INSIDE LOOK AT THE ROTC PROGRAM
Students in the University of South Dakota’s ROTC program underwent situational training exercises this past weekend where they practiced their leadership and tactical skills.
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Female University of South Dakota students in the ROTC program are carrying out their service duties, despite stereotypical gender roles sometimes associated with the military.
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The Volante APRIL 1, 2015
THE STUDENTS’ VOICE SINCE 1887
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Keeping It Clean
ALLY KRUPINSKY I THE VOLANTE
Project Main Street, Sheriff’s Office look to keep area streets, beaches clean of litter
Braley Dodson
Braley.Dodson@coyotes.usd.edu
As temperatures begin to rise with the warming spring season, so does the amount of litter on Burbank Beach. Clay County Sheriff Andy Howe said traffic to the beach has increased in the past two years as university students have discovered its existence. Howe said the road to Burbank Beach is currently closed because it is impassible due to deep rivets, but as better weather comes, so will the students. With an increase in traffic and alcohol consumption on the beach comes the worry of more traffic accidents and more litter. But Vermillion area litter problems are not limited to Burbank Beach. Student Government Association Senator Leah Gleason, chair of the State and Local Com-
mittee, oversees Project Main Street, an initiative that encourages student organizations to spend 30 minutes each weekend picking up trash on Main Street. “The homeowners really love it, and the City Council loves it, and it makes downtown look better,” Gleason said. Project Main Street started last year. Since then, Gleason said organizations have shown an eagerness to volunteer to pick up litter. “A lot of them are signed up for two or three weekends,” she said. “There are people who have already been emailing me about next year. They’re eager to give back.” The organizations start picking up litter Sundays at 2 p.m., moving from the corner of Plum SEE LITTER, PAGE A7
AWOL expects growth Athletes celebrate ‘million minute’ after GAF vote allows reward with elementary students increased funding Megan Card
Megan.Card@coyotes.usd.edu
Nathan Ellenbecker
Nathan.Ellenbecker@coyotes.usd.edu
Pending approval by the South Dakota Board of Regents, growing student organizations like Alternative Week of Off-Campus Learning (AWOL) are expecting to benefit from last month’s General Activities Fees increase vote. According to the General Activity Fee increase proposal presented to the University of South Dakota Student Government Association, AWOL will receive $12,000 in specific recommendations of GAF funding for fiscal year 2016. Junior Ashley McKeown, president of AWOL, said the organization currently needs $66,000 to operate all trips and expenses. The organization received about $11,000 from GAF this year, she said.
AWOL expects an increase as GAF revenue rises. Normally, the organization handles expenses through year-long fundraising, administrative fees paid by students and partial GAF funding. “We are also hoping that with the new GAF funding it will, in fact, allow more of our students access to the program,” McKeown said. “Because of the increase of funding, not only can we offer more trips, different learning opportunities, hopefully some more scholarships, so students have even more of a reason to apply for the AWOL programming.” USD students voted in early March to increase the GAF cost by $3.50 per credit SEE AWOL, PAGE A7
Junior Tia Hemiller has gone up against some of the best defensive rebounders in the country on the basketball court. But on March 31, the 5’8’’ starting point guard for the University of South Dakota took on a swarm of pintsized opponents. Hemiller was all in for a schoolyard-style game of knockout in the DakotaDome against students from Jolley Elementary School. The reason — a love of books. The Dome turned into a playground for a massive recess with members of the men’s and women’s basketball teams as a reward to Jolley students for reading for more than a million minutes. “We’re incredibly proud of you, of all you’ve done. You should be proud of you,” junior guard Kelly Stewart said to the crowd of students during their celebratory pep rally.
MEGAN CARD I THE VOLANTE
Junior USD womens basketball player Margaret McCloud plays with Jolley elementary student March 31 in the DakotaDome.
For 16 weeks, the men’s and women’s basketball players have teamed up with elementary students in the second to fifth grade to meet their million-minute goal. A male and female athlete came
each Thursday morning to the school, collected reading time sheets and played a game called “Beat the ‘Yotes,” where students attempted to stump the athletes by naming books they have read.
By March 12, Jolley students broke their goal by totaling 1,000,575 minutes of reading at home, Principal Sue Galvin said. The first-year SEE REWARD, PAGE A7
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