Following the festivities that have made Hobo Week legendary among Jackrabbits, SDSU’s international student community gets ready to showcase their various talents.

Diverse cultures are represented and exotic dishes will be served on International Night, taking place Oct. 25 in the Volstorff Ballroom.

Every year, the International Relations Club hosts the event, which will run from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

“International Night 2009 will be an event to remember. This year is set up differently; we have a better stage appeal, more entertainment and food, different music and more countries represented,” said Omar Hasan, president of the IRC. “Previously, International Night was strongly represented by only a few countries, but we feel it wouldn’t truly be international event if the USA and other countries were excluded.”

This year, students from 50 different countries will be participating in International Night. With the addition of three student groups to the IRC, more cultures can be represented. Joining International Night are the Latin American Student Association, the Black Student Alliance and the African Students’ Association.

In this version of International Night, the IRC also has the support of several sponsors.

International Night offers an array of cultural acts, but it is also an opportunity to try new flavors from different nations.

“Food will be served from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. The main dishes will be made by IRC members and will feature food from China, Nepal, India and the Philippines. This year we will also have dessert made by French and Latino students,” said Him Acharya, International Night food committee member and computer science graduate student. “The idea is to have people taste different foods from around the world in order to experience different cultures.”

The stage at International Night will supply several forms of entertainment, displaying cultures from around the globe.

“There will be performances that are representative of 10 different countries. The stage will come alive with several performances, dances and speeches and will even include a fashion show at the end of the night,” said Hiran Kandala, a chemistry graduate student who is in charge of all the performances for International Night

Lin Lin, International Program Coordinator, said International Night is open to the entire community.

“This event gives everyone a chance to learn and experience different cultures from around the world while interacting with international students,” Lin said. “International Night entertains more than 400 guests each year with cultural cuisine and diversity showcases.”

With the homecoming game and the parade on Saturday and International on Sunday, Lin said she thinks this will definitely give the Hobo Week a big finish.

International Night 2009 is expected to be bigger with more countries represented, several performances and a larger variety of food. The event is an opportunity to experience different cultures while staying on campus. Tickets for the International Night 2009 are being sold in advance at the Multicultural Center located in the Student Union. Students pay $7, adults $10 and children 10 and under pay $5.

#1.881359:1450251438.jpg:japan dance2 .1.jpg:Japanese students practice dancing to Soran Bushi for International Night 2009, to be held Oct. 25 at 6 p.m.:Katie Jones

The eighth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks has come and gone, but SDSU’s Daschle collection possesses memorabilia that will help its students remember that fateful day.

In December 2004, Tom Daschle, a former U.S. senator and 1969 SDSU graduate, gave his congressional career collection to SDSU for political research.

Many of the documents contained in the Daschle Collection include items such as e-mails, papers, videos, photographs, and assorted artifacts. One such “artifact” currently tucked away in the library is the flag that flew over the White House the day of the Sept. 11 attacks.

“The Daschle collection contains around 17,000 e-mails, 30,000 papers, several hundred hours of video clips and items collected throughout Tom Daschle’s political career,” said Steve Van Buren, university archivist and head of special collections at the library.

After receiving the semi truckload of boxes containing the Daschle collection in January 2005, the Hilton M. Briggs Library staff began indexing its content.

Each document in the collection is sorted, revealing information such as social security numbers, is taken out and search terms are identified. The information can be accessed by the public, but the collection is not completely catalogued.

Bob Burns, retired SDSU political science professor and former dean of the Honors College, is a part-time coordinator for the Daschle Center project. Burns is part of the initiative to create the Daschle Center and incorporate it with the Daschle Collection.

“The Daschle Center will be a place for scholars, students and citizens to access Tom Daschle’s political collection,” Burns said.

Another “artifact” comes from the 2001 anthrax attacks after Daschle’s office received a letter containing the deadly substance. Several items were sterilized to kill the anthrax spores and preserved in a shadow box in remembrance of the hazardous day.

The Daschle Collection can be a great research advantage on many levels, said Van Buren.

“The documents contained in the collection, produced by Daschle’s office, demonstrate a political process and provide examples to aid in instruction,” Van Buren said. In his view, the Daschle Center will provide an opportunity for a Faculty Fellowship program supported by the Center’s collection.

In addition, Briggs Library will soon undergo construction for a reading room for the Daschle Center.

The reading room will open in time for the spring semester, said Dean Kattelmann, assistant vice president of facilities and services.

The documents are housed in several areas on campus. But with the future addition of a reading room on the third floor of Briggs Library, the public will be able to access the Daschle Collection.

The future for the Daschle Center and Collection is broad, said Van Buren.

“There has been a demand for the items within the Daschle Collection the minute the stuff hit the door,” he said. “Universities and news organizations want to utilize and visit the center and see what it has to offer.”

And with more items being indexed each day, the Daschle Collection will continually help students, scholars and citizens alike understand the United States’ political process and remember monumental events in this country’s history.

Research Opportunities

The College of Arts and Sciences is offering faculty the opportunity to conduct research involving the investigation of a selected topic area of Tom Daschle’s Congressional Paper Collection.

The proposals are open to any research related to the congressional papers.

Up to four proposals will be accepted with a selection goal of one each from history, political science, journalism and one department at-large.

Applicants should consult their department heads regarding release time and the impact on departmental Spring 2010 scheduling.

Questions can be directed to Jerry Jorgenson at jerry.jorgenson@sdstate.edu.

#1.881516:2104823253.jpg:Daschle.1.jpg:Ashley VanMaanen, senior math major from Volga, SD, works at the Hilton M Briggs Library indexing video footage from the Tom Daschle collection:Katie Jones

Winning an award once is nice; winning 11 years in a row is unique.

In that way, the SDSU American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter had a special summer, as it was honored for the 11th year in a row with the Governor’s Award. This award recognizes the top regional ASCE student chapter in each of nine national regions. SDSU belongs to region seven which has 22 members from South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Colorado, Kansas and Missouri.

“This is an incredible 11-year run that reinforces our reputation for hard-working, high-quality students, enriched with an excellent academic program and outstanding support from alumni, local businesses and the institution,” said Richard Reid, assistant dean of engineering and student chapter adviser, in a press release.

To win the award, a student chapter must submit its annual report to the Committee of Student Affairs, a division of the National ASCE Organization.

“This report is a culmination of all the events and activities our chapter was involved in throughout the year,” said Brent Krohn, the former ASCE student president and a civil engineering graduate student.

The 84-member student chapter at SDSU is active in many events and competitions, including two major competitions in which SDSU tests their design of a concrete canoe and a steel bridge. The organization also participates in regional and national conferences and workshops and is active in community service. It hosts several events throughout the year, such as a blood drive each semester and it encourages girls to participate in the sciences through the program “You Go Girl.”

“ASCE benefits engineering students because it is a professional organization that provides multiple programs, educational activities and professional resources to a large network of professional engineers world-wide,” said Brittni Stephens, the president of the ASCE student chapter and a five-year member.

The ASCE student chapter is open to all engineering majors. Upcoming is the annual golf tournament on Sept. 19 at Edgebrook Golf Course. The tournament allows time for social networking between alumni, professional engineers and students.

For more information about the student organization check out its Web site at http://studentorgs.sdstate.org/asce/.

#1.881547:3751230028.jpg:Concrete Canoe.1.jpg:Members of the 2008 SDSU concrete canoe team compete at the regional competition. The concrete canoe is one of many activities in which the SDSU student chapter ASCE participates. The group also hosts a blood drive each semester and encourages girls to participate in the sciences. It is events like these that helped ASCE win the Governor’s Award again this summer for the 11th year in a row.:Courtesy Photo