Panel of activists discuss marriage equality battle in South Dakota. VERVE B1
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USD to host first TEDx talk in S.D. By John Fritzie-Gasper
John.FritzieGasper@coyotes.usd.edu
The funds will also be used to pay for the one-week residency of South Dakota artist Dick Termes, along with an assistant artist. Termes, the original creator of the mural, said he created it as part of a project through the South Dakota Arts Council’s Artists In Schools & Communities program. During his time with the program, Termes painted 15 murals across the state. Only four of those murals still exist, he said. Vermillion’s mural is thought to be the only exterior piece still in good condition. Packard, who is a longtime friend of Termes’s, said when she began talking with him about the restoration project, he was immediately interested. “We realized this was something that couldn’t wait any longer,” she said. Termes said although he no longer does mural paintings, he’s happy to come back and help restore part of the town’s and
USD is in the early stages of planning a TEDx event, the first public university in the state to do so. TEDx is an individually-run TED Talk that provides students, staff and faculty an opportunity to listen to community members speak on important, globally-relevant issues. TED is a nonprofit organization that produces educational content for many different topics via speakers at different venues throughout the world. Its conferences are generally exclusive events to which attendees must apply for a spot or pay their way in. In accordance with the license terms issued through TED, the TEDxUSD event is only allowed to admit 100 attendees. Students who wish to attend the Nov. 7 event at 5 p.m. must apply, and will then be entered in a drawing for a chance to win a ticket. Some seats will be available for purchase, while others will go to volunteers who fit the requirements within the group’s constitution. Live streaming in the Muenster University Center will be available for those who aren’t selected to attend the Nov. 7 event at 5 p.m. All details of the TEDxUSD event are being handled by a board of eight students. The group, which meets every other week, selected the various speakers, chose a production company to film the event and communicated with the international company to set the event up. “This is an independent event and they have been very independent in their duties,” Leslie Pusey, the board adviser, said. “This has been great.” In preparation for the event, the board also has been seeking funding to host the project. The Student Government Association approved $4,850 worth of funding in a unanimous vote during its Sept. 22 meeting. “We have already got quite a bit of money from on-campus sources,” lead organizer Josh Arens said at TEDx USD’s first meeting Sept. 20. The board is also hoping to acquire local business sponsorships to fund the event. The group is preparing for the event by gathering volunteers to advertise, help set-up the venue, people to usher speakers to keep the production running smoothly and finish the event’s final touches
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See TEDX, Page A6
MURAL MUSINGS
Trent Opstedahl I The Volante
Dick Termes, left, and Ahna Packard, right, begin painting the “Missouri Weave” mural in downtown Vermillion on Monday as part of a restoration project to bring back to life the 37-year-old art piece. The project runs until Friday and volunteers are invited to come and help paint the mural.
Restoration underway for historic downtown mural By Trent Opstedahl Trent.Opstedahl@usd.edu
Patty Armstrong isn’t an artist by trade and she isn’t a painter, but she’s picking up a brush to help restore one of downtown Vermillion’s historic landmarks. Armstrong is one of many volunteers this week who’s helping to bring life and color back to “Missouri Weave” – a nearly 40-yearold mural stretching across the exterior wall of LumoStudios & Gallery that represents the geography and history of the region. Adjacent to City Hall, the mural has fallen into a state of disrepair due to weather, vandalism and structural issues. Over the course of the week, the mural will have undergone a complete refurbishing to fix the fading piece of art. “It’s part of Vermillion,” Armstrong said. “You don’t even notice it’s fading until we started painting.” Phyllis Packard is the Vermillion Area Arts Council project coordinator for mural’s restoration. She said she’s been wanting
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It’s a lasting treasure for Vermillion.We want to make it last for a lot longer. Phyllis Packard, Vermillion Area Arts Council project coordinator
to restore the mural for two to three years. A longtime resident of Vermillion, Packard has a number of connections to the mural. In addition to owning the building the mural is painted on, she was also part of the mural’s original creation in 1978. “It’s a lasting treasure for Vermillion,” she said. “We want to make it last for a lot longer.” Packard has been planning and fundraising to get the project in motion since this past spring. Overall, the project is estimated to cost around $15,000.
Packard said she has raised about $12,000 to go toward the costs of supplies, materials, equipment, administration and promotion/advertising – which includes a plaque to recognize major donors and participants. While most of the donated funds have come locally, Packard said she’s been able to further spread the word about the restoration project through a GoFundMe page. “People from all over the country and very far distances have contributed, as well as many people in town,” she said.
Honors Association offers free ACT prep course By Josie Flatgard
Josie.Flatgard@coyotes.usd.edu
Working to find its niche in the community, the USD Honors Association is working to prepare high school students for the ACT. HA President Joshua Arens, a junior, said he’s excited for the new ACT program to make an impact on high school students, as well as the organization’s progress as a whole. “We’re obviously not as capable as college professors, but we all have been through the ACT and we’re Honors students,” he said. “It just seemed like a natural fit to provide this service that everyone could use.” Arens is one of several students who had the option to take ACT prep classes in high school, but found them too pricey. Allie Logan, a health sciences major, was one first-year who was recruited to apply for a tutor role. Logan taught ACT prep classes her junior and senior years of high school, and through that same program, was able to take a preparatory class that would’ve otherwise cost $800 without her employee discount.
“If anybody else wanted to take a course like that, it’s very expensive,” she said. High school students in the program will come for tutoring in Old Main four Saturdays before their chosen test date to improve their testing techniques and their score if they’ve already taken it. About six USD Honors students were specifically chosen to tutor because they have the ACT fresh in their minds. They’ll be participating in the program both semesters this year. “There are some people that are really good at math and science, so they’ll teach that section, and then some that are better at reading and English, so they’ll teach that section,” HA secretary Kristie Schmidt said. First, tutors will give a 15 to 20-minute lecture at the beginning of the class. “Then they can ask any questions they have, and then we have a ton of practice tests, so they can go ahead and take those,” Logan said. Schmidt, a sophomore, said she likes the fact that the program is free and accessible to students who can’t afford a
Josie Flatgard I The Volante
Executive members of Honors Association, including President Joshua Arens and Secretary Kristie Schmidt,
meet Monday night to discuss updates on current projects, including a new program allowing high school students to attend ACT prep courses led by Honors students. prep class. “They’re the ones that are trying to get needs-based scholarships and a lot of times you have to have a good GPA for that, so like, they need the money and they need to do well
on it, too, so I think it’d be good for them,” Schmidt said. Schmidt said she has seen more and more people come to the HA meetings, many of which are excited about helping out with the new ACT prep
program. “I think it’s really cool seeing the enthusiasm in their eyes, knowing that they’re getting involved and making a difference right away,” she said.