Clarion 2004-03-17 Vol. 79 No. 11

              Wednesday, March 17, 2004
"Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour" Volume 79 * Number 11
Outside
the
Bubble
Timothy Goddard
Editor-in-Chief
World
Bombimgs linked to
Al Quaeda rocked Madrid
on Thursday, killing 201
people. Anger over the
attacks appeared to cpt-
nribute to the Socialist
party victory in Sunday's
clcctiohV over the ruling
Peoplcjs'Party, which has
staunchly supported U. S.
efforts in the war on terror.
The Prime-Minister elect
has said he will pull
Spanish troops from Iraq.
Nation
Senator John Kerry has
wrapped up the Democratic
party nomination, and he and
President Bush have been
trading criticisms since then.
Recently, Kerry claimed to
have talked to "foreign..leaders" ,who expressed a desire
that Kerry' wjnT The White
House has insisted that Kerry
reveal these leaders' names,
suggesting that, if he docs
not, he made the story up.
Minnesota
Hearings in an antitrust
class action lawsuit against
Microsoft started Monday in
Minneapolis. Plaintiff's
lawyers claimed that up to a
million individuals and businesses in Minnesota were
overcharged by the software
giant. This is the first of several class-action suits against
Microsoft to go to trial, and
Microsoft co-chairman Bill
Gates is cxpccct to testify.
Bethel students celebrate Asian heritage
David Maus
StaffWriter
Multiculturalism has been
preached and proudly touted as
one of Bethel's greatest values.
In light of emphasizing the need
to understand and appreciate
Bethel senior Kia Yang shows off her garb
at the March 6 ACF dinner.
other cultures, the Asian
Heritage Celebration was
organized to help people actually experience and celebrate one
of those other cultures.
The annual dinner and program put on by the Asian
Christian Fellowship (ACF)
took place on Saturday, March 6
at the Seminary.
Approximately 20 students from ACF
planned the celebration, which was attended by about 100 people. The program consisted of traditional
dancing and singing
from various Asian
cultures as well as a
fashion show of Asian
costumes hailing from
different periods and
countries.
Junior Na Vang, a
Hmong student born in
Thailand, was Master
of Ceremonies for the
event and was one of the ACF
students involved in the planning. "All the performers were
students from Bethel," he said.
"We just asked the students
what they could do, and the
people who like to do traditional dancing could dance and the
people who like to write poetry
could recite it."
Vang has been involved
with previous Asian Heritage
Celebrations and says he was
very pleased with the result of
this year's program. "This year
has definitely improved over
last year and the years before
that. Every year we come
together to celebrate Asian culture and we're getting better at
celebrating."
In fact, this celebration is
what draws the students to continue to plan the program every
year, according to Vang. He
said, "We enjoy doing this
because it's not everyday that
you see this. It's one of the few
times wc get to celebrate our
home cultures."
But while the show obviously has appeal to Asian students, it also interests others at
Bethel. Junior Morgan Gettle
attended the show and said, "It
enhanced how I view Asian culture. As a white person, you
don't get exposed to that very
often. The part that had the
biggest impact on me .was the
fashion expo, and to be able to
see what they actually wore."
He added, "The Indian dance
was unbelievable. It's amazing
to watch."
The enjoyment and experience of Asian culture by non-
Asian students is one of the
main goals of the program, said
Vang. "It's not just about being
Asian; it's about celebrating
Asian culture. It's like going to
someone's birthday party: it's
not your birthday, but you still
celebrate with them."
Assessment Day: learning from
2003 and preparing for this year
Air Band draws big
crowds and big laughs
Krista Clark
News Editor
"It's the easiest way to consolidate
the information we want to find out,"
said Rich Sherry, dean of faculty,
growth and assessment. He was referring to Assessment Day, which will
take place on April 28 this year. Last
spring was the first time Bethel organized this sort of student analysis since
1989. In light of the success of
Assessment Day 2003, Sherry, as chair
of the College Program Assessment
Committee, has coordinated this day
again and is hopeful of gaining such
helpful results as were obtained from
the assessment last spring.
For those who arc unaware,
Assessment Day is one day in which
all classes are cancelled so staff and
faculty can run a variety of surveys,
tests, and interviews among the entire
student body. Its purpose is implied in
the name: to assess student growth
intellectually, emotionally and spiritually.
More than 1500 students participated in Assessment Day last spring,
providing members of the Assessment
Committee with valuable information
for seeing how Bethel impacts students. In addition, the results created
ideas for change that will ensure the
institution is having the beneficial
' impact it desires for the student body.
So what was discovered' because
of Assessment Day? According to
Sherry, quite a variety of things were
learned based upon which test or survey students took. Many students,
especially seniors, took tests through
the academic department of their
major. For instance, some psychology
and English majors were asked to take
Continued on page 2
Jessica Fletcher
StaffWriter
This year's^ airband competition took place at
8:00 p.m. on Friday, March 5 2004. Senior Hannah
Brandes and junior Eli Horn were the emcees, and
six .performance groups competed for the grand
prizeof $500.
:..:.;: The show began with "Rainbow in the. Dark"
by Gas Pedal Three Bethel freshmen took this
song to the fullest with a tight leather pants ensemble;
The next duo to take the stage was sophomore
Justin Fredericks and freshman Matt Gloff with "1
Can Show You the World" from "Aladdin." They
built a magic carpet, and people dressed as clouds
were dancing to and fro. The crowd broke out into
uncontrollable laughter as they performed.
The "Bethel Britneys" led by freshman Megan
Huff were next to perform. Their matching outfits
and choreographed routinemade for a very believable rendition of Spears' "Oops... I Did It Again."
Continued on page 2
New BSA Executive
Directors for "04-05
Page 2
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Bookstores
Page 9
Bethel students
earn MIAC honors
Page 14