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Show LETTER TO THE EDITOR From campus to the classroom: a call to teach and serve W hen I think about my time at the U, I think about a whirlwind of incredible experiences: research opportunities, climbing to the Living Room and cheering proudly in the MUSS. But I also think about that gnawing question: What in the world am I going to do after I leave? Although the question is the quickest way to get any senior's heart pounding and palms sweating, I actually have several ways I could answer it. I could look for a job in environmental education, travel abroad to teach English or take the plunge and apply for graduate school. I have choices. But the question of what I could do after graduation actually has a second part — what should I do? As I turned each choice over in my head, none of them felt quite right. The truth is, I lead a pretty privileged life. As overwhelmed as I feel knowing I have so many post-graduate choices, I know I'm incredibly lucky. I worked hard to get to and through college and faced struggles along the way, but I went to a high school where kids were expected to graduate and we had plenty of extra support and resources to help us plan our next chapters. Whenever I needed support, I never had to look far. But it wasn't just my family and teachers who encouraged me. Examples of successful people who look like me were all around, from the people I saw on campus during college visits to the majority of govern- BY DOM GARCIA /STAFF WRITER PHOTO BY ERIN BURNS U tah head coach Rich Manning can usually be seen on the sidelines hollering out commands and implementing strategies for his team. The side that most people don't get to see, other than his staff and players, is where he learned to be a coach. From growing up in California an avid soccer fan to constantly bothering his coaches at Santa Clara to teaching mathematics, Manning has used every experience as a way to evolve himself as a coach. "I had a real good upbringing," Manning said. "Here is a path you can make, if you love the game and want to make a difference. Then here's a way to be successful" Manning has always had an interest and understanding for how the game of soccer should be played. He remembers always being in his coaches' offices talking and picking their brains. And what brains he had to pick — at Santa Clara, Manning was coached by two U.S. National Team Coaches. Manning played under Ralph Perez and Steve Sampson. Perez went on to coach in the MLS and was the assistant coach for the 1990 U.S. World Cup team. Sampson became the head coach of the 1998 U.S. World Cup team. The inspiration from his former coaches would give Manning the desire to coach, but not before he pursued a career in his field of study. Manning graduated from Santa Clara with a B.S. in mathematics in 1986 and then received his master's in education from Azusa Pacific in 1996. He spent 11 years teaching high school math and as he taught he learned how to be a better coach. "The hardest part about teaching math is motivating the people to do it," Manning said. "It did really force me to come up with some teaching methods and different learning styles. So that helped me in my soccer coaching:' Manning would develop his coaching ability over the years as a head coach at Los Alamitos High School in Southern California and then on the coaching staff at his alma mater. When he was interviewing for the position at Utah, there was something that stuck out to him. "I'd been here before as a coach and I was familiar with the quality of players in Utah': Manning said. "One of the first things I noticed was how much the administration believed in soccer' To anyone that is first meeting Manning, he comes off as a very likeable person. He is soft spoken and connects with people easily. "When I first met Rich I opened up really fast," junior Lindsey Luke said. "He was a really good listener and I thought that was awesome that I could talk to him about my personal life:' 12 { THECHRONY I NEWS I OPINION I ARTS I SPORTS I FRIDAY, OCTOBER 24 2014 } Luke gets to see the human side of her head coach more than most people do. Due to their last names being close to another alphabetically, Luke and Manning usually sit next to each other on the plane to away games. Luke knows that even before the plane takes off, her coach will be fast asleep. If he isn't napping he can be seen jamming with his headphones on. "He can fall asleep anywhere," Luke said. "I always take pictures of him on Snapchat." Utah's soccer program has been going strong for 20 years and Manning has been at the helm for 13 of those. He learned a lot on his journey and made an impression on his players. Manning will put to use all that he has learned from past experiences this weekend as his side returns home for a doubleheader against No. 18 Washington and No. 24 Washington State. Both matches are crucial for the Utes, as the team has only won one in the last six games. Luke hopes that being back at Ute field will help. "I think just playing on this field and the whole atmosphere just pumps us up;' Luke said. Utah will take on the Huskies at 7 p.m. MT on Friday night before squaring off against the Cougars on Sunday at 1 p.m. MT. d.garcia@chronicle.utah.edu ment leaders and actors I watch on TV. Everywhere I turned, society told me I could be successful. But I know the same isn't true of kids all across the country. When I was growing up, I couldn't wait to wear a college hoodie or lug important-looking physics books across a leafy campus. But too many kids lack the opportunity to imagine a fulfilling future for themselves. For students growing up in our lowest-income communities, fewer than six percent will graduate from college by the time they're 25. This disparity in no way reflects kids' capabilities — it's a result of deeply entrenched systems of oppression that have denied low-income kids equal access to opportunity for decades. I applied to Teach For America because I believe that privilege is a responsibility. I didn't have an unlimited meal plan, summer travel opportunities or access to the many seminars and guest speakers at the U because I was exclusively entitled to them. I had all that because I was born into the resources and support I needed to secure them. I work with kids at schools across Salt Lake facing a much steeper path — students trying to learn to read in both their native languages and the one in their classroom. When I think about what I can and should do with my privilege, working with kids like these brave young people is the answer that fits. I didn't decide to teach because I think I'm going to be a hero. This work will be incredibly humbling and I will have to push myself harder than I ever have to give my students the education they deserve. I will need to work in close partnership with the parents, teachers and community members who have been working towards justice and equity long before I arrived. But I don't want a job that lets me turn a blind eye to the injustice kids face every day. I want one that forces me to look injustice in the face and fight it with all my heart. I want one that holds me accountable for the injustices that plague our communities — because, although I did not create them, I'd still bear responsibility if I chose not to address them. In applying to become a Teach For America corps member, I hope to join a network of more than 47,000 people working relentlessly to make access to opportunity equitable. It's a network of leaders vastly diverse in background and experience, working across sectors to create change and who are all united around the fundamental belief that a quality education is not a privilege — it is a right. We can fight to ensure all students get to enjoy that right. As you think about what in the world you're going to do after you leave here, I hope you'll join us. Katie Luecke Senior, Biology Teaching Katie is currently applying to be a Teach For America corps member. Utah body farm would benefit forensics and students SABIHA MASUD magine moseying up along campus and finding a large plot of land strewn with dead, naked bodies and emitting a less than pleasant smell. This scene, reminiscent of an episode from "The Walking Dead:' is already a regular occurrence at three American universities and for good reason. One institution, the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility, most commonly known as the "body farm:' is a 1.3 acre stretch filled with cadavers in multiple unique settings (one might be buried in a shallow grave, another left in a car or a sleeping bag), whose stages of decomposition are studied by various researchers. This research facility is one of the largest in the country, and body farms have started to crop up in other states as well, such as in Texas and North Carolina. From an anthropological and scientific perspective, Utah could benefit from a body farm of its own. As the environment and dry climate of our state is not identical to any other, researchers could better detect changes in decomposition due to the environment surrounding the cadavers. More research and funding should go into this endeavor, which would benefit forensics teams and anthropological researchers as well as give students in the field a better understanding of the human body and its post-mortem decomposition. It's true that body farms are unfortunately as gruesome as they sound, and the research done on them is not for the faint of heart. There are no extra measures taken to preserve or conceal the hundreds of bodies that find their final resting place within a contained wil- derness. Instead, it is their unavoidable decay that helps both anthropological and forensic researchers excel in their respective fields of study. Originally, body farms were created to help forensic teams imitate a case in which a body had fully disintegrated, leaving just a skeleton and little to no evidence on how the individual died, when it happened and more importantly, who was to blame for the murder. Body farms in which donated cadavers are exposed to various conditions help forensic specialists better understand how to gain the most knowledge from the land surrounding a dead body. For example, soil acidity can show how long a body has been in one spot due to how much fluid has leaked into the earth. The extent of the ravaging various insects and maggots have done on a corpse can also indicate how long the individual has been dead. Bodies are left in their most natural state and help researchers understand how the environment and circumstances affect how a body decomposes. From an educational perspective, creating a body farm in Utah could lead to a better understanding of how our particular climate and altitude changes how a body decomposes. Because Utah's climate greatly differs from the universities participating in the body farms, new and relevant information can be studied. Although anatomy labs at various universities are undoubtedly helpful and can help students gain much needed insight into the human body, they are not fully conducive to the understanding of human decomposition. Students could greatly benefit from the addition of a body farm, hopefully not on campus as I would like to continue enjoying my lunch in the Union without the pungent stench of a dead body nearby, but close enough to visit regularly and learn consistently about the human body and it's experience after death. letters@chronicle.utah.edu 13 |