Clarion 2001-02-13 Vol. 76 No. 09

              1 Asian Heritage - pg. 3
Gender face-off - pg. 10
Men's and women's hockey - pg. 13-14
Men's basketball - pg. 16 •Women's basketball - pg. 15
Tuesday, February 13, 2001
The Newspaper of Bethel College
Volume 76 'Number 9
CLARION
Trustees' committee hears dancing proposal
By Sarah Aue
Views editor
After years of sitting on the
back burner, the issue of on-cam-
pus dancing resurfaced at the
Jan. 26 meeting of Bethel's
Board of Trustees.
Student Body President
Steve Peterson and Vice President Tim Shultis
were the only
two students allowed to take
part in the day of
meetings. They
were given 20
minutes to
present their issues to the College Academic
Affairs Committee. This time limit is an improvement over previous year's
allotment, but Peterson said
more time is still necessary.
BSA's last effort to move toward having on-campus dances
in 1997 gained little ground;
Peterson felt their recent presentation was well-received, noting
affirmative "head nods and verbal agreements."
Before going to lhe Trustees'
meeting, Peterson spent time reworking the 1997 proposal with
the help of Vice President of Student Life Judy Moseman.
According to Peterson, the
"...there is nothing
positive about going
to the Mermaid and
bumping and
grinding wearing
your tightest
Spandex shirt."
-Steve.Peterson
Student Bodv President
purpose in bringing up the issue
at this meeting was not to vote
on it, but to revive the topic, "because it's been dead for three
years, and our class is the only
one that has recollection of it."
The proposal includes limited on-campus dances, sanctioned through BSA and Student
Life, that would take
place five or six times
per year. Only pre-
approved music
would be played, and
the style of dance
possibly would be
swing or ballroom,
although there are
other options.
"Not all dancing
is okay-there is nothing positive about going to the
Mermaid and bumping and
grinding wearing your tightest
Spandex shirt," Peterson said.
Even though there are specific types of dances lhat are not
considered appropriate by both
BSA and administrative officials,
Peterson said "chaperones" are
not being considered as part of
the proposal. 'There will be no
more student life staff there than
at any other social event," he
said.
There are three primary reasons BSA would like to have
dancing on campus.
First, it provides another entertainment opportunity.
Second, it maintains an activity many have participated in
for their whole lives.
Peterson said, "It is paradoxical to come to Bethel and not
dance." For some students, it is
odd to attend dances from seventh grade on, and then have it
restricted as adults in college.
Finally, BSA is concerned
about "people dancing at places
we would not like them dancing
already," Peterson said. By hosting dances, it would provide a
positive alternative to clubbing
downtown in unhealthy environments.
Because of these things, BSA
argues organized dancing should
be included in on-campus activities. According to a survey taken
by student leadership, approxi
mately 70 percent of the student
body is in favor of having dancing on campus.
Although members of the
committee showed some positive response to Peterson's presentation, it is not known when
the issue will be discussed within
the larger group of trustees. The
first dance could potentially be
held during the 2001-2002
school year.
Comincf home from Interl
Many programs transport learning and service off campus
By Jonathan Fast
News editor
There are many ways sponsored by
the college through which students can
broaden their experiences.
One method is service learning. "The
goal is to identify real and genuine community needs and integrate into academic
coursework," said Vincent Peters, associate dean for off-campus programs.
The desire to partake in such endeavors is integrated into the college's mission statement: "Bethel seeks to serve society on the local level, national and international levels through scholarship,
social service and Chrislian leadership."
There arc currently about 14 courses
that strive to academically bring students
off campus through service learning. An
thropology, art, business and nursing are
some of lhe diverse disciplines encompassed through this program.
Speciiic programs include tutoring,
tax assistance, volunteering at soup kitchens, setting up library and resource centers, block nursing and community planning.
Psychology Professor Lucie Johnson
described how service learning worked in
one of her classes. "Students were sent to
five different Hmong agencies in
Frogtown and surrounding areas,"
Johnson said, "and, using service learning as their 'place' within that cultural system, they were encouraged to sample
other aspects of the cullure, attend events,
talk to people and generally behave as
people who wanted to learn and be in
structed."
"Service learning can help students lo
understand genuine needs [of the community] within the context of coursework, as
well as broaden their worldview, faith,
social awareness and shape careers," Peters said.
All students experience some form of
service learning in their core groups during Welcome Week. Peters seeks other
opportunities through the residence halls
or community housing. Possible changes
could include adding service learning to
the.Transcript of Co-Curricular Involvement or making it a general education requirement.
Three years ago, the focus narrowed
from the entire metro area to a specific
urban area, creating the Bethel/Frogtown/
Summit-University Partnership.
"The partnership is about helping the
institution to see the community as a
teacher and expert," said Matthew Keiser,
coordinator of the program. "Il can help
prepare students for life after Bethel."
Approximately 100 students arc involved. "It is mutual learning and leading where Bethel is serving as a resource
and learning and lhe community is serving as a resource and learning."
Another service is the America Reads
program, a national movement with the
goal of having every child reading by third
grade. Bethel works to meet this goal
though six sites in St. Paul, Minneapolis.
Roseville, New Brighton and Stillwater.
continued on page 3