Bethel University - Spire Yearbook (St Paul, MN)

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PHILOSOPHY Questions Answered There are certain questions in life that every thinking man must answer for himself. The philosophy department shows to its students some of the answers that other men have had concerning man and man, the universe and God. Although it may not seem vitally important to the logic student whether or not the major premise is undistributed lie comes to realize that critical, intellectual thought takes a while to come by, but that this is the place to get it. W. ROBERT SMITH Th.D., Chairman Philosophy, Bible CLARENCE B. BASS Ph.D. Philosophy, Bible CHRISTIANITY Christian Training From the time a student enters Bethel and “Biblical Literature” as a freshman until he ponders over “Patterns of Christian Thought” as a senior, he is aware of the influence of the Christianity department. Restructured to provide this sequence, the department this year offers a new Christianity major leading to a B.A. degree. This will help to meet the growing demand by churches for both men and women to direct the educational work in the church. This emphasis on Christian work is especially significant as a part of the larger religious environment of Bethel. Phil Anderson and Adelc Carlson ask newest faculty member Dr. Finlay about a lecture point. CLIFFORD E. LARSON Ph.D., Chairman Religious Education CLIFFORD V. ANDERSON M.A. Religious Education PAUL FINLAY Ph.D. Religious Education LEE KINGSLEY B.A., B.D. Religious Education ESTHER SABEL Ph.B., M.R.E. Bible, Religious Ed. 29

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LANGUAGES Miss Nelson looks as if she has a willy answer for Carol Christensen and Marlys Lehman. Hello In Any Language “Wie geht es Ihnen?” “Muy bien. iy usted?” “Jar ar bar.” It sounds confusing but it’s not “all Greek” to the language students. Under the new program at least one year of a foreign language is required for graduation. As they struggle with the difficulties of sentence structure, irregular verbs and the possessive pronoun, the students wonder why. But after a few weeks their tongues slip sideways quite naturally and they find themselves becoming interested in the cultural differences and historical heritage of these countries. German is the choice especially of those who plan to go on in science, medicine or philosophy. Pre-seminary students get a background for their theological study in the college Greek course. Because Latin America is so near and important and because of Bethel’s interest in missions, many students study Spanish. Our denominational heritage of Scandinavian, so Swedish is also a popular language. Techniques of learning such as records and conversation groups are being used by the students to increase their facility in the language of their choice. The library has two rooms reserved as language listening rooms. In later years students are often surprised at how handy the college language training may be. FRANCIS WHEELER M.A., Chairman Greek F.FFIE NELSON LILLIAN RYBERG INGEBORG M.A. M.A. SJORDAL German Spanish M.A. Swedish

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SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS Ina Marie I.indstrom pours carefully into a test tube while other students prepare materials for the experiment. Spirogyra to Sputnik “Isn’t that a sparrow?” “I think it looks more like a —” “Ssssh — it’s going to sing!” No, its not a meeting of the National Birdwatchers Society — it’s just the Bethel freshmen out on a biology field trip. Tomorrow they’ll be in the lab dissecting grasshoppers or frogs smelling strongly of formaldehyde. It’s all part of the process of learning to appreciate the world around you. Bethel’s growing science department this year provides a major in biology as well as in chemistry. It is also improving its curriculum to provide for the training of future science teachers and offers a full pre-medical program. Next year the department will make it a requirement of graduation for the student to have one course in physical science as well as one course in biology. The mathematics department is also expanding to keep pace with the increasing need for higher mathematics. Since the advent of Sputnik the world has been drawn even more to an active interest in the developments of science. It is important for everyone to understand the implications of these scientific advancements. This is the work of the department of science and mathematics. V. ELV1NG ANDERSON RUSSELL W. JOHNSON HOWARD DINSMORE ROBERT J. GLASER Ph.D., Chairman M.F. Ph.D. Zoology Biology, Botany Chemistry M.A. Chemistry CHARLES TUCEK M.S. Mathematics, Physics 30