Echo, V 114, I 08, November 30, 2007

              A Farewell to
Bethany Bierman,
page 2
Augsburg College
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"I'm not there;
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Echo
The College's Student-Produced Newspaper
Friday, November 30, 2007
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Volume CXIV, Issue 8
School of Americas
protesters return
Farewell for one of
Augsburg's finest
In protest of the School of the
Americas, a group of Augsburg
students traveled to Fort Benning,
Ga., the weekend of the Nov.
16. Seventeen students and three
adults, one of whom was an Augsburg staff member, participated in
the event.
The School of the Americas, now known as the Western
Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (or WHINSEC),
trains Latin American soldiers in
war tactics that have been used to
inflict brutality on Latin American
citizens.
SOA graduates have been
accused of participating in rape,
torture, massacre, kidnapping,
assassination and other terrorist
actions.
This was the first year that an
Augsburg group had officially participated in the protest, receiving
money from student government.
Wearing shirts that read "Ya
Basta," which means "Enough
already" in Spanish, Augsburg
students went for different reasons
and returned with different feel-
Renee Van Siclen
Staff Writer
ings.
Senior Haley Bower stated
that she went on the trip because
of certain experiences she had
while studying abroad in Central
America last semester, where she
visited a lot of sites related to those
that had been killed as victims of
those who had attended the School
of the Americas.
While it was her first time
attending the protest, Bower left
with mixed emotions.
"It was a very emotional experience, but it was also very powerful to see so many people coming
together for the same reason," she
said.
While senior Emily Jensen
agreed with Bower's sentiments,
she felt it was important to go to
the protest for additional reasons,
saying she felt it was important
both for Augsburg students and
U.S. citizens to demonstrate disapproval for the ways that the U.S.
government chooses to spend its
money and tax dollars.
The event opened on Saturday,
Nov. 17 with information sessions,
tabling by various activist groups
and panel discussions.
Protesters could go to the
tables of the different groups to
learn more about the groups and
their causes, and it provided the
groups with ihe chance to network
with each other.
The vigil took place on Sunday, Nov. 18, starting at 7:15 a.m.
with a march to the entrance of the
training facility by Veterans for
Peace and its supporters.
There followed an array of
activities hosted outside the gates
of the SOA, including speakers,
benefit concerts, and even puppet
shows presented by a group called
Cardboard Chaos.
A funeral procession commemorated those who have died
because of the violence spread by
SOA trainees.
Many participants dressed in
black robes and painted their faces
white in a dramatic statement.
Others carried white crosses in
memory of the dead. From on-
See SOA, Page 2
Advent Vespers begins tonight
David Mott
Staff Writer
Today marks the start of the
28th annual Advent Vespers celebration at Central Lutheran Church
in downtown Minneapolis.
With services today at 5:00
and 8:00 p.m., and two more
at those same times tomorrow,
Augsburg will join with its community to herald in the Christmas
season.
The event has been fully
booked, so those looking to attend will need to bring thei seating
envelope. Suggested donations of
$ 10 per person or $25 per family
will be collected at the door.
Those looking to attend can
also bring canned goods, which
will be collected at the door and
distributed to local food banks.
Every year, the ceremony
is given a theme relevant to the
holiday season ahead.
This year's theme is, "That All
May Have Light."
Associate Professor of music
and Director of choral activities
Peter Hendrickson explained the
origins of this theme.
"The idea was taken from
a Cameroon hymn, 'He Came
Down', the verses are 'He came
down that we may have truth, love,
joy and peace', all thematic ideas
pertinent to the advent Christmas
story."
Each of the four services is
expected to receive approximately
2,000 people and will be led by
nearly 300 performers. The Augsburg Choir, Masterwork Chorale,
*+i-i
I 11 IT
Riverside Singers, and Cedar
Singers are four different groups
scheduled to participate. Liturgists
and the 40-piece Vespers Orchestra
will be joining in as well. All told,
more than 8,000 people will pass
through the doors of the Central
Lutheran Church in a twenty-four
hour period.
Hendrickson, who will be
serving as the artistic director for
the Advent Vespers this year, outlined the musical program for the
service:
"Music this year is internationally eclectic including pieces
that originate from Poland, Ireland, Trinidad, the Cameroon,
Russia, and more," Hendrickson
said. "One of the featured mass
choir numbers is the last section
of Ralph Vaughan Williams' grand
piece, 'Dona Nobis Pacem', which
is Latin for grant us peace.
"Probably one of the most
poignant moments in the services
comes at the end when the sanctuary's lights are dimmed and the
participants ring the entire sanctuary with candles, singing 'Silent
Night.'"
In 2004 Twin Cities Public
Television broadcast the Advent
Vespers services on the event's
25th anniversary. Their coverage
earned them a regional Emmy
award in the live direction category. This served to further the
solid reputation of the station as
well as provide testament to the
high quality of the event itself.
Michelle Richter
Staff Writer
Former Augsburg student and
chair of the Music Department,
Leland Sateren passed away on
Nov. 10. He was 94.
On Saturday, Nov. 17, a memorial service was held for Leland
Sateren in Hoversten Chapel. Approximately 500 people were in
attendance to honor Sateren. Of
those in attendance, over 100 were
former members of the Augsburg
Choir as well has many other
colleagues from the choral music
community.
Sateren was the Director of
the Augsburg Choir until he retired
in 1979.
The current Augsburg Choir,
under the direction of Peter Hendrickson, performed three of Sa-
teren's best-known works. These
included "Thy Truth Within,"
which was the opening piece
in most of Sateren's concerts at
Augsburg, "His Compassion Fail
Not," perhaps his most sung and
most beloved piece, and "Day of
Pentecost: V. Prayer." The latter
was the final movement in the
piece "Day of Pentecost" which
Sateren considered to be one of
his best works, according to Peter
Hendrickson.
The songs were picked out by
Leland's wife Pauline Sateren and
Hendrickson.
"It was really moving, despite
not knowing him, but knowing his
legacy," junior Cassie Sanders,
business administration, said of
the service.
To compliment the choral
songs, many of Sateren's closest friends and colleagues spoke
about his impact on the Augsburg
Community and about their fond
memories of him.
Hendrickson said that Pastor
Dave Wold and President Paul
Pribbenow participated in the
service.
Others included Philip Quan-
beck II, a professor colleague,
Gracia Grindal, an alumna of
the Augsburg Choir and professor at Luther Seminary, Michael
Walgren, a relative of Sateren
and manager of music ensembles
under him, and William Halvorsen
with whom Sateren collaborated
in writing about Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.
"All had the common theme
of his dedication to vocal perfection and his life as a composer,"
Robert Stacke, associate professor
of music at Augsburg, said of the
speakers.
The Metropolitan Boy's Choir
(MBC) also sang in honor of Sateren.
According to Hendrickson,
the MBC director, Bea Hasselman
and her husband Ron Hasselman
were very close friends to Leland
and Pauline Sateren.
Sateren graduated with a
bachelor's degree in music and biology from Augsburg in 1935 and
then returned as faculty in 1946.
In his lifetime, Sateren composed
over 400 pieces and authored two
books, The New Song Book and
Cantate Domino.
"His influence has impacted
the choral music field all over the
world, both as a conductor and as
a composer," Dale Warland of the
Dale Warland Singers said in an
interview with the Star Tribune.
"Amongst the music faculty
Trudi Anderson, Merilee Klemp,
Peter Hendrickson, Stephen Ga-
brielson, and I all had him as a
teacher," Stacke said. "He was a
wonderful teacher who demanded
the best of his students. He gave so
many people so much in his teaching of the passion of music. He will
always be one of my giants."
Life at Augsburg I Fermat's last theorem
Caleb Williams ECHO
Evan Fuhs and Jim Berg listen to a video about Fermat's last
theorem at the math department's colloquium Nov. 28 in Oren
114. Math Professor Kenneth Kaminsky moderated the event.