Clarion 2003-03-05 Vol. 78 No. 10

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Wednesday, March 5, 2003
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NEWSPAPER OF BETHEL COLLEGE      Volume 78   Number 10
Students speak out in anti-war protest
By Matthew Boettcher
Photo Editor
The Peace and lustice
Committee staged an anti-war
protest immediately before and
after chapel in front of Benson
Great Hall last Wednesday.
While the total effect on the student body cannot be ascertained, there are many who
were upset with the display.
From the seventies until the
early nineties, Bethel had an
organization called the Peace
and Justice Committee, which
discussed the toughest current
political hot topics. "It is a
group meant to raise awareness
about current political situations
so that people can come to
understand both sides of the
issue," said senior Chris
Becknell. Along with others,
senior Aaron Gerhardt has
recently re-signed the charter
and officially reactivated the
committee. After a few meetings of general discussion about
several topics, the group decided to take action in the form of
a protest against the impending
war with Iraq.
By 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday
approximately two dozen people entered the CLC lobby with
an array of colored signs and t-
shirts, sporting various anti-war
slogans like, "Who would Jesus
nuke", "No War", and "Disarm
Peacefully." As more and more
students filed into the Great
Hall, some of the committee
members began chanting and
singing messages of peace,
including "Jesus Loves the
Little Children," and "Amazing
Grace."
Some students that walked
by responded with affirmation
by giving the protestors high-
fives. Some students stopped to
speak about the issues with the
protestors.   Most students sim
ply walked through
without doing anything.
When asked about
what the purpose of
the gathering was,
Becknell said, "Those
of us who hold an
anti-war view are in
the minority, but we
are not ashamed and
not afraid to stand up
against something we
believe is fundamentally unchristian."
Many students
were not pleased with
this demonstration. "I
didn't feel welcome
to speak with the
group because I disagreed with them so
strongly," said junior Brittany
Graves. After chapel, an
unidentified student was heard
shouting, "stupid liberals." This
statement seemed to have very
little effect on the protesters,
except to encouarge them to
sing louder.
This protest is just the first of
many steps in the plans of the
Peace and Justice Committee.
"Ultimately, our goal is to cre
ate a dialogue in the Bethel
Community for people on both
sides of the issue to test what
they believe and take a stand,"
said junior Jake Nyberg.
Wreckless driving provokes action from Ramsey County Police
By Angi Palmer
Staff Writer
Almost everyone that has driven onto
Bethel's campus has asked the question,
"Why is the speed limit 19 miles per
hour? Why not 20 or 15?" The answer
lies in the fact that Security wants the
speed limit to stand out. The limit is usually noticed, but most of the time the
speed limits are not obeyed. This is part
of the reason why Bethel students are not
well known in the community for being
safe drivers.
In early Dec. 2002, Vice President of
Campus Services Bruce Kunkel,
received a call from a concerned member
of the Arden Hills City Council who was
calling to report an incident that somewhat worried him. On his way home, he
was driving past the main entrance of
Bethel when he saw a car fail to stop at
the stop sign. The car then swerved into
the oncoming lane of traffic, bumped the
curb on that side of the road and finally
swerved back into their lane.
The city council member made it clear
he didn't know whether the driver of the
car was a student, visitor, worker or
employee of Bethel. He was concerned
that someone was going to be seriously
injured if the driving habits of
people entering and leaving
campus remained wreckless. He
posed the problem at the next
Community Council meeting
and asked Bethel representatives
the same question: "What can be
done about this?"
The Bethel staff met to discuss the issue and decided that a
safer driving campaign needed
to be initiated. They agreed that
it's important to convey to students the need to have common
sense and remember to be a safe
driver.
As a result, the Ramsey
County Sheriff will soon be visiting
campus and giving tickets to those who
are not following safe driving habits.
There will also be more enforcement
along Old Snelling Avenue, and the
Bethel Security staff will be cracking
down on those not following stop signs,
crosswalks and the like.    Bethel also
intends to borrow the speedometer trailer from the county so that Bethel members will be aware of how fast they are
going.
The biggest reason for this interest for
those in charge of this campaign is that
Bethel has a huge impression on many
people, because it is such a large part of
the Arden Hills community. They said
that we hold a testimony of Christ even
in our driving, and we should put the best
and most respectful name possible to our
campus.
"This campaign is not a flash-in-the-
pan response to the Arden Hills
Community Council motion. We need to
work on this for awhile, not just momentarily," said Kunkel.
With the presence of the Ramsey
Country Police, perhaps the Bethel community will remember to drive cautiously and obey the laws that have been
established for the protection of everyone.