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• Language: unknown
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: Rasmussen; Dent; Todd; Meier; Proval; Ramstad; sami
• Online Access: http://cdm16921.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16921coll4/id/7527

The four hybrids that Concordia has recently added to its fleet. exams in the am. u ft a beaches in the p.m. Non-Stop Jet Service from Fargo Allegiant Las Vegas Orlando Phoenix-Mesa Los Angeles Delta Salt Lake City Frontier Denver Northwest Twin Cities United Chicago Denver Fly FAR. Fly Fargo. Call your local travel agent for details. Competitive fares, Convenient passenger drop-off and pick-up. °Affordable parking. Easy access to baggage. ° Up-to-date flight information for all Fargo flights available online. Ragistarto win a free luggage sat at www.fargoairportoom/springbrask --r Invest In Yourself And In Your Future. Regionally Accredited Rasmussen College offers degrees in: Allied Health • Business • Nursing Criminal Justice • Education Technology and Design It's never too littt • Financial Aid Available to Those Who Qualify • Online, Day and Evening Classes •Career Placement Services • Currently Enrolling www.LearnAtas.co A A A 800-350-3183 RASMUSSEN COLLEGE Fargo Campus Moorhead Campus 4012 19th Avenue SW 1280 29th Avenue South Fargo, ND 58103 Moorhead, MN 56580 Not an programs offered at both campuses, 4 DECEMBER 4, 2009 NEWS the CON CO RD IAN Concordia adds four hybrids to its fleet of rental vehicles BY LEIF STAVIG Staff Writer In order to support an agenda that is more environ-mentally friendly, Concor dia has purchased four new hybrid vehicles to add to its fleet of vehicles. Erik Ramstad, assistant director of Facilities Servic-es, was part of the decision-making progress in the pur-chasing of the new vehicles. He has been watching the hybrid vehicle industry close-ly over the last few years in hopes of purchasing them to achieve Concordia's goals of sustainability: In the fall of last year, Ramstad began looking for hybrids to purchase for Con-cordia. He did research by looking at different ratings and data on hybrid vehicles, trying to discern if they were a good option for Concordia. "Hybrids are becoming a component of [college] fleets across the nation," Ramstad said. This fall, hybrids became a component of Concordia's fleet as well. Four hybrids were bought: two Chevy Malibus and two Toyota Pri-uses. Both car models have been well-received as hybrids in the auto industry. To make the entire fleet more environmentally friendly, it was also down-sized; each hybrid replaced two of the older cars on the fleet. When he first found out about the hybrids, junior Cameron Lilly expressed ap-proval, but wondered what sort of impact the decision will actually have. "It's a step forward in where we need to go, but won't make much of a differ ence," he said. Ramstad understands Lil-ly's sentiments that replacing old cars with hybrids makes a small impact environmen-tally, but more importantly, he thinks that the hybrids are a way of walking the talk of sustainability. "This is sending the right message that Concordia is taking 'E' seriously," Ramstad said. The decision to buy the hybrids was partly in re-sponse to encouragement from the faculty and staff. Ramstad wants the hybrids to be used in the commu-nity to make a statement to others about environmental issues. People using Concor dia's vehicles are allowed to ask if they can use one of the new hybrids. "I suppose a lot of the driving around F-M is stop-and- go, so hybrids would be good," sophomore Lars Wat-kins said. Ramstad said that the hy-brids will be used depending on the type of driving. He hopes to use them in situa-tions for which hybrids are most appropriate. To determine the effec-tiveness of the hybrids, data will be collected and ana-lyzed as they are used in the fleet. Most of the data col-lected will be concerning the efficiency of the hybrids, and what situations they are best used in. If the data shows positive results, Concordia will then consider buying more hybrids if it is economi-cally feasible. Ramstad pointed out that he is looking for feedback and responses to the hybrids. "We're here to serve the college, and that includes the students and the employees," he said. Running from class to the Fargo Marathon New class offered at Concordia teaches students how to be marathon runners BY BRITT VANDEREVK Contributing Writer The Fargo Marathon is fast approaching and Garrick Larson, track coach for Con-cordia, would like to help students prepare for their first marathon. The May 22 marathon might be six months away, but for students that want to take on a new goal, it is fast approaching and it is time to start training. Many stu-dents tell themselves they will train, but May will roll around and many will not have gotten out for a 20-mile run. Larson encourages stu-dents who want to run the 26.2 miles to take his class. Recreational Running/ Road Racing will fulfill the core Physical Education 112 class all Concordia students must take. The class will be held at 8 a.m. Tuesdays throughout the semester, and Larson hopes that stu-dents will come to his class ready to learn how to train safely. Larson knows that stu-dents may be nervous to take the class if they cannot run well. He said that no one has to know how to run before entering the class. "I have plans to progress from walking into running," Larson said. "This class is not designed for cross coun-try runners, but for average students that just want to ac-complish a goal." The focus of the class is to help with general fitness and health along with train-ing to run a 5k, iok, half-mar athon, or full marathon. The class was offered five years ago at Concordia but it was not well attended. North Dakota State Univer sity offers a similar class and Larson hopes that since the marathon is becoming more popular, students will be in-terested in the class here. He said the class filled up fast during registration at a capacity of 20 students, so he is allowing 20 more students to register starting this week. Larson's plans are to pro-vide guidance for the time period up to May 22, the day of the sixth annual Fargo Marathon. The first few days of class will be dedicated to designing individualized training plans. Class periods for the rest of the semester will be focused on healthy eating and actual training for the race. Larson has completed four marathons in his life, and started running only 12 years ago. "A marathon is something everyone needs to do," Lar-son said. "It changes how you look at life. If you never have challenges in your life, you don't change, grow, de-velop." He will not be able to run the Fargo marathon this year because of a track meet, but he is excited to go out run-ning with his students and be able to talk with them while they run. He wants to tell his story to the students and hopefully give them some in-spiration to push themselves to run. Sami Beilke, a senior at Concordia enrolled in the class, hopes that Larson can help push her to complete a full marathon after doing half of one last year. "After completing the half marathon, I did not feel like turning around and running the whole 13.1 miles over again," Sami said. "The 26.2 miles does intimidate me lots." Whitney Derks, a junior at Concordia, ran a marathon last year but trained on her own. She is ecstatic to learn that she can train for another marathon and get class credit in the process. "I screamed and called my parents. I was so happy to see a class like this of-fered," Derks said. Larson hopes that stu-dents will be able to partici-pate in the goal of 20,000 people to register for the Far-go Marathon in 2010. He an-ticipates that students from class will meet each other and run the marathon to-gether so they can look back in a few years and remember what they accomplished. "It could be a great story," Larson said. COFFEE: Discusses purpose of liberal arts education despite small turnout Continued from page 3 cation teaches a broad area of subjects, but that it also teaches skills useful in future professions. "It helps you learn how to learn," DeRoo said. Jim Meier, dean of student life, agreed with DeRoo, and explained how a liberal arts education is "malleable" with students' future careers. "Forty to 5o percent of jobs don't require a specific degree," he said. Meier also commented on other positive aspects he perceived from graduating with a degree from Concor dia. He said that Concordia has a good reputation that assists graduates in finding a job, and that students also have the ability to use the skills they learned from at-tending Concordia. "It enables you to be a person people will want to employ," DeRoo said. Senior Todd Robley, who is the president of the Stu-dent Government Associa-tion, commented on the cul-tural aspect of Concordia. He said that the "cultural literacy" Concordia fosters is an essential part of the lib-eral arts experience. He also noted that the education Concordia provides is not the same for every student. "The Concordia experi-ence is different for every-one," he said. rEP