On Feb. 28, Nasrine Gross delivered a lecture entitled “Afghan Women after the Taliban: Liberated or Terrified?”

The event was part of the Harding Distinguished Lecture Series. Gross’s lecture featured three main topics: the history of women in Afghanistan, the current situation of the Taliban and the persistent and re-emerging problems facing Afghan society.

Afghanistan has been a country rife with conflict, and from 1978 to 1992, there was a period of wartime known as the “Jihad Period.” By 1992, the country seemed to enter a stage of peace and stability. For the next four years, women were more active in the Afghan culture than ever before, with many attending secondary school and also going on to universities. Some women started adopting liberal practices such as donning less restrictive clothing, wearing stylish shoes and painting their nails. By 1996, the Taliban took hold, and these practices were abandoned.

“It was as if women were made outlaws in their own country,” said Gross. “They forced us to wear the chador, prohibited us from wearing white socks, shoes that made noise, makeup of any kind or any nail polish.”

In addition to the harsh dress code, women were forbidden to go to school, and families were forced to marry their daughters to members of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The Taliban claimed to be a religious sect of Islam, but their only real goal was gaining social control, said Gross.

The events following Sept. 11, 2001, led to the fall of the Taliban. Two short months after 9/11, a newly written constitution was ratified in Afghanistan. Although they now have the right to vote, the majority of Afghanistan’s people are illiterate. “Adults are the voters, and if they can’t read, who’s to say that it’s even a democracy,” said Gross.

The numerous changes created very high expectations, and they were not all met. This led to some panic and backlash among the people, reinforcing thoughts that society must remain conservative and bound to the old ways. Thus, the Taliban has been resurrected and is making a comeback.

Members of this organization are burning schools, intimidating families, killing young soldiers – and as a result, are creating more widows and orphans. Afghan women are terrified of the return to a state of war and a future that they are not sure of.

“My country in the next generation will also have illiterate women. It is true that girls’ enrollment in school is up 30 percent, but 96 percent will drop out before sixth grade ? Change is needed, now. My people are ready for change,” said Gross.

Thomas Stenvig, who is on the Harding Distinguished Lecture Series committee, said the lecture raised awareness of the political and educational repression in Afghanistan. The committee partnered with the South Dakota Council on World Affairs (SDCWA) to co-sponsor the event.

By next year, the electrical engineering and computer science departments will have a new building to call their own.

The new facility, called Harding Hall South, will encompass three departments: electrical engineering, software engineering and computer science. The new building has been taking shape since its groundbreaking in July 2007 and is expected to be complete February 2009.

Dennis Helder, head of the electrical engineering department, said he is looking forward to the day when he can give tours of the state-of-the-art facility to prospective students. Harding Hall South will feature laboratories and classrooms as well as new offices to accommodate faculty.

Lack of space is the main reason that the electrical and software engineering departments currently occupy four different buildings on campus: Harding, Crothers, Solberg and the administration building. Helder said another issue is that, “Harding has no electrical capacity for an air conditioning system. Without proper ventilation, computer labs can’t be kept cool. That’s the reason that the computer science department is scattered around several departments.”

According to Professor Steven Hietpas, “Harding Hall was originally a student dormitory, and the spaces are not designed to be used for electronics laboratories.”

Aric Lowe, a junior electrical engineering major, agreed that a newer facility is long overdue. “The environment feels primitive, we don’t have a good place to work,” he said.

Kelly Behnken, a sophomore electrical engineering major, said she is tired of the current restrooms in Harding Hall. “Being that it used to be a men’s dorm, there are only two women’s restrooms in the entire building. The one upstairs is a joke; it has four sinks, one toilet and a filthy couch.”

Dean of Engineering Lewis Brown pointed out that the current building reflects a poor image to the public. “The current facility presents visiting students and parents with a grim reality: SDSU’s ‘high tech’ programs are using out-of-date facilities. This makes it difficult to recruit the best students for our program.”

Harding Hall South will consist of four floors. The first level includes various state-of-the-art laboratories such as an electrochemistry lab, a characterization lab and a nanoelectronics clean room lab.

The second floor will house the software engineering and computer science department. It will have classrooms, general purpose computer labs, an isolated networks lab and a senior design lab.

The third floor will be home to the electrical engineering department. It will contain classrooms, labs, offices, student study rooms and a large faculty conference room.

The fourth floor will be an interface between the university and industry, where business entities can work with faculty and students at SDSU to bring their ideas and concepts to reality. “There may be numerous opportunities for undergraduate and graduate level research within the industry,” Helder said.

Another interesting development within the engineering department is the new Ph.D. program. David Galipeau, the graduate program coordinator, said the Ph.D. program at SDSU is focused on alternative energies and photovoltaics.

“Research in the area of photovoltaics is crucial for humanity,” said Galipeau. “Students in the graduate department are working on various research projects, and the new labs provided by the new facilities will help them in that area.”

He also mentioned the department owns a scanning electron microscope (SEM), as well as an atomic force microscope (AFM). The AFM can magnify images to show them at the molecular level. The new Ph.D. program in electrical engineering at SDSU has set the program apart from all others in the state and region.

“When you think of a profession that has changed our lifestyles in the way that engineering has, you’d like to think that the people creating these high-tech products should be working in the appropriate environment,” Helder said.

The College of Engineering partnered with the SDSU Foundation to gather funds for the project. Tim Reed, the engineering development director at the SDSU Foundation, said that the building would not have been built had it not been for the generosity of SDSU alumni and corporate sponsors. Fundraising for the building is ongoing, as the project still needs an additional $2 million. To make a donation or find out more about the project, contact Reed at the SDSU foundation.

#1.882802:997242082.jpg:harding_hall_SF.jpg:The structure currently known as “Harding Hall South” will house the electrical engineering department. The building sits on the south edge of campus on 8th Street.:Stephanie Fischer

On Feb. 23, the annual Mr. SDSU competition was held in Doner Auditorium. This year’s winner was Mathew Macziewski, and his charity was the Children’s Miracle Network.

Macziewski is a senior in the pharmacy program at SDSU and president of the Gamma Kappa Chapter of Kappa Psi, a pharmacy fraternity.

Second runner-up went to Tyler Fruechte, a freshman agricultural engineering major. First runner-up went to Tim Goldammer, a sophomore majoring in hotel and food service management. Other contestants were: Stuart Anderson, a senior majoring in Spanish and biology; Brian Diede, a sophomore pre-med major; and Brad Farrell, a freshman agronomy major.

This event, presented by the Residence Hall Association (RHA), started nine years ago to provide a fun competition that also supports charity. All the funds collected from the event go to the winner’s charity of choice. A panel of judges evaluated the contestants based on pre-interview questions, a lip sync performance, SDSU spirit demonstration, a formal wear competition and stage questions.

After being crowned, Macziewski said he was very happy to be chosen as Mr. SDSU and that the event raised so much money for charity. “This moment has got to be one of my greatest memories of being a Jackrabbit,” said Macziewski, who was also recognized as “Mr. Congeniality.”

Brady Mallory and Kyle Jameson were the emcees of Mr. SDSU 2008. The event started out with the lip sync competition. Macziewski performed “Milk and Cereal,” in which he brought a table of props, including: a gallon of milk, eight different kinds of cereal, a large bowl and spoon and two large muffins. Not only did he eat the cereal and milk, but he also threw the muffins into the audience. Next in line was Anderson, who danced to the techno hit “Call on Me” and gave the audience an up close and personal view of his moves. Fruechte followed, serenading the audience with Frank Sinatra’s rendition of “Love.” Goldammer performed the Big and Rich song “Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy.” He looked the part of a cowboy, and his act was all the more convincing when he tossed one hundred dollar bills to the audience.

Highlights of the spirit competition were Anderson’s baton twirling, Diede’s original SDSU poem and Macziewski’s comedy routine. The routine featured jokes such as, “If forty degrees means it’s t-shirt and shorts weather, then you might be a Jackrabbit,” and, “If your girlfriend likes to hunt more than you do, you might be a Jackrabbit.”

The formal wear segment of the competition was next. The panel of judges evaluated each contestant based on his style and presentation. The contestants described their charities for the audience, and then the emcees asked each contestant a couple of questions. The judges gave scores on a 1-10 scale, 1 being low and 10 being high.

The panel of judges included: Adam Karnopp, Mike Stickels, Misty Archer, Alex Brown and Kelsey Wuttke.

Instead of harvesting fields of corn for ethanol, farmers may be harvesting switchgrass in years to come; but will a shift from corn to switchgrass affect regional weather patterns?

To answer that question, SDSU researchers are working on a three-year project with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center and the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. The project-funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)-will model potential effects of switchgrass production under different scenarios.

Geoffrey Henebry and Michael Wimberly are leading the project. Henebry and Wimberly are SDSU professors and scientists at the Geographic Information Science Center of Excellence (GIScCE) on campus. Henebry is a member of NASA’s Land Use Land Cover Change Science Team and is a specialist in the field of ecological remote sensing. Wimberly is developing geospatial models for the project from the satellite imagery provided by EROS.

A project of this nature uses an “alternative futuring” approach. In alternative futuring, satellite images on the current landscape help predict the outcome of the landscape in a number of plausible scenarios.

“Satellite research makes it feasible to cover an entire region with data and allows us to see the world at a completely different level,” said Wimberly. “The process is not as humanized, which allows us to see the bigger picture, not just what could happen on a smaller scale.”

Data for the project will come from sites located in South Dakota, North Dakota, Nebraska, western Minnesota and northwestern Iowa. Not all of the data can be collected via satellites; some fieldwork will be necessary. Thomas Schumacher of the SDSU plant science department will be leading the fieldwork effort. “Sites have been identified, and we will undergo the fieldwork as soon as weather permits,” he said.

Schumacher, a specialist in soil biophysics, said switchgrass may be better than corn, because energy derived from it is more environmentally friendly. In comparison with corn-based ethanol, the switchgrass cellulosic ethanol has an even higher energy output ratio. “It’s a great alternative to corn, but as of yet, no one has come up with a commercially viable way to produce cellulosic ethanol,” said Schumacher.

The cultivation of switchgrass may affect the water exchange in the soil, which in turn could alter the weather. The project utilizes an “evapotranspiration” model developed by GIScCE senior scientist Gabriel Senay. The model measures evaporation from the plant and the movement of water from the roots through the leaves.

“The satellite images are our map,” Wimberly said. “Right now it is too soon in the project to make assumptions. We use the current models and field data and introduce new conditions to them. That is the basis for our projections.”

The risk of wildfire is another focus of the research. “Farm machinery could easily ignite a fire in the midst of the dried-out fields,” Wimberly said. “Grassland fires are more dangerous to people than forest fires. There’s no wood to burn, so the fire moves incredibly fast over the prairie. ? These hazards need to be identified now, so that we can start figuring out how to mitigate them.”

In addition to the GIScCE and the plant science department, the team of SDSU departments includes: biology/microbiology, agricultural and biosystems engineering and the geography department. The research team will need help collecting data, so students may be able to contribute to the project. Part-time positions will be available this spring and summer. For more information about the project, contact Henebry at Geoffrey.Henebry@sdstate.edu.

Engineering professors Alfred and Madeleine Andrawis will lead an upcoming tour of “Modern and Historic Egypt” May 12- 30.

Along with the SDSU community, this year’s tour offers a great opportunity to another audience: the public. Interested SDSU students, faculty and Brookings community members are encouraged to participate.

Both professors received their bachelor’s degrees at Alexandria University in Egypt, and each have a Doctorate in the field of electrical engineering. After coming to SDSU, they wanted to give others a glimpse of where they came from.

“It’s such a pleasure to share the culture of our old country with the people of our new country,” said Madeleine Adrawis.

The professors led their first tour to Egypt in 2002. It was given to SDSU faculty members. Students have been a part of the tour ever since 2003.

A presentation featuring photos, commentary and a short film took place in the Brookings Public Library on Jan. 28.

Madeleine Andrawis began the presentation detailing the background of the Egyptian gods and how they influenced daily life.

The belief in life after death was a major concept, which led to the age of the mummies and the construction of pyramids. Those who are part of the tour caravan will see the mummies and pyramids in Cairo, which is the site of the Sphinx, as well as the world famous Giza Pyramids.

For the second half of the program, Alfred Andrawis spoke about modern day life and what tourists can expect in Egypt today. He mentioned that Egypt has the same three branches of government as the U.S.-executive, judicial and legislative-and a Parliament. The current president of Egypt, Hosni Mubarak, has been in office for 26 years. Mubarak won re-election in 2005 with 88 percent of the vote.

Although a democratic state, Egypt is home to palaces, some still used by royalty today. The group will stay in a four star hotel that is on the grounds of King Farouk’s palace.

Riding camels, sailing on the Nile River and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea are all planned activities on the tentative tour schedule. Participants will also visit Elephantine Island and spend a day walking and sightseeing in the botanical gardens. An entire day is devoted to shopping for souvenirs and exploring the area.

The professors feel that interested SDSU students should take advantage of this opportunity to travel.

“I’ve noticed that students excited from experiencing an entirely different culture from their own have more confidence in many things, especially international travel,” said Alfred Andrawis.

For more information regarding the cost of the tour and the itinerary, contact Madeleine Andrawis at madeleine.andrawis@sdstate.edu

The South Dakota Council on World Affairs (SDCWA) is sponsoring this trip. The mission of the SDCWA is to generate interest and discussion about international relations and global cultures. All SDSU students are welcome to become members, and for a small membership fee of $5, they can receive emails about the upcoming guests and speakers, as well as social events. The SDCWA may be particularly helpful for those majoring in global studies looking for international contacts. For more information about the SDCWA, contact Harriet Swedlund at harriet.swedlund@sdstate.edu.

SDSU students warm up their dice and gather their Magic and Dragons to head to the Dungeons in preparation for game day.

To bring in the new semester, the South Dakota State University Games Club will be having a game day Feb. 9 in the Black Hills Room of the Student Union. The event will start at 10 a.m. and will go until 10 p.m.

The club invites anyone who wants to meet and compete with other area adventure gamers who play collectible card games, role-playing games, board games, miniatures and computer games.

Some of the games featured at the game day will be: Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, Heroclix, B-17 Queen of the Skies and other role-playing games. David Laffrenzen, the SDSU Games Club president and a junior pre-pharmacy major, said meeting people with the same interests is definitely a perk of being a member.

The SDSU Games Club is a branch of the Midwest Area Gaming Enthusiasts (M.A.G.E.) organization. Jim Lurvey is the games club’s adviser as well as the director of the Brookings chapter of M.A.G.E. Lurvey has kept up his gaming hobby for decades. The fascination that started with toy soldiers in the late 1950s developed into his hobby in college, which was when Lurvey started playing miniatures and strategy adventure games.

First established at SDSU in the 1970s, the games club has faded in and out of popularity through the years. As the adviser, Lurvey has taken an active role to redefine the club and keep it alive. Even now, the SDSU club has sporadic membership and is looking for more interested students to join. The club will be meeting on Feb. 17, as well as every Sunday through April 6, from 12 to 6 p.m. in the Oakwood Room (273) of the Student Union.

The club welcomes first timers as well as veteran gamers. Popular games include Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons and Dragons. The objective of Magic: The Gathering is to build a deck of cards that contains various types of cards that cast different spells. Casting spells allows a player to gain dominance over an adversary by taking away all his life points. Dungeons and Dragons is a role-playing fantasy game that entails acting, storytelling and social interaction. Players create heroic fantasy characters (such as mighty warriors, stealthy rogues or powerful wizards) which players try to develop and grow with each adventure completed. One person is the Dungeon Master, who controls the monsters and enemies, narrates the action, referees the game and sets up the adventure.

There are no dues required for the club. Students should just come to a meeting and be ready to get their game on. For more information on the SDSU Games Club or M.A.G.E., contact Jim Lurvey at james.lurvey@sdstate.edu.

According to SDSU’s freshman Kristin Rotert, the game plan for the women’s basketball team against Southern Utah on Jan. 19 was to “play hard, have confidence on offense and make the play when the opportunity’s there.”

The Jacks did that and much more as the more experienced Jackrabbits beat the Thunderbirds 76-35 in Summit League play.

Junior Maria Boever used back-to-back lay-ups in early first half action, ending the first half with eight points to place the Jacks up 48 to 19. The Jacks’ tough defense put the Thunderbirds offense in distress for the majority of the first half as SUU committed 16 turnovers in the first half. SDSU ended the first half 19-of-32 from the field for 59 percent. SUU had made only 8-of-18 at the half, for 44 percent.

While Southern Utah (3-14 overall record, 1-5) made adjustments to their defense, SDSU continued to dominate throughout the second half. By the end of the first three minutes of the second half, the Lady Jackrabbits expanded their lead to 31 points (52-31).

When the game ended, the 41-point margin of victory was the largest by an SDSU squad since a 103-51 victory over IPFW on Feb. 10, 2007. SDSU finished the game 31-of-65 from the field, 47.7 percent, including 8-of-24 from three-point range. The Jacks made 6 of 12 free throws.

Southern Utah ended the game with 14-of-37 from the field, 37.8 percent, including 2-of-6 on three-pointers. The Thunderbirds made 5 of 9 free throw attempts. SUU had a season high of 32 turnovers.

Rotert led the Jacks (12-6 overall, 5-2 Summit League) in scoring with 15 points. She also set the SDSU record for three pointers in one season by a freshman with 44. The previous school record for three-pointers in a season was 41 by Sherri Brende during the 1997-98 season.

“I honestly had no idea I was breaking a record,” Rotert said. “The season has been awesome, and it is such a great opportunity to play for SDSU.”

Boever was second leading scorer for SDSU with 14 points. Ketty Cornemann and Stacie Oistad contributed 12 points each. Jenn Schuttloffel led the Jacks in rebounding with six, while Southern Utah’s Challis Pascucci snagged eight. Leading scorers for the Thunderbirds were Anne Westwood and Aubrey Mackintosh, each with 8 points.

Overall, 13 of SDSU’s players saw court action, as 10 players logged 10-plus minutes of playing time.

The Jacks continue to pile up the wins at home. SDSU joins Hartford and Wyoming with the fifth-longest active home-court winning streak in NCAA Division I basketball. SUU dropped to 3-14 overall record, and are only 1-5 in Summit league play.

Up next for the Jackrabbits is North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. at 7 p.m. on Jan.25.

In the last couple of years, a higher number of graduates are taking first-time jobs in South Dakota. In fact, the South Dakota Labor Market found that in 2005, 68 percent of the 1,385 SDSU graduates seeking employment accepted positions here in the state. Also, one-third (22 percent) of those graduates were employed locally.

This is good news for the local business industry, but whether or not the trend will continue is the real question. The Brookings Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) has started looking at ways to research this issue. The BEDC board of directors consists of members that are employed by the city, county and local businesses, as well as the university. Al Heuton, the executive director of the BEDC, says its mission “is to build an economy that supports the community’s vision of a quality place to live, work and play.”

Getting businesses to come to Brookings can prove to be challenging, especially considering the proximity of the town to Sioux Falls. “Since Sioux Falls has many of the larger retailers, right now the BEDC is focused on getting some of the smaller niche-type retail stores to come to Brookings,” Heuton said. “Adding more fine dining options would be beneficial to the community, as well.”

Al Heuton also mentioned the business opportunities generated by the development of the up-and-coming Innovation Campus research park. “The advantage provided by the innovation campus will be a chance for businesses to collaborate with SDSU through research and development,” he said.

Another great resource for entrepreneurs is the Enterprise institute. “The Enterprise institute is basically a business incubator,” Heuton said. “Entrepreneurs are given their own space and they are allowed to turn it into their own company.”

If more graduates are going to try to find employment in the community, they will need a permanent place to live. “Brookings needs to have more rental options for the increasing student population,” Heuton said. “Townhouses may be another route for the younger buyers looking for a nicer place but who are unable to afford the high cost of a house.”

Heuton noted that to compensate for the lack of housing, Brookings has been adding 120 new housing units into the community every year since 1992. Still, the problem of a zero percent vacancy exists.

Kari Westlund of Best Choice Realty discussed the housing market in Brookings. “On the national market, the average time it takes to sell a house is six months,” she said. “Houses in Brookings and the surrounding areas may only be posted for several days to a week before being sold.”

Westlund also said she has seen a couple of SDSU grads that are buying homes for $130,000. “Even if they only live here for three or four years after buying, the market is such that they are most likely going to be able to sell without losing what was put into it at the time of purchase,” Westlund said.

According to George Langelett, an economics professor at SDSU, the reason for the excellent housing market in Brookings is because the demand for it is greater than the supply. Supply is not keeping up; thus we see the cost of housing escalating. If we can provide more housing, he said, it may be easier for an SDSU graduate to afford.

SDSU students are told, “You can go anywhere from here.” The slogan rings true for the most part, but “anywhere” depends on a variety of factors. Graduates want an ideal locality, one that offers competitive salaries, affordable housing, a sense of economic security and a welcoming atmosphere. The BEDC is working to make Brookings a community that can offer what college graduates are looking for.

Interestingly enough, 41 percent of the 62,777 living alumni are currently living in South Dakota. Apparently ending up in the state is not such an issue. Starting a career here is. If Brookings can continue its economic growth, maybe graduates will not have to look “anywhere;” they could look in the state.

#1.882998:703925523.jpg:economicdevelopmentdudeMG.jpg:Al Heuton, excecutive director of Brookings Economic Development.:Mike Goetz

SDSU professors, students and Brookings community members gathered on Dec. 3 to hear Korean exchange professor Dr. Kye-Chung Song speak on the Asian perspective of the globalization of American firms.

Song specifically discussed the failure of Wal-Mart in Korea and contrasted it to the success and economic growth experienced by the Korean division of GM.

At the opening of his presentation, Song spoke about the roles of economic globalization and glocalization. He defined globalization as “the trend of companies expanding across the world” and glocalization as “the process of adapting a product specifically to each locality that it is marketing.” An example of globalization is the presence of McDonald’s restaurants worldwide; the addition of fried rice to the menu is an example of McDonald’s glocalization process.

As a professor in the department of business administration at Chungham National University, Song has come to SDSU with a great deal of knowledge and expertise concerning the business world.

Throughout his academic career, he has acquired two Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degrees, as well as a doctorate in the specific disciplines of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management. In other words, he knows a fair amount about managing people.

Ineffective people management, Song said, contributed to Wal-Mart’s downfall in Korea. First of all, most of the Korean department stores have centralized locations downtown in areas easily accessible by subway. Wal-Mart has built facilities in remote locations. It is just not convenient. Wal-Mart’s grocery shelves stock frozen fish rather than the fresh fish preferred for the Asian diet. The store’s design was not altered to accommodate the average Korean’s height; therefore, the shelves and displays are higher than in the other stores.

Also, the brick and tile interior does not provide any sense of wealth or status, important points of Korean culture. Song explained that most of Korea’s people are affluent enough to be able to pay higher prices than what Wal-Mart advertises. As a result, a low price equals low quality association exists. For them, Wal-Mart is a step down in quality.

According to Song, a big part of Wal-Mart’s problems started with the fact that the corporate headquarters are in the U.S.A., and there was a lack of communication between them and the Korean division.

Former SDSU economics professor Han J. Kim, also of Korea, attended the presentation. “Good communication at all management levels is key,” Kim said. “If American firms want to become successful in terms of globalization, they need to figure out how to incorporate the overseas branch into their headquarters,” he said.

Also, executives failed to research the potential in the Korean market for a discount department store like the one in the U.S. that enabled Wal-Mart to become a household name. When Wal-Mart arrived, proper attention was not given to promoting the store.

“I think if American companies are going overseas, they should do their homework first,” Kim said.

Among the various student clubs at SDSU, one club caters to those interested in the extreme: the SDSU Skydiving Club.

This club is for those who want the thrill of jumping out of an airplane, freefalling and surfing the clouds while parachuting. The club’s adviser is SDSU faculty member Warren Hovland, who has made 1,750 jumps.

“There was a skydiving club back in the 70s, but eventually it just faded away,” Hovland said. “It was resurrected about 7 years ago.”

All jumps take place at Skydive Adventures in Luverne, Minn. Skydive Adventures is a member of the United States Parachute Association and is a non-profit organization that is geared toward promoting the sport of skydiving.

The drop zone for each jump is on the Quentin Aanenson Airfield.

Kevin Kracht works for Skydive Adventures as a static line instructor, tandem instructor, senior rigger and coach. Kracht has made 775 jumps and has only had to use his reserve parachute twice. “Everybody should try it at least once,” he said.

On Oct. 13, SDSU students participated in the first jump of the 2007 semester. SDSU senior Scott Larson was one of the 12 students who jumped. Larson is dual majoring in agricultural business and animal science. According to Larson, the main motivation for him was that skydiving is on his list of things to do in his lifetime. After jumping, Larson said the best part of the experience was “definitely the rush during freefall.”

Mikala Merxbauer also jumped for the first time. Merxbauer is a freshmen pre-med student here at SDSU. She said that the best part of the experience was “the rush, and actually fulfilling the dream of skydiving.”

Before jumping, students must take a class featuring lecture and practical instruction, which lasts about six hours. For the first four jumps, students perform a static line jump, in which the parachute is opened automatically from an altitude of 3,500 feet. By the end of their first four jumps, the students have learned how to pack their own parachute, as well as how to pull the ripcord. At this point, students are allowed to progress to freefall jumping, in which they must pull the ripcord themselves.

Skydive Adventures offers skydiving experience at an affordable price. The first static line jump is $150, which includes the class, as well as equipment rental. The next three jumps are $50 each, but once a student progresses to freefall, jumps only cost $30 each.

Most of the SDSU students who jumped on Oct. 13 say they want to do it again. SDSU freshman Cortney Livingston is among those who can’t wait to jump again. She is majoring in athletic training and is in the pre-physical therapy program. According to Livingston, “It’s just a matter of getting up the guts to do it.”

For more information about the club, contact Warren Hovland via email at warren_hovland@sdstate.edu, or join the group SDSU Skydiving Club on Facebook for pictures, club officer information and upcoming jump dates.