Christopher L. Jones, the man responsible for three violent sexual assaults, was sentenced Nov. 9 to 80 concurrent years in state penitentiary for three second-degree rapes and one kidnapping that occurred in Brookings last spring.

The 202 days Jones served in the Brookings County Jail will count toward his sentence. He will be eligible for parole in approximately 51 years.

“He is a narcissistic, violent animal who has no remorse for what he has done,” said Clyde Calhoon, Brookings County states attorney, at the sentencing. “A violent animal like that needs to be put in a cage; the defendant needs to be put in a cage.”

Jones’ attorney Rick Ribstein said he disagreed with Calhoon’s statement, and that Jones was not the “animal” Calhoon portrayed him to be.

“[Jones] is remorseful and feels bad about what he has done … he asks these young women for their forgiveness,” Ribstein said.

Jones later stood and apologized to the courtroom.

“In the past several months, I have had a lot of time to sit and think about my decisions… I would like to apologize for showing a lack of respect to [the victims], and invading their personal space both physically and emotionally,” Jones said in his apology. “… I have younger sisters, and I am ashamed and embarrassed of what I did.”

In Jones’ final statement he said he “sincerely apologized,” and he knew “words don’t heal all wounds” but he hopes that one day they could forgive him.

The first victim will receive $872.41 in restitution, the second will receive $829.19, and the third will receive $1,043.60. He will also pay $104 in court fees for each count.

According to Ribstein, Jones wrote letters of apology to each of the three women he attacked.

Ribstein also made other arguments in the defense’s favor.

“[Jones] did cooperate from the beginning, and I think the court should take that into consideration,” Ribstein said. “He is a bright, young individual and has caused no problems since his arrest and has had no prior convictions.”

Jones was ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation and was not found to have any redeeming qualities or characteristics, according to Calhoon.

The evaluation found Jones to be in the 95th percentile of being at the risk of re-offending and in the 81st percentile in regards to having violent characteristics. He is also a borderline schizophrenic and a psychopath, Calhoon said.

“Put that together with a man that is the 95th percentile of committing a crime again and you have an individual that is very, very dangerous,” Calhoon said in court. “In my 36 years as a prosecutor … I can’t remember any investigation that left me as cold as this one did. I don’t believe the defendant has any compassion or remorse whatsoever …”

The crimes Jones committed were spread out over three weeks last spring. The first two occurred on campus near Hilton M. Briggs Library and in the parking lot near Young and Caldwell residence halls on March 29 and April 7, respectively. The third and final incident, which involved the kidnapping, happened off campus early morning April 20. Jones was arrested later that same day. During all three assaults, Jones was armed with a knife and demanded money from the women.

“What he did to these three young ladies will affect them for the rest of their lives,” Calhoon said as he asked the court to take that into consideration when sentencing.

“This man put the community of Brookings in fear and continued to do so until he was apprehended,” Calhoon said. “The continuum of crimes became more and more violent on the ladies assaulted, and this defendant did not stop. We stopped it.”

Jones pleaded guilty to the rapes and kidnapping on Sept. 30. In exchange for Jones’ four guilty pleas, the two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of attempted robbery, as well as the additional rape charges that were originally brought against him were dismissed.

Jones has no connection to the university and had recently moved from Omaha, Neb., to Brookings at the time of his arrest, and was living with his girlfriend.

#1.1655932:2266018574.jpg:Chris Jones:Chris Jones:File Photo

Christopher L. Jones, the man responsible for three violent sexual assaults, was sentenced on Nov. 9 to 80 concurrent years in state penitentiary for three second-degree rapes and one kidnapping that occurred in Brookings last spring.

The 202 days Jones served in the Brookings County Jail will count toward his sentence. He will be eligible for parole in approximately 51 years.

“He is a narcissistic, violent animal who has no remorse for what he has done,” said Clyde Calhoon, Brookings County states attorney, at the sentencing. “A violent animal like that needs to be put in a cage; the defendant needs to be put in a cage.”

Jones’ attorney Rick Ribstein said he disagreed with Calhoon’s statement, and that Jones was not the “animal” Calhoon portrayed him to be.

“[Jones] is remorseful and feels bad about what he has done … he asks these young women for their forgiveness,” Ribstein said.

Jones later stood and apologized to the courtroom.

“In the past several months, I have had a lot of time to sit and think about my decisions… I would like to apologize for showing a lack of respect to [the victims], and invading their personal space both physically and emotionally,” Jones said in his apology. “… I have younger sisters, and I am ashamed and embarrassed of what I did.”

In Jones’ final statement he said he “sincerely apologized,” and he knew “words don’t heal all wounds” but he hopes that one day they could forgive him.

The first victim will receive $872.41 in restitution, the second will receive $829.19, and the third will receive $1,043.60. He will also pay $104 in court fees for each count.

According to Ribstein, Jones wrote letters of apology to each of the three women he attacked.

Ribstein also made other arguments in the defense’s favor.

“[Jones] did cooperate from the beginning, and I think the court should take that into consideration,” Ribstein said. “He is a bright, young individual and has caused no problems since his arrest and has had no prior convictions.”

Jones was ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation and was not found to have any redeeming qualities or characteristics, according to Calhoon.

The evaluation found Jones to be in the 95th percentile of being at the risk of re-offending and in the 81st percentile in regards to having violent characteristics. He is also a borderline schizophrenic and a psychopath, Calhoon said.

“Put that together with a man that is the 95th percentile of committing a crime again and you have an individual that is very, very dangerous,” Calhoon said in court. “In my 36 years as a prosecutor … I can’t remember any investigation that left me as cold as this one did. I don’t believe the defendant has any compassion or remorse whatsoever … .”

The crimes Jones committed were spread out over three weeks last spring. The first two occurred on campus near Hilton M. Briggs Library and in the residence hall parking lot near Young and Caldwell residence halls on March 29 and April 7, respectively. The third and final incident, which involved the kidnapping, happened off campus early morning April 20. Jones was arrested later that same day. During all three assaults, Jones was armed with a knife and demanded money from the women.

“What he did to these three young ladies will affect them for the rest of their lives,” Calhoon said as he asked the court to take that into consideration when sentencing.

“This man put the community of Brookings in fear and continued to do so until he was apprehended,” Calhoon said. “The continuum of crimes became more and more violent on the ladies assaulted, and this defendant did not stop. We stopped it.”

Jones pleaded guilty to the rapes and kidnapping on Sept. 30. In exchange for Jones’ four guilty pleas, the two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of attempted robbery, as well as the additional rape charges that were originally brought against him were dismissed.

Jones has no connection to the university and had recently moved from Omaha, Neb., to Brookings at the time of his arrest, living with his girlfriend.

Chris Jones, age 21, pleaded guilty on Sept. 30 to multiple rape charges and a kidnapping that occurred in the Brookings area last spring.

“[Jones] pled guilty to three counts of rape in the second degree, which is a class one felony and has a maximum sentence of 50 years in the penitentiary and or a $50,000 fine for each count,” said Clyde Calhoon, the State’s Attorney for Brookings County. “In addition he pled guilty to one charge of kidnapping, which carries a maximum sentence of life in the penitentiary and or a $50,000 fine.”

Calhoon said the sentencing Jones faces will be a serious action.

“He is facing four serious felonies …the judge (Circuit Judge David Gienapp) accepted his pleas on Thursday and found there was factual basis for the pleas,” Calhoon said. “He was also ordered to undergo a pre-sentence investigation which includes a psychosexual evaluation.”

Jones is not eligible for parole until 50 percent of his time is served.

In exchange for Jones’ four guilty pleas, the two counts of first-degree robbery and one count of attempted robbery, as well as the additional rape charges that Jones was originally charged with, have been dismissed, according to Calhoon.

“Until his sentencing nothing is set in concrete,” said Calhoon.

Jones has been held at the Brookings County Detention Center since his April 20 arrest. Judge Gienapp ordered Jones be held in custody without bond.

Jones’ next court appearance will be 11 a.m. on Nov. 9 in the Brookings County Courthouse.

Jones was arrested on April 20 in connection with three sexual assaults that occurred in Brookings, two on SDSU’s campus.

Brookings Police Chief Jeff Miller called Jones a “serial rapist” at the time of his arrest and said that he had become more emboldened with every assault he committed.

The two campus sexual assaults occurred on March 29 and April 7, both shortly after midnight. The first incident happened near the Hilton M. Briggs Library, while the second was in a parking lot near Young and Caldwell residence halls. He also confessed to the off-campus kidnapping and rape that occurred April 20.

“I feel safer knowing he isn’t around but the fact that it happened on our campus is freaky,” said Lisa Koch, a senior advertising major at SDSU. “I definitely try to not walk alone.”

During all three assaults, Jones was armed with a knife and demanded money from the women. The third victim that was attacked was forced to drive to another location where he raped her and later forced her to drive him to an ATM and withdraw money.

#1.1655932:2266018574.jpg:Chris Jones:Chris Jones:File Photo

A career in engineering will soon be an option for the students who attend Oglala Lakota College with the help of two state universities.

SDSU and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, in conjunction with OLC, are working on developing a pre-engineering program for the college. It would allow students to take the first two years of engineering courses through OLC before they would move on to finish their last two years at a Regental institution.

“We have been working with the (OLC) math and science program for the last several years discussing this,” said Bruce Berdanier, professor of civil engineering at SDSU.

“They wanted to identify what courses they need to teach for the first two years of an engineering degree. Civil engineering is the focus right now but students could also come into mechanical or another.”

The grant money awarded to SDSU, SDSM&T and OLC came from the National Science Foundation to extend curriculum on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Both SDSM&T and SDSU received $825,00 in grant money and OLC was awarded $1.25 million in NSF funding.

“This is an opportunity for our students to pursue the goal of becoming an engineer and work closely with two Regental institutions,” said Gerald Giraud, vice president for instruction at OLC. “Oglala Lakota College also has an opportunity to develop its own curriculum and faculty.”

“We’ve been working with their department heads there on seven to 10 courses that students are not getting to take right now,” said Berdanier. “If they can take those courses (at OLC) we hope that they will be more confident and more successful at some other college that they do their final two years at.”

Berdanier said that by allowing students to take their first two years through OLC they will have a better transition into their third and fourth years as students and set them at the full “junior” level that they need to be at when they enroll in another university.

“This is designed to be more than a two plus two program; we provide two years of basic courses and students would finish at another institution,” said Giraud. “SDSU and the School of Mines and Technology will develop a reciprocal and ongoing relationship with Oglala Lakota College by teaching courses as well as summertime projects.”

The program will include a service-learning project that will develop throughout the summer, according to Berdanier. The OLC students will work with students from other schools on a project.

“When you incorporate service learning into academia it really makes things real for students,” said Jason Tinant, co-chair of the Math and Science Department at OLC. “The Pine Ridge Reservation has so many critical engineering needs and the students want to give back to the community.”

The service-learning project on the Pine Ridge Reservation will be done with a combination of OLC students and some SDSU students.

“That will also be helpful when these students move on to a new school because they will know someone at the school and won’t be completely going into it alone,” said Berdanier. “It’s taken nearly 10 years to formulate this plan and working on research projects.”

A portion of the grant money that SDSU was awarded will be used for funding a master’s student, a doctoral student and two undergraduates who will be working on the program. Another portion of the money will be used to pay approximately 15 percent of Berdanier’s salary over the next five years that the project will continue to be developed. He will advise the OLC faculty and staff as well as teach some distance learning courses and work with students.

“The focus in the Math and Science Department (at OLC) has always been on science and this is the first opportunity for us to focus on engineering,” Tinant said, who is also an engineer. “That’s what we want to provide for people.”

OLC currently has approximately 1,800 students enrolled and has 12 different instructional sites throughout the state.

If we could attract eight to 10 students from Oglala Lakota College to SDSU then we would be pretty comfortable with that,” Berdanier said.

Tennessee Williams once said, “Life is partly what we make it and partly what is made by the friends we choose.”

After spending an evening catching up with some friends; I woke the following morning to a kind of epiphany. Some of the individuals that I was spending my time with were absolutely self-centered, repugnant people. It quickly struck me that I no longer wanted to be their friend and truly didn’t care if I ever hung out with them again.

That evening we sat together making small talk and catching up on our everyday lives and I was profoundly surprised at how they were talking about other human beings and the selfish words that so easily rolled off their tongues.

I don’t exactly know how I never realized it before but it suddenly smacked me in the forehead before I even knew what was coming. Coming in as a freshman to SDSU, the 18-year-olds that move their futons, laptops and brightly-colored furniture into the dorms have one thing on their mind; meeting new people and trying new things now that they are out of the watchful eye of their parents.

I, as most freshman are, was on the hunt for this very thing. You meet different kinds of people and because they are not exactly like you, they suddenly become absolutely tremendous.

Now I sit drinking my coffee, at the age of 22, and find myself with a new outlook on life. I will be graduating in December and no longer worry about what others think, the sheer number of friends that I made in one week, or whether or not I got invited to Saturday’s party. I cherish the friends I have, have a passion for words and love my family more than language could convey.

I can think of about three people that I would consider my genuine friends, one being my sister. Real friendship does not include people who will do shots with you at the end of a hard day or those who belittle other people to make themselves feel more important.

Bona fide friendships consists of people who make you laugh when all else fails, people who pick you up when you are broken, and people who share with you things that they would otherwise be terrified of telling others.

To the freshmen coming in this semester, I encourage you to choose your potential new friends carefully. Rather than selecting them based on their level of popularity or hotness factor, strive to find people who you care for. If you are a somewhat religious individual, try going to the Newman Center or University Lutheran Center or another campus ministry. Join a club that interests you or get involved with intramural sports.

I have made the mistake of making some poor friendships and I stress to you not to follow in my footsteps. It took me about a year of college to finally realize this, and I now have some beautiful friendships, but I was not always this fortunate.

Trust yourself and your belief in what is real. Never doubt yourself. My father, who is undoubtedly the smartest person I have ever known, once told me that as long as you believe that what you are doing is truly right, it doesn’t matter what others think of you.

Ruth Brown is a senior journalism major. Contact her at rbrown@sdsucollegian.com.

The policy regarding how much money brought in from South Dakota resident and non-resident students will now set a fair representation for the university, as nearly half of SDSU students are non-resident.

Tuition prices for non-South Dakota resident students are currently 150 percent more than in-state resident students, said Wes Tschetter, chief financial officer.

In fiscal year 2008 the formula used to divide tuition was changed and essentially abandoned, Tschetter said.

Before this year, 80 percent of both the resident and non-resident rate came to SDSU and the other 20 percent went to facilities fund. The university was receiving the same percentage for both in-state residents, as they were out-of-state residents, even though out-of-state students pay 150 percent more than in-state students.

“For an example, if resident students pay $10 and non-resident students pay $15, then the university should be getting 80 percent of that, meaning $8 from resident students and $11.20 from non-resident,” Tschetter said. “So that is huge for us (now that SDSU receives different amounts for residents and non-residents).”

The 20 percent that goes to the facilities fund was created 40 years ago, Tschetter said. It is used to pay for new buildings, fixing them and maintenance.

The new policy is an improvement for the university. All tuition goes to paying SDSU faculty members; a small portion of this goes to teaching expenses.

The new policy will allow SDSU to keep the full 80 percent of money gathered from non-resident students. It was implemented by the South Dakota Board of Regents and is system-wide for all six universities in the state. Throughout the six universities

the total percentage of resident students in fall 2009 was 71.4 percent and non-resident was 28.6 percent.

“It has always been a priority of the Board of Regents to recruit more outof-state students because we feel that

we need educated students to attend our institutions and stay in South Dakota as well as work here just as

much as we need in-state,” said Jack Warner, executive director of the BOR.

“Each out-of-state student brings in out-of-state rates and that benefits the universities as well.”

SDSU has the highest percentage of non-resident students of all other universities in the state with almost half of

our students being non-South Dakota residents, including international students. In the fall of 2009 SDSU had 8,344

resident students and 4,032 nonresident students, equaling a total of 12,376 enrolled students, making SDSU the largest university in the state.

“This university would not be what it is without non-resident and international students,” Tschetter said. “Everyone brings value to who we as SDSU are.”

#1.1572965:1355911826.jpg:Jackrabbit Village offers SDSU students trendy, new amenities.:Jackrabbit Village offers SDSU students trendy, new amenities.:PHOTO BY RYAN ROBINSON

SDSU students are on their way to having wireless Internet at almost all campus locations thanks to what is known as the Active Learning Cloud.

Last year’s 80 wireless Internet access points throughout the residence halls have increased to 466 access points. The university should have more than 850 points campus-wide by October.

“We now have well over 800 access points campus-wide, making wireless much easier for laptops to access,” said Mike Adelaine, vice president for information technology. “Berg and Bailey (Halls) also have more bandwidth and were rewired for Ethernet.”

Adelaine said the intent of AL Cloud was never to make SDSU a completely wireless campus because some of the programs used in the classrooms would be too slow with just wireless.

Last fall SDSU students utilized Mathews Hall as its pilot residence hall to assess whether a completely wireless hall would be viable. By the end of the semester university officials discovered the 37 access points installed were not efficient enough to suffice for the students living in Mathews, which can host 382 students at full capacity.

“Mathews was a trial and we found that is really didn’t work out the best, and some laptops weren’t capable of using that kind of access point,” Adelaine said.

To provide Mathews’ residents with faster Internet access SDSU re-installed Ethernet ports. This fall its students have both Ethernet and wireless Internet in their hall. Ethernet is available in every room and wireless Internet is accessible throughout the residence hall.

The university has spent approximately $900,000 on implementing AL Cloud, some of which came from student technology fees and some from the residence hall fee base.

In April 2009 the Board of Regents made the decision to have a $6 student technology fee per credit hour to help implement AL Cloud and other technology on campus.

“The Regents set that fee increase and then the residence hall fee base is $65 for each student,” Adelaine said.

By mid-October Information Technology plans to have everything in place needed to virtualize applications in course work, Adelaine said.

Another portion of the AL Cloud goal is not just implementing wireless Internet but also updating classrooms.

“Currently we updated 20 classrooms in addition to all of the new access points,” Adelaine said. “Fifteen classrooms were updated this summer and by October all classrooms will have wireless access.”

The updated classrooms have wireless Internet, new projectors, smart boards, and other technology that makes courses more user-friendly and modern.

“Smart classrooms help students be interactive in class and they can use their laptop to display their work in class,” Adelaine said.

Adelaine said the number of access points in each building or residence hall depends on what the structure is made of.

“For example Mathews has 66 access points and Pierson and the new residence halls have 73 access points,” he said. “Mathews is made up of a lot of brick and steel so it is going to need more points.

Caldwell on the other hand only has 31 access points but that’s a lot more compared to last fall when it only had three (access points),” he said.

This summer 130 faculty members went through training on how to implement AL Cloud’s features and technology into their classes.

Mary Bowne, assistant professor of early childhood education, helped to inform faculty members of their options at the training operation.

“I talked a little about what I do in my courses, but we also stress that if it doesn’t work for you, don’t use it,” Bowne said.

She said AL Cloud could provide many benefits.

“I think it will really bring awareness and exploration on what’s available to you and how it will help your course,” Bowne said. “In my online courses we have wonderful discussions that probably wouldn’t happen in a classroom because some students are more reserved.”

AL Cloud is a five-year plan that will be done in 2013. More infrastructures are needed and the plan will likely adjust as technology continues to develop.

“We hope to develop a strategy that is able to move in different directions as new technology comes into play,” Adelaine said.

#1.1573168:1057340450.jpg:Brianna Kunf, freshman, represents many other students who lack wireless internet across campus.:Brianna Kunf, freshman, represents many other students who lack wireless internet across campus.:COLLEGIAN PHOTO BY RYAN ROBINSON

After three violent sexual assaults occurred in Brookings last spring, two on campus and one off, students breathe a sigh of relief after an arrest was made but remain cautious.

Lindsey Reid, a senior math major said after hearing of the assaults she now thinks twice before walking alone at night.

“I still feel safe at SDSU but before the assaults I would walk home at midnight by myself and now I would probably rather have someone with me,” Reid said.

Chris L. Jones, a 21-year-old Brookings man, was arrested on April 20 facing charges of rape, robbery and kidnapping in connection with three reported sexual assaults in the Brookings community in late March and April.

Brookings Police Chief Jeff Miller called Jones a “serial rapist” at the time of his arrest and said that he had become more emboldened with every assault he committed.

Miller said, Jones, who is not a student, confessed to the two on-campus assaults and the off-campus kidnapping, rape and robbery that occurred April 20.

“I feel safe on campus because even when it was going on (before the arrest) a lot of the guys on campus were really supportive with walking girls,” said Alicia Davidson, a sophomore general studies major. “The rape whistles that the dorms gave out were also kind of reassuring.”

The two campus assaults of a sexual nature occurred on March 29 and April 7, both shortly after midnight. The first incident happened near the Hilton M. Briggs Library, while the second was in a parking lot near Young and Caldwell residence halls.

“I was relieved when they arrested (Jones) because it seemed like it wasn’t stopping,” Reid said.

Some campus women believe that although independence is important, “common sense” is as well.

“I don’t usually walk alone at night anyway even before it happened,” said Elizabeth Bosworth a junior biology and chemistry major. “It’s generally not a good idea to walk in the dark on a college campus anyway.”

Jones is being charged with one felony count of kidnapping, five counts of second-degree rape, two counts of first-degree robbery, and one count of attempted robbery.

He faces a possible life sentence on the kidnapping charge, and maximum penalties that include multiple years in prison and more than $100,000 in fines.

Even after the serious incidents occurred, some campus women say SDSU still feels safe.

“I feel safe, I wasn’t even that concerned for my safety when it was going on,” said Casi Huizenga, a junior mechanical engineering major. “I guess I just always kind of feel pretty calm about it and don’t freak out about that kind of stuff.”

Jones’ next court appearance will be Oct. 3 at 1:30 p.m. at the Brookings County Court House.

The outlook for incoming freshmen may include new Institutional Graduation Requirement goals, or required classes, in their curriculum.

“We wanted to take a look at where we stand next to other (South Dakota) Board of Regent schools in terms of IGR requirements,” said Dan Hansen, assistant dean for student services and adviser for the Students’ Association. “We wanted to decide whether we should increase, decrease or get rid of some of the requirements.”

Provost Laurie Nichols agreed, saying that the core curriculum needed to be “studied and compared with some of (SDSU’s) peer institutions.”

“Some of the other state schools do not have as many requirements, so we wanted to take that into consideration when making these changes,” said Hassan Ali, a freshman Students’ Association senator.

Hansen said this is a preliminary plan, and the task force is looking into various options. The task force is made up of some student representation, as well as one representative from each college.

“We really looked at the changes in some of the different departments’ curriculum and tried to see if changes needed to be looked at as far as IGR goals, as well,” said Nichols.

One goal of the possible changes is to implement more sustainability education.

“For the land and natural resources (IGR) goal one, it used to be mostly focused on the Ag and Bio College’s courses but we want to put a focus on sustainability,” said Hansen. “We hope to implement a course that teaches about sustainability and also create some flexibility in the different departments.”

Another change that the task force is considering includes the personal wellness goal.

“Currently a lot of freshmen take GS 143 (Mastering Lifetime Learning Skills), but we hope to implement a new course called something like the Freshmen Experience Course,” said Hansen. “The course would teach stress management, financial planning, wellness, as well as implementing the common read.”

The common read is a book that all incoming freshmen are required to study. Next year’s common read book will be Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. The book is described as one man’s mission to promote peace, one school at a time.

For IGR goal three, social responsibility/cultural and aesthetic awareness, the task force wants to change one of its focuses to career responsibility.

“We want to have a way for freshmen to explore different careProxy-Connection: keep-aliveCache-Control: max-age=0

s to help them decide what they want to do,” said Hansen. “We hope that they will tell you what makes each major different and help students make the right choice.”

Currently the IGR goals requires students to take between eight and nine credits but that may be dropped down to only six credits if the plan is finalized.

“The possible decrease in credit numbers would provide more flexibility for students and possibly more opportunities to take the electives that they want,” Nichols said.

Nichols said that they want the IGR goal changes to be a “campus-wide” effort, including many people on campus’s input.

“We really wanted to take a look at what learning outcomes we wanted,” said Hansen. “Before any decisions are made we will be presenting the preliminary plan to different campus groups like student senate, academic senate, as well as the various colleges and departments on campus.”

Hansen said that before any final decisions are made it would need to get the Board of Regents’ approval. The earliest it could be implemented would be fall 2011 and it would only affect incoming freshmen. Upperclassmen would continue to follow the plans that they are on.

“We also want to incorporate the new goals into students’ current majors’ plans,” said Hansen. “For example if a student already needs Bio 101 as a (major) requirement, we hope that they could take that as one of their IGR goal requirements so that it is beneficial to them and not just one more class that they have to take.

“That way they can take courses that focus on the topic that they need and they will get more out of it,” he said.

Hansen said improving the freshmen experience is one of the major goals behind this change.

“It is a way to help them transition from that high school state of mind to the college state of mind,” said Hansen. “It should also help them explore what they really want to do.”

Hansen went on to say that right now, sometimes students pick a major and then by the time they get through their sophomore year they “realize it isn’t really what they want to do.”

“We hope to have this be a way for them to pick the right major and save the time and money of starting a major that they may not really want,” Hansen said.

Ali said that one of the task force’s main goals was to have required classes that will help benefit students’ majors.

“We hope to kind of narrow down what options would best suit each major,” Ali said. “That way they can take classes that will help them with their later classes that go along with their major.”

Because the IGR goals have not been looked at in about seven years, the task force wants to make beneficial improvements.

“We don’t do this every year, so we want to make sure that we’re really comfortable with an IGR goal changes that we make and will use in the future,” said Nichols.

SDSU offices will now be getting their office supplies through a means other than SDSU’s Stores, the inventory supply store for campus offices.

“The business model we used to use with inventory has changed a lot,” said Wes Tschetter, chief financial officer. “We can order directly from the Internet now and that is a much more efficient way of getting the supplies that are needed.”

Tschetter said the Physical Plant was the biggest user of Stores. Stores was where they purchased all their cleaning supplies that are used in campus buildings.

“The bookstore will carry emergency supplies for campus offices and the print lab will be where paper can be picked up or delivered from,” said Tschetter.

Some SDSU employees using the new supply ordering system say it is more time-consuming.

“To order, you have to look up the number of the product you want and the descriptions (of the products) are not very good,” said Mona Tunender, secretary in The Union who uses the new order process. “The whole process can be extremely time-consuming.”

Deb Gulbranson, The Union accounting assistant, agreed the process does take a long time.

“It can take anywhere from five minutes to an hour, depending on what you’re ordering and if you need to look up the number,” said Gulbranson.

Stores carried supplies for all offices and departments on campus, including office supplies, hardware supplies cleaning supplies, like disposable paper towels.

“The employees that worked at Stores have been relocated,” said Tschetter. “One person retired, two moved over to the Physical Plant and one will be working in the print lab.”

When SDSU’s departments order supplies online, they will get an 18 percent markup and they are delivered without charge.
Gulbranson said if you order the wrong product by mistake, returning it can be frustrating.

“There is a two-day turnaround, but the process to return it can take a while, and that gets frustrating for us,” Gulbranson said.
“We’ll keep some supplies on campus for convenience, like banker boxes, tapes, paper towels and those kinds of things,” said Tschetter. “Those will be available either at the Physical Plant or the print lab (in YProxy-Connection: keep-aliveCache-Control: max-age=0

ger Hall).”

TschProxy-Connection: keep-alive Cache-Control: max-age=0 ter said about 25-30 products will be kept on campus for convenience.

“It’s a bold step, but this is something we have been thinking about doing for a while now,” Tschetter said.

The building Stores used to be located in will be used for shipping and receiving, as well as for storage by the Physical Plant.

“It’s a big change, but we’ll find a new way to let the different offices get what they need,” Tschetter said.

Gulbranson said she thinks the new process will be “rocky to start,” but it should get easier, and she is confident “it will run more smoothly” in the future.

Tunender said while the process is time-consuming, people will adjust with time.

“I think a big part of it is that people need to just be open to change, and I really think that people in most of the offices should adjust pretty well,” Tunender said. “My office is doing well with it.”