Union construction caused inconveniences for many dining locations. But for Java City, the relocation was so positive, administrators are looking at making the change permanent.

The coffee shop, normally housed in the bustling union, was relocated to the quieter NFA building, and it’s been a hit.

Doug Wermedal, assistant dean of student affairs, said, “The location has proved popular. People have … voted with how they’ve used the service that they like it.”

While Java City will move into the remodeled Union when it reopens this summer, it’s a possibility that the NFA branch will remain open as well.

Changes need to be made before the idea is approved, Wermedal said, including remodeling the floor covering and installing additional plumbing.

If these changes are made and the project is approved, it would be for a one-year trial.

“We would be piloting this location for another year to see if it’s popular with another (Java City) 50 yards down the concrete,” Wermedal said.

The possible double whammy could also provide a more permanent venue for the quality food laboratory to host luncheons four days a week as part of a hospitality management program.

Assistant professor Lee Frantz said the possiblility of a more permanent Java City in NFA would allow the class to stop flip-flopping for space in the building. Right now, dinners for the class are held in a classroom.

“We’ve made them into a dining room and turned them back into classrooms. This would give us a more permanent dining option,” Frantz said.

For quality food students and java drinkers alike, the possibility of leaving open the “introvert caf

Water problems are visible in the Dairy/Microbiology building. On the first and second floors, ceiling tiles are stained and missing.

Vikram Mistry, professor and head of dairy science, said the aesthetics of the tiles, water damaged by a leaky roof, are a problem.

“When you look up and you see water spots all over and there are missing tiles, it’s a poor impression. It goes beyond that – it’s an image thing,” he said.

The image of the Dairy/Microbiology building may be considered more important than others because of its high traffic of prospective students who are often offered free ice cream during campus tours.

“We do business with the admissions office to the rate of about 3,000 cones a year,” said Howard Bonnemann, plant manager for the Dairy Bar housed in the Dairy/Microbiology building.

The impression that the building makes on possible future students also worries Regina Cahoe, a senior biology and German major who works in a lab in the building.

“It looks really bad for a school that’s trying to become D-I,” she said. “If I visited a school and one of the buildings had empty paint buckets and stuff out catching all this water I might go, ‘Well, I dunno.’

“They send possible new students to get ice cream. It’s one of the first buildings they spend time in and there’s a leaking roof,” Cahoe said.

Dean Kattelmann, director of the Physical Plant, said the roof was repaired last summer and the last reported roof leak was in September 2004.

During last summer’s construction, new doors and windows were also installed in the building.

Cheesbrough said the new doors and windows were installed to alleviate water leakage around the windows.

Bonnemann said the rainwater leaks are nothing new.

“It has been doing that for the better part of a decade,” he said.

Mistry said there is a second type of water damage in the building.

“We have had not just (leaks) from the roof but between the floors as well. There are labs upstairs but if there is an overflow, it goes into offices,” he said.

This water running between floors – from second- and third-floor labs into first- and second-floor offices – is the result of human error.

Tom Cheesbrough, professor and head of biology and microbiology, said, “We’ve had a number of leaks in the last few months but almost all of them can be chalked up to random errors – just human mistakes.”

Kattelmann agreed.

“These are all human mistakes. The labs are clogging up the sinks and then they overflow and that’s the problem,” he said. “[Someone] left a window open that froze a pipe,” which also led to water problems.

#1.885162:2082951762.jpg:Micro ceiling.jpg:Several ceiling tiles are missing in the Dairy Microbiology building, just outside the Dairy Bar area. Water damage has been a problem in the building.:

Though Pope John Paul II lived an ocean away, effects of his death Saturday have rippled around the world, reaching even SDSU.

Father Paul Rutten, chaplin of SDSU’s Catholic Campus Parish (CCP), had the chance to meet the Pope several times.

“I went to school in Rome so I spent four years there and met the Pope on a variety of occasions,” he said.

Rutten has even assisted in presiding over ceremonies at which Pope John Paul II was present.

“I was a deacon; I got to assist at a Mass with him,” he said. “I also got to go to Mass and read for him.”

These and other interactions gave Rutten a more intimate knowledge of the Holy Father. He said he felt the blow of the news of John Paul II’s death.

“I was deeply saddened yet joyful,” he said. “It’s still kind of sinking in.”

Sister Joan Marie Brandner, a CCP staff member, said she saw the Pope in Detroit in 1987 and again in St. Peter’s Square a year ago and was impressed with him each time.

“He was a spiritual leader that had his face turned toward the world,” she said.

In addition to his love of other countries and cultures, the Pope held another group in esteem.

“He definitely will be remembered for his love for youth,” Brandner said.

One of those youth is Ashley Schulte, a sophomore pre-nursing student from Sioux Falls. Schulte got the chance to see John Paul II in Toronto in 2002 at World Youth Day, which John Paul II created as an outreach to youth. She plans to go to Germany this summer for the next such day and hopes to see the new Pope.

“This is the only Pope I’ve ever known, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens with the new Pope being elected,” she said.

“It’s sad that we’re losing the leader of the Church yet rejoicing that he’s in a better place.”

A run-off election will take place for a Family and Consumer Science (FCS) senator position Wednesday, March 23 and Thursday, March 24.

FCS senate candidates Kari Jacobson and Jessica Mueller are running for the seat.

FCS students only may vote in the election. They may vote at the station that will be set up in the NFA breezeway or simply online.

Freshman Lindy Patrick was so excited to get home for spring break, she left school early. But before Patrick reached her family, a car accident claimed her life.

Patrick, 19, was just a half mile from her home in Vivian when she rolled her car and died Thursday, March 3, at around 1 a.m.

Lindy’s mother, Lesa Patrick, said though the cause of the accident is unknown, it appears that Patrick drifted across the road then overcorrected, ending up in the ditch.

A nearby farmer called Patrick’s parents, who arrived at the scene before the ambulance.

Lesa Patrick said, “When we got there, we couldn’t open the door. Her dad reached in and tried to feel a pulse. She was still warm but he couldn’t feel a pulse.”

After the Jaws of Life freed Patrick’s body from the vehicle, it was determined she had probably died on impact.

Life without Patrick won’t be easy, her friends and family agree.

“It probably won’t hit me until some Friday afternoon when I’m waiting for her to walk in the door,” Lesa Patrick said. “I just can’t imagine never getting to see her again, never getting to talk to her again.”

Lesa Patrick said since Patrick was especially close with her 15-year-old brother Logan, her death will be hard for him.

“We’re very worried about her brother,” she said. “We sat down together and just said ‘We have to talk and make sure we’re in this together.’ “

Patrick’s roommate, freshman Randi Ozanne, is also struggling with her friend’s death.

“We’ve known each other since sixth grade – pretty much our whole lives,” said Ozanne, who is from Kennebec.

She said when a friend called her with the news of Lindy’s death, her first reaction was “What am I going to do without my best friend?”

Ozanne said she has moved from the room she shared with Patrick in Waneta into one in Young, but rather than stay in the residence hall alone, she has been driving back and forth from a relative’s in Sioux Falls.

Patrick, a general education student, took an interest in photography, music and movies, but truly valued relationships.

“Her friends and family were the core of her life,” Lesa Patrick said. “The hard part is to think she was so close to home, trying to get to us. It just seems so unfair that you can get that close and not make it.”

The family chose to run the poem “If I Knew,” author unknown, on the program at Patrick’s funeral, held Monday, March 7. The poem expressed how if we realized how limited time was, we’d cherish every day and make more of an effort to show our love.

However, Lesa Patrick doesn’t have regrets in that area.

“I never left her or hung up from her without telling her I loved her. It’s just so important that she knew she was loved.”

#1.885245:2024673351.jpg:Lindy Patrick.jpg:Lindy Patrick was a 19-year-old freshman at SDSU considering :

You can sit by the sidelines and watch events unfold. Or you can get right in the thick of it.

Jumping into the action is a lifestyle that appeals to a number of SDSU students, and they’re doing it in a number of ways. Karaoke is one of the most popular.

Jeff Hanson, a karaoke DJ for TCL Entertainment, runs weekly karaoke nights at Prairie Lanes bowling alley on Wednesday nights.

“I see a lot of college kids out there at the bowling alley,” he says. “The students like it because they get to get involved. Get to laugh at their buddies. It’s more involved than sitting there watching a band.”

Which is one reason Jordyn Nolz, a communication studies and theatre senior, likes to belt out the tunes.

“I like singing and I like getting crowds going … I love attention,” she says.

Seeking this attention, Nolz says she heads out for karaoke nights one to two times a week during the school year, and about three or four times a week in the summertime.

Senior Christina Wagner heads to the bowling alley most Wednesdays to sing karaoke, and says she enjoys the low-pressure fun.

“I like karaoke because nobody really cares if you’re good or if you’re not,” she says. “Everybody’s just there to have a good time. At any karaoke bar, nobody’s going to get after anybody.”

Wagner, an animal science major, says the bowling alley is a fun scene as a change from the downtown bars.

Junior Alejandra Aragon gets weekly kicks from karaoke, too, often singing at the bowling alley.

“It gives you the opportunity to not really care what you’re doing – just having fun,” she says.

Aragon, a sociology and Spanish major, says she normally likes singing with friends.

“We just enjoy spending time together hanging out, making fools of ourselves.”

Aragon says she considers the night a success “when people say I didn’t sound awful.”

After several high compliments, Nolz’s standards are a little higher.

“One night there was a whole crowd of guys from a dairy convention that absolutely loved me. They were giving the DJ five bucks to let me sing again sooner,” she says.

Another time, an admirer gave her $5 to compliment her on a song well sung, she says.

But the real money in karaoke isn’t in tips. Dakota Karaoke is currently running a karaoke competition that will culminate in a $3,000 first prize, $1,500 second prize and $750 third prize.

Nolz says she’s qualified to participate in the competition’s finals.

Garner Hansen, owner of Dakota Karaoke and Main Street Pub, explained that would-be singing stars can qualify for the April 2 finals by being voted one of the top two singers during a Dakota Karaoke night at one of a number of regional bars.

Hansen says top singers are selected by a panel of judges who score karaoke stars on voice quality, sense of rhythm, pitch, diction and presentation.

Whether there was a competition for the big bucks or not, though, Nolz says she’d still be singing karaoke, though her aspirations don’t go much beyond a few nights of fun at the bars.

“I wouldn’t mind having a band, singing for a band,” she says, laughing as if she’s never considered it before. “It’d be fun.”

But others do consider singing more than entertainment. Junior Micah Wetzel has fallen into a love affair with his guitar that is already starting to alter his life plans.

Wetzel began his career at SDSU as a wildlife and fisheries major, but started playing guitar shortly thereafter, which prompted him to switch to a business economics degree.

“I really want to pursue it as a career,” he says, explaining plans of managing a music store and playing gigs nights and weekends.

He has a head start on the gig-playing end of it: this week he played shows at Skinners, Mad Jack’s and Main Street Pub.

“This month I had eight (shows) but that was kind of lucky,” Wetzel says. “Usually during the school year I have about three or four gigs a month, and in the summer more around 10.”

The Rochester, Minn., native says he plays his one-man-and-guitar gigs in Brookings, Sioux Falls and Rochester locations, picking up between $50 and $100 a pop.

In addition, Wetzel has entered his act in SDSU events such as open mic night and Cavorts.

He’ll be playing this Friday’s open mic night, though he hasn’t decided which song will be the key to his success yet.

“I’m either going to do one of my own or a Dave Matthews Band #41 cover,” he says.

When the decision is made and the final chord strummed, Wetzel hopes to hear applause from the audience.

“My favorite part is the applause. That and being able to express my feelings and emotions with my music,” he says.

He also has a passion for his music that makes playing it its own reward.

“I practice an hour to three hours every day,” he says. “It’s been a really long time since I’ve gone a day without playing.”

Wetzel’s guitar love even affects his downtime.

“I still go out and stuff, but I usually don’t like to go over night places or travel because I don’t like to miss playing,” he says.

Of course, music isn’t the only performance art that gets students involved. There’s stand up comedy, poetry reading and even spectator boxing.

Fight night offers the opportunity for students to be in the spotlight, no singing required.

Ag systems technology sophomore Josh Blindert went to watch Thursday’s fights, but says he participated this fall.

Though he only got to box one round and lost to that fighter, who went on to claim second place, Blindert says the fight was a good time.

“It was pretty fun. Just getting a bunch of people around and having them watch and get me pumped up,” he says. “I knew a lot of people were watching. They came to watch me fight.”

Although he had to lose five pounds in order to qualify for the lightweight class and pay a $10 entry fee, Blindert says he enjoyed the experience.

“It was cool just to say I did it,” he says.

Just saying that you did it – whether singing karaoke, playing guitar, or throwing punches – means students are loving living an adventurous life.

#1.885267:796976787.jpg:Micah.jpg:MIcah Wetzel plays a number number of shows in Brookings, Rochester and Sioux Falls. One of his songs can also be heard on KSDJ.:
#1.885266:3070641637.jpg:juicecover, mike copy.jpg::
#1.885265:2786770245.jpg:fightnight, Mike.jpg:Chad Haselhorst takes a punch from Brian Manafty during Fight Night. Although he´s bleeding below, Manafty won the fight:
#1.885264:3108728979.jpg:1KarokeAa.jpg:Christina Wagner belts out “Jose Cuervo,” one of her favorite tunes to sing when she goes out for karaoke night. Wagner says she typically heads to Prairie Lanes for karaoke night about once a week.:

A house fire injured no one but left four SDSU students without a place to live last week.

Juniors Dusty Snyders and Micah Johnson and sophomores Andy Kardoes and Dan Jackson, all SDSU football players, lived in the house that burned Feb. 21.

Brookings fire chief Darrell Hartmann said the fire department was called to 1222 3rd St. just before 1 a.m. They arrived on the scene to find the house in flames but the occupants safely vacated.

Hartmann said the fire was likely caused by a long extension cord that was too light for the number of appliances running off of it.

“The cord appeared to have some stuff stacked on top of it. We believe that is what caused the fire,” he said.

Johnson, a pre-med student from Prescot, Ariz., lived in the basement, where the fire started. Fortunately, he was on the main floor when the fire began.

“Me and my roommates and a couple of friends were just hanging out playing PlayStation when we started to see smoke coming out from underneath one of our couches,” Johnson said. “Andy and I ran downstairs and we saw flames rolling out from the storage room.”

At that point, Johnson said he and Kardoes yelled to the others to get out of the house and within seconds, the house was filled with smoke.

“We were just getting out the door and smoke was filling in around us,” he said.

Though there was only heat damage to the basement and main floor, the entire house suffered smoke damage, Hartmann said.

Johnson said the smoke damage ruined everything.

“Pretty much everything was lost,” he said. “I can honestly say that I know what it feels like to have nothing but the clothes on your back.”

But with the effort of the Red Cross and the SDSU Athletic Department, that state was soon remedied.

Nancy Flynn, chapter executive of the Brookings County Chapter of the American Red Cross, explained what the organization did to help.

“We provided three nights at a hotel and made sure everyone had two sets of clothing and food for a week.”

John Stiegelmeier, head football coach, said that the university also chipped in to help the men out.

“The university replaced their books and offered them housing in the dorm. And in the athletic department, we’ve put up a list of things they’ve lost and people in our department are donating dish towels, pizza pans,” he said.

The men appreciate everything that has been done for them.

“The Red Cross has been unbelievable,” Snyders said. “Our teammates, the coaching staff and the athletic department have been great too. They’ve been awesome.”

After spending a few nights in a hotel and with friends, the men have found new apartments to live in. Although the four had hoped to live together, for the rest of the semester they will be living in two two-bedroom apartments.

The men are glad that they and their cat are alive and safe.

Johnson said, “I’m grateful to be alive. If it hadn’t been a three-day weekend, we all would have been sleeping at that time. Since my room was downstairs, I’d probably be dead and so would everyone else, probably.

“It made me appreciate my family, friends, team, everyone in general.”

Soul food. Spoken word. Step and drill.

These events and more are entertaining and informing community members during the celebration of Black History Month.

Education is the main focus, said Rozhyer Aware, program advisor for Multicultural Affairs.

“That’s what it’s all about – to learn and try something,” she said. “Once we can educate, then things fall into place.”

Darquie Taybior, a senior from Liberia, said he agrees people need to increase their understanding of other cultures.”

“I think [Black History Month] is very important because looking at the Brookings community there isn’t very much diversity,” Taybior, president of the Black Student Alliance (BSA), said. “When people go out from here, they’re going to experience huge culture shock.”

To prevent that shock, Taybior wants to give people a glimpse of black culture. He said the Black History Month does just that.

“[These events] bring people into our home pretty much. That’s why, when they come to our program, they’re going to have a taste of what we’re about.”

The Feb. 8 Dining Services offering of soul food was a beginning to that, Taybior said.

“One of the first ways you can get people into your culture is to let them sample your cuisine,” he said.

The Step and Drill Show Saturday night, Feb. 12, also showed the community about black culture, he said.

“With them coming, they see how we like to dance. We like hip hop and music and step shows,” Taybior said.

Junior Marvin A. Bediako, treasurer of BSA, said he appreciates Black History Month as a chance to showcase his culture.

“It’s a chance to bring it out and say ‘this is us,’ ” he said, adding that many people on campus don’t associate with minorities.

“During the school year, from class, they only know our name. We want them to know us, what we do. That’s why we went out there and did the step, that’s why we have events – to say ‘this is us.’ “

Aware would like to see cross-cultural relationships outside the classroom.

“People don’t step out of their bubble,” she said.

Taybior agreed that the community could reach out more.

“Don’t stare at people like fish in a fishbowl,” he suggested. “If you see [minorities] out there, talk to them.”

SDSU’s active BSA is helping educate people, he said.

“We decided to take it into our hands. We cannot stand by and watch our culture fade away,” he said.

Upcoming Black History Month events include black comedian “Big” Sean Larkins on Wednesday, Feb. 16, and a celebration of art and folk music with Deidre McCalla on Wednesday, Feb. 23.

#1.885377:1479912312.jpg:BSA.jpg:Members of the SDSU Black Student Alliance first performed at Saturday night´s Step and Drill Show to celebrate Black History Month. They are (from left): Marvin Bediako of Ghana, Hanna Ukbazghi of Eritvea, Yoshi Belayneh of Ethiopia, Patricia Davis of Haiti, Darquie Taybior of Liberia and Aminata Sagdoune of Niger.:

Women are taking their chunk of power at SDSU and that speaks well for the university, administrators say.

Three of the top four SDSU’s administrators are women. President Peggy Gordon Miller, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Carol Peterson and Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs Mary Kay Helling tip the scale to the female side of the gender balance, leaving Executive Vice President for Administration Mike Reger the sole male.

Miller took her role as the first female president of SDSU more than eight years ago and she has never heard any complaints about her gender – at least not to her face.

“There was some apprehension when they hired a woman president, but that’s just because they hadn’t had one before,” she said. “It’s the new, not the gender.”

Her top administrative position is still rare for women, Miller said, noting that there are only two or three women that head land-grant universities.

Still, she feels women have made progress and attributes it to an open-minded society.

“It’s a matter of a maturing society that values people according to our strengths, not necessarily on our gender,” she said.

The prevalence of women in the position of vice president of student affairs proves there is progress, Miller said.

The trend is appearing outside SDSU. With Peterson holding that position at SDSU and Helling assisting, SDSU is one of three state universities with women as vice presidents for student affairs. Also in the game are Dakota State University and South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

But Peterson was the trailblazer as the first woman in the state to hold such a high rank, and she said at times, it was difficult.

Promoted from dean of nursing to her current position in 1987, Peterson recalled some tough beginnings, like at her first statewide university meeting.

“I was the only woman and the men all sat with their backs to me. Deliberately.”

She also hit a few snags at SDSU in those early days.

“The first few years there were several male deans that liked to go around me,” Peterson said. “In those first several years there were places in the university that sort of discounted me.”

Now, however, Peterson sees no problems.

“After I’ve proven myself for 17 years, they don’t question me anymore.”

Helling, on the other hand, has only held her position since July 2003 and said she hasn’t had to deal with negative attitudes toward her as a woman.

She sees benefits to having women in top administrative positions on campus.

“It does add multiple perspectives. Regardless of male or female, I think multiple perspectives are always helpful,” she said.

Helling said women administrators speak well for the campus.

“It says whoever is most qualified for the job would be hired, male or female,” she said.

Miller agreed, noting that prospective students might look at the administration and think ” ‘It’s got to be a pretty fair place. We’re going to get treated fairly at that university.’ “

Reger, the sole male in the upper echelon of the university, agreed that fairness is significant.

“I don’t think gender is an issue,” he said. “I think the number of females in senior administrative positions is a very clear indication that when we’ve hired people, we’ve hired the best people we could find and gender was not a factor as far as I’m concerned.”

Reger said he never feels outnumbered working with women and is pleased with the relationship he has with them.

“Dr. Miller, from my perspective, has been an excellent boss,” he said. “I’ve worked directly with two other presidents who were male and I’ve been lucky to have the same kind of relationship with them that I have with President Miller – it’s been close and professional.”

Women in the workplace are often seen as having made sacrifices, but many of the females at SDSU don’t feel that way.

Marysz Rames, the dean of student affairs, said a strong support network has enabled her to reach her high administrative position without feeling she’s missed out on something.

“I’ve had such support here from President Miller and Vice President Reger to flex my schedule. They’ve really helped me strike that balance between family and work,” Rames said.

These supervisors have allowed Rames to keep an unusual schedule. She said she spends evenings with her family, returns to work at 9 p.m. and stays until “early in the morning.”

An understanding family also helps, she said.

“I have an extremely supportive husband,” Rames said.

Rames said it’s important for SDSU to have women in positions like hers and Miller’s to show female students what’s possible.

“I think it’s great to have role models,” she said. “Fifty-one percent of our incoming undergraduates are women and we do reflect our student population.”

In addition to these top administrators, two of the eight college deans are women and a number of department heads are women. Many student leaderships positions are filled by women. For example Amanda Mattingly is Students’ Association president.

Salary equality is a women in the workplace issue, but Peterson said SDSU works to ensure that women are well-paid.

She said a Board of Regents mandate has required a statistical salary analysis for at least 15 years.

“We study the statistical results – if one [salary] is out of sync because of their gender and they’re a satisfactory employee,” then corrections would be made, Peterson said.

However, Miller said gender may still play a role in salary inequality.

“I make $100,000 a year less than the president of Mines and USD,” she said. “Does that make me happy? No. That makes me the lowest paid land-grant president in the United States and that’s kind of embarrassing.”

Miller said the Foundations of other state universities supplement their presidents’ salaries. The SDSU Foundation has not done that and Miller said while the money itself isn’t important, it does make a statement.

Miller noted that despite the fact that SDSU is the largest university in the state and is growing, she is still the lowest-paid president.

“It does say something about the gender,” she said.

#1.885418:3878899392.jpg:womenfaculty.jpg:Carol Peterson, Peggy Miller and Mary Kay Helling hold three of the top administrative positions at SDSU.:

In the search for that Valentine’s Day gift, don’t overlook these downtown specialty shops.

under $3

The Index

To eat

* Handmade Truffles, $1.85 – avail-

able in decadent-sounding flavors

like “fudge love truffle” and “mousse

truffle.”

To smell

* Incense, $1 to $2.75 – in cones,

sticks and all kinds of smells

under $5

Brookings Book Company

Lovey dovey

* The Way of Love, poetry, $3.50

* Erich Fromm’s The Art of Loving, $1.75

Lovey dovey but brief

* Cliffs Notes for Bronte’s Wuthering

Heights, $1.75

Something for your love’s interest

* Book of Ibsen plays for $2

* Tiny collection of floral paintings by

Georgia O’Keefe for $3

* Ukrainian phrasebook for $2

* Cookbooks, woodworking books,

biographies, kids books …

* Comics, $2 to $3 or so

under $10

Artworks

Tea time

* Republic of Tea canisters, 50 tea bags,

$9

Clean time

* Nut’n But Soap homemade soap, $4

to $6.50

Art time

* Unframed prints, $6 on up