Auditing classes provides opportunities
As a farm boy with a Sears-Roebuck scholarship of $100 in 1937, I enrolled in South Dakota State College.
Times were hard for farmers and I was determined to earn a Ph.D., then work professionally to help farmers.
I became a plant pathologist and plant breeder, but I learned that the farmer’s biggest problem was political. The federal Congress (composed mostly of urban people) was trying to force farmers off the land.
I came to feel that undergraduate course requirements were too narrow, so I elected to add courses in American government, psychology, trigonometry, physics, intercollegiate debate and chorus.
In 1943, I graduated with honors, then went to graduate school to earn two more degrees.
I worked professionally in Wash., Wisc., Miss. and Nigeria before joining the faculty at South Dakota State in 1960. I retired in 1983.
In the fall of 2002, my wife and I sold our farm and moved to Brookings. To satisfy my curiosity, broaden my learning and “give higher education a second chance,” as George McGovern has put it, I audited a course in S.D. history by professor John Miller and a course in future geography by professor Fritz Gritzner. These were exciting experiences. Both professors were fine teachers.
At my age of 85, there is little point in taking courses for credit and I don’t want employment. Auditing gave me some flexibility.
I highly recommend auditing. Younger students may benefit from having some old folks in class. When professor Miller told the class about the deadly flu epidemic of 1918, I was able to point to myself as one who nearly died in that epidemic and lost an older sister to the flu.
Darrell WellsBrookings
Hockey team apologizes for fight
On December 13, 2002, the SDSU Jacks hockey club played the Aberdeen Collegiate Hockey Club, formerly know as Northern State University.
During the second period of this game, sparks flew between the teams, resulting in a bench-clearing brawl. Why and how it started is not important. What is important is that the SDSU Jacks are sorry.
We did not think about our actions, or the results that would surely come out of them. We didn’t realize that there are young hockey players at our games watching, looking up to us. Our actions were childish and we set the wrong example.
These actions of the SDSU Jacks were towards the end of the year, and with the coming of 2003, they ended. The new year gives us a new start. While we can’t guarantee fighting will not take place, we will keep our poise to avoid getting into any more brawls.
Fighting is a part of hockey and is sometimes necessary to keep the players on our team safe. Many things happen on the ice that our fans are unable to see. The safety of our players is our number one concern.
We are on the road to nationals, please continue your support. Thank you.
Nathan BofenkampSDSU Jacks hockey club
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