SHE’S BACK
NCAA grants Nicole Seekamp another year with the Coyotes. Full story on Sports B1
The Volante APRIL 22, 2015
THE STUDENTS’ VOICE SINCE 1887
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Students evacuated from Coyote Village VFD investigates fire extinguisher MORE ONLINE incident, criminal charges possible Watch video Cross Media Council The Vermillion Fire Department is continuing to investigate how a fire extinguisher was set off April 19 that led to the evacuation of Coyote Village residents. Shannon Draper, VFD chief, said the investigation will likely be completed by next week. “It’s a serious thing to mess with the extinguishers or any of the fire protection systems that are
in place,” Draper said. “From my understanding there’s video footage of it that we’ll be looking at later on.” Tena Haraldson, the University of South Dakota’s communications director, said in an email to The Volante that officials are reviewing security footage and interviewing people. Draper said a criminal case may be brought against the individual who discharged the extinguisher. “The criminal case is all depen-
for an in-depth interview with VFD Chief Shannon Draper, get a witness account of what it was like inside the building during the evacuation and see what the hallways of Coyote Village looked like after the emergency was over.
volante online.com dent on if we want to press charges. First let’s look and see what happened. Sometimes kids being kids gets a little bit too out of hand,” SEE EVAC, PAGE A7
MALACHI PETERSEN I THE VOLANTE
A ladder on a Vermillion Fire Department fire truck is extended outside of Coyote Village April 19. Heavy smoke was reported on the fourth floor of the building.
RAISING THE BAR
SGA votes to keep senator, dismisses impeachment Phil Millar & Ally Krupinsky Volante@usd.edu
MALACHI PETERSEN I THE VOLANTE
University of South Dakota Dakotathon participants practice a dance April 18 at St. Agnes Church.
Dakotathon raises $84,453 for charity MORE ONLINE
Read the complete recap story of the 24-hour dance marathon. Get a sense of the day’s events by learning about the families, dancers and activities.
Watch video of Dakotathon’s morale dance. Learn all the moves that dancers made a point to learn, all for the sake of charity.
View a photo gallery of the day’s activities, including dueting pianos, a glow stick rave, dancing and the reveal of student’s fundraising efforts.
Volante Staff Volante@usd.edu
Tears of sorrow and tears of joy were nearly indistinguishable April 19 at the University of South Dakota for the closing ceremony of Dakotathon. Some were shed for 15-year-old Tanna Kingsbury, a miracle child from the last Dakotathon and sister of a former executive team member, who died last year. With dimmed lights and a stirring a cappella hymn, current miracle children cut white wristbands from students’ arms in her memory. And just as many tears were met by a roar of cheers by students after finding out this year’s Dakotathon 24-hour event raised $84, 453.11 for Children’s Miracle Network, a staggering $20,000 more than their original goal. “What an incredible 24 hours. Congratulations to everyone who has taken part some
way in this fundraiser. It’s really been a year of hard work,” said Ashlin Peitzmeier, senior and overall co-chair of the event. Last year’s event raised $56,000 for CMN, which raises funds and awareness for children’s hospitals across North America. More than 170 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals care for millions of children each year. Erin Rohrer, program director for Children’s Miracle Network at Sanford Health, said this fundraiser is no longer a necessity but a necessity for families in the area. More than 60,000 patients visited Sanford Children’s Hospital last year, while more than 20 children were diagnosed with cancer, she said. “People saw funding for CMN as fun and kind of glamorous. It’s one of those charities that a lot of people know about,” Rohrer SEE DANCE, PAGE A7
University of South Dakota Student Government Association senator Muhamad Ali Suria is still a member of the SGA, after the Senate voted “no” to his removal April 21. Suria faced impeachment charges due to his violation of By-law 10, which states that a senator may have no more than three proxied absences from meetings. Suria missed four meetings. Suria said he was surprised at the number of senators that defended him. “It’s good to see the Senate is questioning things instead of just all groupthink,” Suria said. Suria missed meetings Jan. 27, Feb. 24, March 31 and April 7. He missed the Jan. 27 meeting for a class assignment. A meeting of the business fraternity Beta Alpha Psi was his reason for missing the Feb. 24 meeting. He missed the March SURIA 31 meeting for an internship interview in Omaha. On April 7, he cited personal reasons. Initially after hearing about the impeachment charges, Suria considered resigning, but decided against it. “I thought ‘This isn’t right, due process was not done,’” Suria said. Suria defended himself in the trial and said he devoted time outside of SGA meetings that he didn’t have to, particularly during the budgeting process. Senator Nathaniel Steinlicht was part of the Internal Review committee that brought Suria to trial with charges of impeachment. He voted to remove Suria from the senate. “I voted ‘yes’ because I believed that’s the punishment he deserved,” Steinlicht said. “There needs to be some sort of accountability held, and if you’re not here representing your constituents, I feel like you need to step down and let another senator who could potentially come in and represent those constituents better.” SEE SGA, PAGE A6
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