Sports, A8
Verve, A6
Yoga Time
The Crown
Football players dedicate time to keep senior citizens active.
Miss USD prepares to compete for Miss South Dakota in June.
The Volante APRIL 29, 2015
THE STUDENTS’ VOICE SINCE 1887
Vermillion on FrogWatch
.
volanteonline com
2016 dates for
Shakespeare folio exhibit announced Malachi Petersen
Malachi.Petersen@coyotes.usd.edu
MEGAN CARD I THE VOLANTE
Professor Jake Kerby, left, holds a frog up for FrogWatch USA participants during their training session Saturday afternoon.
Natalie Keller & Megan Card Natalie.Keller@coyotes.usd.edu Megan.Card@coyotes.usd.edu
A way to remember the sound of an American bullfrog: imagine the pulsating buzz of a “lightsaber.” This may seem to be an unusual comparison, but for Jake Kerby, it is a way to turn the young and old into “FrogWatch Citizen Scientists.” Kerby, a biology professor at the University of South Dakota, led the second FrogWatch USA training event in Vermillion Saturday afternoon in Churchill Haines. The three-hour training session taught attendees 12 regional frog calls and how to complete a survey to enter data collected in wetland locations. “The method is pretty simple. You basically go to a wetland after dark, 30 minutes after dusk. You sit quietly for two minutes and listen to frog calls for three minutes and you just write down what
you hear,” Kerby said. FrogWatch USA is a national organization with individual chapters around the country. The local group led by Kerby is the Great Plains chapter and covers the South Dakota, Nebraska and Iowa area. Members include students from USD and South Dakota State University as well as community members from around the region. Ever since he was five years old, USD graduate student Spencer Siddons has been interested in biology. He is getting firsthand KERBY experience FrogwatchUSA2in getting others excited as well through FrogWatch USA training. “I was just kind of the typical kid that liked frogs and snakes and nature,” Sid-
dons said. “It just stuck with me, and I realized I could make a career out of it.” Siddons assisted Kerby Saturday to teach the correct protocol to collect data and where to enter it online. Attendees also completed an exam on the various frog calls. All nine in the class passed and were given certificates to verify they have the necessary skills to go out on their own and collect frog and toad data to enter in national databases. Kerby said the information gathered by these “citizen scientists” is important because it allows educators and biologists to track where the frogs are and if they are still in the area or disappearing. “Amphibians worldwide are on a massive decline so we kind of know biodiversity loss is a big thing, but as it turns out, amphibians are the most threatened,”
SEE FROGS, PAGE A4
S.D. moving to online health inspections Ally Krupinsky
Ally.Krupinsky@coyotes.usd.edu
The South Dakota Department of Health is transitioning to a paperless, more onlinefriendly system in the health inspection process. Health inspectors will now complete their forms on tablets, resulting in what officials hope will be a more efficient process. John Osburn, assistant administrator for the Department of Health, said this change has been talked about for years. He said tablets will provide more readily-available information to the people. “We did want it more accessible to the public,” Osburn said. “And so that was a factor, but again there’s other issues. We wanted to gather the data in a more timely fashion, and we’ll be able to do more with that data that we bring in.” Osburn said the new database will likely be up sometime this summer. Dustin Larsen has been the regional DOH adviser for southeastern South Dakota since 2006. He said he has weekly meetings to work out the kinks in the new system. “I think it’s a needed step and it’ll help move us forward into being a little more efficient, I think, with our inspec-
tions and working with our inspectors in the field,” Larsen said. Once the new system is in place, whole inspection reports will be available online, rather than just scores. “Going forward they’ll be able to actually see what violations were marked on the inspection form,” Osburn said. Osburn and Larsen said scores are consistent statewide, and fall within the ‘good’ to ‘very good’ range. “We’ve had a good, longstanding relationship with the majority of the restaurants. Many of them have been here for many, many years,” Larsen said. “And I think we’ve helped educate them and they work with us very well.” Food establishments have to be inspected at least twice a year, usually about every six months. Osburn said seasonal businesses are still inspected twice, but with less time between inspections. Scores below an 80 and/ or several critical items result in a 60-day warning. If the required corrections aren’t made, the DOH may take legal action. “There are some times where we do have to take them to administrative hear-
The official dates for the exhibition of a 392 year-old folio of William Shakespeare’s works have been announced. The National Music Museum and the University of South Dakota announced that “First Folio! The book that gave us Shakespeare” national tour will be free and open to the public at the NMM from March 7 to April 3, 2016. Un i v e r s i t y and NMM officials first announced USD had been chosen for the exhibition Feb. 26, almost seven months after project parFARABEE ticipants held their first planning session to bring the tour to USD. The 1623 edition contains 36 of Shakespeare’s plays including “The Tempest,” “Macbeth” and “How You Like It.” While on display at USD, multiple events at the NMM will be hosted to complement the exhibition, including lectures and musical demonstrations. Darlene Farabee, the project director and the chair of the English department at USD, said in a press release April 23 she was pleased the “first hand rarity” would be able to be seen by people from around the Siouxland who decide to travel to Vermillion. “From Shakespeare fans to students studying the Bard’s plays for the first time, this exhibit is a rare opportunity for people to experience one of the most influential books in history,” Farabee said.
ing, where they get to make their case and we make our case and then a judge arbitrates that — who has to make what corrective changes, if any,” Osburn said. Osburn said more often than not, hearings don’t result in shutting a business down. “It’s rare,” Osburn said. “We try to emphasize education, that’s our goal. We’re not out there trying to punish people for serving the public food.” Osburn and Larsen said the most common violations involve improper glove and
hand washing. “Those are ones that our office definitely takes (a) close look at. Proper hand washing especially,” Larsen said. First-year Austin Herbst, a health sciences major, said he goes out to eat about one to two times a week in Vermillion. He guessed that for the most part, Vermillion establishments get “pretty good” scores. He probably won’t look SEE HEALTH, PAGE A4
Health Inspection Scores
Vermillion Restaurants
Volante editor suspended for rest of semester Volante Staff Volante@usd.edu
Volante Editor-in-Chief Trent Opstedahl was suspended for the remainder of the semester by the Student Media Board at its regular meeting Tuesday morning. Opstedahl was found to have used a Coyote News video clip in the April 10 episode of The Volante’s web show “The Daily Verb” without giving proper credit, which is a violation of Volante ethics and principles, as well as a violation of practices regarding the use of other student media’s work. Coyote News is a student organization overseen by the Media & Journalism Department. The Volante is independent of the department and is overseen by the Student Media Board. As a result of this incident, the code of ethics for The Volante and the way the organization interacts with other student media organizations will be reevaluated. Staffers will be educated on media ethics during a media retreat before the start of the fall semester and all staff members have been sent a copy of the Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics. Opstedahl will return as editor-in-chief in the fall semester.