Page 160 - ThePhoenix1994-95

OnThe Hill Friday, April 21 ,1995, Page 12 ing education "fun," and admits with a American literature between 1765 and By KAREN MICHELLE LAYMAN 1783. She plans to concentrate on the cul- chuckle to taking part in many family vaca- Conlribulinf(Wriler Perhaps it was those late nights as a tions which were based on historical themes. tural importance of satire's existence, as child, reading under the covers after her For example, there was a "Land of Lincoln well as the historiography of the period. Al- mother had already told her to go to bed five Tour," where they camped in the footsteps though she seems to intensely enjoy her studies as a graduate student, she finds it to times, which made Amy Yerkes the woman of Abe Lincoln from Springfield, Ill. to the she is today. Lincoln Monument, complete with regular be a rather "selfish enterprise" in some Her passion for knowledge seems to checkpoints to discuss what they had learned. ways. She explains, "You are there simply warm even the dreariest gray Wednesday af- Her parents' passion for education influ- to absorb and think about this world of ternoon in the cramped office she shares with enced her greatly and served to "foster a kind knowledge all around you, and you begin Bill Spence and her watchdog, Clio. A grow- of curiosity" which she now cherishes. to be dissatisfied with merely absorbing the ing number of students at Western Maryland She received her bachelor of arts degree knowledge; you want to give it back to stu- buzz with interest at the mention of her name. in English with a minor in art history from dents." They are both curious and infatuated by her Pennsylvania State University and directly Why all the energy and enthusiasm? ability to dazzle a room with energy, unique continued to finish her masters of arts de- "Because to me it is absolutely necessary. style, and a vocabulary most could only wish gree. While working on her masters, she We live in a world which often overlooks to obtain far into their golden years, let alone met her husband, Dr. Michael Losch, a beauty," she says, and finds it to be "an ab- at age 28 fifth-year professor of art history at WMC. solute luxury to be able to spend all my days about books that are reading and talking Who is this popular first year English After taking a year off, she began her professor? She is Amy Yerkes, and her en- doctoral studies at the University of Penn- very important to me, that are beautiful and thusiasm is becoming increasingly infec- sylvania in Philadelphia. Before beginning so tied to the human questions that we are She is eager to allow her ex- ttous.. which is exactly what she hoped her next degree, however, she had the op- all asking." with literature to take root and citement for. portunity to teach here part time. With the The eldest of three children, Yerkes grew recent retirement of two of the college's En- grow in her students. She says she hasn't had the opportunity When she is not busy teaching, up in Coopersburg, Pa., which she describes glish professors, she was offered a one-year ing on her dissertation, or reading, work- she to shop for clothing recently, and insists that as "typical small-town America." She at- appointment and began teaching full-time at loves to garden. She and her husband live she doesn't have that many clothes. When tributes her lifelong interest in education and the college last fall. in Baltimore, where she proudly cultivates on a limited budget, she says, it pays to "seek that are different and of clothing articles literature to her very close, creative family While teaching on the Hill, Yerkes is and a mother who was a teacher. She proudly also working on her dissertation, which will a "city garden," consisting of a variety of somehow timeless," and learn to be versatile recalls her parents' consistent effort at mak- discuss the many forms of satire found in perennials and herbs. She also has a water and creative. garden, complete with goldfish and lily. Wearing an indigo-and-white batik print Although she says they have enjoyed their jacket, with silver-and-blue Cameo earrings, COLLEGE SPECIALS "experiment to enjoy the pleasures of the Yerkes sits back and laughs, confessing that she in urban living," they hope to and get "back to also tends to wear clothes "until they absolutely move out to the country fall to pieces." our roots," riiiJ 11 e.m. -111_m. Woo. -1h.Jrs.. peace, quiet, and darkness of the country fans. "I think Amy Yerkes is great because she 330-1.0 Villd(oI~ cited to see the recent "explosion of female have someone with new ideas and a younger talent" in our musical culture, yet stays a outlook." faithful fan ofBi!1ie Holiday, who helps her Katie Horan, a senior English major, unwind "when the week has been long." agrees, adding, "She really makes a difference Relaxing is not something Yerkes feels in my interest in learning because it is so obvi- she is very good at doing. "I tend to be ous that she really loves what she's teaching." LargePiua rather obsessive, and r know 1 probably Both Bollinger and Horan are taking Any L~rge Pizza drive my husband crazy with it sometimes." Yerkes' Twentieth Century African-American witn Your Choice She prefers a very controlled environment, Writers class. Yerkes admits to being an enor- and says that "without mous fan of Zora Neale Hurston, the author any kind of external of One Topping order, internal order is impossible." her class is now studying. She hopes to soon AddtioNl Tot::fllres Among the many aspects of Yerkes publish a paper on Hurston that she's prepar- S140(;(tJ"" which drawn attention, perhaps the biggest ing. lt is this complete fascination with the question students ask is, where does she get literature she teaches which seems to draw Super Subs all those incredible clothes? Her secret to a her students in for more. She seems thrilled 1·6" Super Sub wonderfully diverse wardrobe? Scarves. to admit that she "can't shut this class up!" The peeling paint on the walls of Yerkes' After many years ofinfluence from her I·Bags of female French professors and after travel- office is a faded, pale green, and Clio, her POUito Chips ing through Europe, she learned that scarves springer spaniel, sleeps contentedly in the I·Cans of and plenty of black basics are the keys to corner. Even the gray Wednesday which cannot Coca-Cola" making a poverty-stricken graduate student waits outside her office window energy. look stylish and unique. dampen Yerkes glow of unending <""" ~1~~Z~l ~T1rtrt'40"tOe.<. llfC),bSlb