USF Vessel March/April 2023

University of Sioux falls student media

[left] and Inte Pas [right] Photos courtesy of Josh Jurgens

David Harrington

Sydney McKee

Never send to know: a senior show by cale engelkes

Written by Benjamin Wollmuth

On February 25, 2023, the University of Sioux Falls’ senior showcase season came to a close. The season, which can span throughout the whole year depending on how many senior Theater Studies majors there are, is meant to give the soon-to-be graduating students a chance to showcase what they have learned throughout their years of study. This year, the season concluded with a senior showcase from Cale Engelkes, a Theater and Media Studies double major. With a desire to do something different that still fit within his interests, Engelkes decided to direct a radio play titled Never Send to Know, which would allow him to include voiceover and sound effects live on stage for the audience to witness.

Never Send to Know is adapted from the radio show “Quiet, Please,” created by Wyllis Cooper. The half-hour plot follows a ghost, who can’t remember when or where he was murdered, who hires a private investigator to help

solve the case. Engelkes says that he was drawn to the show not because of its plot, but because of what it would allow him to do. “I decided on this show specifically because I am a media and theater double major and doing a radio show encapsulates both of my majors in one, as well as both of my passions in one. I decided to go with a murder mystery show,” he continued, “because it has a lot of really fun voice acting moments, a lot of very fun characters, and a lot of challenges to get them to be the way I wanted them to be.”

Engelkes, who is used to being on stage rather than behind the scenes, says he enjoyed being in the director’s seat. “As a director, you kind of have to poke and prod at the actors to send them in a certain direction rather than just [letting them] do it [themselves]. It’s been fun to have my vision of what I want this show to look like be crafted and melded with the other actors, because they have their own vision of how they want it to be, too, so finding a nice middle ground in there between my vision and their vision and making a cohesive, unified vision has been very fun and rewarding.” Engelkes continued by sharing the challenges of directing versus acting. “I’ve acted ever since I got here, and ever since before I got here, so going into a different state of the production and actually being able to craft the show and direct the actors in ways that I want the show to look like is a very different and difficult way to be. It’s been very challenging to communicate my vision of how I want things to sound, how I want certain moments to hit, compared to just going in and acting and making those choices.”

Never Send to Know, like most senior productions, took place in the Jones theater, a small black box theater in the basement of Jeschke. Engelkes’ stage manager, Matthew Sterud, who has stage managed multiple productions at USF, says the Jones is the perfect setting for senior shows. “[The Jones] is a much smaller stage, so it feels a lot more intimate. Not only is it intimate because it’s small, but it’s intimate because you’re working with your classmates and your peers… Instead of a chain of command, it feels a lot more collaborative and that everyone is on the same playing field. It’s intimate in its space and intimate in its feeling.” Both Sterud and Engelkes hope viewers of the senior productions are able to see their benefits. Engelkes specifically hopes all those who put on a senior show are able to see the impact it can have. “Senior shows,” said Engelkes, “give seniors a taste of what it will be like to be out and working in the theater field, [as well as] give them a place to experiment and be in charge of a production, and, really, it’s just a place where you can put all of your knowledge on the stage and show it off to everyone and go, ‘Hey, this is what I learned here and this is why I should be hired in the field.’” After having one night canceled due to complications with the weather, Never Send to Know ran for two consecutive nights, February 24 and 25. While this year’s season has come to a close, you can still look forward to next year’s season, which will give even more students a chance to showcase what they have learned.

Never Send to Know saw the use of live sound effects on the stage.

Nathan Elias [left] and Alex Jacobs [right] made use of the small, intimate acting space.

Therapy Dogs To the Rescue

Written by Teeba Rauuf

The end of semester can be very stressful for students. Therefore, the University of Sioux Falls hosts pet therapy for its students. “Researchers have found a direct connection between interacting with animals and enjoying positive health benefits. These animal therapy benefits include mental health, physical health and skill improvement” (The healing Power of Animals: Benefits of animal-assisted therapy - Husson University). The University of Sioux Falls has hosted Dog Therapy for a few years, and due to its popular demand, it will continue to thrive with the Cougars.

The mid-semester Pet Therapy event was hosted on March 28, 2023 in the Mears Library. Katherine (Kat) Steffen, the leader of the event, says Pet Therapy has played a big role in past semesters. “I think this is an important event for a few reasons. It is fun, most people love dogs, a lot of students have dogs back home that they don’t get to see during the school year, and dogs can help students in distress.” Steffen is part of CAB, the Cougar Activities Board. “Pet Therapy has been very popular with students, around 100 students showed up during the event,” Steffen says.

Originally, Pet Therapy came to the University of Sioux Falls once a semester, right before finals week, but because of its popularity, now it’s twice a semester. The dogs come from Augustana Professor Debbie Hanson, who is a member of Chapter 200 of Therapy Dogs International. That organization trains and works with licensing the dogs to become part of the therapy dog group.

The University of Sioux Falls and CAB offer Dog Therapy to help students destress and relax. School can be nervewrecking, so taking a break and getting to pet dogs for an hour helps both physically and mentally. Another Pet Therapy session will be hosted in the Mears Library on Thursday, May 18, and watch the Student Life app for more sessions in the Fall, 2023 semester.

HETLAND PROFILE

Written by David Harrington

Adjunct professors play a significant role and are often a perfect fit for the course or courses they teach. At the University of Sioux Falls, adjunct professor Cara Hetland brings 30-plus years of working as a journalist. When Hetland started working for South Dakota Public Broadcasting in Sioux Falls, their station studio was part of the University of Sioux Falls Jeschke Center. Hetland’s broadcast expertise working for SDPB and other media outlets, made her an ideal adjunct for the Media Studies program. The radio station has since moved to their Phillips Avenue location across from Falls Park, but Hetland continues to teach.

“The best part of teaching is seeing the light bulb shine bright in students. When that love of writing kicks in. For me, teaching is sharing my passion. I hope it shows that I have passion and seeing it passed on.” Hetland currently teaches three core classes for Media Studies: Media Writing, Media Survey, and Media Issues & Law.

Hetland’s love of working in journalism comes from a

talent show she performed in during elementary school. “When I was in the fifth grade, I wanted to be in the talent show. I had no talent, but my mother convinced me to recite a poem on stage. So, I did the children’s book Alexander And The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I presented it, and I was fabulous.” What happened next was that a local news station in Omaha had called all the schools to participate in an open call for an all-kids news show. The principal of Hetland’s elementary school chose her to participate, and she won. By the eighth grade, you could no longer participate in the news show. But for those two years, Hetland learned all about reporting and television reporting. Hetland’s creative writing teacher in high school telling her to stay focused on writing, was the last push that convinced

her to major in broadcast news at Drake University.

Hetland advises future journalism majors. “It’s not fake. I’m seeing fewer people wanting to get into the journalism profession. We have been given a bad reputation if you’re a lover of learning. Where else do you have to know a little about many things and the stories you get to tell? There is no other profession like it. It’s not fake. We have standards and ethics, and we don’t lie. If you do lie, you get fired.” When Hetland is not teaching or working at SDPB, she enjoys the excitement of being a grandma-to-be, reading romance novels, watching Hallmark movies, and loving the idea of crafting. “I like to craft but have more fails than successes, but the process is always fun,” Hetland says.

Campus Flashback: A Glimpse into The Stylus Newspaper

How this reporter found inspiration in the words of past student writers

Written by Rose Casey-Lee

Recently, while doing research on the history of Glidden Hall, I came upon old issues of The Stylus, the Sioux Falls College student newspaper. Glidden Hall, which was built to be a women’s dormitory, seemed to be a good Vessel magazine story choice, given that March is Women’s History Month. But the more research I did into how Glidden was built and who funded it, the more I was distracted by the personal student stories in the Stylus, which trained journalism students back then, like the Vessel magazine does today. Viewing all of the work that previous students had done, female and male students alike, inspired me to change my topic to a brief remembrance of the Stylus.

Looking at the online archives that hold many editions of the University of Sioux Falls school newspapers, which can be found through the Norman B. Mears Library website, the Stylus ran for 65 years from 1912 to 1979. The Stylus included works of literature, sports, editorials, and information about the clubs on campus, or “societies” as it would have been called in the beginning.

Although the ads are interesting, they weren’t the things that caught my attention. It was the additions made by students. For instance, in the Stylus’s “Feature Edition 1926-1927,” there were a few senior quotes that stuck out. From student Helen M. Gibbs, which is perfect for women’s history month, “I’ll have my rights if the whole world goes to smash.” Another, who was the Stylus’s Editor-in-Chief during 1926, Paul A. Krueger said, “All great men are dying; I don’t feel well myself.” Keep in mind, those college students had been through the 1918 Flu Epidemic, World War I, Prohibition, women getting the right to vote in 1920, and were about to experience the Great Depression in 1929. But Americans were also experiencing many achievements: Charles Lindbergh flying The Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic, Ford Motor Company creating the Model A, and work beginning on Mt. Rushmore.

Another interesting piece of the Stylus was the literature submissions. In the June 1936 edition, there are many short stories and poems from students. In this edition it is evident that the students are seeing the world around them and the possibility of a second World War, which would become true within three short years. An article by Ernest Van Gerpen titled, “An Intelligent Endeavor to Prevent the Next War,” was actively trying to persuade students to peacefully prevent another war. It outlines how student bodies can be listened to by the government regarding prevention through the help of The International Relations Club. Toward the end, he wrote, “May no college graduate be ignorant of the causes and prevention of wars.”

In the same edition, an editor of the Stylus, Charles Dougherty was also obviously seeing the possibility of war. He wrote his own short story called, “Would Laugh at War.” He talks of two hypothetical nations going to war with each other and then having to be drafted due to something happening in the United States. Throughout the piece, there is a sense of urgency and fear. The last two lines read, “I would laugh at myself for having foolishly spent my years preparing for a future. And finally, I would laugh at life as I marched to death.”

I highly encourage University of Sioux Falls students to access the library’s online archive to read past editions of the Stylus. While it is important to honor those who came before us, it may help some students feel they are not alone with what is happening in the current modern world. While the issues the past students faced were slightly different, the students themselves were not much different from current students.

Cougars At Nationals

Written by Abby Whittington

Two women represented the University of Sioux Falls at the 2023 NCAA Championships this winter; Emily Swanson in Track & Field, and Inte Pas in Swimming.

Sophomore Emily Swanson competed in the women’s pentathlon at the 2023 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field National Championship Meet held at the Virginia Beach Sports Center. Swanson placed 12th in the nation with a score of 3,710 and was awarded Second Team All-American for her finish. Swanson also competed in the open high jump and placed 13th overall with a height of 1.71 meters. When asked if the national championship meet was her goal, Swanson responded immediately, “Yes definitely! I was close last year so I was really wanting to make it this year. That was the goal from the start.”

The women’s indoor pentathlon consists of five events; high jump, 800 meter run, 60 meter hurdles, shot put, and long jump. In the high jump Swanson cleared a new career best 1.71 meters to take 3rd place. The 800 meter run was her next best event of the day, with a time of 2:23.89, and a 6th place finish. Swanson took 8th in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.93. In the shot put, she finished 8th with a throw of 10.51 meters. Swanson jumped for 5.09 meters in the long jump for a 14th place finish.

Top right, top left, and bottom right photos courtesy of Xavier Blackwell

Photo courtesy of Josh Jurgens

This indoor season, Swanson has already broken the USF women’s pentathlon record twice. First, was in February at the Bearcat Open where she finished with a score of 3,752 points. Then, Swanson broke her own record just a few weeks later at the NSIC Championship Meet with a score of 3,771 points. This propelled her to a 2nd place finish in the conference and allowed her to compete in the NCAA National Championship Meet. Swanson is the first USF athlete since Katlyn Sawtelle (2015) to place in the pentathlon at the NCAA Meet.

Sophomore Inte Pas competed in the women’s 200 breaststroke at the 2023 NCAA Swimming Championships held in Indianapolis, Indiana. Pas finished 12th in the nation with a time of 2:18.95 and was awarded Second Team All-American. Pas broke the USF school record in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:16.08 at the Augustana Invitational in November. This career best time is what qualified her for the NCAA Championships. Pas competed at the 2023 NCAA Swimming Championships in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, “but this year the 100 was less of my main event, the 200 was definitely the goal to make it back” she shared.

At the NSIC Conference Championships, Pas finished first in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:18.35. She was also runner up in the 100 breaststroke. Both of these finishes earned USF Swimming 41 points, which was put toward their score of 554.5, giving them a 4th place finish in the at the NSIC Championships. Pas was an NSIC All-Conference Honoree in the 200 Medley Relay and the 200 Breaststroke.

Photo courtesy of Josh Jurgens

Top right, top left, and bottom right

photos courtesy of Weronika

Mrozek

Foster Care Packing Event

Written by Sydney McKee

The University of Sioux Falls recently provided the space for student Neveah Schreiber to host a foster care duffle bag packing event through Foster Love, previously called Together We Rise. This is Neveah’s third time hosting a foster care event and it was located at Cooper’s Café on March 29. “There are kids in the foster system, that when they move, they don’t have bags to pack, so they use garbage bags. As a former foster kid, I wanted to break that a little bit,” explained Schreiber. The purpose for these duffle bag packing events is to provide bags and comfort items for children in the foster care system. The bags that were packed included a blanket, teddy bear, coloring book with crayons, and a hygiene bag. The bags that were packed that day were specifically for kids up to twelve, although Foster Love has other bags that are packed for other age groups as well.

As a former foster kid, Schreiber is a strong advocate for kids in the foster system. She found Foster Love through Instagram and has been working with them for 2 years. Schreiber has hosted different events the past three semesters with Foster Love and hopes to do more. Foster Love also packs superhero boxes, birthday boxes, STEM boxes, teen cases for 13-17, and bike or skateboard building boxes. “These are all things you can bring into your own community or donate to bigger communities doing these events. These are just a few ways you can go about being a part of their organization,” shared Schreiber. Foster Love has connected Neveah with high need areas or foster care programs around Sioux Falls to give these packages. If you would like to participate or volunteer in these types of events, you can visit www.forthechildrensiouxempire.org or www. compasscenter.org.

Once Upon a mattress

Written by Josh Werre

What happens when you cross “The Princess and the Pea” with a Broadway musical? You get the USF Theatre Department’s spring show, “Once Upon a Mattress,” a production that not only features several debut performances, but a directorial debut as well.

“Once Upon a Mattress” follows the story of Princess Winnifred, an ungainly and brash girl competing for the hand of Prince Dauntless, whose domineering mother has declared that he must marry a “true” princess before anyone else in the kingdom can marry.

For USF Associate Professor of Theatre, Alecia Juelfs, the musical marks her first time directing a mainstage show at the University. “I’ve learned a lot,” Juelfs says. “It’s really humbling to be able to be able to collaborate with so many people, and see, wow, if this was just me, it would not be good.” Directing is a process she describes as “a rollercoaster”, but one that “speaks to the nature of needing community and collaboration… we’re better together in those things.”

Juelfs isn’t the only one making a debut with “Mattress.” 8 of the cast members are appearing in a mainstage production for the first time. Senior music education major, Megan Sundvold, is one of them. With graduation quickly approaching, “Mattress” was a now-or-never moment for her. “[I]t’s my senior year. This is my last opportunity to get involved in something like this,” she explains. “I haven’t been in a musical since junior year of high school… This has been such an exciting time to get back on the stage and do what I love most! Singing and dancing.”

It’s this type of passion from the actors that Juelfs is excited for audiences to experience. “[T]he students are having a lot of fun with it, so I think the audience will too, and that’s what I’m most excited for… I’m just looking forward to having fun.”

Performances for “Once Upon a Mattress” will be held from April 19-22 in the Meredith Auditorium in the Jeschke Fine Arts Center.

ConcerT Chorale Trip

Written by Sebastian Pares

The University of Sioux Falls (USF) Concert Chorale, consisting of 60 members, took their annual tour this year, a six-day tour of Florida from March 4-9, 2023. The purpose of the tour was to provide opportunities for the students to connect with constituents and prospective students, performing in churches, schools, and participating in service projects. The choir tours annually, domestically in odd years, and internationally in even years.

The USF Concert Chorale has a full academic year commitment, typically throughout a student’s college career. The choir rehearses weekdays from 2-3 pm, and members began preparing for the music for this particular tour on August 24, 2022. Portions of the tour repertoire were performed during events leading up to the trip, including the Homecoming Chapel, USF Sunday, Fall Concerts, Christmas at USF, and the Spring Concert. During the trip, the students contributed music to worship services in Our Lady Star of the Sea in New Smyrna Beach and Trinity Lutheran in Bradenton. They also performed in concerts at Our Lady Star of the Sea and the Water’s Edge Retirement Community in Bradenton. The choir had a performance and workshop with high school students at Venice High School in Venice and Bradenton Christian High School in Bradenton. Additionally, they participated in a service project by organizing warehouse donations for United Way to support hurricane relief in Ft. Myers.

The students had several opportunities for team bonding activities during the tour. Concert Chorale Council members, student-elected officers, and director-appointed section leaders led “count-down” activities during daily rehearsals in February leading up to the departure date. These council members presented components of the itinerary by projecting slideshows, videos, and photographs of the tour destinations and anticipated activities while on tour, complete with trivia questions and prizes.

The USF Concert Chorale members are some of the University’s greatest ambassadors, and the choir’s itinerary highlights showcase their musical talent and dedication. The repertoire performed during the tour included three settings of “Alleluia” and three hymn settings, along with a Psalm setting performed by Singing Camerata, a select group of members. They also performed songs of praise and worship, including “Gloria” by Randol Alan Bass, “O Vos Omnes” by Pablo Casals, “John the Revelator” arranged by Paul Caldwell and Sean Ivory, and “Peace I Leave with You” by Knut Nystedt.

The USF Concert Chorale’s annual tour provides opportunities for students to showcase their musical talents while bonding with their peers and giving back to communities.