THE VOLANTE
ROTC PROGRAM CUT First-year and sophomore Reserve Officers' Training students left to decide whether to stay or leave USD after 2014-15 closure.
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OCTOBER 9, 2013 THE STUDENTS’ VOICE SINCE 1887 volanteonline.com
Crises know no bounds
'What if this happens to the people I know — the people I love — and I’m far away from home?' Trent Opstedahl
T
The Volante
uesday, Sept. 21, was supposed to be a normal day for Benson Lang'at. He would get up, enjoy a cup to Kenyan tea accompanied by buttered toast and go about his daily routine of a morning run and a study session.
However, that Saturday morning was drastically altered the moment he awoke to a text
from a friend informing him Nairobi’s Westgate shopping center had been attacked by Islamist fighters from Somalia’s al-Shabaab. Originally from Eldoret, Kenya, Lang'at is one out of more than 200 international students studying at the University of South Dakota who is on his way to earning an undergraduate degree in social work and will graduate in May. “Being in America is an opportunity for me to see the world for how it is,” Lang'at said. And while he said his decision to study in the U.S. has been one of the best choices of his life, Lang'at said it comes at a cost, both physically and emotionally. “There are times you want to sit at the table with your family and eat dinner,” said Lang'at, who has not seen his family in person for roughly four years. “Even though I miss my family, I know I’m here for a reason, and (my family) knows that.” Lang'at’s stress of attaining an education nearly 24 hours away from his immediate family was intensified after the news of the
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Nairobi’s Westgate attack began to spread around the world. Having family and friends living in the country’s capital, Lang'at said the one thing he most prominently remembers about the first few days of the attack is calling his family about every six hours to ensure their safety. “It’s hard to see what’s going on right now and to forgive those people, because they’re just killing innocent people,” he said. Among the more than 200 people who were killed, injured or reported missing as a result of the attack, Lang'at said only one of his friends who was at the site at the time of the attack sustained injuries. According to Lang'at, the Westgate attack evoked memories from his past when he and his cousin witnessed one of the 1998 Al Qaeda attacks on the Nairobi U.S. Embassy, Please see INTERNATIONAL, Page A8
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TRENT OPSTEDAHL/THE VOLANTE
Benson Lang'at, a Kenyan native, prepares his morning tea in traditional Kenyan robes. Lang'at has not seen his immediate family for four years.
SGA puts cap on election spending Insurance market Nathan Ellenbecker The Volante
FILE PHOTO
Student Government Association senators discuss the agenda during their weekly Tuesday meeting in the Muenster University Center.
The Student Government Association passed an election reform bill to determine how the Election Steering Committee will monitor political teams’ campaign spending during university elections, and the bill will be in effect for the 2014 races next semester. According to the election reform amendment, political teams can now spend a maximum of $400, including donations, on their campaigns. All receipts will be turned into the ESC by the candidates. During the Oct. 1 SGA meeting, President Erik Muckey said SGA was setting a precedent for more efficient and fair elections in the future by having guidelines on spending, where campaigning can take place and other practices.
VERVE
The 10% Society hosts its annual drag show Friday in the MUC ballroom.
Verve, B4
“The big thing to take from this is a lot of it is surrounding the executive election,” Muckey said. “It gives specific duties for everyone and is a way for us to educate the teams. By putting in spending limits, you are actually opening up the field for m o r e potential candidates a n d expanding elect i o n diversity.” Senior MUCKEY SGA senator Zach Nipp said the amendment is gearing the elections more toward student voters around campus. “This makes the campaign more important and should get more of Please see BILL, Page A7
.
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Please Recycle
open until March Joey Sevin The Volante
The reality of figuring out one’s options as a college student for reasonable health insurance can be a scary choice, said Dick Applequist, president and general manager at Prins Insurance in Sioux Falls. “For young people aged 19-21, liability costs and other insurance fees will seem alarming,” he said, “I encourage them to enroll in some sort of plan. All they have to do is come into our offices and get a quote on an insurance plan, talk it over with our consultants and go from there.” With the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, University of South Dakota students can now view their options through online marketplaces that are aimed to meet the needs of vari-
SPORTS
With one month until the regular season, both basketball teams continue practice.
Sports, B1
The average monthly cost of healthcare for students age 19 to 21 in S.D. ranges $40 to $92. Source: healthinsurance.org
ous personal circumstances, particularly those related to lowering monthly premiums. According to a report issued in 2008 by the United States Government Accountability Office, 20 percent of college students are uninsured. In addition to local insurance companies, students have the option to browse healthinsurance.org, an independent website that shows the options available to those looking for insurance plans. Users on the site have the option to narrow Please see REFORM, Page A7