Kayla Niner
Published: October 15, 2008

GALENA- The Riverview Center Duck Derby was this weekend at the Country Fair in Galena, Illinois.

Annie Silaggi, a board member for Riverview since its beginning, believes that the duck derby has come a long way since the first race.

“Believe it or not the first year we had no money to pay for ducks, so we had gotten ducks from the Aurora Township and we had asked them if they give us the ducks, and we would pay for them after our first race,” said Silaggi.

This year Riverview sold over three thousand ducks at five dollars each.

The donations help keep all of the services free for the Riverview clients, and the Duck Derby is its biggest fundraiser.

For Riverview the Duck Derby not only brings in money, but awareness as well.

“Chances are everyone knows someone who’s been sexually assaulted, and until you know someone or have actually been sexually assaulted, you don’t know where to go,” said Liz Recker, the development director for the Riverview Center.

Riverview gives a place where those affected by sexual assault can turn to for help.

Those involved in the Riverview Center want people to know that they have a safe place to go.

“Something touched my heart many years ago. I know a survior, and I know that Riverview is there to help people who need it, and my heart really belongs to their cause,” said Silaggi.

Kayla Niner can be reached at kayla.niner@loras.edu

By: Kayla Niner
Published: October 8, 2008

DUBUQUE- Last spring the Loras Volleyball Team lost a member to bacterial meningitis.

In order for the team to keep the memory of their teammate Audrey Fitzgerald alive, they have chosen to wear armbands this season that have the letters AF on them.

“We wear are arm bands every game that have her initials on it and that’s because she is still with us, cheering from the sidelines, just like she was last year,” said Mandie Lillibridge, a junior volleyball player.

The armbands are not the only thing that is helping the team remember their teammate. A new plaque hangs in the volleyball locker room in the AWC.

The team created an award for the person who shows the same team spirit that Audrey showed.

It is called the Audrey Fitzgerald Team Player Award, and at the end of the season the team will vote on who they feel most reflects the kind of player Audrey was.

“Audrey was always there to be a helpful player, and to give the award to another player, it would just be awesome to give and to get as part of the volleyball team,” said Maggie Huguelet, a senior setter for the Duhawks.

The team is having the best season since 1991, and the team believes that Audrey could be the reason behind their success.

“I feel like our team conclusiveness is the reason we’re doing so well. Even though everything did happen, she did bring our team together, and I do believe she is the reason for our success this year,” said Huguelet.

The volleyball team takes donations for the National Meningitis Association at every home game.

On October 22 the team will be participating in “Think Pink” campaign and will be raising money for breast cancer research.

Kayla Niner can be reached at Kayla.Niner@loras.edu

Kayla Niner
Published: October 1, 2008

DUBUQUE- Megan Hauber is creating change.

“There are so many things that the student body needs or wants and the student government is the voice of the students,” said Hauber, vice president of the Loras Student Union.

Too often, students overlook the fact that the student senate is a form of government; it is just at a very local level.

“It brings you more aware of the world and how it’s actually working. I think there is a lot of opportunity for people to branch out and be more global,” said Hauber on the opportunities student senate brings to its members.

One recent Loras graduate took that opportunity to the next level in Wisconsin.

“I’m the GOP nominee of the candidate for the 49th assembly seat,” said candidate Travis Tranel.

The 23 year old defeated 53 year old Dave Kuhle and 58 year old Dennis Lundell in the primary. Proof that age isn’t necessarily a deciding factor in an election.

“Age, I don’t think necessarily translates into experience, and I think voters are smart enough to realize that,” said Tranel.

Tranel says he is looking to create change in his own backyard.

“I’ve always been raised in the mind set you can either complain about things or do things to fix them and I thought rather than just complain about the tone of politics I myself would get involved in politics,” adds Tranel.

Such involvement starts with one individual, but branches out to something more.

“One person can only do so much, you may have lots of good ideas but interacting and connecting with other people improves your turn out so much because everyone brings different things to the table,” said Hauder.

A table that starts at a local level, branches to the state level, and can even influence the national campaigns.

Kayla Niner can be reached at Kayla.Niner@loras.edu

Kayla Niner
Published September 24, 2008

The Rogers sisters went to Wahlert High School and played volleyball and softball together.

Ashley is younger then Rachael and really looks up to her.

Ashley Rogers said, “She was a great role model for me all through high school all through college she set a great example she taught me a lot about work ethic you know just how to be a good person over all I look up to her a lot even still.”

They were always pushing each other to succeed when in high school and even after high school when they were at different colleges.

Ashley said, “We actually played against each other in college even though she was at a division 1 school I was at a division 3 school we both competed against each other in softball so that was just awesome and something I would never give up just awesome.”

Ashley Rogers attended Wartburg and Rachael went to the University of Northern Iowa.

Both girls played softball for their selected colleges.

They both, also, went away to school, instead of staying in Dubuque.

Rachael said, “It’s cool to get away from dqb for a little bit but at the same time is dubuque has been home to me for I’m 24, so 24 years and I have a very close family and Ashley and I are best friends.”

Ashley said almost the same thing, because to both the girls, family is very important, “I realized once I was gone, I liked Dubuque, Dubuque is home and with my family being here I wanted to come back and get involved here.”

Ashley is now the assistant volleyball and softball coach at Loras, and is doing her best to use what sports, her parents, and Rachel gave her, to help others.

Ashley said, “The girls here are awesome I love working with them and just helping them develop as both athletes and people in general has just been rewarding.”

Rachael is at Western Dubuque High School teaching Social Studies, coaching softball and freshman volleyball.

The sisters live together in Dubuque.

Kayla Niner can be reached at kayla.niner@loras.edu

Kayla Niner
Published: September 17, 2008

Jacob Krapfl just returned from serving in Iraq, and Mike Knopf is a senior at Dubuque Senior.

On the surface these two seem to have little in common but this year they both represented youth voters at the national conventions.

Jacob Krapfl brushes it off like it was no big deal.

Krapfl said, “I just went and caucused. It was something that I felt I had to do.”Except that he did it at the Democratic National Convention as a national delegate.

Kraphl explained the experience as a normal duty he thought he should do. As a paratrooper with the 82nd airborne division of the United States Army, Krapfl knows a thing or two about duty and responsibility.

He said, “That experience gave my kind of the self-discipline to really succeed here and also to not be afraid to stand up and say what I believe.”

On the opposite side of the spectrum, Mike Knopf, 17, was able to serve as a national delegate at the Republican National Convention.

The convention proved a unique experience for Knopf. He was the youngest delegate of both conventions.

Two young men, that both took a political stance at a national level. Do these two point to a larger youth voter turnout?

“Youth voting was up in 2004, but so was every other category of voter and when that happens, there really isn’t a sort of mass spike that out paces other groups. While the youth vote increased in 2004, and it will probably increase again in 2008 the question becomes does voting by other groups also increase? Because if that’s the case, then all groups are voting more often,’ said Loras College Professor of Politics Dr. Chris Budzisz.

Even though it is too early to tell how much influence the young voter will have on this election; that does not mean that younger voters should not get involved.

“I would definitely encourage people to be involved, but don’t sort of blindly get involved. Research what you’re doing, know what you’re doing, don’t just sort of follow the crowd. Look critically at things and come to your own conclusions. But certainly, if you are going to have a healthy democracy, you have to have a citizenry that’s involved and knowledgeable,” said Budzisz.
That message is what Jacob Krapfl and Mike Knopf hope to instill in young people.

“I took it to the extreme by trying to become a national delegate and becoming one, but its everyone’s responsibility to be active in their government,” said Krapl.

Both of these young men believe that this really is the year of the young voter.

Krapl said, “This is the first time in 4 years and even longer than that, that our generation is standing up and having our voices heard because we see where this country is going and we’re saying hey grandma and grandpa, move over. I’m driving for awhile.”

Kayla Niner can be reached at kayla.niner@loras.edu