Clarion 1986-10-17 Vol. 62 No. 05

              Vol. 62 No. 5
Bethel College 3900 Bethel Dr., St. Paul, MN
17 October 1986
College raises money for building, other projects
by Laurie Port
"The Vision Grows," is the
addition to the St. Paul campus
of a $6.75 million Community
Relations Complex onto the
west end of the academic
center.
The complex will house a
Chapel/Performing Arts Center and an Administrative Center. Included in these will be an
auditorium, theatre, galleries,
classrooms, offices, and a conference center, according to
"The Vision Grows" brochure.
President George Brushaber
said that the complex "will give
us an opportunity to address
all of the needs that still remain
for specialized kinds of space."
The CRC will also serve as a
"point at which we relate the
campus to the outside community," said Brushaber. According to Jim Brass, Vice President of Public Affairs, "We
need a focal point for the campus where those functions that
reach out beyond our campus
can be done in the right kind of
environment."
Brushaber also hopes the
complex will be "a strong
aesthetic centerpiece for the
campus, which will give the
college campus a theme and
character of its own."
He also believes that these
additions will be a positive
contribution to the goals of the
school. "By bringing the chapel
right into the heart of the academic complex," said Brushaber, "it helps us tie together
faith and learning."
No completion date has been
determined as of yet, according
to Brass. "Construction will
begin upon approval by the
Board of Regents," he said, The
Regents require that the executive committee of the campaign
"recommend to the public affairs committee that the money
has been pledged and/or re- '
ceived," said Brass. By the time
the building is completed and
occupied, they must be able to
pay for it, according to Brass.
"This complex will cost more
than our initial buildings when
we moved out here," said
Brass. "This is a tremendous
undertaking."
"We're raising the money
and doing the planning concurrently," said Brass. "We
know the general needs but we
don't know the specifics. Determining those needs will be
done by the people who will
live in it and use it."
Although some might question the wisdom of such an
addition considering declining
enrollment, Brass said, "We
talked about this when ,we
were talking 1500 students.
This was an initial need identified way back—we just have
not been able to provide until
this point."
Brushaber feels that now is
the time to grow. "There is an
enthusiasm among the Bethel
constituency that is more evident than it has beep for some
time—there is a readiness for
the extra challenge," he said.
Brushaber also mentions
that "there is a sense of direction and momentum evident on
campus among the people who
serve here. We want to capture
that momentum."
The five-year comprehensive campaign officially went
public at the Royal Investors
Dinner on September 23. "We
do'five-year planning cycles,"
said Brass, "but we go public
the last three years. During the
first two years, the 'quiet part'
of the campaign, we solicit all
the major leadership gifts."
According to Brass, they
seek the contributions of "people who have given significantly to Bethel, and have a strong
linkage to the institution."
sive campaign" is relatively
new in development work, said
Brass. In the comprehensive
campaign, all that Bethel feels
it will need over a five year
period, including annual operating funds, capital needs, and
gifts for scholarship and endowment, is put into a plan,
according to Brass. In the past,
Freshman Julie Schroeger studies one of the works of Olexander
Kaniuka on display in the Art Gallery until Oct. 31.
. photo by Lynn Gunnarson
The reason for the quiet
period, said Brass, is that "your
public can only stand so much
of this kind of PR. You can't
maintain a high level of enthusiasm and momentum for
much longer than three years."
The use of the "comprehen-
peoples' giving patterns fluctuated, said Brass. "People
were asked to give a lot here
and not so much the next year."
In order to avoid these peaks
and valleys, said Brass, "we try
to build into the fundraising
process a way to stabilize it so
people can learn to give on a
continuing basis, and maybe
increase their amount each
year."
"The Vision Grows" has four
major goals: 1. Fund the construction of new facilities in
both St. Paul and San Diego-
Goal: $9.7 million; 2. Provide
funds to increase endowment—Goal: $2 million; 3.
Maintain annual fund giving—
Goal: $11 million; 4. Increase
and improve academic programming and equipment—
Goal: $2.3 million.
Presently. Bethel's endowment is' very low, said Brass.
Brass attributes this to their
efforts to build a new campus
and pay for it as they went.
"We've had such a pressure for
'now' money that we haven't
been able to set aside money
like that."
As well as funding for general endowment, "At the same
time we're building into every
project maintenance endowment so that we can keep
buildings in good condition,"
said Brass.
The annual operating fund
"requires $2.5 million in gifts
eacb year to supplement what
students pay in tuition, room
and board," said Brushaber.
The Royal Investors Dinner is
a "crucial element" in raising
that needed income, he said.
"This year we had the largest attendance we've ever had,
and we received gifts and
pledges of more than $200
thousand—an all time record
for a one-night dinner."
"I was very, very moved by
the fact that some of the stu-
Vlsion, see p. 6
Bad checks from Bethel students hurt Tank *n' Tummy
by Jon Simpson
Tank & Tummy, the 24-hour
gas and food station familiar to
most students, has increasingly become the victim of bad
checks by Bethel students
since last spring.
Prior to last Spring, Tank &
Tummy had not seen a bad
check for ten years, according
to Larry and Marge Krinke, the
owners of the store.
Tank & Tummy is frequented by students seeking gas,
food, and the ever-important
service of check-cashing. "As
long as they have a local phone
number and they tell us they're
Bethel students, we take their
checks,  just  for cash.  They
don't have to buy anything. It's
a service to them because we
know it's very difficult to be
here and have out of town
checks," said Marge Krinke.
"We're getting this 1% (of
students] that use us and
we're going to hove to
start putting damps on
the checks."
—Marge Kinke, owner of
Tank & Tummy
The Krinke's acknowledge
that some returned checks are
par for the course. In most
cases, students who bounce a
immediately and apologize for
the error, said Larry Krinke.
Those who do write bad
checks, write many of them.
"Instead of getting one bad
check, we get five from the
same student," said Larry
Krinke. Marge Krinke also
cited an incident in which a
student wrote a check from an
account closed for over a
month.
"Most of the kids there's no
problem for us. Unfortunately,
we're getting this 1% that's using us and we're going lo have
to start putting clamps on the
checks," said Marge Krinke.
Currently, Tank & Tummy
requires an I.D. when cashing
checks, unless the cashier
recognizes them. The owners
said that they didn't want to
get any tougher than that. "We
like the students and have always had good luck with them.
They helped us get where we
are," said Larry Krinke.
The Krinke's also indicated
that there were four1 incidents
of stolen checks, forged and
cashed by a Bethel student.
Apparently, the checks were
taken from the middle of the
checkbooks, so they would not
be noticed missing. The stolen
checks were cashed one per
week over a period of a month.
This money comes directly out
of the owners' pocket. The new
Brighton Police Department is
currently investigating the
thefts.
The Krinke's attribute the
difficulties to the changes and
growth of the college. "There's
little personal contact now. We
still have students from 10, 12
years ago who make it a point
to stop by and say hello when
they're in town," said Larry
Krinke. "They're more of a
number now."
The Krinke's said that they
think well of Bethel students,
and would not let the few who
lake advantage of them to
change their view of the rest.
"Bul," said Marge Krinke, "it
hurts."