One year ago, Mark York and Anthony Sutton were in the same position, beginning their leadership of one of the most important groups on campus, The Students Association (SA).

“It’s bittersweet,” York said. “There are so many things that we would both like to keep working on, but it’s kind of time.”

At York and Sutton’s first meeting with SA as president and vice president, a list of over 30 goals were handed out to the senators. The senators were told to mark the five that were most important to them. What resulted was a set of five goals that SA poured their collective focus into over the past year. The first and main goal was working to fund the Wellness Center and Performing Arts Center expansions.

Much work has been completed in that area this year. Research in coordination with the Wellness Center is being utilized to decide how to best move forward. Meanwhile Phase II of the PAC became part of the Board of Regents’ 10-year capital improvement plan.

“We kicked the ball down the path … we had very lofty goals,” Sutton said. “Now it’s up to the next group to keep it on the priority list.”

Despite their success, not every goal was met.

“It’s tough because we have learned so much and now we are done, it would be really nice to be able to apply what we learned,” York said. “But I don’t think we were unsuccessful by any means.”

The other goals on the list have also been points of pride for York and Sutton. Meeting with each active student group at least once per semester is one idea that evolved over time. Originally they tried to make it physically to one group meeting for each organization. This became difficult, so they organized an open discussion available to all students in the Bailey Rotunda.

Pushing for the creation of bike lanes was one goal that York and Sutton’s senate achieved conclusively. After a great deal of lobbying, the Brookings City Council passed a resolution to create more bike lanes around the city.

York and Sutton both said that the experience of managing SA was challenging and rewarding. York said the most difficult part of his job was motivating people.

“I expected the unexpected,” York said. “We came in with our goals … but you always have things that come up that you won’t see.”

Sutton felt managing a busy schedule and knowing how to delegate responsibilities was his largest challenge.

“It opened my eyes to what an effective leader can do to make other people better,” Sutton said.

Sutton has one year left as a political science and history double major. He is also the undergraduate representative to the Strategic Planning Committee that oversees the big picture of where the university is headed.

Mark York is graduating in May and already has plans for his short-term future. After he graduates as an agronomy and mathematics double major with a minor in chemistry, he will be taking his GRE to prepare for a graduate degree in economics.

Before starting graduate school, however, he will head to the African nation of Mozambique, for an internship on a grain and chicken farm there. Following that, he has another internship lined up for the fall in the Congo.

Both of the former leaders are facing a drastic change in their lives without SA, a change Sutton summed up with just a few words, “It’s a lot of work and then it’s done.”

Grey Jensen, a sophomore who lives in Pierson Hall, started a petition that requests compensation to be given to the students most affected by the construction. Within the first day that the petition circulated early last week, more than 100 Pierson Hall residents had given their signatures.

Shortly after the petition began to make the rounds in Pierson Hall, Brady Duxbury, a CA in Pierson and an SA senator, informed Jensen that he could not go door to door outside of his own floor because that would be considered solicitation, which is not allowed in residence halls per the Residential Life handbook, which reads:

“To maintain privacy and security, door-to-door solicitation is not allowed in residence halls … Individuals wishing to sell and/or solicit in residence halls must contact the Director of Residential Life for permission five business days prior to their planned event … Sales and/ or solicitation will be allowed in a specified area of the lobby only after approval.”

The petition is currently on hold pending authorization from Pierson’s Residence Hall Director.

“A lot of students are really angry over the inconvenience that the construction has caused,” said Jensen, who is studying pre-law. “If the students got something back, there would be less anger.”

Associate Vice President for Student Affairs Doug Wermedal said that Student Affairs circulated information about the construction widely and openly since the beginning of the 2011-12 school year.

“We have been discussing it with the student government, the Collegian has published articles and an email was sent out to everyone living on campus earlier this semester,” he said. Student Affairs also posted images of the new buildings and dining expansion, detailed floor plans for the new residence halls and a map of the construction layout complete with pedestrian footpaths prior to the start of construction on SDSU’s website. Still, some students are upset about the inconvenience.

The language of the petition is very broad and not specific about what kind of compensation students should receive. Jensen suggests that students should receive a quarter of the value that next year’s residents will get. This is because this year’s students have had to deal with the annoyances for a fourth of the time.

“I think that if students will be receiving compensation next year, so should students this year since there is still half the semester left,” said Michelle Albert, an

early childhood education major who lives in Pierson Hall.

Jensen is confident that the petition will be signed by all residents of Pierson Hall, and has not yet had a single person refuse to sign it or argue that what it is requesting is unreasonable.

“If we get 400 signatures, everyone in Pierson, that will really send a message,” Jensen said.

Beth DeJong, a sophomore graphic design major who lives in Abbott Hall a part of Jackrabbit Village. She thinks that some sort of monetary help should be given across the board to those living on campus. “Either some sort of extra flex dollars, or discounted parking permits, maybe even a tuition cut. It’s just a very inconvenient deal in many ways.”

Duxbury said that monetary compensation does not look likely at all at this point, but admits that it is impossible to say for sure what will happen in the end. Wermedal said that the first step in resolving this issue will be to listen to the students’ concerns.

“We’re obviously always willing to hear what students have to say. We will sit down with the student organizers to hear their ideas and talk about their suggestions,” Wermedal said. “This petition is a great starting point for a conversation.”

Jensen intends to take the petition to the Students’ Association once everyone in Pierson who wants to sign it signs it to try and gain the support of the student government. He said he hopes that the issue can eventually be solved diplomatically.

After some persistence on her part, I agreed to sign up as a participant and pledged to raise $65 dollars. I then promptly forgot about it until this week when State-A-Thon began that Saturday morning. What I will never forget is how this event changed my views about charity and how big of an impact that we as college students can make, so let me take you through that whirlwind of a day at the Volstorff Ball Room (VBR).

9:30 a.m. 

I was all signed in and had received my stylish T-shirt. I realized I was in for an interesting day when I was told to put on a lion mane, as my team was named the lion tamers (it was a circus themed event). Shannon Lajoie and Courtney DeMers were the morale leaders for my group, and they were determined to win the “spirit cape” award. This meant no sitting, no breaks and ear-to-ear smiling for the next 12 hours. It was at this point I realized I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

10 a.m. 

State-a-Thon began with a bang. The participants all lined up, forming a tunnel that zigged and zagged throughout the VBR. The miracle families then entered like NBA players in the finals and were treated like celebrities. It was an awesome way to start, my blood was pumping and I was super excited to see what happened next.

Noon

By lunch time all 400 or so of us learned the morale dance, which was a roughly four-minute long cheese-fest with everything from disco to the robot. Our team also got to meet our miracle family, the Comes’. Their 7-year-old son, Noah, is an awesome kid. He has already been through more in his life than most ever have to deal with. It was then when I saw where our dollars were really going: to help little kids who had to deal with very grown-up problems. Noah and I hit it off quickly, seeing as we share the same name. We also both love to be the center of attention, which worked out beautifully.

3 p.m.

Five hours into the marathon and our team was in the heat of the “ultimate challenge;” a collection of contests ranging from races to puzzles, to digging a candy bar out of a diaper filled with baby food with nothing but your face. I chose to pass on that one. The events were punctuated by morale dances, magicians, and stories from the miracle families about how much our efforts and fundraising meant to them. The constant roller coaster of emotion was beginning to take its toll, but I couldn’t wait to see what the night would bring.

8 p.m.

After 10 hours of doing the morale dance, Noah and I had it down pat. We popped the bubbles and flexed our muscles perfectly on cue. Nevertheless, we were exhausted, and had probably eaten too much pasta at dinner. But the finish line was near and there was no sense in giving up at that point.

9:45 p.m.

For about the last hour of State-A-Thon, everyone donned their baseball hats and sunglasses made of glow sticks and tore up the dance floor. It was one last push to have fun with the kids we got to spend the day with. When the dancing had ended and everyone was near collapsing from dance exhaustion, we watched a video put together throughout the day by executive board member Alex Kunz. It seemed like forever ago when I had met Courtney, Shannon, Noah and the rest of my teammates in the morning. At the end of the video was the number we had all been waiting for. It was the total amount fundraised to support Sanford Children’s Hospital and Children’s Miracle Network.

$70,970.08.

When that number came up tears of joy and cheering, hugging and high fives were shared between participants and families alike. The number was nearly twice what was raised last year and had blown all of the goals out of the water. In our awestruck stupor we were told to walk outside for one more surprise. Fireworks were going off in the distance; it was a magical ending to a very special day.

Matthew Ault, the current president of the skydiving club, took his first dive in September of 2009.

“Like most people, it had always been on my bucket list,” Ault said. “When I decided to come to SDSU I stumbled upon the skydiving club when looking through the list of student groups.”

His first jump went off without a hitch and he said the view is worth the effort.

“It’s definitely something that you don’t get to see every day,” he said.

The skydiving club is not a new group; in fact they have had an intermittent presence on campus since the 1980s. It was only recently, however, the club has gained more notoriety. In January they sponsored the first-ever skydiving club dance and have set their sights on some other goals.

This fall the club plans to do a jump at an SDSU football game; it would be a first for the program.

“An exhibition jump is something I have wanted to do ever since I got involved,” Ault said.

While the exact date of the jump is not set yet, the club did receive the necessary funds from the Students’ Association last month.

The club sponsors skydiving classes that take place in both the spring and fall and cost $180. They include six hours of classes and a static line jump. In a static line jump the parachute is deployed automatically for the jumper. Five static line jumps are required before a true free-fall jump can be executed.

Ault said while there are certainly nervous feelings before the first jump, the training goes a long way.

“I think that the training really gets rid of a lot of the misconceptions that people have about skydiving. It’s actually pretty safe,” he said.

“You pay the fee up-front for the five hours of training, but after that the expense significantly drops,” said Andrew Leonard, the advisor for the club. Jumps two through five cost $50 and every time after that is $40 per jump.

The classes for skydiving club are taught by the former advisor, which makes the cost lower than it would be normally some place else.

“The money isn’t going to the organization, the majority of the money goes to the plane and fuel costs,” Leonard said.

The desire to make costs as low as possible for students has resulted in the club having a hard time making enough money to advertise. In order to raise more money the club has sold T-shirts and organized a dance. They also use some of the money raised to fund giveaways and this year they are giving away a free tandem jump to a student.

To learn more about getting involved in the skydiving club, check out their Facebook page or email the club at sdsuskydiving@gmail.com.

Any student, staff, or faculty member can submit a paper entry in the 140 office of The Student Union, or electronically through Facebook. There will be first and second-prize winners at each location with first prize winning $250 in Hobo Dough and second prize winning $100 in Hobo Dough.

Over the last year and a half while both convenience stores have been in operation, there has been some confusion mixing the two locations up.

“If you were to say ‘I am going to run down to the C-store,’ I wouldn’t know where to find you,” says Ashley Kuecker, a graduate assistant who helps with student affairs.

The convenience stores are the only way for students on campus to buy basic items like milk, bread, chips, and toiletries.

“I use the [Larson] C-store every day!” said Aaron Fowler, a sophomore general studies student. “It’s open late and you don’t even have to leave the building [if you live in Binnewies or Young Hall].”

A similar contest was held last year, not to re-name, but to finally give an official title to the school mascot. The winning entry was, of course, “Jack.”

“This contest really gives students and staff an opportunity to leave their mark on campus,” says Ashley Kuecker.

Students like Thomas Brinker and Maggie Aldrich, both seniors on the University Program Council, already have long lists of names to submit in hopes of winning first prize. While many want to keep those submissions a secret for fear of copy-cats, one entry that was submitted by an anonymous source gives reference to the popular rap song “Rack City” by naming the new C-stores Jack City, and Snack City.

For some fans, showing school spirit doesn’t stop at the home court. Some make the effort to go the distance, literally.

A select few of SDSU basketball’s most hardcore Jacks fans are set to make the trip to New Mexico on March 15.

It won’t be a brief drive down the road, either. One thousand, one hundred and eight miles. That’s how far some students are willing to travel to see the Jackrabbits make their first appearance in the NCAA tournament and to make sure the Jacks see some blue and yellow among the cheering crowd.

“At first I was worried about missing three days of class, but I don’t want to look back and regret not going,” said SDSU student Spencer Hanson, who is traveling to Albuquerque in a van with five of his friends.

This is not just any game to Hanson and other diehard fans. This is the first time a men’s basketball team from South Dakota has made it to the Big Dance. Hanson has been following the team closely since last year when he arrived as a freshman. Like other students at SDSU, Hanson said having the chance to witness the big moment is too much to pass up.

“We knew that ever since we have been in Division I, there has been a chance we could get to the NCAA tournament. That opportunity really got us excited,” he said.

Much of the men’s team is expected back next year, but that is not stopping fans like Hanson from treating this as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“We saw at the Summit League Tournament how easy it is for a number one seed to be knocked out,” said Hanson.

Oral Roberts had the top seed entering the league tournament in Sioux Falls but was knocked out by Western Illinois in the semifinals. SDSU will face off against Baylor, the number three seed.

“I think we have a really, really good chance. We beat Washington, who was a bubble team and we were competitive with all the big schools we played,” said Ermias Lamesgin, another sophomore heading to the desert.

The only thing these super fans might not be able to agree on is their favorite player. Hanson’s favorite is Summit Tournament MVP Nate Wolters, while Lamesgin simply could not pick just one.

“All the players are good in their own way, everyone adds something,” said Lamesgin. “I’m a fan of how well we take care of the ball.”

SDSU freshman, Bri Matthies, remembers the tension at the end of the Summit League Championship game and hopes for a similar result during the NCAA tournament.

“I had so much respect for Griffin Callahan when he hit those two free-throws at the end of the game,” she said. “I think I held my breath the whole time.”

Matthies is also traveling to Albuquerque to witness the big game in person and hopes this is not the end of an exciting run.

“I have yet to see us lose (in person),” she said, “and I don’t want to start now.” 

The resolution cited eight of 12 peer institutions that have a similar policy in place, one of which is USD. USD recently received the OK from the South Dakota Board of Regents to allow alcohol in Coyote Village and McFadden Hall — both are apartment-style housing similar to Meadows North and South — allowing students 21 and older to drink freely inside their rooms.
Like SDSU, USD is a dry campus, meaning no alcohol is allowed on campus grounds. There are exceptions to the rule, such as some events at SDSU that get special permission from President David Chicoine. The policy under discussion would be another type of exception. If it happens this will be the first time students will be allowed to legally have a drink in the residence halls since the dry-campus policy has been in place.
For USD, it is a new experiment aimed toward keeping upperclassmen on campus longer.
“I think it is definitely a good idea,” said Annie Weberg, a freshman at USD. “It at least gives more options than just living off campus.”
Phil Covington, associate dean of students at USD, said student input was very influential in the decision. The policy especially has graduate students and married couples on campus in mind because many are of the legal drinking age.
As USD works to keep students on campus, SDSU is facing the opposite problem. As of 2010-2011 there was an undergraduate enrollment of 11,062 and a residence hall capacity of 3,573. Overcrowding in the dorms has forced residential life to resort to placing students in day rooms, which are supposed to be used as a place to study and relax.
Although SA is pushing for the same outcome USD has seen, they stated different reasons. SDSU’s resolution is aimed to eventually help segregate the upperclassmen to one side of campus and the first- and second-year students to the other.

The resolution claimed the restriction of alcohol drives students off campus. Living on campus has been linked to increased student success in terms of graduation rates, according to the resolution, so having a place for upperclassmen where alcohol is allowed may keep them on campus longer. SA President Mark York was one of the sponsors of the bill promoting the discussion, which passed unanimously.
“From the alumni I have talked to, staying on campus as an upperclassman was a very positive experience,” York said.
Marysz Rames, vice president of Student Affairs, said this would not be the last time the topic is addressed.
“What I heard from the Senate (Monday night) was good,” Rames said. “It started a discussion that can be continued when we have the space.”
Some students are not so keen on the idea of allowing alcohol on campus.
“If anything these new rules would encourage me to live off campus,” said Marie Olsen, a 21-year-old senior general agriculture major. “They could encourage a more rowdy environment, and would be hard to enforce.”

The act would be very similar to the academic honesty portion of every syllabus. Academic honesty pertains to actions such as cheating, plagiarism, and attending class.

Students’ Association Senator Brady Duxbury is one of the senators proposing the new honor code and is also a member of the Academic Appeals Committee that helps decide how to best deal with struggling students. The committee is a combination of faculty and students. The idea originally came from the professors on the committee.

“Professors have expressed to us that there is growing disrespect in the classroom, cheating and plagiarism,” said Duxbury.

When trying to decide how to best improve student performance, especially at the freshman level, the one issue agreed on is that a student-led initiative would be best.

“I feel that student-led initiatives are more widely accepted by students, rather than being pushed on by professors,” said Duxbury.

Some students are not sure that such a code could be effective.

“I don’t think it’s going to make a difference, seeing as we read it in every syllabus,” said Zach Merrick, a senior chemistry major.

If passed, the honor code will be presented to freshmen during orientation, encouraging them to commit to academic success and honesty from the beginning of their college career. The main goal is to prevent students’ names from ending up on the Academic Appeals Committee’s desk.

An academic honesty week may also be created to help promote values. An outline of the plan will be presented at the next Students’ Association meeting. It’s SA’s hope to have the program implemented in the fall.

One point that Duxbury conveyed was that the initiative could be a point of pride for SDSU students.

“It would be cool for us to be able to put our stamp on this – have it become part of tradition,” Duxbury said.

He said he encourages anyone interested in helping or providing feedback to get in touch with him or contact the Students’ Association’s office.

If you would like to contact Brady Duxbury you can email him at brduxbury@jacks.sdstate.edu.

The governor used the town hall setting to outline new plans that affect education and workforce development in South Dakota. He and his administration spoke to approximately 100 businesses across the state to determine what their needs were.

“The thing that I heard more than once is that workforce is a problem with us,” said Daugaard. His first proposal is known as The South Dakota Workforce Initiatives, or SD Wins. SD Wins involves several new programs designed to help bring skilled workers to the state and connect possible employees with employers.

One key point the governor emphasized was preparing young people to succeed in a competitive job market in South Dakota. Daugaard advocated expanding career cluster camps as an integral part of this strategy. Career cluster camps provide high school students with a hands-on introduction to career fields they express interest in.

Daugaard noted that “scrub camps” are already being used to expose students to the medical environment and give them first-hand experience in hospitals and clinics. The governor wants to expand this program in several other fields including engineering and Information Technology, as well as in skilled professions like machining.

To further counteract South Dakota’s immediate lack of qualified workers, Daugaard wants to expand programs in post-graduate and technical schools in the state. This would include introducing a new welding program at Mitchell Technical Institute and expanding enrollment in medical schools for physician’s assistants.

In order to draw more people to South Dakota, the state is going to reach out to former South Dakotans who may be interested in coming back. To do this, a website, dakotaroots.com, has been created to help former South Dakotans to find skilled job openings in the state and submit their résumés. The governor also wants to team up with the employee placement company Manpower to help address the immediate need for skilled workers.

“Our hope is that we can bring around 1,000 new South Dakotans through those means in the next year or two,” said Daugaard.

More information on the Daugaard’s workforce initiative can be found at www.southdakotawins.com.

The other main focus of the presentation was education. Daugaard presented data that illustrated how standardized test scores have not improved over the last few decades in South Dakota and proposed several sweeping changes to the system to raise scores.

The changes will affect every teacher in the state by offering an annual bonus of $5,000 to the top performing 20 percent of teachers in each school district. According to Daugaard, the award will encourage teachers to put in extra effort and show dedication to students. The success of educators will be evaluated through student test scores, as well as teaching techniques in the classroom.

Fifty percent of the assessment will be quantitative and based on the amount that students improve from year to year on the existing standardized tests, such as the Dakota STEP test. The other half will be calculated by analyzing how well teachers use accepted teaching styles and techniques and also how thoroughly they cover the core curriculum.

Another salary incentive is a $3,500 dollar bonus given every year to math and science teachers starting in 2013.

“We need more teachers in math and science… additional compensation can help steer potential teachers into areas where we have shortages,” explained Daugaard. “This is the largest investment into the teaching profession in the history of South Dakota.”

Daugaard also proposed removal of the tenure program as another step in encouraging teacher performance improvement.

“We are moving away from a system that relies on tenure to one that relies on rigorous evidence-based evaluation,” said Daugaard. He explained those teachers who already have tenure would keep it, but it would no longer be attainable for current and incoming teachers.

When the forum was opened to questions from the audience, the President of the Brookings School Board, Steve Bayer, raised concerns about replacing local control of curriculum and teaching assessment with centralized control. Daugaard responded by pointing out that while not every district needs changes, many are not well-financed and the state must look at the larger picture when it comes to student performance.

Alex Kunz, a sophomore music merchandising major, praised the governor for realizing the need to focus on education and said, “I think it’s good that incentives will be given to the best teachers. Competition improves everyone involved.”