian samba music hiding at Hamline

Gabby Landsverk glandsverkr@hamlineoracle.com

Local musicians practice Brazilian drumming on campus.

WORLD MUSIC

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E-mail submissions to:editor@hamlineoracle.comWith questions, contact: Drew Science 106 or x2268

Staff EditorialPreston Dhols-Graf | Editor in Chief

Hannah Porter | Managing Editor Steven Rotchadl | Opinion Editor

Sensationalism at its worst

On Sept. 11, 2012, the U.S. embassy in Benghazi, Libya was set afire in response to an anti-Islamic film made by a Coptic Christian with American ties. The U.S. Ambassa-

dor to Libya Chris Stevens and three other Americans died in the attack, as reported by the BBC.

A larger wave of protest and violence is still taking place across the Muslim world, primarily in response to the film, from Paris to Australia, and everywhere in between. The Guardian reported that the U.S. temporarily closed its embassies in Tunisia and Sudan in fear of further attacks. Our embassy in Egypt nearly saw just that — in fact, unrest there is what sparked the Libyan attack in the first place. Most shocking of all are the protest banners support-ing the effort to “behead those who insult the prophet,” including a now-famous picture of a four-year old holding up such a sign. The BBC reported that Libya has arrested more than 50 people in connection with the attack, and protesters in France were also taken into custody. Muslim leaders have been on both sides of the protests. The Grand Mufti of Saudia Arabia condemned parts of it, while the leader of Hezbollah advocates for protest and more, particularly when aimed against the United States, according to Reuters.

The good news comes from the Sunday Morning Herald: “The vast bulk of Saturday’s protesters were peaceful, and Muslim com-munity organisations are lining up to condemn the outbreak of violence.” We here at The Oracle support this sentiment. People should have the right to protest what they see as wrong, whether or not others agree with them. Free speech is the most prominent tenet of all newspapers. And yet, it is disheartening to see so much extremist violence coming along with it.

If one were to open up any newspaper or turn on any TV channel, they would only see the violence. If the “vast bulk of Saturday’s protesters were peaceful,” then why doesn’t it domi-nate the airwaves? Unfortunately, the media sensationalizes the violent acts, which can do nothing but perpetuate more. There should be more focus on the larger underlying issue behind the protests: the relationship between the Middle East and their western neighbors with whom they share the globe. Instead, the focus is on the deaths and the tasteless video which sparked this round of unrest. Since the media reported so heavily on the video, which The Oracle won’t even bother naming, it will now become repulsively enshrined in history. Meanwhile, lost in the shadows are legitimate grievances from the Middle East and U.S. alike.

Alongside this misplaced attention on violence is the constant scrutiny on the presidential commentary. There have been more headlines about what Obama and Romney are saying than about the actual event. Whoever is right or wrong doesn’t matter. What matters is that these protests are happening. Nobody seems to be questioning why millions of people would react so explosively to a YouTube video. Obviously, there is something else underneath that. Instead, the U.S. media has spent its time analyzing the opinions of the presidential candidates, and somewhat comi-cally, analyzing the analyzing of the opinions of the presidential candidates. The actual issues — the death of our ambassador, the worldwide unrest, the tension between cultural spheres, and more — have been drowned out of the airwaves.

So what can we do to prevent this media reaction in the first place? We can speak out against it — not just newspapers like The Oracle, but each and every one of you. Speak with your dollars. The media creates things for you. They will continue to broadcast violence if that is what people continue to crave and purchase. If our culture begins to abhor violence not only in reality but on its television screens, then attacks like the one in Libya will see less air time, and extremists will not rationalize it as an outlet for international attention. Violence thrives because we let it.

“Get as much help as you can and use the gravy train.”

“Wear your shower sandals.”

“I’d say manage your time well. A lot of people really don’t know what to do, es-pecially kids from smaller areas. I’ve noticed they don’t know how to man-age their freedom very well. You’ve got to buckle down here and there.”

“Be ready to write a lot of papers, that sucks.”

SPEAKOUT What advice do you have for your fellow first-years?

Kelan Newman First-Year

Charlie ShaferFirst-Year

Dakota LeeFirst-Year

Isamar HernandezFirst-Year

8 Opinion The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

PHOTOS | MARISA GONZALEZ, ORACLE

Show me your papers

JAKE BARNARD

The marriage amendment isn’t the only constitutional change that will be decided by voters this fall. Also on the ballot is a proposal to amend the state constitu-tion to require voters to present a photo ID before placing their vote. This is an unusual issue for a couple of reasons. First of all, it represents a trend towards popu-lar referendum as a means of advancing legislature. The amendment is also a bla-tant attempt at disenfranchisement.

First I’ll address the legislative issue at hand. Ordinarily, changes to voter laws are proposed and enacted by the legisla-ture, along with statutes regarding their enforcement. In this case, the legislature proposed an amendment to the state con-stitution to be ratified by the voters. This is significant because it represents a more directly democratic process, as opposed to the traditional republican process. By “republican” I don’t mean the modern American political party. I’m talking about the system of government in which we elect leaders who pass legislation on our behalf. Voting on constitutional amend-ments is an unconventional way to force legislation. The state constitution pro-vides the supreme law of the land (except-ing of course the national constitution), which all other laws must be in agree-ment with. Therefore, if the constitution is amended to require photo ID’s at poll-ing places, the legislature must pass stat-utes that would enforce such a mandate. Any such legislative process will be sig-nificantly less deliberative because of the constitutional constraints. I fear this will reduce the autonomy of our lawmakers and constrain the legislative process

This brings me to the amendment itself. I take issue with a discrepancy between the wording of the proposal given to voters and the actual wording of the proposed constitutional amend-ment. On their ballots, voters will be asked

whether Minnesota voters must present a piece of photographic identification in order to vote. The wording of the amend-ment, on the other hand, specifies that voters must present a valid government-issued ID. This is a more significant dis-crepancy than at first glance, and one that could greatly affect how students vote. If a voter currently resides in a precinct dif-ferent from the address on their license, their ID is technically invalid. Many stu-dents have licenses that list their parents’ address, or some other previous address. Though any future disenfranchisement is purely speculative, it’s something all students should bear in mind.

When I discussed the proposed amendment with Dean of Students Alan Sickbert, he urged all students to consider the possible ramifications of their vote.

“Know what you’re voting for,” Sickbert said. “Know enough about this to know whether this might threaten the future of students voting.”

I strongly urge you all to do your research before you cast your vote in November. MPIRG has some excellent resources available if you want more information. Why would a state with little to no history of voter fraud consider such an amendment, and will extra security at the polling place be worth the risk of student disenfranchisement?

Also, for those of you with an interest in political science, consider the ramifica-tions of offering popular referendums to determine constitutional amendments that require the state legislature to play “catch up,” so to speak. I think that voting on such amendments runs contrary to the ideals of republicanism, and brings us dangerously close to direct democracy. In a political climate ruled by sound bites and pathos, I don’t trust the electorate to intelligently and prudently modify their laws at the highest level. Furthermore, the misleading language of the question posed to voters makes me suspicious of the intentions of those who advanced the ID amendment in the first place. Keep your eyes and ears open student voters, there’s trouble ahead.

‘I think that voting on such amendments runs contrary to the ideals of republicanism, and brings us dangerously close to direct democracy.’

The biggest class ever

2011 featured the largest incom-ing student body in Hamline’s 158 year history; that is, until 2012, when it happened yet again. Why, and particularly, why now? This was not a haphazard accident, but a conscious decision. This choice will have serious ramifications. Students plunged deep into debt so that “professors know your name,” as that bench right outside the admissions house states. That’s the Hamline small-size philosophy.

The only publicly available answer to this question is in the “Strategic Plan.” The only men-tion of our unprecedented stu-dent body is in Objective 4.3, on revenue growth. After Hamline reaches record enrollment num-bers, tuition will be raised, as out-lined in Initiative 4.3.C: “Grow undergraduate enrollments each year of the Plan while keeping our discount rate constant, and, once total undergraduate targets are reached, reducing the discount rate while elevating the first-year academic profile” (italics mine). It’s obvious that this student increase is financially motivated in Initiative 4.3.D, which aims to “Grow under-graduate net tuition revenues at a rate that places Hamline in the upper third of New American Col-leges and Universities institutions.”

I asked both the Associate Dean Mike Reynolds and the Assistant Dean of Students Patti Klein why this increase was happening, and in both cases, I received similar answers. They each confirmed the reasoning of the strategic plan, among other things; Klein explained well that “part of run-ning and operating a university is thinking about the dollars from the tuition,” and Reynolds noted that “we don’t have a huge endowment. We’re not a very wealthy school in

those ways.” Money has to come from somewhere. Klein also gave the solid point that student life is becoming more vibrant. We have record numbers at all campus events.

Yes, it’s true that this is a diffi-cult economic climate for schools. For instance, at Macalester, the Mac Weekly reported last year that undergraduate enrollment was dangerously close to creeping over the benchmark 2,000 number. I just wish our administration would stop smiling and act like nothing is happening. Both Reynolds and Klein weren’t like that — they were open — but both also gave a dis-claimer that they aren’t really the ones behind the decision. I fear that those responsible (if any) are much less willing to talk to skepti-cal students.

The question which naturally flows out of all this dialogue: if the student body is growing and Hamline plans on sticking true to its “know your name” creed, what efforts (dollars) are being made (spent) to accommodate the growth? More students means more money needed to support them: courses, services, housing, food, et cetera. But if Hamline is adding more students to increase tuition revenue (as stated in the Strategic Plan), then it would make no sense to increase oper-ating costs at an equal rate. That would eliminate the whole purpose behind Objective 4.3. Somewhere, there had to be cuts.

There were layoffs at the end of last year. That’s one way they decreased costs. The Human Resources department denied it in an e-mail on August 31 — “there were no layoffs at the end of May” — but later, both the Provost Eric Jensen and Associate Dean Reyn-

olds told The Oracle that there were layoffs. HR either twisted words or flat-out lied! And so then, where were the layoffs? Where are services being cut? I don’t know. Reynolds told me that the layoffs haven’t affected class offerings, and Klein said that “We didn’t lose staff across student affairs that would have any impact on any students whatso-ever.”

Plus, there are other issues with accommodating the student increase. We are already near-capacity in housing, converting the first floors of the Heights to dorm rooms. And that’s going to be more of a problem as the small senior class leaves and another large first-year class arrives. There will be no new housing for a long time, either: Director of Residen-tial Life Javier Gutierrez told me that the process of planning a new dorm building won’t begin until next year. This year saw a record number of FYSEMs (31) according to Patti Klein, and that was a new challenge. What if there are even more next year? Despite the biggest class of all time, the C-Store now closes earlier, cafeteria options on Fridays and Saturdays have shrunk, and Klas Cafe has less hours of operation (though to be fair, Piper Grill is open late).

There’s a contradiction here, and I’m nervous. I’m nervous for first-years, for adjunct faculty with jobs on the line, for staff with increased work-loads, and most of all, for Hamline University. Students pay thousands to come here, and that gives them the right to be skep-tical about this change. Hamline has to cut some corners to survive in this climate, we all understand that, and the bigger student body might be very necessary — but they need to be honest about it.

Opinion 9The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

Got compost?

In last week’s edition of The Oracle, there was a story writ-ten about all of the new green initiatives the university has been putting into place since the completion of the Ander-son Center. While I agree that all of these implementations are beneficial, I would argue that the university could and should be doing much more to not only reduce our carbon footprint, but also to extend our help to the surrounding community which is such an essential part of what makes Hamline, well Hamline. The first thing that comes to my mind is compost: a mixture of organic material such as food waste which when mixed with soil can be used as a fertilizer. When I think about all the food being consumed and then thrown out everyday on our campus, I’m more than a little disgusted. For this reason, I feel it would be in the best interest of not only the university, but the sur-rounding area as well, if we were to properly implement a campus wide compost program.

America is a culture of consum-ers. We throw away tons of materi-als every day and all of this will eventually end up in some massive landfill. To me, it makes much more sense if we were to reuse all of this food rather letting it rot in some oversized heap of trash. Implementing a compost program on campus wouldn’t be all that difficult; for starters, we could simply place compost bins around campus next to all of the garbage bins. All of the material from the bins could then be collected and composted right on campus.

The produced compost could be used in a variety of ways. The easiest choice would be to use it on Hamline’s own campus. We have plenty of areas that are desig-nated for flowers or plants which would no doubt thrive with fresh compost mixed into their soil. There is also a Hamline organi-zation called SPROUT (Students Proposing Real Options for Unde-rutilized Territory). Among other things, they manage a community garden that’s located behind the Hamline Church. Again, if this group were to be offered com-post to use in their garden, I can’t imagine that they would decline. Aside from these two uses for the proposed compost, there are plenty of community gardens in St. Paul that are relatively close to Hamline’s campus, one on Ham-line Avenue about a block north of Hewitt Avenue and another on Hamline Avenue by Target.

The hardest part about start-ing a composting program would not be getting the bins set up on campus or finding a home for all of the compost that was created. In reality, the hardest part would be implementing a system where every member of the Hamline

community participated. The big-gest step would be to get Dining Services on board. If you think about it, after you finish eating at the Anderson Center dining hall, you put your tray with all of your leftover food and trash on a revolv-ing conveyor belt where the dining crew then sorts out what needs to be washed and what needs to be thrown away. If they were to add a step for separating out the food, the majority of the work would already be done. However, in order for this to work, every student would have to be aware of what composting is, why it is important, and how they can participate. This task is not Dining Services respon-sibility. We can’t expect other people to just magically do all of the work and let us take credit for it. I feel that if the university were to start a composting program, every student should know what the benefits are and be a willing and active member in the process.

For now, there are no com-post bins on or around Hamline’s campus. As a collective student body, we need to be the ones who demand the change and ulti-mately make sure the change hap-pens. The benefits of a composting program are obvious and clear. Until the administration and stu-dents decide this is what we want and then make it a reality, I sup-pose I will have to be content with throwing my apple cores into the bushes, left to compost alone or be eaten by the squirrels.

‘The hardest part about starting a composting program would not be getting the bins set up on campus or finding a home for all of the compost that was created. Actually, the hardest part would be implementing a system where everyone participated.’

STEVEN ROTCHADL

STEVE MERINO

Professor has an important message for drunken fools.

Dear Hamline student who told me to “fuck off” last Friday night,

You and the boys were pretty drunk when I ran into you on Minnehaha just east of Pascal at around 11 p.m. When I heard your loud voices a block off I assumed it was just the fun party noises of the first weekend of the school year. When I got closer and saw you all with beers in hand, one hugging an open 12-pack, my mood changed a bit. Then you decided to start kicking road signs, toppling a pile of them onto a parked car.

You might remember me. I was the guy walking the big dog. I had just come back from a wedding, which is why I was dressed up. I confronted you and your buddies and asked you to show some respect for my neighborhood. You responded with a polite, “Fuck you!” When you indicated you were Hamline students and I identified myself as a professor, “Fuck off, you are not a professor!” was not exactly the response I expected.

If it were not for the fact that you were all stumbling drunk and clearly mistaken, I would have gotten angry.

As it was, however, I found your party posse mildly entertaining. Of course, I had the Bullmastiff on my side. At the time I thought it was enough to embarrass you by showing you my Hamline ID, ask you to quiet down a bit, and encourage you to be safe.

As I walked home and noticed the scratch you made on the neighbor’s car, I realized I had responded the wrong way. I had made a mistake. I should have gotten much angrier and I probably should have called the police on you. Sorry, but you see, there are people at Hamline that actually think our neighborhood isn’t safe — that it is “the hood.” That the neighborhood might not be safe from students doesn’t fit that nar-rative.

When you first told me to “fuck off” you had no idea who I was — I was just some middle-aged dude out walking his dog. Your first weekend back at Hamline and that was the way you chose to greet your neigh-bors. Bravo!

David DaviesAssociate Professor of AnthropologyHamline-Midway Resident

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

The Pipers learned a lesson the hard way on Saturday: it’s not how you start, but how you finish.

After opening up a 14-0 lead early at Carleton, Hamline was shut down the rest of the game and edged out by the Knights 21-14 in their MIAC opener.

The beginning of the game couldn’t have been scripted any better for the Pipers. After receiv-ing the opening kickoff, they methodically drove 74 yards on 12 plays, culminating in a 16-yard touchdown run by first-year Austin Duncan.

The Pipers struck again on their next drive. After continuing to wear down the Knights defense with their running game, sopho-more quarterback Kevin Ackerley fooled them with a play action fake and hit sophomore Ryan Ferkinhoff with a bomb over the middle of the field for a 31-yard touchdown.

“Coach had been setting that play up the entire game with the triple option attack,” Ferkinhoff said. “Ackerley made a nice pass

and I snagged it for the touch-down.”

The first two drives were a glimpse at what Hamline’s triple option offense can be when it’s firing on all cylinders. The team picked up 145 yards on 20 plays against a Carleton defense that appeared to be tiring out, and the running game opened up the defense for a deep pass. Accord-ing to Ferkinhoff, the versatility of the players on offense is what can make it dangerous.

“I can do numerous things [in the offense],” he said. “I can be a blocker, a pitch man, or in motion. I think that’s what makes this offense so deadly. Any of our skill players can score on any play.”

But after the two early touch-downs, Hamline’s offense was held off the scoreboard for the rest of the game. After running for 167 yards and three touchdowns in the opener against UM-Morris, Ackerley was mostly stymied by a disciplined Carleton defense that kept an eye on him all game. Ack-erley was held to 46 yards on 22 attempts and added 107 passing yards.

Carleton’s comeback began in the second quarter, when Conor Lynch found C.J. Dale for an 8-yard touchdown to cut the lead in half. Later in the quarter, Lynch

faced down a Hamline blitz and swung a pass to Jordan Butler, who picked up a block and waltzed into the endzone from eight yards out.

Thanks to a missed extra point, Hamline maintained a 14-13 lead at halftime, but it was short lived. Carleton drove down the field on their opening drive of the half, with Andy Zweber scoring on a fourth down 2-yard touchdown run to give the Knights their first lead of the game. A successful two-point conversion made the game 21-14.

The score would stay that way the rest of the game, as the Pipers offense couldn’t quite find their way back to the Carleton endzone. Ackerley threw his only intercep-tion of the game in Carleton terri-tory early in the fourth quarter.

With a final chance to tie the game, Hamline made things inter-esting. On a third and long in their own territory, Ackerley evaded the defense for several seconds, back-tracking all the way into his own endzone, before finding Ferkinhoff for a 19-yard pickup. Eventually Hamline drove to the Carleton 27 before turning the ball over on downs, giving the ball back to the Knights who ran out the clock.

For Hamline, moving the ball wasn’t necessarily the problem like it was last year. In this game, the

team was hurt most by turnovers and missed opportunities in Car-leton territory.

While the loss was a tough one for the Pipers, it still showed tre-mendous progress from last year’s team, which lost to Carleton 34-0. The two teams appeared to be very evenly-matched, with the Pipers outgaining the Knights by just 21 yards. The teams also finished just a minute apart in time of posses-sion.

The offense in particular con-tinues to impress after a disastrous 2011 season.

“I think it starts up front,” Fer-kinhoff said. “Our offensive line is giving us a push. We’re faster and have more threats. We’re a differ-ent team this year.”

The defense also continued to show improvement, especially up front, as they limited the Knights to just 107 yards with 2.7 yards per attempt.

With a close loss behind them, Hamline has a big game this Sat-urday against Augsburg in their home opener. They’ll be playing a rare night game under the lights at Klas Field at 7 p.m.

“We’re hoping there will be a packed stadium and that we can prove that we can compete with a team like Augsburg,” Ferkinhoff said. “It’s a statement game for us.”

AROUND THE MIACSt. Thomas 43 Saint John’s 21Augsburg 26 Gustavus 24Concordia 28 St. Olaf 14Bethel 56 Buena Vista 7

Games this Saturday:Carleton @ Bethel 1 p.m.Saint John’s @ Concordia 1 p.m.Gustavus @ St. Olaf 1 p.m.Augsburg @ Hamline 7 p.m.

BY THE NUMBERSHamline and Carleton played a tightly contested game on Saturday. Here are the numbers the two evenly matched teams put up.

Hamline Carleton 14 Points 21 286 Yards 265 179 Rushing yards 107 4.2 Yards per carry 2.7 4.8 Yards per play 4.4 1 Turnovers 0

Key performers:Austin Duncan: 15 carries, 84 yards, 1 touchdownRyan Ferkinho!: 3 catches, 54 yards, 1 touchdownPatrick Page: 10 solo tackles, 1 tackle for a lossChristian Willman: 1 sack

Carleton comeback spoils openerA fast start isn’t enough for Pipers as they drop MIAC opener 21-14 at Carleton.Josh Epstein jepstein@hamlineoracle.com

VOLLEYBALL

FOOTBALL

The Pipers continued their domination in non-conference play last weekend, sweeping the St. Kate’s tournament to up their record to 12-1 overall.

On Friday, the team tri-umphed over Luther 3-2. After

that, the team didn’t drop a set in any of the final three matches, vanquishing Bethany Lutheran, Crown, and Wisconsin-Stout by a 3-0 margin.

However, the question remains whether the team can continue this kind of play in conference. Their only MIAC match this season also resulted in their only loss, a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Concordia.

Those questions will mostly be answered this week, when the team squares off against Saint Benedict tomorrow at 7 p.m. and against St. Olaf on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Either way, the team’s domina-tion in non-conference tourna-ment play should bode well for the rest of the season. And the team has already surpassed their

win total from all of last season, when they went just 9-18 overall.

Among the top performers of the team is sophomore Sammie Miller, who leads the team with 256 assists.

Sophomore Lynsey Reimer leads the team with 182 digs, while sophomore Frankie Miller is second with 158.

Sophomore Mackenzie Remick is first on the team with 118 kills.

As a team, Hamline is fifth in the MIAC in assists and kills and third in digs.

Pipers serve up another sweepTeam moves to 12-0 in non-conference play with another perfect weekend.

Josh Epstein jepstein@hamlineoracle.com

PHOTO | ANDREW MAAS, ORACLESophomore Becka Mozes prepares for a serve. Mozes is second on the 12-1 Pipers with 158 assists.

10 Sports The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

“I can be a blocker, a pitch man, or in motion. I think that’s what makes this offense so deadly. Any of our skill players can score on any play.”Ryan Ferkinhoff

Sophomore

MIAC Overall Concordia 2-0 4-1-1Saint Benedict 2-0 3-1-2St. Olaf 2-0 4-2Augsburg 1-06- 5-1St. Catherine 1-0 5-1St. Thomas 1-0 2-3Bethel 0-1-1 2-3-1Hamline 0-1-1 4-1-1Macalester 0-1 3-3Carleton 0-2 4-3Gustavus 0-2 2-4St. Mary’s 0-2 0-6

MIAC WOMEN’S SOCCER

EDITOR’S DESK

Do you remember the last sport-ing event you went to because you wanted to see the team’s owner pull o! an incredible feat of athleticism? How about the last SportsCenter highlight that featured an old billionaire owner making a slam dunk or scoring an amaz-ing goal?

I can’t speak for everyone at Hamline, but I never have. Yet, based on the actions of owners in American sports, it would seem that they think they’re the stars of the show.

Just days ago, the NHL entered their second lockout in an eight year span, and their third in 20 years. It happened because the owners desperately want to decrease the salary of the athletes, and refuse to budge.

A common narrative in our society is about how grossly overpaid pro ath-letes are. But for the most part, the ath-letes provide an irreplaceable service to the deep-pocketed owners, who make disproportional amounts of money o! of them.

Without the best of the best, a league like the NHL serves little purpose. People come to see the best players, not to see which owner has the most money.

That makes it hard to side with the owners, who want to slash the pay of the athletes who make the league what it is. For the most part, owners contrib-ute little to my enjoyment of sports, and their money-hoarding ways often seem to be in direct conflict with the proper functioning of the leagues.

Of course, they have a business to run, and I can’t act like I know what is best for them. But it’s hard for me to believe that a lockout is ever the right move, especially for a sport in a tenuous situ-ation like the NHL.

In the NHL’s case, this lockout couldn’t come at a worse time. After the last lock-out caused the league’s popularity to diminish significantly, they had spent the last few years building up goodwill with fans and developing a set of stars to market the game.

Now, with one fell swoop of greed, the owners may have undone everything. And more than the players and the owners, it’s the loyal fans that end up su!ering the consequences.

The owners win, the fans lose

—JOSH EPSTEIN, ORACLE

WOMEN’S SOCCER

PHOTOS | ANDREW MAAS, ORACLE

Top: First-year Anna Harvey fends o! a pair of Bethel defend-ers on Saturday.Left: Sophomore Aileen Scheib-ner tries defends against a Beth-el player.Right: First-year Brook Pigg races for the ball with a Bethel player.

After another hot start to the season, Hamline women’s soccer is looking to keep the momentum going in MIAC conference play.

After dropping their MIAC opener to Concordia earlier in the week, the Pipers faced off against Bethel on Saturday, with slightly better results.

The Pipers jumped into the lead just nine minutes into the game with an unassisted goal by junior Hannah Plagman. She stole the ball from a Bethel player and sent into the net, something she humbly credited to the wind taking the ball.

“I got kind of lucky,” she said.Lucky or not, it gave Hamline

a 1-0 lead, which they held deep into the second half. But Bethel

answered in the 78th minute when Suzette Anderson scored her second goal of the season to tie the game at one.

The goal took the wind out of the Pipers’ sails, but they were able to stay competitive and maintain the tie, earning their first point of the season in MIAC competition.

“We had a really positive response [to the Bethel goal],” Plagman said. “We were picking up shots. I think it motivated us.”

The tie brought both teams’ MIAC records to 0-1-1. Hamline’s overall record is still an impressive 4-1-1 thanks to their non-confer-ence success. But it’s clear that the competition level goes up a notch once conference play begins.

“We’re always evenly matched with Bethel,” Plagman said. “They beat us my first year then we beat them last year. They’re a tough team.”

The 1-1 tie illustrated how evenly matched the two teams are, although Bethel ended up

with a slight edge in shots over the Pipers.

Junior goalkeeper Molly Jacobs had a good game for Hamline, stopping 10 shots and playing the full 120 minutes.

Hamline generated just six shots on goal in the game. After Plagman’s goal, Bethel switched goalkeepers from Callie Roseland to Kathryn McGaffey, who stopped all five shots she faced in the final 96 minutes of the game.

Despite the slower start in conference play, Plagman still has high expectations for the team, which had a breakthrough season last year and is looking to take another big step forward.

“We want to win the MIAC,” she said. “Every time we play we get closer to that.”

Their season continues today with a home game against North-western (MN). On Saturday they have another key MIAC game against Macalester at 1 p.m. at home.

Let’s call it a drawTwo evenly matched rivals play to a 1-1 tie.

Josh Epstein jepstein@hamlineoracle.com

“We had a really positive response [to the Bethel goal]. We were picking up shots. I think it motivated us.”Hannah Plagman

Junior

Sports 11The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

12 Local The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2012

MINNESOTA HISTORY

Exhibit explores open wounds of a troubling pastAn exhibit chronicling the horrors of the U.S.-Dakota war opened at the Minnesota History Center on June 30. The exhibit, entitled “The US-Dakota War of 1862” focuses on events that took place in Minnesota. It features photos, artifacts, documents and stories related to the war. The narrative features both historical and modern views and interpretations of the happenings in 1862, allowing visitors to draw their own conclusions. The Oracle spoke to Suzanne de la Houssaye, a museum interpreter at the Minnesota History Center, to discuss the exhibit.

The Oracle: What do you aim to teach people through this exhibit and the events?

Suzanne de la Houssaye: I think the aim would be for people to draw their own conclusions-to look at, read, understand both sides of the story and perhaps also pursue further study of the subject. I think that of all things at some point we would like people to come away with a sense that this can be reconciled and healed.

The Oracle: Why is it important to teach Minnesotans about Dakota history?

de la Houssaye: Well, I think that because the Dakota people were here before European people were here and their culture is important to us as Minnesotans — it is interwoven with ours to some extent . To under-stand their culture can help us better understand ourselves and what hap-

pened in the Dakota War.

The Oracle: Has the Historical Soci-ety worked with Dakota groups on the exhibit and the events?

de la Houssaye: Absolutely, they interviewed people that were Dakota descendants about the exhibit before the exhibit went up. They also inter-viewed descendants of the European settlers, as well.

The exhibit runs through June 30, 2013. For more information and a listing of other events concerning Dakota history, visit www.usdako-tawar.org. The Minnesota History Center is located at 345 W. Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul. The Center is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tues-days, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, and 12 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

—COMPILED BY MARISA GONZALEZ AND HANNAH PORTER, ORACLE

IMAGE | COURTESY OF THE MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY“A Meeting of the Grandfathers,” by Lyle Miller was painted for the Minnesota History Center exhibit “The US-Dakota War of 1862”.