New cheese manufacturing facility will provide opportunities for future dairy science students to gain real-world experience in their field of interest. (submitted photo)

Bel Brands USA announced plans earlier this month to build its third dairy manufacturing facility in the nation in Brookings.

The company plans to invest approximately $120 million in the new plant, which could bring about 400 new jobs to the city as well as several opportunities for SDSU dairy science students.

“This is huge,” said Vikram Mistry, dairy science department head. “The benefits go beyond just the act of working in a plant. A company of this stature brings in experience for the students right here at their doorstep.”

Headquartered in Chicago, Ill., Bel Brands is known for Laughing Cow cheese wedges and Mini Babybel cheeses. General Manager Lance Chambers said the company has grown significantly over the past few years, and the new Brookings plant is “essential” to meet the demand for Mini Babybel cheeses.

“The robust South Dakota dairy industry and its hard-working Midwestern values make Brookings an ideal location for our new plant,” Chambers said.

This will have a significant effect on the dairy program at SDSU, Mistry said.

Dairy science students will be able to find more opportunities to gain invaluable experience while working toward their degree. Because Bel Brands is an international company, Mistry said it would help increase global awareness and professional experience for the students.

“I think it speaks very highly of our faculty, our students and the university (that Bel Brands chose Brookings),” he said. “The opportunities for future students are immense.”

Working at a start-up factory like the one coming to Brookings can offer students an insight into real-world problems, said Austin Asche, a junior dairy manufacturing major from Hutchinson, Minn.

“You can really gain practical knowledge on the problems and difficulties you have starting up a plant,” Asche said.

He pointed out that a large-scale dairy plant would require a large supply of milk to make their products.

“They’ll need more cows to fulfill the milk requirements,” Asche said. “That means opportunities for production students to expand their farms.”

Students will not be the only people benefitting from having a major dairy plant in the local area. Mistry said the dairy industry itself would be impacted with more well-trained SDSU students entering the workforce.

He added that recognition from Bel Brands will make it easier to continue recruiting high-quality faculty and staff, which also benefits the dairy science program overall.

“People like to establish their careers where there is excellence,” Mistry said.

The Parking and Traffic Committee lowered the parking fines on campus and raised the late fees, which will start fall 2011.

Parking ticket fines at SDSU will be $15 lower this fall.

Tickets for parking in the wrong lot or not having a decal up will be reduced to $35, according to Anthony Sutton, junior political science and history major and chair of the Parking and Traffic Committee. “This year the same tickets are $50 and two years ago they were $100.”

The Parking and Traffic Committee met Feb. 11, and Sutton said most people would like to see the ticket prices at $10. However, one issue that must be considered is if that price is a deterrent. The committee wanted to find a medium where the fine is fair but still encourages people to park legally.

The committee also decided to increase late fees from $3 to $10. The new prices will not take effect until next school year for enforcement purposes.

Sutton said getting a ticket will be a little less of a burden, and increasing the late fee penalizes those who do not pay within the 96 hours from when the ticket was issued.

Rohit Anand, a senior software engineering major, said lowering the prices is good but not with the increase in late fees.

“If you get the ticket over the weekend or you have to get the money to pay, you are going to be late and being really close to the $50 anyway,” Anand said.

Not all members of the committee fully supported the change.

“Lowering the fee does not make sense,” said Craig Welbon, a career service employee representative on the committee. “I believe lowering the prices will increase violations, which would then increase the number of people we need out there to write the tickets.”

Welbon would like to see the price to buy parking decals decrease and the fines for parking illegally to increase.

“That pushes for more proper parking,” he said. “You’re rewarding the people who follow the rules and punishing those who break them.”

A student resident parking decal costs $86 for one academic year and a commuter decal costs $120.

#1.2005508:3747771715.jpeg:PArking Fines To Decrase::Collegian Photo

Football and basketball are two of the many sports commonly known among college students. The Ranger Challenge is a competition that is less known but equally demanding.

Cadets from SDSU’s Army ROTC battalion traveled to Camp Ripley, Minn., and brought home third place in the rigorous multi-event competition on the weekend of Oct. 10.

“It goes back 25 years or longer,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Russel Chavez, the senior military instructor at Army ROTC and coach for the SDSU Ranger Challenge team.

Ranger Challenge gives cadets a chance to compete against seven other schools with a total of 10 teams, said Chavez.

“It was cool to see other cadets in the same boat as you,” said Cadet Jessica Heuser, a freshman nursing major from Glencoe, Minn.

“It gives them pride in the unit,” said Chavez. “It gives them a chance to do something they’ve never done before, events that they normally wouldn’t get the chance to do back here at the unit.”

Ranger Challenge used to be voluntary, said Chavez. Each battalion is now required to have a team because of the pride that it builds in the cadets for their battalion.

“My biggest challenge this year was getting enough consistent people competing for Ranger Challenge,” said Chavez. “It takes so much dedication to do it at the beginning of the year.”

Cadets began training several months before Ranger Challenge.

Getting ready for the competition was not an easy task, said Hueser. The team met at 6:15 a.m. five days a week and worked out for an hour and half. Training consisted of various exercises, including long distance running, abdominal exercises and endurance exercises.

“We really try to facilitate the cadets doing everything,” said Chavez. “The captain of the team makes up the training schedule, he does a risk assessment, and I approve it.”

Participants of the Ranger Challenge left for Camp Ripley on Oct. 10, said Andrew A. Berreth, a fifth-year civil engineering student from Pierre, S.D., and five-year veteran of the Ranger Challenge.

The morning of Oct. 11 started at 3:45 a.m. with a physical fitness test.

The Army Physical Fitness test consists of two minutes of push-ups, two minutes of sit-ups and a two-mile run, said Berreth.

After the physical fitness test, the challenge includes events like land navigation, said Berreth. Other events are one-rope bridge – where cadets have to cross a space with a single rope – a patrolling exercise and rifle marksmanship. The competition ended with a 10-kilometer road march.

“We actually won the patrolling event,” said Chavez. “We also came in second in basic rifle marksmanship and third in one-rope bridge.”

“It was mentally challenging, keeping yourself going,” said Heuser. “Especially on the 10k road march.”

At the end of the weekend, the cadets returned to Brookings with a feeling of accomplishment.

“This year’s successes felt better than the last four years,” said Berreth.

“We’ve practiced since day one of school,” said Heuser. “It’s rewarding to see the outcome of it.”

#1.882330:1436917980.jpg:Ranger.COURTESY.CMYK.jpg:Members of SDSU’s Army ROTC battalion competed in the Weapons Qualification event at Camp Ripley, Minn. Cadets are given M-16 rifles and shoot at paper targets. The more targets they hit, the more points.:Courtesy Photo from Martin Skovly