Clarion 2000-03-02 Vol. 75 No. 10

              Thursday, March 2, 2000
The Newspaper of Bethel College
Volume 75'Number 10
Survey results
show satisfied
students
Last fall, 251 Bethel
sophomores and seniors participated in the National Survey of Student Engagement.
Bethel was one of 50
colleges involved in the survey. Peer colleges included
Messiah in Pennsylvania,
Millikin in Illinois, Pacific
Lutheran University in Washington and Wabasha College
in Indiana.
The survey was part of
a project to study student behaviors that influence academic achievement.
See page 2 for a detailed
summary of the survey results.
Peterson
elected
president
Juniors Steve Peterson
and Tim Shultis were elected
student body president and
vice-president, respectively.
In the first contested
election in three years, 24
percent of the siudenls voted.
With campaign promises of accountability and
accessabilily to sludents, the
future leaders look forward
to the opportunities to serve
the Bethel community.
See page 3 for additional
information and a detailed
profile.
'Retrospective
1971-1999'
now on display
Artwork by George
Robinson is now on display in
both the Eugene Johnson and
Olson galleries.
Robinson retires this
spri ng after 30 years of service
at Bethel.
See related article and
photos on page 10.
Clarion/Photo by Matt Lang
African-American poet Candy Pettiford recites several of her poems
at Celebration 2000 in the Benson Great Hall last Saturday to close
the activities of One Voice Week, Feb. 21 through 25.
Bethel recommended for
continued accreditation
By Christina Rankins
Managing Editor
On March 1, the visiting
team from the North Central Association (NCA) presented its
recommendation for Bethel's
continued accreditation. The recommendation will be submitted
to ihe NCA for approval.
Upon approval, Bethel will
be accredited for the nexl 10
years. An NCA team will visit
again during the 2009-2010 academic year.
From Feb. 28 to March 1,
the team visited to evaluate
Belhel.
On Monday, Feb. 28, President George Brushaber, Provost
Jay Barnes and others met to welcome the team. Throughout the
day, team members held open
meetings with staff, students and
faculty.
Junior Steve Pelerson, who
attended the open meeting for
students, said, "I think it went
well. All in all it was a productive meeting. Il would have been
nice to see a larger attendance,
though."
"It was interesting, but unproductive." said senior Beth
Howington. "If the self-study
team was there to critique all of
Bethel, then it may have been
produciivc in some sense, bul if
they were there lo critique the
academics, the students didn't real ly help, because they were
mostly concerned about the
Lifestyle statement."
The team's visit concluded
yesterday wilh the presentation
of their recommendation and
suggestions al the exit interview.
'One Voice' speaks
By Julia Taylor
StaffWriter
Perhaps you noticed students wearing headdresses or sarongs, the fine sushi bar at lunch
or the African drum rhythms in
Market Square last week. Sponsored by the Belhel Community
Council (BCC), One Voice Week
culminated the celebration of
Black History Month through appreciation of a diversity of world
cultures.
A Kenyan student enrolled
in the graduate program, Suzie
Aseka, kicked off the week with
a powerful testimony at the International Coffee House Monday,
Feb. 21. in Market Square. She
was followed by several other international students who taught
African songs, rocked to Hmong
music and performed with bamboo sticks in a Filipino tinikling
dance.
Students led a discussion
Tuesday evening afler a showing
of "Joy Luck Club." Wednesday
featured "Taste of the World" in
Ihe Dining Center and international dress day. Junior Petra
Wonders, student leader of United
Cultures of Bethel, described it as
her favorite event of the week.
Afler a late night Tuesday
decorating, she said, "It was great
walking into the DC to see it all
come logelher. The reactions to
the sushi bar were the most interesting."
Not only did Bethel celebrate its own cultures, several
people were invited from off campus to participate. Both Carol
Chang, a member of the recruitment committee for BCC, and
Dean of Diversity and Commu-
nily Donna Johnson, emphasized
their excitement at making people
from off campus feel welcome at
Bethel. Their success was evident
Thursday evening as kids, teenagers and adults packed the AC
lounge to hear the live beat box
and gospel tunes of City Songs
Children's Choir and the funny,
moralistic tales of African storyteller Nohtondo Zulu that encouraged racial reconciliation.
Senior Erica Butler, from
Jeremiah's Porch in South Minneapolis, brought a few neighborhood children to the event and
was impressed by the children's
choir. "It was powerful to see
children teaching adults about
racial reconciliation," she said.
The theme of bridging the
racial gap was not only celebrated,
but heatedly discussed in three
workshops led by iwo professors
and a local pastor. The discussion
continued on page 2
Zalanga joins faculty
By Amy Herman
Contributing Writer
Unlike most of Bethel's
faculty members, Samuel
Zalanga, a new professor in the
sociology and anthropology department, is not from Minnesota
or any of the other 49 states.
Born in Nigeria. Zalanga
began teaching al the age of 17 in
an elementary school. A success,
he decided lo enter a career in
academia.
He completed his undergraduate degree in Nigeria, but
traveled to the United States to
pursue a Ph.D. in International
I  Studies at the University of Min-
j nesota.
"When I came to the United
j States, I had made up my mind
1  that if God gave me this opportunity that I was going to use my
!  education lo serve him," said
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i
Clarion/Photo by Matt Lang
Professor Samuel Zalanga
Zalanga. "Exactly how I would
do lhat, I wasn't sure." Bul God
was.
Zalanga's story is long.
According to him, it was only
through a series of miracles lhat
he was able to study at Ihe university. "It was miraculous how
so many people came in to make
continued on page 3