Speakers and students
debate"hot-button" issue
Photo by Kaeti Hinck
Glen Stanton (left), the senior analyst for marriage and sexuality of Focus on
the Family, and Dr. John Corvino, a philosophy professor at Wayne State,
address the issue of same-sex marriages at Wednesday night's debate in
Kresge Recital Hall. Corvino argued in favor of same-sex marriage, Stanton
against. The event was well-attended and students brought many questions
that kept the debate going for over two hours.
(For more read "Same-sex debate stir's- sic; dent respose" on page 5)
Students react to Halverson's
mayoral election standings
Sarah Och sner
Friday,
April 21, 2006
Sioux Falls, S.D.
Volume 94,
Issue 19
Augustana connected
with local homicides
BY EMILY VADNER
MIRROR EDITOR - IN - CHIEF
A phone call came into the
Augustana campus safety dispatch
room at approximately 8:45 p.m. on
Friday, April 14, from an Arizona man
reporting the murder of his daughter
and grandson in Sioux Falls. The bod-ies
of Melissa and Caden Leingang
were later found in the family's
mobile home by Sioux Falls police.
Junior Bethany Leland was the
dispatch on duty that evening.
"I got this call from a guy in
Arizona who said 'My brother-in-law
just called me, who lives in
Sioux Falls...He told me that he just
strangled his wife and child," she
said. "He told me the guy was freak-ing
out and that he needed me to
send someone out there right away. I
asked him why they needed a cam-pus
safety officer."
Leland stated that the man had
received the wrong number from
someone and mistook her a 911 dis-patch.
Rick Tupper, senior director of
campus life, said that Leiland imme-diately
got a campus safety officer
involved, who then called Metro
Communications (911).
"I called Kelly, the officer on
duty...He just said, 'A, somebody's
pranking you," Leland said. "But I
said, 'what if he's not?" So, he
called 911, and they had just gotten
another call in from another family
member so there was someone on
the way out."
According to the Argus Leader, the
victims appear to have been strangled
by husband and father Brian
Leingang, who was taken into custody
soon after the bodies were discovered.
"[Throughout the call] I was just
really confused and trying to figure
out how Augustana was connected,"
Leland said. "When I found out it
had actually happened, I was just
really glad we followed up on it and
called 911."
Sarah Ochsner receives
Covenant Award for Excellence
BY ANGELA SHUBERT
MIRROR STAFF WRITER
On Thursday, April 6, President
Halverson presented senior Sarah
Ochsner with the Covenant Award
for Excellence at the Boe Forum.
Ochsner is a senior
majoring in education
of the deaf and hard of
hearing, secondary edu-cation
and English who
will graduate summa
cum laude in May. A
few of her many accom-plishments
include
being a dean's list stu-dent,
a Fulbright
Scholar finalist and a
former two-year mem-ber
of the Bergsaker staff. She also
spent the fall of this year studying
in Norway.
Still, with all these recogni-tions
and accomplishments, includ-ing
her latest honor of being a
Covenant Award recipient, Ochsner
remains humble.
"I don't think receiving an award
helps to further define a value [such
as excellence]," said Ochsner.
Instead, she attributes experiences,
conversations, second glances and
many questions over the course of
one's entire lifetime to help define
excellence.
Senior Rebecca Lund, having
known Ochsner since coming to
Augustana, is one student who nom-inated
Ochsner for the
Covenant Award.
"I am continually
amazed by [Sarah's] pas-sion
and brilliance," Lund
said. "The breadth and
depth of Sarah's interests,
as well as her strong com-mitment
to improving the
lives of all people, exem-plify
what it means to be
excellent."
Qualities nominators
were asked to consider included
making sure the nominee has the
heart of a lion, is an ethical and
virtuous person, is one who acts
with integrity, is committed to
improving himself or herself and
whether he or she exceeds the call
of duty.
However, Jim Bies, dean of stu-dents,
said ultimately, the selection
committee for the Covenant Award,
(See OCHSNER-Page 12)
BY JASON VANENGEN
MIRROR STAFF WRITER
Retiring Augustana President Bruce
Halverson is one step closer in his bid to be
the next mayor of Sioux Falls. Halverson
placed second in the field of 11 candidates,
receiving 2lpercent of the vote in the April
11 election.
He will face current mayor Dave
Munson, the top finisher with 28 percent of
the vote, in a run off election on April 25.
The run off is needed as neither candidate
received more than 50 percent of the vote.
"I couldn't have done this without my
wife," Halverson said. He believes the elec-tion
has been a tremendous experience.
Halverson believes he is the right person
to be the next mayor as he has experience to
back him up.
"There are people who make policy deci-sions
and those who implement those deci-sions.
I do both at Augustana," Halverson
said.
While Halverson has used his hands-on
experience at Augustana as a selling point,
he has also been careful not to bring the
school into the race.
"We have tried not to mix politics with
the school," Halverson said.
Students have their own opinion on
Halverson's mayoral bid.
"[President Halverson's
candidacy] shows that
our administrators not
only care about the
Augustana community
but also the entire
Sioux Falls community"
Maren Gilbertson
"I think it's great President Halverson
wants to continue working in a high-profile
job," junior Maren Gilbertson said. "He
obviously has a passion for challenging him-self
through his previous jobs, becoming
Augustana's president, and now having the
potential of becoming the next mayor of
Sioux Falls."
Gilbertson sees Halverson's candidacy as
a positive aspect for Augustana.
"I think it's great recognition for Augie.
It shows that our administrators not only
care about the Augustana community, but
also the entire Sioux Falls community,"
Gilbertson said.
(See HALVERSON-Page 12)
Also In tile MOWS: drum: Write: Sports:
Ehnen Center expansion Birthday contemplation Same-sex marriage debate Softbally/baseball wins
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