Photo contributed by Rachael Gilbertson
Sophomore Natalie Ronning breaks in a new Augie Green bike at the Sept. 11 ceremony on the Commons patio.
Bike program revamped
Augie Green introduces new bikes for 2008-09,
encourages environmentally friendly options
By Luke Tatge
Mirror Editor in Chief
Augie Green's efforts to promote environ-mental
awareness continued Thursday, Sept.
11, in the Siverson Lounge when the group
introduced its revised Green Bike Program to
allow students to check out newly purchased
bikes on a sign-in basis.
The bikes were purchased through a deal
with local merchant Spoke N' Sport.
President Rob Oliver, Pel Kolb of Spoke N'
Sport and professor David O'Hara were in at-tendance
and spoke at the ceremonial launch
of the new program. About 35 people attend-ed
the event.
"We want to let the Augustana commu-nity
know that they have other healthier and
green options for transportation that are free
for them and may also save money that they
would otherwise spend on gas," said senior Ja-mie
Horter, Augie Green president.
Horter said Augie Green hopes to "inspire
and influence" people in the Sioux Falls com-munity
to be more environmentally aware.
"Augie Green is hoping to promote green
transportation," sophomore Augie Green
member Maren Peterson said. "You don't
need to take a car to get everywhere'
See BIKES, page 1 1
Kelli Meier
CONS to ;ON
Check out the
latest from the
Mikkelsen Library
construction
project on page 12.
THE AUGUSTANA
Friday
September 19, 2008 I RRO R Vol. XCVII
No. 1
1908 • CELEBRATING 100 YEARS • 2008
Waitlisted
freshmen
obtain fall
housing
By Marit Karbowski
Mirror Assistant Editor
Last spring, rumors circulated
around the freshman dorms after
more than 60 first-year students
were not allowed to contract
for a dorm room in Granskou
or Stavig. Some believed they
would be spending another year
in Bergsaker or Solberg. Others
overheard that Augustana ad-ministration
had decided
to open up
Old Main for
displaced stu-dents.
All fresh-men
were
placed in a
room by the
beginning of August. Accord-ing
to the housing office, rooms
opened up because around 60
third-year students were waived
to live off-campus, and other
students decided not to come
back to Augustana.
Freshmen faced additional
stress toward the end of last year
as some headed into the summer
not knowing where they would
live during the next school year.
Senior Kelli Meier, a peer advi-sor
last year in Bergsaker, said
students' frustrations included
not being able to buy a loft and
not knowing if they would live
by their friends.
Sophomore Audie Murphy,
who was No. 20 on the waiting
list, did not find out where he
would live until the last week of
school. Although he received a
See WAITLIST, page 11
Frosh students
hail from
across globe
By Laurie Nordahl
Mirror Staff Writer
Augustana College has been a des-tination
for students from all walks of
life since it was founded in 1860. In
2008, Augustana welcomes its most
diverse class yet: the graduating class
of 2012.
Hailing from at least eight differ-ent
countries, Augustana is proud to
host a grand total of 35 international
students to help make up the fresh-man
class. Their majors range from
government and math education to
physics and business administration.
A popular major for these foreign
students is nursing. Augustana pro-vides
a special Norwegian nursing
program that incorporates the lan-guage,
in which 10 of the interna-tional
guests partake.
Anne Boe, a freshman from Nor-way,
said, "It's a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity:' A fellow Norwegian
nursing major, freshman Ida Siliha-gen,
agreed. "It's hard, but fun," she
said.
Augustana also welcomes 16 for-eign
exchange stu-dents.
All this diversity
has students asking
how international
students from as
far as Hong Kong
are hearing about
Augustana, a Ida Silihagen
small-town college
in the rural Midwest.
Augustana's international program
director Donn Grinager promotes in-ternational
opportunities for the col-lege.
Grinager makes trips around
the world to spread news of the "Au-gie
Advantage" and inspires dozens
of enrollments each year.
See DIVERSITY, page 11
Three reasons you
should read this issue:
1 English professor
publishes internationally.
Page 6
2 Retail Wars: Wal-Mart and
Target duke it out.
Page 3
3 Former high school athletes
stay fit at the Elmen Center.
Page 10