Alanna Voelker

I am a PSEO student majoring in journalism and pre-law studies at Bethel University. I love writing stories that allow me to give a voice to those who may not have a platform of their own, I enjoy writing about people, not things and reporting on crime as I want to help those when they are most vulnerable. Public speaking and being able to share my voice, falling in love with different sculpted worlds in books, and making jazz melodies on my saxophone are some of many passion outside of my writing.

Crafting Passion

Q: What does your day-to-day as an editor look like for you?A: Most days I log in at about 3:30 and work till about 11:30 at night. My work day as a news editor consists of number one, looking at what stories are coming from the staff, reporters, photos and stories, but also deciding on and aggregating national and international news from wire services for publication in the newspaper and in the print edition of the newspaper.Q: How did you get from being an awkward teenager to where you are now...

Royals volleyball plays tug-of-war for its first MIAC win

The Bethel University volleyball team opened MIAC conference play Wednesday night by defeating the St. Olaf College Oles in a five-set game – the team’s first five-set this season. 
After the very first point of the game, St. Olaf suffered its first injury of the night, rendering starting senior and outside hitter Maycie Rogers incapacitated for the rest of the game.
The two teams were seemingly equally matched, but Bethel took an early lead of 6-4 with kills from sophomore middle blocker Peyton...

The Book that Saved the Female Led Dystopian Genre

I don’t know about you but I read because it makes me feel something and if a book doesn’t make me feel grief, anguish, love, hate or fear, I don’t want it. So for those of you like me who want to feel all of the emotions while reading, you will love this book because all of the feelings I listed are displayed in The Grace Year by Kim Liggett.

The Grace Year is a book published in 2019 that has great messages about feminism, abuse and more. The book tells the story of Tierney James who lives in

Skating to connection

Daniel Parkin strutted out onto the stage, microphone in hand and fake tattoo saying “90s” on his face. The Underground was full of students skating, singing and laughing. The song “The Anthem” by Good Charlotte came on over the speakers and Parkin starts to belt out the lyrics shown on screen as students began to skate up to the stage to cheer him on and dance with him.

For the past three years, Parkin has been the resident director of Edgren Hall. He has worked in Student Life for seven years

Detecting change in Ecuador

Brandon Winters looked out to the swinging single-plank bridge ahead of him. The other two men had already stumbled their way with shaky legs across this rickety plank, leaving Winters, the biggest of the three, to go last. He knew people crossed the river called the Rio Corozone in Ecuador every day, with much heavier loads of bananas and dragon fruit, yet as he took his first step onto the plank, all he could think about was the raging blue-brown river below. The rushing water, in months past,

Before reporting

Anna Pearson sits in The Clarion office with the newspaper staff, cramped into the small room sitting around in a circle laughing, listening to Blue Over You by Mason Ramsey, and debating the questions of the day — one of them being “Start, Bench or Cut, Amelia Earhart, Harriet Tubman or Cleopatra?” The questions help Pearson and Editor-in-Chief Soraya Keiser build a community of more than just work. The Clarion is a place for people to share their ideas and be themselves.

As the managing edito