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The four of us

Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be a romantic holiday. By Maddie DeBilzan The four of us stride to the front of the line with our matching red White Bear Lake Recreation T-shirts and hand the beret-wearing Kodak photographer a couple of crumpled-up dollar bills. The eyelined girls who wore pink in line behind us giggle. “If you want a Valentine’s day photo with your friends,” the Central Middle School principal said the day before, “wear pink.” But we didn’t like pink. Pink was girly. Pink was for the sixth-grade girls who looked like miniature Bratz dolls, walking around with too much mascara snowballed on their eyelashes and over-straightened hair that looked like it was ready to fall off. When slept over in each other’s basements, we’d play Sardines and Wii Bowling and Truth or Dare. Then we’d make fun of girls who wore pink. “Mariah wears eyeliner, and mascara, and… Keep Reading

Opinion

Advice from the Maddies

What should I do if Great Uncle Jim starts talking politics at the dinner table over the holidays? Do I engage with him, with my new sense of understanding and opinion? Or do I get up and start clearing plates as soon as possible? Maddie D.: I’m sure you have plenty of opinions about your great uncle’s political comments… but will voicing those thoughts really get anywhere? If Great Uncle Jim says something condescending — and doesn’t direct it towards you specifically — I’d probably just keep quiet and let Great Aunt Margie or Grandma Betty duke it out with him instead, if they so dare. Talking politics with a great uncle who probably has a lot to say sounds like a recipe for a bitter holiday dinner. I’d rather listen to the clanking of silverware as I’m clearing plates than my family coming at each other’s throats over foreign… Keep Reading

Opinion

God knows how to headbang

God shows up in more places than church pews. By Jamie Hudalla  Jonathan from Stranger Things stood maybe three inches taller than me. When he isn’t slaying Demogorgons, he drums at a hole-in-the-wall venue in London. The place felt like First Avenue, like a pocket of home after traveling for three months. I’m not a mystic, but the night’s events seemed ordained. Well, not meeting Jonathan. A few of us on England Term had stalked the crap out of his social media, found a tweet about his location, hopped on the Tube, and elbowed a mellow crowd to see him play the last five seconds of a song. But we were nestled in one of London’s unknown crevices, listening to the sleepy tones of indie-rocker Julia Jacklin, wearing jean jackets to blend in with the Brits. It felt right. Erik Leafblad, a theology professor and avid concert-goer, would refer to… Keep Reading

Opinion

The other side of the bubble

By Josh Towner From August 19, 2017 to July 29, 2018, I spent less than 50 days away from Bethel. For that dubiously long stretch of 345 days, I was never away from campus for more than two and a half weeks at a time. To put it lightly, I was tired of Bethel. I had eaten enough Sodexo taqueria and drank enough Royal Grounds dark roast to last me a lifetime. I saw enough people who claim to be good Christians leave their bags at an empty booth in the Grill while they ate dinner in the DC to make me consider never coming back to Bethel. That’s part of why instead of attending Bethel for the fall semester, I’m in New York City in a study abroad program. When I moved to New York, I immediately felt a change in energy. The city moves fast – it doesn’t… Keep Reading

Opinion

I am woman, hear me cheer

After homecoming week, I was inspired to tackle the topic of labels and how they enforce gender roles. By Jamie Hudalla | Columnist It’s story time, boys and girls. You’re about to hear a feminist rant. I reached legal adulthood three years ago, but people still refer to me as girl. It’s a term that seems tattooed onto me until I produce wrinkles and children, yet the term boy conjures images of binkies and nursery rhymes, and would never be applied to a college-aged male. This odd disparity came up once again during powderpuff practice. “Did you see the email?” my friend asked. I didn’t catch on at first. Then I checked the homecoming events update, and a few words stood out. Men’s dance. Girl’s powderpuff. I’m not accusing Bethel of misogyny or sexism or any other key word that ignites flaming feminist torches. However, I am posing a question:… Keep Reading

Columnist: Samuel Krueger/News/Opinion

A paradox of justice

How do we respect victims while protecting the rights of the accused? Sam Krueger explores due process, the Kavanaugh hearings and its implications. While #MeToo has done a tremendous job creating an environment where women feel more comfortable to come forward about sexual assault, we have begun to dismantle the processes that makes our justice system, well, just. I think that this is leading our country towards unsustainable applications of justice. I want to make it absolutely clear that this article is not anti-victim. Quite the contrary. I fully acknowledge the difficulty of dealing with often unprovable crimes and that our current system is not well-equipped to help victims. I do not claim to know the answer. Rather, I want to point out an issue that I believe affects all aspects of our justice system. This problem supersedes political ideology, and it is in our collective interest to try and… Keep Reading

Opinion

Advice from the Maddies

We asked Bethel students to submit questions this month about relationships. Maddie DeBilzan, our editor-in-chief, and Maddie Christy, our managing editor, have answered them with class, wisdom and a little bit of sass. Neither of them have degrees or experience in psychology, but they like to pretend. How many close friends is too many close friends? Maddie C: I have always heard you can only really have deep relationships with five to seven people. It’s not realistic to be deep friends with 25 people! But my friends and I often talk about how hard this is, especially in a community like Bethel. We all know so many people, and say “Hi” to 12 people when we walk down the hall. Is it possible to stop and ask all those people how they are really doing? No! We need to learn it’s OK to have concentric circles of friends. We can… Keep Reading

Opinion

Finding a voice

A survivor’s response to the Kavanaugh nomination. By Diana Clark I don’t remember any time before the first moments he felt entitled to my body. I don’t remember many moments after. New research has shown amnesia may happen at age 7. I was 8. I didn’t even know what sex was, before I was forced to do something that erased every innocent bone in my body. For years after, my mind felt like swiss cheese that provided me with many holes any time I tried to work through what had happened to me. While I cannot recall every moment of the four years I endured this trauma, I remember exactly how it started. I have never shared the details about how it first began with anyone before, not even when I shared the information with my parents years later. Truth or Dare. Outside on the self-constructed slip and side. Just… Keep Reading

News/Opinion

Clarionion

By Sam Krueger Faculty Cuts Felt Throughout Campus In recent days there has been an outcry of support for the departments damaged or cut by the faculty reductions. Some say that the cuts unevenly impact the liberal arts as opposed to more mainstream majors such as biology or business. Business department chair Tina Crosby pushed back reminding critics that just recently they were forced to layoff the faculty in charge of the classes that talk about carrying a briefcase, folding a pantsuit or how to perfectly mix a gin martini while wearing a hat. Royals Volleyball Sees Drop In Attendance In the last 2 years trends have shown a steady decline in attendance to Bethel’s volleyball games. In fact, last weeks victory against Hamline University saw a royal turnout of 0. Research suggests the drop in attendance is directly correlated to the absurd amount of wins that the volleyball team… Keep Reading

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