The Volante W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 2 1 , 2 0 1 8
THE STUDENTS’ VOICE SINCE 1887
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Talks cover diversity, technology
Criminal justice student serving community Devin.Martin@coyotes.usd.edu
Difficulties
Last month, Officer Brian Gerard Garrett from Kyle, SD was shot and killed at the Pine Ridge Reservation during a domestic dispute. With the passing of Officer Garrett, Henrichs said he has to be ready for various scenarios, however, he can’t be prepared for them all. “It kind of weighs heavy because every time you walk up to a car, walk up to a house, you have to have it in the back of your mind ‘Hey I might get shot at right here’ or ‘Someone might try and kill me right here,” Henrichs said. “You always have to have that in your mind that this might be the one.” Henrichs said his position as a correctional officer at the Union County Jail in his sophomore year required him to watch over numerous inmates. “You deal with a lot of unruly inmates and you’re watching over a lot of people who don’t
If you see a green light with a flashing white light, then keep moving but beware of emergency vehicles that may be near.
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= Intersections with emergency vehicle lights in place
Leah Dusterhoft I The Volante
Cherry Street sees new emergency stoplights
Devin Martin
With the criminal justice department teaching students material in various classes, students also have the opportunity to serve their community through internships or jobs. Jesse Henrichs, senior criminal justice major, balances being a student with a part-time job as an Elk Point police officer. Henrichs also worked at Union County jail as a correctional officer and the Department of Natural Resources as a seasonal law enforcement officer in the past.
If you see a red light with a steady white light, then stop and wait for emergency vehicles to proceed.
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are grateful for his leadership as we have worked to put the law school on a firm foundation for the future.” Geu also faced the challenge of working to try and see if the law school could be able to move to Sioux Falls. The panel rejected the move, however, it did want to have additional funding for law programs. The South Dakota Legislature approved $300,000 per year. Geu became interim dean in 2011 and was named dean in 2013. He’s been with the law school for 29 years.
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Thomas Geu is stepping down as the dean of the University of South Dakota School of Law. According to a press release from the university, Geu will return to the law school faculty after a new dean is named. “There’s a lot of work to be done, but we’ve turned the corner,” he said. “It’s been a good year for USD Law,” Geu said. “We’ve moved up 14 places in the rankings by
U.S. News & World Report even as most small schools had lower ranks than last year.” President James Abbott GEU said a nationwide search is being conducted for a new dean. He’s grateful for what Geu has achieved at USD, he said. “Tom has faced a challenging period of time at the law school, with law enrollments falling nationwide,” Abbott said. “We
City of Vermillion installed traffic lights NEW STOPLIGHTS The that can be controlled by emergency vehicles IN TOWN recently. This is how they work.
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Devin Martin
Devin.Martin@coyotes.usd.edu
See TED, Page A3
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Law school dean steps down
“The New Faces in South Dakota: Overview of Refugee Resettlement.” Duffy said the distinction between an immigrant and a refugee is that a refugee is a person who leaves or flees a country because they’ve been persecuted for their race, religion, nationality or membership in a social or political group. Kerri Mohnsen, founder of Brian’s Closet, a nonprofit that provides clothing to Vermillion residents, presented “Welcome to Brian’s Closet: There’s Always Room for One More.”
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South Dakotan communal diversity, artistic performances and innovative technology were among the presentations highlighted at the TEDxUSD event in Farber Hall on Saturday afternoon. Lamont Sellers, associate vice president for diversity, presented the first TED talk of the day about the Voices of Discovery program “Talking Change, Making Change.” In his TED talk, Sellers shared his beliefs in the creation of an intergroup dialogue and the method
of listening to make change. “Active listening is not something you are born with, it’s something you acquire,” he said. “I believe that TEDxUSD creates the needed discussion and furthers it. It definitely was a well-organized event.” Following Sellers’ speech was a vocal performance from the USD a capella group High Howlers, a TED video titled “How Adaptive Clothing Empowers People with Disabilities” followed by a video from Jaret Heise, a science liaison director from the Sanford Underground Research Facility. Kristyne Duffy, volunteer coordinator from Lutheran Social Services, presented her topic
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Christina Vogel
Christina.Vogel@coyotes.usd.edu
Morgan Matzen
Morgan.Matzen@coyotes.usd.edu
Logan Rahn I The Volante
Jesse Henrichs, a senior criminal justice major, is a part-time police
officer in Elk Point.
like you. It’s a good job and I had a lot of great coworkers,” Henrichs said. “I think my calling was on the road. I would rather bring (people) in (jail) rather than watch them.” Henrichs said he hopes to work at the federal level in the future, and he said the most important part of his job is helping people. “You know you’re there to help people. It’s not all about taking people to jail like everyone thinks. You’re there to protect the community and it feels great to know you’re doing the right thing,” Henrichs said. “I have learned so much in the last five months more than I ever could have imagined in five years.”
Job experience
Henrichs knew he wanted to study criminal justice since his
father was a guard at the South Dakota State Penitentiary. He said the reason he chose Elk Point is because it’s “close to home.” With being enrolled in a criminal procedure class at USD right now, Henrichs said what he learned in class can be applied in the real world. “There’s been numerous times where you could refer back to laws that you’ve learned in class so you’re not violating someone’s amendment rights when you’re making arrests or making a search,” he said. Henrichs said police stations tend to hire people with experience, and a two month long field training as well as a shooting test are all required to become an officer. See LAW, Page A6
Stoplights on Vermillion’s Cherry Street have been fitted with new technology to trigger emergency lights which will help emergency vehicles proceed without accidents. Opticom, the new technology, is activated when the emergency vehicles are approaching an intersection with its emergency lights and sirens on. The Opticom technology will change the lights from two to three blocks away. As the emergency vehicle travels down the street, the lights should turn green, giving the cars in front enough time to move out of the way for the emergency vehicle. Matt Callahan, Vermillion Fire Department chief, said this technology was put in place to help emergency vehicles pass through busy Cherry Street, especially between Pine and University streets, where the boulevard can make it difficult for emergency vehicles to pass cars. “With the university having a boulevard there, a lot of time that’s plugged up with cars,” he said. “We either have to move over to the other side and actually challenge traffic head on and hope that everybody stops before the boulevard ends, or if they do pull over… we end up driv-
ing down part of the boulevard. That’s what we do for now.” Callahan said Opticom will notify cars stuck in the boulevard area, or headed towards the boulevard with a white light, that they should pass through the street or pull over. “What our hope is with this new technology is that when it’s activated, it should activate far enough in advance that if the people are within that boulevard and the light turned steady green and the white light turns steady white, that they’ll actually proceed through the boulevard and once they get to Pine Street, then they’ll pull over and we can continue through and stay on the road rather than getting up on the boulevard,” he said. Red traffic lights going the direction the emergency vehicle is approaching will turn green, and the other directions will turn red, allowing traffic to flow while preventing accidents in emergency situations, Callahan said. “If you see one that’s flashing, that means there’s an emergency vehicle approaching from a different way. If it’s on steady, that means they’re coming up from behind you and so you should be alert that they’re coming,” he said. See LIGHT, Page A2