Pastor Andy Nelson Interview

by Augusta-Lynn
Pastor Andy Nelson is the Campus Chaplin and Director of Campus Ministry at Morningside University since 2018. Andy graduated from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa with a Bachelor of Art in Religion and Political Science. He then went to Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota to further his studies and obtain a Masters in Divinity. He would tell his younger self, “Have some time to step away and discharge from the experience” He didn’t always want to be a pastor and changed his mind back and forth about whether being a pastor was for him. Leaving seminary after two years into figure out it it was for him which he decides it was and went back to seminary. If he could go back and give advice to his younger self on what to do, he would tell himself to take a gap year. “Like to think about ministry positions as calls.” They say a minister is called to his job by the other ministers or the people they work with and are being called by God to do the job. After finishing his schooling to become a pastor he had his first calling at Bethel Lutheran Church in Rochester, Minnesota. Spent time at Bethel Lutheran Church, Andy moved on to become a Campus Pastor at the University of South Dakota. He then worked at St. Mark Lutheran Church as a Pastor before coming to Morningside University. He came to the Sioux City area because his wife was hired here in the Psychology Science department while he worked somewhere else. After a couple years the ministry position opened here at Morningside when he applied, he received the job. Ever since 2018, Andy has been the Chaplin at Morningside University and has tried to be a helpful source for students. He works in confidentiality, so students can come to him without worrying about other knowing. While being at Morningside he has thought of ways to spread faith and bring the community together. “Community comes together.” Is something Andy has been wanting to make more prominent on campus and that is why he started Midweek Mindfulness. Midweek Mindfulness is about allowing others to tell there stories, play music, or even ask questions about faith and life.

Memorable Achievement

by Augusta-Lynn

How a High School student found his passion for Politics.

Jaden Carney is a Political Science major at Morningside, but he didn’t always plan to be a Political Science major. He found out how much he enjoyed politics his senior year in High School when he was hired as a Legislative Page.

Jaden said, “I applied to further my knowledge on on legislative procedure and policy, as well as learned about the redistricting in Iowa.”

He spent five months being a Legislative Page and he loved every minute of it. His two favorite parts were that he was able to carry legislation between the two houses and he got to work in a beautiful building.

Jaden said, “I’ve always wanted to try it and when I did it was turning point for his love of politics.”

From the start of high school he knew that he wanted to try being a legislative page to further his knowledge. When he did become one it was his turning point in what he wanted to study because he found a love for politics.

He use to be wanting to be an Ag educator, but he now wants to be a politician. After finding his love for politics has made him change to be a Political Science Major.

Student Loan Forgiveness

by Augusta-Lynn

Drowning in debt is every college student’s nightmare and reality but will Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness really help? Many celebrated the student loan forgiveness that Biden announced on August 24 too soon before knowing what it really meant for alums, non-completers and college students. The loan forgiveness will help a little but it is over looking the real problem of cost to go to college.

One of the first questions that many asked was will they qualify if they are still in college, well the answer isn’t as clear as yes or no. Freshman that are starting their college journey this fall of 2022 will not qualify for the loan forgiveness. Everyone else has a chance to qualify and should see if they are automatically covered or need to apply for the loan forgiveness when the application comes out in October .

Parents who took out Parent PLUS loans have the chance of not being forgiven if their child’s loans are forgiven. Though if they have their own student debt from when they attend they could have forgiveness on those loans. Whether it’s the student or parent only up to $10,000 can be forgiven if they did not receive the Pell Grant and up to $20,000 if they received the Pell Grant. Though the income of an individual has to be less than $125,000 or married couples have to be less than $250,000 to qualify for the loan forgiveness.

Even though more 8 million people will be applying for loan forgiveness and many will receive the relief it is still not enough. Non-completers can have their loans forgiven, but that doesn’t change the fact that many dropped out because they could not afford to keep attending college. Being from communities that are over looked makes college seem like an unreachable goal because of the cost and many non-completers are from these communities.

‘”It does not go far enough in addressing the root of the problem: a postsecondary education system that has seen tuition rise three-fold in the last 30 years. That same system will put future borrowers in peril,” wrote Andre M. Perry, senior fellow at Brookings Metro, a research program within The Brookings Institution (Detroit).’

The fees to attend college been increasing throughout the years and with inflation schools are hiking up their tuition up to 5% more this year. Students are looking for cheaper and alternative ways to get the education they need to get a job that they want. With trade schools and other alternatives many are looking over the four-year schools because of their cost. Biden’s loan forgiveness isn’t going to help the future generations and help students have a more affordable education. He is putting a bandaid on a bullet wound that is going to get worse as the cost of higher education continues to increase and the Federal Student Aid not increasing to match the growing prices and being aid.

‘“Forgiving student loan debt isn’t free,” he said in a statement. “It means the 85 percent of Americans with no undergraduate debt from college will be carrying the burden for those that do. That is not a relief, it is an unfair burden to place on working families (New York Times).”’

Even with the loan forgiveness it may help some now but it will be affecting everyone whether they went to college or not or have paid off all their debt already. This will cause problems for the people who live paycheck to paycheck and will have to be taxed to make up the money that was forgiven. That’s the problem with forgiving the loans because the money has to come from somewhere and that’s why the Democrats are divided about Biden’s plan.

The loan forgiveness will help some now but in the long run it wont be looked at as successful since many will still be in debt and the newer generation will begin to be in student debt. There isn’t a clear answer on how to make higher education more affordable especially for low-income families. Though the loan forgiveness isn’t the worse step, but it not the best step for making higher education more affordable since the prices will still be high and continue to climb.

https://www.freep.com/story/money/personal-finance/susan-tompor/2022/09/09/student-loan-debt-forgiveness/65742754007/

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/09/10/what-student-loan-forgiveness-means-for-borrowers-who-never-graduated.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/25/us/politics/student-loan-forgiveness-democrats-gop.html?searchResultPosition=1

Fire at Norfolk Downs Race Track

by Augusta-Lynn


Suspicious fire claims the live of 15 horses at the Norfolk Downs Race Track in Chicago at four o’clock this morning. Ten out of the twenty-five horses that were residing in the one-story, wooden barn for the opening race survived.

“It could have been of an incendiary nature because it started in the middle of the barn, not at the end. The only heaters and electrical outlets were in the tack rooms at the ends of the barns,” stated Dan Bucci, assistant general manager of the track.

Jim Connery, fire chief: “The fire exploded near the center of the barn. Flames were shooting out of the building when we got here. The fire is definitely suspicious.”

The fire is being suspected of being arson and an arson squad has been called to investigate the fire.

Plane Crash

by Augusta-Lynn

Two professors of Backwater State University escaped injury from the plane crash that took five lives at Kennedy International Airport.

Associate professor of rural sociology John Dumont and associate professor of English George Johnson were returning Thursday night from separate conferences in New York City. They were on a TWA jet that crashed during take off with forty-three passengers and crew members aboard.

New York Times Article News Comment #1

by Augusta-Lynn

COVID has affected everyone throughout the world and is still effecting people today. With the potential of a COVID surge this winter F.D.A has pushed for new boosters that have a mix of the previous shot’s formula and a new formula that is targeting the Omicron Sub-variants. They want people to get the booster, but there will be difficulty getting people to come get the shots. Most people believe that COVID is gone or no longer threatening, but there is still a threat with “fewer than 40,000 people hospitalized with the virus.” Though the death numbers have remained somewhat flat it is just means the vaccines and booster are working.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/31/us/politics/covid-booster-shots-variants.html

Biden administration compared the booster shots with the flu shot since the COVID boosters are updated to prevent surges just like the yearly flu shot. The booster shots may become a new shot to take yearly with the flu shot. Eventually it will become a normal thing to get at the doctors office, but right now people may ignore the boosters since they believe COVID is gone or not threatening to them.

Classmate Spotlight

by Augusta-Lynn

Jaden Carney (19yr.) is a sophomore in Political Science at Morningside University. He is from Adair, Iowa with a younger sister named Reagan and both his parents at home. His favorite things to do in the summer is kayaking and camping, then in general he loves to hang out with friends and family, cooking, helping others, and travel. Even though some of his favorite things to do are best done in the summer, fall is his favorite season. He loves how colorful fall is and the different flavors that come out only during fall time such as pumpkin spice and apple cinnamon. His biggest impacts so far to shape him into who he is today is his family and friends, 4-H, FFA, the Day Center and Dr. Valerie Hennings.

He originally didn’t plan to go to college after high school because he didn’t want to at the time. After talking to his parents and friends, he was convinced to give Morningside a shot for a semester. Once he arrived and became engaged in the University he fell in love with Morningside and decided to stay. The clubs and organizations that helped him decide to stay as he participated in them were; Morningside Civic Union, Colonel “Bud” Day Center for Civic Engagement, Active Minds, Morningside Republicans, and Morningside Poll. He plans to partake in them this year as well as run for Morningside Student Government as a Sophomore Representative.

Once he graduates in 2025 with a Political Science Major, he plans to pursue a Masters degree in graduate school. His masters will be in Applied Political Science or Public Administrations. After graduate school he sees himself in ten years working in a Congressional office as a Political consultant. He’ll locate to Virginia or Pennsylvania and have a plan in the works to run for office. He also hopes to be married and have started a family by then.