The familiar faces of Jim Ahles, director of campus safety and security, and Caleb Mattison, sustainability coordinator, will leave Luther after this year. Both Ahles and Mattison are leaving the college under positive circumstances. Ahles is retiring after 30 years on the Luther staff, and Mattison hopes to pursue a different lifestyle.

1. Sixth broken door ends in injury

March 19 — The sixth Dieseth door to be broken this year was kicked in Friday, March 13. Justin Kaspryk (‘12) claimed responsibility for breaking the door and sustained a foot injury from the glass.

Luther and the Decorah Police have not issued charges for the incident.

While Dieseth residents have been assessed fines for the five doors prior, they will not be charged for this incident.

Kaspryk was hosting a prospective student the night of the incident.

He said he broke the door when leaving Dieseth.

“I decided to be a smart-ass and open the door with my foot, which I do all the time just because,” Kaspryk said.

While businesses across the nation struggle for customers, Luther will be set with its annual student enrollment for next year. As of May 1, 665 students had deposited for next fall. Of those, 637 are first-year students and 28 are transfer students.

The Luther baseball team finished one game short of the national championships last weekend after narrowly losing to Wartburg and earning second place in the IIAC Championships.

The Luther men’s and women’s track and field teams participated in the 2009 IIAC Outdoor Championships May 9-10, finishing in fifth and third place respectively. The meet was the last of the year for both teams.

To our readers:

Every year, CHIPS strives to provide the Luther community with a high-quality, respectable newspaper. Achieving this aim requires responsible journalism, creative design, meticulous editing, and a unified desire for integrity.

As the year draws to an end with final exams on everyone’s minds, Luther musicians are taking all necessary preparations for their upcoming performance of the Brahms Requiem. This seven-movement piece will be performed on May 22 by Nordic, Collegiate and Cathedral Choirs, along with the Symphony Orchestra.

On May 8 and 9, Luther College students performed the Spring 2009 opera, “Die Fledermaus,” which translates to “The Bat” in German. The performance was the culmination of the music class about opera production, but for students involved it was more than simply a class project.

In addition to adding Greek letters and Latin designations to their resumes, students participate in honors activities at Luther College for a variety of reasons and in many ways.

Several women in the Luther community will gather on Thursday, May 14 to speak for the Women in Politics class’s brown-bag discussion, “Sparks of Activism…Women Transforming Politics.” The event will be held in the Mott room of Dahl Centennial Union at 12:45 p.m.

As Influenza A (H1N1), formerly termed “swine flu,” attracts international media coverage and concern from health organizations, members of the Luther College community are on constant guard to limit the virus’s potential effect on campus.

A new minor is being considered by the Academic Planning Committee in film and visual media. The process of evaluating a newly recognized minor is lengthy and the outcome is uncertain.

When Luther began to experience distress and controversy in the 1960s, one man stepped in to positively alter the course of the college. Former President Elwin Farwell transformed Luther throughout his 19 years as president and was recognized by the college with “Farwell Fest,” a 90th birthday celebration May 1.

Eighteen-year-old Mallory Heinzeroth has made her first year at Luther a busy one. When not studying for her business management, communication studies and Spanish majors, she’s playing on the women’s rugby team, singing in the Aurora choir or acting as a SAC Cinema co-chair — all while balancing work study hours in the Admissions Office and Catering Services.

Zeta Tau Psi’s President Thomas Ingram (‘09) is starting a scholarship that will be funded from money collected right here on campus. The scholarship money will go toward helping multiple students purchase their books for the semester, starting next spring.