In November a vandal or vandals struck the men’s bathroom in the lower level of The Union. Today a custodian found the markings again. There are two drawings. One is a balloon on the back of the stall door with writing that says, “be open minded.” The second is a design using hatching marks on one side of the stall.

Mark Venhizen, technical manager for The Union, said a work order has been placed for a security camera in the hallway outside the bathrooms.

The win snapped a nine-game losing streak in the Summit League and marks the last time that Oral Roberts will make the trip to Brookings for any Summit League competition.

The Jacks jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after two innings, but that would prove to be the last scoring until a fielders choice brought Jose Trevino across the plate for Oral Roberts, their first and only run of the game. The game started out as an offensive showcase for the Jacks, and Schrage said that was necessary against Oral Roberts’ veteran pitcher Drew Bowen.

“We had talked to our guys about how we got to get to (Bowen) early because once he settles in, he gets tougher. Over half his pitches are sliders. Sometimes early in the game, he doesn’t have command until he settles in,” Schrage said.

Perhaps the biggest key of the Jackrabbit victory was the pitching performance by Layne Somsen. Somsen(1-5, 2.73 ERA) gave up only two hits, three walks, and no runs through 8.0 innings. Somsen carried a no-hitter through three and one third and struck out eight to pick up his first win since 2009.

“It felt pretty good. I thought I had my stuff going early in the count, I was throwing all three of my pitches that I threw for strikes, and I think I kept them off balance for the most part of the game,” Somsen said. “Overall, I’m pretty happy with how I pitched.”

After Somsen’s eight inning performance, Shane Kraemer pitched the ninth inning and was credited with the save and allowed one hit and one run with one strikeout.

With the exception of a misplayed pop fly by Andrew Melton, the Jacks were able to play a clean game defensively, which Somsen said was a big part of the victory.

“They made a lot of plays for me in the field today. I thought I pitched well enough to get the win, and my defense backed me up,” Somsen said.

With each game now that much more important in terms of potential post-season play, Schrage said that a win over the perennial power in the conference will be key for this weeks preparation for their next opponent.

“This was kind of a must win for our guys. We were so close yesterday, and it was good to get this win because we got three more conference series to go and we want to get to the tournament. We needed a victory today to get some momentum for Oakland,” Schrage said.

The Jacks will return to action with a home series at Erv Huether Field against Oakland May 4-May 6.

Dale Moss signed with the Green Bay Packers Saturday. / Collegian File Photo

Former SDSU basketball and football standout Dale Moss signed with the Green Bay Packers on Saturday as an undrafted free agent, getting a call from the four-time Super Bowl winners after this year’s NFL Draft ended.

After four years with the basketball team, Moss had 61 catches in 2011 for 949 yards and six touchdowns. He signed with XAM Sports to represent him (who also represents former Jackrabbit linebacker Danny Batten) in December and played in the East-West Shrine Game in January.

The six-foot-three target visited with Cincinatti earlier this month and had contact with all 32 teams over the pre-draft process.

“Honestly, I’m excited. It’s out of my control, so I’m really not stressing about it. I’m ready for this week to be done so that I know where I’m going to be at,” he said last week at the SDSU spring game.

Four SDSU alums have played for the Packers, most notably offensive lineman Adam Timmerman, who played for Green Bay from 1995-1998, winning a Super Bowl in 1997.

National statistics say that one out of every three women in college has been sexually assaulted. Studies have also shown that as many as 60 percent of sexual assaults go unreported and as many as two out of every three sexual assaults is committed by someone the victim knows.

The first six weeks of a college student’s time on campus are one of the most important times in their career. Those six weeks are also the time when a woman is most vulnerable to sexual assault. SDSU is not immune to the problem.

“I think it’s important to remember that sexual assault happens at all campuses,” said Deb Johnson the clinical counseling supervisor. “It’s a common trauma that we deal with here.”

Last week the SDSU Campus Women’s Coalition sponsored “The Week to End Violence.” The event’s goal was to raise awareness about the issues surrounding sexual assault and domestic violence — an issue that the Campus Women’s Coalition feels SDSU isn’t doing enough about.

Libby Trammell, the president of the Campus Women’s Coalition, said the organization has been trying to get some form of sexual assault awareness training built into orientation. “We think it’s almost negligent for the university not to address the issue,” Trammell said.

Doug Wermedal, assistant vice president for Student Affairs, said there are good reasons why the topic isn’t covered at orientation.

“Students and parents are not typically focused on those issues at orientation,” he said. “People are more focused on what classes they have and where their classes are.”

Wermedal went on to say most freshmen will get the training as part of Residential Life programing. He also said SDSU tries to make sure Residence Hall staff are fully trained on what to do in the event someone has been sexually assaulted comes to them for help.

“We have a program called Fight Like a Girl that is used by many (Residence Halls),” Wermedal said. “It’s a big part of Community Assistant training.”

SDSU’s Director of Orientation Adam Karnopp said another reason sexual assault is not specifically covered at orientation is limited time. The orientation program usually starts around 2 p.m. on the first day and is over by 5 p.m. on the second day and there is a lot to squeeze into that time frame.

“The topic is touched on,” he said.

According to Karnopp there is at least one program every year that focuses on the transition into college life. He said there is a lot of focus on alcohol awareness and sexual assault is touched on as part of the consequences of drinking.

“We would like to cover everything, but we can’t,” Karnopp said.

One of the Campus Women’s Coalition concerns is making sure people know that there are victims of sexual assault on campus and that those who are victims know that they are not alone.

“I know for a fact that there are girls on this campus that haven’t reported being raped,” said Senia Hiltunen, secretary of the Campus Women’s Coalition, who said she herself has been a victim of sexual assault.

The SDSU Counseling Center offers counseling to victims, as well as a class about sexual assault awareness to campus groups can be requested. Johnson said there are many students who go to the counseling center for help after being assaulted, whether the incident happened on campus or not. Councilors are not required to make a report if a victim comes to them, so victims are guaranteed anonymity.

Trammell said it is important for victims not to be embarrassed about what happened to them. She stressed making all students more aware of sexual assault should be a priority and talking about it doesn’t have to be scary or accusatory.

“It’s a common occurrence and it’s something we need to talk about,” she said.

Thirty-three students and faculty from the Honors College hit the road bright and early April 12 for an eight-hour road trip to Dubuque, Iowa. The group traveled to the regional Upper Midwest Honors Conference.

Held near the Mississippi River at Clarke University from April 12-14, the UMHC hosted a number of universities from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois.

According to Dr. Timothy Nichols, dean of the Honors College, the UMHC provides an opportunity for students to present a wide cross-section of their Honors class experiences and other Honors-related activities at a collegiate level.

“It’s a great opportunity for students to network, to get to know other Honors students from across the region, sharpen their communication skills and build community among their own fellow Honors College students,” Nichols said.

Students were kept busy at the conference with presenting and attending presentations given by other Honors students.

“Presentations are wide-ranging, from examples of programs or courses to student research projects and interests,” Nichols said. “But not all presentations are research-based.”

Presentations from the SDSU Honors College included “Outcasts United”, the university’s common read, a study abroad trip and an owl research project, among several others.

“It really is about the student experience,” Nichols said.

Dr. Dan Kemp, an Honors College calculus professor, emphasizes the importance for Honors students to attend UMHC. According to Kemp, the UMHC provides students the chance to expand their network in the Honors College and become more comfortable with presenting, a skill that will come in handy later on.

“It’s important that students and faculty get to socialize in an informal manner,” Kemp said.

Honors students took away a variety of messages from UMHC.

“I think that the Honors Conference is a great way to get ideas from other schools in the region about ways that we can improve our program,” said Hanna Larsen, a junior psychology major. “It’s also a great way to build the Honors community. It’s good to meet other Honors students and make relationships with faculty outside of the classroom. I think [it] helps create that community feeling.”

Ben Stout, a junior park management major, said he believes UMHC offers more than just community for Honors students.

“I made a lot of contacts,” Stout said. “I learned about our National Park Service Program, which directly relates to my major. The UMHC provides students an opportunity to learn. I think that’s pretty neat.”

Next year’s regional Honors Conference will be held in Duluth, Minn.

“Knowing, because of my efforts, that maybe someday others or myself will benefit toward the research of finding a cure for cancer feels good. If I take a stand for a good cause, maybe others will do the same,” he said. This is also the guiding principle behind St. Baldrick’s Foundation.

St. Baldrick’s Foundation began March 17, 2000, in New York City when John Bender, Tim Kenny and Enda McDonnell turned a St. Patrick’s Day party into a head-shaving event to benefit children with cancer. They hoped to raise $17,000, but surpassed that goal to raise a total of $104,000 — over six times as much as they originally anticipated. This also explains where the foundation gets its name, substituting ‘Bald’ for ‘Pat’ in St. Patrick’s to come up with St. Baldrick’s.

St. Baldrick’s Foundation has since become the second-largest volunteer-driven organization providing research grants for childhood cancer. The foundation raised more than $28 million in 2011 and $26,441,926 so far in 2012. Donors, shavees and supporters of this cause will gather at the event to collect funds and promote a cure for childhood cancer. The St. Baldrick’s event coming to SDSU was organized by Sigma Lambda Chi, which has a fraternity mission of giving back to the community.

Jessica Weiss, a junior construction management major from Sonda, N.Y., is a member of SLC and one of the event organizers. She said this event is especially important to her as a mother.

“I would do everything in my power to ensure my daughter’s safety, so being a part of a charity that will help families stay together and help find a cure is very dear to me,” she said.

Norma Nunsz-Chandler is also in the construction management program and is shaving her head in honor of her daughter-in-law, Teresa Boettcher, who is a seven-year survivor of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

“This cause is important because children should not have to deal with cancer and the challenges that come with treatment. I dealt with cancer as an adult and have some comprehension of the challenges associated with cancer treatment,” she said. “It is just something a child should not have to endure. If this money raised by shaving my head will help find a cure or reduce the trauma of treatment for one child, it is well worth it.”

She also said that shaving your head is a liberating experience.

“It easier for me since I was bald once due to chemo but it is liberating to not have think about what my hair looks like or deal with fixing it every day. Our spirit is what makes us who we are not our hair or physical features,” she said. “The SLC is hosting this event because we would like to give back and be a part of something life-changing. We would also like the community to know that we are involved and here to help in any way that we can,”Weiss said.

SLC hopes to raise $30,000 through this event — so far they have reached $5,000. They are also looking to recruit between 50 and 75 shavees and have so far enlisted 31.

Rave has raised $500 of that total so far and donated $50 of his own money. He said this event is an opportunity to connect with the Brookings and SDSU community to raise awareness of childhood cancer and funds for a cure. “I believe it is also important for the community to understand that the students at SDSU do serve a purpose and do enjoy giving back to community,” he said. Registration and check in will begin at 2:30 p.m. on April 27.

At this time, shavees will get the chance to sign up for a time to have their head shaven and t-shirts will be given to shavees who raise $50 or more. Walk-ins will be welcome with a $10 minimum donation required for a shave. The shaves will occur approximately every 10 minutes and photo-taking opportunities will be available. For more information, call 688-4143 or 1-888-899-BALD..

“I believe it is also important for the community to understand that the students at SDSU do serve a purpose and do enjoy giving back to community,” he said. Registration and check in will begin at 2:30 p.m. on April 27. At this time, shavees will get the chance to sign up for a time to have their head shaven and t-shirts will be given to shavees who raise $50 or more. Walk-ins will be welcome with a $10 minimum donation required for a shave. The shaves will occur approximately every 10 minutes and photo-taking opportunities will be available. For more information, call 688-4143 or 1-888-899-BALD.sed $500 of that total so far and donated $50 of his own money. He said this event is an opportunity to connect with the Brookings and SDSU community to raise awareness of childhood cancer and funds for a cure.

“I believe it is also important for the community to understand that the students at SDSU do serve a purpose and do enjoy giving back to community,” he said. Registration and check in will begin at 2:30 p.m. on April 27. At this time, shavees will get the chance to sign up for a time to have their head shaven and t-shirts will be given to shavees who raise $50 or more. Walk-ins will be welcome with a $10 minimum donation required for a shave. The shaves will occur approximately every 10 minutes and photo-taking opportunities will be available. For more information, call 688-4143 or 1-888-899-BALD.

Abortion has been discussed, debated and defended for decades.

Since 1973 more than 50 million abortions have been performed in the United States, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research organization.

On its website, the Planned Parenthood Federation of America says abortions are “very common.”

“In fact, more than one out of three women in the United States have an abortion by the time they are 45 years old,” it says.

The South Dakota Department of Health reported that South Dakota has one of the lowest abortion rates in the United States. In 2010, 737 women had abortions in South Dakota, and 279 were 20 to 24 years old.

Planned Parenthood in Sioux Falls is currently the only clinic in the state that performs abortions. Sanford Health does only in specific situations.

“Sanford Health does not perform elective abortions,” said Cindy Morrison, vice president of Health Policy at Sanford. “The rare, sad and unfortunate termination of a pregnancy occurs only in the extreme case of a life threat to a mother, the terminal condition of a fetus or the removal of an already expired fetus from the mother.”

The Brookings Health System does not perform abortions, and Avera McKennan’s representative was not available for comment.

The abortion debate involves several issues, both legal and moral.

“For me what it comes down to is figuring out what exactly a human life is,” said Libby Trammell, president of the SDSU Campus Women’s Coalition. “When does it go from a bundle of cells to a baby?”

For some on the anti-abortion side of the debate the effect of abortion on the mother is a concern as well.

“It’s always tears,” said Deborah Dyer ,the executive director of the Elizabeth House in Brookings. “And if there isn’t tears, you can just see that they would go back and do things differently.”

These and other abortion-related issues have caused heated discussions in South Dakota in recent years. During March of 2011 Gov. Dennis Daugaard signed a law that required women to wait 72 hours and undergo counseling at pregnancy help centers before aborting their baby.

However, judge Karen Schreier of the Eighth Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals granted an injunction on June 30, 2011, that blocked the law from taking effect. The injunction will last until a lawsuit can be settled in court. Currently, women still must wait 24 hours to have an abortion in South Dakota.

On its website, Planned Parenthood states there are three options for a pregnant woman: “abortion, adoption and parenting.” It warns against people who would say otherwise.

“Beware of so-called ‘crisis pregnancy centers,’” it states. “These are fake clinics run by people who are anti-abortion. They often don’t give women all their options.”

Dyer said the women she has known who have had abortions almost always regret it.

“At least with the women I’ve worked with, they’ve never said, ‘After I had my abortion, I still feel like it was a ball of tissue,’” Dyer said. “What they do say is I know that was a child.”

According to Dyer, Elizabeth’s House exists to help women not make the choice to have an abortion.

“It’s the most backward, hateful thing,” she said. “How is it ever normal for a mother to give up her child?”

For Trammell the debate comes back to the question of when life begins.

“I realize that for many anti-choice people life begins at conception,” Trammell said, adding that her views do not reflect the Women’s Coalition. “A fertilized egg is a human life. To me this is ridiculous. If that is true, then we should all be celebrating our birthdays nine months earlier, and we should be calling eggs ‘chickens’ or calling bails of cotton ‘T-shirts.’”

The views on abortion are not always black and white.

“I may be pro-choice, but it doesn’t mean that I like the abortion statistics,” Trammell said. “I would rather a woman never have an accidental pregnancy.”

The Union will be open until 2 a.m. for the last two weeks of the semester.

The Union always sees a spike in use around finals week with more students on campus looking for places to study. It is for this reason the building will stay open until 2 a.m., now until the end of finals week.

Last semester was the first academic term that the university kept The Union open until 2 a.m. all semester. After closely monitoring how often students used the facility, Union staff decided to move the hours back to midnight, as the traffic was lowest during those two extra hours, with an average of 25 students.

“We looked at the data, and it was not compelling,” said Jennifer Novotny, director of the University Student Union.

The costs of keeping The Union open and paying utility fees was deemed not feasible for how many students used the building.

The current hours are not set

The current and future students who don the Jack mascot uniform may be breathing sighs of relief as the push for two new uniforms continues.

Former Students’ Association president Mark York was alerted to the need for the new uniforms and brought forward the idea of providing partial funding from SA to aid the process of acquiring them.

The current mascot uniform was made 15 years ago and is in deteriorating condition. York, a friend of the current student who wears the mascot uniform, had firsthand accounts of how badly the uniform needs to be updated.

“It wasn’t made out of a material that it should have been made out of. It wasn’t as breathable as it should be,” York said. “At that point it needs to be replaced.”

Another concern for the mascot uniform is there is only one uniform for sporting events. This especially becomes a challenge when there are multiple teams playing at the same time, but only one mascot to go around. This problem was highlighted especially during the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments, when Jack was unable to make it to the women’s game because it was in New Mexico where the men’s team was playing.

York proposed the idea to SA in one of his last meetings as SA president, including the idea that SA would then offer up part of the money in hopes of convincing alumni to match their donation. York proposed donating $2,000 of SA’s funds toward the new uniforms.

Other senators disagreed with donating money to the Athletic Department, like senator Hassan Ali. The College of Arts and Sciences representative disagreed over whetherw SA should offer any money for uniforms generally covered by the Athletics Department and that, although it may help open up the mascot for wider use, they had yet to get that opportunity in writing.

“My main objection was that we were cutting student groups money but we’re willing to give money to a mascot that students are not going to be able to have access to that easily,” Ali said.

It was former SA senator Rebecca Powell who was able to spearhead the compromise by bringing the original allocation of $2,000 down to $1,000. Looking at the wide variety of groups and programs that use the mascot uniform, Powell felt new uniforms would benefit all of SDSU and give those who use the uniform easier access.

“If just Athletics purchased it, who knows, that would be up to Athletics,” Powell said. “If the students took a part of it, we could all share it.”

York also emphasized this idea, adding there was a discrepancy on how the Jack mascot uniform was rented out to student groups on campus. If SA was going to offer some money toward the uniform, they hoped, in turn, access to the uniform would be given at less of a cost.

“We’re putting forth money for the mascot and we’re going to have to pay more money to use it. We as students thought ‘That’s not the best deal,’” York said.

Also, despite SA passing the allocation, it was done the meeting before seats were changed and Jameson Berreth and Wyatt DeJong took over leadership. York realizes this will take close interaction with Berreth and DeJong because “they’re the ones who really have a say.” Although SA has decided to offer up $1,000, they still have yet to agree on the specifics of the deal.

“We’re still working with the other people on campus to see what we can do — [to see] if we can get this free for student groups,” York said. “The (SA) senate has authorized the leadership to put $1,000 forward, but we as a leadership are still not sure if we want to because we don’t know what we’re going to get out of it.”

The SDSU Wellness Center is looking to expand as the student body grows.

The Wellness Center Advisory Committee created a subcommittee last fall to do research on what an expansion to the facility should include. The subcommittee conducted a survey of SDSU students and held a series of focus groups. The members of the subcommittee also visited a number of SDSU’s peer institutions in the effort to gather information.

Members of the subcommittee presented the results of their research at the April 9 Students’ Association meeting. They detailed some of their ideas for what could be included in a 58,300 sq. ft. expansion, likely to be built on the north side of the existing Wellness Center. The subcommittee’s work has been done as part of the first step in the process of building the expansion.

“We’re just getting our ducks in a row,” said Evan Robb, a former SA senator and member of the Wellness Center Advisory Committee subcommittee. “All the stuff we’re doing is so that we can go in front of the Board of Regents for a request for proposal.”

Before any construction can begin it must first be approved by the BOR, which is a three-step process. The first step is gaining approval to issue a request for proposal to construction firms on the cost and design of the expansion. There is no firm time line yet for the construction of the expansion to be started, much less completed.

“It could be next year, it could be two years, and it could be three years. It really depends on what (SA) does,” said Marysz Rames, vice president for Student Affairs.

BOR priorities will play a big role in determining when the Wellness Center will be expanded, according to Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, Doug Wermedal. Right now the BOR is focused on the construction of new residence halls and academic facilities.

“Where (the Wellness Center) fits into BOR priorities, I don’t know,” Wermedal said. He went on to say that he hopes to establish more concrete dates next fall.

Members of SA are looking forward to moving forward on the Wellness Center expansion project. Robb explained that because of the extended timetable involved, the subcommittee will likely have to present their findings again in the fall.

“It will eventually happen, we just don’t know when,” Robb said.

The subcommittee’s survey found that the top priority for students in the expansion was aquatic facilities, which are now shared with the HPER. The second priority students listed was extended hours. Students also shared some of their top complaints and the first was that the Wellness Center was too crowded — a problem likely to get worse as the student body continues to grow.

“Once we have 802 more beds on campus we’re really going to need (the expansion),” said SA President Jameson Berreth.

The expansion that was presented on April 9 would include office space, a pharmacy, an area for children and a new heated pool. It is projected to cost more than $13.5 million and would require a raise in the General Activity Fee of around $4. The Wellness Center is funded in large part by student fee dollars.

“That fee raise wouldn’t happen without student consent,” Robb said.