ROCK ISLAND, IL (06/01/2010)(readMedia)-- Neil Friberg of Rock Island, Ill., will be one of two Augustana students to perform the play, "A Prairie Planting," commemorating the 150th anniversary of the formation of the Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod. The free and public event will take place Saturday, June 5, 2010 at 3 p.m. at Jefferson Prairie Lutheran Church in Poplar Grove, Ill.

The short play gives a glimpse into the meeting that led to the signing of the synod's constitution. It includes the perspective of a college student conducting a practice run on a senior research project about ethnicity in 19th-century Protestantism while Lars Esbjorn, Augustana's first president, looks on to help her with the facts. Friberg, a sophomore general studies major, will perform the role of Esbjorn. Dorothy Williams, a sophomore general studies major from Melrose Park, Ill., will play the role of the college student.

The observation of the founding will include the play as well as a signing of the sesquicentennial compact by President Steven Bahls, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois; President Rob Oliver, Augustana College, Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and ELCA Director of Colleges and Universities Rev. Mark Wilhelm. The three will sign sesquicentennial compact at the same table used to sign the original constitution creating the Augustana Synod.

"One of our chief aims in planning for the observance of the Augustana sesquicentennial was to celebrate and teach the history of the college," said Steven Bahls, president of Augustana College in Rock Island. "As we've done so, we have gained a rich appreciation for the courage and vision of the founders of the school, and for the firm foundation that they left us. We are humbled by the opportunity to return to Jefferson Prairie 150 years later, to honor our founders and the hundreds of faculty and staff members over the years who advanced Augustana to become one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges."

The Scandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod was established in North America in 1860. A group of Swedish Lutheran pastors-Jonas Swensson, Lars Paul Esbjorn, Tuve Hasselquist, Eric Norelius and Erland Carlsson-developed the Augustana Synod during a meeting from June 5-8 at the Jefferson Prairie Settlement near Clinton, Wisconsin.

The synod consisted of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish members. The Norwegian and Danish left ten years later to form their own church bodies. In 1894 the name was changed to Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod in North America and then again in 1948 to the name Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Church. The synod is credited with founding seven liberal arts colleges, including Augustana College in Rock Island, and today is part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Jefferson Prairie Lutheran Church is located about seven miles east of Interstate 90's Beloit exit.

About Augustana: Founded in 1860 and situated on a 115-acre campus near the Mississippi River, Augustana College is a private, liberal arts institution affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). The college enrolls 2,500 students from diverse geographic, social, ethnic and religious backgrounds and offers more than 70 majors and related areas of study. Augustana employs 287 faculty and has a student-faculty ratio of 11:1. Augustana continues to do what it has always done: challenge and prepare students for lives of leadership and service in our complex, ever-changing world.

April 27, 2010

WASHINGTON - Senator Chuck Grassley has asked the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission for more information about the agency's response to employees who used government computers to view pornography, noting that none of the employees identified by the Inspector General review was terminated, despite the Chairman's statement last Friday that termination would be the consequence for such violations.

Grassley also asked the Chairman to address claims made by an SEC employee that one of the employees was a supervisor received no more than a slap on the wrist.  The whistleblower employee said this same supervisor "bullied" examiners in an attempt to prevent them from pursuing "certain red flags" in an examination that uncovered a "massive fraud."  In his letter to the Chairman, Grassley said, "this complaint appears to allege a direct tie between a regulatory failure at the SEC and a supervisor who the SEC did not adequately discipline for viewing pornography on government computers and on government time."

Click here to read Grassley's letter to Chairman Mary L. Schapiro, along with the document containing allegations about the supervisor who was among the employees who engaged in misconduct.  Here is a copy of the letter Grassley received today from Inspector General David Kotz about the status of all the employees in question.

DAVENPORT, IOWA - New Ground Theatre presents Marsha Norman's Pulitzer Prize-winning drama 'night, Mother opening April 30th at 7:30 p.m. at the Village Theatre, 2113 11th Street, Davenport.

The production stars Jamie Em Behncke and Susan Perrin-Sallak as a mother and daughter spending their final night together because the daughter has decided that life is not worth living any longer. Reviews of 'night, Mother say "...honest, uncompromising, lucid, penetrating, well-written, dramatic, and...unmanipulatively moving..." ?NY Magazine. "It is sparse and concise, introspective and penetrating, powerful and uncompromising, intense and intelligent, warm and theatrical. It is THE American tragedy." ?New England Entertainment Digest. 'night, Mother is directed and designed by Lora Adams with lighting by Tristan Layne Tapscott. "Marsha Norman has written an extraordinarily beautiful play about love and letting go" said director Adams.

The performance will take place April 30th, May 1st, May 4th, May 7th & May 8th at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays, May 2nd and 9th at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are available by calling 563-326-7529.

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The Pepsi grant program kicked off in February and Genesius Guild received enough votes to be given a second chance in March to mobilize people to win a grant. The theater's Executive Director, Doug Tschopp, says "the trick to winning this is to network through email, Facebook and other social media... and then to get all of those people to continue to pass this along."

The grant will replace lighting equipment that includes undependable dimmers that are nearly 50 years old. The equipment, which usually lasts only 15 years, is a vital to putting on each and every play. The grant would also allow the group to purchase new video equipment. The 30 year old VCR camera no longer works and according to Tschopp, "even when it did work, the audio was recorded at the camera which was so far back all you could hear were the crickets and frogs in the park".

They also need people to share this with their friends through email and facebook. A short funny video promotes the need for the grant: www.xtranormal.com/watch/6225607/.

Genesius Guild performs in Lincoln Park in Rock Island every summer. The performances are free and include Shakespeare, Greek Tragedy and Greek Comedy. The 54th season opens this year with a weekend of ballet. More information can be found at www.genesius.org.