see AMENDMENT page 4

HAMLINE UNIVERSITY | ST. PAUL, MN | 9.25.12 | VOL. 130 | NO. 4 | HAMLINEORACLE.COM

AMENDMENT

ACTIVISM

Pipers pledge to vote no in November elections

see LOCAL page 12

FALL FLAVORSFill up on fall with apples and pumpkins from orchards and farms around the Twin Cities.

President remains undecided on marriage stancePresident Hanson responds to demands for Hamline to take an o!cial stance on the upcoming marriage amendement.

Kendra Boyle Hoban kboylehoban@hamlineoracle.com

According to President Linda Hanson, the university is still deciding whether Hamline will be making a public statement regarding the marriage amendment.

“I would say the jury’s still out,” Hanson said.

Hanson said she is continuing to talk to faculty, staff and students before coming to a final decision.

She said she is thinking about what the role of the university should be in this kind of situation.

“When you look at something like [the marriage amendment] what we have to ask ourselves is what is the duty of the univer-sity as an institution of higher learning,” Hanson said.

According to Hanson, the university must look at whether they are providing an environment where people can nurture and develop their own thinking about critical issues.

“The obligation of the university is to foster that kind of open, diverse learning environment,” she said. “In other words, we are not here to teach anyone what to think. We are here to teach people how to think and critically assess very thorny issues.”

One of the main arguments coming from those in favor of Hamline taking a stand is that doing so would be in line with Ham-

line’s commitment to diversity. “A lot of people say we are a diverse

campus, so we can only come down on one side. But diversity means multiple sides,” Hanson said.

She said one of the issues under con-sideration is that Hamline is not a homog-enous university.

“When you think of diversity it is a wide continuum, so you have people from all along the spectrum, from being very con-servative to very liberal and everything in between,” Hanson said.

However, sociology Professor Melissa Embser-Herbert said that if the university is to live up to the ideals put forth in the new Strategic Plan that was passed in May, the university needs to take a stand against the amendment.

“My point that I keep trying to make is that Hamline has already defined itself as being about social justice and being a place that values, as they say ‘equity, access, and social justice.’ And yet, we seem to be afraid to speak out against putting discrimination in the constitution. That makes no sense to me,” Embser-Herbert said.

Embser-Herbert referred to a line from the president’s introduction in the Strate-gic Plan that states, “Hamline University will integrate and put into action diversity principles consistent with our policies and commitment to equity, access and social justice.”

Hanson stressed that she would not base her decision on whether the majority of the Hamline population supports taking a stand against the amendment.

“The question is not split down to whether you take a stand yes or you take a stand no, because you’ve got a majority of the people here,” she said. “I always worry

that you’ve got vocal people, but then you have other people and I don’t know what they think. They aren’t raising their hand, they’re not writing, they’re not saying any-thing.”

Because of this, Hanson said that one could never truly determine what the majority view is on a certain issue.

“I don’t run the university based on what I think or what one group thinks, but what is in the best interest of the university for a

very, very long time,” she said.She will soon be meeting with the Board

of Trustees in order to get their input on whether the university should oppose the amendment or remain neutral.

“Early in the next week the Board of Trustees is going to think about this, talk about this and deliberate about this,” Hanson said. “I am gathering up all that information and then we will answer the question.”

PHOTO | MARISA GONZALEZ, ORACLEPresident Hanson discusses her hesitation about declaring an o!cial university stance on the proposed marriage amendment.

Hamline community joins together in pledge to defend equal rights for marriage in Minnesota.

Preston Dhols-Graf pdholsgraf@hamlineoracle.com

Hosted by Hamline’s College Democrats organization, the Hamline Community United for All Families event took place in the Kay Fredericks Room in Klas Center last Sunday evening. The event was aimed at fostering polit-ical involvement among Hamline students, faculty, staff and alums. “I want students to know that there are a lot of avenues for support on campus,” said junior Cristina Semi, chair of the College Democrats. “We have the banner here, for students to pledge to vote no, we had voter registration and we had petition signing here to give opportunities for students

to get involved and to encourage them to get involved in issues that they feel strongly about.”

Junior Savannah Dotson, who helped to facilitate voter registra-tion at the event, articulated the importance of political awareness and participation.

“I think this election season will be one of the most important for college students to vote in, or other people that have never voted before,” Dotson said.

In addition to promoting politics on campus, the focus of the event was to rally support for voting against the proposed marriage amendment to the Minnesota constitution. A group from the Hamline community partnered with Minnesotans United for All Families, a coalition dedicated to the opposition of the marriage amendment.

The event featured four speak-ers: Youth Organizer for Minne-sotans United Yer Lor, Hamline sociology Professor and Director

for the Center of Teaching and Learning Melissa Embser-Herbert, third-year Hamline Law student John Medeiros, and CLA first-year Dylan O’Brien.

Each speaker provided unique perspectives on the marriage amendment issue. Lor called for greater involvement in Minne-sota United’s campaign. The other speakers urged Hamline to take a public stance on the issue.

Alumnus Dana Harper (‘11) summed up one of the key mes-sages of the evening, chastising Hamline’s administration for not publicly taking a stand against the proposed amendment.

“It’s part of our mission state-ment, it’s part of who we are as a university to oppose discrimina-tion of any kind, and the adminis-tration is sitting on its hands with this because, from our perspec-tive, they don’t want to lose money from donations, and they’re compromising their integrity by not taking a stand on this issue,”

Harper said.Harper continued to applaud

the evening’s events.“I think people got riled up

and ready to start volunteering for Minnesotans United, and also on a more local level, to try to get the university to take a public stand and make our voices heard as a collective whole,” Harper said.

Dotson echoed support of the anti-amendment effort.

“There’s already a part of our constitution in the state of Minne-sota that won’t allow people of the same sex to get married,” Doston said. “The amendment is just another thing on top of that that makes it harder to get rid of that.”

One feature of the event was a large “Vote No” banner, upon which members of the Hamline community signed their names in support of the campaign. The banner was purchased with funds allocated by HUSC from their con-tingency fund. This fund may pro-vide funding for chartered student

orgs, or those that are non-char-tered, like the College Democrats. HUSC is able to provide funding for political purposes if it benefits students, but may not support specific political candidates or parties. Semi explained the important role of the “Vote No” banner. “The goal of the banner is to be at every anti-amendment event to give people an opportunity to participate,” Semi said. “The goal is for the administration to see it… The goal is to get the whole banner filled up by election night.”

The Hamline Law School will be hosting a viewing of the elec-tion on Nov. 6. The banner will be displayed at this event, and tissues will be provided in case of celebra-tion or disappointment for those opposed to the amendment.

“We’ll either celebrate our work or cry in shame,” Semi said.

INCIDENT LOGEDITORIAL & PRODUCTIONEditor in ChiefPreston Dhols-Graf

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2 News The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

Safety and Security crime prevention tip

! Be sure to walk down well-lit, regularly travelled paths and walkways. Avoid shortcuts and stay away from bushes, alleys or other areas where an assailant might be hiding.

! Record serial numbers of valuable items such as laptops and iPods. This information can aid in the recovery of lost or stolen property.

! Report suspicious activity to the O!ce of Safety & Security at x2100.

Sept. 14, 8:16 p.m. Medical AssistanceAn o!cer with Emergency Medical Response training helped a student with a swollen ankle.

Sept. 15, 12:41 a.m. VandalismDuring the nightly rounds, a Drew Residence Hall Advisor found gra!ti in the central stairwell of Drew Hall. A work order was written and Facilities removed the gra!ti.

Sept. 16, 12:24 p.m. Stolen VehicleA community member called Safety and Security to report that he had found an abandoned Hamline golf cart in the woods at Newell Park. The golf cart was retrieved. The investigation is on-going.

Sept. 16, 1:37 p.m. Damaged VehicleA Hamline coach called to report that during softball practice at Paterson Field, a foul ball had hit a passing vehicle. An o!cer was sent to the scene to take a report. Saint Paul Police were also contacted to take a report.

Sept. 17, 2:50 p.m. Missing Furniture Residential Life contacted Safety and Security to report a LoveSac missing from the Peterson Hall lounge. Dispatchers were able to find footage of two individuals taking the LoveSac upstairs. The matter was referred back to Residential Life to be dealt with internally.

Sept. 17, 3:20 p.m.TrespassingA Residential Advisor reported to Safety and Security that two male students were sitting on the roof of Peterson Hall. The students were gone when o!cers arrived.

Sept. 17, 9:10 p.m.Medical EmergencyO!cers responded to a report of a student having an allergic reaction to peanuts. The student was transported to Regions Hospital.

Michelle Alexander, lawyer, teacher and activist will be the keynote speaker at Hamline’s Commitment to Community event.

Daniel Schauer dschauer@hamlineoracle.com

Michelle Alexander, author of “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color-blindess,” will deliver the keynote address for Hamline’s 15th annual Commitment to Com-munity event at the Hamline United Methodist Church.

Alexander is a civil rights lawyer and profes-sor at Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law and Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity. Her book focuses on the high percentage of African Americans in prison and being denied civil rights, according to her book’s website. The book has received much praise for challenging the nation’s “triumph over race” after the election of America’s first African Ameri-can President Barack Obama, according to the website, including receiving the NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Literary Work of Nonfic-tion.” Alexander has made several high-profile

media appearances in the wake of the book’s release including interviews on Comedy Central’s “The Col-bert Report,” MSNBC’s “Up with Chris Hayes” and NPR’s “All Things Considered.”

Alexander became truly passionate about the problem of racial profiling in the social justice system while serving as Director of the Racial Justice Project for the ACLU of Northern California. She found it disturbing that prisons played the role of a strict caste system based on race, without paying serious attention to the actual prevention of crime and reform of criminals. She has since established a campaign against racial profiling from law officers, which she calls the “DWB Campaign,” short for “Driving While Black or Brown Campaign.”

Hamline’s Commitment to Community event has featured many prominent speakers in the past including writers and activists and last year’s speaker Dr. Yvonne Haddad.

Tickets are no longer available due to the popu-larity of the event.

BRIEF

Commitment to civil rights

MORE INFOFor more information relating to “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” visit www.newjimcrow.com.

First-years learn about ways to live healthy on campus through interactive game sponsored by Peer Educators.

Sarah Erdman serdman@hamlineoracle.com

Hamline University Peer Educators, with the help of Health Services, hosted their first ever “Freshman 15: How to Eat Healthy at College” last Thursday, Sept. 20.

Peer Educators is a campus organization that promotes healthy lifestyles. They provide a variety of information to other students about drugs and alcohol, nutrition and safe sex along with healthy relationships. This particular event informed students about how to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle while in college.

First-year students entered the Anderson Center in anticipation of a lecture with the draw of gaining points for their FYSEM for the FYSEM throw-down. However, students like first-year Charles Anderson were surprised to find that they were being divided into groups for an inter-active information session.

At the event, students were broken up into four teams of five to seven people for a game of

makeshift baseball. Each team declared a runner who could only advance to the next base if their team answered the life-style question correctly. Wrong answers would send the runner back to home base.

“This game is very educational and I really learned a lot,” Anderson said.

Question topics ranged from balancing erratic schedules, eating habits, sleeping habits, dieting myths and alcohol awareness.

Juniors Chloe Collins and Fatima Ali are two of the lead peer educators who put on this event.

“We want students to know that Peer Educators are bigger than just sex and alcohol,” Ali said. “We want to raise awareness of Peer Educators and over-all health on campus.”

Ali and Collins said they were very pleased with the first-year turnout, and while they have a few kinks to work out with the game for next year, they are excited to make this an annual event. Their goal through Peer Educators is to empower students to make informed choices and they are glad to help their peers work through these choices.

For more information, resources and events from Peer Educators, go to hamlinepeereducation.blogspot.com.

BRIEF

Home run for health

HEALTHY EATING ALTERNATIVES AT THE HAMLINE SPIRIT SHOPHamline’s Spirit Shop o"ers plenty of options, but are all of them the best for fending o" the “Freshman 15”? If you’re trying to eat healthy, make sure to check nutrition labels before you buy — you just might be sur-prised at what you find. The Oracle takes a look at some college kitchen stand-bys and provides a comparable healthier option.

Lay’s Kettle Cooked Sharp Cheddar ChipsServing size: 28g Calories: 150 g Fat: 9 g

Kraft Macaroni & CheeseServing size: 70 g Calories: 400 g Fat: 3.5 g

Hot Pockets Beef & CheddarServing size: 227 g Calories: 570 g Fat: 22 g

Reeses Fast BreakServing size: 50 g Calories: 230 g Fat: 11 g

Nature Valley Oats & Honey granola barServing size: 42 g Calories: 190 g Fat: 6 g

Orange GatoradeFull bottle: 20 fl. oz. Calories: 130 Sugar: 34 g

Baked Cheddar & Sour Cream RufflesServing size: 28 g Calories: 120 g Fat: 3.5 g

Bowl Appetit Three Cheese RotiniServing size: 88 g Calories: 340 g Fat: 7 g

Don Miguel Shredded Beef & Cheese BurritoServing size: 198 g Calories: 440 Fat: 11 g

Kashi GoLean Peanutbutter & Chocolate barServing size: 55 g Calories: 200 g Fat: 5 g

Honey Nut Cheerios Milk & Cereal BarServing size: 40 g Calories: 160 g Fat: 4 g

Blood Orange Mango SoBe Life WaterFull bottle: 20 fl. oz. Calories: 0 g Sugar: 0 g

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News 3The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

Student chapel slated for removal as plans are developed for redistribution of space on campus.

Brianna Mason

bmason@hamlineoracle.com

When Hamline University revised their strategic plan earlier this year the administration included the goal of increasing multi-faith literacy on campus. However in a campus plan also revised earlier this year the Campus Plan-ning Committee chose to eliminate the current student chapel. The chapel space will be replaced by the Wellspring, a meditation room housed in the Anderson Center.

The student chapel is currently located in the Bush Center across the hall from the ballroom. It provides a safe sacred space for both personal and group worship. One student organization that meets in the chapel once a week is Multi-Faith Alliance. The group provides a chance to dis-cuss interfaith issues and educate students about multiple religions. It is led by Karina Hunt and Mia Jackman, both sophomores at Hamline.

Hunt and Jackman agreed that meeting in the student

chapel allows for a more open discussion, providing stu-dents with a safe place to talk about religious differences.

“I feel like this space is really inviting,” Jackman said. “I feel like it’s our space to do what we need to do and I think if we were to be put into some other space or a classroom or an empty space that isn’t necessarily ours it won’t be as inviting or as comfortable.”

However, Provost Eric Jensen said that a religious space isn’t defined by the physical building but rather how it’s used.

“In some sense a church is just a building. What makes it a religious space is partly design but it’s mostly just what it’s used for on a regular basis. I’m not sure where that leaves us if we literally have to have a room that’s defined only for this purpose,” Jensen said.

Megan Dimond, coordinator of Religious and Spiritual Life Programs, emphasized the idea of the chapel being a safe space.

“The difference between the Wellspring, which is the space in the Anderson Center, and this space is that this is more of a safe meeting space. It has closed doors it has lots of things that we need, certainly not all the stuff would fit into the Wellspring because its much smaller,” Dimond said. “It has its purpose and it’s wonderful for meditation and we want to use that space as much as possible too but also keep in mind the importance of this.”

According to Hunt one of the advantages to having a dedicated religious space is the opportunity to provide stu-dents with tools used in religious services. The chapel cur-rently houses a sizeable religious library as well as symbols from various religions.

“Even more than just being a space that has a nice feel-ing, you look at this room and you see symbols of what we are about as Multifaith. And I think looking at the space just gives an image of what we are trying to do. And I think that’s really important and if we had a space that wasn’t our own [...] I don’t know that those symbols could carry over,” Hunt said.

The chapel also houses a piano, used by Hamline’s Gospel Choir for practice every week. The Gospel Choir is just one of several other organizations that meet there, including the Mahle and Wesley Scholars, two religious-based scholarship programs.

Recently, sophomore Miranda Chimzar, who is a member of Multi-Faith Alliance, wrote a letter to the presi-dent’s office stating concerns about eliminating the chapel and asking for a chance to discuss the problem with admin-

istration. Jensen said that students with concerns will have chance to speak to the Campus Planning Board on Oct. 4.

“At that meeting they will hear from the student who wrote the letter. [Chaplain] Nancy Victorin-Vangerud will attend and they’ll have a chance to air out their concerns. The goal is going to be to listen to the students and to re-evaulate moving forward,” Jensen said.

Victorin-Vangerud declined to comment.

Reorganization creates crisis of faithCAMPUS PLANNING

PHOTOS | MARISA GONZALEZ, ORACLEAbove: The Wellspring, on the third floor of the Anderson Center, is a new space designed for prayer, reflection and meditation. Left: The student chapel in the Bush Center, which provides a space for multiple student groups, has been chosen for elimi-nation by the Campus Planning Committee.

Hamline language requirements lag behind ACTCForeign language programs remain a central concern among faculty and students.

Maria Herd mherd@hamlineoracle.com

All nine other schools in the ACTC system besides Hamline require their students to take at least two semesters of a foreign language to graduate. Some argue that Hamline should add a foreign language graduation requirement too.

“It’s something we constantly think about,” Chair of the Modern Languages Department Barbara Younoszai said. “A person is not educated unless exposed to other languages. It opens doors interna-tionally.”

Hamline does currently require students to take three cultural breadth classes as part of the Hamline Plan. A language class can fulfill the cultural require-ment. But the courses can fall into the category of International Stud-ies, or a class regarding gender, race, age, class, minority ethnic identity, ability, or sexual orienta-tion studies.

According to Younoszai, taking a language improves a student’s

critical thinking skills, and it’s been shown that a student who takes a language excels in all of their other classes too.

Senior Rutendo Sigauke agreed that learning another language broadens one’s perspective.

“Especially now that we’re in a global community, it gives you the flexibility to explore other worlds,” she said.

English is Sigauke’s second language. Originally from Zimba-bawe, she also speaks Shona and would like to learn French.

But as a Biochemistry major, Sigauke questions if a foreign lan-guage requirement is feasible for science students.

“Science is so demanding with all of the labs, taking a language would be a strain,” she said.

Sigauke transferred to Ham-line from a liberal arts school called Cottey in Missouri, which required a foreign language class, but excused science majors of the requirement.

Ausburg College has a similar point of of view. They require stu-dents pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree to take two semesters of a foreign language, but not of all of their bachelor of science stu-dents. According to their website, “the Modern Language Core Skill requirement for some bachelor of

science majors may vary.”But no matter your career, a

second language could still be valuable, according to Sigauke.

”Even if you’re a scientist and you’re doing research, a language could still help you communicate with scientists doing research in other parts of the world,” Sigauke said.

One of the reasons Youno-szai would like to see a foreign language become a graduation requirement is because of her con-cern about lack of student interest in the language department. Last year the administration decided to cut the French major, minor and certificate program because of a shortage of enrolled students.

“We supported [the French pro-gram], the students supported it, our colleagues supported it. It was devastating,” Younoszai said.

Hamline still offers Beginning and Intermediate French, but no third-year French classes.

However, the rest of the Ham-line language classes are thriving, particularly the Chinese program.

“More people are interested in China, and we’ve been active with the ACTC program,” Chinese Pro-fessor Hellin Yin said.

According to Yin, about 20 of the 57 students enrolled in Chi-nese courses are from other ACTC

schools.Younoszai attributed the recent

incline of students in the language program from her work to increase Hamline’s visibility in the ACTC program.

“Some of the other schools didn’t know Hamline offered Chi-nese until recently,” she said.

Furthermore, Younoszai says the increase in adjuncts and the circulation of the Multilingual Monitor, a publication she puts out once a semester to introduce

the new language professors, adjuncts and amity scholars, are other causes for the slight incline of foreign language students.

Younoszai said she doesn’t care what language students learn, she just wants to broaden their per-spectives.

“Sadly, knowing just one lan-guage makes one ethnocentric. Learning a language opens doors for traveling abroad and learning how other people see the world,” she said.

INFOGRAPH | LAURA KAISER, ORACLEThis graph illustrates the minimum number of semesters of foreign lan-guage courses required by each ACTC school for graduation with a Bachelor of Arts.

The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 20124 News

HAMLINE EVENTS

TUESDAY, SEPT. 25Delta Tau Sorority’s Paper Cranes for PeaceBC Hub7 - 9 p.m.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 26Pro Choice Night Panel Discus-sion: The Changing Landscape of Reproductive and Sexual HealthcareKay Fredericks Room7 - 8:30 p.m.

Delta Tau Sorority’s Movie NightBC Hub7:30 - 10 p.m.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 27 Health Career FairU of M Co!man Union8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Commitment to Community Keynote Address: Michelle AlexanderHamline United Methodist Church7:30 p.m.

Delta Tau Sorority’s Mafia and a Mystery NightDelta Tau House 8 - 10 p.m.

FRIDAY, SEPT. 28No events scheduled.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 29Katrina Vandenberg Poetry ReadingGLC 100E7 - 8 p.m.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 30Student Activities Leadership SummitAnderson Center12:30 p.m.

MONDAY, OCT. 1Business Law Institute CLE: Hot Topics in Business LawAnderson Center8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Lunch with... Jin-hee Kim: PianoSundin Music HallNoon - 12:30 p.m.

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

STAFF PICK EVENTHamline Undergraduate Stu-dent Congress (HUSC) General Elections take place Sept. 25 and 26. To cast your vote, stop in to Giddens Learning Center or the Anderson Center. Voting will be open all day.

The Faculty of the Whole also met this week in order to discuss the university’s stand on the marriage amendment. According to the Ham-line website, the Faculty of the Whole consists of “tenured, tenure-track, and teaching faculty and faculty librarians … and contractually full-time tenured and tenure-track Legal research and writing faculty, and Clinical Professors in LAW.”

Embser-Herbert said 51 members from the Faculty of the Whole met in Drew 118 last Thursday night to discuss the marriage amendment. At that meeting, they approved the wording for a resolution that urged President Hanson to take a stand against the amendment on behalf of the Hamline community.

Voting members of the Faculty of the Whole were able to vote for or against the resolution online until Monday at midnight.

President Hanson met with the President of the Faculty Council, Hamline School of Education Professor Kim Koeppen, on Friday in order to receive information regarding the Faculty of the Whole’s resolution.

Koeppen said the results of the vote should be available on Tuesday, at which time she will contact the president, provost and faculty.

Hanson said that after she receives word of where the faculty stands and hears from the Trustees, she will continue to think about what Ham-line’s stance should be.

“And I have been thinking about it, believe me. You can’t get the letters and e-mails and not [think about it.] I think I have to remain open,” she said, referring to correspondences from Hamline students, staff, faculty and alumni who urge Hamline to oppose the amendment. “I’ve gotten a good number of e-mails and letters, some of which are just heart-rending, and I am extraordinarily empathetic, because people have gone through a lot and have gone through a lot of experiences that we need to pay attention to.”

Hanson said she is pleased that people are talking about this issue. She considers the advocacy efforts around this issue a healthy and important sign that the community is engaged.

“It’s really important that we make the time and space for these kinds of conversations,” Hanson said. “So I have withheld my own judg-ments or making a statement about what the institution will or won’t do, because I need to continue listening for a while.”

AMENDMENT: “I need to continue listening for a while.”

Students attend first public student congress meeting of the year.

Preston Dhols-Graf pdholsgraf@hamlineoracle.com

The Hamline Undergraduate Student Congress met for their first General Assembly meeting Tuesday, Sept. 12. HUSC members, as well as other members of the Hamline community, congregated in GLC 100E to discuss a number of important issues. Pizza, pro-vided by HUSC, was a new addi-tion to the lunchtime meeting.

First, the upcoming HUSC elec-tions were advertised. Voting will be held all day on Sept. 25 and 26 at tables staffed by HUSC mem-

bers in GLC and the Anderson Center.

Another item on the docket was the possibility of attaining student discounts at local busi-nesses. According to HUSC, an individual approached them offer-ing to arrange said discounts with the businesses after being paid a substantial fee. Although the pros-pect of getting better deals at local stores appealed to many, there was also widespread skepticism. Specifically, some of those present didn’t want to pay for a service that had not yet been provided. Apparently, St. Thomas University hired the same individual, and he wanted to set up a network of local institutions that could all gain similar benefits. The general con-sensus was to wait and see what results St. Thomas got, rather than

risking the money immediately.Junior Cristina Semi, chair of

the College Democrats organiza-tion, spoke to the assembly to request funding from the HUSC contingency fund. She wanted the funds to purchase a special banner and ice cream for a “Pledge to Vote No” event, at which students could sign petitions, listen to guest speakers and register to vote. The event was hosted by the College Democrats last Sunday evening in the Kay Fredericks Room of Klas Center. HUSC members explained that, although they can not sup-port specific political parties, candidates, or political action committees, they may provide funds to politics related student orgs. However, these organiza-tions, including the College Demo-crats, can not be chartered by

HUSC. After being put to a vote by HUSC members, the funding was approved.

Non-HUSC students were given time to voice various concerns. These included a deficit of napkin dispensers in the Anderson Center dining area as well as questions regarding the future of Sorin Hall.

To conclude the meeting, junior Kevin Yang spoke on behalf of the Multicultural Alliance. He criticized the proposed marriage amendment, stating that Hamline needs to take a public stand on the issue. Concerns over the proposed voter ID law were then raised by members of HUSC, but no con-crete plans were made in relation to these topics. The next HUSC General Assem-bly will be held Tuesday, Oct. 2 in GLC 100E.

HUSC

Student government gears up with GA

(continued from front)

Proposed resolution of the Faculty of the Whole

“WHEREAS Hamline University is a learning community that values diver-sity and inclusiveness; and WHEREAS Hamline University recognizes and embraces the values of the United Methodist Church; and WHEREAS the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church has publicly opposed the ‘marriage amendment’; and WHEREAS the Minnesota ‘mar-riage amendment’ would deny civil rights to members of our community: Be it resolved that we, the faculty, oppose the ‘marriage amendment’ that seeks to enshrine discrimination in the constitution of the state of Minne-sota, and Be it resolved that we, the faculty of Hamline University, call upon President Linda Hanson, as Hamline’s representative, to a!rm Hamline University’s values and beliefs in liberal education by publicly opposing the ‘marriage amendment.’”

MOURNING

University mourns passing of transfer student in his second semester at Hamline.

Maria Herd mherd@hamlineoracle.com

Junior Perrin Peloquin unexpectedly passed away on the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11 in his off-campus apartment.

“September 11 is a bad day to think about in general. This makes it worse,” said Dean of the College of Liberal Arts John Matachek.

Dean of Students Alan Sickbert, Chaplain Nancy Victorin-Vangerud and Director of Transfer Services Monita Gray attended the

visitation for Peloquin at Grandstand Funeral Home in Peloquin’s hometown of Lindstrom, Minnesota on Sept. 14.

“Many, many people from his hometown came,” Sickbert said. “It was really a shock to most people. There was a lot of sadness.”

Peloquin’s funeral took place the next day in North Branch, Minnesota.

At 31 years old, it was Peloquin’s second semester at Hamline. He transferred from North Hennepin Community College last spring.

Peloquin was double-majoring in Political Science and Legal Studies. Although he had only been here two semesters, “his professors were very impressed with him as a student,” Sickbert said.

According to Matachek, Perrin’s mother said he was very proud to be a member of the Ham-line University community.

Good friend and fellow Hamline student Trevor James Peterson met Peloquin on Trans-fer Student Day last spring.

“I guess the number one thing about Perrin was that he had the ability to make you think. Not everyone has this ability,” Peterson wrote in an e-mail.

Peterson related that Peloquin had plans of attending law school after Hamline. His first choice would have been to attend law school in Hawaii, but he was also considering Hamline Law School.

According to Peterson, Peloquin’s preference of Hawaii wasn’t surprising considering his other ambitions.

“His dreams were to one day have a big boat and sail the ocean,” Peterson wrote.

Peloquin described himself in the bio of his Twitter account: “I’ve developed an evocative philosophy of life as a result of my alternative lifestyle. I’m a victim of fate, my heart, mind and soul are striking [sic] resilient.”

According to Matachek, it is the family’s business to release the medical confirmation of cause of death.

Piper community grieves student’s untimely death

Voices 5 The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

BUSINESS

Kim’s Oriental Market is the kind of store that makes you want to grab everything off the shelf and dash home to cook a culinary masterpiece — even if all you actually know how to do is boil water and stir occasionally. It is hard not to be inspired by all the shiny packages of noodles, sauces, meat and other assorted goodies. Although it may be difficult for those who don’t read Japanese or Korean to understand what exactly is being advertised, the spirit of adventure urges you to try it anyway. Milk soda? Why not? Peach flavored gummies? Sounds interesting. Mysterious red powder with a cartoon fish on the label? Go for it. For people who actu-ally know what they’re doing, Kim’s also offers several cookware items and home decorating items. Because, really, what kitchen couldn’t use a bowl emblazoned with a cartoon cat?

Kim’s Oriental Market

Jena Felsheim jfelseim@hamlineoracle.com

Buying local Shops in the Midway o!er alternatives to the Anderson Center.

This summer marked the grand opening of the Anderson Center, along with the promise that this sleek marvel of mod-ern architecture would become the new mecca of student cul-ture. Judging from the bustling activity the first few weeks of the new semester, it seems like this promise is coming true. But while the allure of the new and uncharted is strong, it comes with a slight warning label: Do not ignore local businesses! Washing down an Aramark meal with a venti Iced Caffè Latte is all well and good, but maybe on Friday night instead of resorting to this new standby,

gather a few friends and head out through the doors of the Anderson Center into the Mid-way. You may be surprised by what you can find.

The Anderson Center is con-venient. There’s nothing wrong with convenience. It’s good to have something to rely on. But you shouldn’t sacrifice variety because it’s easier to stick to what’s familiar. The Anderson Center offers many services but it also runs the risk of indi-rectly encouraging students to stay on campus and become disconnected from the larger Midway community. It’s good to sometimes leave the com-forting bubble of Hamline and explore the surrounding area; even if you end up only walking a block down the street.

Groundswell Coffee, a few blocks down from Hamline, is just waiting for you to discover it. The walls are painted a bright turquoise and display posters announcing upcoming music events. Inside is a gateway to the yarn shop next door for the knitting addicts who want to curl up in a corner with a warm cup of coffee and a pair of needles. But the really unique thing about Groundswell is when you stroll up to the counter and order your drink, they pour it into any one of their many unique mugs. You’re virtually guaranteed to get a different one each time.

Groundswell Coffee

Star Food Market and Deli is a tragically overlooked East African food market on Snelling Avenue. Right when you walk through the door you’ll be lovingly assaulted by an array of spices. Don’t be afraid, this is a rite of passage. If you’re solid enough to withstand the barrage you’re ready to face the gyro stand in the right corner. Here you’ll find an assortment of delicious (and authentic) East African and Middle Eastern foods. If you prefer to make your own food, Star Food also sells seasoning, meats, and assorted foods. However, those living in the dorms should be aware that it’s not recommended to store goat meat in your mini fridge.

Star Food Market and Deli

FOOD (MARKET)Kim’s Oriental Market

689 Snelling Ave. North, St. Paul, MN 55104

Star Food Market and Deli

555 Snelling Ave. North St. Paul, MN 55104

MEDITATIVE SPACEBliss Yoga Studio

1563 Como Ave. St. Paul, MN 55108

Center for Mind-Body Oneness

558 Vandalia St., St. Paul, MN 55114

COFFEEJava Train Cafe

1341 Pascal St. North, St. Paul, MN

Groundswell Co!ee

1342 West Thomas Ave., St. Paul, MN

FOOD (RESTURANT)Nelson Cheese & Deli

1562 Como Ave., St. Paul, MN

Checker Board Pizza

511 Snelling Ave., North, St. Paul, MN

Great alternatives to The Anderson CenterPHOTOS | MARISA GONZALEZ, ORACLEAbove: Groundswell Co!ee. Middle: Kim’s Oriental Super Market. Bottom: Star Foos Market and Deli.

GIFTSBibelot Gift Shop

2276 Como Ave., St. Paul, MN

Midway Books

1579 University Ave. West, St. Paul, MN

T T F S S MW

A hand-picked selection of the best Twin Cities music concerts and events.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8

25 26 27 28 29 30 1

Natural Child7th Street Entry

Perfume GeniusFine Line Music Cafe

Hundred Waters7th Street Entry

The Raveonettes

Saint Anyway7th Street Entry

Michael Kiwanuka Fine Line Music Cafe

Brother AliFirst Avenue

Woods

Glen HansardFirst Avenue

Huun Huur Tu

Center

Norah Jones

TheatreHume7th Street Entry

Grizzly BearFirst Avenue

Owl CityFirst Avenue

6 A&E The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

There may be hope yet for Hamline students graduating into the real world. Alumni of Hamline’s MFAC program have proven the worth of a liberal arts education as award-winners of the Loft Literary Center’s 2012 Shabo award for picture books. The Loft, one of the largest liter-ary groups in the nation, estab-lished the Shabo prize in 2006 to award eight authors of exceptional but not-quite-finished picture books with a chance to workshop their drafts with a well-known, critically acclaimed author. This year, graduates Kristin Gallagher, Rebecca Stanborough, Charlotte Sullivan and Peter Pearson and current student Daniel Bernstrom of Hamline’s Master of Fine Arts for Children’s Writing program will be honing their skills with Caldecott winner Susan Marie Swanson, author of “The House in the Night”. Bernstrom explained that the award, and working with Swanson, is a huge honor, especially since the Caldecott is the highest prize

for children’s fiction. As a current student with no published work, Bernstrom says he’s in shock about winning, and submitted his story mainly for practice. “As writers, we need to learn how to submit things ... send out our stuff and get rejected,” Bernstrom said. His award-winning story is a historical nonfiction piece about the experience of his grandfather who commuted from Tennessee to Chicago during the Great Migra-tion. Bernstrom explained that al-though workers were beginning to form unions, the lingering specter of racism left his grandfather un-able to keep a job despite his hard work. Finally, he decided he’d had enough and quit, only to find that his boss changed his mind, and personally drove him to the union office to get a union card. “The reason why I wrote that story is because it was so strange,” Bernstrom said. “He was just an everyday man that you’d see on the street, and I had never known that that’s what he had gone through.” Stories like these, Bernstrom said, are the reason he loves writ-ing, and picture books in particu-lar, since they allow for personal, meaningful events to be told in great detail. But, he warned, it’s not easy to fit a heartfelt tale like

this into a thousand words or less. “[Picture books are] some of the most challenging writing I’ve done, because you have to love every single word that you put in,” Bernstrom said, adding that it can take many hours to edit a small segment of text. Although Bernstrom’s book was nonfiction, the Hamline recipients represent a diverse range of styles and genres. Pearson prefers quirky humor to historical narrative. At first glance, he seems an odd fit for creative writing: after majoring in physics, math, and philosophy, Pearson intended to go on to earn a Ph.D in astrophysics. Then, he discov-ered a copy of a favorite children’s book “How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen” in a professor’s office and one children’s literature class later, he decided that he wanted a career in writing. “I promised myself that I would try to make [a children’s book] because it was just so joyous to re-discover that stuff,” Pearson said. His winning manuscript, titled “How to Eat an Airplane,” is an etiquette book detailing the proper manners for consuming the landing gear, emergency slide, and other delicacies of com-mercial aircraft. Pearson says his inspiration was a bizarre-but-true

Guinness World Record held by a man with a super-human diges-tive system who, over the course of several years, consumed large quantities of metal, including a full-sized airplane. Currently, Pearson is working to edit another flight-related project, a novel titled “Max and the Every-where Machine,” about a boy who crafts a flying contraption from scavenged parts in order to find his father, a missing scientist. Like “How to Eat an Airplane,” Pearson’s novel is quirky and humorous but, he added, has the emotional depth that makes a longer story worth reading. “My favorite kinds of books tend to be ones that ... combine humor-ous, quirky books with serious subtext,” Pearson said, citing au-thors like Jerry Spinelli and Louis Sacher as examples. Bernstrom, on the other hand, is a big fan of Kate DiCamillo, and said that, although he’s seen her in person, he was too shy to formally meet her. “She’s pretty much amazing,” Bernstrom said. “I feel like one of those middle school boys; I don’t have the courage to just say hi.” In spite of their different writing styles, both Bernstrom and Pear-son had much to say about the process of learning to write well and succeed after college.

“Nothing you do is wasted,” said Pearson, citing his background in science as fuel for his creative work. “You can alchemize stuff like that into other things you do.” For this reason, he advised col-lege students to study what really interests them, rather than what they think will make for easy or high-paying careers. “Expect the path after you graduate to be twisty and unex-pected, but you just have to follow your instincts,” Pearson said. Bernstrom, in telling his per-sonal story, had a similar moral: although he struggled with spell-ing and grammar throughout high school and college, he continued to pursue his passion for writing. “[In college] I thought, I can’t write. That’s why I wrote for my-self,” Bernstrom said. “You can still tell a story without having all the mechanical know-how completely in place.” With time, he said with a laugh, these skills continue to improve, even after years of writing: the secret is never to stop doing what you love. “Writing is practicing: you have to practice, practice, practice ... and practice all your life,” Bern-strom said.

MFAC students celebrate literary award for picture booksWinners of the Shabo award share their writing experience .

AWARD

Now playing: HU radio is streaming 24 hours a day for the first time ever. Station manager and senior Colin Rogers said this is one of many efforts of the past year to improve the radio’s technology, organization and outreach. Although HU radio has been around for many years, according to Rogers, they’ve started this year with a strong student base and hope to continue growing. “We had a serious, serious response from first-years,” Rogers said, adding that more members

means more opportunities for diverse content. So far, the station has 22 regular members and offers a range of music from hip-hop to indie rock, live DJ sets and even a soundtrack show highlighting motion picture scores. “We’re becoming pretty all-encompassing, which I’m surprised about,” Rogers said. “I figured with 22 students, we’d get 22 students playing Weezer songs over and over again.” Recently, HU radio has also debuted a sport talks feature, to provide live coverage of Hamline football and basketball games. Rogers said the variety of programming is the product of long-term efforts to improve the radio station, beginning with joining the Student Media Board

several years ago. According to Rogers, since then the station has been funded through the Media Board instead of HUSC, but was also required to overhaul its constitution, and work more closely with other student organizations. The radio now DJs for other student org events, and plans to host a collaborative concert for both fall and spring semester. All this work, Rogers explained, has been more than worth it, and he has high hopes for the coming year. “I want to begin to have a real presence on campus,” Rogers said. “I think we’re going to start to really bloom, finally. It’s exciting. We’ve put in a lot of work for it.” Rogers also added that as HU Radio’s membership rises, their

audience will expand as well, even to unexpected, off-campus locations. “Moms and dads like to listen to the radio. I’m sure it’s hilarious and heartwarming for them to hear their kids,” Rogers said. But this, he said, is part of the excitement of running a media organization, and he hopes to continue improving community outreach. “We’re a voice for anyone. As long as they’re willing to listen, we’re willing to broadcast,” Rogers said. HU Radio can be found streaming 24 hours a day at www.live365.com/stations/hamlineu. To learn more or become a member, contact HU Radio at hamlineradio@gmail.com.

Gabby Landsverk glandsverkr@hamlineoracle.com

Gabby Landsverk glandsverkr@hamlineoracle.com

HU Radio broadcasting aims to improve campus outreach.

RADIO

“I want to begin to have a real presence on campus. I think we’re going to start to really bloom, finally . It’s exciting.”Colin Rogers

Senior

Station manager explores radio’s possiblities with a new year

A&E 7The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMER 25, 2012

ART COMMUNITY

Irrigation initiative brings together community through art

At the heart of Iris Park in St. Paul, fiery jazz music resonated in the bitter, cold air while the community congregated to create a wide variety of art projects funded by Irrigate. The Creation Station on September 22nd was hosted by local artist, Rachel Petrie, and highlights the facet of the Irrigate. As an initiative, it is dedicated to mobilizing artists to make a difference spanning six miles along the Central Corridor Light Rail Line by sponsoring artists’ event proposals. Petrie elaborates on how her proposal for Creation Station formed. “Initially I was kind of envisioning permanent stations along University where something would be cemented into the ground, like an easel that would

be there fully stocked, so anyone walking by could paint a picture,” Petrie said. “Then I thought I would do a mobile thing first.” Petrie’s vision for a long-lasting communal art project stems from the placemaking mission that Irrigate embodies. Placemaking entails a group of people gathering together to make an impact on undervalued areas. Irrigate believes that places can be enhanced by encouraging elements ranging from temporary activities to permanent installations in the community. Creativity can encourage the community to animate the University area, as well as support one another. “I think that really we are all creative and sometimes we forget that we are all artists … that was basically the idea to get people out, have a community event, and provide a ton of free art supplies for people to play,” Petrie said. Petrie created this event for people of all ages, yet, she found it particularly beneficial for college students. “I think getting college kids out, doing something fun on the

weekend, and exploring a different part of town, which is great for students who are always looking for fun free things,” Petrie said. Funding for Creation Station was provided on behalf of Petrie’s grant proposal through Irrigate, although, support from fellow artists helped make the event happen. “My uncle is an artist and he did the designs and donated the tiles, he is going to grout [the mosaics] once they are complete,” Petrie said. “I am still working on finding an indoor location where we can display these so they can be up as a completed project of this event.” Petrie remains hopeful for the future continuation of the Creation Station event. “I don’t know what the future of it is but I hope it can be a continued thing. There has been a huge response to it, and before people even got here they were really excited about it and liked the idea,” Petrie said. Another aspect of Irrigate is their objective to invest in local businesses to push for a positive physical, economic and social impact. Tyler Olsen, a fellow artist

in the Irrigate program, noted the significance of the initiative’s economic impact, specifically through the art of theater. “All art in general, but theater in particular, has a real history as an economic engine in an area,” Olsen said. “For every dollar a theater brings it puts five dollars into the community.” Olsen’s Happy Minnesota theatre project began a year ago around New Years, and currently the show he directed, Happy Café, is playing along the Central Corridor. Happy Café is a quirky show that is targeted for nontraditional theatre goers. Olsen also notes how this project assists the community during University Avenue’s undergoing construction period. “If people bring in a receipt from a local restaurant they get money off a ticket ... because the businesses along University Avenue are really hurting right now because of all construction and it’s just major upheaval,” Olsen said. Irrigate artists are the putting an effort toward supporting the overlooked needs of the community by simply gathering

together serendipitously. Petrie reminded the community to be aware of what they see as they pass by.“If you go up and down University you can kind of see things popping up here and there, and a lot of them have been completed by Irrigate artists,” Petrie said. For more information on Irrigate, or to get involved visit www.

PHOTO | ANDREW MAAS, ORACLE A local artist arranges tiles on a communal mosaic project.

Local artists gather to create art and promote local community through infrastructural development.

Megan Bender mbender@hamlineoracle.com

“If you go up and down University you can kind of see things popping up here and there, and a lot of them have been completed by Irrigate artists.”Rachel Petrie

St. Paul Artist

‘Starbucks reaches millions of people every day. Ginkgo would not have jumped on the Fair Trade bandwagon if Starbucks hadn’t paved the way first.’

Starbucks is acceptable

So now people are rallying against Starbucks in the Anderson Center. No surprises there. It’s like, a corporation, man, and they are evil and stuff. Some speculate they’re going to put Ginkgo out of business. Trust me, it’s not going to happen.

Running a coffee shop 101, lecture number one: “how to not get killed by Starbucks.” Every coffeehouse every-where has a battle plan for this, and if they don’t, they’ve been living in a hole for the last 30 years. Surely, Ginkgo is quite aware of the corporate coup d’état which brought forth our magnificent new overlords.

Ginkgo will survive. Relax. For a long time, they have done what small busi-nesses have to do in a corporate world. They cornered a niche of the market. What they sell isn’t just coffee, but the Ginkgo experience. They wouldn’t be able to compete on the price of coffee alone. So they host music shows and hoist up art and dance on those creaky vintage floorboards.

Corporations are more economi-cally efficient than small businesses. The larger the business, the lower the profit margin has to be. Think about how cheap Wal-Mart is. That’s because, theoretically, they make a thousand transactions every second, and so if they only make one penny off each transaction, that’s all they need. That’s a thousand pennies every second. On the other hand, Ginkgo would be lucky to make a thousand transactions in a day. A thousand pennies will not be enough revenue for them to replace a single one of those ridiculous floorboards.

That’s how the world works now. Respect the new masters and get a degree in business like a good little number-pushing bureaucrat.

Starbucks is one of the nicer of our new overlords. CNN Money ranked them the 78th best corporation to work at, and they spend more money on health insurance for their workers than on coffee — $300 million! According to Starbucks’ own pamphlet on employee benefits, all it takes for eligibility is working 240 hours in a calendar quar-ter, or about 20 hours a week. I don’t know of many small-time coffeehouses that could ever offer their employees an insurance package like that.

And you see that stylish Fair Trade Certified™ sticker on your cup? Yeah, you can pretty much thank Starbucks for that. According to their website, they bought 40 million pounds of the stuff in 2009, making them the largest purchaser of Fair Trade Certified™ coffee in the entire world. Not only that, but they surely popularized the whole feel-good movement as well. Starbucks reaches millions of people every day. Ginkgo would not have jumped on the Fair Trade bandwagon if Starbucks hadn’t paved the way first.

My point is, corporations are life. Stop being such a stereotypical self-hating Hamline liberal. All the Star-bucks whiners will be buying things at Target tomorrow because the stores have pretty red architecture. When you protest the corporate influence creep-ing into Hamline (or anywhere else), you are doing absolutely nothing. You know it, too. So why do you do it? It’s because you’re wearing your Ham-linized liberal ideology like a fashion statement. It’s like the trendy article of clothing you keep in your closet for Friday nights. And we all know what Friday nights are for.

We want to hear from you. Letters must be 450 words or less, include submitter’s full name and graduation year (when applicable), be submitted electronically at least three days be-fore publication and must also include contact information. The Oracle reserves the right to edit or withhold publication of let-ters. The content of the Opinion section does not necessarily reflect the views of the sta!.

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

Staff Editorial Preston Dhols-Graf | Editor in Chief

Hannah Porter | Managing Editor Steven Rotchadl | Opinion Editor

Take a stanceWe’re still waiting on President Hanson. Faculty, stu-

dents, and staff are growing impatient. Not because of something she’s done, but because of something she

won’t do. When will the president’s office take a public stance in opposition to the proposed marriage amendment?

The Minnesota United Methodists came out against the amendment at the beginning of the summer. The faculty approved a resolution in opposition to it. And students have been actively campaigning on campus, online and elsewhere.

The president says that the university shouldn’t take a stand because that would stifle diversity of thought. Normally, everyone would agree with her — but not this time. This time, the marriage amendment threatens to stifle the very diversity of thought which Hamline tries to foster.

Voting yes on this amendment has political implications, but more ominously, symbolic ones too. What does it say about a society where a disgruntled majority can force-feed their ideol-ogy down the rest of our throats? What does it say when this is not done for any practical purpose (because gay marriage is still not legal here), but just to double-down on the discrimination?

If that’s not stifling diversity of thought, then we don’t know what is.

Augsburg College President Paul C. Pribbenow and his office took a stance. And look what he received: universal praise and free advertising. Surely, the Board of Trustees could get behind that. He showed true leadership in the face of this unprecedented political climate. Macalester President Brian Rosenberg made a similar decision when he called out Rick Santorum for calling universities “liberal indoctrination mills” last February.

We understand that to take this leap would be a new step for Hamline. We’re aware of that leap, and we’re ready. This is the one of the most discriminatory laws we have ever seen in our entire lives: right now, here, November 6, right in front of us.

Strong leaders make the world a better place with strong state-ments. These are the leading voices who break the mold to fix society for the better. Elizabeth A. Sorin and Emily R. Sorin made a strong statement when they became not only the first Minnesota graduates, but the first female ones at that.

Hamline needs to make a strong statement, not follow the example of St. Olaf, who refuses to take an institutional stand, despite their loud faculty opposition. Perhaps the university wor-ries about the potential fallout. This is a legitimate concern. But sometimes, leaders need to accept the fallout that comes along with their actions. Sometimes, that’s the only way to break down the institutional barriers so embedded in our society.

There are likely some students and faculty out there that sup-port the amendment, just very quietly. That’s a big reason cited for why the university has yet to take a stance. But there’s also probably people out there who think we should do all sorts of crazy things: widen the income gap between genders, eliminate welfare, or start a war with whomever’s acting the smarmiest to the United States. I doubt the university wants to foster those ludi-crous opinions. Sometimes an opinion just goes too far. We believe that the discrimination behind this amendment is one of those times. Let’s not slide into some cultural relativist hodgepodge of nothingness simply because somebody somewhere believes in bigotry and sexism.

If Hamline University is to continue its commitment to equal-ity, social justice and diversity, then President Hanson needs to take an unprecedented stand against this unprecedented dis-crimination.

As stated in the Mission and History section of Hamline’s website, one of the essential values of Hamline is “An individual and community ethic of social justice, civic responsibility, and inclusive leadership and service.” Does this include remaining quiet as an attempt is made by some in our state to further deny civil rights to an entire demographic? We think not.

“I would de!nitely go to Ginkgo because Starbucks is just like a monopoly. We need to support the local businesses that help us have a stronger commu-nity to surround Hamline.”

“Anderson, because it can go on my declining balance and it’s close and convenient.”

“If I was to I’d probably choose the Anderson Center just because it’s closer and a little more convenient.”

“I would rather go to Star-bucks because it’s closer, even though Starbucks is like a monopoly.”

SPEAKOUT Would you rather get coffee from Ginkgo or the Anderson Center Starbucks?

Yutong BaoSophomore

Nina ChaseFirst-Year

Zachary LameyerJunior

Rachel HinderakerSophomore

8 Opinion The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

PHOTOS | MARISA GONZALEZ, ORACLE

POINT

STEVEN ROTCHADL

The summer before schools start, students speed date through poten-tial landlords in hope of finding a nice person offering a fair price for a humble abode. They dream of the end of Safety and Security’s watch-ful eye and expensive dorm life. In their fantasies they go shopping at Byerly’s and Lund’s (without the aid of coupons) and never have to go to Hamline’s dining hall again. The excitement of off-campus living is almost unbearable.

Well, boys and girls, off campus living isn’t what you think it is.

I survive on ramen noodles, five- dollar pizza and Milwaukee’s Best. I took cold showers for a week before our slum lord finally showed up to fix the water heater.

He gave a two minute warn-ing before his gas guzzling F-350 reverberated down our street, black smoke emitting from the exhaust pipe. When he knocked on our door, my guinea pigs Voldemort and Mr.Pig ran for cover, sensing the evil entering our domain. Already annoyed by having to do his job, the site of our water pipe, which we use to smoke tobacco out of, does not help my landlord’s mood.

On top of our lazy slum lord, squeaky floors and old carpet, our neighbors throw a rager every week-end and blast Nickelback and Rascal Flatts the other five days of the week. The rise in volume and decline in quality music are sure-fire signs that there is soon to be a shirtless male Hamline student, asking “What are you doing tonight, bra?” When I respond, “writing my Oracle article,” they reply, “Lame dude. I’m gonna go shotgun some brews.”

Soon after our conversation the tunes really start pumping. After they refuse to turn the music down, we battle the raspy, ugly sound and sappy lyrics with MPR’s 99.5 — the classical station. Our sound system is, luckily, substantially better than theirs.

Good thing they don’t read this publication.

But it isn’t all bad. One, we live within walking distance of Ham-line. Two, we are saving money. Off -campus living has shown many students its dark side, but the other option — living on campus — is Mordor.

More students would live on campus if the dorms weren’t remarkably similar to chicken farm cages. And even with as many as four people crammed into minis-cule rooms, it costs more than some two bedroom apartments. One could almost say that universities exploit their students. The cost of a dorm and meal plan reminds me that college is a business, not just an institution of learning.

And those costs do not offset any incentives Hamline offers its students to live on campus. Most students will still save money by commuting.

The best choice for college

living is, hands down, off campus, despite its negative aspects. And yet, there is an an exception to that rule: first year.

Though Heights Area Coordina-tor Mike Gerold and I became great friends from my frequent visits to his office, l don’t regret dorming during my first year. Dorms are a nice segue into life away from home. It allows a student to easily meet new people, especially during first-year when classmates are open and excited to make friends. I would say that as a firstyear or transfer stu-dent, it is worth the price. By living on campus there is easy access to campus activities and, at Hamline, you are within a five-minute walk of any building.

Though most students live on simple carbohydrates and are in the grasp of a slum lord when living off campus, it is a better alternative for upperclassmen. It is not worth your dollars to live on campus if you have already established a social circle and know the opportunities Ham-line has to offer.

The bros upstairs may be playing weak commercial rock-pop songs every night, but it is a small sacrifice for the freedom you have and the money you save as an off campus student. Even if your guinea pigs are deathly afraid of your landlord, whether it is triggered by his noisy truck or his black aura, they will not be scarred for life. An apple and some hay will suffice as counsel-ing for their post-traumatic stress disorder.

‘The bros upstairs may be playing weak commercial rock-pop songs every night, but it is a small sacrifice for the freedom you have and money you save as an off-campus student.’

Parties and ramen

Do not trust $tarbucksCOUNTER-POINT

There are plenty of good rea-sons not to frequent the new Star-bucks in the student center, none of which involve the word “evil.” Starbucks is a corporation, not a person (certain mockeries of con-stitutional law notwithstanding), and as such cannot actually be evil. The reason I’m establishing this early on is that I want to dis-tinguish myself from some of the more passionately outspoken and opinionated liberals who will do their utmost to convince you that drinking Starbucks coffee is tanta-mount to mortal sin. It isn’t. It is, however, recklessly irresponsible and short-sighted.

Corporations are vast networks of resources and distribution cen-ters whose purpose is to funnel wealth to a select few people at the top of their governing hierarchies. When you make a purchase from a corporate retailer, you are send-ing money to a faraway place to be stockpiled by what confused and inarticulate protesters last summer were calling “the one percent.” A dollar spent at a local vendor keeps money within a smaller commu-nity of people and businesses

Superficially, it may appear that corporations are actually a good thing. They provide countless white-collar jobs which would be unnecessary among smaller busi-nesses. They employ legions of advertisers to edge out competi-tion and win the hearts and minds of consumers. There is also a con-siderable amount of work that goes into the maintenance of the cor-poration itself. Things like human resource departments exist to sup-

port large and otherwise unwieldy corporations.

All of these professions provide the illusion of efficiency. I don’t see anything efficient about a bureau-cracy that requires a full-time staff dedicated to its upkeep, nor do I understand how spending millions of dollars on advertising makes a company efficient. These expen-ditures of time, money and energy are only necessary because of the gargantuan proportions of modern corporations.

One could argue that the employment provided by corpo-rate structures in part justifies the existence of such structures. It’s impossible to deny that such employment is valuable in a mon-etary sense, but I would contend that it isn’t valuable to society as a whole or our local communities. Advertisers deliberately manipu-late human behavior to sell, in our current example, Starbucks coffee. Though admirable for its sophis-tication, advertising contributes nothing positive to society beyond a source of employment and a few catchy jingles.

On the subject of employment, corporations have a devastatingly stratifying effect on power and wealth distribution. Many poor and rural communities actively seek out corporate development in order to secure employment for their members. These atti-tudes are tremendously short-sighted because they fail to take into account the nature of massive hierarchical corporations. Though the presence of a corporate chain may bring temporary employ-

ment, it will eventually drive out the locally owned business with which it competes. Without local business owners, money spent will be spirited up the corporate ladder and out of the community.

While I understand the contrac-tual reasons behind the Starbucks on campus, it still disappoints me that Hamline could so easily ignore its supposed commitment to the Midway community. I also don’t understand why we shouldn’t own and control all of the coffee vend-ing on campus in order to raise rev-enue. Imagine a coffee shop whose profits were used to subsidize book purchases or grant scholarships. Perhaps this is a naïve and unin-formed fantasy, but it sounds a whole lot better than sending our money away from the Midway to Seattle.

Maybe you really like Starbucks coffee and you’ve got the “my vote doesn’t matter” syndrome. Sure, the coffee is great, the floor doesn’t creak, the tables don’t wobble and it’s not like they’ll lose sleep over the loss of your business anyway. This is exactly the sort of attitude that enables corporate hegemony in the first place. Of course you can’t make a difference on your own, which is why we need to organize and educate our fellow students. I hope to see you at the picket line.

Opinion 9The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

Graduate student makes a case against the proposed marriage amendment.

I want to add some perspective to the proposed amendment, and the existent statutes prohibiting marriage equality that it is seeking to justify. Because I am a transwoman, this issue promises to affect me in a very unique way, one that I think is rarely considered in the argument about marriage rights. What I aim to show here is not that these laws and this amendment are discriminatory towards same-sex couples – that goes without saying. Rather I aim to show that they are in fact entirely arbitrary and ridiculous. This fact stems from one crucial error: their assumption of a simple, legal, and constant definition of “sex.”

For clarity’s sake, I will have to skip any discussion of intersex and atypical chromosomal individuals, but I encourage you to research them on your own as their existence adds depth to the understanding of this issue.

At present, I am legally a man. This means that it would be perfectly legal for me to fall in love with and marry a woman – for sake of argument, let’s say the wedding is tomorrow. What happens when in a few years I have made enough progress in transitioning that I am ready to legally change my sex? Does this render our marriage null and void? Why is the marriage acceptable when I am “legally” a man but not when I am “legally” a woman? If I was ever legally appropriate for my wife, how is any part of transitioning going to

practically change that?On the flipside, if I wanted to marry a man, I would

be forced to undergo the legal sex change first, which might not be something I actually want to do. I could pass as a woman in everyone’s eyes, but this legal definition renders our marriage impossible unless I go through some process, quite possibly painful and expensive, that satisfies the law. Beyond being com-pletely discriminatory, this makes no practical sense. Why should the law determine whether or not I can marry as a woman when my peers accept me as a woman in everything else?

Obviously, I have a clear bias towards a revision of our entire legal approach to sex and gender, which is not the central issue to this amendment. However, I believe it is a relevant consideration. I urge every-one reading this to oppose this amendment, which would take these needless complications — which, unfortunately, are already all too real — and make them an almost irrefutable part of our state’s consti-tution. Marriage should be about love and spending your life with someone, not whether or not you’ve had enough plastic surgery to meet an arbitrary state definition of “sex.”

Lyra Schneider,Graduate Student ‘15School of Education

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

JAKE BARNARD

DANIELLE JAGELSKI

FOOTBALL

PHOTOS | ANDREW MAAS, ORACLELeft: It took four Augsburg defenders to haul down first-year Austin Duncan on this play. Duncan ran for 47 yards and a touchdown in Hamline’s 48-24 loss to the Auggies on Saturday.Above: Darius Willis leapfrogs over an Augsburg defender.

After a promising start to their season, Hamline football was hoping their home opener – a rare night game at Klas Field – could signal their re-emergence in con-ference play.

Augsburg had other plans.The Auggies were coming off

a last-second Hail Mary victory over Gustavus, a play that the school has dubbed ‘The Miracle in St. Peter.’ They needed no such miracles to beat the Pipers on Sat-urday. A seven-touchdown effort by quarterback Ayrton Scott car-ried Augsburg to a decisive 48-24 victory that spoiled Hamline’s 2012 home debut.

Much like last week, the game got off to a perfect start for the Pipers. Scott fumbled Augsburg’s first play from scrimmage and

junior Derek Wilson recovered it for Hamline at the Augsburg 27-yard line. Four plays later, Hamline was in the end zone on a four yard run by first-year Austin Duncan, which gave them the early 7-0 lead.

After that, Scott took over, scor-ing touchdowns on Augsburg’s next seven possessions. First, Scott tied the game with a 20-yard touchdown run. After senior John Broback gave Hamline the lead back with a 34-yard field goal, Scott put Augsburg on top for the first time with a four-yard strike to Adam Carl.

Sophomore quarterback Kevin Ackerley lost a fumble on the next Hamline possession, and Scott quickly responded with a 12-yard touchdown run that made the score 20-10.

Scott hit Carl for two more touchdowns before the end of the half, and the Auggies entered the locker room with a 34-10 lead.

The Pipers played better in the second half, but couldn’t overcome the steep halftime deficit. Sopho-

more Ryan Ferkinhoff scored from seven yards out on a fourth down play. Back-up quarterback sopho-more Zach Brautigam entered the game in the fourth quarter and threw a 30-yard touchdown to sophomore Joel Riordan to close out the scoring.

Augsburg’s offense was the big story, though. They were liter-ally unstoppable for most of the game, until Scott was lifted for his backup quarterback in the fourth quarter. He ended the game 14-20 for 174 yards and four touchdowns passing along with 163 yards and three more touchdowns rushing. His favorite passing target was Carl, who caught three touch-downs.

Hamline had some success running the ball, with Ferkinhoff and Duncan combining for 124 yards on 22 attempts. Ackerley was mostly stifled by the Augsburg defense, throwing for 57 yards on 11 attempts, running for just 12 yards on 14 attempts, and getting sacked four times.

Brautigam had some more suc-

cess, throwing for 60 yards and a touchdown on 3-of-7 passing after relieving Ackerley late in the game.

Overall, Augsburg racked up 409 yards of offense, compared to 274 for Hamline. Both teams were plagued by penalties throughout the game, combining for 23 of them for 247 yards.

While it wasn’t a memorable game for Hamline’s defense, there were some good individual per-formances. Senior John-Michael Vandenberg had nine solo tackles, including 0.5 for a loss. Junior Patrick Page had four solo tackles, 0.5 tackles for a loss and a fumble recovery.

The win brought Augsburg’s record to 2-0 in MIAC play and 3-0 overall. Along with Concordia, they’re currently sitting at the top of the conference standings as the only 2-0 teams. At 0-2, Hamline is at the bottom of the conference along with Gustavus and Saint John’s.

Hamline will look for their first MIAC win this weekend when they take on Gustavus at 1 p.m.

AROUND THE MIACConcordia 31 Saint John’s 21St. Olaf 17 Gustavus 14Bethel 52 Carleton 7

Games this Saturday:Bethel @ Augsburg 1 p.m.Hamline @ Gustavus 1 p.m.St. Olaf @ Saint John’s 1 p.m.St. Thomas @ Carleton 1:10 p.m.

BY THE NUMBERSAugsburg’s o!ense was too much for Hamline to handle on Saturday. Here are the team statistics from the game.

Hamline Augsburg 24 Points 48 274 Yards 409 157 Rushing yards 234 3.6 Yards per carry 6.3 4.4 Yards per play 7.2 1 Turnovers 2

Pipers have no answer for AuggiesAugsburg’s unstoppable o!ense carries them to a 48-24 win at Klas Field.

Josh Epstein jepstein@hamlineoracle.com

10 Sports The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

MIAC Overall Gustavus 2-0-1 6-1-1St. Thomas 2-0 5-2-2Augsburg 2-1 6-3-1St. Olaf 1-0-1 4-3-1Carleton 1-1 7-1Macalester 1-1 1-6-1Saint John’s 1-1 3-3-2Bethel 1-2 1-7Concordia 1-2 4-4Saint Mary’s 1-2 3-5Hamline 0-3 2-6-1

MIAC MEN’S SOCCER

EDITOR’S DESK

Earlier this season, Giants outfielder Melky Cabrera tested positive for ste-roids and was suspended for the rest of the regular season by Major League Baseball.

At the time of his suspension, Cabrera was one of the National League leaders in batting average. While he sat out due to his suspension, he took the lead in the category and appeared poised to win the batting title despite sitting out much of the year.

Last week, in a clear attempt to help rehabilitate his reputation, Cabrera told MLB he did not want to win the batting title. The league was more than happy to accept his request and not have to deal with the awkwardness of honoring a steroids-positive player.

The problem is, the batting title isn’t some subjective award like Most Valu-able Player or Rookie of the Year. It’s a measurement of what happened on the field: which player got the most hits per at bat.

So to say Melky isn’t the true batting champion is just silly. Those hits hap-pened. His team benefited from them, pitchers were charged with allowing them and they contributed to the Giants’ season.

For MLB to think they can just conve-niently erase events that happened on the field is embarrassing and shameful. This is a sport that is great because of its history — both the good and the bad. Cheaters should not be rewarded, but they also can’t just be ignored.

The Cabrera case sets an ugly prece-dent, particularly as many players from the “steroid era” are becoming Hall of Fame eligible. The league has made many attempts to pretend that the era never existed.

Except it did. We saw it with our own eyes. Attempting to whitewash the past won’t change that. To think otherwise is to insult both the fans and the game itself.

Unfortunately, the Cabrera ruling is one step closer to making similarly ludicrous ideas like putting an asterisk by Barry Bonds’ home-run records a reality.

Instead of trying to fix the past so it looks good for them, MLB should be focused on ensuring it doesn’t happen again in the future.

MLB Tries to Erase History

—JOSH EPSTEIN, ORACLE

Both soccer teams were in action Saturday versus Macalester and had similar results. The men and women each lost dramatic, heartbreaking games in overtime to the Scots.

The men entered their game with Macales-ter still looking for their first MIAC win. After a scoreless first half, the action quickly took off in the second.

Dylan Wong opened the scoring just sec-onds after halftime, notching his first goal of the season with assists from Eric Dodd and Robin Forslund.

The Pipers answered less than five min-utes later, when junior Greg Northrop headed in his second goal of the season to tie the score at one apiece.

That would set the tone for the rest of the game, as the teams continued to play back-and-forth and exchange goals. Macalester took back the lead at 67:20 with a goal by Anthony Calderon.

The Scots continued to hold the lead into the waning minutes, when the Pipers were able to force overtime on a header goal by sophomore Tyler Tallaksen. It was his first goal of the season, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for Hamline.

The first 10-minute overtime period was scoreless, but Macalester was able to score

in the second overtime to win the game, 3-2. After senior Eric Feil made a stop for the Pipers against Forslund, Calderon knocked in the rebound to earn the Scots their first MIAC victory and drop Hamline to 0-3 in MIAC play.

The game was eerily similar to the matchup the women had on the same day. They also fell to Macalester in a back-and-forth contest with many dramatic moments.

The Piper women entered the game with an impressive 5-1-1 record, but were still looking for their first conference win. Addi-tionally, they were seeking their first victory over Macalester in team history.

The team came extremely close, but couldn’t quite hold off the Scots and fell 4-3 in overtime.

The Pipers came out strong, outplaying Macalester in the first half and entering the break with a 2-0 lead. Sophomore Aileen Scheibner scored her team-leading sixth and seventh goals of the season in the early minutes, one six minutes in with an assist from junior Alyssa Koulentis and the other 13 minutes in off a feed from junior Christine Nalepka.

But Macalester stormed back after the break, cutting into the lead with a goal in the opening moments of the second half. Georgia Cloepfil scored her eighth goal of the season at 45:58 with an assist from Izzi Speer.

Nearly 10 minutes later, Macalester tied the game when Emily Humphreys fired a 20-foot shot past the Hamline goalkeeper, junior Molly Jacobs.

The game remained knotted up until the dramatic final minutes of regulation. Macal-ester took their first lead of the game with under five minutes left when Lydia Chodosh

scored her second goal of the season. That left the Pipers on the ropes with little time remaining.

However, Hamline was able to pull off the miraculous tie, when sophomore Jordan Sammons scored with a header on a corner kick. That forced another Hamline/Macales-ter overtime, and the outcome turned out the same.

A Hamline own goal gave the Scots the victory, dropping Hamline’s MIAC record to 0-2-1 (5-2-1 overall).

Next up for both teams are matchups with St. Olaf. The women play at home today at 3:30 p.m. while the men will play tomorrow at St. Olaf at 4:00 p.m.

Scots prevail in thrillers

Josh Epstein jepstein@hamlineoracle.com

PHOTOS | ANDREW MAAS, ORACLE

First-year Jake Blair (top) looks down as he hangs on to the climbing walls and sophomore David Rawlins hangs upside down at the inaugural climb for the RockStar rock-climbing club at Vertical Endeavors.

ROCK CLIMBING

SOCCER

Both Hamline soccer teams are narrowly defeated in entertaining overtime thrillers against Macalester.

MIAC WOMEN’S SOCCER MIAC OVERALLSt. Thomas 3-0 4-3Concordia 2-1 4-2-1Macalester 2-1 5-3Saint Benedict 2-1 3-2-2St. Catherine 2-1 6-2St. Olaf 2-1 4-3-1Bethel 1-1-1 3-4-2Augsburg 1-2 5-3Carleton 1-2 5-3-1Gustavus 1-2 3-4Hamline 0-2-1 5-2-1Saint Mary’s 0-3 0-8

Sports 11The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

HAMLINE ROCKSTARSThe Hamline RockStar group meets every Thurs-day in Starbucks at the Anderson Center. They go on climbs at both indoor and outdoor areas.

For more information, contact Lane Manke or Michael Jon Hayden:

jmanke01@hamlineuniversity.edu

mhayden03@hamlineuniversity.edu

12 Local

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The Oracle | TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION| LAURA KAISER, ORACLE

SEASONS

DFHSDHDSFHDSFHSDH Apple O

rchards you should try

Rose-lawn Stables

They have: Pumpkins, Horse-drawn hayrides, pony

rides and a petting zoo

Location: 24069 Rum River Blvd., Saint Francis, MN 55070

Phone: 763-753-5517

Exotic Pumpkins

They have: Pumpkin patch

Location: 2632 176th Ave. N.W., Andover, MN 55304.

Phone: 763-753-3120

Berry Hill FarmThey have: Raspberries and

pumpkins

Location: 6510 185th Ave. N.W, Anoka, MN 55303

Phone: 763- 753-5891

Eveland Family Farm

They have: Pumpkins, hayrides, a corn maze and animals

Location: 2575 Andover Blvd., Andover, MN 55304

Phone: 763-755-5123

Packer Family Farms

They have: Pesticide-free pumpkins and fall festivals

Location: 16029 Round Lake Blvd., Andover, MN 55304

Phone: 763-427-7207

Novak’s Orchard, LLC

Location:4460 Woodlane Dr.,

Woodbury, MN 55129

Phone:(651) 459-6290

Aamodt’s Apple Farm

Location:6428 Manning Ave. N., Stillwater, MN 55082

Phone:(651) 439-3127

M i n n e t o n k a Orchards

Location:6530 Ct. Rd. 26

Minnetrista, MN 55364

Phone:(763) 479-6530

Victoria Valley Orchard

Location: 4304 N. Victoria St. N.,Shoreview, MN 55126

Phone:(651) 484-4500

Orchard Hill

Location:131 Wentworth Ave. W.,West St. Paul, MN 55118

Phone:(651) 457-2321

— COMPILED BY JENA FELSHEIM

Fun

fallActivities