As wedding season comes upon us (and, might I add, with a vengeance), it is very important to remember your manners. Regardless of the wedding event – bridal shower, bachelor or bachelorette parties, and especially the blessed event itself – respecting the RSVP is essential in maintaining the sanity and graciousness of the host.

I will admit, I don’t have a clean record on this issue, but after chaos (and, in my eyes, some comedy) ensued with an event I hosted recently, I will forever respondez, s’il vous plait as requested.

My younger sister is getting married this summer, so, as her maid-of-honor, I took it upon myself to organize one of her bridal showers. I sent out adorable handmade invitations five weeks before the party with an RSVP deadline of three weeks later – plenty of time to check one’s schedule and fire off a quick e-mail. When the RSVP date was imminent and only one of the guests – and she was neither the mother of the bride or groom – had responded, my bride sort of freaked out and asked me (at 6 a.m.) to cancel the party.

Keep in mind, I had already spent two months of my own precious time coming up with a theme, guest list, making the invitations people apparently hadn’t fully read, and so on. The last thing I wanted to do was give up. Instead, I made contact. Through text messages, phone calls and friends in common, I eventually got answers from everyone. It didn’t stop the bride from interrogating me on a daily basis, wanting to know exactly how many people were coming.

In the end, all but a handful of people made it to the party and appeared to enjoy themselves, as did I after a few non-RSVP-related mishaps. It would have been more fun for the bridal party if everyone had followed the clearly typed instructions on the invitation. With any party, having a head count is essential. The host needs to know exactly how many people will show up because snacks, spirits and souvenirs all cost money and require a certain amount of time to plan and produce. If you can’t make it, let the host know as soon as you know (and preferably before the RSVP date) so he or she can save some time and money.

Basically, it comes down to the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” If you were hosting a similar event, wouldn’t you want the guests to take the few minutes of their time that would save you potentially hours of work and stress?

Hey, guys – have you figured out who Edward Cullen is yet?

He’s a whole lot more than some vampire in one of the most popular book series since Harry Potter – he’s the man of your girlfriend’s dreams. Unless you’re the world’s greatest boyfriend (and you’re not; Edward is) you need to keep reading. Your relationship (or hope of ever having one) may be on the line after Twilight hits theaters on Friday.

Women of all ages are nuts about Edward for one reason: he’s a way better man than any of you are. He’s attractive, intelligent, and dangerous – characteristics most of you share (although, not necessarily all of them). What separates him from any actual person is his sense of honor, chivalry, composure and self-control.

Don’t fret yet – it’s definitely not too late for you. With a lot more work than you’ll probably want to do, you may be able to outshine Edward (at least in your girlfriend’s eyes).

Like developing your intellect, you can only develop your inner-Edward by reading the book. There aren’t any Cliff notes for Twilight, and at no point in the history of literature has the movie ever been better than the book (although that won’t stop me from sitting in a crowded theater as soon as I get the chance). Thoroughly study the chapters Bella seems to swoon in the most. What did Edward do? What beautiful thing did he say?

Take notes and incorporate those higher standards into your own life and relationship every chance you get. Telling your girlfriend she’s hot just won’t cut it after Friday. Edward would appeal to more than her sense of vanity; he would tell her she is beautiful, subtly implying he is attracted to more than the physically tangible.

The next time you think about asking her to do something for you, like your laundry or your cooking, stop yourself and quietly do something for her instead. Edward wrote and recorded Bella a CD of songs inspired by her presence in his life. You’ll automatically stand out from every single one of your friends and from most of the guys on campus. Any time you start to do something that’s pissed the woman in your life off before, ask yourself, “What would Edward do?”

It’s okay to learn how to be a great man from a fictional character. You certainly don’t have many actual role models in today’s culture. But there’s no need to settle for allowing the women in your life to settle. Books are full of great men. Mr. Darcy, Romeo, Edmond Dantes, Mr. Knightly, Theodore Lawrence and Edward Rochester are all worth admiration, as well.

It’s about time romance made a resurgence in our society. Maybe, just maybe, Edward Cullen can save the world (or at least your relationship).

The heat is back on for most buildings on the southwest side of campus after a steam tunnel was reconnected last week.

David Law, Avera Health and Science Complex project manager, says all but two buildings affected had steam returned by Oct. 20. Only New Shepard Hall and the Intramural Building are still without steam.

Before Oct. 20, Pugsley, Lincoln Music Hall, Crothers Engineering, Harding Hall, Solberg Hall, Old Shepard Hall, New Shepard Hall and the Intramural Building were cut off from a steam tunnel in June in order to connect a new steam pipe to the future Avera Health and Science Complex, which is currently being built.

“It’s not that everything didn’t have heat, they just didn’t have steam,” says Law.

Law says the original completion date for the steam tunnel project was Oct. 1, before heat would be necessary. He says there were several reasons the project fell behind schedule, including new tunnel excavation for the new health and science complex, complicated installation of the pipes, which involved creating some components to join the new pipe with existing pipe, and the overall complexity of the project.

“We knew going in that this was an extremely aggressive schedule; however, it was our target knowing very well what October in South Dakota can bring,” says Law. “We can experience temps anywhere from the 70s down to the low 30s, and unfortunately this year, we have had quite a string of the latter.”

Precipitation was also a factor, according to Law.

“Had it not been for last week’s rain, we may have had steam back to New Shepard Hall by the end of last week,” says Law.

Law says the buildings without steam did not have temporary heat sources in place.

He says it would have taken more time to reconnect the steam tunnel if he had to pull people off the project to install temporary heat because so many buildings were affected.

“By the time we started to receive [cold complaint] calls, we were getting very close to completion,” says Law.

While it is still steam-free, the Intramural Building is not heat-free. The newly remodeled offices and classrooms on the outside of the building are equipped with electric heat pumps. New Shepard Hall is not as lucky; it is currently without heat. Law says temporary heat was considered for New Shepard, but “the HVAC system pulls in far too much outside air. It would have taken a far greater effort to provide supplemental heat in New Shepard than it was worth.

“If all goes as planned, we expect to have steam back to both New Shepherd Hall and the Intramural Building by the end of this week,” says Law.

Thanks to an increase in bicycle traffic, students will soon have bicycle lanes on some campus streets.

The Students’ Association is working with the Physical Plant to have lane striping and marked signs up “before snow falls” for some and more finished in the spring, according to SA President Chris Daugaard.

But they are not stopping there – SA plans to propose bike lanes within the city of Brookings at the Oct. 14 city council meeting.

However, the lanes off-campus might not appear as quickly as those on campus.

“We would like to see something this fall, but the city process might not move as quickly as we’d like ?They have a lot of other big constructions projects right now,” says Daugaard.

The lanes on SDSU streets have been included in the Physical Plant’s budget, according to Daugaard. He says no student fee dollars will be used for striping or signs.

Safety and flow of traffic have been cited by Daugaard as the main reasons for adding bicycle lanes.

“Right now, it’s tough to tell anyone to get off sidewalks when we haven’t provided them with a safe place to ride,” says Daugaard.

While wheels will not be kept off campus sidewalks entirely, he says for the most part, they will be.

Daugaard warns that because not all streets are created equally in size, some lanes may have to replace on-street parking, but in very limited circumstances.

“We don’t anticipate losing on-campus parking, except maybe three reserved spots near Ag Communications,” says Daugaard.

He says the plan is to put the lanes on busier streets in order to keep as many parking spaces as possible and to keep a steady flow of traffic for everyone getting around on wheels, no matter how many are on the vehicle.

There’s an old saying that says “hindsight is 20/20.” When you look back on your life, you can see with perfect clarity which decisions you made were wrong and which were right. You can see which parts of your life were successful and which were not.

I’ve been reflecting on the past year quite a bit over the past few weeks. I’m not sure if it’s the hint of impending summer or the sense of finale in planning for and creating this last issue, but I can’t help but wonder if I fulfilled all the promises I made to you this past fall.

Looking back, I can see quite clearly what things I would have done differently if I had known everything that I know now. But, regardless of what I might change, I’m still full of hope for what we accomplished this past year.

I hope we informed you; I hope there was at least one story you read this year that you learned something from. (Actually, I hope you learned something from more than one story, but I would be happy with one).

I hope we entertained you, from our coverage of concerts and plays and comedians on campus and in Brookings to The College Connoisseur’s beer column.

I hope we inspired you; I hope that someone we featured, someone’s story we told you, touched you; perhaps it even inspired you to be a better person.

I hope we challenged you to take an active role in the SDSU community, to pay attention to the world around you, to take a stance on issues and attempt to make a difference.

I hope we enlightened you. I hope we covered events and issues that were important to you. I hope we were able to reach out to part of your world and share it with the rest of SDSU.

I hope The Collegian became a part of your weekly routine. I hope The Collegian became a source of news that you can trust to be fair, accurate and credible.

I know this year has been informative, entertaining, inspirational, challenging and enlightening for me. In my wildest dreams, I never thought I would take on a position as demanding as editor-in-chief after such a successful year. Jeremy Fugleberg was a tough act to follow, but I think I held my own. My personal goal for this year was to not screw up all the hard work he and his staff did to make The Collegian what it is, and I hope we were successful. That’s one of those questions hindsight should be able to answer for me.

More than anything, as many times as you’ve had to read the word “hope,” I’m thankful. I’m thankful for my wonderful staff who made my job much easier than it could’ve been. Thanks for not killing each other, guys. I’m thankful for our adviser, Susan Smith, or “The Doctor” as we lovingly call her, for keeping me sane. She was thrown into her role after our first two issues had been published, and I have never been so relieved as I was the day she moved into her office. I’m thankful for Picnicface, the creators of the Powerthirst commercials. If you haven’t watched them yet, quit reading my column (temporarily) and go to collegehumor.com. But what I’m most thankful for is you. We could spend every Tuesday night from now until the end of time producing The Collegian, but it would be for nothing if we didn’t have you.

“South Dakota has the potential to become the Saudi Arabia of wind,” says South Dakota U.S. Sen. John Thune.

With the recent dedication of the MinnDakota Wind Power Project, wind has been a hot topic in South Dakota. The state ranks as the fourth windiest state in the country, according to the American Wind Energy Association, and investors are looking at building more wind farms in the state. Most are from foreign countries, like Spain, but Thune wants to see more domestic companies invest in South Dakota.

“I would like to see more of these projects owned locally, but either way we get more jobs and other benefits,” says Thune.

He believes the way to generate more interest from American companies is to extend the federal production tax credit. On average, it generates two cents in tax credit for every kilowatt generated, but the credit is scheduled to expire at the end of 2008. According to Thune, the wind farm industry expanded by 45 percent in 2007 because of the tax credit.

“I think we’re going to be losing a lot of projects if this tax credit isn’t extended,” says Thune.

One of the biggest barriers to building wind farms is the lack of transmission lines leaving the state. Thune says he has suggested the creation of a type of interstate highway system for wind energy transportation. Because it costs approximately $1 million to build one mile of transmission lines, Thune wants to create a cost recovery program for investors in order to expedite the process. It had been attached to legislation and was passed in the Senate, but the “clean energy corridor” amendment was removed in the House.

Within South Dakota, there are some opponents to building wind farms. Some of them argued during the 2008 South Dakota Legislative session that turbines take away from the aesthetic beauty of the prairies that cover the state. Thune says that while there will always be some parts of South Dakota that refuse to allow turbines to be built, most of the state will likely be accepting of wind farms because the actual turbine only takes up two percent of the land that energy companies lease from landowners.

“You always have to do this in accordance with local support,” Thune says. “There are thousands upon thousands of acres with nothing in South Dakota where turbines would fit perfectly.”

Thune says wind is not the only answer, though; with gas prices continuing to climb to record levels, he says it is time to “lessen our dependence on foreign oil.” He believes SDSU could play a big part in making the state a leader in alternative energy.

“I think the university is well positioned because of its mission and how these concerns fit in this mission,” says Thune. “I expect they’ll continue to be at the foundation of this debate, the research and the technology.”

SDSU is a Sun Grant institution, which means the university is one of five land-grant universities charged with the task of creating new, efficient biofuels. The ethanol industry is growing, but researchers have recently charged the corn-based fuel as being inefficient. Thune believes switchgrass is another type of energy source South Dakota can become a leader in producing. According to a study done at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, switchgrass produced 540 percent more energy than it took to grow, harvest and process into cellulosic ethanol. Thune believes switchgrass could easily be grown in South Dakota, especially in West River. He also believes South Dakota has many areas-those “thousands of acres of nothing”-where solar panels could be built and efficiently produce energy.

“There are some things we can’t do here, but there are some we can do very well, and I can’t think of a field more ripe than renewable energy,” Thune says.

It is not often that South Dakota’s full congressional delegation comes home for the same event, but Senators Tim Johnson and John Thune and Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin were in Brookings April 21 for the dedication of the MinnDakota Wind Power Project.

All three delegates spoke on the importance of extending the federal production tax credit in order for more wind farms like MinnDakota to be constructed in South Dakota.

“This is a project on a very big scale, and we want to see more like it in South Dakota,” said Thune. “I’m very excited about this project.”

Thune also spoke about the need to create more transition lines. He said that creating a “highway system” should be one of South Dakota’s priorities so the wind power harvested in the state can be used in large cities like Chicago or Minneapolis.

Lt. Gov. Dennis Daugaard agreed that the federal production tax credit needs to be extended, but added that he and Gov. Rounds have been working to improve local policy on wind. Rounds introduced a bill that passed during the 2008 legislative session that offered tax incentives to wind energy developers.

Rounds, who was not in attendance because he was speaking at a Deep Underground Science and Engineering Lab Conference in Lead, issued an executive proclamation declaring the week of April 21 to 28 Wind Energy Week in South Dakota.

Daugaard spoke of the potential economic benefits for South Dakota. He listed lease payments, manufacturing jobs and construction projects as a few of the possibilities for added income to the area. The wind farm is expected to boost the Brookings economy as well, according to Al Heuton, the executive director of the Brookings Economic Development Corporation.

“The MinnDakota project has been a tremendous addition to our new economy development efforts, and our goal is to see a continued expansion of wind energy,” said Heuton.

PPM Energy will be the first tenant in the first building at the SDSU Innovation Campus, which will be located on 125 acres of land between Interstate 29 and North 22nd Avenue. “Companies like PPM will be able to partner with SDSU faculty and researchers and have opportunities to employ SDSU students through internships, assistantships, part-time and full-time employment,” said Teresa McKnight, the CEO and executive director of Innovation Campus.

MinnDakota is the largest wind farm in South Dakota. PPM Energy leased land from 70 landowners, and 100 GE Energy 1.5 MW turbines are spread across 15,000 acres in Brookings County and Lincoln County, Minn. The wind farm will generate approximately 50 megawatts annually in South Dakota and 100 megawatts in Minnesota. PPM Energy estimates the energy produced by the wind farm will be enough to meet the needs of 58,000 homes each year. Xcel Energy is buying the electricity generated by MinnDakota.

#1.882561:3540808895.jpg:windenergyceremony_JN.jpg:U.S. Senator John Thune congratulated PPM Energy on the construction of the largest wind farm in South Dakota at the dedication ceremony in the Volstorff Ballroom on April 21. Thune supported the extention of the federal production tax credit in order to encourage developers to build more wind farms in South Dakota.:

After a day of record-breaking sales, the SDSU Dairy Bar fell victim to theft.

According to Anne Owens, the Dairy Bar manager, someone broke into the Dairy Bar sometime between the evening of April 4, a Friday, and the morning of April 7, a Monday. She said the thief took approximately $2,000-$2,500 in cash from the safe and almost $100 from the student employee tip jar.

“It’s something I never thought would happen,” said Sarah Morrison, a senior dairy manufacturing major. “It’s pretty sad someone would have to rob the Dairy Bar.”

Because the UPD needed to investigate, the Dairy Bar was not open on April 7 until 1:30 p.m. Owens said the Dairy Bar is covered under the university’s theft insurance, but since the money taken was cash, “it’s essentially gone”.

“Everyone wants to know what happened and who did it,” said Morrison.

Owens said that the money was left in the safe over the weekend because the Dairy Bar deposits its money through the cashier’s office, which closes at 4 p.m. while the Dairy Bar closes at 5:30 p.m.

“Our biggest challenge is that we’re open an hour and a half past the cashier’s office,” said Owens.

In order to prevent future thefts, Owens said they are in the process of replacing the door locks and the lock on the safe. Security cameras will be installed, and Owens is working with the university to deposit Dairy Bar money at night instead of in the morning.

“We’re getting back to normal-last week was a tough week,” said Owens.

Morrison said nothing like this has happened in the two years she has worked at the Dairy Bar.

“The main question I have is, why? I just don’t understand,” said Morrison.

Lieutenant Michael Kilber with the UPD said “a number of persons have been interviewed and the investigation is on-going.”

If anyone has any information on the theft, they are asked to call Detective Franz Durdle with the UPD at 688-5117.

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz?

This sound reverberated through the halls at the Alpha Gamma Rho house March 4 when nearly 30 members shaved their heads for another brother.

“We just all talked about it, we all knew about it, so we just all did it,” said Micah Rupp, a senior animal science and agricultural business major.

Steven Resler, a senior agricultural education major and AGR member, found out in January that his sore ankle was actually cancer. Resler said his ankle had been hurting for a couple of years before he finally decided to see a doctor, who thought the pain was caused by calcification of an old injury. The doctor decided to perform a biopsy, which led to the discovery of synovial sarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer that occurs most often in young men, according to the National Cancer Institute.

Resler is currently undergoing chemotherapy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.- which has caused him to lose his hair-and will then go through radiation therapy. He said his doctors did not find any other signs of cancer after they removed the tumor, “so now it’s mostly preventative.” Resler said he has to take a week off from classes every two weeks for his treatment, but he still expects to be able to graduate in December.

Kyle Gustafson, a junior agronomy major, had been part of a group at his high school that shaved their heads in support of a classmate with cancer and decided it was worth doing again for Resler. Gustafson announced his plan at a house meeting while Resler was in Rochester and convinced many other members to join him. The group enlisted Resler’s girlfriend, Jill Pesek, to get Resler out of the house before the March 4 meeting, and then they asked their sister sorority, Sigma Alpha, to help so all 28 heads could be shaved in less than an hour and could surprise him at the meeting.

“He just had this huge grin on his face and started laughing,” said Rupp. “You could tell it really meant a lot to him.”

“It touches you,” said Resler. “I didn’t expect it or think they would. It sure was nice.”

“There’s nothing like supporting a brother-that’s what you’re supposed to do,” said Andy Walker, a senior general agriculture major.

Gustafson said that the guys felt pretty good about helping their brother, but shaving their heads in the middle of winter was a bit chilly.

“It was a really nice day when we shaved our heads, but the next was about 40 degrees. It felt pretty cold,” said Gustafson.

Jerod Matthews, a senior agricultural systems technology major, has no problem with the chill.

“I never thought twice about it. Mine’s going to grow back soon,” said Matthews. “If I was in his position, I would hope people would be that supportive and caring for me.”

The men of AGR have found some benefits to being bald, both emotionally and economically.

“It just kind of shows him that if he needs help-with anything-we’re all here,” said Mike Ollerich, a senior parks management major.

“It’s the least we could do, and it’s a pretty small token of our support,” said Matthews. “It just goes to show we’re not just a social organization, but we’re a brotherhood.”

Rupp said, “This house is going to save a lot of money on shampoo for a few weeks.”

#1.882720:3849627003.jpg:shavedheads_courtesy.jpg:Brittany Nussbaum, president of Sigma Alpha, the sister sorority to Alpha Gamma Rho, shaves AGR member Michael Wagner’s head on March 4. Twenty-eight AGR members shaved their heads in support of AGR member Steven Resler, who was diagnosed with cancer.:

It’s official; Chris Daugaard and Eric Hanson will be leading the student body for the next year.

Daugaard and Hanson defeated Becca Lutz and Brandon Bausch for Students’ Association President and Vice-president 1,037 votes to 748. All candidates for a position on the senate were elected to a seat. The new administration and senators will be sworn in at the meeting on March 10 and will officially take over SA March 17, during spring break.

Daugaard says his first thought after he found out he and Hanson won the election was, “Wow, this is huge.”

Daugaard was pleased by the increase of voters from last year’s elections.

“I was really happy that we more than doubled student turnout, but I don’t think that we can ever be satisfied with the turnout,” says Daugaard.

Daugaard and Hanson say they have already picked up a few projects from the current SA President Alex Brown and Vice-President Chris Schaefer. They also say they have scheduled meetings with members of the university administration, the SDSU Foundation and campus groups. Daugaard says the first goals he wants to tackle are related to technology and Web site development.

Interviews for the SA executive board-administrative assistant, state and local chair and finance chair-are being held this week. Members of the board will be sworn in March 10 with the elected senate.

There are eight at-large seats available. Applications will be in the SA office on March 11 and due back on March 28. At-large petitions are similar to those of elected senators in that 50 signatures are required, but students from all nine colleges can sign any at-large petition. The SA Board of Directors, made up of one elected representative from each college, will then review the applications and ask candidates to be interviewed by the newly elected senate. At-large senators will be sworn in at the beginning of April.