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Submit items to Campus CurrentsThe Campus Currents is distributed every Friday. If you would like to include an item in the newsletter send it to: Campus Currents, Unit 9512 or by e-mail to Campus Currents. Deadline is Thursday at 8 a.m. Welcome to Black Hills State University - TopDeborah Wessler , staff assistant, EAFB branch campus Sayler is director for Center of Excellence in Math and Science Education - Top
Sayler, 32, has a Ph.D. in atmospheric science, and just completed a postdoctoral fellowship in science, mathematics, engineering and technology at the University of Washington. The program at BHSU appealed to him as an ideal blend of faculty members teaching science and in turn teaching science to K-12 teachers. “I like the wide range of levels,” said Sayler. “I was doing there (in the Seattle school system and the university) what I'll be doing here.” Smith studies Caribbean lizards to expedite saving endangered snake - TopHow do visiting South Dakotans cope with living conditions found on the Caribbean Island of Antigua? They live like the natives complete with a hot humid climate, mosquitoes, goats and chickens says Black Hills State student Ryan Baum. Baum and BHSU biology professor Brian Smith spent two months this summer in the Caribbean studying and counting lizards, which just happen to be the primary food source of the endangered snake, the Antiguan Racer (Alsophis antiguae). Smith and BHSU are working with a consortium of scientists, environmental advocates, and government bureaucrats to re-introduce the snake to several small islands with a sufficient food supply of lizards. The lizards Ameiva griswoldi and Anolis wattsi are the snakes' favorite meal.
Ochse essay published - TopDr. Roger Ochse, associate professor of humanities and English, has written an essay published in the September 1999 issue of California English. His essay responds to pre-eminent scholar and humanist Harold Bloom, in his recent book Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human (1998). According to Bloom, Shakespeare's characters provide the full measure of the dramatist's continuing legacy. They are so alive, possess such “interiority,” that they catch themselves looking at themselves. This quality is the essence of becoming human—to know we know, to be aware we are aware, to sense our own presence on the stage of life.
In his essay, Ochse asserts that Bloom's ideas of character transcending dramatic form and Shakespeare “inventing us” can pose special problems for readers of the history plays. Shakespeare's histories portray majesty: both the ideal and spectacular departures from the ideal. Adapting to dramatic form the providential view of history promoted by the Tudor chroniclers Hall and Holinshed—the didactic pattern of sin, retribution, and redemption—Shakespeare at once uses and transcends his propagandistic sources. At the center of this grand historical scheme is the king, the protector of the realm and exemplum for all his subjects. Ochse adds that Shakespeare's kings—most notably Richard III, Henry IV, and Richard II—regard themselves primarily in their political roles, imbedded in the cultural and historical environment in which they think and act. Looking at these major historical characters, Ochse argues that we can use Bloom's thesis to pose larger questions concerning the capabilities of characters to understand themselves. This “interiority” that Shakespeare's characters possess to varying degrees can enrich our understanding of Shakespeare's dramatic art and use of historical characters. Ochse then examines Henry VI, his son Hal (Henry V), and Falstaff, viewing their “interiority” in relation to their historical roles. Ochse concludes that the mix of tragic and redemptive qualities—imbedded in the cultural world of Elizabethan England—that is essential to an understanding of Shakespeare's history plays can easily be lost if we regard the characters as existing beyond their origins. We cannot neglect the social, intellectual, and historical context in which the histories derive their meaning. Bloom asserts that the plays' characters transcend their origins and operate in a universe that is still being created. Ochse believes we can appreciate his thesis as it reverberates through our consciousness. Indeed, Bloom has successfully helped us secure a new relationship with Shakespeare and his dramatic art. At the same time, we must wonder if we can separate Shakespeare—and his characters—from the plays. Swarm Day royalty named - TopTwo students from Rapid City, both senior elementary-education majors, were named Swarm Day king and queen at the annual Black Hills State homecoming coronation ceremony. Jay Beyer and Carol Halter were crowned Swarm Day '99 royalty. Chosen as Swarm Day mom and dad were Dr. Sharon Strand, English assistant professor and Dr. Ahrar Ahmad, political science associate professor.
Other finalists in the homecoming royal court were: Vanessa Foxworthy, senior elementary-education major from Lead; Sydney Magnus, junior mass-communication major from Lower Brule; Kristy Roemmich, senior music/elementary-education major from Piedmont; Wendy Schamber, senior secondary-education/mathematics major from Rapid City; Adam Grein II, senior political-science major from Manhattan, Texas; Travis Martin, senior biology major from Casper, Wyo.; Mark Sheahan, senior English major from Spearfish and Andre P. Wald, senior mass-communications major from Rapid City.
The parade begins at 10:30 a.m. with a new meeting place at the Donald E. Young Sports and Fitness Center. The Swarm Day parade follows a new route from the Young Center parking lot proceeding south along St. Joe Street to Jackson Boulevard then following the traditional route east to downtown Spearfish. The parade ends at Grant Street. Other events this weekend include:
Swarm Week information is available by contacting the Swarm Day office at (605) 642-6101 or the office of institutional advancement at (605) 642-6385.
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A passion for environmental
science acquired as a high school student has ultimately led Dr.
Ben Sayler to Black Hills State as director of the Center of
Excellence in Math and Science Education (CEMSE). 
Bloom argues that Shakespeare
so interpenetrates our consciousness and our cultural existence
that we do not know the boundary between him and us.
“Shakespeare invented us,” he maintains. At the center
of Bloom's proof are Hamlet and Falstaff, who “manifest the
comprehensive consciousness of all literature and all life.”
They “possess superior cognitive, linguistic, and
imaginative energy.” Hamlet and Falstaff, larger than life,
have altered life. 
Swarm Week activities come to a close Saturday with
the parade at 10:30 a.m., tailgate socials and football game vs.
Mayville State University. This year's Swarm Day theme is
“Born to Bee Wild.” 