B8 Plain Talk: Heritage Edition October 10, 2014 www.plaintalk.net Fresh look at an old tradition By Angela Morrow The Plain Talk University of South Dakota faculty come in all shapes and sizes. They range from the graduate students teaching 101 classes to the retired professor that can still be seen in the campus library. While some professors are receiving their tenure this week others are experiencing their first Dakota Days. Prentiss Clark is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the English Department. She is from Chevy Chase, Maryland and completed her B.A. at Haverford College. She went on to complete her Ph. D. in New York before coming to USD. “I come to USD from the State University of New York at Buffalo where I completed my doctoral work and taught composition courses and American literature courses,” Clark said. She is currently teaching Introduction to Literature, Introduction to Literary Criticism and American Literature I. Next semester her classes include Women Wording the American Nineteenth Century and the graduate seminar, Transformative Texts: Writing the ‘American Renaissance’ from the Nineteenth Century to Now. “I’m especially interested in how literature raises and navigates questions that are vital to living examined human lives,” Clark said. Clark spends her free time reading, writing, getting outside or relaxing with a little Netflix. “When I’m not teaching, writing, or reading, I’m running and walking, I’m a distance runner and I love being “Legacy” is a statue sculpted by Cameron Stalheim, a 2010 graduate of USD, that is a permanent fixture on campus. Located to the east of the Muenster University Center and south of Old Main, the statue is a life-size coyote howling at the sky and mounted on a bronze likeness of a rock. Weighing close to 300 pounds and standing almost five feet tall, Stalheim’s design was selected from several artists’ submissions and was paid for with donations from USD’s Student Government Association, student donations through the Student Philanthropic Education Project, and the USD Foundation. USD Courtesy Photo outdoors,” Clark said. “Or watching TV series on Netflix. One of my favorites is Friday Night Lights.” Nineteenth century lecturer and poet Ralph Waldo Emerson inspires Clark on a manuscript of her own. “I’m currently at work on a manuscript titled Measures of Intimacy: From Skepticism to Ethics in the Writing of Ralph Waldo Emerson,” Clark said., “This project explores how the 19th century American thinker generally known for being a champion of individualism is equally a student of human relations. Our connections to our selves, to fellow persons, to nature, and beyond.” She would also like to introduce the next generation to the works of Emerson. “I hope to one day put together an illustrated children’s book with quotations from Emerson’s essays,” Clark said. USD students welcomed Clark to their classrooms and their lives. The free exchange of thought made her feel right at home. “Getting to know USD students has been a highlight of my first semester,” Clark said. “Students here are personable, engaged, and engaging, which makes the classroom an open space for intellectual exploration and collaboration. I’m coming from a university of approximately 30,000 students, so I greatly appreciate the collegiality and inclusiveness that USD nurtures.” Clark found that school spirit is a lot more then a football game or wearing the school colors. School spirit is contributing to something bigger and looking towards the future. “It seems to me that showing school spirit means celebrating USD as it is today and deliberately working toward what it can become,” Clark said, “So school spirit is something one can practice every day, and for me, as a new faculty member, this means getting to know the people and culture of USD and Vermillion, and discovering the ways in which I can contribute to the community. I’m especially heartened by USD’s active commitment to its liberal arts foundation, and I hope to join the university’s efforts to build on this foundation.” Looking at a hundred years of tradition and celebration Clark offers insight comparing Dakota Days to other schools’ homecomings. “I’m looking forward to experiencing Dakota Days,” Clark said. “From what I hear, it’s truly a town-wide event. Which distinguishes it from homecomings that involve only a portion of the student body.” Athletes From Page 5B According to Green, soccer players need to have qualities of a Division I athlete. They need to have athleticism, speed, strength, knowledge and skills to be a high level soccer player. “They aren’t just athletes, they are students,” Green said. “They need to be good in the classroom atmosphere, disciplined, and know how to manage time well. Soccer players also need to be able to manage all of it to be on a successful level.” According to Green, this At a recent home USD football game, the Coyote Crazies came out in force to support their team. year’s soccer team has James D. Cimburek/P&D broken a majority of records that have been set at USD for soccer. particularly crazy approach “We are trying to get to game days. them to focus on playing “Personally I am kind of simple, to be very weird and I love that about From Page 4B encouraging to each other, myself,” he said. “I dress up trying to be positive, and crazy and for a few games therefore we are getting see history being made and last year I was the ‘crazy fan better results,” Green said. making a name for of the game.’ I got a bunch Morgan Hancock is ourselves.” of coupons and that fun currently a senior at USD Huber also has good stuff.” and is double majoring in memories from being in With fans going wild, it psychology and pre-med. the group. seems the Coyote Crazies She plays right fielder “One of my favorite are on the right track as the for the USD softball team, memories would be last athletes prepare for state. and is presently in her year at the state game that “We really want to stir fourth and final season. was here we filled the up a rivalry again, you Hancock says she has a student section and we know ‘hate state’ that’s strong passion for the game were just obnoxious,” she what we’re all about in that and she could play for five said. “It was really fun to game,” Huber said. “We see us get in the heads of really want to get that going Members of the USD Marching band help get the crowd going hours and never get tired of it. the other team. That’s what again.” before entering the DakotaDome. She says softball is a we’re trying to do.” James D. Cimburek/P&D mental game. Niehus says he takes a Crazies Congratulations 100 Kyle McKelvey moves on to his senior season throwing for the Coyotes. P&D File Photo “There is always a bigger picture in softball, you have to take a step back and look at how the team is doing, rather than just how I am doing, “Hancock said. The team practices for about two hours a day, however, coaches realize that school work comes first. Hancock says she studies for about three hours a day. ‘Soak it all in, all you have is four years and then it’s over,” Hancock said. ‘When you have the opportunity, take the bus rides, you only have so much time with your teammates.”