Clarion 1992-03-19 Vol. 67 No. 10

              Bethel College
oN
Vol. 67, No. 10; March 19, 1992
Community Baffled by Thefts
by GloriJean Harper
Staff Writer
Since the beginning of Fall Semester,
several thefts have occurred. Between
four and five hundred dollars in personal
articles, such as clothing, jewelry, and
watches have been taken from student
housing. There have been seven reported
thefts of wallets and checkbooks, ten
thefts from automobiles, and two "smash
and grabs" (car windows were smashed
and whatever had been left in the car
was taken). One T.V./V-CR. unit was
taken from FA313. A drill and several
wood bits were taken, and four computers have also been stolen.
The drill was stolen from the Theatre
Department during the production of
Working. According to Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Rick Rees, the
complete drill kit including the drill,
battery, charger, and a set of wood bits
was taken from a locked cabinet in the
theairc. Director of Security and Safety,
William Watson, believes that ihere was
no sign of a break in, meaning thai
whoever stole the kit may have been in
possession of a key.
According to Rees, approximately
one to two weeks after lhe locks were
changed and the drill had been replaced,
he went to use the new drill and found
that the old drill had been returned and
the new drill had been stolen.
Says Rees ofthe incident, "It's disappointing because...it's like they are
stealing from me as much as they are
stealing from Belhel, oras much as they
are stealing from the Theatre Department I feel personally victimized by it
because this is equipment that I need on
HIGHLIGHTS
Bethel
Students
In Africa,
highlights on
paged.
Sigma Tau
Delta
Returns to
Bethel, see
page 2 for
details.
a regular basis."
This year, four Macintosh computers
have also been stolen. Two were taken
from the Computer Center, one was
taken from the Writing Center, and the
most recent theft occurred in the Faculty Secretary's office.
According to Security Officer Gary
Dalbey, who investigated two of the
computer thefts, the incidents "were
not break ins, they were either taken as
a result of accessing the door with a key,
or the door was already left open."
Says Watson, "The fact that the [third]
computer that was taken was brand new,
fresh out of the box and no one really
knew that it was here, and that [the
computer] was the one that was taken,
leads me to suspect that it would be
internal. I think that for whateverreason,
one of the things we try lo ignore is the
fact lhat Christianscan do things that arc
not necessarily healthy. Christians do
bad things. We are not immune from
sin."
The computers that werestolen played
an important role in each of the departments they served. According to PACE
portfolio Advisor, Sandra McNccI and
Faculty Secretary, Janine McFarland,
lhe insurance deductibles were so high
lhat the insurance policy will not help
replace lhe compuierequipment. In some
cases, budgets will need to be shuffled
in order for thecomputers to be replaced
and in other cases, such as that of the
Writing Center, it will be some lime
before the computer can be replaced.
Says McNeel, "It's too bad that students have to suffer from this kind of
thing. That's the thing that makes me
Photo/GJ Harper
Sandy McNeel was shocked by the recent disappearance of the
Writing Center's computer. This theft adds to the many recent thefts
on campus.
sad. We use the computer to type some
of our forms and things, so we use it in
house here loo and tutors have had access to it in addition to ihe studenis who
visit us. It's a definite loss and I'm real
sad to see them suffer as a result."
Due to the ihefts and other incidents
on campus, Watson is working to im-
provecainpus security. As well as adding
some computer-driven security devices
to problem areas within the college,
Watson says that he is working to "enhance internal building patrols," and is
"enlisting the support of the maintenance to serve as extra eyes and ears."
He is also changing the procedure for
obtaining keys.
"It's kind of tough moving Bethel
into the space age but that's where we're
going to have to go if we're going lo
create a safe environment," says Walson.
"Nol thai it isn't safe. I think every
person that comes on this campus has a
reasonable s-Apcclaticn "f safely both
for themselves and their belongings,
and I think that we're going to have to
move some before we can consistently
provide for that reasonable expectation
of safety."
Staff Excels In Maintaining Stability
by Sara Mae Peterson
Contributing Writer
Throughout the past few weeks of
intense media attention focused on our
campus and on former students, there
have beena number of faculty, staff, and
administration members who have put
forth tremendous effort to keep things
running smoothly and to deal with the
various needs of community members.
The Office of Public Relations,
headed by Sherie Lindvall, almost exclusively handled calls from the media
ranging from local to national. They
were also responsible for getting information to students through repeated P.O.
stuffings.
Assistant Director of Public Relations
and Marketing Nina Fishwick said the
PR office is to be "ready to respond to a
crisis situation and put together communication plans."
Part of this plan is to compile statements to be given to media persons who
call for information. She described their
job as "managing information, including the negative—bul not necessarily
putting a good spin on bad ihings.
"We want, first, to be a statement of
empathy for the people involved,"
Fishwick said, "and then lo explain how
Beihel is responding to the situation."
The media statement prepared by
Lindvall concerning the threats againsl
Dr. Cooper-Lewterstates:"Weat Bethel
are outraged at the recent reported in-
Faculty and students participate in
campus.
cident of racial harassment...the Board
of Regents has approved formalized
procedures for dealing with alleged racial harassment...People of color must
be free to live, speak, work, and study
here..." The statement prepared concerning Jay Johnson expressed similar
feelings of concern for lhe family and
addressed the community's reaction.
Fishwick emphasized that while the
office functions under a code of ethics to
be truthful, studenl records are confi-
Photo/Tonia Stacey
unity rally to support diversity on
dential and will not be revealed to unauthorized people, Johnson's records
were not given to any media person by
the Office of Public Relations. As cited
in the February 21 Internal Communications Bulletin, "Bethel will release
only the information allowed under lhe
Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act of 1974." Any student's records
would be treated in the same manner.
When Director of Multicultural De-
Peterson, continued on page 2.