Western Kentucky University TopSCHOLAR® WKU Archives Records WKU Archives 12-1999 UA11/1 On Campus, Vol. 9, No. 8 WKU University Relations Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_records Part of the Higher Education Administration Commons, Journalism Studies Commons, Mass Communication Commons, Organizational Communication Commons, Public Relations and Advertising Commons, and the Social Influence and Political Communication Commons Recommended Citation WKU University Relations, "UA11/1 On Campus, Vol. 9, No. 8" (1999). WKU Archives Records. Paper 4414. http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/dlsc_ua_records/4414 This Newsletter is brought to you for free and open access by TopSCHOLAR®. It has been accepted for inclusion in WKU Archives Records by an authorized administrator of TopSCHOLAR®. For more information, please contact [email protected]. VOL. 9, NO, B • DECEMBER 1999·JANUARY 2000 ... iii WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY PUBLICATION FOR FACULTY, STAFF AND FRIENDS OF WKU tOO about the end of lime," Dr. Snyder FRlm Edt.,,, agreed. The century will turn before our Dr. Trafton explained that some next issue. so our staff gathered to groups of Christians ha ve been deported discuss how we would address the ne", from Israel. Apparently, he said, if Jesus _ill eniu.. and as a Matter of doesn·t come back in 2000. some groups integrity. publish more overkill · are going to "force his hand" and· turn to Ide scratched our heads trying to violence to force the millennium. come up with the i~possible drea~ Millennial violence is a concern in piece. our country as well. On the FBI's Web uThis is aw ful. I~ 1I so sick of site (http: //www.fhi.govJ. there is a re­ hearing that terti. Y2K BU9'~' port called Project Megiddo explaining Assistant Editor I(i.berly said· potential millennia I problems with Gui de Dog Garnet yawned· groups in the United Stales. According HI know what you lIean," I to the report, Mcgiddo is a hill in north­ replied. ··The first tille I heard it ern Israel, and the site of many histori­ I didn't know if it was a new virus. cal battles. The hill itself was formed a lubricant or a retirellent fund from the cities that have been built and glitch ." The whole subject bored rebuilt there. Megiddo is alS<? the root of the word "Arm ageddon". The report We weren't getting anywhere . I points out that "Militias, adherents of flipped through magazines. racist belief systems such as Christian disgusted by advertisements for Identity and Odi nism, and other radical four- inch satin high heels with domestic extremists arc clearly focusing rooa emblazoned across the back, on the millennium as a time of action." countdown numbers across the toes; It isn't just religious groups, the report columns about cooking the ultimate warns. Many of these groups base thei r lIillenjum lIIea1- as if it /light be acti ons on purely political reasons. our last supper! These groups. religious or not, have Well, /l aybe it could be, if we fai led to notice a discrepancy in the cal­ believe all this stuff people are endar. saying about Y2K. I should have read Many people point out that the year that brochure a friend waved at _e 2000 is not the turning of the millennium. in the grocery, as she loaded Just as objects aren't counted zero bottles of water into her shopping through nine, years shouldn't be counted cart. from a zero, but that's not the only ar­ ~'Now what ~s she going to do wi th gument that says the millennium all thatt'~ I asked My husband, who shouldn't start in 2000. was intent on reading the peanut When Christ was born, Dr. Trafton butter labels. "'Hraph," he explained, the calendar wasn't di vided lIIuttered. "Setter get lots of into 6.C. and A.D. "Several hundred years peanut butter, too, I guess,~~ he later, a monk changed the calendar in offered· ord er to have it hinge upon the coming Not to Make light of the whole of Jesus, and that's the calendar we use issue. we /lay regret never reading today. He took the old figures, the old the warnings, so if we~re not here calendar, and came up with new num­ next year, we are the grasshoppers, bers and simply made a mistake. Accord­ or just a blip in intelligent life· ing to the calendar we currently use. It was close to lunch. I passed Jesus was born no later than 4 B.C. Our the buck like a hot potato to calendar is wrong," he said. KiMberly. She's new; why not' Dr. Snyder said that most fringe Kimberly turned to Carla, our by Coria /0 SJavey groups "seem to be completely oblivious" English scholar. who interned it was a more prominent poSition as the to the fact that the year 2000 might ought superbly with us last SUMMer and he word " mill enn ium ~ comes country was being built. "rhe world wars to have been in 1995 or 1996. stayed on for .ore fun this fall. from the New Latin word s nearly demolished postmillennialism, Even if the calendar is off a few Ult"s yours. Carla,'~ Ki llberly nmille," meaning "thousand,­ but there are Christian groups today that years, the year 2000 still holds some kind said. ~as that defiancef I Mused. and "-ennium; meaning year. are small, but are coming back around of power over people. For many years, likes attract. I supposed· No 11The millennium is onen associated with to that." we have had visionsofwhat 2000 should wonder we work so well together. Revelation 20, which talks about the The third position is amillennialism. be in terms of science and technology. Meeting ajourned, low-key thousand years during which holiness is which states no separate 1.000 year pe­ Films such as "2001 : A space Odyssey" Carla, the whiz kid. arose frOM her to prevail and Christ is to reign on earth . riod exists to be labeled as "The Millen­ and ~Sla r Trek ~ have given us ideas of seat without protest· -rhere are three traditional Chris­ nium'- but the millennium is the entire the marvels of the future. So how close ~'OK.~" she said, nonchalantly, tian positions on the millennium,- said age of Christianity. he said. are we to realizing those dreams? as always. And she was gone. Dr. Joseph Tranon, Professor of Religion. ~ None of which necessarily has any­ "I think that there may be technolo­ A few days later, she The most popular position thing to do with the fact that we're about gies now that are in their infancy that returned wi th the following now is premillennialism, to turn totheyear 2000,~ Dr. Trafton said. could lead to the creation of unknown eye-opening account of WHAT meaning Jesus will come back Dr. lawrence Snyder, also a Profes­ industries." said Dr. Charles McGruder, 11£ MlllENIUM MEANS. before the millennium begi ns, sor of Religion, agreed. "For the major­ Department Head of the Physics and She found us a fresh said Dr. Tranon. people who ity of Christians, particularly worldwide. Astronomy Department. approach-.aybe even a follow this view the millennium no it doesn't mean anything in terms of "The next 50 years for astronomy beginning of an interdis­ as a time of happiness and the significance orthe number." he said. will be the most exciting years that as- . ciplinary thesis for grad prosperity. "The Roman Catholic Church has de­ tronomy, perhaps even the human race school, we all agreed. The second positi on, Dr. clared 2000 to be the 'Year of Jubilee,''' has seen." We hope you enjoy it and Trafton said , is he said, but that isn·t connected with the What kind of advances can we look all the new years ! postmillennialism, where second coming of Christ forward to in astronomy? And frOM all of us at On Jesus will return after the However, Dr. Tranon said, there are "We will know whether there is life Campus, Happy Hol i days , how millennium. "This perspeclive fringe groups who see the year 2000 as elsewhere in the solar system by the ever and what ever you holds that humans will build the significant. middle of the millennium, we will also celebrate! millennium on Earth before Jesus "There are groups out there who Sheila Conway Eison comes back.- he explained. and spend quite a bit of tif!1e speculating continued on /Xlge 10 ON CAMPUS WESTERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY DECEMBER 1999·JANUARY 2000 Update from President Gary A. Ransdell Dear Faculty and Staff: and the Academic Council are close to efficiency and effectiveness among our On Monday, Nov. 8, the Board oflhe completing the curriculum design for senior administrative positions. J w ill Council on Postsecondary Education met these three disciplines. Our most diffi­ continue discussing this with student to approve the higher education budget. cult hurdle is overcoming the political leaders. We also look forward to the ar­ The e PE 's next step is to forward its bud ~ turf issues and the outdated perception rival of Robert Deane from wisconsin­ get to the Governor. The Governor will of Western's limited mission. We hope Parkside, our new Police Chief, and Len then decide how he will include the ePE to complete the formal CPE approval pro­ Kogut from Michigan State, the requests in the budget he will present to cess carly in 2000. University'S new Con troller. the General Asse mbly in January. The I have asked the Student Govern­ My compli ments to the (acuity for General Assembly will then decide to ment Association to endorse a redirec­ the constructive discussions regarding a what degree it supports the Governor's tion of $ 17 in what has hcretofore been university Senate, post-tenure re view, budget or make adjustments before ap­ devoted to the Student Health Center fee, class scheduling, and also for our con­ proving a final appropriations bill near This money is available for reallocation tinuing growth in sponsored research.