Students, alums and local community members gathered Sunday to enjoy meals from around the world that was prepared by the members of LISA (Loras International Student Association).

“This was an opportunity for people to get to know each other,” said LISA president Sergio Perez. “Sharing a meal between different cultures builds relationships between people of different backgrounds. LISA strives to provide opportunities for people to share intercultural experiences.”

With more than 30 dishes representing foods from 10 countries, those at the International Dinner enjoyed dishes such as pollo saltado from Peru, chicken curry from Nepal and sushi from Japan.

The guests were impressed by the quality and variety of the dishes. Ali Said, Arabic-studies professor, said the dinner was “wonderful — bringing people together over food.”

“The food is great, (and) speaks volumes on Loras’ effort to integrate their students,” added Hakeem Mahdi, a teacher and a representative for the Islamic Center.

The students who made the food had “a great opportunity to share their culture with others,” said sophomore Alejandro Cosmopolis, who made the popular pollo saltado.

This year’s dinner introduced an element of competition. Students said they had fun decorating and cooking with the help of Aramark, and, in some of the cases, even relatives.

“It’s terrific to see how (the dinner) has grown,” said Dr. John Eby, associate professor of history and director of the honors program. “I’m always impressed by the time students invest into it. This expresses Loras’ ethnic hospitality.”

Last week, Loras got another reason to draw people from the community under the banner of “International Dinner.” Students hungry to share delicacies from their cultures donned the aprons and gloves and spent a weekend grilling, frying and baking to spruce up their food. Although there were more tables in the Ballroom than last year, the overall turnout was a letdown.

Campus Dining has propelled the students’ motivation to cook over the years by providing the Loras Intercultural Student Association (LISA) with the ingredients and allowing them kitchen use for one of the biggest Loras events. However, the $8 price of the dinner this year embittered the occasion for some, especially those who don’t have a meal plan, including some Dubuque community residents. The price of the dinner before 2010 was $5 at one point. In the Fall of 2010, it was $7.75, then it was $7.25 in the spring, and then this year it spiked to a whopping $8. Last year, LISA got $2, $1 initially and another “matching dollar,” for every meal purchased with cash. The meal swipes and Duhawk dollars were out of the picture.

LISA is widely recognized as a club that draws the biggest crowds to their events, not just from Loras but also from the community. It makes Loras what it is unique in the community and in the region. Alums remember their “intercultural” friends and keep coming back to lick their fingers and plates off year-in, year-out, but putting a big price tag on the dinner is a blow to them and also for the students who were all working hard to cook their dishes.

Times are hard financially. Everybody has tightened their belts and the people pulling the strings have to understand the community around us is no different. Campus dining will have to keep motivating the students and the community, financially, the way it’s been doing. Cutting the price of the intercultural dinner or giving LISA a larger share to be used for other events would be a few steps. After all, nobody likes to be hungry, especially for tangy food from all across the world.

-Lorian Editorial Staff

By Rajendra Thakurathi & Emily Full

The freshly-refurbished Cafe began serving once again at the start of the new semester. To christen the new eatery, a ribbon-cutting ceremony took place Tuesday in the Alumni Campus Center concourse.

ARAMARK Higher Education, in partnership with Loras College, unveiled its million dollar renovation project amidst the small function attended by Dubuque Chamber of Commerce members, students and public.

After cutting the ribbon, director for the Campus Dining Susan DuBois said she was excited for the changes.

“We wanted to give students a better dining experience,” she said. “With the renovation, we have tried to eliminate the institutionalized feel through comfortable seating, among others.”

ARAMARK Food Services has nourished the bellies of Loras students since 1974, and over the years has gone through many transformations.

Talking at the function, Loras President Jim Collins gave thanks where it was due.

“This has been possible through the initiative of some students’ leaders,” he said.

“It’s a diamond in the rough,” said Bob Peacock, chairman of the Dubuque Area Chamber of Commerce. “On average, we have two ribbon-cutting ceremonies in Dubuque. That shows development and progress is on its way. Here we have a member of the chamber announcing its renovation.”

Along with the new look, the new Cafe has a variety of new stations and a new menu to offer to its students.

“We’ve added new, healthier options for healthier dining,” said DuBois

There is also an improved Asian station that has fresh veggies and can be made to order, along with a grill station, pizza and pasta area, condiment station, and enhanced dessert bar. Meanwhile, there are other stations for exhibition, including a back-of-house grill, and a deli, soup, and salad bar.

The Cafe renovations also converted the old seating and dining layout to an updated version that includes a cyber area, allowing students to work while enjoying food. Also added was more counter space with higher seating, booths for more enclosed seating, a little purple and gold decal to show some school pride, along with a new dish-disposing area completely hidden so the kitchen noise is kept at bay from the students.

New televisions add an improved, welcoming feel to dining students. But DuBois envisions the space for more than just entertainment and food.

“Something we are trying to implement in the near future is allowing students to use the dining area as a place to meet and work on homework after serving hours,” said DuBois.

She further added that her team has contributed a great deal of time, energy and a commitment to excellence to ensure a wonderful dining experience.

ARAMARK was interested in making some changes and along with Loras’ Physical Plant, action was able to take place throughout the summer. DuBois was quite pleased with how things took place, saying, “Kudos to the Physical Plant!  They did a wonderful job.”

Not just the outlook, the new café has also tried to make improvements in sustainability and healthier food options.

“Instead of cooking things ahead of time and letting them remain in a warmer, the food is being cooked as we go so it is much fresher. She added that the new dish room plays a key role by helping to reduce the use of water by ten percent and electricity by twelve percent.  The carpet is also helping keep the Café green since it is created from all recycled materials.

“Anything that we can do to save the environment,” stated Dubois.

The new café adds great color to vibrant students’ lives here at the college. Campus dining has done  a lot of things in the last few years with the elimination of trays and undergoing more sustainable and environment friendly options. The new upgrades and the renovations are also expected to cater the healthier option demands of the student population.

Just like the people behind the campus dining, the diners are excited about the new café. To see, what students are saying about the new café, take a look at the What Do You Think section to see students’ opinions about the new renovations!

Did you know that every year since 1995, around 50,000 people from around the world are chosen randomly as “winners” of the U.S. congressionally mandated lottery program that allows these people to live in the U.S. as permanent residents?

Also referred to as the “green-card lottery,” the Diversity Immigration Visa program welcomes people from countries with low rates of immigration to the U.S. To many people from these countries, it’s a dream-come-true to be invited to the “land of opportunities.” It has become a recent trend for people in cities in Nepal, where I come from, to apply for this program, and many of those that have won have made some significant achievement.

Argaw Oremo was one of the winners of the “lottery” in Ethiopia in 2008. You might know him or have seen him. He works in the cafeteria. After winning the lottery, Argaw’s parents sold their thatch-roof house to gather money to send him here. With the dream of making a better living and helping out his family, the former elementary school math teacher is pursuing his “American dream.”
Argaw arrived in the U.S. a year ago, and he lived in Ohio for four months. Recession year that it was, Argaw found the U.S. no better than Ethiopia. While planning to return to Ethiopia and his $80 per month job, a friend of his who attends the University of Dubuque suggested that he move to Dubuque. Argaw packed his luggage to find out if he could kindle his hope.

 

He was hired by Aramark at Loras, and he also is working a part-time job at Hy-Vee. He lives at the Hope House in downtown Dubuque, which provides him free food and lodging. That enables him to send $500 each month to his parents.

“If I was not in Hope House, it would be difficult for me,” Argaw said.

I met Argaw while working in the cafeteria. One day, we happened to have our meal break at the same time. I had heard that he was a math teacher back in Ethiopia and had wanted to talk to him. During our conversation, he asked me how he could improve his English. He also expressed his desire to go to school here and learn more. When our 15 minutes was over, his eyes were telling me he wanted to talk more. I decided I would take some time out to explore this man. As planned, I spent four hours of a Sunday with him.

On Sundays, Argaw doesn’t work. He goes to church and to the Dubuque Rescue Mission downtown for lunch. Although poverty is inevitable in this world, places like this have shown hope for people like Argaw.

After we left the mission, Argaw was peppering me with questions about English. I advised him the best I could. He started listing me all types of tenses and their sub-types found in English grammar, but there were many words that he did not know how to use in a sentence. A lot of times, learning another language becomes difficult when you don’t get to speak it very often.

We reached his place. Then he pulled out his notebooks that were full of words. He was learning these words from his instructors at Presentation Lantern Center, a language institute in East Dubuque, IL. With a frown, Argaw asked: ” How do I use these words?” I told him to read books and newspapers and figure out the use of words. He seems to be a quick learner, very enthusiastic and inquisitive. I could see in his eyes a hunger to learn. There are so many others like Argaw, in need of someone to help them out.

 

Asked what he thinks about his work, Argaw said, “Work is hard. In Ethiopia, they say ‘America, life is good … but work is hard.” We agreed on how hard work leads to good life.

I asked him what his dreams are. To my surprise, Argaw said, “If I win a million-dollar lottery, I will go back to Ethiopia. I don’t work here. I will open a company, like Hy-Vee or Walmart, and give jobs to jobless people.”

I couldn’t believe his words. I couldn’t say much about the lottery, but I told him that if he worked honestly and sincerely, his dream shall come true. Argaw laughed with me, “Million-dollar lottery …”

I hope Argaw wins a lottery someday, be it the real one or the one achieved through his hard work. A day with Argaw left me thinking. There are people, like most of us, who take things for granted, and there are those like him struggling to achieve the least of what we have.

If we could value what we have, if we didn’t waste half of our meal that someone else is dying for somewhere, if only we didn’t misuse the opportunity that someone else is desperately looking for, if only we could think about others while caring about ourselves, the world would seem less miserable. After all, the world is one and what you are doing at this corner could impact the whole, and vice-versa.