The Volante W E D N E S D AY, O C T O B E R 2 3 , 2 0 1 9
THE STUDENTS’ VOICE SINCE 1887
Stars in stripes See how referees earn their stripes to keep an eye on intramural sports.
Sports, B1
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U: Fast-food restaurants struggle to retain employees Lexi Kerzman
Lexi.Kerzman@coyotes.usd.edu
Flipping burgers, cleaning tables and working in customer service isn’t what most college students would call a career goal. In fact, fast-food restaurants in Vermillion have a hard time keeping people at these jobs in general. “Low wages, lack of career paths and an overwhelming belief among the working public that fast-food jobs should only ever be temporary all contribute to the worsening turnover issues,” according to CNBC reports. The rate of employee turnover reached 150% as of August of 2019, according to CNBC. The installation of kiosks at fast food restaurants, such as McDonald’s, have played a role in increased employee dissatisfaction. “Outlets have fretted that new tech at fast food joints will usher in layoffs … Instead, employees displaced by kiosk or app ordering would be reassigned to new roles providing table service and delivery,” an article from Business Insider stated. “… (Workers have) to manage the self-ordering kiosks, mobile app and a slew of new menu items.”
The strange history behind USD’s tunnel system
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See FAST FOOD, Page A3
Peyton Beyers I The Volante
First designed by Harry Brookman in 1928, the campus tunnel system has expanded to three miles, and during the Cold War was planned to hold 15,000 people in the event of a nuclear attack from the Soviet Union. Austin Lammers
Austin.Lammers@coyotes.usd.edu
Underneath USD, three miles of tunnels connect power, steam, data and communication lines to buildings across campus. The Facilities Management (FM) crew, who roam the tunnels daily, joke that the labyrinth would make for a good base in the event of a zombie apocalypse. Actually, they’re not far off. The tunnels are subject to campus lore — Craig Franken, a Volante article from the 1980s said Director of Operations and Maintenance multiple students who snuck into the culverts below the Fine Arts building to drink beer often saw a “lady in white” Cold War, the underground system was meandering the maze — but during the prepared to house 15,000 people in case of a Soviet nuclear attack. Harry E. Brookman, professor of applied science and Brookman Hall’s namesake, designed the first tunnel in 1928 to carry power and steam lines from the old campus power plant to Old Main, a much more pacified purpose than protection from nuclear fallout. As campus expanded and new buildings sprouted through the next few decades, so did the tunnels underneath them. “When the young people in Vermillion found out about that tunnel, we used to slip through there — only under careful watch,” said Nancy McCahren, a lifelong Vermillion resident, USD student and professor, who said she and her friends snuck into them in elementary school. “You had to be little to get through. We sure as hell had a good time.” In 1965, the last of the tunnels were built below Cherry Street (then Highway 50) preceding the construction of North Complex. At the same time, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were two decades deep in a USD Archives & Special Collections I The Volante nuclear arms race, stockpiling warheads A picture from 1965 shows construction to counter diplomatic disagreement. Four hundred miles west of Vermillion, of the tunnel running underneath Cherry 150 minuteman missiles containing Street to yet-to-be-built North Complex.
We always tell people, ‘don’t go down there without a crucifix and some Holy Water in a squirt gun.’ nuclear warheads stronger than the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in WWII were stationed at Ellsworth Air Force Base outside of Rapid City. In Omaha, 150 miles south of Vermillion, sat the Strategic Air Command (SAC) Headquarters, now Offutt Air Force Base. “It’s hard to get into the heads of the Soviets to find out their plan of attack,” Col. Robert O’Brien of the North American Air Defense Command said in 1979 when The Volante asked him if South Dakota was a potential target for a nuclear attack. If the U.S.S.R. targeted major cities, industrial sites and SAC posts, odds were South Dakota would be safe from a direct attack, O’Brien said. But if they planned to bombard missile sites, the “Soviet War plan” would include the state. In that event, Vermillion, like other cities at the time, had a plan. With no prior warning, a nuclear strike on Ellsworth AFB could kill 40 percent of the state’s population immediately, according to Cliff Sumption, Chief of Operations for the State Office of Emergency Preparedness in Pierre at the time. With 20 mph eastward winds, fallout particles could reach Vermillion See TUNNELS, Page A6
Athletic department rolls out new student ticket plan Bailey Zubke
Bailey.Zubke@coyotes.usd.edu
USD announced its new football ticketing process to students in an email Monday morning. There are three options for students to get their tickets for the week’s game. The first option requires students to scan a QR code on posters inside the Muenster University Center starting Tuesday of game week. The QR code becomes available at 11:30 a.m. Students are required to fill out their email and name. The second option is following a link posted on the official USD Twitter and Facebook accounts. The post will be up at noon on Tuesdays, where students are directed to the same form as they would if they scanned the QR code. If students follow the QR code or link, they then need to get their ticket voucher. Vouchers are available for pick-up Wednesday in the MUC from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Students can also get their voucher by going to the Sanford Coyote Sports Center ticket office between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. Students will still be required to bring their ID cards to swipe for Paw Points. The final option is only possible if tickets are available after the vouchers are collected. The remaining tickets will be available immediately on game day when the student entrance opens. Students can swipe into the game to claim a seat. If any claimed tickets go unused, those seats will open up once the game kicks off.