| Summary: | 13jannary2006 news Return of the windmill? BY CHELSEA KLINE Most students are tired of the pesky plains wind that seems to for-ever whip across campus and turn Moorhead into frozen tundra in the winter. But one group of students is grateful for it: The Student Environ-mental Alliance, which is challeng-ing Concordia to take advantage of our windy weather and convert it into clean energy for the campus. Junior Jeannie Schultz, vice president of SEA, said the group has taken another step in on-campus ef-forts to promote the construction of a wind turbine to supply sustainable energy for a portion of Concordia's energy needs. "We are currently working on a wind energy campaign to help Concordia get its own turbine, which would greatly reduce carbon dioxide emissions," Schultz said. "A turbine would allow us to use a sustainable form of energy that will help the college in the long run economically, environmentally and aesthetically." As a part of this campaign, SEA will present the "Campus Sustain-ability Conference: Wind Energy" at 7 p.m. on Jan. 17 in the Centrum. A leading expert on wind energy, Jay Haley of EAPC Architects Engineers in Grand Forks, N.D., will speak and a panel discussion with representatives from multiple fields will follow. Panelists include Kevin Bengtson of Moorhead Public Service, Concordia's Director of Physical Plant Ansel Hakanson and St- Olaf College's Assistant Vice President of Facilities Peter Sandberg. Per Anderson of the religion department will moderate the discussion. Stewart Herman, faculty advisor to SEA, hopes the discussion will help to mainstream the issue and increase awareness among stu-dents. "We need to ask students to The Student Environmental Alliance is challenging Concordia to take advantage of the Midwest's windy weather and convert it into clean energy for the campus. imagine where their energy will come from in 20 years," Herman said. "This is a genuine opportu-nity for Concordia to do something significant in terms of its environ-mental footprint." Senior Natalie Hanson, president of SEA, also hopes the discussion will foster knowledge and support of wind energy on campus. "This campus doesn't have a very good awareness of environmental issues," Hanson said, but she is confident that organizations such as SEA can help to change that. "Our organization is really committed to what we do. We try to incorporate that [concern for the environment] into our daily life and act on a larger scale." Schultz hopes that the discussion on wind energy will have other posi-tive influences as well. "It also helps raise awareness of how many resources we as Ameri-can students use," Schultz said. "Using sustainable energy would not only reduce our impact on the environment, but also open the door to other ways we can reduce our energy use." A wind turbine feasibility study, which Herman said can cost any-where from $7,500 to $15,000, must be completed in order for turbine construction plans to begin. SEA recently started raising funds for the study by selling buttons in Knutson. They hope to add to this fund with more campaigning and donations in the future. Cost is an issue for turbine construc-tion, which would total about $1.8 million, but Herman believes the college can find creative solutions to this. "There are ways that we could reduce the cost of wind power dramatically if the city of Moorhead and Concordia work together," Herman said. "We need to be bolder and think of 30-year energy invest-ments, not five-year, and promote truly sustainable practices." Though SEA is focusing most of their attention on wind energy right now, the organization has many other environmental concerns as well. They collected a dozen garbage bags full of recyclables at the Homecoming football game and helped out with the Red River Water Festival in the fall. The upcoming Campus Sustain-ability Conference is a first for SEA, and Schultz hopes activities like these can help the organization avoid certain labels. "We're not just tree-huggers,". Schultz said. "Protecting the en-vironment is important to us, but we're also an organization that ap-preciates what we have and we want to preserve it.M We're not just tree-huggers.we're also an organization that appre-ciates what we have and we want to preserve it. David Knierim junior NEWS BRIEFS Lee returns as assistant director Karen Lee began her new position as assistant director of financial aid on Jan. 3. A sociology graduate of Augsburg College, she returns to Concordia after leaving in 1999 to live in the Twin Cities and then working at MSUM as assistant director in the financial aid department as well. Previously at Concordia she worked in the Development Office from 1996 to 1997 and the Financial Aid and International Student Admissions Department from 1997 to 1999. Currently, as Assistant Director she assists students with financial aid, such as awarding incoming freshmen scholarships and aid, as well as meeting with perspective students and families. Lucy Thrasher recital Music Professor, Lucy Thrasher, who specializes in voice, will perform a faculty recital titled "On Wings of Song" today at 8 p.m. in the Christiansen Recital Hall. The faculty recital, an annual requirement for music professors to demonstrate their skills, will be around 75 to 90 minutes. Thrasher, a soprano, will be performing pieces from Mozart, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Hahn and other American composers created throughout the years 1780 to 1950. The pieces will be sung in a variety of languages, including Italian, German, French and English. Despite this wide array of music, the songs will be centralized around the theme of flying, for instance "the flight of a bird, smoke, time, or life's fleeting joys and pains," Thrasher said. She will especially focus on the flight of the spirit in the contexts of both love and time. All are welcome to this free recital. Debate team #18 The Concordia debate team is ranked 18th in the nation according to the latest rankings published by the National Debate Tournament. The rankings are for the fall 2005 debate season. Concordia is ranked just ahead pf Harvard, which is number 19. Others in the top 20 include Emory (1) , North-western (7) and Dartmouth (6). Ethics Luncheon The Business Ethics Luncheon will be held today at noon in Birkeland Alumni Lounge. Kathi Tunheim, a consultant/ trainer from the Tunheim Leadership Group, will speak about how to develop effective leaders in management within orga-nizations. She will discuss new examples of building servant leadership, methods of appointing responsibility to employees and the use of start-up and turnaround projects. Tunheim has 23 years of experience in business, including management positions at Northwest Airlines and Carlson Travel Network. She is currently completing her doctorate at the University of Minnesota with a concentration in leadership and organiza-tional development. The Business Ethics Luncheons are programs of Concordia's Center for Ethical Leadership. The cost is $10 per person and reservations can be made by calling (218) 299-3305.
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