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Football play becomes YouTube sensation

A 29-second video clip of an unusual touchdown pass in Bethel’s final game of the 2009 football season has become a sensation on YouTube, the Web site on which users share videos. The trick pass in the Nov. 14 game can be viewed on YouTube.

Soon after the clip was posted on YouTube, it rocketed to most-watched status for the day, then was most-watched for the week. Currently it has had more than 2.86 million hits.

With the Threshers leading 20-0 in the third quarter against Sterling College, quarterback Garrett Hiebert, junior from Goessel, made a no-look, over-the-shoulder throwback at the goal line to senior defensive end Joel Maple, Umatilla, Fla., who caught it in the end zone for the score.

After appearing on YouTube, the video was picked up by rivals.com of Yahoo sports, which dubbed the play the “bouquet toss” and shared it with subscribers worldwide. The frenzy grew from there.

KWCH Channel 12 in Wichita ran the video the morning of Nov. 20. ESPN featured it on its “College Football Live” show later that day. Other Web sites across the country featured it, from “The Wichita Eagle” online to fox4kc.com in Kansas City to 620 WTMJ in Wisconsin to the “New York Post.”

CNN’s Campbell Brown show Nov. 20 closed with the clip and a lively debate about it between commentators Rick Sanchez and Mike Galanos.

The Threshers won 30-0. What made the win and the play even more special was that the game was Coach Mike Moore’s last with the Threshers. After 13 seasons, Moore has resigned to spend more time with his family.

Bethel fields another successful programming team

Bethel College student programmers had another successful outing in an annual regional competition held at Emporia State University.

Seven students on three teams competed in the North Central Region of the International Collegiate Programming Contest, sponsored by the Association for Computer Machinery and IBM. The contest took place simultaneously Oct. 31 at 15 sites in the region consisting of Iowa, Kansas, Manitoba, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, western Ontario, South Dakota and Wisconsin.

At the Emporia site, Bethel was competing against teams from Baker University, Emporia State and Kansas State University. The Bethel team named “Threshers” -- Kyle Claassen, senior from Andover, Matthew Hershberger, senior from Clay Center, and Lucas Stertz, sophomore from Lincoln -- finished first, solving three of 10 problems with a total time of 326 minutes, good for 42nd place regionally in a field of 203 teams.

Psychology students present at national conference

Three junior psychology students from Bethel made presentations at the national Sigma Xi Annual Meeting and Student Research Conference in The Woodlands, Texas, Nov. 13-14.

Sonia Barrera, psychology and Spanish major from Newton, presented her poster, “Pleasantness and familiarity predict liking of music selected by the Armonique Music Search Engine.”

Sierra Pryce, North Newton, and Tim Burns, McAlester, Okla., presented their poster, “You don’t have to know it to like it: General familiarity as a predictor of liking for music chosen by the Armonique Music Search Engine.”

The posters were based on experiments conducted during the 2008-09 school year by these and other Bethel students. The work was done in collaboration with Computer Science Professor Bill Manaris and students at the College of Charleston (S.C.), and supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

The group also heard presentations on energy, public health and molecular biology. Dwight Krehbiel, Bethel professor of psychology, accompanied the students.

Is your company interested in a business intern?

Two years ago, Bethel’s Department of Business and Economics initiated a senior-level internship experience as a requirement for graduation. The prerequisite has already served as a catalyst for 34 students to gain hands-on, applied experience in a professional work environment.

Alumni and friends of the college are invited to host student interns in their workplaces. Students are to complete 120 clock hours of on-site experience, guided by an internship manual and working under a designated site supervisor.

For more information or to sign up as an internship host, visit the business department page or contact department chair Allison McFarland.

New interim VP for business affairs

Allen R. Wedel, Newton, began work Nov. 2 as Bethel’s new interim vice president for business affairs. Wedel’s term coincides with that of Interim President John Sheriff, or will be extended as determined by the incoming president.

Wedel has a B.A. in economics and business administration from Bethel and a Master of Business Administration from Wichita State University.

He was most recently general accounting manager for AGCO Corporation in Hesston, having served in that position for nearly 30 years.

“In light of our current situation, it was imperative that we find someone with the right skills to begin working alongside administration immediately,” Sheriff said. “Allan brings the expertise in the field and the appreciation for Bethel’s role in the lives of today’s youth needed to make an immediate impact.”

Bethel sparkles for Five Places of Christmas

Bethel College and Kauffman Museum will be among the venues that sparkle with holiday lights during the annual open-house celebrations of Five Places of Christmas, Saturday, Dec. 5.

The free event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and features not only Goerz House and the museum at Bethel, but also the Carriage Factory Art Gallery, Harvey County Historical Museum and Warkentin House in Newton.

The Bethel College Women’s Association (BCWA) invites guests to Goerz House for “The sounds and symbols of Christmas.” Each room will be decorated with a different theme, with the parlor featuring an array of Nativity sets. “Visitors will be enchanted with the large collection of Nativities from around the world that BCWA members have shared for this occasion,” said open house committee member Leann Toews ’66, Goessel.

BCWA will also sell holiday treats, Administration Building tree ornaments and peppernut recipe books at Goerz House.

Kauffman Museum will participate by selling holiday gifts in its store. The open house at the museum includes the current special exhibition “Wheels: Transportation and toys from the collections” and a mini-display of antique and vintage dolls and buggies.

Concert choir to perform with Wichita Symphony

The Bethel College Concert Choir will join the Wichita Symphony Orchestra for its annual free family holiday concert.

The concert, this year titled “The Spirit of Christmas,” is Tuesday, Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m. in the Century II Convention Hall. The program will consist of traditional Christmas carols and festive holiday music. Jay Decker is guest conductor and soprano Karen Robu will be guest vocalist.

Reception in Chicago for music educators

Alumnus Nick Enz ’02, Houghton, Mich., invites alumni and friends of Bethel who will be attending the Midwest Clinic in Chicago Dec. 15-19 to a gathering to be held in conjunction with the conference. Those who plan to be there should contact Enz via e-mail so that plans can be made for a social time together.

Enz is a music instructor at Michigan Technological University, where he conducts the Huskies Pep Band, Superior Winds, Concert Band and chamber music groups.

With more than 30 concerts and 90 clinics on improving music instruction, the clinic is the world’s largest conference for instrumental educators. Approximately 15,000 musicians attend the event in Chicago each December.

Get this year’s Christmas gifts at Bethel

With Christmas coming, the Bethel bookstore and Kauffman Museum Store can meet your gift-giving needs. Thresher Bookstore in Schultz Student Center offers

  • pewter Ad Building tree ornaments for $10
  • four-inch-square stone coasters, $6.50 each or a box of four for $24
  • three Open Road recordings, $15 each
  • a CD of the 2008-09 Concert Choir for $15
  • a 2000-07 Bethel choir CD, “Retrospective,” for $15
  • “Piano Christmas Music,” a CD by Christopher Friesen ’02, Eagle River, Alaska, for $15
  • stainless steel Knorks engraved with “Bethel College” for $6.29
  • maroon stadium blankets for $25.99
  • folding camp chairs in a bag for $28.99
  • small, solid-brass threshing stones (approximately 3 inches long by 1 1/2 inches high) mounted on native limestone from the Administration Building, a special Bethel memento for $100
  • mugs, license plates, stocking caps, sweatshirts and an array of other items

Regular hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. On Saturday, Dec. 10, Thresher Bookstore will stay open until 8:30 p.m., to allow fans attending the home basketball games to pick up on Christmas specials. The store will be closed Dec. 23 through Jan. 3, 2010.

Kauffman Museum Store, located in the museum lobby at 27th and Main, offers

  • children’s book about making verenike
  • “Menno Power” and “Kansas Dirt” T-shirts
  • Bob Regier ’51 bird prints and cards and -- new this year -- his book of photographs, “Considering the Commonplace”
  • Mary Lou (Rich) Goertzen ’51 vintage poster and china pieces in poinsettia, western rose and hillside patterns
  • jewelry by Cindy (Stucky) Beth ’80 and Cornelia Krahn ’72
  • Mennonite cookbooks, natural history books, Kansas gift books
  • children’s items, including stuffed animals, books, puppets, puzzles, baby gifts and stocking stuffers
  • soy candles, Wedel chocolate, Lehman maple syrup, wheat weaving, sunflower soap and many more gift options

Kauffman Museum and its store are open 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, and 1:30-4:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. On two Thursday nights -- Dec. 10 and 17 -- the Museum Store will stay open until 8 p.m. Over the holidays, the museum will be closed Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Otherwise, regular hours apply. Museum admission is not required to visit the store.

Christmas Greetings!

A year of changing seasons has come and gone and, once again, Advent is here.

Sharing in the spirit of peace and goodwill, Bethel brings you Christmas greetings online.

Please follow the link and enjoy a striking photo from Bethel’s annual Lighting of the Green taken by professional photographer Vada Snider ’80, North Newton, in 2008.

May God bless and keep you this Christmas season!