The Volante
THE STUDENTS’ VOICE SINCE 1887
VERVE (B1 & B2)
LAHSO hosts Dia de los Muertos celebration
W E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 4 , 2 0 2 0
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ELECTION RESULTS IMPENDING
On Nov. 2, the Latino and Hispanic Student Organization hosted a Dia de los Muertos celebration with Sigma Delta Pi, the CDC and CAB. Read more about the collaborative event on page B2.
SPORTS (B3 & B4)
Coyote seniors react to extra year of eligibility
Leah Dusterhoft | The Volante
Since the NCAA decided to grant spring and fall athletes and extra year of eligibility as a result of COVID-19, the same has now been done for winter athletes. Read more on page B3.
STUDENTS ‘NOT SURPRISED’ BY RESULTS
Jacob Forster
Chloe Fullenkamp
Chloe.Fullenkamp@coyotes.usd.edu
Vermillion mother arrested for murder of one-year-old son Lexi Kerzman
Lexi.Kerzman@coyotes.usd.edu
A 26-year-old mother was arrested on Nov. 2 for murder charges after the death of her son. The Vermillion Police Department responded to a report of a child not breathing at a Vermilion home on Monday afternoon. Officers discovered the boy was deceased upon arrival. Maria Milda, the mother of the deceased child, was arrested shortly after 9 p.m. on Monday. She was arrested for first-degree murder. Her bond has been set at $1 million. According to a press release from VPD, the cause of death is still pending the autopsy results. This is an ongoing investigation, there is no further information available at this time. The Volante will update this story as more information becomes available.
SD PASSES WEED, WAGERING BILLS
As election results rolled in on Nov. 3, students around campus watched the future of the country become a reality. Some students chose to attend watch parties on campus while others viewed from the comfort of their homes. But no matter where they watched, students were not surprised by the South Dakota elections. Freshman Marissa Brunkhorst and sophomore Morgan Wray attended the Cross Media Council Election Watch Party in the Freedom Forum on Tuesday night. Wray said she expected the South Dakota senate and house races to reflect the polls. “I expected the incumbents to retain their seats,” Wray said, “South Dakota will be a red state indefinitely.” Representative Dusty Johnson and Senator Mike Rounds won their reelection races by large margins, according to The Associated Press. Along with the reelection races in the state, South Dakota was also faced with two bills
regarding marijuana use. Initiated Measure 26 (IM-26) legalizes medicinal marijuana use and Amendment A legalizes recreational use. Sophomore Landen Van Hulzen said he is not surprised IM-26 passed in South Dakota. “For medical use, I don’t think it’s that surprising. I think over the years acceptance of marijuana has grown,” Van Hulzen said. Brunkhorst also said she thinks it is great that South Dakota legalized medicinal use, as she is from Minnesota, a state where medicinal use is already legal. As for Amendment A, South Dakota is leaning towards passing the amendment at the time of publication. “Personally, I see no issue with the recreational use,” Van Hulzen said, “It’s a personal choice.” Sophomore Morgan Roberts said this election brought more diversity to the state. “I feel like there is more representation of diversity in South Dakota than in the past, but I still feel that we are lacking See WATCH PARTY, Page A3
Jacob.R.Forster@coyotes.usd.edu
In statewide races, incumbent Republican Senator Mike Rounds leads democratic nominee Dan Ahlers with 69% of the reported vote, while incumbent Republican Representative Dusty Johnson leads libertarian Randy “Uriah” Luallin with 83% of the reported vote. In the race for the public utility commissionership, Republican nominee Gary Hanson leads with 70% of the reported vote, while Libertarian Devin Saxon, with 5% and Remi Bald Eagle, with 24%, trail. On the statewide issue votes, state Supreme Court Justice Steven Jensen’s retention vote stands at 83% yes in the reported vote. Constitutional Amendment A, to legalize recreational marijuana, leads with 52% yes, Initiated Measure 26, to legalize medical marijuana, leads with 69% yes and Constitutional Amendment B, to legalize sports gambling in Deadwood, leads with 58% yes in the reported vote. In South Dakota’s State Legislature District 17, with 11 out of 15 precincts reporting, incumbent republican State
Senator Arthur Rusch leads democratic challenger Ailee Johns with 66% of the reported vote. Republican State Representative candidates Richard Vasgaard and Sydney Davis each hold 31% and 33% of the reported vote, respectively, while democratic candidates Caitlin Collier and Al Leber have 17% and 19%. The top two finishers will be seated in the state legislature. Democratic candidates Richard Hammond, Elizabeth Smith, and Mark Winegar lead with 20%, 20%, and 19% of the reported vote to republican candidates Travis Mockler and James Bohnsack, with 19% and 13% of the reported vote in the race for Clay County commissioner at large with five of seven precincts reporting. The top three candidates in the final count will win. In Vermillion, a measure to adopt a home rule charter for the city, to allow the city to exercise any legislative power or function not denied by its charter, the state constitution, or state law, leads with 60% yes in the reported vote. All percentages are accurate as of 11 p.m. on Tuesday Nov. 3.
USD students work to build a culture of resourcefulness on campus Rachel Pechous
Rachel.Pechous@coyotes.usd.edu
For years USD has not had many consistent recycling acts set in place. However, two sustainability students are planning to change that for good. Caitlin Reimers, a junior sustainability major and campus recycling coordinator, and Anna Moore, a graduate student, have been working together to plan a campus initiative for recycling. Starting with North Complex and Brookman, Reimers and Moore are implementing a recycling initiative to help make recycling more easily accessible to students on campus. “My personal goal is to have recycling in all of the residence halls, so if it goes well, we want it to be added to Burgess-Norton, McFadden and Coyote,” Reimers said. To help fund the initiative Reimers applied for the Green Initiative Fund through USD and was supplied $5,000 to help implement the initiative on campus. “I proposed that every room in every resident hall would have a recycling and landfill bin placed into their rooms starting next semester,” Reimers said. Reimers said these bins will help make recycling and separating waste much easier and accessible to students. They can then bring their bins down when they dispose of their garbage and empty the bins into blue recycling bins that can hold up to seven gallons of recyclable waste and will be placed in lobbies or other convenient areas. Moore is a part of USD’s recycling
team for undergraduate students. The group will pick up the recycled waste as needed throughout the week and help transport it to Sioux Falls’s Millennium recycling center. “We found that Vermillion only recycles plastics one and two where Sioux Falls will do one through seven which really expands what we are capable of doing,” Reimers said. Plastics one and two include waste such as water bottles, milk jugs and shower products. By allowing plastics one through seven more waste is accepted like bottles for chemical products, plastic bags, car bumpers and interior, flowerpots, ashtrays and bio-based plastics. Moore’s team has also been working on implementing recycling to other buildings on campus and as of right now they have recycling bins in 20 buildings. “The plan is to honestly expand as fast as we can,” Moore said. Moore said it’s important to implement recycling to show students how much waste they create and to help them know the differences between their waste. “Since 2018, USD has reached their landmark of recycling 100,000 pounds of waste, but in September 2020 alone the amount of nonrecycled material sent to landfills, dumpsters and roll offs across campus was more than 200,000 pounds,” Moore said. Reimers said recycling is one of the easiest and most convenient ways to become more sustainable. “This is really just a small step where I hope USD will allow more sustainability majors like me to
Submitted Photo | The Volante
Caitlin Reimers, a junior sustainability major, and Anna Moore, a graduate student, are currently working on a campus initiative for recycling. have more opportunities to branch out to more sustainable initiatives,” Reimers said. Students interested in recycling and sustainability have several resources available to them. “The Presidents’ Joint Committee on Sustainability is a resource for
students who want to get involved, as is the Green Initiative Fund, the Post-Landfill Action Network and myself,” Moore said. Reimers and Moore said they hope these recycling initiatives will help educate students more on the importance of recycling and taking
care of their own wastes. “I think this is one of the ways that we can start to build a culture of resourcefulness on campus by giving students a simple, convenient way to get started in their own lives,” Moore said.