Clarion 1985-11-01 Vol. 61 No. 06

              the Clarion.
Vol. 61 No. 6
Bethel College 3900 Bethel Dr., St. Paul, MN
1 November 1985
Bethel professor's artwork desecrated
by Dana L. Fisher
Early last Tuesday morning,
under cover of darkness, somebody, with or without accomplices, dragged the sculpture of
Bethel professor Stewart Luckman inlo the Kresge courtyard,
disassembled the work, and
then fashioned it with garbage
cans. As of Monday this week,
those responsible had not been
identified.
The piece, a large metal
work, was taken from the Art
Garden south of the FA building. Other sculptures of Luck-
man's there were found damaged, apparently knocked-over
while the work in question was
moved.
Community reaction varied
from ambivalence to outrage.
Most immediate, however, was
the response offered by Creativity and the Fine Arts students on Wednesday. Led by
professor Dale Johnson, the
class laid sheets of butcher
paper around the sculpture and
painted both appeals to the
perpetrators} and personal af-
Stewart Luckman's piece as it stood Wednesday morning.
firmations of Luckman as
artist and believer.
Luckman himself had no comment.
Faculty support, besides that
of Johnson, was registered by
Professor- Don Larson, who
drew up and distributed an
open letter to Luckman. In that
letter, Larson stated the community's admiration for Luck-
man's longstanding efforts at
"reaching" despite the actions
of a few "noiwfeachers."
The Bethel Student Association also addressed a letter to
Luckman on behalf of the student body. The idea of offering
a reward for information about
the vandalism was raised and
subsequently dismissed by the
BSA, primarily in anticipation
of the sort of precedent it might
set.
Rank-and-file response
seemed mostly to be of mild
curiosity. Many students did
not recognize the garbage cans
as defacement. Others appeared
to glory in the vandalism. Said
one student, who asked not to
be named, "It's better busted.
It's recognizable."
The majority of those students who had commented,
however, expressed sadness
and anger about the incident.
Many interpreted the vandalism not as a simple prank, but
rather, as a conscious rejection
of modern art. Some view the
act as an out-of-hand dismissal of anything, artistic or otherwise, that violates "our unity
Vandals cont. p. 3
Carlson campaigns for School Board seat
by Joy Skjegstad
G.W. Carlson was late. He
dropped a stack of papers on
the desk and headed for the
door. But the phone rang—it
was his daughter. "Hi honey!
Yes, I know I forgot my keys.
Are you going to color it?
You're not?" He listened silently for several minutes. "Okay,
gotta go—thanks for calling!"
He grabbed his coat and shouted from the hall, "We'll have to
do the interview another day.
I've gotta meet with my dissertation review committee, and I
have a campaign fundraiser
tonight."
G.W. Carlson, assistant professor of history and political
science at Bethel, is, among
many other things, a candidate
for a two-year seat on the St.
Paul School Board. St. Paul
voters go to the polls on November fifth.
Carlson said he decided to
become a candidate because he
has expertise in education and
can provide direction and
leadership. "As Christians, we
must be good stewards of our
own abilities," he said.
He said that running for office is part of his belief that
"Christians have a responsibility to be in strategic positions
so that they can have input into
G. William Carlson
decisionmaking."
Carlson said that his years
at Bethel as a history/secondary education student helped
him to learn the "concept of a
shared Christian life—being
concerned about each other."
He said that Doc Dalton, a
former professor of history at
Bethel, "was an example for me
in his commitment to social
concerns."
Living in the Como Park area
of Si. Paul for the past 17 years
has also fueled Carlson's commitment to social concerns,
particularly the educational
needs of urban families. "The
quality of life in urban areas
depends on quality public education," he said.
He pointed out that the
children in his neighborhood
are dependent on public
schools for their education because private schools and "extras," such as music lessons,
are often not options because
of the expense.
"I saw that these people
needed someone who is committed to political involvement
and will strongly support
funding for schools, parks, and
libraries." he said.
Carlson also applies his philosophy of a Christian political
commitment to his teaching.
Connie Hope, a senior in political science, said that Carlson
has taken a lot of time to help
her "struggle through what my
role in politics should be." She
added that he has taught her to
"believe in what I believe whatever the consequences. He's not
one to compromise his beliefs
as a result of political party
involvement."
Gaining the support of community groups, especially
"DFL people whom I trust and
admire" has been the most positive aspect of the campaign,
according to Carlson. "It has
meant a lot personally to get
that vote of confidence," he
said. He added that his campaign workers are a diverse
and marvelous group of people, including parents, teachers, and community education
specialists.
Carlson said that it has been
frustrating to be perceived as a
political conservative just because he teaches at a theologically conservative school like
Bethel. He said he responds by
emphasizing the traditional
Baptist view of separation of
church and state. "Religion
should not be denigrated in
public schools, but neither
should it be propagated," he
said.
Carlson's doctoral dissertation on Western evangelical responses to Russian Baptists
was recently approved by the
University of Minnesota, and
he will soon receive his PhD. in
Russian history.
G.W. Carlson made time for
the interview several days
later. He arrived late—he had
been at press interviews for
most of the morning. With a
tired sigh, he settled into the
large chair in his office. The
interview began again. The
phone rang. "Hi, Paul. No, I
haven't finished that candidate's questionnaire yet. I don't
know how the other candidates manage to get them done
on time-maybe they don't do
anything else..."
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The  opening  reception of
Dawn Zero Erickson's drawings on fabric will be held in
the art gallery on Monday,
November 4, from 7-9 p.m. The
matrix (artist's lecture and
discussion of works) will be
held on November 21 at 2 p.m.
also in the art gallery. Please
come!
■ Students are now allowed
first hand information about
AIDS. The Public Action
Committee of Student Senate
has invited the head nurse
from Ramsey County Medical
Center's intensive care unit to
discuss the implications of
AIDS. The forum will be held
in the AC lounge this coming
Monday, November 4 at 3:45
p.m.
■ Thanks to 198 Bethel students, 165 units of blood were
donated to the Red Cross and
will benefit many more people.
On October 11, Kerri Dahl-
strom, student coordinator,
almost saw Bethel's goal of 180
pints reached. They fell short,
however, because of 33 deferrals due to illness, recent overseas travel, or a deficiency in
the blood. Another blood drive
will be held on campus in
March.
■ According to the Admissions Office, over 100 prospective students visited Bethel's
campus on October 17 and 18.
With the visit days, students
were given the opportunity to
visit with faculty, attend
classes, tour the campus, and
audition for next year's musical groups.
This weekend Bethel will
have the opportunity to attract
new students. Between 100
and 150 guests are expected for
the Bethel Weekend from October 31-November 2. These
days will allow high school
students to experience the social aspects of Bethel as well as
the academics as they live in
campus housing and attend
many campus events.