After graduation, many SDSU graduates go off into the world in search of their careers. Some cadets from the Army and Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps, however, attain a career right after graduating.

Six Army cadets will be commissioned into the U.S. Army as second lieutenants on May 8 and seven Air Force cadets will be commissioned into the U.S. Air Force, also as second lieutenants, on May 9.

“Time and time again these cadets have exhibited tremendous leadership growth and maturity, which will be catalysts to success as future Air Force officers,” said Lt. Col. Dana “Pete” Nielsen, Air Force ROTC Commander. “One aspect that really sticks out for me is the fulfillment of excellence in all they do, or in this case, have done.They’ve dedicated an exhaustive amount of time and energy to the community, academics and military training.”

Cadet Maj. Chris Richardson, AFRTOC, said he is excited to be commissioning into the Air Force.

“It’s a goal I’ve worked at for a long time, and I’m glad it’s finally here,” said Richardson, an economics major.

“We all worked hard to get where we are,” said AFROTC Cadet 1st Lt. Steve Benthal. “This is one of the biggest accomplishments of our lives, and I’m proud of every single one of [these cadets],”

“Being an officer [in the military] calls you to live your life a little differently than most,” said Richardson. “When I hear the National Anthem played at a football or basketball game, I am reminded that we are going to be part of something bigger than ourselves and are committing our lives to protecting the American way of life.”

“Receiving a commission is a very honorable event,” Cassandra Kotten, an Army ROTC cadet and biology major.

Although receiving her nursing degree this August and being a part of SDSU’s honor society is exciting, Kotten said her proudest moment will be receiving her commission.

“We have grown professionally in the past couple of years. Some of us entered the program as very timid individuals and now we are all strong, determined leaders,” said Kotten.

“As a prior enlisted soldier I can see the quality of the individual when wearing the uniform and I can honestly say my cohorts are all individuals who possess the character, knowledge and skills to be officers in the United States Army,” said Cadet Lucas Schiebe, AROTC, regarding fellow commissioning cadets.

Many of the cadets said they are nervous to adapt to a military career.

“It seems like just yesterday we were starting out as little college freshmen, all nervous and not knowing what to expect,” said Cadet Cpt. Meggan Jacobsma, AFROTC. “I am most nervous about entering the real world. In a way, you enter it a little bit like coming to college ? but you really do not get the full effect I think until after college,” said Jacobsma.

Confident in her fellow cadets, Jacobsma said, “I think now we are ready to conquer what is ahead of us.”

Being a fifth-year mechanical engineering student, Benthal is reluctant to leave the college life but is excited to start a new career as an Air Force engineer.

“I will be sad to leave SDSU because it has been an awesome ride,” said Richardson. “Becoming a Jackrabbit is one of the best things I have ever done.”

The basement of Hilton M. Briggs Library is getting an overhaul, as the more than 2,000-square-foot area will be renovated to hold the extensive Daschle collection.

“This center will be open to SDSU students as well as the Brookings public,” said Bob Burns, coordinator of the collection efforts. “The center is a great opportunity for students and the public.”

In December of 2004, a large collection of former Sen. Daschle memorabilia was donated to SDSU. Burns said that since the accumulation of over 20,000 photographs and over 600 boxes of numerous journals and congressional documents were donated, they have been stored in the Lincoln Music Hall.

“After 18 years as a South Dakota senator, [Daschle] has acquired quite a collection,” Burns said.

Although the Lincoln Music Hall had sufficient storage due to its earlier years as the SDSU library, the structure was not the best fit for the Daschle Center.

“It does not provide ready access for researchers and access to frequently used materials,” said Dean Kattelmann, assistant vice president of facilities and services.

According to the Facility Program Plan, the plans include shelving most materials in the basement and some on the second floor. The plan also includes new moveable shelving to increase the accessibility of the material and calls for the existing archival preparation area, storage area and reading areas to be expanded.

The floor plan shows separate collection and reading rooms, which will provide adequate space for individual or group work.

“The collection will be available for research in these new rooms,” said Burns.

A federal grant will pay for the Daschle Center renovations, Kattelmann said. This grant was approved by the Board of Regents at the April 2 meeting.

The expected $900,000 renovation is scheduled to start this summer and will probably be done by fall 2009. Just over half the budget will go to the second-floor remodel due to storage needs and construction damage. A little less than one-third of the budget will go to the new shelving and design costs. The rest will go towards the remaining construction of the basement level.

Burns and Kattelmann both agree these renovations will be an excellent addition to the campus.

“[The center for the Daschle collection] is good to allow research to be done,” Kattelmann said.

“It’s going to be interesting; I’m excited,” said Paula Schmidt, a freshman pre-nursing major. “I know of his health care position and voting record on the subject. That’s about it, but I’d love to learn more.”

As a pre-nursing major, Schmidt said that Daschle’s views on health care were and still are important for her to know about and to be familiar with. Schmidt said she would read the journals and the congressional papers to get further ideas on how he affected the medical world.

“Looking at all those pictures would be fun, too,” she said.

Total Nonstop Action is pinned down at the Swiftel Center on March 26.

Jenny Hammrich, director of sales and marketing at the Swiftel Center, said this is the first time TNA will be in Brookings. Those familiar with TNA Live on iMPACT through Spike TV can look forward to seeing the stars of TNA, including “King of the Mountain” Jeff Jarrett, Team 3D and “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles.

TNA Wrestling is similar to World Wrestling Entertainment or WWE. The TNA crowd can look forward to flips off the cage, the wrestlers slamming into their opponents and signature finale moves. These onlookers also get the added enjoyment of props; wrestlers like Styles are known to use props, such as tables and bats during some of their matches.

There will also be tag-team matches, or teams of two in which one wrestler will fight an opponent from the other team and can then tag their partner and hand over the remaining match.

“It sounds fun, but I would rather watch it on TV,” said Austin Watkins, a sophomore aviation major. “It isn’t something that interests me enough to spend all that money on.”

Tickets are being sold at the Swiftel box office or on ticketmaster.com. Tickets run from $51.50, $36.50 and $21.50, depending on the location of the seats; the $51.50 seats have already sold out.

“If I had the money, I would go,” said Kiley Rosendahl, freshman mathematics major. “With the rising cost of gas and common necessary items, I just don’t have the money to spend on those fights. Brookings isn’t the biggest town ? [I'm] glad we are starting to get big-town events here.”

Tthere are student and military discounts for those who bring student IDs and active or dependent IDs, respectively. Only the tickets sold at the Swiftel Box Office are subject to the military and student discounts. The Swiftel Box Office is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.