Clarion 1997-12-10 Vol. 73 No. 07

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A&E:
page 8
"The Hunt":
Multicultural nativity play presents a
different view of the Christmas story
Sports:
page 10
Variety:
page 6
Broomball:
Godfrey reveals the secrets to
success in Bethel's favorite sport
Christmas Abroad:
Bethel students share seasonal
traditions from homes across the sea
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Wednesday, December 10,1997
NEWSPAPER OF BETHEL COLLEGE
Volume 73 * Number 7
Festival of Christmas
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Clarion/ Photo by Beth Howington
Bethel's 41st annual Festival of Christmas marked the beginning of the Christmas season.
Around 6,000 students, alumni and members of the community shared a night of music and
worship with Bethel choirs, bands and orchestra in Benson Great Hail.
New dorm to
open in fall of '99
By John Groh
News Editor
A dorm which will house
275 upper-class students and
a Fine Arts (FA) building expansion are scheduled to be
completed for the beginning of
classes in the fall of 1999. The
two construction projects were
approved by the Board of
Trustees during their October
meeting.
The dorm will be constructed in the dirt lot south
of the Community Life Center.
The 70,000 square foot, three-
story dorm will be, the largest
on Bethel's campus.
Architecture details have
not yet been finalized, however according to Craig Hjelle,
Director of Physical Plant and
Campus Planning, the dorm
will be constructed in a
townhouse or suite concept.
Hjelle is working with a
committee made up of students and staff representatives
to determine how the dorm
should be built to best meet
the needs of students. "We
want to respond to the students," said Hjelle. Junior
Kristin Sommars, the committee student representative,
said, "It's been very exciting to
Campus expansion
continued on page 2
Pornography on
the Net at Bethel
New tenure policy pn
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;ed
By Opal D. Liebler
Staff Writer
After several years of Bethel
faculty and students expressing concern over the current
standards and process involved in faculty promotion
and tenure issues, Bethel College is looking to adopt a new
tenure policy.
At most colleges,once an
instructor reaches professor
status and is given tenure, he
or she cannot be released. At
Bethel, however, a professor is
reviewed for tenure every five
years. Rich Sherry, Dean of
Faculty Growth and Assessment, said this five year review challenges professors towards growth and gives them
a chance for growth, to evaluate their career and redirect
themselves.
This evaluation process,
however, is what some feel
needs to be revised. Sherry
said clear definitions were
needed to include the role for
faculty at Bethel and the expectations of them. This need
has resulted in the formation
of a Bethel faculty panel who
focus on revising the current
policy for assessing initial ten
ure and evaluation. The revisions have undergone a process and the board hopes to
have the new approaches completed by May.
The current policy for tenure allows a-professor to receive initial tenure or promotion based on the degree
preparation and years of
teaching. The proposed document for initiated tenure
changes the process to include
a review before a panel, which
would be called "The Promo-
Tenure policy
continued on page 3
By Shelly Moe
Staff Writer
Since the arrival of the
Internet at Bethel, students
have gained access to the
world and tools to help in their
quest for knowledge. At the
same time, a new door to pornography was opened.
There is growing concern at
Bethel about user access to inappropriate web sites, especially those that contain pornography.
This concern about access
to pornagraphy on the
Internet is is wide spread. At
Wheaton College in Wheaton,
111., a decision was made to
block access to all pornographic sites from their computer labs. Tracking files
showed that, in the first two
weeks of the block, 2,700 attempts were made to access
blocked sites. After reviewing
the high numbers of attempted hits, the college
"I've run into the use and
abuse of the Internet and
there is definitely a
problem on campus,
especially in residence
rooms."
Don Graffam
Director of Student
Programs
implemented blocking in residence halls, also.
At Bethel, the consequences
Internet
continued on page 2
Restoration Project opens eyes to real life issues
By Merrie Fant
Guest Writer
Bethel recently gained a
new club on campus called
Restoration Project: Serving
the Earth, Serving the Poor
(RP).
Some call it the "Ecology
Club" others refer to "them"
as tree huggers. Junior Trish
Holub helped start RP after
spending a semester in the
rainforest of Belize in die Global Stewardship Study Program. Holub said, "Restoration Project rocks because it
opens students' eyes to real life
issues in our world that aren't
commonly talked about." The
issues are named in their logo:
environmental and social justice.
"Our mission is to serve the
Earth and serve the poor. I
know these sound like very
different issues, but they are
completely interwoven," said
junior April Thompson. "We
believe that it is impossible to
care for people in need without caring for the environment."
Restoration Project has several ways of acting on their
beliefs;  Sophomore Abby
Benedict said, "We are fired
up to serve. During the Christmas season, we are going to
ring bells for the Salvation
Army, and presently, we are
collecting items for the homeless down by-the P.O.s. In Feb-
Restoration Project
continued on page 2