Minot State University - Beaver Yearbook (Minot, ND)

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Never Ends Search for School Spirit ave you ever gone looking for school spirit? If one were to look back upon commentary in the Red and Green for this school year. a large portion of it would be found to have been devoted to school spirit imore like the lack of itll here at MSU. I took it upon myself to go searching for school spirit: to see if there was really more to it than I had been reading in the Red and Green. The first and most obvious place my venture led me was to the cheerleaders and their adviser. Hermelle Wilson. At the time of my visit they were painting a poster for an up- coming football game Catch MSU football spirit! When presented with the question as to whether or not they felt there was a lack of spirit at MSU, the cheerleaders all agreed that the spirit here was not peaking. We do have good crowds turn out for our games, but we have trouble getting them to be involved, said adviser Hermelle Wilson. A pep band would certainly help a lot. Wilson said she felt it would not only give the cheerleaders opportunity to do some things with the pom-pons, but it would also set a mood and get the adrenaline moving in peo- ple. A big part of school spirit comes from tradition, like in the larger, more prestigious schools. It just hasn't been a tradition here, said cheerleader Cassie Henry. Over the past few years our school spirit has really declin- ed, Wilson added. I think it really comes down to the Greeks here on campus. We have very little activity left. They're the ones who had our school spirit. When I pressed them for reactions to how this lack of school spirit could be turned 42 ' J l4 u-A f -Q ivy' rf a rur- M, 1 .1-sy around, an onlooker, football player Mike Casey. had an en- thusiastic response. Clone Ted Uecker!! This led me to visit briefly with Ted. Ted has attended Minot State for more than two years and over that time came to the conclusion that the people here don't raise too much excitement! Maybe it's just the way people are here. We're a down- home type of people. You can see that when it comes to Fri- day afternoon and the campus parking lots empty, Ted ex- plained. We're a suitcase col- lege. We just can't get people to stick around. Having been a participant in both basketball and baseball, Ted said he knows the impor- tance of an enthusiastic crowd to an athlete. The crowd can really make a difference on performance, said Ted, It's nice to know you've got support. It's kind of sad because there are some people putting in quite a bit of time and they aren't getting the support they need. The answer lies with the students. A friend, Jeff Cowell H987 graduatel, and I kicked around the idea of a student organized fan club, but it never caught on, Ted said. People have a tendency, to join a larger group. The idea is to get three or four guys to join and along with them three or four of their friends and each of their friends and so on. With a larger group you could make signs and banners, organize A spark of determination fires up Beaver fans at the MSU vs. Dickinson home game. J

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Cheerleading Not All Fun and Games lot more goes into being a cheerleader than meets the eye. It's probably a lot more than many of us are willing to get into. Of course, first you have to become a cheerleader. MSU has a squad for both football and men's basketball and tryouts are held for both squads. In order to try out, one must have a physical and be a full- time student. Tryouts consist of performing a cheer, a dance routine and doing jumps in front of judges. It is also re- quired that each individual talk with the judges. A big part of it is who you are as a person, said adviser Hermelle Wilson. I want the judges to see how the girls pro- ject themselves-their smile, eye-contact and so on. It is tryouts that scare many away from being a cheerleader, according to Wilson. It's a painful ex- perience and rather than face the possibility of rejection, they don't even try out, said Wilson. We have no stereotypical cheerleader. There's no mold you have to fit. It's too bad these people feel that way because we get old soon enough and they're missing out on a lot of fun. The cheerleaders are governed by rules especially while in uniform. These girls are ambassadors of the school and representing this univer- sity, and they should act like ladies. said Wilson. The visible aspect of cheerleading is the perfor- mance at games, where their purpose is to influence sports- manship and spirit. Beyond this. they provide entertain- ment with dance routines and organize pep rallies. Less visible to the studentlspectator is the extra time cheerleaders put into pro- moting spirit of the team and spectators. The girls do a lot of things people never see. The girls really knock themselves out doing these extra things, said Wilson. Practicing, mak- ing posters and signs, writing invitations to visiting teams cheerleaders and welcoming visiting teams' cheerleaders are just samples of the extra duties a cheerleader performs. The cheerleaders pride themselves at working hard to promote team spirit as well as that of the spectator. They icuii .1-. -1--I Cassie Henry goes through the motions of a cheer during practice. decorate the locker room ex- tensively before games and they always provide the team with treats, often recognizing each team member individual- ly with cookies or cupcakes with his name and number on them. Angy Edison The MSU football cheerleaders reach new heights in firing up the pep rally crowd. LEISURE 17

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wiv 7 i AMT' Q. 3 group activities and whatever. But there's little I can do now, said Ted, who graduated this year. It's up to the people who are gonna be here in the future. Always looking to the future are coaches. This seems to be a typical college situation where we are rather laid back. I do feel, however, there is an undercur- rent of enthusiasm, MSU men's basketball coach Dick Limke said. Though I realize what's fun for one isn't necessarily fun for another, I guess I'm surprised there isn't Qt '.L f-.E , , An attempt by the Beaver Nuts to raise some spirit. more involvement in the com- mon sports. I would certainly encourage more people to turn out for games and make some noise. The crowd has a definite effect on the intensity of the team. Though school spirit is most often associated with athletic activities and the crowds they draw, school spirit may be evi- dent in other areas such as student association, clubs and the student senate. Though less often, here again we hear of lack of involvement and The Hooper Hanky craze is a take-off from the Homer Hanky started at the World Series by Minnesota Twins fans. lack of interest. Lynae Cochrane, editor of the Beaver yearbook, felt the cause of this to be twofold, be- ing that some people don't - - know about groups and some ' people aren't interested. We're coming out of a time of an identity problem, which may add to it. Now that we're a university, maybe we'll set- tle down and we'll be more proud, Cochrane said. It has to do with priority. There is only so much time and we can all only be involv- ed in so many things, MSU volleyball coach Pat Buresh said. People will pick and choose according to their priorities and preferences. V H Promotion and selling of X organizations and activities for purposes of informing and creating interest is a route that may be taken. It may be suc- cessful, as illustrated by the attempt of the Beaver this year. We lthe staffl got T -shirts and put Beaver '87 on them to wear at registration and when we handed out the annuals. We put posters everywhere: generally we just wanted to give the club a more fun look, Cochrane. As a result, there was a huge tur- nout for students getting their picture taken for the annual and we had a huge turnout for the class. I've come from my journey, a Beaver with pride instilled within! I went out and found a few sparks: a few more and we may actually have a flame!! Angy Edison Q i A., 1' f ' i Q J Q .Ar V . Our rival, the Dickinson Chicken Hawks, brings out spirit in MSU fans. LEISURE 19