The Clarion -- December 6, 2012

bethel university

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012VOLUME 88 • NUMBER 7

6Page 4 Page 15

2 • THE CLARION • DECEMBER 6, 2012

MISSION STATEMENTThe Clarion is a student newspaper for the Bethel

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NEWS EDITORJon [email protected]

CULTURE EDITORAmanda [email protected]

SPORTS EDITORJenny [email protected]

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LAYOUT EDITORShara [email protected]

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Are my possessions safe on campus?

PHOTO FOR THE CLARION BY DREA CHALMERS

Senior Taylor Rafferty and Student Services Coordinator Holly Pierson pose at the photo booth hosted by the Office of Interna-tional Studies for International Week.

Photoof the WeekPhotoWeek

of the

Have a question that you want us to explore? Email us at [email protected] or tweet it to @TheBUClarion with a hashtag: #Goodquestion

Emily ZlabFor The Clarion

This semester a string of thefts has taken place on Bethel’s campus. A camera bag containing a high-powered telephoto lens and three laptops were stolen earlier in the semester. The com-puters were stolen from the CC music rooms, The Loft and the women’s lock-er room. The camera bag was stolen from CC201.

Recently, two backpacks were sto-len outside of the Dining Center. The two backpacks contained several elec-tronic devices and valuable items. One of the backpacks was stolen by the col-umn near the televisions. Since Sodexo requires students to leave backpacks outside of the DC, there are steps that can be taken to ensure the safety of your belongings.

The Office of Security and Safety

pointed to their web-site for such tips. First, Security and Safety recommends that students never leave their belong-ings unattended. Ei-ther take them with you or ask a friend to watch them. Second, take your items back to your residence hall when you are finished with them. Or if you live off campus or farther from the build-ings, rent a locker to leave your items in. Lockers are spread throughout the aca-demic buildings and are available for rent through the Office of Student Life. Third, hang your belongings on the hangers near the exit of the DC when you go to eat, be-cause monitored security cameras are set up in that area.

Recently it has also been noted that Security and Safety has posted an officer outside of the Grill during the lunch rush to monitor any suspicious activity.

If you have or would like more infor-mation about the thefts, contact the Of-fice of Security and Safety via email or phone. Security and Safety will keep the Bethel community updated about thefts via E-Announcements.

DECEMBER 6, 2012 • THE CLARION • 3

NewsLavish Christmas

decorationAn eight-foot tall, three-foot wide, 88-pound

Christmas tree in Japan is for sale, but as of yet no one is willing to buy. Its price tag may be why. The pure gold Disney themed tree in Tokyo is being offered at 350 million yen, or $4.2 million. The handcrafted “tree” features 50 cutouts of various Disney characters and is draped with ribbons made of gold leaf. Tanaka Kikinzo-ku Jewelry commissioned 10 craftsmen to create the tree, which took two months. While the tree has not had any offers, a scaled down version featuring 20 character cutouts has been bid on for 2 million yen, or $243,000.

Senior Taylor Rafferty and Student Services Coordinator Holly Pierson pose at the photo booth hosted by the Office of Interna-tional Studies for International Week.

Jon WEstmark Of The Clarion

Syrian citizens take to non-violence

On Saturday, Dec. 1, many Syrian citizens closed the doors to their shops and businesses in a silent statement of civil disobedience. The initiative, termed “Strike of Pride” on Facebook and Twitter, radiated from the capital of Damascus to cities around the country despite Internet outages. Even with the renewed peaceful disobedience toward the government, violence continued around Da-mascus between rebel groups and government forces. The conflicting strategies among those opposed to the Assad regime indicate the growing sectarian division of the re-sistance movement, which began 20 months ago and has developed into a civil war killing 40,000 people.

UN upgrades Palestine’s status

On Nov. 29, the United Nations promoted Palestine to a non-member observer state from its previous distinction as a non-observer entity. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the 138-to-9 vote a “birth certificate” for the nation. The motion occurred on the 65th anniversary of a resolution that partitioned Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad stated that he hoped the event would push both sides to-ward resumed peace talks, which have been stalled for two years. The U.S. Ambassador to the UN echoed this desire, while Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the vote was “unfortunate and counterproductive.”

Conflict escalates in Gaza

Fighting between Israel and Hamas intensified in recent weeks with strategic strikes on the offices of the Prime Minister of Hamas and the Hamas Ministry of In-terior, following rocket fire on Tel-Aviv. In lieu of the increased violence, the Israeli government moved to withhold $100 million of tax revenues from the Pales-tinian Authority and went ahead with a planning initia-tive in a zone called E1. The project in E1 would connect the Jewish city of Ma'ale Adumim with Jerusalem and effectively cut the West Bank in two. The United States has long opposed the development, warning that it would end the possibility of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Fiscal “cliff” loomsWith the end of the calendar year approaching

quickly, so are major changes to the United States fis-cal agenda – changes that could send the economy into another recession. At midnight on Dec. 31, the stipu-lations of the Budget Control Act will go into effect, ending temporary payroll tax cuts among others. The result will be slightly increased taxes for all Americans. On the same day, spending cuts agreed upon as part of the debt ceiling deal in 2011 will go into effect. To-gether, the two would decrease the nation’s deficit by more than $500 billion. However, if an alternative plan is not agreed upon, experts project that such a sudden change will send the economy into another recession.

Pope does not cancel Christmas

Following the Nov. 20 release of his most recent book, the pope received some surprising feedback. An outcry came in response to the pope’s writing about the Christmas story. In the book, he argues that no animals were likely present at Jesus’ birth, that the angels probably spoke instead of sang lines in the Christmas narrative and that Jesus was likely born before the first century A.D. Some bloggers took the pope’s desire for historical accuracy as a humbug on Christmas, with one headline reading, “Pope bans Christmas.” The Catholic social network XT3 responded to the accusations in a blog entitled, “The pope has not banned Christmas.”


NewsDancing through Internati nal Week Gaelic tradition brought to Bethel

Senior Parker Foss spent fall of 2011 in Scotland at the University of St. Andrews. There he went to a ceilidh every week, where he learned traditional Scottish danc-ing.

“I enjoyed my experience so much in Scotland that I wanted to bring it back to Bethel," said Foss.

On Wednesday night of Inter-national Week, he did just that.

Foss hosted the event from 7:30-10 p.m. and brought in a live band and some instructors to help teach students about this cultural festiv-ity.

There were over 20 students in attendance and the participants caught on quickly with the instruc-tors. Soon The Underground was filled with folk music and twirling dancers.

Throughout International Week, students were on the look-out for a hidden gnome. Once found, the gnome held a ticket that could be redeemed for a round-trip ticket to anywhere in the con-tinental U.S.

Clues were posted every day to give students directions about where to look for the hidden trea-sure.

The winner, sophomore Daniel Sandberg shared his story of find-ing the gnome in an online blog on the Office of International Studies' website. In this blog, he shared

the tale of his trek back and forth across campus to find the hidden gnome.

“It started out as something fun to do because I was bored," Sandberg said. "In my mind, I knew I wouldn’t win, but hey, what’s the harm in trying?”

Now that the gnome has been found, Sandberg is making plans on how he wants to use his free round-trip ticket.

He commented, “I am hoping that I will get to visit my sister in California when she has her sev-enth child, at the end of interim!”

On the final day of Interna-tional Week, the Office of Interna-tional Studies set up a photobooth with backdrops and props and asked participants to write down reasons why students should study abroad.

The photos were put on Face-book and students were asked to vote for their favorite. The win-ners of this mini contest, facilities

management workers Carly Nel-son and Mikah Holloway, won a giant jar of nutella for their reason, “To be able to clean bathrooms in other countries.”

Some of the other favorites in-cluded:

• “To meet accent infused men who are cute”•“To discover new passions”• “To put it on my resume”

In search of the gnome

Why study abroad?

PHOTOS FOR THE CLARION BY DREA CHALMERS

Students gather for the different activities of international week: posing, dancing and tracking down gnomes to participate in embracing other cultures.

amanda ahlm Of The Clarion


NewsBethel takes part in restoring Native American voice in the Christian context nNative American Heritage Month brings knowledge, dialogue and a new perspective to campus

Jon WEstmarkOf The Clarion

In an address to the Chris-tian Community Development Association (CCDA) conference on Sept. 26, Richard Twiss ad-dressed American Christians. “Frankly, most of you don’t give a rat’s petootie about Indian people,” he said. “I don’t blame you, you don’t have time for us.” His words issued a challenge to the Christian community to mo-bilize around the reconciliation process with Native American people.

November, Native Ameri-can Heritage Month, provided an opportunity to continue the process of healing. On Nov. 13, a ceremony organized by the Lower Sioux Indian Community brought Minnesotans together to remember the forced march of the Dakota people across the state, which led to hundreds of Native American deaths 150 years ago. The Bethel com-munity also took part in the discussion, bringing in recon-ciliation advocates Twiss and Jim Miller as well as the exhibit “Why Treaties Matter,” which documented the history of the Native Nation’s history of trea-ty-making with the U.S. govern-ment.

Bethel communications pro-fessor Scott Sochay served on two committees in organizing the events on campus. Sochay, a member of the Little Traverse

Bay of Odawa Indians, and the sole Native American faculty member at Bethel, sees Heri-tage Month as more of an infor-mational tool than a celebration of culture. “The purpose of the events [on campus] is to edu-cate the Bethel community about the Native American ex-perience,” he said. “What has [Native American] history been like and how does that interact with Christianity and faith?”

According to Sochay, build-ing authentic relationships with Native Americans are the only way to bridge the gap in percep-tion between Native and major-ity American culture. He cites surveys which indicate that 90 percent of people receive their information about Native Amer-icans from the media and not person-to-person contact.

“Scholars say we’re stuck in history,” he said. "The media tends to show us back in the old western days shooting bows and arrows, wearing feathered headdresses and hunting buf-falo. When most people think of a Native American they don’t think of a professor wearing a polo shirt and khakis.”

The door to Sochay’s of-fice is filled with news articles, art and sketches of “what’s on the minds of people in Indian country” to help combat these stereotypes. According to him, this Native American Heritage Month was the most successful in his time at Bethel. “Students

definitely were more engaged,” he said.

Tom Duke, an organizer for Healing Minnesota Stories, be-lieves faith communities like Bethel “can play a key role in promoting and experiencing healing.” But for Sochay and Twiss, the benefits go both ways. According to Sochay, his Native American heritage has given him a community-orient-

ed perspective in an Evangelical context that focuses primarily on the personal. Twiss also be-lieves his cultural heritage of-fers insight into what it means to be Christian. To show this, he is building a sweat lodge on his property to experience with other Christians the “frailty of humanity and the goodness of God.”

For Twiss and Sochay, un-

derstanding the perspective of Christians from other contexts is a glimpse of heaven. “God’s going to pull people of every tribe and tongue and nation and culture together,” Sochay said. “It’s ultimately only when all things are summed up in Christ that we’re going to be rid of our petty squabbles and issues of culture, but until then God has created us to be diverse.”

PHOTO FOR THE CLARION BY ERIN GALLAGHER

Students were able to learn about the history of the Dakota and Ojibwe nations from the traveling exhibit "Why Treaties Matter," on display from Nov. 6-16 in the Brushaber Commons.


News

DAYS 59-60: Iguazu Falls

ChEriE suonviEri For The Clarion

Lending an ear to student voices, Student Senate dedicated a week to reaching out to the Bethel commu-nity. Bethel’s first ever Student Sen-ate Week began on Monday, Nov. 12, and it was a success according to Ashley Jacobson, Bethel junior and chair of the Senate’s Student In-volvement Committee.

“The goal is to get students in-volved in where their student ac-tivity fee goes,” said Jacobson. The funds from the $75 student activity fee, which is tucked discreetly in the list of tuition charges, are distribut-ed to various clubs and organizations on campus through bills written by the Student Senate.

“We really want to spend the money that we have on what stu-dents want,” Jacobson said. “I think the best part of Student Senate Week was the table we had set up with the student surveys. We got a lot of really good feedback.”

By the end of Senate Week, 190 student surveys had been returned. The responses are still being ana-lyzed, but a few in particular stood out, including requests for the addi-

tion of a convenience store and for hand dryers in the bathrooms.

“A lot of people requested a fit-ness center and more parking, but that’s just not something tangible for Senate right away,” Jacobson said. “It’s definitely something that we’ve mentioned in the past to ad-ministration and they know that it’s something that students want.”

In addition to the student sur-veys, the Senate looked for feedback in other ways. Throughout the week, senators spent time on shack to con-nect with the residents they repre-sent. A Blitz event was also held on Monday night in the Brushaber Com-mons to create conversations be-tween the Senate and the students.

Looking ahead to future Sen-ate weeks, there are a few tweaks the senators hope to make, includ-ing holding a Senate meeting in the Brushaber Commons. All meet-ings are open to Bethel community members, but the Senate hopes to increase student interest by meeting in a communal space.

For students interested in at-tending Senate meetings before the next Student Senate Week, meetings are held every Monday at 7:30 p.m. in BC 468.

ChEriE suonviEri For The Clarion

In an effort to encourage foreign lan-guage conversation outside of the class-room, Bethel’s Department of Modern World Language has established weekly conversations. Both students and faculty members are welcome at these events. Currently, there are two language groups: Spanish and German.

Cafecito, the Spanish conversation group, is led by junior Laura Moeller and two other TAs. “It’s a really cool opportu-nity to come and practice,” Moeller said.

Level of conversation is based on the student's background. “We tend to feel out where students are at when they come in and try [to work with that],” Moeller said.

Having a conversation may give stu-dents an advantage on a practical level because they can receive help with con-cepts they struggle with in class, but Moeller said that using the language it-self is the biggest benefit. “All language teachers would say that, right off the bat, immersion is the best way to acquire a language,” she said.

Cafecito meets on Thursdays at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. in the Modern World Lan-guage office in Townhouse M.

The German conversation group on

campus runs in a similar format. “It’s Ger-man only, and we have people of all kinds of levels who come to it,” said Michel van der Hoek, adjunct professor in the Ger-man Department.

The conversations provide students with an opportunity to speak German outside of the classroom, which often proves to be difficult around town. “It’s not as easy as it is for a Spanish program where you can go to some ministry in the cities and all speak Spanish for a few hours,” van der Hoek said. “We don’t have that for German.”

German students are required to at-tend several of the conversations as a communicative component of the curric-ulum. “It’s meant for real, spontaneous communication – helping them to prac-tice,” van der Hoek said. “It’s input and opportunity to create output, maximizing their contact hours with the language.”

German conversations take place at Royal Grounds every Wednesday morn-ing from 11:15 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Both groups are hoping to see the attendance of their conversations grow, and they extend the invitation to all speakers – from those who are just be-ginning to those who are fluent.

There are plans to begin a French con-versation group next semester.

For more news and photos, visit us at www.bethel.edu/news/clarion Twitter: @TheBUClarion

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Check out The Clarion online!

Students speak and Senate listensnBethel’s first Student Senate Week sets up fruitful give and take

nTwo foreign language programs take learning to the corridors and cafes around campus

Starting new conversations


News NewsPlowing through the preparations nA look at what goes on behind the scenes to keep Bethel going through Minnesota winters

Jon WEstmarkOf The Clarion

While students are prepar-ing to transition from their fall schedules into finals week, Bethel employees are making similar preparations for the change in sea-sons. For the Bethel grounds staff, the fall provides a respite from summer projects and seasonal du-ties before taking on winter’s de-manding obligations.

For students, at the beginning of December the rhythmic lull of the semester is interrupted with preparations for final tests and projects as well as for the next se-mester. This time marks a similar occasion for the Bethel grounds crew. According to Josh Gerth, Bethel’s Manager of Grounds, the team is busy with the duties of both fall and winter. “We’re doing our winter preparation, but we’re also using those machines to do fall cleanup,” he said. This involves changing mowers to sweepers and snow blowers, trucks to plows, and watering vehicles to salt dis-pensers.

Snow removal is the main task of the Bethel grounds crew during the winter months as the plowing, shoveling, salting and sweeping are all done in-house. According to Gerth, he and four others do the majority of the removal, and in snowy winters, they don’t get much time to rest. “A half-inch to four inches, we’re probably here

at 3 a.m. at the latest,” he said. “If it’s a bigger snow, we’re normally here from the time it starts snow-ing until we can take a break.”

While Gerth and his staff take care of the roads and parking lots, seasonal student employees take care of the rest. Because the work-ers are on-call, Gerth says they hire a few extra. “When you’re telling people to come in at five or six, you only get so many people to respond,” he said.

It’s a community effort, accord-ing to Gerth. In 2010, during large snowfalls, he recalls that Facilities Management office employees came out to join the process.

But not all of snow removal happens after the fact. Instead of laying salt and plowing after it snows, Bethel Grounds also takes preemptive measures. In their an-ti-icing program, the grounds team uses a liquid salt solution that keeps the ice from bonding to the pavement, making it easier to re-move. The rock salt is also sprayed with the saline solution in a pro-cess called “pre-wetting.” The flu-orides in the liquid solution make it effective at lower temperatures. It also “activates” the rock salt, ac-cording to Gerth. “Surprisingly, for salt to work you need heat and you need moisture,” he said.

When he started at his current position 14 years ago, Gerth re-calls going through about 200 tons of rock salt each year. In the win-ter of 2010-2011, which brought

above average snowfalls, a mere 100 tons of rock salt and 2000 gal-lons of solution were used. This decrease saved money, but it also helped the environment. “We don’t want to be dumping a large amount of salt into Lake Valen-tine,” Gerth said. “Plus, it kills our grass and our plants.” Minimizing the amount of salt decreases the time and money spent on spread-ing fertilizer and grass seed.

Commuter parking is one of the main concerns for the grounds

team. “If we lose a spot because people can’t see where the lines are and they park all weird, then it becomes an issue for everybody and it hurts the community over-all,” Gerth said.

Despite the unseen traffic lines and slippery conditions, ac-cidents do not increase during the winter months according to Andrew Luchsinger, Chief of Secu-rity and Safety. Instead, Security and Safety sees an increase in es-cort requests and car jump-starts.

Luchsinger recommends that stu-dents get their car batteries tested before winter hits in full force.

For Gerth, the changes that come with the transitioning sea-sons are welcome. “I love it,” he said. “I enjoy not knowing exactly what’s coming – not knowing if it’s going to snow tomorrow, or next week, or how much. You kind of just have to roll with it as it hap-pens. It’s part of what makes the job worth doing.”

PHOTO FOR THE CLARION BY BETSY WRIEDT

Despite its heavy usage, the path stretching from the Brushaber Commons to North Village takes a second-ary priority during snow removal, with the crew focusing first on the roads and parking lots.


Views

JakE kriErFor the Clarion

Watching sports is not the same as it used to be. If you are unable to get your hands on a ticket stub to a game, the likeli-hood of you still finding a way to watch it is very high thanks to today’s technology. Online streaming, DVRs and smart phones allow fans to access just about any pro-fessional or collegiate game from wher-ever and whenever they desire. This was the case for me one November Saturday. Rather than traveling the 400-plus miles to Concordia University Chicago, I watched Bethel’s football team play in their first-round playoff game from the comfort of my bedroom.

The Bethel Royals football team has proven to be a perennial powerhouse on the gridiron, with seven postseason ap-pearances since 2000. On Nov. 17, they made their trek to River Forest, Ill., to face the undefeated Cougars. Concordia had

not reached the playoffs in 75 years, so the Royals knew that the Cougars would come out gunning. They did just that, donned in their maroon and gold, ironically resem-bling the pride of Minnesota’s universities.

The opening quarter was filled with near-misses, big plays and turnovers. Despite the flurry on the field, the score stood at only 3-0 in favor of the Royals after 15 minutes of play.

In Minnesota, I got my social media fix by constantly refreshing my Twitter feed on my iPod throughout the game. Reading tweets from the Bethel athletics’ official Twitter handle and sending a few of my own, I joined the conversation with oth-ers tuning in to the game. During the first half, I was one of over 500 viewers of the stream. Another one of those viewers was my dad, watching from my home in Byron, Minn. A Bethel alumnus, he shared a simi-lar interest in the game, and we sent text messages to each other discussing every-thing from the big plays to the brutal com-

mentary that accompanied the video. The announcers’ indecisive calls and butcher-ing of players’ names made me think they were probably communication majors with little experience calling games. It ac-tually was quite hilarious and added even more entertainment to the viewing expe-rience.

The second quarter excited every-body tuning in, as Bethel pulled ahead to a 17-10 lead. One of the Royals' scores came on some trickery out of Coach Steve Johnson’s playbook. A backward pass from quarterback Erik Peterson to wide receiver Mitch Hallstrom, who then threw a lob to 6-foot-6 wideout Jay Hilbrands, resulted in a highlight reel touchdown. Freshman-phenom running back Marshall Klitzke led the team on the ground, gaining a good chunk of his 135 yards in the first half, shimmying past potential tacklers each time he got the ball.

During halftime, I sent a quick text to my dad saying, “Klitzke is a stud,” and meandered into the kitchen. There were no concession lines for me to wait in as I popped my lunch into the microwave, nuking the lasagna prepared for me by a chef who goes by “Boyardee.” Personally, I would have rather eaten some fried con-cessions food. After the 20 minutes of in-termission concluded, I squatted back into my comfortable folding chair in front of my desk, ready for the second half.

The third quarter showcased why Bethel has one of the top defenses in the country. Playing very physically, they shut out the Cougars once again. The Royals added another touchdown to the score-board when Peterson leaped into the end zone from a yard out. With that, Bethel took a 24-10 lead into the final quarter.

The Cougars responded and scored quickly, narrowing the deficit to seven points. Bethel could not seem to put Con-cordia away, as they fumbled on the op-posing 1-yard line just a few plays after a spectacular, one-handed snag by Hall-strom.

Concordia had less than three minutes to save their undefeated season. They drove down the field, completing passes with ease against the fatigued Bethel de-fense. A touchdown run with 18 seconds remaining made it a one-point game, and the stadium erupted into complete pande-monium. Concordia called a timeout.

At this point I was standing, as was everybody that was in attendance at the game. This situation was nothing new for the Royals, as their opponents decided to go for two. Bethel defeated Augsburg in a similar situation earlier in the year. They also played the now-famous homecoming game when the Royals attempted a two-point conversion to win by one over Con-cordia-Moorhead with no time remaining. I glanced down at the viewer ticker and noticed that it said “754 Viewers,” all of us intensely watching the play that would de-cide the fate of these teams’ seasons. Con-cordia’s quarterback threw a fade to the corner of the end zone, but Bethel’s J.D. Mehlhorn stepped up and knocked down the pass.

I jumped up, pumped my fist in the air and yelled “YES!” waking up my nap-ping roommate. The Cougars’ hopes were crushed when Bethel recovered the ensu-ing onside kick, securing the victory and a ticket punched to play at Wisconsin-Osh-kosh in the second round of playoffs. Final score: Bethel 24, Concordia-Chicago 23.

I may not have seen the jubilation of the players’ faces up close after the victo-ry, but I had a great view of the entire field from the “crow’s nest.” I may not have felt the sun shining down on me in the clear, 48-degree day in Illinois, but my cozy room did justice. I may not have been able to at-tend the game, but technology allowed me to watch the game on my laptop and talk with other Bethel fans via Twitter and text messaging. Sports fanatics are blessed to live in this generation with access to so much technology. I reaped the blessings of this on that Saturday, and I am very thank-ful that I witnessed such a great game!

nTechnological advances have changed the way we consume sportsGameday will never be the sameday


Views

nChristians should celebrate the birth, but not reject the secular customsChristmas: Merging 'ho-ho-ho' and holy

matt kEllEyOf the Clarion

Welcome to “Battleground: Christmas.” Sure, everyone appears to be smiling, full of cheer and egg nog. But peel back a layer and you’ll see a belligerent brand of Christians around this time of year: Christmas crusaders.

Let’s take a step back, though. Our parents and grandparents grew up in an age when Christmas was mostly a religious holiday. As hard as it is to believe, there was a time when the Nativity scene was as im-portant as the tree or the presents beneath it – when the days of iCal were far away and Advent was the most important calendar.

This era is often glorified as the “golden age” of Christmas, when it “really meant something.” Old-tim-

ers view the money-grabbing pa-rade of delusional holiday spirit that flows nowadays and they shake their heads. And Christmas crusad-ers sally forth from their ivory tow-ers, riding their high-horses down to condemn the “new” Christmas.

As the holiday season became more and more commercialized, the pushback in the Christian com-munity grew. It started with the rejection of abbreviations. In my private high school, we were for-bidden from writing “X-mas” and drilled to recite, “You can’t spell Christmas without Christ.”

There’s nothing wrong with this on the surface. Especially for a kid susceptible to PlayStation tunnel vi-sion, it was an important reminder of the true “reason for the season.” (Oh, add that to the list of pre-pro-grammed responses.)

And all of this kind of talk is well intentioned. It keeps us focused on what we can all agree is the most important aspect of the Christmas season: the birth of the Savior. But the rejection of secular customs often goes too far. Many believers totally shun the various perversions of this time of year in an attempt to draw attention to Christ.

Why does a healthy focus re-quire a complete rejection of the worldly meaning of Christmas? Sure, things have gotten a little… erm, commercialized, and it’s never pleasant to hear about parents trampling each other for the last Furby. But not every aspect of this modern Christmas is despicable. In fact, many traditions conceived with godless intentions can be quite healthy for Christians.

Take, for example, Christmas

music. I love a good candlelit “Si-lent Night” as much as anyone, but there’s a certain whimsical inno-cence from a good version of “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”

Actually, just singing and talking about Santa for a month tends to bring out the kid in each of us. The world tends to make us callous over time, and Christmas traditions are my favorite way to once again feel the carefree innocence of youth. We are told that “anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Luke 18:17), and is there any great-er example of child-like faith than that in Santa Claus?

Then there are the presents. Most Christian families give gifts, but I’ve known some that would only give three gifts, “because Jesus only got three.” Not that anyone’s

keeping score, but Jesus’ gifts were pretty precious and expensive. Un-less you frequently drop gold bul-lion in stockings, you don’t have to worry about out-gifting the wise men.

Besides, the spirit of giving is what makes Christmas season so special. Why would we limit gener-osity because of an arbitrary count-ing exercise? The secular version may have gotten this one right.

So as you finish finals and pack for home, I hope you’re dancing to your favorite version of “Frosty the Snowman.” And during break, don’t shake your head at the par-ent hell-bent on finding that rare toy for their child. There are many times when Christians are called to reject the ways of the world, but Christmas season is not one of them.


Focus

Caroline Pugh @caroline_pugh13

Katharine Griffin @kathgrifff

Cherie Suonvieri @SuonvieriC

Michal Graham


Focus

Annie S. @anne12catherine

Jenny Wriedt @JennyWriedt

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DESIGN FOR THE CLARION BY XANDRA EMMONS


Culture

PHOTOS FOR THE CLARION BY ERIN

GALLAGHER

DESIGN FOR THE CLARION BY XANDRA EMMONS


CultureOut with the tests, in with the projectsnAre traditional question-and-answer final exams on the decline?

GraCE EllisonFor The Clarion

As the finals frenzy ap-proaches, fewer Bethel stu-dents may be flipping through flash cards and attending study sessions as more pro-fessors opt for presentations, papers and other project-based finals.

Erin Gallagher, a junior art student, doesn’t mind the ap-parent shift. Only two of Er-in’s six classes include tests during finals week.

“Tests are way more stressful than projects,” she said. “You can make sure you do well on projects, but with tests, you never know what the professor will surprise you with.”

For some professors who have opted for project-based

finals over traditional exams, the decision comes from a desire to see their students apply what they have learned.

Adjunct instructor Theresa Downing, who teaches Galla-gher’s art history class, asked her students to prepare a pre-sentation for their final this semester.

“This final allows them an opportunity to share re-search about a contemporary artist...and to bring the criti-cal reading and writing skills they have been developing all semester long to fruition,” Downing said.

Louise Wilson, head of Bethel’s education depart-ment, likes the idea of proj-ects as finals and said that students mostly learn by ap-plying what they have stud-ied.

She explained that in to-day’s world, with information at our fingertips, the need for students to memorize a lot of information is dwindling.

Wilson added, “Instruc-tors should develop students’ abilities to find information, use it effectively and put it together.”

Junior nursing student Becca Lewis, who said she finds this trend to be true, still prefers tests as finals.

“Tests are real, true as-sessments of what you’ve learned,” she said.

According to Lewis, proj-ects are less fair assessments because students can get help online, from friends or from professors, so they are not required to learn the informa-tion for themselves.

PHOTOS FOR THE CLARION BY DREA CHALMERS

With final exams on the decline, students are doing less studying and more researching and writing in preparation for final projects and papers.


CultureBethel alumnus brings community to the inner citynAce in the City, an organization formed by Tim Anderson, connects with inner-city kids through the game of basketball

luCy hayEs For The Clarion

Bethel alumnus Tim Ander-son started his own ministry, Ace in the City, a few years ago as a young graduate. His inspira-tion for this ministry stemmed from one of his good friends, Andy (“Ace”), who died in July of 2008. According to Anderson, Ace was an incredibly kind man who had a heart for serving oth-ers and always glorified God in whatever he did, including bas-ketball.

Anderson also loves bas-ketball. He played for Bethel as a student and later coached for the Bethel women's basket-ball team. Anderson decided to combine his heart for ministry, his respect for his friend Ace and his own love for basketball by starting a ministry here in the Twin Cities.

Ace in the City started as Ace Hoops, an inner-city ministry based on building community through a passion for basketball. Kids from all over the city would come to share in the fellowship and fun. Now the ministry has expanded to playing in the park and working on homework with the kids, which is why they’ve recently changed the name.

Ace in the City works to get involved abroad. In addition, Anderson stated that Ace in the City is really driven by “a heart for community, a heart to be au-

thentic hands and feet in a bro-ken and hurting world, a heart to use the gifts God's given us to bless others and invest in His Kingdom, and a heart to see the bride of Christ – the Church – moving and acting with passion and purpose.”

Not only is Ace in the City a ministry that serves in the Twin Cities, but it is also involved with Bethel. One way that the minis-try engages with Bethel students is by hosting a spring break mis-sion trip to Juarez, Mexico. This trip is less expensive than many of the other options for Bethel students, and it gives students a chance to plug into a ministry that they can continue serving with even after the trip ends.

Bethel senior David O’Reilly has developed an interest in this ministry, and he said that Ace in the City is “more dynamic” than other ministries. Because of this, more Bethel students may look to get involved.

When asked what Ace in the City’s vision for the future is, An-derson shared that he hopes for “the Church to be empowered to be the transformative agent of healing and reconciliation that God desires for us to be.”

Matthew 28:19 commands us to “go and make disciples of all nations,” and Ace in the City has clung to that. They won’t be the sole catalyst for change, but “God willing, [Ace] can play a part in bringing God’s Kingdom

here and now,” Anderson said.If interested in getting in-

volved with this unique inner-city ministry, there are many ways to do so. Whether it’s do-nating online at aceinthecity.org, going on their spring break mission trip or volunteering lo-cally, Ace in the City offers many ways for people to use their gifts and passions to spread God’s Kingdom.

PHOTOS FOR THE CLARION COURTESY OF DAVID O'REILLY

Ace in the City founder Tim Anderson and his wife Emily have expanded their ministry to reach children in both the Twin Cities (above) and Mexico (below).


CultureStudents put studying on hold for gamingnGamers at Bethel share recommendations on balancing finals week with the Master Chief

miChaEla mohsFor The Clarion

November has been an impor-tant month for many Bethel stu-dents. For some, it was the first time they voted in a presidential election. For others, two highly anticipated video games were released, much to the delight of gamers across campus. “Halo 4,” the start of a new trilogy of “Halo” games, was released on Nov. 6, and “Call of Duty: Black Ops II” hit shelves one week later on Nov. 13.

With all of the activities, aca-demics and events going on at Bethel, how do any “serious” gamers find time to play through all the modes of “Halo 4” or com-plete every storyline of “Black Ops II”? Jake Annis and Cole Wiskow, freshmen and self-proclaimed “gaming buddies,” have designat-ed a time for playing “Halo 4” to-gether – after classes end to when they begin again.

Most of the students inter-viewed said they spend 10 or more hours every week gaming. Freshman Jesse Hill said he usu-ally spends more hours on a new game – in his case “Black Ops II” – for at least the first few months after it’s released.

As far as homework is con-cerned, Wiskow stated, “I plead the fifth … I just manage to get [homework] in before doing fun stuff.”

Both Wiskow and Annis claim that they finish homework during the day, enabling them to occa-sionally stay up the entire night trying to complete the story mode

of “Halo 4” on different difficulties and unlock all of the score multi-pliers. Hill, on the other hand, sometimes plays “Black Ops II” to avoid homework or “when I feel like procrastinating.”

Obviously these games have enough of an appeal to keep Bethel gamers staying up late and arriving to class sleep-deprived and red-eyed. As a fan of previous “Call of Duty” games, Hill said that his dedication to the series sur-passes that of other video games.

On the other hand, Annis de-scribed “Halo 4” as his “top game for the year,” mainly because of the many things to accomplish, to which Wiskow added, “The new enemies, unlike the previous games’ monotonous ones, will make you pee your pants.”

As far as the entertainment value of both “Halo 4” and “Black Ops II” goes, for some it is just a great recreational activity, but it can also be, according to Wiskow, an awesome way to socialize.

“I wouldn’t play without Jake, just because of all the crazy things we do, like screaming when the enemies appear,” said Wiskow. Other than that, playing video games can temporarily reduce stress and is especially useful for a study break during finals week.

Maybe video games do have a sort of educational value after all. At the very least, they are useful in alleviating stress and creating interesting social opportunities for the players. But as long as video games keep gamers focused on something other than anxiety over final exams, game on. PHOTOS FOR THE CLARION BY DREA CHALMERS

With the releases of "Halo 4" and "Black Ops II," Bethel gamers have been glued to their televisions since mid-November.


Sports

nStudents seek to increase attendance and enthusiasm at sporting events

Bethel Spirit Initiative: We Are RoyalsJarEd nElsonFor the Clarion

A new program is gain-ing steam as two students, in conjunction with the athletic department and Bethel Stu-dent Activities, have begun the Bethel Spirit Initiative. Through BSI, Ben Fernlund and Chris Van Sickle plan to raise school spirit and increase at-tendance at home sporting events.

The idea for BSI began at the homecoming football game, when – until the mirac-ulous ending – Fernlund and Van Sickle noticed a genuine lack of enthusiasm among the

student spectators. “No one seemed to be lead-

ing any cheers, and it almost just felt like there was this awkward commotion going on in the stands,” Fernlund said. “After the game, we talked and decided that something should be done to increase spirit at the games.”

Shortly thereafter, Fern-lund and Van Sickle set up a meeting with athletic director Bob Bjorklund and a few rep-resentatives from the student body and BSA. This meeting resulted in a direction for BSI.

“First, we want to increase spirit at games through more cheers and student involve-

ment," Fernlund said. "Sec-ond, we’re trying to increase student knowledge of sporting events taking place on campus through advertisements and promotions. And finally, we just want to give the students a real sense of identity within our school.”

BSI is rallying around the phrase “We are Royals” to de-velop an identity and promote unity as a university. They want students to identify with the teams they’re supporting and find purpose in atten-dance and participation.

One of the ways that BSI is planning to raise energy and enthusiasm at games is

through the implementation of “Superfans.” The concept is a new one for Fernlund and Van Sickle, but they have high expectations for these poten-tial Superfans.

They would like the Super-fans to be present at as many games as possible, doing what they can to increase enthusi-asm and heighten the sense of school pride and unity.

“We envision the Super-fans promoting athletic events to all of their friends to build awareness and excitement,” Fernlund said. “Also, they would be expected to work with other Superfans to lead cheers, get the student section pumped, and build a sense of identity as Royals.”

Fernlund said he has re-ceived a tremendous response from the student body thus far, and he added that he was not alone in thinking that the student sections lacked luster at times.

“Through our emails, we have heard from some excit-ed people who would like to be Superfans,” Fernlund said. “However, we can always use more and would like anyone interested to email or talk to us and to spread the word to their friends.”

Fernlund and Van Sickle hope Superfans and BSI be-come staples at Bethel and that future students carry them on for years.

“Chris and I know that this is much bigger than the two of us, and we want to see this sustained and carried on long after we leave Bethel,” Fern-lund said.

If you’re interested in being a Superfan at a sporting event, or if you have questions about how to get involved with BSI, contact Ben Fernlund at [email protected] or Chris Van Sickle at [email protected].

BSI is attempting to bring more enthusiasm and energy to the stands at Bethel sporting events.

PHOTO FOR THE CLARION BY DREA CHALMERS

PHOTO FOR THE CLARION BY MATT KELLEY


Sports

nYoung talent and leadership put the Royals among MIAC leadersMen’s hockey builds early reputation

JEnny hudallaOf the Clarion

After several disappointing seasons, the Bethel men’s hockey team has forcefully reclaimed the success of earlier years. Quickly becoming a top contender with a 5-1 conference record, the Royals are tied atop the MIAC standings with the St. Thomas Tommies, who are ranked No. 15 nationally.

Bethel struggled last year, los-ing its first five games and finish-ing with a win percentage of .360 and an 8-15-2 overall record. In fact, the Royals have not finished above the .500 mark since the 2007 season, when they dominat-ed the conference with an 11-4-1 MIAC record.

However, the team’s young talent and senior leadership have earned it considerable success thus far, giving Royals fans hope for a prosperous season. Bethel handily beat Saint John’s 3-0 in the season opener and went on to sweep the Gustavus Gusties, a conference powerhouse then ranked No. 5 in the nation.

“Any time you sweep a MIAC team, it’s a big deal, because it’s always a close race to get a play-off spot,” said head coach Charlie Burggraf. “We did it in a convinc-ing way and capitalized on a lot of opportunities.”

The Royals' defense has been a key ingredient in their formula for success. Led by senior Jon Crouse, a three-time All-MIAC selection, the defense has allowed only 2.12 goals per game in conference.

“The entire defensive unit has been on the same page all year,” Crouse said. “The last three years, our goals against per game has not been good, so it is a matter of

wanting to get Bethel back to a re-spectable goals against per game, which in turn will hopefully trans-late into more wins.”

Although the young offense has struggled to stay consistent, many players have contributed to playmaking, including senior Jack Paul and freshmen Brock Raffaele and Mitch Hughes. Having imple-mented a quick style of play, the offense has no trouble creating scoring opportunities.

“The chances to score have been there, we just haven't fin-ished,” Paul said. “I think we’re working hard and outworking teams, we just haven't been able to reward ourselves by putting the puck in the net.”

Thanks to their impressive play, the Royals received votes for the USCHO.com Top 15 poll and are among the top five unranked teams. This is the first time in re-cent history that Bethel has been on the verge of being nationally ranked. Burggraf, while pleased, wants to make sure the attention doesn’t go to the players’ heads.

“We need to keep it in per-spective,” he said. “Let another man praise you and not your own mouth. We’re going to acknowl-edge it and get back to work. We appreciate the recognition, but we’re going to stay focused.”

After dropping two hard-fought games to No. 14 Milwau-kee School of Engineering on Nov. 23-24, the Royals redeemed themselves the following week-end against the Hamline Pipers, winning both games by a com-bined score of 10-4.

According to Crouse, the team will focus on putting more offen-sive pressure on the opponent while maintaining their physical

style of play in the second half of the season.

Although the team is both driven and concentrated, it still lacks the reliable play needed to earn a playoff berth. However, Burggraf’s pragmatic coaching style combined with the Royals’ raw talent and dependable de-fense have the potential to propel the team into postseason play.

“If you don't set out to win a national championship every year, you have already sold yourself and your team short,” Crouse said. “I’m not sure if peo-ple around school or around the league realize how dangerous we can actually be.”

While taking home the NCAA trophy might seem like a long shot, Burggraf knows that this is the best team the Royals have seen in many years.

“We’ve had some good play, and we’ve got a really solid de-fensive core,” he said. “It’s tough to score goals in the MIAC, so we need to get the puck in the net more often. We have a lot of po-tential. We just need to harness it.”

Men's hockey upcoming games@ UW-STOUT Fri., Jan. 4 - 7:30 p.m.Menomonie, Wis.

@ ST. THOMASSat., Jan. 5 - 7:30 p.m.St. Paul, Minn.

@ SAINT MARY'S Fri., Jan. 11 - 7:30 p.m.Winona, Minn.

SAINT MARY'S Sat., Jan. 12 - 7 p.m.Blaine, Minn. BETHEL ARENA - NATIONAL SPORTS CENTER

@ ST. OLAF Fri., Jan. 18 - 7:30 p.m.Northfield, Minn.

PHOTO FOR THE CLARION COURTESY OF BETHEL SPORTS INFORMATION

Junior forward Colin Mayer is one of the Royals' offensive leaders this year with three goals, five assists and a +3 plus-minus.


Sports

nThe new-look team showcases international playersTimberwolves searching for a new identity

miChaEl WhartnabyFor the Clarion

The days of Kevin Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak are long gone, and the days of Kevin Love and Ricky Rubio are upon us. As the Timberwolves try to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2004, they are also seeking an identity, and a di-verse one at that.

The Timberwolves have been in rebuilding mode ever since missing the playoffs in

2005, constantly shuffling play-ers in and out and never see-ing a homegrown player fill the void left by Garnett. However, Love’s development into an All-Star, Ricky Rubio’s elegancy and many complementary interna-tional players have created a new dynamic for the team.

Five of the 15 players on the roster represent countries outside of the United States. Originally from Russia, Andrei Kirilenko and Alexey Shved are in their first year with the Tim-

berwolves. Ricky Rubio and J.J. Barea have returned for their second year in Minnesota, hail-ing from Spain and Puerto Rico, respectively. Finally, third-year center Nikola Pekovic grew up in Montenegro, a small Euro-pean country by Croatia and Albania.

All five of these internation-al players have been acquired within the last three years, with Kirilenko and Shved com-prising one-third of this year’s newcomers. Kirilenko, the vet-

eran All-Star and three-time All-Defensive Team selection, has been the best free agent signing for the Timberwolves. He is averaging 13.0 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. Like others, he must pick up the slack as Ricky Rubio recovers from a torn ACL and Kevin Love tries to find his groove after missing the first nine games with a broken hand.

With two of their best play-ers out at the start of the sea-son, the Timberwolves still

jumped out to a 5-1 start, lead-ing fans to believe the rebuild-ing stage was finally over and the success of earlier years would return. However, irony kicked in when Love returned to a 5-4 team. The Wolves dropped three more games and extended their losing streak to six, posting a disappointing 7-8 record.

“They're still in rebuild-ing mode,” said junior Tim-berwolves fan Tim Anderson. “They have Love and Rubio, but don’t have the necessary piec-es around them to make the playoffs. It also doesn’t help that they are in the Western Conference.”

Other fans, like junior Grant Mitchell, are a little more op-timistic. “I think we're a play-off team, probably getting a low seed,” he said. “We have a really interesting dynamic with European guys playing to-gether. They really complement each other nicely, and they are meshing really well with Kevin Love and some of the other U.S. players.”

Only time will tell if this new-look team of many nations will return the franchise to the foreign land of the playoffs, or if the rebuilding period will drag on indefinitely.

Many questions are already looming. Will Kevin Love come close to the caliber of Kevin Garnett? Will Ricky Rubio re-turn to the lineup before Christ-mas? While Timberwolves fans wait for answers, they should get used to hearing the call, “Kirilenko for three…”

PHOTO FOR THE CLARION COURTESY OF KYNDELL HARKNESS/MCT

Russian forward Andrei Kirilenko's versatility will be key for the Wolves in the 2012-13 season.


Sports

nThe arrival of young players poses unique challenge for team leaders

Men’s basketball focuses on unity maCkEnZiE nEWmanFor the Clarion

A person is not born with character. It is developed over time through influential people and experiences. Sports have long been viewed as a way to develop character. They teach an athlete about overcoming adversity and the importance of being humble in success and gracious in defeat.

The men’s basketball pro-gram at Bethel is focused not only on winning, but also on assisting the players as they develop into future leaders. Be-ginning his seventh season as head coach, Jeff Westlund has adopted a twofold approach to coaching. He encourages the principles of character, re-spect and trust, and he drives home the idea of “boots on the ground.”

“Boots on the ground,” Westlund explained, is a mili-tary term that exemplifies the unity a team should have as it works toward a common goal. According to Westlund, the new theme for the 2012- 2013 season is “courage, honor and loyalty, and what these mean in the context of building men and building leaders.” He believes if the Royals play with honor, they will respect not only the game, but also their teammates and opponents.

Each year, a group of juniors and seniors form a leadership team. Westlund said these up-perclassmen promote unity and deservingly receive much respect from their peers. Even

with this leadership, the Royals still face the major challenge of learning how to integrate freshmen and new varsity play-ers into a more intense atmo-sphere.

Nonetheless, Westlund and his veteran seniors expect the younger players to play an im-portant role in the team’s suc-cess.

“This year we have a young team, but there are a lot of people who can step up,” said Kyle Zimmermann, a returning junior.

The Royals intend to build upon the familiar foundation that was laid in past seasons, teaching freshmen and new players the culture of Bethel basketball.

“Defending is really what our hallmark has been,” Westlund said. “Offensively, we build our game from the basket, inside out, and we look to our outside guys to knock down threes.”

Senior Taylor Hall has exem-plified this inside-out philoso-phy, shooting 63.8 percent while leading the team in scoring. The 6-foot-8 forward has scored 146 points, leading the conference at 24.3 points per game.

As for the role of the new varsity players, Westlund is looking for each individual play-er to fulfill his personal role. In order for the Royals to be suc-cessful, players will need to be consistent and work together to form one cohesive unit. West-lund believes that once his play-ers recognize and fulfill their roles, the Royals will experience the success his team has the tal-

ent to achieve.The Royals face a competi-

tive conference this season. To compete with tough teams, the Royals will have to be focused and disciplined in every game.

The beginning of the year has been rough for the Royals, starting out 2-4 and 0-3 in con-ference play. Bethel fans are hoping things will stabilize once

younger players get more com-fortable in their new roles.

Zimmermann and Westlund both believe that the Royals are capable of making the playoffs this season. However, Westlund was quick to point out that win-ning isn’t everything.

“Really, the objective is to get better and to believe in yourself,” he said. He regularly

warns his players against letting the fear of failure keep them from playing to their full poten-tial.

No matter the outcome of the season, Westlund knows that the team is playing for a reason bigger than itself. “This team belongs to God, and we’re going to control the things we can control,” he said.

PHOTO FOR THE CLARION BY MATT KELLEY

Taylor Hall is the Royals' leading scorer this year, averaging 24.3 points per contest.


The Clarionion - Bethel's own slice of "The Onion"Students search for ways to become more organized nStudent writes everything she needs to know in planner, doesn’t look at planner ever

marsha m. alloOf The Clarion

Bethel student Megan Na-tashie writes everything in a planner in order to keep her life organized. However, she fails to actually look at the planner af-terward, thus defeating the pur-pose of writing it down in the first place.

Natashie purchased a plan-ner in order to keep on top of her extremely busy schedule. She told reporters on Wednes-day that she actually never looked at the planner after she wrote down her schedule for the week.

“I was debating getting an electronic planner ... something that I could use on my phone. It

ended up just annoying me even more because I had to type ev-erything in it. I don’t have Siri to do that on my Android,” com-mented Natashie. “I decided to be old fashioned and write ev-erything into a book with the dates listed in it.”

Natashie admits that it may just be apathy that’s causing her to not return and spend time in her planner.

“I am good about writing it all down,” she says. “But I just can’t get myself to go back and actually do anything I wrote down.”

Nothing is worse than check-ing a planner at the end of the day to learn that you didn’t ac-complish anything. Natashie admits that her unproductive

streak may have something to do with her apathetic behavior towards her planner.

Natashie has now decided to use alternative methods to make sure things get done. She has resorted to writing all her plans on her arm, texting them to herself, making copies of the planner week and posting them wherever she goes, avoiding all distractions and mustering up a lot of will power to actually open that planner.

“It’s tough, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do,” said Natashie.

Hopefully we all are inspired by Natahsie to get organized this winter season.

marsha m. alloOf The Clarion

Young adults across the globe are waking up to go sit in a classroom and learn. It ’s a new phenomenon.

Bethel junior Josephine Fa-lagie has been waking up for the past three years to go sit in a room and listen.

“It ’s just so great to learn!” she commented.

“It ’s a real interesting phe-nomenon,” said an area profes-sor. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Young people in their early 20s have been attending what they describe as “college” – a type of further study.

No one knows why these young’uns are so enthralled with sitting, but it has become the new fad.

nProfessors are amazed at their dedication in attending classes

Students sit in lecture

The Clarion -- December 6, 2012

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Transcript of The Clarion -- December 6, 2012