Echo, V 113, I 05, October 20, 2006

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CHO
Inauguration is today, 2 p.m.    The College's Student-Produced Newspaper
~ Volume CX1II, Issue 5
Women's soccer
holds playoff
hopes in their
own hands
Sports, Page 6
Friday, October 20, 2006
Minneapolis, Minnesota
VP of finance and controller
asked to step down
Jenessa Stark
Opinions Editor
Without a de nitive plan for
the restructuring of the department, President Pribbenow asked
Vice President of Finance and
Administration Richard Adamson
and the department's Controller
Jeffrey Swenson, both 17-year
employees of the college, to step
down last week.
Though Pribbenow cited
his Common Work initiative and
a lack of the type of leadership
needed to bring the college into
the future as the main reasons for
the changes, he confirmed that
there is no plan as of yet for a new
model of the department, and said
a national search will be conducted
to   11 the two positions.
Swenson s last day in the department is Oct. 31 and Adamson
will step down as Vice President
and Chief Financial Officer on
Nov. 30.
"I'm not questioning their
[Adamson and Swenson's] technical abilities, but more if their skills
are being used in a way to lead,"
Pribbenow said in an interview.
"Which is more than the ability to
make an Excel spread sheet...it's
about more than technical skills at
that point."
In an email to the faculty on
Oct. 14, Pribbenow wrote that the
new nancial model will be "strategic, integrated and nimble—in
keeping with Augsburg's mission
and entrepreneurial spirit." No
immediate plans for restructuring
were cited.
When asked about the impact of these terminations on the
community, Pribbenow stressed
in the interview that the college
is not only a community, but an
organization as well. And as such,
he said, actions must be taken
that are in the best interest of the
institution, in order to manage the
resources of the college in the most
ef cient way possible and attend to
the needs of the college's future.
"If I was only concerned about
the community, I would say that I
couldn't change anything because
someone is going to get hurt,"
Pribbenow said.
However, Pribbenow feels a
duty to adjust the college's structure and function in relation to the
See VP, Page 2
Keith Ellison, Minnesota candidate for the House of Representatives, spoke Tuesday to a group of
students. Ellisons visit was organized by the College Democrats.
Ellison speaks on Iraq war,
heathcare, rights and voting
Curtiss Schreiber
Copy Editor
Discussing the war in Iraq,
healthcare, workers' rights, and
voting policy, Keith Ellison. Minnesota's democratic candidate for
the House of Representatives, impressed upon students and faculty
the importance of the upcoming
midterm elections.
"This election is going to be
historic," Ellison said. "It is vitally
important."
Invited to campus by the
Augsburg College Democrats.
Ellison put forth his views on
several issues that he feels are most
rele\ ant for the American people
to consider in this election during
a speech on Oct. 17.
First, Ellison emphasized the
failure of the current administration in handling the conflict in
Iraq.
"Here we are in 2006. stuck
in a quagmire," Ellison said. He
expressed his dissatisfaction with
the lack of transparency in the
Bush administration, questioning
the motives behind the war.
"Thousands of mothers and
fathers out there deserve to know
what their sons gave their lives
for," Ellison said.
When asked later in the presentation about his own views on
the United States' role in foreign
con icts, Ellison explained that
Americans ought to promote peace
abroad.
"Our foreign policy should al
ways be diplomacy," Ellison said.
He did not, however, describe himself as a paci st. He recognized the
necessity of force in certain cases,
but only after other options have
been exhausted.
Turning to domestic policy,
Ellison identi ed problems with
national Healthcare, particularly
affecting the elderly.
"I think our seniors are important," Ellison said. "I think we
need a prescription drug plan that
makes sense for them."
He noted that the current plan
only protects seniors up to a certain
cost: after that, they are on their
own. This often is insuf cient to
cover their medical needs.
In addition to healthcare, El-
See ELLISON, Page 3
Ages of inauguration
usher in new leader
Katie LaGrave
News Editor
Paul Pribbenow, Augsburg's
eleventh president, will be inaugurated today at 2 p.m. in a ceremony
in Si Melby Hall, the culmination
of four days of activities focused
around the new president and his
era at Augsburg.
Ages of Imagination, the
inauguration theme for the weekend, is taken from the poem "The
Marriage of Heaven and Hell" by
William Blake, which envisions
limitless dreams made possible by
the power of belief. Pribbenow's
emphasis for his term is putting
vision into action and he hopes
that the inauguration will spark
conversation about the future plans
for the College.
" [The inauguration] is a way
to invite the rest of the community
into that conversation," said Pribbenow.
Through his inauguration and
during his term, Pribbenow hopes
to re-emphasize and re-evaluate
how Augsburg de nes itself.
In an age where many demographic shifts are occurring in colleges, including a growing number
of students of color and non-traditional students, Pribbenow says
that he is faced with partnering
these shifts with Augsburg's efforts to remain true to its core
liberal values.
"We must be mindful of the
fact that we need to like the idea of
change, and not just how it looks,"
said Pribbenow
By recognizing the need for
change in the College, Pribbenow
hopes that vision for the College
is put into action.
"We need to make sure that
the promises we made get kept,"
said Pribbenow.
Drawing from the Blake
poem, the president and the inauguration planners have identi ed
See AGES, Page 2
Quit to win in CCHP-
sponsored program
Katie LaGrave
News Editor
In conjunction with Boynton
Health Services and the University
of Minnesota, Augsburg is offering
smokers an opportunity to kick the
habit and earn a bit of money at the
same time.
In a contest open to all Augsburg students (part-time or full-
time) , staff, or faculty, contestants
who have smoked ten or more
days per month for the past year
are eligible to win up to $3000
dollars in gift certi cates if they
give up smoking for the month of
November.
"This contest is important to
the Augsburg community because
we have a higher than average
smoking rate to some other private
colleges in the Metro area," said
Dianne Detloff, Center for Counseling & Health Promotion.
Of all of the students surveyed
at Augsburg, 35.7 percent reported
that they are current tobacco users,
while the current tobacco use rate
for the reference group (based on
other private institutions who participated in the survey) was 22.3
percent.
Males at Augsburg reported
a 37.5 percent current tobacco
use, compared to 31.9 percent for
females.
Participants must select a
smoke-free friend as their contest
partner. Other rules require that
contestants submit pre-and post
urine samples (to verify honesty)
and that they answer a post-contest.
Winners will be able to choose
gift certi cates from a combina
tion of any of the following stores:
Target, Best Buy, Macy's, Home
Depot, IKEA, The Apple Store,
Tiffany & Co., Sports Author
ity, Midwest Mountaineering, or
Cabela's.
A student from each of the
eight participating schools will
win.
For students, one $3,000
grand prize, one $1,000 second
place prize, two $500 third place
prizes, four $ 100 runner-up pi i/('s.
and one $300 smoke-free friend
prize is offered.
For staff and faculty, one
$3,000 grand prize, one $1,000
second place prize, one $500 third
place prize, and one $300 smoke-
free friend prize is offered.
Potential prize winners will
be randomly selected from participants who indicate on the fol
low-up survey that they remained
smoke free for the entire month.
Those selected will then be asked
to submit a second urine specimen
for lab veri cation of their smoke
free status.
Final prize winners will be
randomly drawn from those who
submitted the second urine test.
Final prize winners will be not i ed
by Dec. 13.
Not only is this a way to quit
smoking and to win prizes, but
Detloff also stressed that "Most
of all, the bene t is that Augsburg
will hopefully have a larger group
of smoke-free faculty, staff and
See QUIT, Page 3
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