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CDC and CAB hold events, movie for M.L.K. Week
Reaching new heights on the track and in the classroom
M.L.K. Week brought many events to USD as CAB and the CDC hosted different opportunities throughout the week. Read more about how the groups aimed to make a difference in honor of the late M.L.K. Jr. on B1.
Sophomore high jumper, Carly Haring is soaring to new heights as she closes in on the USD women’s high jump record. Learn more about Haring’s accomplishments on and off the track on page B3.
SOUTH DAKOTA NEAR TOP IN VACCINE DISTRIBUTION
Rachel Thompson | The Volante Tyler Boyle
Tyler.Boyle@coyotes.usd.edu
Since the certification of the Moderna and Phizer COVID-19 vaccines in December, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for this historic pandemic the world is experiencing. However, some states have been getting closer to the end than others. South Dakota is one of these few states as the state ranks at the top of almost all COVID-19 vaccine distribution statistical categories. South Dakota currently ranks 5th in the nation in vaccine distribution per capita with about 9% of residents having at least one dose of the vaccine administered according to the most recent CDC data. The national average is about 6%.
70%
of South Dakota’s vaccinies have been distributed Rachel Olsen, the clinic director at Sanford Vermillion, said their clinic’s dedication to the process of distributing the vaccine has been critical to their success. “I can only speak on the behalf of Sanford Vermillion... but I think a lot of it is the willingness of our staff
to get the community vaccinated as fast as we can,” Olsen said. South Dakota has currently administered 70% of the vaccine the federal government has given to the state. The South Dakota Department of Health (SD DOH) has done this by taking a less popular strategy than other states by partnering with the state’s three main health networks (Avera Medical, Sanford Health and Monument Health), dividing up the state and allowing medical facilities to decide how to distribute the vaccine on their own. In an interview with CBS News, Dr. David Bassel, the head of the vaccine distribution at Avera Medical, said the biggest challenge in the distribution process has been South Dakota’s winter weather. “Our biggest problem has been the weather,” Bassel said. “One of our first shipments went out into a snowstorm… A truck ended up in a ditch but we got it out on time and no vaccine spoiled.” Olsen said the biggest hurdle in distributing the vaccine in Clay County has been being diligent with how they use each vial of the vaccine. “Our biggest (challenge) is just making sure we are using all the vaccine that we recieve,” Olsen said. “It would be great if we could see an increase in allocation for the state of South Dakota but otherwise it has been such a blessing to to see all these different populations receive
the vaccine.” Currently, Clay County has administered 1,145 doses of one of the two COVID-19 vaccines to 947 people.
21 Days
between the first and second dose of the vaccine Olsen said Sanford Vermillion currently receives and administers about 100 doses of the Moderna vaccine per week and is doing their best to make the most of every vial. Each vial Sanford Vermillion recieves has 10-11 doses of the vaccine. Olsen said it depends on the amount of vaccine in each vial. “We struggle with the amount allocations we have but we vow to never waste a dose and we make sure those allocations are used properly,” Olsen said. “We try to be really strategic about how many vaccine slots we open each day and make sure we have contacted everybody we need to (each day).” Currently, South Dakota is in phase 1D of the vaccine distribution process which right now includes people over the age of 65 (starting with people over the age of 80) and high-risk residents and patients. The SD DOH recently announced
the state would be moving to the next people in line for Phase 1D people with two or more underlying medical conditions. The next in line after this in Phase 1D, according to SD DOH’s plan, would be teachers and other school/ college staff. SD DOH are hoping to start administering the vaccine to this group in late February or early March. Sanford Vermillion contacts each person when it is their time to receive their first or second dose of the vaccine by their preferred from of contant (either letter, phone, or email). While this mass vaccination campaign is currently being administered, the COVID-19 pandemic in the U.S. is worse than it has ever been amid new, more contagious variants of the virus. The country is currently experiencing at least 170,000 cases per day since late November and over 3,000 deaths per day for the past two weeks. South Dakota has been able to be less strained by the pandemic compared to the state’s peak in November when the state was consistently seeing over 1,000 cases per day. For the past month the state hasn’t seen more than 500 cases in one day. These numbers were up to date as of print. To find more information on vaccine rollout, go to www.doh. sd.gov/COVID.
South Dakota Distribution Phases Currently at the beginning of Phase 1D Phase 1A: Frontline healthcare workers and long-term care facility healthcare workers Phase 1B: Long-term care residents Phase 1C: EMS, public health workers, healthcare workers and law enforcment Phase 1D: 65 years and older, high risk individuals, persons with 2 or more preexisting conditions, funeral workers, teachers and college staff Phase 1E: Fire service personnel and public-facing workers in essential and critical infrastructure Phase 2: 16 years and older source: www. doh.sd.gov
35th Stilwell exhibition showcases student art, “careers worth following” Miles Amende
Miles.Amende@coyotes.usd.edu
While the reception for this year’s Stilwell Student Awards Exhibition took place virtually, the installation continues to showcase the recent work of USD’s artists. Every piece in the exhibition, which is located in the John A. Day Gallery, has been created within the last year. Cory Knedler, Chair of the Art Department, said he thinks it’s nice to see art shows return to galleries across the country this year. “A lot of the exhibitions that typically run have not been able to be put up physically and so there’s been a lot of virtual exhibitions, but it’s so great to see them come back,” Knedler said. “Virtual only gets you so far.” This year’s exhibition includes 69 pieces from 35 artists, making it a smaller show than in previous years. Despite this, Gallery Director Amy Fill said the exhibition allows students, faculty and the community to have the chance to see student art and celebrate the artists’ hard work. “It is generally the student’s
first opportunity to participate in a professional juried exhibition,” Fill said. “(It’s) good professional development for them as well, filling out the paperwork properly and meeting deadlines.” Quite a few of the pieces are portraits, Knedler said. He said he thinks people are turning inwards to look for solutions and find creative inspiration during the pandemic. Cody Henrichs, head curator of the Washington Pavillion Visual Arts Center in Sioux Falls, juried the event. He said he sees the prevalence of portraits as a by-product of isolation and as an adaptation to a lack of materials and studios. “There’s this wonderful, dark tide of dystopian landscapes that are all over in the exhibition. Isolation, I would say, is the overarching sense of the work. And self-portraiture speaks to isolation,” Henrichs said. “We’re beginning to see this in all creative outlets, where people are either adapting and using what they have available to them, or they’re just not making (art).” Henrichs said he doesn’t
encounter a lot of student art because he generally works with mid-career artists, so it was refreshing for him to curate the exhibition. Henrichs said he has a simple rubric for determining a successful piece: whether he wants to look at the piece, whether it asks him a question, and whether he wants to look at it again. When encountering art in exhibitions or museums, Henrichs said he walks around the room and lets the art wash over him to find the pieces that stand out from the rest. “There’s a certain something, a je ne sais quoi, this sort of magic that’s in the air… and when that happens, I think it’s immediate. Any trained eye, or even, I think, the untrained eye, can be like, ‘that’s good,’” Henrichs said. This year’s Best of Show was awarded to “Hunting Portrait” by senior painting major Ethan Tasa. Tasa was inspired by French hunting portraiture, as well as discussions he’s had in class about how portraiture is used to create identity. See Exhibition, Page A3
Miles Amende | The Volante
Tasa’s “Hunting Portrait” was awarded Best of Show in the 2021 Stilwell Student Awards Exhibition on Saturday, January 23.