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The Volante NOVEMBER 5, 2014
Tiospaye brings sense of home to students with monthly taco sale
THE STUDENTS’ VOICE SINCE 1887
Withdrawing from classes may impact future work Cristina Drey
Christina.Drey@coyotes.usd.edu
MALACHI PETERSEN I THE VOLANTE
Junior Brittany Youpee prepares a plate of onions to go with a selection of toppings for tacos made by the Tiospaye taco sale Tuesday in the Native American Cultural Center,
Phil Millar
Phillip.Millar@coyotes.usd.edu
On the first Tuesday of every month, Tiospaye — a student organization at the University of South Dakota — hosts a taco sale at the Native American Cultural Center. Tiospaye, which translates to ‘extended family’ from Lakota, is geared toward Native American students who become close through fundraisers, community events, a PowWow and weekly meetings. While the taco sale raises funds
for the organization, Tiospaye President Aspen Ducheneaux said there is more to the taco sale than the money alone. “It’s like a sense of home, the tacos (are), just because they’re something the Native culture have made for so long,” Ducheneaux said. “It’s like a family event.” In partnership with Cherry Street Grille, Tiospaye typically brings in around $300 in funds. The restaurant then receives a third of the revenue generated from the taco sales, which Severson said only covers the raw cost of
Wellness Center numbers drop as end of semester approaches Phil Millar
Phillip.Millar@coyotes.usd.edu
As the semester winds down, the University of South Dakota Wellness Center data shows card swipes have decrease by roughly 15 percent during the last month of fall semester when compared to the first three months of the fall semester. That same figure rises to 31 percent during the spring semester in January. MAYER The Wellness Center collects data on a monthly cycle. As members enter, they must swipe their card near the front desk, which allows the Wellness Center to calculate the amount of people visiting the facility. Director Steve Mayer said because of the drop in people working out at the gym, there are fewer staff members and programs during winter and summer break.
“We don’t need 75 fitness classes going on during finals week or the week after Christmas,” Mayer said. For the first three months of the 2013 fall semester, card swipes average about 25,000 per month. From Nov. 15 to Dec. 15 2013, the amount of card swipes dropped to 21,789. The next cycle coincided with winter break, and there were only 11,120 card swipes. However, after winter break, activity picked up. From Jan. 15 to Feb. 15 in 2014, there were 37,621 card swipes. To accommodate the demand, the Wellness Center started a Biggest Loser program two years ago, which exploded into a year-long activity. “It was popular enough that we didn’t just want to run it during the spring semester,” Mayer said. By the April 16 to May 15 2014 period, card swipes dropped to 20,756 as the school year drew to a close. During the 2014 summer break, there were around 8,000 card swipes per month. Additional in-depth Wellness Center data shows who uses SEE WELLNESS, PAGE A6
Cherry Street Grille provides the meat, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes, while Tiospaye provides the frybread and drinks. Veronica Guzman, who works in the USD admissions office, attended the Nov. 4 fundraiser to support the Native American Cultural Center. Of course, the taste of the tacos was also a plus, she said. “They’re delicious — I can’t say no to those,” Guzman said. Tiospaye, which has 25 to 30 active members, typically has five
Approaching the 70 percent completion mark of the fall semester, students have the option to withdraw from classes for reasons which commonly sum up to a defense of receiving a poor grade. In accordance with the South Dakota Board of Regents policy number 2:6, all institutions must offer an add and drop period within 10 percent of the semester and the option to withdraw from a class with a student receiving a ‘W’ on their transcript. The University of South Dakota’s withdrawal deadline is Friday. “’W’s do not affect the cumlative comp l e t e d credit on the students transcript or does not go in the WARD cumulative GPA,” said Registrar Jennifer Thompson. “So if the student feels that they’re doing poorly, the best action is probably speak to the instructor and academic adviser if this is the best process or situation for them.” The withdrawal process may be executed in two different ways, Thompson said. “Students are able to drop on Webadvisor provided that they don’t have any holds that would prevent registration,” Thompson said, which
SEE TIOSPAYE, PAGE A7
SEE WITHDRAWL, PAGE A6
MALACHI PETERSEN I THE VOLANTE
Vermillion community members Doris Peterson and Bill Ranney (above) are served tacos by Tiospaye members and juniors Brittany Youpee and Aspen Ducheneaux.
the goods provided to the student organization. The organization sells one taco and a drink for $6, or two tacos and a drink for $10. “It’s a very worthy cause,” said Ben Severson, the manager at Cherry Street Grille, citing his Vermillion roots for his willingness to help Tiospaye. Jon Robertson, owner of Cherry Street Grille, has a Native American background, which is part of the reason behind the business’s partnership with Tiospaye, Severson said.
South Dakota bar exam passing score to rise by five points in 2015 Megan Street
Megan.Street@coyotes.usd.edu
The University of South Dakota’s School of Law, among other law schools around the country, will be affected by multiple changes to the bar exam taking effect in February. South Dakota’s bar exam is the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) , which is administered to students upon completion of a law degree, and is the most widely used exam throughout the U.S., said Thomas Geu, dean of the USD School of Law. The cut score, or the minimum passing grade, will increase to 135 from 130, and students will need to receive a passing score in every category instead of just passing the overall cut score, Geu said. In addition, the category of civil procedure, or the rules a court has to follow, will also be a required part of the multiple choice test. The test is offered to graduates in February and again in July. The MBE tests students over more than 200 multiple choice questions, as well as essay questions and a performance test designed to test students’
FILE PHOTO I THE VOLANTE
Thomas Geu, the dean of the University of South Dakota School of Law in fall 2013. The Princeton Review ranked the USD School of Law as the fifth Best Value College.
knowledge of different aspects of law. Each state sets its own cut score for the exam, and Geu said USD’s is similar to other schools in the region. While the base questions on the MBE are exactly the same in all states, each state also has their own unique category of questions. In South Dakota, that category contains questions
regarding Indian law. Jennifer Harvey, graduate student and president of the Student Bar Association, said South Dakota’s customized category is pertinent to practicing law in this state. “The individuals who are going SEE BAR, PAGE A6
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