Stetson Reporter

:=:=!::*:;:!:S*::i*iS^^ SiM«l^feSIW^*ai«Sieia^*w»w«^S«s«v«i«-»'* >■■■■ : -"v:-.:.■ :'.°::■'. ■ .:■::■■ ='■ !&z'.:. =-:=::'- >.■ i * ■ .*..•■.-■"! .T..-.. „-,..!.'.i»'*vt\v* -t.- !■* *"s-J -.—».*■- .- '.■j-s'-'j'' --.■':: ..; ".-■_:»« s.~«.'. <■*.-■■ •*w..» ,Kvr« «*.. »wj;j.<*i»'«j *_■-.:■■ ^,- *_.--v* •"-—-- Stetson University April 20f 1993 Volume 105, Number 23 INSIDE # The debate about homosexuality rages on In Opinions, while the last letters of complaint are filed. Page 3 • SGA recognizes its senators for all their work this year. PageS • Movie reviews and a spotlight on Russian studies - major and writer, Lisa Stevenson. Page 6 • Women's tennis ends their season with a win, finish ninth in TAAC. Page 12 Stetson, Baptists split, go seperate ways By Jack Wheat Miami Herald Staff Writer Stetson University, a respected school named after a respected Philadelphia hatmaker, has bee known as a Baptist school for 110 years. This year it bolted to get out of the way ofthe fundamental juggernaut that has plowed into other Baptist colleges across the South. The Southern Baptist fundamentalists have shaken seminaries and colleges from Texas to. North Carolina. Their grievances range from cosmic issues of "biblical inerrancy" to here-and-now concerns like drinking and having sex. But while Baylor in Texas, Wake Forest in North Carolina and Furman in South Carolina have fought tough battle with- church authorities, Stetson instructed professors to teach the schools 2,500 students without fear and calmly said adieu to the Florida Baptist Convention. "I can tell my students to park their theology at the door," said Stetson history professor Kimberiy Reiter. "I haven't had a sing?te example of students becoming trucu lently fundamentalist on me, and I teach some pretty earthy stuff." Stuff like evidence of belief in more than one god running through the Old Testament until well after King Solomon's reign. "We are very lucky," Reiter said. "At Stetson, we teach liberal," declares Dixon Sutherland, a dissident Baptist theologian onthe religion faculty. This devil-may-care attitude steins fromihc tact that Stetson and the Florida Baptist Convention negotiated a friendly parting of the ways thisyear, before things reached the shouting stage. It wasn't even a divorce, for Stetson and the Florida Baptist Convention were more nearly living together than married, officials explained, although not in those terms. The ties that bound Stetson to the state Baptist Convention were mostly financial. The college was named for Philadelphia hatmaker John B. Stetsonin 1889. after Stetson started sending money its way, but it was founded in 1883 by New Yorkbusi- nessman Henry DeLand, founder Elizabeth Hall has represented Stetson for the past 100 years. The affiliations ofthe school are changing with the times. ofthe town. A Baptist himself, DeLand wanted other religious views repre sented. In fact, at Stetson only 17 percent ofthe undergraduates are Baptist; 26 percent are Catholic. But on Jan. 1, through a negotiated agreement, Florida Baptists dropped Stetson from their budget. They had earlier ended any control over the trustees. Stetson lost $900,000 a year, 2.25 percent of its budget. It's a small enough propor tion to be manageable, President Douglas Lee said, thought [sic] there will be some cuts in raises and scholarships. Sutherland said theissuegoes beyond academic freedom to the heart of Baptist beliefs. President Lee, a southern Baptist who describes himself as a solid believer, also insists that intellectual, academic and social See BAPTIST -page 4 Pipebomb explosion result of student mischief By Lori Keeton Staff Writer ' On April 2 at 2:30 a.m., four Stetson students, along with one Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University student, were arrested and charged with the manufacture and possession of a fire bomb. The Stetson students- Grant Davis, Matthew Dwiel, Adam Homer, and Andrew Teubner- all of Sigma Phi Epsilon- were caught ' by Public Safety who then notified the DeLand police department. They were later released from the Volusia County Jail on $1,000 bond. According,, to Dean Linda Windle, Director of Student Judicial Affairs, the five men were tampering with a gasoline container on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Woodland Boulevard. The can, which did contain gasoline at the time, was tossed and kickedaround until it ended up in a storm drain. One ofthe individuals had a cigarette which he used to ignite some ofthe spilled gasoline. The flame then spread causing the container to ignite, and then the explosion. The DeLand fire department put out the fire. So, it was not a' 'pipe bomb,'' and it was not manufactured by these students. Dean Windle stressed that the university does not condone this type of behavior. If injury had occurred, if damage or loss had been sustained, or if the device had been manufactured, it would certainly have increased the likelihood that these students would have been removed (suspension or expulsion) from the university. Judicial hearings have been held for these four students, but the exact events and outcomes of the trials cannot be released. The students did receive disciplinary action, but at this time none will be removed from the university.