Feature Archives - Augsburg Now

Boom or bust

Laura Swanson Lindahl '15 MBA — Fri, 04 Dec 2015 19:54:06 +0000

In the summer of 2012, Tim Pippert lifted a couple of duffel bags into the back of his car and headed northwest on Interstate 94, beginning an almost 700-mile journey that drew him out of Minneapolis—beyond the steel and glass towers, the hectic grid of side streets and signs, and the flurry of Fortune 500 companies and all those who inhabit their cubicles and corner offices.

Soon, the fields of western Minnesota and eastern North Dakota lined Pippert’s roadside. He rolled past patches of flax and sunflowers, wheat, alfalfa, and canola to a place where tilled acreage melted into an even more expansive landscape of ranches and natural prairie grasses. For decades—make that centuries—any description of western North Dakota seemed amiss without mentioning this place’s sheer vastness of space, the way gently rolling hills and rugged badlands disappear into broad horizons hugging big, bluish-gray skies.

But now the story was different. This area was in the midst of a transformation.

Pippert was headed to Williston—the North Dakota city viewed as the epicenter of the latest North American oil boom. This isolated community was among a handful of towns and small cities dotting the map in four counties that together emitted a nearly magnetic pull for job seekers of all kinds.

It’s likely that the route Pippert followed to Williston began in a similar fashion as the path truck drivers, frack hands, pipe fitters, hair stylists, and people working within numerous other industries took to North Dakota. That’s because Pippert’s curiosity with Williston was piqued by news stories describing the remarkable growth happening in this once stagnant community.

What was unique about Pippert’s desire to work in the Roughrider State, though, was that he didn’t plan to fill a position in the oil industry or to hold a job supporting its employees at all. Instead, he sought to study the societal change underway in Williston and its surrounding areas along with individuals’ perceptions of it. Thus, he became one of the first scholars to explore what local residents perceive to be the costs and benefits of the boom.

A new research phase

As an associate professor in the Augsburg College Department of Sociology, Pippert blends teaching, scholarship, and mentorship into his work each year, with an emphasis on each aspect varying in accordance with the academic calendar cycle.

His interest in North Dakota’s changing cultural and physical landscape stemmed from in-class discussions with his students. Pippert asked his Introduction to Sociology class to bring in newspaper clippings related to current events as an assignment so that, together, the students could practice analyzing information using a sociological perspective. One article on North Dakota oil came in, then another.

“That’s when things were in the very early stages of the boom, and there were sensational stories about folks making money hand over fist and people moving out there with nowhere to live,” Pippert said. “I’m from Nebraska, and there was only one stoplight in my entire county. I’m used to seeing all of these tiny towns decline in population or be relatively stable, certainly not growing. As a sociologist, I was just fascinated by what happens when a small town explodes in population overnight.”

For years, North Dakotans were concerned about their state’s population decline, but the oil boom in the late 2000s dramatically changed the socioeconomic landscape in the region.

As one of the first sociologists to study the effects of the most recent oil boom in North Dakota, Tim Pippert has been sought out by organizations looking to add context to their coverage of the changes occurring in the city of Williston and its surrounding communities. Pippert appeared in the documentary “BOOM,” which depicted human and sex trafficking issues haunting communities.

In 2013, journalist Chip Brown wrote a New York Times Magazine article that said, “It’s hard to think of what oil hasn’t done to life in small communities of western North Dakota, good and bad. It has minted millionaires, paid off mortgages, created businesses; it has raised rents, stressed roads, vexed planners and overwhelmed schools; it has polluted streams, spoiled fields and boosted crime.”

This article is among thousands penned since the start of the boom, but Pippert’s research takes an approach that’s different than the one most popular news media follow.

Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods over the course of his career, Pippert has examined subject areas such as the family ties of homelessness, the transition to parenthood, and the accuracy of photographic representation of diversity within university recruitment materials. As the next phase of his research, Pippert recognized that there’s certainly a story related to the development in North Dakota, but it’s not one that can—or necessarily should—be summarized in a 500-word, front-page exposé or in a 2-minute piece on the 6 o’clock news. Pippert is working to construct a longer narrative that is grounded in a sociological understanding of rapid population growth, allowing for an analysis of how the perceptions of local residents change over time. Of course history shows that people’s opinions shift as the state of the oil industry fluctuates, which it typically does.

North Dakota has boomed before

“North Dakota has had oil booms before but never one so big, never one that rivaled the land rush precipitated more than a century ago by the transcontinental railroads, never one that so radically changed the subtext of the Dakota frontier from the Bitter Past That Was to the Better Future That May Yet Be,” Brown wrote.

Since the beginning, the American oil industry’s history in north central states has followed a cyclical narrative of starts and stops, booms and busts. The subterranean shale that contains the much talked-about oil covers western North Dakota and northeastern Montana, and stretches into two Canadian provinces: Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Bakken shale was discovered in the early 1950s and named after Henry Bakken, a farmer who leased his land in North Dakota for an early well. At 14,700 square miles, it is the largest continuous crude oil accumulation in the United States. The shale has been in development since 1953 with periods of significant growth punctuating its more than 50-year timeline. For instance, in the late 1970s and early 1980s, activity picked up in the upper Bakken when improved extraction technology married political and economic conditions that left the U.S. thirsty for domestic production.

The latest boom

In the late 2000s, innovative engineering and technological refinements also played key roles in bringing about a new boom. The key to unlocking more of the often-segregated oil deposits in the Bakken shale is horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing, often called “fracking.” North Dakota has been described as a laboratory for coaxing oil from stingy rocks. While petroleum geologists have known for decades that layers of the Bakken contain light, sulfur-free oil, it has been much more puzzling how to extract it economically.

Today, the Bakken contains some of the longest horizontal wells in the world. Drillers bore vertical shafts and then lateral shafts that extend out as far as three miles in order to harvest otherwise unreachable oil. However, horizontal drilling alone is often not enough to lure Bakken oil from the tightly clenched grasp that holds it roughly two miles below the earth’s surface. The majority of the shale won’t yield its oil unless pressurized water containing sand and various chemicals is pumped down the well to crack open hairline channels within thin layers of oil-and gas-bearing rock. This procedure has been environmentally controversial given that the chemicals used in fracking have been known to be or suspected of being carcinogenic or otherwise poisonous. Geologists and engineers continually fine-tune the assortment of frack fluid recipes required in varying geological conditions, and they fracture wells in stages, sometimes repeating the process dozens of times at a single location. Waste from this process must be carefully handled and monitored to avoid contaminating groundwater, polluting surface areas, or injuring workers.

Since petroleum engineers began combining fracking with directional drilling, thousands of new wells have been constructed—primarily in four North Dakota counties bordering the Missouri River: Dunn, McKenzie, Mountrail, and Williams. And, from 2006 to 2013, production from the Bakken formation increased roughly 150-fold, moving North Dakota into second place among domestic suppliers of oil, behind Texas and ahead of Alaska. This substantial growth in industry spurred a need for more of nearly everything—laborers, housing units, highways, railroads, power lines, and even patience.

“I’ve never seen a more hardworking place,” Pippert said. “There are always things going on. I’m not sure how exactly to articulate it, but it’s like there’s always construction; there’s always truck traffic; there’s always activity on Sunday afternoons. It just doesn’t stop.”

The change in Williston and other boomtowns may not stop, but it does slow. This year, slumping crude oil prices have led to a decline among communities affected by the oil industry. Williston was the fastest-growing small city in the U.S. from 2011 to 2013, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Yet, news outlets recently have described harder times. Bakken oil has always been expensive to produce and ship to refineries. So, when oil prices started to decrease in autumn 2014, oil producers tamped down their spending. This meant fewer rigs actively drilling for crude and less work for those who service new wells. In extreme cases, layoffs, reduced hours, and smaller paychecks have led workers into hard times and even out of town.

“Lots of things have changed since 2012,” admits Pippert. “Now I have to write a potentially different story.”

It’s said that North Dakota’s last oil boom, which occurred roughly 30 years ago, collapsed so quickly when oil prices crashed that people declared, “If you’re the last person in Williston, make sure you turn off the lights.” But what did this flight mean for the people who continued living in that community? For Pippert, it’s important for sociologists to analyze how population shifts and the industrialization of rural areas strain community ties and impact the daily lives of long-term residents. This summer, he took his fifth and likely final trip to North Dakota to see how the recent slowdown has influenced life in Williston, to conduct follow-up interviews, and to hear from additional residents for the first time.

Pippert met with Deanette Piesik, CEO of workforce development organization TrainND, to discuss whether she had witnessed any signs of an oil industry downturn. TrainND serves as a link between private industry and Williston State College by facilitating safety trainings and offering worker certification programs. After the conversation, Piesik said she appreciated the way Pippert used open-ended questions such as, “How’d that impact you?” and “What do you see?” rather than asking questions that would induce a negative response.

“I guess I worry about how some of the things I say will get cut short or be portrayed the wrong way,” said Piesik, whose concern applies to news coverage ranging from national broadcasts to the local press. “Now, I could have been the type of person who was totally negative and that’s what you would have gotten … but I have faith that [Pippert is] writing a good piece about this oil boom and how it has changed this community. I think that’s a positive piece to do.”

Pippert meets with Deanette Piesik, CEO of TrainND

Analyzing and writing

Over the course of three years, Pippert conducted 87 interviews to gather data, and he is entering the writing phase of his research—a time when he will synthesize all of this information. Naturally, analyzing more than seven-dozen conversations will be a challenging endeavor.

“There comes a point, probably before that 87 number, where you don’t learn anything new,” he said with a laugh, “but it’s so interesting I just wanted to keep going.”

Augsburg College sociology��students helped to spur Pippert’s interest in the North Dakota oil boom, and they continue to play a role as this project develops. Students serve as research assistants by transcribing interviews and coding the information they contain so that Pippert can examine themes from year to year and from discussion to discussion. He plans to work with a research assistant supported by the 2015 Torstenson Community Scholars program, and he has supervised Ashley Johnson ’16 as��she worked on an independent project on sex trafficking in North Dakota as part of her participation in the McNair Scholars Program.

Overall, Pippert is positioned to assess the dramatic and immediate strain on infrastructure that North Dakota communities endured during the period of rapid growth occurring during the boom’s first few years. He also will look at longtime residents’ perceptions of oil workers and of crime.

“There are certainly more crimes taking place, but whether they are proportional to the population increase is difficult to tell,” Pippert said.

It is also complex to articulate how residents felt about an influx of new people in their communities.

“As a sociologist, I’m interested in ‘insider’ versus ‘outsider’ framing,” Pippert added. “There seems to be a pretty strong sentiment among locals that they were frustrated with oil field workers. The saying was, ‘Go back home—unless you plan on staying.’”

This phrase, Pippert noticed, articulates that longtime residents��grew tired of people simply entering��their communities for work and then leaving or sending their income to families and homes in other areas of the country. The locals would have preferred for the newcomers to contribute to and make a life in their communities well into the future.

The years ahead

As time unfolds, the challenges and opportunities presented in Williston may begin to surface in other communities that are in the midst of their own dramatic population growth, and Pippert’s research could serve as a study for navigating complex situations.

The oil extraction technology pioneered in North Dakota is expected to have implications around the world, but it’s not only communities near oil deposits that may benefit from this scholar’s perspective. Ultimately, Pippert said, his story is about how the identity of a small town changes when significant industrial development causes a population shift. It’s about massive industry suddenly entering an area—any area—to utilize its resources. And when other communities follow down a similar path as Williston, it’s important for them to learn from the road that North Dakota already has traveled.

“It really is about a boom,” Pippert said. “But the source of its spark doesn’t really matter.”

Read “”��to learn more about Pippert’s efforts to curtail human trafficking in North Dakota.

The post Boom or bust appeared first on Augsburg Now.

Beyond fjords and freeways

Stephen Jendraszak — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 18:00:33 +0000

If you’re interested in the history of Augsburg College, you’re probably familiar with “From Fjord to Freeway,” a book published by long-time professor of history Carl Chrislock ’37 in 1969. The publication, which tells the story of the first 100 years of the College, is receiving renewed interest and attention as we approach the institution’s sesquicentennial in 2019.

But no history is complete.

Phil Adamo, associate professor of history and director of the honors program, is authoring a new book with students to bring further aspects of the impact and personality of the College to life.

The new book, to be published during 2019, will include previously untold stories from the early years of the College. For example, the story of Augsburg’s first president, August Weenaas, and the sacrifices he made to found Augsburg is told in “From Fjord to Freeway.” But largely unremarked upon is the story of Valborg Weenaas, his wife, who followed him from Norway to Marshall, Wisconsin. She eventually housed 10-20 students in their home, moved to Minneapolis when Augsburg did the same, and passed away in the Twin Cities at only 37.

Of course, the book also will address the events of the 50 years that have elapsed since the earlier work’s publication, such as Augsburg’s response to the 2007 collapse of the Interstate 35W bridge in Minneapolis and its aftermath. The College offered its campus facilities to and worked closely with the Red Cross, Minneapolis’ Emergency Preparedness Team, and the Minneapolis Police Department to set up the Family Assistance Center, a place where family members of missing victims gathered to receive news updates, talk with grief counselors, and more.

Perhaps most importantly, this new look at Augsburg’s past will strive to address the history of ideas that have shaped and been shaped by the community.

“What I’m interested in, which is not done very often, is a history of ideas,” Adamo said. “Those ideas are wide-ranging—from theological issues early on to evolution, which was a controversial subject in religious circles. This was new stuff when the College was founded.”

The book is a deeply collaborative effort, giving students opportunities to hone their skills in research and writing while producing a work for publication and being credited as contributors.

Students this past summer worked in the College archives with Adamo every weekday morning, and donated a portion of their hours to cataloging documents for the College archives. Caitlin Crowley��’16, a transfer student and history major, documented letters from Augsburg’s fifth president, Bernhard Christensen��’22, to Auggies serving in World War II.

“He was the president of the College; he must’ve had a million things to do,” Crowley said. “And yet, there are just folders and folders of personal letters he wrote. [Soldiers] would respond; he would write back. He would tell them what was happening at the College. It made me really like the guy.”

Crowley’s own family history, in fact, is entwined with Augsburg’s. Her mother, Deborah (Frederickson) Crowley ’76, married her father on campus in the building that bears Christensen’s name. And her maternal grandfather, Jerrol Frederickson ’43, attended the College for two years before joining the air force just before Pearl Harbor. However, Crowley has yet to find a letter from Christensen to her grandfather.

This is the third summer Adamo has worked with a group of student researchers on the project. Students in the first two summers each wrote a single, extensive chapter, but this summer’s group focused on a series of shorter vignettes. Students explored leaders including former College presidents George Sverdrup, class of 1898, and Oscar Anderson��’38; Dean of Women Gerda Mortensen; coaches and athletes like Edor Nelson��’38 and Devean George��’99; and events such as the admission of women in the 1920s.

“It almost felt like being a journalist,” Crowley said. “We were given two topics a week. We also had to write about what was happening outside the College during the same time. It was a great way to learn about this variety of topics that I previously didn’t know anything about.”

Each Friday, the students and Adamo met to read their sections aloud and critique one another’s work. “Phil could be kind of brutal, which was good,” Crowley said. “Even after just a few weeks, all of us were getting to be much better writers.”

In addition to Adamo and the students working on the book, another group of historians is making use of tools Chrislock could only have imagined in 1969—smartphone apps and the Internet—to share the broader history of Augsburg’s Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. Jacqui deVries, professor of history and director of general education, and Kirsten Delegard, scholar in residence in the history department and creator of the Historyapolis Project ()—an endeavor to share the first narrative history of Minneapolis in more than 40 years—are working with Anduin Wilhide, a doctoral student at the University of Minnesota, to develop a digital history tour of the area. The project will provide both a website and apps for iPhones and Android devices.

The team is now seeking funding to complete the digital upload process and to engage students in the researching and writing of additional tours. The project initially was intended to introduce new students to the neighborhood and its rich history, though, as it grew, it became clear that it will now serve a broader audience.

The goal is to have the app available as the incoming class arrives in fall 2016, offering a window into the past just as new students join the Augsburg community, ready to shape its future.

President Christensen writes to WWII soldiers

By:��Caitlin Crowley��’16

During World War II, Augsburg College President Bernhard Christensen��’22 diligently wrote to students and faculty stationed around the world to keep them up-to-date on happenings at home and on campus. Today in the College library’s basement, hundreds of letters between Christensen and these Auggies are archived in boxes. The correspondence tells the story of the school during the war. There are Christmas cards from Army bases and training camps, tales of life during war and life back home, well wishes and letters of recommendation for military positions and promotions, and sympathy notes to families grieving the loss of their loved ones.

Christensen was deeply invested in corresponding with all the men involved in the war, a job that must have taken countless hours of dictation and typing. He included his personal thoughts in most all of these letters. In a letter to Arthur Molvik��’40, a student who later died in the war, Christensen wrote, “We can only hope that the clouds of war will not hang over us too long and that when peace does return it will be built upon a more secure basis than formerly. Only in a faith of this kind, I believe, can we have courage to carry on.”

The post Beyond fjords and freeways appeared first on Augsburg Now.

Sideline support

Kate H. Elliott — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 20:23:04 +0000

The score was tied at 2-2 in the fourth inning as a University of Wisconsin-Stout slugger knocked a foul ball down the right field line. Auggie outfielder Brian Bambenek ’07 sailed through the air—glove extended. The ball landed in the pocket, then popped out as his body slammed into an unprotected portion of fence at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis.

After minutes of darkness, the then-senior’s eyes blinked opened to see Augsburg College’s Head Athletic Trainer hovering over him. She monitored numbness in his fingers and toes, held his hand in the ambulance, and called his parents, Nancy and Mike, to report that their son had injured three disks in his neck.

During the days and weeks that followed, Strauch went well beyond her job description to get Bambenek back in action.

“I am forever in debt to Missy for all she did for me,” said Bambenek, who today is co-owner of the Great Lakes Baseball Academy in Woodbury, Minnesota. “She is an incredible trainer who truly loves Augsburg College, and we still find time to catch up a few times a year. And her cutting-edge research in arm care continues to influence my work with athletes.”

We don’t have all the bells and whistles of Division I schools, but I would stack our program’s continuity of care against any of them. –Keith Bateman, Baseball head coach

These types of bonds with athletic training staff are the norm at Augsburg. During her 18-year tenure, Strauch has built an expert, dynamic team of professional trainers and student assistants who collaborate across campus and within the community to achieve a holistic approach to the safety and wellness of Augsburg’s more than 500 student-athletes.

It’s fast-paced, passionate work. Strauch and her staff know players’ names. They generate daily injury reports and conduct pre- and post-season screenings, and a member of the medical staff travels with every team to most away contests. Strauch demands best practices and has championed increased data collection and the adoption of many advancements, including the computerized concussion evaluation system, IMPACT. She and her staff connect with professors to formulate accommodations for injured student-athletes.

“At its core, our role is about relationships—building trust with coaches and student-athletes and developing supportive partnerships throughout campus and with professionals in the community. We work to become part of the team. Assistant Mitch Deets, for instance, camped for a week in northern Minnesota for a cross country team training trip. Assistant Athletic Trainer Kassi Nordmeyer will be traveling to Boston with volleyball this fall and then wrestling and softball throughout the year,” said Strauch, who works specifically with football, men’s and women’s hockey, and baseball.

Student Sports Medicine Assistants Jack Duffy ’16 (left) and Alison Ranum ’17 (right) aid Auggie running back Michael Busch ’16.

“We don’t have all the bells and whistles of Division I schools, but I would stack our program’s continuity of care against any of them. And you won’t find stronger bonds. I should show you our stack of Christmas cards and wedding invitations from former student-athletes. Those personal connections make all the difference.” Baseball head coach agrees.

“First-year and transfer student-athletes are often a little hesitant to disclose an injury because they are afraid of not playing. And coaches like being in charge, so I would say many athletic trainers run into walls with team leadership. But not here, not with Missy. She won’t let them or us get away with that,” said Bateman, who is in his 13th year at Augsburg. “She and her staff become such a part of our teams that they know when players are having a bad day by the way they carry themselves. They want student-athletes to play, to be tough, but not to be stupid.”

A thoughtful evolution

Former head football coach Jack Osberg ’62 worked closely with Strauch for more than 10 years, watching the sports medicine program grow from a part-time enterprise to a comprehensive team that features four certified athletic trainers, one athletic training intern, one physician assistant fellow, 11 student sports medicine assistants, two physicians, one chiropractor, and two physical therapists.

“As students at Augsburg in the late ’50s and early ’60s, we didn’t have athletic trainers. Coaches took care of taping, injury rehab, and other training situations. The technology, knowledge, equipment, facilities, communication, and pre-season conditioning available to coaches and student-athletes now is remarkable,” said Osberg, who served as head coach for 14 years and as an assistant coach from 2007-10. “I respect Missy and her staff having observed their mentoring of student assistants, poise when handling serious injuries, and focus on the latest training techniques.”

Head Athletic Trainer Missy Strauch assists offensive lineman Andrew Konieczny ’15 during Augsburg’s Homecoming football game.

Women’s hockey player Claire Cripps ’16 is one such student who can testify to the program’s expert attention and nurturing approach. Days before midterms last year, the forward sustained a concussion on the ice, leaving her with headaches, dizziness, sensitivity to light, and an inability to focus for almost two weeks.

“Missy sent an email to the dean and each of my professors explaining what happened, which led to postponing my exams until I had the ability to study and focus again,” said the exercise science major who plans to pursue a doctorate of physical therapy. “There were no issues with any of my professors, and they all wished me well, which made me really feel that sense of community that convinced me to come to Augsburg after my first visit to campus.”

That same sense of community drew Jennifer (LaManna) LaBore ’03 to play softball and basketball for Augsburg more than 15 years ago. She and Missy became fast friends after LaBore tore her ACL, and that bond remains today.

“Missy was like a second mom,” said LaBore, who played basketball from 1999��to��2002 and softball from 2000��to 2003. “I spent more time in the training room than I did at home with all the injuries I sustained in college. Missy would set up appointments with expert doctors and keep me positive and motivated throughout the recovery process. She even made sure I saw doctors in network. Those little extras showed she cared about me as a person, not just because it was her job.

“Even after graduation, I call Missy if I hurt myself,” said LaBore, who works as an account executive for HealthPartners in Bloomington, Minnesota. “I called her a few months ago about my dad’s torn rotator cuff, and she recommended a surgeon. She inspires that same down-to-earth, caring, and dedicated spirit throughout the staff. They are some of our loudest cheerleaders, and they certainly feel like family.”

Advancements in prevention

Although the most common injuries are routine sprains and bruises, concussions and other serious traumas are a growing area of concern as student-athletes’ speed, size, and strength has increased. But, Strauch says, the diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation also have improved. In collaboration with , Augsburg’s implementation of IMPACT (Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing) establishes a baseline for each student-athlete so that health care professionals can quickly and accurately measure changes and potential damage in the aftermath of a concussion. The team’s cutting-edge equipment and data collection, paired with the College’s longstanding relationships with area doctors, ensure that concussions are addressed promptly and thoroughly.

Dr. B.J. Anderson, who serves as Augsburg’s director of general medicine, said the College’s sports medicine program offers a “gold standard” of care, particularly when it comes to addressing serious injuries.

“I’ve worked with athletic trainers across the globe, and Augsburg’s team is second to none,” said Anderson, who is a primary care provider for the University of Minnesota Boynton Health Service. “The College’s neurocognitive testing is state of the art, and the staff’s relationship with me and other doctors results in continuity of care. We get them in early, address the problem, and get them back in action.”

I’ve worked with athletic trainers across the globe, and Augsburg’s team is second to none. –Dr. B.J. Anderson

It’s collaboration and conversation among Augsburg faculty and staff that make all the difference in ensuring student-athletes perform their best in competition and in the classroom.

When , instructor for Health, Physical Education and Exercise Science, noticed that a typically advanced student turned in puzzlingly poor work, she reached out to her colleagues.

“Earlier in the semester, I had used the student-athlete’s work as an example of excellence in class, so when she turned in a below-average lab assignment, I called Missy right away,” said Enke, who served as Augsburg’s head softball coach for 21 seasons. “I knew the student had experienced a concussion weeks prior because Missy called me after the incident. [When] we realized that the injury affected the student-athlete’s ability to analyze … the entire campus community came together in support. That’s what we do at Augsburg.”

And, while Augsburg Athletics employs progressive protocols to safely assess and treat injuries, the College is equally focused on prevention. In June, Ryan Rasmussen came on board as Augsburg’s head strength and conditioning coach and has since worked closely with athletic trainers to keep student-athletes in optimum condition. He is the first collegiate strength and conditioning coach certified in a novel restorative movement approach called RESET. Rasmussen says the system pinpoints and eliminates compensation patterns, empowering Augsburg student-athletes to return to play faster and achieve better performance through optimal movement.

“To reap the full benefits of physical activity, we need flawless posture and movement, and this restorative approach helps us achieve just that,” Rasmussen said. “Having a team of people who are concerned with the health of our athletes is hugely important. We recently collaborated on rehab for a hockey player with a torn ACL. She is returning to play this year and was the top performing woman among the five teams reviewed during our conditioning test.”

Athletic training staff members assist an Augsburg football player during the 2015 Homecoming game.

Inspiring mindful student-athletes

Mental health and nutrition also are pillars of wellness that the Athletics staff is committed to addressing in a collective, proactive manner. Sports medicine professionals advise student-athletes about the latest in nutrition and collaborate regularly with Augsburg’s to ensure student-athletes are aware of the center’s resources and community support. Center Director said anxiety and stress are increasingly present in student-athletes lives, but Augsburg is committed to helping all students have healthy, happy college days.

“This fall, we worked with Athletics to develop four sessions for incoming student-athletes to address alcohol consumption, mindfulness, body image, and healthy relationships. Athletics, more than many, knows the importance of working as a team to confront the challenges our students face, so they are wonderful partners,” said Guilbeault, who has worked at Augsburg for 36 years. “Coaches and athletic training staff are often the first to notice when a student-athlete might need to talk with us, and they stick with them throughout the process—often walking them over to the Center or attending a session with them.”

Guilbeault says mental health is often tied with injuries, as student-athletes feel stress associated with “letting the team down” or experience mental health issues because of certain physical traumas. Her team of counselors and the Center’s collaboration with a psychiatrist and community resources ensure students receive optimum care.

“Our students receive up to 10 counseling sessions each academic year, and if they need additional support beyond that, we refer them to one of our community partners and keep up with their care,” Guilbeault said. “Mindfulness meditation techniques are particularly important for student-athletes because the approach encourages student-athletes to be aware of their bodies and present moments, becoming more resilient to stress.”

Building on a strong foundation

Like any strong foundation, the sports medicine team’s roster of professionals and holistic, collaborative approach took years to build; but behind the staff hires, the new technology, and personal bonds is Strauch—driving herself and her staff to become more than just “trainers who wrap ankles.” They are a passionate team of professionals who will do whatever it takes—from stirring the Crock-Pot at potlucks to calling professors—to ensure student-athletes have the tools and support they need to succeed and achieve their life goals.

“Our profession has changed dramatically in the past decade. Many of my mentors were focused solely on the injury, and we now take a much broader view, a much more involved role,” Strauch said. “And the best part about it is that we will continue to grow and continue to adapt to the demands of the future.

“Augsburg is a community dedicated to finding new and better ways to support our students in every aspect of their lives. And Athletics is a family of student-athletes, parents, coaches, and trainers—all striving to do better, work harder, and represent the best of Augsburg. I love this school. Go Auggies!”

Training Center bustles with energy

In this photo illustration, the Augsburg College training center is a hive of activity. Student-athletes buzz in and out to get care before and after practices and games while athletic training staff assess injuries. After professional staff determine the appropriate care for a student-athlete, the College’s student sports medicine assistants implement treatment and get hands-on practice in their field of study. The training center always is humming with action and support meant to help Auggies do their best in competition and in the classroom.

Assistant Athletic Director and Assistant Softball Coach Melissa Lee ’04 and Assistant Athletic Trainer Mitchell Deets work at the electronic record check-in station.
Assistant Athletic Trainer Kassi Nordmeyer administers a pre-practice ultrasound on Jessica Lillquist ’16, a member of the volleyball and basketball teams.
Courtney Lemke ’17, volleyball, is treated with hot packs and electric stimulation.
Head Athletic Trainer completes a knee evaluation on soccer player Mohamed Sankoh ’16.
Jerrome Martin ’17 is treated with a cold compress before football practice.
Kayla Fuechtmann ’16, a sports medicine assistant and hockey player, hauls a hydration cooler back from practice.
Soccer players receive hydrotherapy. The players are, from left, sports medicine assistant Carter Denison ’17, Marta Anderson ’17, and Ashley Waalen ’17.
Jorden Gannon ’18 gets post-football practice hydrotherapy.
R.J. Cervenka ’16, a football player, ices his shoulder after practice.
Sports Medicine Assistant Beth Zook ’17 tapes the ankle of soccer player Ngochinyan Ollor ’15.
Student Medicine Assistant Aden Lehman ’17 tapes the ankle of football player Mac Kittelson ’16.
Logan Hortop ’17, a sports medicine assistant, tapes the ankle of Sean Adams ’17, a member of the cross country and track teams.
Sports Medicine Assistant Kristopher Woods ’17 delivers wound care to football player Tyler Sis ’16.
Silvia Cha ’19, member of the cross country team, does ankle rehabilitation.

The post Sideline support appeared first on Augsburg Now.

A thirst for wine helps launch business that educates

Christina Haller — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 17:31:55 +0000

Jennifer Chou ’99 has never been afraid to ask deep and probing questions—a quality that helped her to make the most of her time at Augsburg, where students are encouraged to explore their talents and learn through hands-on experiences in order to find their callings. Her thirst for inquiry, as well as her ambition, helped get her to where she is today—a successful entrepreneur who made a career out of her great interest in and passion for vino.

Craving knowledge

Chou’s curiosity sparked her fascination with wine. During her childhood, she noticed her grandmother would always serve wine at holidays. What does wine taste like? Why is wine only for grownups? Why is wine enjoyed on special occasions?

Chou’s enthusiasm grew into a passion. While an Augsburg College student, she further explored her interest by joining a monthly wine club where she attended tasting events to learn more—from how to identify main flavor and scent components to the basic characteristics of all the varietal grapes to the histories of the world’s best wine-producing regions.

Seizing key opportunities

As a communication studies major and business minor, Chou found work as a financial advisor shortly after graduation. While attending job-training courses in Dallas, she made friends with a man in the hotel gym who recommended a very specific wine to her. She bluntly told him that she’d never heard of it, and asked if he was a “sales guy” for the company.

Once again her inquisitiveness pulled through for her. It just so happened that he, in fact, was the winemaker and CEO of Napa Wine Company. Their friendship blossomed, and his knowledge helped hers to grow. “So I always joke that I got into the wine business by working out,” said Chou.

Soon after that serendipitous encounter, Children’s Home Society, for whom Chou volunteered, asked if she would request wine donations from distributors for their annual winemakers dinner.

“I said, ‘Yeah, I’m fearless, I’m not afraid to ask!’” Chou recalled. “So I went and asked four different distributors for wine donations, and they said, ‘Wow, you really know quite a bit about wine and seem to enjoy it. Have you ever thought about selling it?’”

So Chou took a job selling wines for a distributor, traveling to California, Oregon, France, Italy, and South Africa to gain a deeper understanding of each supplier’s wine so she could better sell it.

Learning over a glass of wine

Because of her extensive wine savvy, friends started asking her for wine etiquette advice.

“I would get asked questions like, ‘How am I supposed to hold a glass of wine, under the bowl or the stem? Are you supposed to swirl the glass? In a restaurant, why does the server present the bottle?’’’ said Chou. “This was stuff my friends realized they needed to know in order to stay relevant in the business world—hosting clients at a restaurant or thanking someone with a bottle of wine.”

As a way to share her knowledge and enlighten others, she founded The Savvy Grape, a business dedicated to educating people about wine through fun, hands-on experiences. To be an authority on the subject, Chou became a Certified Wine Specialist. This certification required rigorous examinations by the Society of Wine Educators, testing Chou’s expertise and mastery of viticulture and wine production.

Chou quickly found a niche with professional organizations and was able to start out by connecting with fellow Auggies who were also business owners. “Being an Augsburg alumna helped because one thing I always find is that Auggies like to help other Auggies!” said Chou.

For employers, such as finance and law firms, Chou educates people about wine etiquette while providing a fun and entertaining wine-tasting activity at events such as member drives, holiday parties, employee development conferences, and client appreciation events.

At these events, Chou teaches people “how to taste wine like a professional,” offers tips on food and wine pairings, and answers attendees’ questions about wine.

Fighting for what you believe in

In order for Chou to legally pour wine in a corporate event space, she had to work hard lobbying to change the law, making it legal for a licensed wine educator like herself to hold wine education events in commercial spaces.

With determination and grit, Chou hit the pavement, reaching out to her local senators and representatives to see who would be willing to assist. She found Minnesota Sen. Dan Hall ’74 who helped her to navigate the system at the Capitol and get the Wine Educator License signed into law by Gov. Mark Dayton in 2012.

Making a living out of wine

Chou’s unquenchable curiosity for the world, unstoppable work ethic, liberal arts education, and strong Auggie connections helped to make her dream of making a living out of wine a reality.

Business and Social Wine Smarts

Chou has authored Wine Savvy, a chapter in the book, “Socially Smart & Savvy.” Below are some of her favorite tips featured in the book.

Tips for the wine lover

Put red wines in the refrigerator 10-15 minutes before serving, and take white wines out of the refrigerator 10-15 minutes before serving. This will help your red wines be less acidic and allow you to taste more flavor in your whites.
Don’t know what to give as a hostess gift? When in doubt, choose a sparkling wine, or “bubbly,” as Chou likes to call it. You can spend as little or as much as your budget allows, and it’s festive for most occasions.
Not sure which wine to order in a restaurant? Ask the server for a sample to see if you like it. A restaurant would prefer that you like a wine and order more rather than not like it and order water. This works especially well if you are trying to order a bottle for the table.

The post A thirst for wine helps launch business that educates appeared first on Augsburg Now.