Angular IE8 Issues

I have been unable to render a list in IE8 specifically. All other browsers execute the following code as intended, however, IE8 completely ignores the function completely. Any tips, suggestions and/or solutions are greatly appreciated, Cheers.

alert("workflow.js"+ " this call goes off in IE8");

$scope.makeAndGetList = function(list) {
    //todo: lj: IE8 doesn't make it here
    //alert("workflow.js"+ " no IE");
    var parts = list.split('.'),
        current = $scope.workflow;

    _.each(parts, function(part, index) {
        if (current[part] == undefined) {
            current[part] = (index == parts.length - 1) ? [] : {};
        }
        current = current[part];
        //todo: lj: IE8 doesn't make it in here
        // app.appAlert("workflow.js"+ " line 19");
    });

alert("workflow.js - this functions correctly executes in IE8");

Here is the HTML as requested:

<sa-list list="makeAndGetList('areas_of_need')" edit="true" model="areas_of_need" array-mode="true">
    <sa-lookup style="multiselect" override="false" list="areas_of_need.terms" model="areas_of_need" model-key="need" label="{{locale.iprc.areas_of_strengths_and_needs.needs}}"></sa-lookup>
</sa-list>