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March 30, 2011 Student perspective: The Iditarod Editor’s note: PLU student Loren Liden headed up to Alaska to cover the Iditarod. The following is a reflection on her experience. The Iditarod, a 1,000-mile dogsled race across the state of Alaska, finished Sunday, March 20. A remarkable feat of determination, the Iditarod has become Alaska’s two-week long celebration, beginning in Anchorage and ending in Nome. Though last year I covered the ceremonial start in Anchorage, this year I covered

a dream realized on the small donations of local Scandinavian immigrants. Almost 111 years later in May 2002, construction began with a groundbreaking for the first phase of the Morken Center for Learning and Technology, named for the Morken family and Don Morken ’60, alumnus and regent. The newest building on campus, it was dedicated in 2006 and was part of PLU’s most successful capital campaign in history. More than a century apart in construction and worlds apart in amenities, the buildings

Appropriations Committee, he steered hundreds of millions in federal money to clean up Puget Sound and the Hanford nuclear reservation, revive the downtowns of Tacoma and Bremerton, and bolster defense projects in the state. Former Congressman Norm Dicks will speak at the 2014 Spring Commencement on May 24. “We are honored to have him speak to the graduating class of 2014, and we imagine that he will go a long way in inspiring the next generation of leadership in our state,” Krise said. Dicks began his

August 23, 2010 Brues put ‘exclamation point’ on their time at PLU In his words, former Professor of Economics Professor Stan Brue, along with his wife Terri, wanted to “put an exclamation point” on their long association with PLU. This past May, the university accepted their gift of $500,000 that will endow annual scholarships and offset study-away expenses for several students in the Social Sciences. Stan and Terri arrived in Tacoma in 1971, he as a new assistant professor and she as a

October 28, 2009 PLU alum works to close state’s achievement gap Growing up, Erin Jones ’01, had no desire to become a teacher. In fact, she planned to become an international lawyer. But after visiting an economically disadvantaged, inner-city school in Philadelphia, Pa., Jones’ life plans changed dramatically. “I had been given so much (growing up) and these kids had nothing,” Jones said.  “Forty percent had no running water.” Jones charted a new professional direction, and for her students

September 1, 2009 Freshman meets Obama Christney Kpodo has Oct. 13 marked forever on her calendar. That’s the day she shook the hand of President Barack Obama. She even gave the leader of the free world a hug. Kpodo, 18, was one of five youths who, through competing in a series of local, state and regional competitions for Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s Youth of the Year, reached the final stage in September. Although she did not win the top slot of national Youth of the Year, she still got to

February 14, 2008 New York artist’s exhibit inspires reflection Over the past 30 years, New York City artist Constance Evans admits her work has evolved, changing from large colorful field paintings on canvas to smaller, representational works on paper. The works of art at either end of my career, thus far, are visually quite different, but the nuances of color, light and texture are very much the same, she writes in her artist’s statement. Evans drawings, paintings and mixed media pigment

April 19, 2010 Claim: The unexamined life is not worth living Socrates is heralded as the first real philosopher in the Western tradition. He embarked on a quest for wisdom. Finding little wisdom, but lots of self-certainty, he began his job as the gadfly of Athens. He asked people questions and publicly revealed that their guise of authority and assuredness masked ignorance and inconsistency. He suggested that everyone undertake the task of carefully examining their beliefs and think for

students? “Everything just felt so nice – everyone was so welcoming,” she said. Alazadi values community – it is an essential component of her family life and her Muslim faith. Her family fled Nasiriyah, Iraq, in 1990 after a failed uprising and a subsequent crackdown from dictator Saddam Hussein. After four years in a refugee camp in Saudi Arabia, she and her family landed in Everett, Wash. She was only four. The tight-knit Iraqi community of 100- or-so families has sustained her ever since. Alazadi’s

August 24, 2010 Endowment for scholarships: a direct investment in students Agnes Berge Smith graduated from Pacific Lutheran College in 1932 with a vision. During the spring of that year, she traveled with the Choir of the West to sing at the Chicago World’s Fair. The trip was the premier occasion of what she called many “liberating experiences” that she had while studying music here. Smith never forgot the powerful influence that the PLC experience had for her and she was determined to ensure