Category: In Class Assignments (Page 1 of 2)

Almost every day I walk down the campus mall, and I stare into the large windows of the Krone Center. I have never once stepped into the oddly shaped building until today.

Caden Schulte and I were greeted by Carly Hanson, for the university. She is the Associate VP for Marketing and Communication. She told us what goes on in the building, explaining that the departments Marketing/Communications, Career Services, Alumni Relations, Web Development, and Sports Information are all housed in the Krone Center. There are about eight people who work here, not including around 15 student interns. 

It’s a very modern building, with a lot of glass inside the building. Everything there had a modern finish, with a couch and a couple of chairs in the middle of the common space. All of the officers are around this common area, with windows facing inside of it. 

There is a sink as well as a snack bar in the common area, too. Doritos, cookies, and fruit snacks, just to name a few of them. I was told anyone can have them, so I grabbed a bag of chips to put in my bag for later. I told them I would be coming back for more later.

One of the things I noticed as I walked in is that the place smells and looks clean. They must do a solid job of keeping the place looking nice.

In addition, by the snack bar, there is a lot of Morningside swag items. There are tumblers, hats, license plates, and pins.

If you have never had a fruit snack before, you’re missing out. I’m not sure I could even attempt to estimate how many packs I ate as a child as I would eat at least a pack each day after school.

I have never tried Kelloggs Monster Buddies before, but they are similar to many of the other fruit snacks I have had.

Not sure what a fruit snack is?

They are small, no more than a half-inch wide or tall, and come in the colors green, yellow, red, and orange. While they are solid, they are easily mendable and bendable, almost like gelatin.

Each of these Monster Buddies is designed to look like, well, a monster. A cute monster, though. They are pleasing to the eye, like a monster drawn up for a kid’s movie.

I would’ve thought they would have been easier to chew, but they offered some resistance to the initial bite. Each of the colors had its own flavors, none of which I am able to distinguish.

Professor John Gonsler came to one Morningside class on Tuesday to speak about his journey to working in higher education.

Gonsler, currently an associate professor of criminal justice at Morningside University, has been teaching for just under a decade. However, this wasn’t his original plan after graduating high school.

A member of law enforcement in Flint, Michigan for two years, Gonsler switched to being a correctional officer because he was not satisfied at the sheriff’s department. His stint as a CO was also brief, working for only six months before resigning. Gonsler spent a considerable amount of time recounting his horror stories from working in a prison.

Gonsler then went to Ferris State University, located in Big Rapids, Michigan. However, after only one year, he transferred because he “fucking hated it” at the university.

After his short stint at Ferris State, Gonsler transferred to Michigan State and was able to complete a bachelor’s degree in anthropology in only one year. In order to accomplish this, he had to take classes throughout the summer months.

Immediately after getting his bachelor’s degree, Gonsler went on to attain his Master’s degree in criminology and criminal justice at Indiana State University. During his time working on his degree, Gonsler became penpals with someone a majority of people might be afraid to receive mail from: Theodore John Kaczynski, the Unabomber.

“I might be the only person in America to happy to receive mail from the Unabomber,” Gonsler said of his communications with Kaczynski. The two exchanged five letters to each other before Kaczynski stopped responding.

After graduating with a Master’s degree, Gonsler went on to become an associate instructor at Indiana University for a couple of years. However, he decided it was time to move on.

Gonsler applied to become a full-time professor at 33 different schools in 2020: Morningside was one of two that was in the process of starting a criminal justice department.

When he came to visit Morningside, Gonsler said he could tell the school wants the new criminal justice to succeed and that “everyone seemed great and onboard. When I started talking to the people here, it made my decision pretty easy.”

Gonsler is now in his second year teaching Morningside. When asked what his favorite part about being a professor was, he stated he really enjoyed teaching the introduction level criminal justice class as he was able to meet and speak with students outside the major.

After he was finished speaking, Elizabeth Obermeier said, “I thought he was interesting and kept your attention, although whether it was because of his colorful language or because of his content is up for debate.”

Gonsler is currently working towards completing his PhD in criminal justice through Indiana University. He hopes to have this completed by the end of the year.

Before I left for class this morning, I spoke with one of my roommates about what his plans were for today.

Brenick Hoppe, an accounting major here at Morningside, was sitting at the table eating banana bread and working on an assignment due at noon.

Hoppe had just gotten a haircut yesterday, so I complimented him on his nice cut.

I asked him what he was planning on doing today. Hoppe told me he had a class later and then practice after that. He also said he probably wouldn’t see me until tonight as I was really busy today as well.

I set out on my mission, walking out of the library and heading towards the Olson Student Center. On my way there, I encountered a man sitting on the bench by the fountain, with his eyes closed and looked to be enjoying the beautiful day.

I tapped him on the shoulder a couple of times and introduced myself and what I was here to do. Surprisingly, he wasn’t upset that I interrupted his peaceful afternoon snooze.

He introduced himself as Sam Petersen, a senior political science and business double major. He also said it’s been a stressful day, and he just needed a minute to sit down by himself.

I then asked him for what I was searching for: a favorite Morningside memory.

The question seemed to catch Petersen off-guard. He sat there for a bit, seemingly lost in thought. After a bit, it seemed as if he settled on an answer.

“I would have to say going to the 2018 Football National Championship game in Daytona Beach, Florida.”

Petersen, at the time a member of the Morningside marching band, was invited to go and black at halftime of the game.

“It was fun because we got to see the football team win the national championship, and I was able to show off my trombone skills at halftime.”

After this, we parted ways, and I was on to get my next victim.

I had class in Lewis Hall next, but before going to class I went downstairs to use the restroom. This is where I found the next person.

Just as I am heading downstairs, I encounter someone walking out of the restroom. I stopped him, introduced myself, and stated I needed to ask him a question.

Again, he didn’t seem to be angry that he was stopped just after using the restroom. An outgoing person, he introduced himself as Alex Freeman, a junior business and political science double-major.

After some small talk, I posed my question to him: tell me your favorite knock-knock joke.

Freeman initially laughed at this, thinking I was joking. I assured him I was in fact not joking, even showing him the paper with the words “knock-knock joke” appearing on it. He couldn’t believe it.

“I for sure thought you were going to ask me something serious,” Freeman explained, stifling a few giggles.

After spending some time thinking, he initiated the joke.

“Knock knock.”

“Who’s there?

“Ach.”

“Ach who?”

“God bless you.”

Now it was my turn to laugh. I was trying to follow the joke, but the ending entirely caught me off-guard.

After telling him what a good joke he had and sharing a couple more laughs, I parted ways and went up to my class.

One student attending Morningside University had much to say about his freshman year and the effects COVID-19 had on it.

Caden Schulte, a mass communications major from Sioux City, Iowa, was only a freshman in the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

“To be honest, I didn’t really make a lot of life changes,” Schulte said about how his life was different because of the disease. “I’m more of an introvert, and I stay at my house a lot anyways. COVID forcing me to stay home wasn’t a big change.”

Schulte so far has been one of the lucky ones, having never caught the virus so far. He has had tested twice, both times negative, and been quarantined both of those times.

Being a snapper on the football team has brought its own set of unique changes to his life as well.

“I was going to play on a lot of the junior varsity football games in a normal year, but because of COVID, we only had two of those games,” Schulte explained. “Since the travel roster was cut down, I never got to go to away games.”

In addition, Schulte wasn’t even able to attend some of the home games.

“The stadium capacity limit forced me to miss even the home games that we had. I never got the experience of being a full-time student in that sense, I guess.”

Living only a few blocks from campus, Schulte has been a commuter in his tenure at Morningside so far.

“I don’t think there has been a big difference from my experience than from those who lived on campus. I guess people on campus had to wear a mask while I didn’t when I was at home.”

Moving to the topic of masks, Schulte had a few thoughts on their effectiveness.

“I wasn’t big on masks. I’m not really sure they do a ton and were more of a hassle than anything else. I would always forget them and have to run back to my car and grab one before class.”

In the end, Schulte held a positive outlook on his first year at Morningside.

“I missed out on a few of the typical freshman experiences, but I was able to meet a lot of people through the football team. It was a great time.”

The city parks and recreation department announced today it has purchased a series of educational rides for children to use in local parks.

The total cost to buy and install these rides will be $11,000.

Among the rides being installed is the Hanging Gate, an iron pole embedded in the ground with a gate hanging from it. Children push themselves in a circle.

Another is the SuperSlide, which allows young children the thrill of sliding without having to climb a high ladder.

The money to purchase these rides was made available by Robert T. F. Ho, a local man who owned Quick Stop Laundry. His gift was made anonymous until today. Ho passed away two days ago, and the department, with approval from his widow, revealed his gift publicly.

Mrs. Ho said, “Robert always enjoyed watching the kids play in the park across the street. He felt sorry for the kids who had to wait to use the equipment, especially the little ones.”

A group of citizens is planning a protest over the teaching of evolution in a Backwater University biology class.

The group is being led by Wilbur Straking, the pastor of Ever-Faithful Church of the Living Water. When asked about his plans, Straking said, “I plan to lead a group of 25 dedicated Christians to the state capital next Monday to speak with legislators about this problem. We believe the teaching of evolution is against the principles of this Christian country, and we want to put a stop to it.”

The class in question is taught by Laura Cliff, associate professor of biology. She would not comment on the group’s charges. The university president would not comment on the matter, either.

Local man Moyer Quick was the lone fatality in a two-car collision east of Sioux City yesterday.

At 11 a.m., the vehicle Quick was driving collided with a truck driven by 17-year-old Randy Radin on Hwy. 28. Quick was 65 at the time of the incident.

Three survivors of the crash were transported by ambulance to the Sioux City General Hospital. The injured included two passengers from the vehicle Quick was driving. Those who were injured included his wife, Dorothy, and one other individual, Maxine Steuerwald, whose relationship to Quick is not yet known. Maxine is in “fair” condition and Dorothy is in “good” condition. Radin is currently in “critical” condition, with fractured skull injuries.

South Iowa Highway Patrolman Patric Stewart said both vehicles were proceeding in a westerly direction on a two-lane highway. Quick passed the Radin vehicle but his rear-end struck Radin as he completed the pass. The impact sent both vehicles into the ditch on the north side of the road. Quick’s vehicle rolled once. The accident, which is still under investigation, occurred under cloudy skies with rain in the forecast. The road was clear and dry.

The East Dakota Highway Patrol ordered a ban of hand-held radar guns in Sioux City yesterday over concerns that troopers could develop cancer from long-term exposure to the radiation waves emitted by the devices.

The ban was ordered as a precaution while studies are conducted into the possible links between cancer and the use of such guns. Spokesman Adam Smith said, “The feeling here is to err on the side of caution until more is known about the issue. The whole situation is under review.”

The move is considered to be the first of its kind by a state police agency. It comes two months after three municipal officers in Central City filed workman’s compensation claims. The officers are claiming they had developed cancer from using the handheld units.

The ban affects 70 radar guns that will be withdrawn from service. State troopers will continue to use radar units with transmitters mounted on the outside of their cruisers.