Clarion 2006-09-07 Vol. 82 No. 01

              THE   BETHEL   UNIVERSITY
Thursday, September 7, 2006
http://bethelnet.bethel.edu/clarion
Volume 82 • Number 1
Much more than a welcome
Photo by Danica Myers
Welcome Weekers perform a dance from "High Schoool Musical," druring the finale of The Show. In preparation for all Welcome Week events, including The Show, staff generally
worked 16-hour days for a straight week.
Pre-Welcome Week
exhausts, satisfies staff
By Cory Streeter
A freshman boy in a blue minivan steps out of the sliding rear
door to a roar of overly-enthusiastic, overly-sweaty Welcome Week
staff. With a dumbfounded look on his face, he is ushered by the
arm into his new home on Freshman Hill. The parents, just as
dumbfounded, step out and watch as a whirlwind of busy, yellow
T-shirted worker bees converge on the pollen: luggage. Then, in
Houdini-like fashion, the minivan is stripped of its contents, and
the bees are off.
The Welcome Week staff is a force to be reckoned with on
move-in day, and their presence continues through the Friday night
games, The Show, and core groups.
We find it amazing that they can sustain the electric energy
they radiate.
And we only see Welcome Week.
What we don'l see is pre-Welcome Week and all the preparations starting seven days ahead of time.
Welcome Week article and spread continued on Pages 4 and 5
Photo by Jordan Groh
Welcome Week staff
work ethic, the staff
members work hard as they move new studnets into Nelson Hall. Along with their
has also been known for their high energy and enthusiasm that they constantly display.
"We get to see God working...and we can tell he's there through the energy he gives
us, how our staff gets along, and the teamwork and relationships that are established." -Amanda Mayo, senior coordinator
ODK calls for
student leaders
Fresh changes to honor society
aim to alter its campus image
By Cory Streeter
Omicron Delta Kappa.
Doesn'i ring a bell, does it?
Delta Kappa hints at some
fraternity, and Omicron sounds
more like a software company.
So, maybe it's the secret society
of computer geeks?
Wait, it's a national leadership honor society? And it's ai
Bethel? Never heard of ii.
And thai's exacily ihe problem, said David Miller, senior
and ODK president.
Miller and the other four
senior officers, Vice President
Laura Degcndorfer and Directors Angela Bratsch, Lauren
Johnson and Melissa Kruse
entered iheir leadership roles
this year after spending junior
year in ODK, and ihey had a
thought: This is good. We like
what they're doing, but no one
knows who we are.'
"And lhe people who do
know who we are, think we're
some cult," joked Miller.
Miller and the other officers
aim to dispel any misconceptions aboul ODK, and promote
it for what it really is: a society
that honors student leaders and
encourages them in iheir continued leadership involvement.
Of course, there are some
requirements. Bethel students
must be a junior or senior, rank
in the top 35 percent of their
class, and be involved in at least
one leadership activity either
on or off campus. Applicants
are evaluated and accepted by
the ODK studenl officers along
wilh adviser Nathan Freeburg,
associate dean for Leadership
Development and New Student
Orientaiion.
Though ihere are national
admissions requirements, ihis
year's ODK officers want to
change the emphasis of many of
ODK contiuned on page 2
Anew
first
impression
'Iconic' Welcome
Center stylishly
eases security
By Cory Streeter
Bethel students are greeted
at the front gates this year by the
newest addition to the foundation of the Arden Hills campus.
The brick Welcome Center,
replacing the wooden security
buildings, aims to enhance the
ease and experience upon arriving on Bethel's campus.
Mimicking the masonry
and architecture of the Community Life Center, the Welcome
Center is built for efficiency and
aesthetics.
The Welcome Center
replicates the
capabilities
of the old security shack,
but improves
it with advanced technology, according to
Bruce Kunkel,
vice president
for Campus
Services.
The main
upgrade is
an additional
student and
staff right entrance lane
with a security arm. When entering during
evening and late-night hours,
a proximity reader, similar to
those that allow entrance into
student dorms, will give entrance through the security arm
with a Bethel ID card, said Matt
Brown, director of Security and
Safety. The inside lane will be
for visitors.
University President
George Brushaber noted that
Bethel has the best security
record of any college in Minnesota, and the security arm
alleviating traffic through the
visitor lane will allow security
to "concentrate more on those
who don't belong."
Welcome Center continued on
Page 2
What you need
to know about
the new lane:
• Security arm
is lifted by
scanning your
ID card past
a proximity
reader, similar
to those outside the dorms.
•Students
without ID
card can pass
through the
guest lane by
giving their ID
number.
From camp to college
Counselors-turned-RAs weigh benefits of their experience
By Cory Streeter
Camp counselors are privileged people.
They were there to comfort
the fourth-grader when she was
homesick and flooded in her
own tears.
They were ihere to bust
those seventh-graders on a midnight water balloon raid.
They were there to clean up
the second-grader who wet his
pants...for the sixth time that
day.
And now, these camp counselors may be our RAs.
It makes sense that summer
camp counselors would be well-
qualified RAs, but how strong
is the correlation between the
two?
At a recent barbecue celebrating the end of RA training,
an unofficial survey was taken
of all the 67 RAs, four ARDs,
10 RDs and other Residence
Life staff. Some RAs missed the
barbecue due to other engagements, bul out of an estimated
80 of the previously mentioned
staff, roughly 45 responded thai
ihey had, at some point, worked
Photo courtesy of Tyler Gerdin
Tyler Gerdin, RA in North Villiage, in the middle of one of his groups
of campers at Trout Lake Camp. Roughly 45 out of 80 members of the
Residence Life staff have camp counseling experience.
as a camp counselor.
Granted, not every person
surveyed was a counselor the
previous summer (i.e. RDs and
Residence Life administration),
but at least half of all Residence
Life staff members were former
camp counselors.
After going ihrough their
week-long   training   program,
RAs could already see some
differences arising between the
two jobs.
The needs of the campers
and residents are very different, said Gary Kearns, senior RA
in Heritage. Whereas campers
need some authority and encouragement from a counselor
to help them mature, residents
are our peers, have jobs, and
deal with more 'real-life' troubles," he said.
The prospect of living
amongst the same residents is
much different than the week-
long sessions of campers, too.
"With camp, you don't have
much follow-up," said Darcy
Huspek, junior RA in Bodien.
Other than a few campers that
may remember you the following year, you don't ever hear
much from them, she said, "so
I'm excited to develop relationships that actually last."
There are some skills
learned at. camp, though, that
transfer to being an RA regardless of age.
At camp, "you see their
good sides and their bad sides
and deal with every situation
under the sun," said Tyler Gerdin, junior RA in North Village. Although college life is at a
higher stress level, camp is still
great preparation, he said.
Amir   Mohamed,   RD   in
RA contiuned on page 2
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