Echo V 104 I 15 March 19, 1998

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AUGSBURG COLLEGE LIBRARY
MiNNFftPOUS. MN55454 I
March 19, 1998
Volume 104
Issue   15
In this issue:
Stupid Americans?, page 2
Professor Richard Nelson, page 3
Augsburg Music: Lazy Jake, page 3
Aaron Reviews "Big Lebowski", page 5
Spring Sports Schedule, page 8
In Dialogue for
the Children
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Emily Chen/Echo
Last Thursday, at the symposium entitled In Dialogue for Our
Children: Violence and Community Responsibility, representatives of the following aspects of community participated in
a panel discussion: business, social services, philanthropic,
health care, law, and education.
Graffiti Wall Vandalized
Racist, sexist, heterosexist, and other offensive comments were
written on ASIA's Diversity Week project
by Adam Roesch
Co-Editor in Chief
Sometime before last week
Tuesday, someone defaced Diversity Week's graffiti wall with
offensive language. More vandalism continued throughout the
week.
Most of the vandalism
occurred to a part of the wall on
which ASIA members had written, "We're here and we're queer.
Deal with it! BAGLS."
The first vandalism to this area
of the wall appeared sometime on
Monday and blamed homosexuality for the AIDS problem: "Who
pays when you all get AIDS?"
In response to this, more comments were written on this area of
the wall, several refuting the original comment, others using slurs
and agreeing with the first.
Alpha Chi Inducts New Members
by Jennifer Rensenbrink
Co-Editor in Chief	
Tuesday night, 31 Augsburg
students were inducted into the
Minnesota Beta Chapter of Alpha
Chi, an organization that honors
college and university students for
academic excellence and character.
The evening began with entertainment from Jennifer Grimm
and Stephen Olmstad, followed
by a description of what Alpha
Chi is by Jeanne Barrett and Mary
Waltz, Alumni Officers of Augsburg's chapter. The candidates
who were present were inducted
following a short speech by Academic Dean Marie McNeff.
The following Augsburg students were initiated into the society: Andri Andriambololona,
Stephen Arsenault, Peggy Banks,
Doreen Bondy, Nolan Cook, Kim-
berly Denyes, Rebecca Duchow,
Jennifer Duis, Amy Eelkema,
Joan Game, Christa Hassman,
Wilbur Hill, Kristin Hillukka, Joel
Howe, Douglas Johnson, Erik
C.B. Johnson, Marisa Krause,
Janice Krieg-Pavlicek, Teri L.
Larsen, Linda Lippitt, Paola Mur-
cia, Debra Murphy, Anne Oakley,
Emilijan Obradovic, Laura Pejsa,
Kaia Peters, Jill Ruprecht, Lori
Schneider, Renata Topicova, Kim-
berly Vappie, and Jim Webber.
Later in the evening, after dinner and more musical entertainment, a welcome was given by
President Frame. Ida Simon, who
is the Vice President for Advancement and Community Relations,
gave the keynote address.
In order to qualify for Alpha
Chi, students must show determination, leadership, intelligence,
and integrity through both academic excellence and character. At
Augsburg, students from the top
10% of the senior class and top
News Briefs:
The Nation, The World
5% of the junior class are eligible.
Augsburg's chapter of Alpha
Chi, led by Deb Hutterer, keeps
very active at the college and in
the community. In the past year,
the group helped out at "Singles'
Night Out," an event at St. Martin's Table for single parents from
the Cedar Riverside Community.
Alpha Chi also helped coordinate
President Frame's inaugural procession last fall and volunteered at
the Augsburg Youth Congregational League Tournament this
March.
In 1922, the first Alpha Chi
Society began as a scholarship
association for Texas Class A colleges. It has now grown to a
nationwide organization with 300
chapters. The Alpha Chi chapter
at Augsburg was established in
1984.
Alpha and Chi, "A and X," are
the first letters of the Greek words
Aletheia and Charakter, which
mean truth and character. The
society also shares the same motto
with Augsburg, from John 8:32;
"Ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free."
Peace in Northern Ireland
President Clinton urged Irish leaders in a meeting
Tuesday not to squander "the chance of a lifetime" for peace in Northern Ireland. The British
and Irish governments hope all-party talks that
began last September may begin a settlement by
Easter, ending three decades of conflict in the
British-ruled province that has claimed more than
3,200 lives. Major points to be discussed include
creating some form of Northern Ireland assembly,
the nature of North-South institutions to aid cross-
border cooperation, and changes to Irish constitutional references on uniting the island.
Dr. Spock dies
Dr. Benjamin Spock, the pediatrician whose common sense theories of child care influenced millions of parents in the United States and around
the world, died at age 94 at his California home on
Sunday. Spock's "Baby and Child Care," first
published in 1946, will go into its seventh updated
edition on May 2. It has become the world's best-
selling nonfiction publication after the Bible, with
over 50 million copies in print.
Jewish-Catholic Relations
More than a decade after it was originally proposed, the Vatican said Saturday it will release a
document on the Holocaust — a move aimed at
healing Jewish-Catholic relations. In 1987, Jewish
representatives met with Pope John Paul II to discuss the Holocaust. Stemming from that meeting,
the Vatican planned to publish a major document
dealing with anti-Semitism and the genocide of
European Jews in World War II. The last landmark Vatican document on Jewish relations was
released in 1965.
Teacher Pregnant by Student
Mary Kay LeToumeau, the former Washington
state teacher convicted of raping a male student, is
pregnant, the Seattle Post reported Sunday.
LeToumeau believes the boy, 14, is the father.
"She is absolutely giddy," a source said.
LeToumeau, 35, had a daughter by the same boy
last year. In January, she pleaded guilty to second-
degree rape and received a suspended sentence.
She was imprisoned a month later after she violated her parole by meeting with the boy.
One person gave statistics in
to support their disagreement
with the original comment,
"Actually, AIDS is growing
fastest among straight white rural
women [aged] 18-24." To this,
another responded "Thanks to
Bi's."
In addition to this vandalism
of the wall, there were many
other comments written on the
wall. Some used offensive words
in references to body parts and
bestiality. Other comments were
in support of the original content
of the wall.
Early Monday afternoon, students Aaron Gabriel and Ann
Matthews removed the BAGLS-
related part of the wall and
brought it to Associate Dean for
Student Affairs Kathy Swanson.
Gabriel said that they did it "So it
would be brought to the attention
of the administration."
Swanson said that she was
"disappointed that Augsburg students did this." She is going to
bring the information to the other
deans to decide what action
should be taken next.
The graffiti wall was sponsored by Augsburg Students for
Intellectual Awareness (ASIA) as
part of their annual Diversity
Week.
ASIA co-president Matt Mil-
less commented, "I think it's
childish.... I think it proves we do
still have issues ... that we need to
work on as a campus community.
It's one thing for people to have
their opinions but it's another for
them to deface something with
them."
See page 2 for an
opinion on this issue.
EDITORS' NOTE: President Frame wrote the following response
in an attempt to clear up some concerns raised by last week's article about Augsburg's finances. Because the editors feel this is an
important issue for many students, we will print as much information about it as possible.
Augsburg's Budget
Not in a Crisis
by President Bill Frame
Contributor	
Augsburg College is not at all in the dire financial shape suggested by the article in last week's Echo. (Part of the inference is
my fault; I didn't take time to answer a pre-publication inquiry
from the newspaper. I was on the road talking to alumni about
our initiatives.)
Last year the College built and opened the new Lindell
Library, and—for nearly three decades—it has has operated successfully within the limits of its budgets. But that success was
bought at a price: Our salaries have fallen behind those paid our
colleagues in similar institutions, and we have not spent as heavily as we ought on the maintenance of our campus and its buildings.
We've got to catch up on these things, and we can't do it by
recruiting more students alone. Our financial aid costs are rising
faster than our price increases, and so our net price is actually
falling on a per-student basis. We've got to improve our operating efficiencies by withdrawing our investments from programs
or activities that are marginal to our mission and investing,
instead, in activities and programs that are integral to our purpose and profitable. We must also seek greater financial support
from our alumni and friends.
As Dean McNeff stated in article, projected revenues will
simply not permit us to continue current spending levels without
incurring further slippage. And, as many small, liberal arts,
church-related colleges, Augsburg does not enjoy a large reservoir of endowment funds from which to draw additional operating monies.
In raising Augsburg's reputation, we must upgrade salaries of
faculty and staff, continue to increase the level of financial aid to
students, and upgrade the appearance and condition of our classrooms, dormitories, and campus properties. In biting the bullet to
pay for this, we also must actively seek additional sources of revenue for the College, as well as examine across the board where
current resources could be reallocated to serve programs essential to the College's mission.
Members of the five commissions are working hard to identify what is distinctive about Augsburg and central to its mission.
Alongside this process, the Faculty Senate, in conjunction with
the Staff Personnel Committee, has been asked to identify criteria that would help evaluate those programs that are most essential to the Augsburg curriculum and operation.
Nothing will be decided lightly. We will, however, make decisions that will enable the College to continue to provide the education we set out and to support all who study, teach, and work
here. We hope you join us in this journey.