Summary: | 3 theconcordian.org • March 10, 2016 THE CONCORDIAN SUBMITTED BY SARA WATSON CURRY sara@greatridesfargo.com Great Rides Bike Share Announces Launch for 2016 season. Great Rides Bike Share is gearing up for its return on to downtown Fargo and NDSU campuses slightly ahead of its anticipated April to November season. Station installations will start next week and organizers plan to have bikes deployed on March 27. Stations and bikes have been in hibernation since early November of 2015 after the close of a successful inaugural year for North Dakota’s first technology-based bike share, which had over 143,000 trips. Great Rides’ fleet of 100 bicycles are available for short term checkout at 11 locations across downtown Fargo and across NDSU campuses. Great Rides leads the nation as the first bike sharing system that has integrated student riders, with enthusiastic Bison riders accessing the system by enrolling into the program with their student ID. Community members and visitors can access the system by purchasing a Guest Pass at the touchscreen kiosk at each station with a credit card. Participants can purchase monthly or annual membership online and get quick access to check outs with their custom membership card or credit card. Want a sneak peek of the tuned up fleet? Check out the St. Patrick’s Day Parade this Saturday on Broadway starting at 1 p.m. and look for the green 3 speeds ridden by community supports and champions pedaling the route. Post-parade, the fleet will gather at Great Northern Bicycle Company, located at 425 Broadway in Fargo. More details can be found on the website at www.greatridesbikeshare.com. Further questions, please contact: Sara Watson Curry Director of Operations, Great Rides Fargo 425 Broadway N Fargo ND 58102 701-280-1202 Great Rides bike share press release BY EMELY KRANSVIK ekransvi@cord.edu Concordia has put in extra effort this year to boost interest in summer school by offering brand-new classes, flexible online options and a large selection of courses. This summer, Concordia will offer over 100 classes, the largest number of summer classes the college has ever offered. Dr. Cynthia Carver, chair of Division of Professional Programs at Concordia, said that the number of online classes, accelerated classes and summer-only classes, have doubled from last year. She said she has noticed that students actively discuss summer school, and is excited to see the enrollment numbers after registration is complete. “I’ll be surprised if we don’t see at least the same level of interest from last year,” Carver said. “Last year was the first year we made a really concerted effort to reinvigorate summer school.” Several summers ago, President William Craft put together the New Programs Group and asked Carver to be the chair of it. Faculty and administrators serving on the group were looking at what kinds of programs the college would want to get involved with. “One of the major [ideas] that emerged was reinvigorating summer school for the benefit of our students, because we think there really are a lot of benefits,” Carver said. Some benefits of summer school are the possibility of adding a major or minor, having more time to focus on a particularly challenging or interesting class and the potential to graduate early, Carver said. Also, according to Carver, a lot of students want to take online classes because they understand that employers want to see students who have done some learning in an online environment, because much of the training and development in companies happens online. “I think the biggest thing that has held summer school back has been the lack of flexibility,” Carver said. “Students feel the need to get out there and start summer jobs and internships, and oftentimes they’re anxious to get home.” However, online classes now give students the flexibility to be anywhere, and sometimes allow them to work at a pace that suits them. Carver said she has been working to increase student interest by offering more classes, cooperating with SGA and engaging more professors. “There are many new and different things that [faculty] could do during the summer that they’re not able to do during the school year,” Carver said. For instance, English professor Dr. Amy Watkin will teach one of two classes on Harry Potter for the first time this summer. “I offered to teach it because I love Harry Potter,” Watkin said. “I’m also very interested in pop culture, popular fiction and the divide between the classic stuff that we feel like we’re supposed to study and the fun stuff that we’re not supposed to study for some reason, and Harry Potter bridges that gap in some interesting ways.” In addition to Watkin’s class, results of SGA’s initiative are the courses “Psychology and Neuroscience of Sleep” with Dr. Mikel Olson, “Psychology of Sexuality” with Dr. Philip Lemaster and “Harry Potter: Liberal Arts for Wizards and Muggles” with Dr. Dawn Duncan. According to Watkin, the student interest in the Harry Potter courses seems to be high. Hopefully, the course can be offered on later occasions as well. “The dream would be that one day the course would also travel to London and visit Harry Potter studios,” Watkin said. “But we’ll see how it goes this year.” Watkin’s course “Harry Potter: Champion of Pop Culture” is a result of students’ votes on new summer classes. Students had the opportunity to submit ideas for new classes to SGA President Tanner Knutson. “The purpose was to create some new classes, but I think the bigger purpose was to create some excitement around summer classes,” Knutson said. “It was really fun to get all these students’ input on what they would like to see.” Concordia adds new summer school courses, online options SUBMITTED BY JAMES HARVEY jharvey2@cord.edu New downtown Fargo establishment BernBaum’s carries on the tradition of the Jewish New York deli, offering the classics one can expect like bagels, pickled fish, cured meats and … hotdogs? Fargo natives Andrea Baumgardner along with business partner and husband Brett Bernath said their new bagel shop, which is located at 115 Roberts St. N, will not be just an imitation of New York restaurants. It will be uniquely influenced by their own cultural heritage, including culinary features of Germany, Poland, Scandinavia and greater Eastern Europe. “So it’s not going to be a classic Jewish deli,” Bernath said. Of the menu’s Scandinavian inspirations, Iceland’s cuisine appears prominently, beginning with the country’s distinct variation on the hotdog. “Iceland is serious about their hotdogs,” Baumgardner said. “They’re made with lamb.” According to Baumgardner, typical toppings are pickled cucumbers, sauerkraut and mustard. In addition to the aforementioned standbys and the hotdog, the shop will also offer baked goods, like kleinur, an Icelandic doughnut, and pönnukökur, an Icelandic crêpe. Baumgardner said the additional focus on Scandinavian food is not at odds with the traditional offering. She said their goal is to capture the overlap between the two cultures. This means the menu will cover everything from pickled fish and vegetables to cured and smoked meats and fishes to brown and rye breads. “A lot of piquant flavors,” Bernath said. “And then the hearty soups,” Baumgardner adds. She said their soups will comprise the standard matzah ball as well as some of their own creations. She also said they’ll offer a variety of salads. Knowingly veering from the shop’s otherwise culturally influenced menu, she said the salads are a “personal infusion,” and that they came from the simple desire to offer “a good, interesting salad.” Baumgardner is known in Fargo for her successful collaborations with the Hotel Donaldson’s HoDo Restaurant & Lounge, as well the establishment (now closed) owned by her and Bernath, Green Market Kitchen. Fans of Baumgardner’s previous work will undoubtedly compose some of the new clientele. BernBaum’s is setting up shop inside Bernath’s Fargo furniture store, Mid Mod Madhaus, which specializes in mid-century décor. Bernath said the idea occurred to them when he tried to find someone to rent space in the shop. “It became obvious to me that I was having a challenge filling the square footage,” Bernath said. “I couldn’t find the stuff I wanted to fill the space, so I was considering renting out to another — somehow finding someone else to help pitch in, and — ” “Just happened to live with her,” Baumgardner said. “To be honest, it was a practical decision,” she continued, “but what’s interesting is . when you to go to those New York delis . and you go to Katz’s, or you go to Russ & Daughters . there is a connection between mid-century and Jewish delis too. It wasn’t what inspired us, but it just happens to be a serendipitous sort of connection.” Given BernBaum’s’ nature as a hole-in-the-wall kind of shop, one might get the impression that the store is only going to appeal to a specific, somewhat exclusive audience. Baumgardner jokingly said that she doesn’t want to scare anybody off. “I mean, it’s pretty hard to not like a bagel,” she says. Despite the menu heavily featuring meat and fish, Baumgardner says vegetarians in particular will be able to take refuge in the restaurant. Referring back to the specialized salads she mentioned, she emphasizes that there will be options for vegetarians and vegans. Baumgardner concluded, saying she hopes to bring back the students and faculty of Fargo-Moorhead’s universities. “They were a big part of Green Market, so hopefully they’ll come back,” she said. “I would love to have them back. They’re great people.” BernBaum’s opens March 9th inside Mid Mod Madhaus at 115 Roberts St. N in downtown Fargo. It will be open weekly Wednesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. JAMES HARVEY A plateful of BernBaum’s traditional Jewish New York deli bagels. New Fargo deli, traditional foods Have a story you want to submit to the Concordian? Send it to concord.cord.edu SUBMITTED Below: Example bike share rack located in Downtown Fargo.
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