Clarion 2007-02-22 Vol. 82 No. 15

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NEWS
Religious leaders
discuss community
-page 2
SPORTS
Disappointing end
for Men's Basketball
-page 10
SPORTS
Women's Hockey
falls short of playoffs
-page 10
Jin=i=biHH*|i:ikTHii--g:
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Volume 82 • Number 15
Betzler, Fereira
expound on
resignation
Addressing the confusing
details of the former Student Body President's   .
decision to step down
By Cory Streeter
Bethel's campus has been
running rampant with rumors
and opinions following the
Student Body President Bjorn
Betzler's Feb. 12 letter of resignation. While Betzler's letter clarified early rumors of his
violation of .the drinking policy
while abroad, his statements
also created new question marks
in need of further clarification.
The resignation
All sources agree the resignation was voluntary. Betzler
said the gravity of his decisions
hit him when he placed himself. outside the situation. "If
the president can go to Europe,
drink and get away with it, then
that's going to have a huge negative effect on others, and that's
not at all what 1 want," he said.
Betzler's drinking violation
fell under the non-disciplinary
policy Betzler was told by Tim
Hammer (then vice president)
to go see Jim Fereira, dean of
students and BSA adviser. Since
Betzler went without Fereira requesting him, there is no pun-
ishment.
Fereira emphasized that he
would never and did not ask
Betzler to resign his position as
a direct result of the non-disciplinary drinking violation.
It was after his meeting
with the BSA' Executive Board
that Betzler saw how torn up
they were over the example be-.
ing set for student leadership.
"That's when I could see...the
right thing to do would.be to
resign," he said.
The following day, Betzler
met with Fereira for a second
meeting where they discussed
Betzler's future as leader of the
student body. Fereira said "based
on his ability to provide leadership under the circumstances,"
he suggested that Betzler resign.
Betzler had already come to
the same conclusion before the
meeting, and procee"d*e3 to step
down on Feb. 12.   '
Though he had already
decided to resign voluntarily, it
was in the context of leadership
ability that it was suggested Betzler resign.
The "exception"
Before leaving for the psychology interim course in Eu-.
rope, Betzler had a conversation
with a newer member of Student
Life where he questioned the ex-
Photo by Anna Husted
BSA members continue their responsibilities under new president, Tim Hammer.
"If one thing comes out of this, that confusion is
going, to be crystal clear for the next group to go
abroad.. .to the teachers as well as students."
-^Bjorn Betzler   .
ception to the drinking policy in
cultural situations. The Student
Life member said they believed,
from how they interpreted the
rule, Betzler would be allowed
to experience the culture according to his plans of making
connections wilh locals in pubs
by "having a few drinks."
The new Studenl Life member stated they were not the authority -on the topic, though,-
and Betzler should seek lhe
clarification of Fereira. This
is where Betzler consented he
should have known better. But
wanting to experience that kind
of culture, he said he already
had his loophole.
"I thought I was in the
clear," he said. Had- Betzler
known before leaving the real
ity of the exception, there's "no
question I would not have done
it," he said.
According to Fereira, had
Betzler questioned him, Betzler
would have found the exception to the drinking policy to be
"highly defined."
Fereira said the exception
only applies in situations where
it would be culturally offensive to refuse a drink of alcohol
when offered by a foreign host.
He u^ed the example of a host
family opening an expensive
bottle of wine to celebrate the
arrival or departure of the student. In. that case, accepting alcohol would be acceptable if the
student feels comfortable. This
is lhe only instance of where a
student wouldn't be in violation
Photo by Craig Anderson
Vespers has continually drawn a large crowd this year with a solid effort of maintaining focus on scripture, prayer and worship.
Vespers ministry reaches thousands
From modest beginnings, the Sunday night worship services
have become a student favorite as well as a large outreach
By Monique Champeau
When two female students,
Mary Sue Beran and Amy (Shar-
man) Dempsey, approached
Sherry Mortenson nearly 20
years ago with plans to begin
student-led worship on Sunday
nights, nobody imagined their
ministry would grow to such
grand proportions today.
In fact, the Campus Ministries staff didn'i even believe they
would get enough attendees to
fill up the RC Gym. Thinking it
was belter to keep the meeting
iniimate and not disappoint ihe
girls, they gave them use of a
classroom to try out iheir idea.
The pair had little music experience themselves, but packed
the small room to capacity with
lhe worship team and friends,
blowing expectations out of the
water.
The next week, afler again
begging for a larger area, they
moved to the AC lounge, and
again filled up the space.
"I kept telling them the
gym was loo big," said Morten
son, associate dean of Campus
Ministries. "Il was like God then
lold me, 'Sherry, I'm going to
do a major work on this campus.'...He used two very capable but very behind-the-scenes
women that He had chosen for
lhat ministry...it has reached
thousands."
Vespers continued on page 8
The
perfect
scam
By Jonathon Svendsen
Most of the student body
received an urgent e-mail from
Wells Fargo on Feb. 5. The e-
mail informed the recipient that
their online account had been
compromised and that their
account access had been suspended. The students were then
informed to follow a link to the
Wells Fargo site to restart their
access.
Students would later discover the next day that this e-
mail was a scam.
One Bethel senior who responded to it said, "I checked
my e-mail that morning, clicked
the link and it looked legitimate. Two hours later 1 had to
call Wells Fargo and have my
account changed."
"It was a well-done scam,"
said Chris Tompkins, a senior
who works in ITS.
"It got a few of my friends
and a number of professors. I
was surprised by how many
people were willing to give any
and all information out and had
no concept of how dangerous it
was."
The problem lay in the apparent legitimacy of the e-mail.
Typically, in an e-mail such as
this, the key indicator of a scam
is in the URL line. However, this
particular e-mail was a complete
"clone" or copy of the URL for
Wells Fargo. In order to tell the
difference, a recipient would
have to know enough to examine the header, the lines that
Scam continued on page 2
Frogtown offers diverse
alternative housing
By Marie Hansen
Everyone has heard of the unfortunate stereotype of Bethel students: not diverse, sheltered, financially well off and slightly detached from the real world. But four students defy this stereotype
every day
Emily Kjesbo, Ryan Johnson, Elisabeth Geschiere and Sheena
Baughman left the Beihel bubble io live in the Frogtown Urban
Living Experience house in St. Paul. Each year, up to five Bethel
sludents live and volunteer in this diverse urban neighborhood.
They occupy one half of the duplex run by Urban Homeworks.
A local family lives in the other half, which uses the government's
Section 8 subsidized housing—costs are based on income rather
than rental prices.
Some people have expressed reverse stereotypes and told the
students they do not belong in the communiiy. "Once a police officer lold us to get out of IFrogtown] because we don't belong there
and it's not safe for us," said Kjesbo, senior. "People don't realize
we're living there on purpose because we do care about urban issues."
Despite such opposilion, these four studenis forged.ahead in
continuing to partner with their neighborhood. They have experienced some warm receptions from community members.
Community activities include: weekly volunteer commitments,
such as tmoring at the Rondo Community Library; helping ESL
students at the Hubbs Center; assisting a local high school's drama
program and setting up a new community library with the Ober
Center, complete with a reading room and tutoring program.
Kjesbo tutors at the Rondo Community Library every Monday,
which shows her "the little things you take for granted that can
mean so much to others."
Kjesbo once tutored a little boy who said that he could hot
learn any English. She helped him learn about 25 new words. As he
left the tutoring session, he told her, "I guess I can do it."
informal neighborly relationships are also integral to the students' daily experience.
Saturday neighborhood breakfasts are "a lime to get to know
neighbors who love Jesus and people and to enjoy a great meal together," said Geschiere, junior.
Kjesbo joined a local YMCA so that she can work out with her
neighbors. The group also frequents local coffee shops and stores.
."I would say I don't work in the communiiy, bul that 1 simply
live here," Geschiere said. "Being a neighbor and not a volunteer or
social worker opens up doors for different relationships."
Frogtown continued on page 8
of the Covenant, he said.
What's interesting about the
exception is it applies only to
students in semester programs,
not interim programs. The Office of Off-Campus Programs
said a day-long tutorial covers
the exception for semester programs where students stay with
host families. The exception is
not slated for interim programs
because there are limited or no
periods where sludents would
stay with a host family—they
mostly travel in groups with faculty. Professors go over the tutorial on their own time with no.
mention of the exception since
it doesn't apply.
Student Life, Off-Campus
Programs   and   Deb   Harless,
Betzler continued on page 8