October 2019

October 2019

Volume 7 Issue 2

university of Sioux Falls Student Media

T h e Ve s s e l / F a l l 2 0 1 9 / O c t o b e r

editors in chief Hannah Wold Sammi Peterson

Writers Mariah Bleeker Megan Christiansen Bryce Couch Evelyn Groeger Mose Idris Mariah Larson Tucker Stout

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Augusta Thramer

homecoming royalty

Bailey Vis

queens of the court usf vs. augie college survival guide student/staff spotlight

Photographer Jett Thune

origin of halloween streaming spotlight college coupon club

Administration Advisors Nancy Sutton Nick Poppens

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On the Cover: USF Tunnels Photo by Jett Thune

THE LINE UP

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STAFF

Evelyn Groeger

Jett Thune

Moses Idris

MAriah Larson

Tucker Stout

Augusta Thramer

Bryce Couch

Megan Christiansen

Mariah Bleeker

2019

COUGAR DAYS

homecoming R

g Royalty

Homecoming Photos Courtesy of Katie Magera, Chloe Peterson & Greta Smith

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3 Questions for

t he royal court

Story by: Moses Idris

O

ne loved tradition during homecoming week is getting to see who is on the homecoming court and then at the end of the week the reveal of Homecoming Queen and King. During the run for Homecoming Queen and King, we had one of our writers, Moses Idris ask three fun questions to learn more about them.

1. What’s your Major?

2. If you were given a million dollars, what would

you do with that money?

3. Are you a cat or dog person?

Pictured from left to right: Nick Paulson, Sydney Boots, Dayne Versteeg, Joe Hiatt & Tyler Knopp.

Second row: Molly Heyn, Addy Kenkel, Morgan Holien, Emily Magera & Emily Wieczorek

Dayne Versteeg

1.

Elementary Education 2.

Pay off my student loans, help pay off my sister’s student loans, get a house after I graduate, and put the rest in a savings account for later use.

3.

Dog person

Morgan Holien

1.

My major is communication studies and theatre with a media minor.

2.

If I had a million dollars...well, as the song says, I’d be rich man, I don’t know! I think I’d travel all over and buy books and movies. Then probably save some of that cash.

3.

I’m 100% a dog person, though cats do have a place in this life.

Emily Magera

1.

I am a Communication Studies and Theatre Major with a Music Minor 2.

If I were given one million dollars, I would travel all over the world and learn about their unique cultures and foods.

3.

Totally a dog person. A puppy is my spirit animal.

Tyler Kopp 1.

2.

3.

Theology and Youth Ministry I would invest in a business I want to start I’m totally more of a dog person

Molly Heyn

1.

Major: Nursing (side note: I just accepted a RN position in the ICU at Sanford!!)

2.

If I were given a million dollars I would love to partner with a non-profit mission that did outreach in our community. While it is very important for us to serve those all over the country, there is actually an immense need for help right here in Sioux Falls. In nursing, we are faced with many patients who need our help, whether it be financial burdens, inadequate means of nutrition or no home to sleep in. I would love to invest into the organizations that already exist and help them continue their mission!

3.

Most definitely a dog person

Sydney Boots

1.

Psychology & Social Science 2.

I would pay off student loans, save a small portion, then give the rest to family, friends, and charity.

3.

I’m a dog person!

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Queens of the Court Story by: Bryce Couch

The 2019 University of Sioux Falls Volleyball team is standing where no other squad in the program’s history has stood before.

They have earned their first national ranking, and are looking forward to an exciting, and potentially historic year. Entering his 8th season as head coach, Joel McCartney feels like his team has finally received the confirmation that they deserve on the national level. McCartney said, “We have been building our program towards the nation’s elite for some time now and it feels great to receive confirmation from the coaches across the country who vote on these kinds of things. What I am most grateful for is the many athletes who have come before this season and built the program culture which set the foundation for any present or future success.”

Behind senior leaders Abby Feyereisen and Kasandra Springer, the team’s main goal is to take steps in the right direction and improve daily. The Coo volleyball team play in arguably the toughest conference for Division 2 women’s volleyball in the nation. 8 teams, including the Coo, are ranked in the top 25 nationally this year. Since 2006, the NSIC has brought home an incredible 9 national championships. Although it will be a tough road through conference play, the winner of the NSIC will have a legitimate shot at a national championship. Coach McCartney believes he has a youthful, connected group of athletes that have the flexibility to play different positions on the court and step into roles that may be new or challenging to them and still maintain a high level of performance.

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The Coo will host 6 home matches in the Stewart Center: October 4,5,15,18,19, and 31. As well as wrapping up the regular season with back to back home matches on November 15 and 16.

USF’s Volleyball Team Serves Up Success Photos Courtesy of Mataya Lines

augie vs. usf

The Final Key?

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The closest rivalry in all of college sports may be coming to an end. USF vs Augustana is separated by 3 blocks in the city of Sioux Falls. With the schools being so close the rivalry is more than just a game, it is bragging rights around town for a whole year. Since USF went Division 2 and moved to the NSIC in 2011, USF and Augustana have played a total of 8 games with USF leading 6-2 in the series. These games have been dubbed the Key to the City games due to the winner of the game basically “owning� the city for the year. A giant wooden key was made for the game as well to even add something more to play for.

Augustana is beginning a transition to Division 1 for its athletics programs and hopes to have an invite by 2020.

While there is no invite yet, it still could happen at anytime which makes it possible that this year’s game where the Cougars lost 20-13 could be the last time the Key to the City makes an appearance. Now there is still a chance that the game could continue until Augustana receives their invite from a Division 1 conference. The Key to the City game is something not only USF and Augustana looks forward to every year but its something the city looks forward to every year. The debut in 2012 was one of the most electrifying games in not just the series between USF and Augie but one of the most electrifying in the state.

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Photos Courtesy of Isaac Schubert

USF vs.AU Story by: Tucker Stout It ended 32-31 in double overtime with USF coming out on top. Before this year Augustana only had one victory against USF which came in 2015 where Augustana won 35-28 in another thriller. Each game seems to be a thriller when the two teams meet up on the field. The most surprising game came last year in 2019 where USF won 51-13 on Augustana’s field in an absolute humiliation of a victory. The Key to the City is a huge game for each team every year that brings in tons of fans from the city and outside the city as well. No one wants to see the Key to the City game become non existent but sometimes you just have to enjoy something while you have it because you might not know when it’s gone.

No matter what happens during the transition of Augustana heading to Division 1 the Key will always live on. With the Coo being 6-2 in the series, it is looking positive for them to keep a winning record against Augustana for the future outcomes, if there is any at all.

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USF

COLLEGE SURVIVAL H o w t o l i v e y o u r " h o m e

y o u r a w a y

GUIDE b e s t f r o m

l i f e i n h o m e "

Story by: Megan Christiansen

We have officially and successfully made it through the first months of school. Now how are we going to make it the rest of the year? Don’t worry a few of the RAs and RDs are here to help!

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Do you have any tips, tricks, or hacks for dorm life?

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a. One hack I would recommend is if you have an 8 o’clock wake up at least by 7:15 am to have priority space in the restrooms. The earlier you are the fewer people you have using all of the sinks. - Xavier Scarlett-RD b. To live on a budget, you need to think on a budget. Never grocery shop on an empty stomach. Make a list before you go and don’t let your eyes wander at all the pretty advertisements - Jagger Gran-RD c. As far as living situations go, communication with your roommate is key to “surviving” in the residence halls. Clear expectations for the year can go a long way and help avoid any conflicts in the future. Also, make sure that you are connected with your RA and know who they are and how you can contact them. To avoid having any issues with the RAs in your hall, just abide by the Residence Life rules and statutes and you will maintain a good relationship with those living around you, your RA, and with your Resident Director. - Dayne Versteeg-RA

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Advice on making it through the year, whether school, dorms, roommate, etc.?

a. Another trick would be to make yourself known on your floor or within your wing to meet as many people as you can. Set healthy boundaries with your roommate and friends to put each other in the most successful positions possible. Another piece of advice I would give is to have a great relationship with your professors. Don’t be afraid to speak in class or if you have questions to stop by their office and have conversations. - Xavier Scarlett-RD b. You don’t have to be everybody’s friend, but you DO have to get along with everyone. Don’t be a butt.

- Jagger Gran-RD

c. Get connected with the people on your floor. I miss having the freshman residence halls and living spaces like we had during my freshman year. I lived in Burgess Hall during my freshman year and I distinctly remember the community that we had built there with all of the other freshmen that were in my SDV course, general education courses, and the students who were freshman and also shared the same major as me. It’s nice the way things are set up now though, too, because now freshmen can get connected with upperclassmen in their major and know what to expect in their future. I would just say get connected with people in your major and be asking questions and also get to know the people in your wing. For those freshmen living off-campus, I would say get connected with some students on campus and hang out with them in their rooms and get to know the people in their wing.

- Dayne Versteeg-RA

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What is the weirdest thing you’ve experienced in your role as an RA or RD, whether it is this year or in the past (something that you can disclose)?

a. I had a friend in Burgess who was doing rounds and saw there was a huge slip n slide on the first floor of CB and joined in. - Jagger Gran-RD

b. Having to write up your friends can be pretty awkward... Make it easy on your RA and don’t do anything to get written up:) - Dayne Versteeg-RA

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f f a t S / t n e d Stu Isa

ac

Story by: Evelyn Groeger

Fox

Photo Courtesy of Sammi Peterson

For this month, our student spotlight goes to Isaac Fox, who is joining us as a freshman this year. Before coming to USF, Isaac had taken a couple of years off between high school and college to pursue a long-time passion and goal: competing in the 2018 IEM Pyeon-Chang Competition held in South Korea. In 2011, he began this journey when he started playing StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, which had gained great popularity with the creation of Twitch.tv, the live streaming video service.

From then on until 2018 he dedicated most of his time to advance his skills in the game and came out as the North American qualifier for StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void. He describes the competitions as huge conventions where every game has a “main stage” and hundreds of players practice on the convention floor. He not only has traveled to South Korea but also Germany and many other countries for these competitions.

For those curious, his gaming name is PandaBearMe, so if you are ever gaming and see that player, you know you’ve just met Isaac. He now, however, is retired from that game and prefers 1 versus 1 games because of the control it gives him. Understandable since StarCraft II: Legacy of the Void is a single-player game and he’d been playing it for at least 8 years, so you’d get used to playing solo.

Fox directing the live football broadcast at the University of Sioux Falls Sports Complex.

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Isaac has begun his journey at USF with another passion and goal, which is to pursue media studies and esports. He thought someone should be documenting how much players progressed in these sports, so who better than himself. Already he has jumped into the media studies program and has taken up an important position with our football games as the game director. In this position, he oversees the cameras and decides which footage is shown during the game on the TV. This is right up his alley because he wants to do something with live broadcasting.

Now he is working on starting an esports club and that will be coming to campus in the next month, so keep an eye out for that. Isaac may seem busy with all these great activities, but he is always ready to meet new people and share his experiences with them.

t h g i l t o p S aff Story by: Mariah Bleeker

By special request of Dr. Bill Soeffing, professor of Biology and Area Chair of Natural Sciences, we are calling this a “Staph Spotlight” pun intended.

Samantha Peterson and I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Soeffing to learn more about who he is and how he came to love the University of Sioux Falls.

With just one look around his office, his passion for Biology is evident, from books to gifts of wooden signs and coffee mugs with Biology lingo from students. Dr. Soeffing attributes his placement at the university to his mother-in-law who called the Area Chair at the time and pushed for Dr. Soeffing to receive the position. When he took a position as a one-year sabbatical replacement for Professor Keith Perkins, little did he know he would still be at the University of Sioux Falls 38 years later.

Dr. Soeffing and his wife live close to the University, however, his wife spends a large amount of time on the road as she works for NASA. Dr. Soeffing shared that his wife, “is an Einstein fellow, a presidential awardee for science teaching and a curriculum coordinator.” Dr. Soeffing and his wife have two sons who are now working with precision farming and production management. Along with their two sons, they have acquired one dog, Gus, and two cats, Nala and Peter.

Peter was given to them by their oldest son after the cat became severely ill. Despite being allergic to cats Dr. Soeffing gave the cat attention and nursed it back to health after surgery at the University of Minnesota.

When asked about his favorite aspects of the University he noted that the interactions he has with people are important and meaningful to him. When comparing the University to others he said, “there is a mindset here that part of our mission is that we have service to human kind, and I buy into that.”

Dr. Soeffing was intrigued by private education and after giving his first lecture at the University of Sioux Falls, he knew it was the right fit. Dr. Soeffing remembers being shocked after his first lecture when a student came up to him and said, “Tell me more.” He had not experienced that in prior lecture and he saw that kind of interaction grow.

In the spirit of Halloween, although it has been a while since he has been to a dress-up party, Dr. Soeffing shared that if he had to dress up as something science-related he would choose to be Entamoeba Histolytica, but he would also like to dress up as a pumpkin.

In just a twenty minute interview, we learned so much about what makes Dr. Soeffing who he is, and we challenge you to take time to get to know your professors.

ll . Bi

Dr

g

S

eo ffin

Photo Courtesy of University of Sioux Falls Marketing

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F

or our October issue, we decided we needed to bring some creepiness and fun into the magazine. What’s more mysterious and spooky than our very own hidden tunnels here at USF? These tunnels (as pictured) are a long storied area below our campus. They have not been in use for many years and require special permission and guidance to even access them!

USF Campus Security took our head photographer, Jett Thune, down to the tunnels to see what lies beneath our buildings and give our readers the spook they desire for this special Halloween issue. As a bonus, we also had one of our writers research the origin of this spooky holiday!

Photos Courtesy of Jett Thune DISCLAIMER: SPECIAL PERMISSION AND GUIDANCE WERE GIVEN TO EXPLORE THE TUNNELS. STUDENTS ARE NOT PERMITTED TO USE THEM UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

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THE ORIGIN OF HALLOWEEN Story by: Augusta Thramer I know what you’re thinking, but no, Halloween wasn’t originated from Halloween Town.

Halloween originated from Ireland, Britain, and Northern Europe and the Celtic culture. Celtic pagans, known as Druids, had a festival called Samhain.

Samhain marked the end of harvest season, as well as the last day of the year. Druids believed at this time that souls and spirits who had passed away in the previous years returned during the festivities. Spirits, good and bad, were thought to wander around the streets and villages in the night.

As the sun fades from the sky, sacred bonfires would be a meeting place where people could dance around the flames to scare away the evil spirits. While dancing the people would leave the doors open to their house to welcome the souls of loved ones to connect with their homes. Other activities would include prophecies such as deaths, marriage, money, or births.

Ever wonder why we wear costumes for Halloween? Druids dressed as ghosts, witches, goblins, and wore animal heads and animal skins so they would not be possessed by evil spirits. To satisfy the bad spirits treats and gifts were left out for them, these offerings also insured that next year’s crop would be plentiful. This has transformed into what we know as Trick-or-Treating, without the evil spirits and peace offering.

Halloween came over to the U.S. when European immigrants brought their different customs with them. In the 1800’s the festivities became more community oriented. When the 1930’s came around Halloween was known more as a “non-spiritual and public centered holiday.” 1950 was when it officially was declared a holiday that was aimed more for children, which led to the modern Halloween we have now.

We might not carry on some of these customs but we all have our own Halloween traditions that we participate in. As college students, our Hallows Eve traditions include watching scary movies all night, carving pumpkins, and eating a ton of Pillsbury Halloween cookies. Some might enjoy ghost stories, haunted houses, or even ouija boards. Whatever it is, have a Happy Halloween!

The Streaming Spotlight Story by Baily Vis

Welcome, readers! It’s that time of the month where I bring you a new edition of “The Streaming Spotlight.” I hope it’s been a good month for all of you and that you’re enjoying the fall semester. This month is light on new things that I think you’d find interesting. So, instead, I’ll be giving you another rundown of some of the things that I’ve been binging recently. Fair warning, it’s heavy on the super-hero and sci-fi elements. Regardless, I hope to provide you with something worth watching. Let’s get started!

Superman: The Animated Series

Available on DC Universe

Follow Superman in his epic adventures as he battles the likes of Braniac, Parasite, Metallo, and, of course, Lex Luthor. His journeys will take him from the streets of Metropolis to the far reaches of the galaxy!

Batman: Hush

Available on DC Universe

In this animated adaptation of the hit graphic novel, Batman must contend with a mysterious new foe who seemingly knows everything about him, including his secret identity!

He’ll need every ally he can get, including the one and only Catwoman.

Background Photo Courtesy of Jett Thune

Transformers: The Last Knight Available on Hulu The world is in chaos after the events of “Transformers: Age of Extinction”. Optimus Prime has disappeared, wars are raging, and all remaining Cybertronians are being hunted without mercy. But, when the Decepticons return and a new threat emerges from deep space, humanity must once again unite with the Autobots to fight for the survival of the earth itself!

Duck Tales (2017) Available on Disney Now The hit 80’s animated series returns! Donald Duck, along with his nephews Hewey, Dewey, and Louie, join adventurer Scrooge McDuck in his dangerous globe trotting escapades!

Krypton Available on DC Universe In an effort to save the future, Superman’s grandfather, Seg-El, must join forces with Adam Strange to stop the world-devouring Braniac from destroying the entire Kryptonian civilization!

So, what do you think? Anything there that peaks your interest? I know it was a lot of science fiction stuff. But I see that as an opportunity for you readers to get to know me better! Hopefully, you’re willing to give some of these a shot! See you all next month!

NEW BLU-RAY ALERT!! One of the summer’s hit movies, “Spider-Man: Far From Home”, is finally available to rent or own! You can get it in several formats including: digital HD, DVD, Blu-Ray, and 4K Blu-Ray. If you haven’t seen it yet or want to watch it for the hundredth time, now’s your chance!

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spooky [spß-kē] (adj) 1. sinister or ghostly in a way that causes fear and unease