3.24.21

The Volante W E D N E S D AY, M A R C H 2 4 , 2 0 2 1

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Festival of Nations celebrates inclusivity during pandemic

Coyote women fall to Oregon in first round of NCAA tournament

USD students and faculty celebrated different cultures and cuisine at this year’s Festival of Nations. Learn more about the festivities on page B1.

USD’s women’s basketball team lost 67-47 to the Oregon Ducks in the first round the NCAA tournament. Read more about the game on page B3.

FEDERAL STIMULUS BILL: HOW WILL THE AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN IMPACT SOUTH DAKOTA?

Rachel Thompson | The Volante Jacob Forster

Jacob.R.Forster@coyotes.usd.edu

President Joe Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, a $1.9 trillion stimulus and economic relief bill, into law March 11. The bill has a number of wide-ranging impacts, including short-term expansions of unemployment benefits, money for state and local governments, changes to health insurance exchanges, a modification of the Child Tax Credit and $1,400 stimulus checks. The checks include adult dependents, a group largely made up of college students and the disabled, with the money being sent to claimants.

Ed Gerrish, an assistant professor of public administration at USD, said that since South Dakota’s COVID-19 surge happened after the summer tourist season, its revenues, which come largely from the state sales tax, were not as hard hit as other states. The state government will receive $1.37 billion in direct aid from the bill, according to The Hill. Additionally, South Dakota residents will receive money directly from the bill.

“1.9 trillion turns out to be a lot of money to spend, and they spent it in lots of different ways,” Gerrish said.

“Places that will be the most direct, obviously, is the direct economic payments, unemployment insurance.”

Sen. Arthur Rusch, who represents District 17 in the South Dakota State Senate, including Clay and Turner Counties, said he would like to see some of the money go toward infrastructure and higher education.

“It won’t provide ongoing revenue, so it’s got to be one time spending things, and that’s mostly infrastructure,” Rusch said.

Michael Card, an associate professor of political science at USD, said the funding could go toward spreading rural broadband in the state.

“My kids used to joke that I grew up in an area of South Dakota, that that wasn’t colored in on the cell phone coverage maps, and still isn’t,” Card said.

The bill continues a boost in unemployment insurance benefits, a measure which has been included in each economic relief plan passed since last March. The American Rescue Plan adds an additional $300 a week

on top of regular unemployment insurance rates. South Dakota’s unemployment rate, at around 2.9%, is about half the national unemployment rate of around 6.2%.

“Unemployment did go up relatively more in South Dakota, but we have such low unemployment in general,” Gerrish said. “South Dakota and North Dakota always have the lowest unemployment, because you basically can’t live here if you’re unemployed, because you can’t survive the winter.”

Gerrish said the bill’s changes for the Child Tax Credit may have the biggest impact on South Dakotans. The original program sent families with young children $2,000 per child per year. The American Rescue Plan makes that program fully refundable, which opens it up to the lowestincome filers, and restructures it as a monthly payment of $300, for up to $3,600 a year per child. This program is set to expire at the end of the 2021 tax year, but Gerrish said there is bipartisan support to make it permanent.

“That may be the model of how child payments work in the future,” Gerrish said. “Right now it’s only scheduled to work for a year.”

See Stimulus, Page A3

Charlie’s Cupboard founders honored in a farewell ceremony Jacob Forster

Jacob.R.Forster@coyotes.usd.edu

Charlie’s Cupboard hosted an event honoring departing founders Hannah Booth and Carson Zubke’s contributions to the community food pantry Thursday. The food pantry has served over 1,200 students since opening in September.

Speakers included Vice President of Student Services Kimberly Grieve and former Student Government Association President Abuk Jiel. USD President Sheila Gestring was unable to attend, but sent a written statement to be read.

“Congratulations,” Gestring’s statement read. “Your hard work and dedication took Charlie’s Cupboard from an idea to a successful new entity on campus in record time.”

Grieve congratulated Booth and Zubke for their work and presented the two with a plaque engraved with their names, which the two hung in the Cupboard.

“I can tell you that you are stars,” Grieve said. “And I know, as you leave this institution, and leave your legacy here, you will continue on to do great things in your life.”

Jiel read SGA’s Senate Resolution 12, which passed March 16. The resolution commemorates Booth and Zubke for their leadership in Charlie’s Cupboard.

Zubke said the challenge the two faced at the start was to get the cupboard up and running in three months, which was complicated by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Cupboard had to change all its programming to be more friendly to COVID-19 safety protocols, including social distancing.

“We had programming starting to form ready to open next spring, and then the pandemic hit,” Zubke said. “We were starting all over again.”

The cupboard’s original plan was a client choice model, where students can use the cupboard similar to a grocery store, choosing their own items, instead of prepackaged bags. Zubke said he hopes the new team, including new president Nathan Popp, will be able to implement that model if the next semester is closer to the pre-pandemic normal.

“Luckily, the new president of Charlie’s Cupboard was someone that helped us kind of get it up and running last semester and even in the fall, so I think (Popp’s) experience that he got with us this year will be able to carry over, and he’ll be able to lead the Cupboard successfully,” Booth said.

One thing Zubke hopes the new team can do is to institutionalize Charlie’s Cupboard so that it continues to serve USD students in the long-term.

“It’s not just something that’s here for two years or five years, but it’s here for decades to come,” Zubke said.

Booth and Zubke said it’s been a great opportunity to work with students, administrators and the community on campus.

“I’m forever indebted to USD,” Booth said. “I’m so grateful that I got to experience all of this and help the students and future students to come.”

Jacob Forster | The Volante

Founders Carson Zubke and Hannah Booth got Charlie’s Cupboard running within three months, despite challenges with COVID-19.

News

A2 Wednesday, March 24, 2021

The Volante I volanteonline.com

SENIOR SAMMANTHA SCHRYVERS HOLDS SENIOR FLUTE RECITAL

Bennett Clary I The Volante

Senior Sammantha Schryvers performed at her Senior Flute Recital on Saturday, March 20. Schryvers was accompanied by a pianist and a percussionist.

CITY OF VERMILLION POLICE BLOTTER

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sex crimes

Mar. 14 Officers responded to a noise complaint describing a female screaming. Officers investigation found a couple were arguing but no violence had occurred. The female was cited for a noise violation.

call of loud noise indicative of an assault. Officers investigation located a male and female subject that had been arguing. One subject was arrested for a violation of probation. Alcohol was a factor.

Mar. 14 Caller reported a sex crime.

Under investigation.

Mar. 16 Multiple vehicles have been burglarized recently.

Remember to LOCK YOUR VEHICLE and hide your valuables or remove them from your vehicle completely.

Mar. 15 Officers responded to a commercial burglary alarm at a local business. Officers found everything in order.

Mar. 15 Officers received information of a possible violation of a court order. The case is under investigation.

Mar. 15 Officers responded to a 911

Mar. 16 Caller reported a sex crime.

Under investigation.

Mar. 16 An anonymous caller reported a possible sex crime.

Investigation showed no crime had occurred.

>> Mar.14 - Mar. 19

1

noise complaints Mar. 17 Officers investigated a report of a possible theft involving an inmate at the Clay County Jail. Investigation revealed that no criminal offense occurred.

Mar. 17 Officers investigated a report of stolen items from a vehicle that parked outside of a residence.

Mar. 17 Officers responded to a report of a gun being pointed at a child. Investigation showed there was no gun, however there was a fight between juveniles. Charges are pending for a parent who was involved.

Mar. 18 An officer stopped a vehicle for a lane driving violation.

non-injury accident

Officer’s investigation found the driver to be unlicensed and intoxicated. The driver was arrested. Multiple charges are pending.

Mar. 18 Officers assisted Adult Protective Services with a check on an elderly couple in Vermillion.

Mar. 18 Officers investigated a report of someone throwing garbage in a dumpster that didn’t belong to them. The suspect was identified and charges are pending.

Mar. 18 Officers stopped a car for speeding and noted the car had expired license plates.

The driver was cited for the expired plates.

Mar. 18 Caller reported a suspicious person hanging around an apartment complex. Officers interviewed one male and he was arrested for possessing a revoked driver’s license.

Mar. 18 Officers investigated a report of a possible sex crime.

Mar. 19 Officers responded to a non-injury accident. One driver had pulled out in front of another and was cited for a stop sign violation.

Mar. 19 Officers responded to a dispute between two parents who were arguing over a custody agreement regarding their children. No arrests were made.

SGA appoints new committees with new senators Maddi Kallsen

Maddilynn.Kallsen@coyotes.usd.edu

The newly appointed Student Government Association senate had their first full meeting Tuesday. New senators were sworn in and committee were started.

The new senators sworn in from the at-large election included Phil Adam, Braden Bury, Hannah Chadwell, Ryan Conover, Tallon Everson, Daxton Keagan, Emily Olson, Matthew Reu, Caleb Swanson and Caleb Weiland.

Weiland was elected as the Senate President Pro Tempore. The Dean of Students, Kimberly Grieve, congratulated the new senate.

“I just want to say I’m so excited to be working with this new administration,” Grieve said.

New committees were formed; the Internal Review Committee includes Swanson and Keagan, the Finance Committee includes Olson, Everson and Bury, the State and Local Committee includes Reu, Phil Adam and Weiland and the Student Affairs Committee includes Chadwell and Conover.

The Student Affairs Committee appointed Everson and Bury and the Budget Committee appointed Kolberg, Everson, Weiland, Garrett Adam, Olson and Siem.

“The President’s Council for Diversity and Inclusiveness discussed South Dakota House Bill 1217,” SGA President Alexandra Feiner said in the president’s report. “Athletes would only be allowed to play in sports in the division in which is their biological gender.”

As of now, H.B. 1217 will not affect USD athletics, but would impact South Dakota high school athletes.

“Governor Noem has amended it so that it will no longer include college athletics because of economic concerns. There is a clause in the NCAA bylaws saying if you pass this type of bill, you will not be allowed to hold any championships, or big games within your state. So as of right now, she’s not including the college sports in it,” Feiner said.

Addison Miller, Director of Communications, expanded on goals and plans for the upcoming term. The outreach plan includes growing SGA’s Twitter and Instagram presence. Miller said he plans to revitalize social media, internal communication and possibly create an SGA website independent from the USD website.

The Director of Finance, Logan Johnson, said this upcoming budget will be carried out with a strategic plan while fiscally supporting USD organizations.

“I would caution the Senate on over allocating. We have a very fine line to walk when it comes to enabling student organizations to operate how they’d like to... we’d love to see them flourish on the heels of COVID and not be shackled by budget constraints,” Johnson said.

The Volante Volume 145, No. 2 March 3, 2021 www.volanteonline.com Al Neuharth Media Center 555 N. Dakota St. University of South Dakota Vermillion, SD 57069

editor-in-chief

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Rachel Pechous verve editor

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Alle Anduaga Tyler Boyle sports editor

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File Photo I The Volante SGA assigned new committees such as the Internal Review Committee and Finance Committee.

The new committees included the new senators whom were sworn in last week.

Jacob Forster

Madilyn Sindelar managing editor

Sydney Johnson sports assistant

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A3 Wednesday, March 24, 2021

Stimulus From Page A1

Gerrish said the program may run into challenges of reaching the lowest-income families. To receive money, families need to file taxes, and the lowest earners do not. Gerrish said this problem may be minor since the federal government has ways of finding children through school, daycare, Social Security numbers and vaccination, but families may miss out on early payments.

“I had an old professor who called advanced refundable tax credits the ‘purple unicorn of tax credits,’ that are so rare, because we have tax credits, most of which are not refundable. You can’t go below your minimum taxes, and most of them aren’t in advance,” Gerrish said. “So an advanced refundable tax credit is sort of an odd way to structure the system.”

Julia Hellwege, an Assistant Professor of Political Science at USD, said Congress may run into trouble in making the program permanent. The Senate has only been able to pass legislation through the budget reconciliation process so far this session, and designing a new program through that process is not possible. To pass the program normally would require 10 Republican senators to support it.

“I think it’ll be very difficult to get Republicans on board, and I don’t think they can create this type of program through a budget reconciliation process,” Hellwege said. “However, I also think it will be extremely difficult for Congress as a whole to at the end of the year say … ‘we’re going to take that away.’”

The bill also makes a number of drastic changes to provisions of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. The bill subsidizes 100% of premiums for Continuation of Health Coverage (COBRA) recipients, allowing 2.2 million more people to enroll in COBRA, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis. COBRA allows individuals and families who lose health coverage under specific circumstances, including job loss, to continue to receive benefits for a limited time.

The American Rescue Plan also removes the income limit on subsidies for health insurance premiums greater than 8.5% of a household’s income, and increases subsidies available to low-income households.

“People who are on a federal health care plan, they might see some benefits, but we have not expanded Medicaid in South Dakota,” Gerrish said.

The bill also includes incentives for states who have not expanded Medicaid coverage to do so. While some states, including Wyoming, have moved forward on this, the South Dakota state government has made no indication of a desire to do so. Gerrish said opposition in the state government comes from a desire to keep the federal government from encroaching on particular areas.

“You know, the federal government keeps offering more and more money, but with the strings attached,” Gerrish said. “There’s already really large incentives, but the federal government’s promises, you know, there’s no requirement that they keep them.”

Gerrish said when the federal government seeks to lower deficit spending and pay down debt, one of the areas they might look to cut funding would be Medicaid matching funding, which would leave states on the hook for the program.

“Then again, I mean, it’s definitely cost South Dakota money for it to have people not on health insurance,” Gerrish said. “We may be one of the last states to hold out. I could see it passing honestly through a ballot initiative.”

Medicaid expansion passed through ballot initiatives successfully in both Missouri and Idaho, two conservative states. Dakotans for Health, a political advocacy group, is currently collecting signatures to attempt to get Medicaid expansion on the ballot in South Dakota in 2022. Card said the group may have difficulty getting enough signatures before the deadline in June.

Some economists, notably Larry Summers, a former economic advisor to both the Clinton and Obama administrations, have raised concerns about inflation resulting from government spending. The bill is much larger than the stimulus passed by the Obama administration during the 2009 recession, which Gerrish said was considered too small, and allowed the Republican party to run against a slow economy.

“This is a plan that definitely looks to overshoot rather than undershoot on the economy,” Gerrish said.

“I think we could see some short-term inflation, more than we’re used to.”

Hellwege said the bill’s major differences from the 2009 stimulus are partly because it’s intended as a relief bill for a pandemic that is more wide-ranging than the mortgage crisis.

“I hadn’t even thought about comparing the two stimulus bills in that way, because I saw them as fundamentally different,” Hellwege said.

The bill’s large use of deficit spending is also a break from recent federal policy, and a continuation of the past year’s relief packages.

“In terms of a broader perception about, you know, desires for deficit spending, I don’t think this is a shift,” Hellwege said. “I think this is seen as a genuine crisis mode.”

News

The Volante | volanteonline.com

Remote learning poses challenges for USD Nursing students Rachel Spinks

Rachel.Spinks@coyotes.usd.edu

COVID-19 brought many challenges to USD’s nursing program.

USD students found difficulties in the switch to remote learning brought on by the pandemic, including the need to quarantine for two weeks when exposed to COVID-19, leading students to fall behind, a lack of opportunities for clinical practice and a reduction in activities.

Anne Pithan, the chair of the nursing program at USD said that at the beginning of the pandemic her faculty set up a COVID-19 task force to look at the most important aspects that nursing students experience while in the program in hopes to continue student’s education.

“Student safety is really important, and so that was a main focus trying to keep everyone safe,” Pithan said.

Regina Luken, the USD nursing faculty advisor, said a new problem that the nursing school had to work with was what to do when a student was ill or exposed to COVID-19.

“Even if it’s not a complaint, we’re

just dealing with the issues we haven’t dealt with before in terms of a student being quarantined for two weeks,” Kelli Ebesen, USD’s nursing program faculty advisor located in Sioux Falls said.

A student who asked to remain anonymous was sent home in their first semester of nursing school because of COVID-19. The student said they felt set back because they did not get any in-person clinical or lab experience.

“My second semester, the first week I got COVID. I felt way behind and just everything that was going on was too much,” the student said.

Pithan said a big component of nursing education is clinical practice.

She said the nursing students get a unique experience being able to work in a real-life pandemic.

The nursing student whose semester was cut short said COVID-19 meant they couldn’t get a job between their first and second semester, which impacted their ability to better their skills.

They said nursing students discussed how draining the program

can be on student’s mental health.

“I think the nursing program could do better with helping students out through this challenging time and try to be more understanding putting themselves in the student’s shoes as this is a pandemic,” the student said.

Another student said the nursing program was challenging on its students because there were not as many engaging activities last semester due to an expanded use of online learning. Kelli Ebesen said moving forward, the nursing faculty is hoping to get back to normal and get students back in the classrooms in the upcoming semesters.

Pithan said the nursing program will continue to try its very best to help its students through COVID-19.

“Through this pandemic, we’ve really learned what nurses need. They need resilience and compassion and the ability to pivot quickly to meet patient and family needs” Pithan said.

“We are committed, no matter how we have to deliver nursing education to really provide the best education for students.”

South Dakota House and Senate bills set to impact surrounding rural area Maddi Kallsen

Maddilynn.Kallsen@coyotes.usd.edu

South Dakota has several House and Senate bills from the 2021 session projected to impact the environment and rural community influencing tax breaks for land-owners, broadband networks and meat processing and packing.

These bills include House Bill 1042, House Bill 1077 and Senate Bill 34. Information on these bills is sourced from the South Dakota state legislature’s website.

“Almost all legislation is introduced at the request of ordinary citizens to solve a problem they face or think they face. Some legislation is introduced on behalf of the governor or an administrative agency of the governor,” said Michael Card, Associate Professor at USD in public policy and administration.

This session includes a diverse ensemble of bills, although the majority of them impact rural South Dakota and environmental regulations.

The 2021 session will also include the merger of the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

Jerry Wilson, historical and environmental writer and community activist, said the merger is expected to decrease regulation. Wilson said while administrative savings are predicted from the merger, these do not often decrease costs.

“The big environmental issue of

the 2021 session was the governor’s collapse of (merger of) the Department of Environment and Natural Resources with the Agriculture Department,” Wilson said. “This is part of Noem’s continuing moves to grease the skids for agriculture, especially for Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) at the expense of the environment, water and air quality.”

HB 1028 is a bill affecting environmental regulations, specifically having to do with redistricting the public interfering in applications for water permits.

“Under this new law, water—our most precious natural resource— may be appropriated to an environmentally destructive use simply because water is available, and only those who would suffer a ‘unique injury’ may intervene,” Wilson said.

“When water is polluted, the injury will be shared by all—including current downstream users and our children and their grandchildren.”

“HB 1028 was not written to address the granting of water rights for private wells, municipal wells or irrigation wells,” Wilson said. “It is intended to stop we the people from voicing our objections to the abuse of this shared and irreplaceable natural resource by CAFOs, inappropriate mining, dangerous tar sands pipelines and other hazardous extractive uses.”

House Bill (HB) 1042, revising certain provisions regarding riparian buffer strips giving slight tax breaks

to farmers who upkeep grassy buffers to lakes and ponds, was signed by the governor February 24.

Along with HB 1042, HB 1077, having to do with licensing and professional endorsement, and HB 1053, establishing an annual fee for certain electric vehicles in order to replace the lost gas taxes, were both signed by the governor.

Senate Bill 34, making an appropriation expanding rural access to broadband services and to declare an emergency was delivered to the governor on March 11. The money in the appropriation comes from $75 million in one-time state funding and $25 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds, Card said.

Several bills were tabled or deferred until further notice including HB 1121, establishing criteria governing the sale of homemade food items, and HB 1040, an appropriation to fund certain small meat processing grants and to declare an emergency.

HB 1219, a proposal to join the Interstate Meatpacking Compact, failed and is no longer going through.

HB 1028 restricts the public from interfering with who is given water permits and was signed by the governor Feb. 22.

Bills from the 2021 session are still being processed and implemented in the state.

Any opinions expressed from people involved with USD do not reflect the views of USD or The Volante.

Bills set to impact surrounding rural area

House Bill 1028: prohibits public interference in applications for water permits House Bill 1042: gives tax breaks to farmers who upkeep grassy buffers to lakes and ponds House Bill 1053: establishes annual fee for electric vehicles House Bill 1077: provides for licensure by endorsement for certain licensed professionals and occupations Senate Bill 34: appropriation expanding access to rural broadband

South Dakota legislators weigh impeachment for Attorney General Jacob Forster

Jacob.R.Forster@coyotes.usd.edu

South Dakota’s Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg has received calls for his resignation from both law enforcement groups and Gov. Kristi Noem since he struck and killed a man with his car in September. While Ravnsborg has refused so far to resign, some in the state legislature have made moves towards impeaching him.

Impeachment at the state level has never been invoked in South Dakota. Michael Card, an associate professor of political science at USD said the legislature would have to be called back into session to consider impeachment, since the 40 day limit had already been passed.

“You know, if you were to flowchart this, this is one of the messiest situations in South Dakota politics, that a sitting attorney general is being accused of a crime,” Card said. “The legislature is involved because despite the law enforcement community’s call for him to resign, other than the state’s attorneys, and the governor’s call for him to resign, he has chosen not to resign.”

Without resignation, impeachment is the only way to remove a constitutional officer from office in South Dakota before the next election in 2022. The state has never invoked the procedure, and impeachment is not mentioned in Mason’s Manual of Legislative Procedure, which the legislature uses to guide deliberations.

Card said while impeachment has never been invoked in the state, it was considered against Gov. Leslie Jensen in the 1930s over dissatisfaction with economic policies related to the Great Depression.

The state house passed a resolution in February which delays moving forward on impeachment until the criminal trial has wrapped up. Sen. Arthur Rusch, who represents District 17 in the state Senate, said that resolution was related to a judge’s injunction against Gov. Noem for releasing materials related to the

investigation of Ravnsborg.

Rusch said since the process has never been invoked, the house would make their own rules for how to consider it, including forming a committee to hear witnesses and make a report with recommendations to the full body. The same would be done in the state Senate.

“I would doubt that they would set it up to actually hear witnesses in front of the legislature,” Rusch said.

While impeachment procedures against elected officials at the federal level have largely occurred along party lines, any impeachment in the South Dakota state legislature, where the Republican party holds super majorities in both chambers (62 out of 70 seats in the House and 32 out of 35 seats in the Senate), would not be based on partisan motivations. Card said the issue is more factional than partisan.

“The attorney general in South Dakota has many supporters,” Card said. “So he’s got lots of friends.”

The problem the attorney general faces, Card said, is a credibility issue. Since law enforcement groups in the state have called for his resignation, it becomes more difficult for him to do his job.

“Are people going to ask the attorney general for his opinions on prosecutions? Are we going to see assistant attorneys general leave their employment with the attorney general’s office?” Card said. “Those are speculations, not facts, but those are our criteria that make this just a big mess.”

Much like federal impeachment, to impeach the attorney general would require a simple majority vote in the state House, while conviction and removal from office would require a two-thirds vote in the state Senate.

Card said he suspects the legislators are treating the matter as a criminal one, and are awaiting a verdict before making a final decision on invoking impeachment.

Rachel Thompson | The Volante

Opinion WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 2021

THE VOLANTE

VOLANTEONLINE.COM/OPINION

EDITORIAL

Rachel Thompson I The Volante

Editorial: Students deserve stimulus checks, just like everyone else

Currently, more and more people are finding that they’ve received the latest stimulus check of $1,400. This check is different from past checks as it includes people who were previously excluded, like college-aged students of 18 years and older who are claimed on their parent’s taxes.

These students were excluded from the previous stimulus checks, presumably because they’re claimed by their parents. This might look like these students are taken care of by their parents, but the reality is that many of these students actually have their own bills and financial needs that many parents don’t help cover.

Students beyond their second year of college tend to live off-campus, therefore signing a lease that requires rent payments as well as covering any utilities not included. Living off-campus also means that many of these students are buying their own food instead of setting up a meal plan with the university and eating on-campus. There are also car and phone bills to pay on top of living costs.

The misunderstanding is that people over 18

years of age that are claimed by their parents are completely dependent, but in actuality most are still working and paying for things on their own.

Some students in this category might receive financial help from their parents, but many students still have to pay for their own college.

According to US News, the average amount students borrow for student loans has exceeded $30,000. This means that the average amount that students are borrowing has increased by over $6,000 in the last 10 years. As colleges continue classes through the pandemic and student loans continue to rise, this age group could have paid back some of this increasing debt with these stimulus checks.

Combining the first two stimulus checks this group of people was excluded from equals $1,800, and if the most recent check of $1,400 was added as well, that equals a total of $3,200. With the average student loan debt now exceeding $30,000, the total of these stimulus checks could help pay off approximately 10% of these loans.

While adding this group of people to the most

recent stimulus check definitely helps, it doesn’t quite make up for the $1,800 that they missed out on.

On top of these bills and fees, most people this age have to find whatever jobs they can without a college degree. This results in serving food, cashiering, cleaning jobs and other odd jobs available. While these jobs help students to get by, many of them were not considered to be essential and therefore closed at the beginning of the pandemic. This then takes away the main source of income for these people, and if they’re claimed by their parents and are excluded from the stimulus checks, they have no real way to pay their bills and living costs.

While these students missed out on last year’s stimulus checks, some are receiving them now on their tax returns.

That added to the current round of stimulus checks will help students, but we need to start acknowledging the financial struggles of students in college.

Just because students are claimed on their parents’ taxes doesn’t mean they are truly dependent, and this latest round of stimulus checks is a step in showing that.

Is chivalry truly dead?

KINDRA ERICKSON is a sophomore majoring in Creative Writing.

Is chivalry dead, or did the outdated idea of chivalry die?

Mr. Darcy from “Pride & Prejudice” may seem like an ideal partner with his bowing and handholding, but he also almost ruined the Bennet family in the name of helping a friend. Frank Sinatra sang about love and then would go home and beat his wife. Elvis let the world know about how he can’t help falling in love, when in reality, he couldn’t stop obsessing over underage virgins.

The old idea of chivalry

IT’S A NUMBERS GAME

85

upholds the idea that women need to be taken care of by men. This is because when chivalry as we know it was a common practice, women did.

They had hardly any rights, no claim to their belongings and no way to divorce the men who had seemed nice at first.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s nice when a guy holds open my car door on a date. But it’s also just as nice when I, as an independent individual, open my own car door. Gentlemanly chivalry died when women were finally able to become their own person.

Nowadays, chivalry shows itself in other ways, such as one person paying for the date and one person driving, or one person cooking while the other person does the dishes.

Chivalry is not dead, but the idea of gendered chivalry is.

So the next time you hear someone say “chivalry is dead,” simply ask them what they think chivalry is.

The percentage of households who qualify for the stimulus check.

90

The millions of eligible people who have already received their third stimulus check.

900

The billions of dollars spent on the December Stimulus Package.

From www.cnet.com/news

The Volante

WEEKLY POLL:

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Have you gotten your vaccine?

EDITORIAL BOARD Bailey Zubke, editor-in-chief

Tyler Boyle, sports editor

Madilyn Sindelar, managing editor

Rachel Pechous, verve editor Emma Daggett, opinion editor

Yes, have both shots!

18.2%

Yes, but need round 2

36.4%

Have it scheduled

18.2%

No, I’m not eligible yet

27.3% *Out of 22 voters

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Opinion

The Volante I volanteonline.com

Some celebrities who scare me SOPHIE SWANSON is a junior majoring in English and Special Education.

I get creeped out by certain celebrities.

In other words, I find them scary. I will be listing just a few of the celebrities I find the scariest, as well as giving valid, or my idea of valid, reasoning for each.

Let’s talk about Kanye West and the year this man had.

Not only did he run for president, go on a Twitter rampage and is in the process of getting a divorce from a Kardashian, but he also was caught

up in a rumor that he was sleeping with cosmetics brand owner Jeffree Star. Someone please check on this man.

Speaking of Jeffree Star, this man looks like someone who would have lived in The Capitol during “The Hunger Games” trilogy. Do you ever just look at someone and instantly know they probably hired a hit on someone? That’s what I think of when I think of Jeffree Star.

The next celebrity I am terrified of is Simon Cowell. I don’t know if it’s just a stage persona, but the way he treats people on reality shows is a CRIME. He is so unnecessarily mean, and I feel like if we

ever crossed paths in real life he would attack me with his words.

Wendy Williams. I feel like I don’t need to elaborate on this one, so I won’t.

Bella Thorne. Bella scares me because I feel like she has no perception of reality.

The Clinton Family.

They don’t seem like real people, almost like they’re made out of wax.

The Royal Family.

They hold too much power, and Prince Philip looks like he’s been dead for years and they’ve just taxidermized his body to carry it around for appearances.

YouTuber Shane Dawson. Over the past couple of years, Shane

has been involved in so much drama I’m surprised he hasn’t dyed his hair, changed his name and moved to Russia. I’m more scared of the looming possibility he will have a massive mental breakdown in the near future and destroy everything in his path.

And finally, last but not least, Tom Cruise. Cruise scares me mainly because of his strong ties to Scientology. He also gives off the weirdest vibes, like people in cults usually do. Not to mention he’s a pretty short dude, so I feel like he has a lot of pent-up aggression that he hasn’t let out yet.

Which celebrities scare you?

Should the elderly keep their licenses?

EMMA DAGGETT is a first-year majoring in English.

As people age, they begin to lose their vision, and their ability to hear decreases. There is also a slowdown in response time.

There is no research saying that older drivers cause more crashes, but older drivers have a much higher death rate if in an automobile accident.

Some states require vision and written tests when a person reaches a certain age. Others

require a driving test every four years after reaching the age of 60. In South Dakota, people 65 and older must take a vision test every time they renew their driver’s license.

Driving is a way for people to have their freedom. They can go wherever they want, whenever they need.

Taking away a person’s ability to drive isolates them if they have no other way of traveling.

Some older people can drive when they are 90. Others decide to let their license expire when they turn 65. No two people are the same, but there should be some sort of precaution or test to renew a driver’s license.

There are, of course, the obvious ways to reduce risk

such as wearing a seat belt, driving when conditions are safe, getting checked by an eye doctor regularly and not talking or texting on your phone.

Taking away a person’s license is not the way to go, but states should set up some sort of system to protect everyone’s safety.

This topic has come up a lot recently.

Governments do not want to take away a person’s ability to drive just because of their age.

The ability to drive should not be based on age. It should be based on the health and ability of the driver.

When people renew their driver’s licenses, there should be some sort of test to check to see if they are fit to be

operating a vehicle.

It’s important to let older people have their freedom to drive, but their safety is also important. A required vision test might be a good idea, but there are other ways to go. A few states have introduced new measures for older or visually impaired drivers. New Mexico lowered the age to 50 for eligibility for reduced insurance rates if the driver took a road safety course.

There are ways to keep people safe without forcing them to take a test each time they renew their license. New initiatives are being created to help the elderly keep their licenses while simultaneously reassuring others that they can drive safely.

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 A5

Why college students need naps IZZY BAKER is a first-year majoring in business management.

Naps are more advantageous than society has taught. Most people think once you grow up, naps are no longer meant for them.

They’re seen as childish and lazy, but is it the actual truth?

Naps are extremely beneficial to the majority of people, and it’s not just something I believe, but something that has been proven with science time and time again.

Unless you’re getting between seven and nine consistent hours of sleep, it’s more than likely you are not only sleep deprived, but you could also be unknowingly suffering the symptoms of lack of sleep.

The American Psychology Association mentions problems such as mood swings, being easily distracted, a lack of motivation and fatigue are issues naps could have the potential to fix.

Studies have shown that if you don’t get enough consistent sleep it can create long term problems for one’s memory and decisionmaking processes. So, if naps can combat this issue, why are they still stereotyped as lazy?

For college students, it’s hard, with their workload and social lives, to get enough sleep to properly function. This is why naps should be implemented in most students’ schedules and

be normalized in busy works days or nights when you didn’t receive enough sleep.

Naps have been proven to benefit mood, attitude, focus and attention span.

Naps allow our brains to recover from fatigue and recover physically and mentally. Even if it’s just for 10 to 20 minutes, it helps.

For example, short bouts of sleeping before studying or going to class help improve focus and attention span, and naps after studying or going to class can help with retaining information and comprehension.

Naps help reverse the effects of sleep deprivation and help serve as a mood stabilizer. There are so many benefits to taking naps, and no reason why purposeful naps should be viewed as sluggish or shiftless.

Naps should start being categorized as a genuinely beneficial activity and not as slothful as people think.

College students are constantly in educationally and socially stimulating environments. Students’ brains are on overload more times than not, even if a student is not in challenging classes, their daily life can still be draining or hard to handle.

I think once naps become more widespread and normalized in a students’ daily schedules, there will be significant improvements to their grades, social lives and overall moods.

Find more opinions on our website. volanteonline.com

Follow us on Twitter @VolanteOpinion Polls • Overheards • Columns

OVERHEARDS

Here you’ll find the weirdest, funniest and stupidest things we’ve heard during the week.

Context is for suckers.

“Oxford commas are gross.”

— Neuharth

“COVID saved me from being an alcoholic.”

— Main Street

“Hand me an alcohol.”

— McDonald’s

“Is it bad to corner someone in the bathroom to ask a question?”

— Neuharth

“Maybe if someone pinched me I would finally feel something.”

— SCSC

“Obama has a playlist? I bet it’s fire.”

— Freedom Forum

“Registration day is like my Super Bowl.”

— ACPC

News

A6 Wednesday, March 24, 2021

The Volante | volanteonline.com

Vermillion church finds new status as National Historical Site nominee

Sydney Johnson | The Volante The United Church of Christ has sat on Main Street since 1929 and is now a nominee for the National Register of Historical Places. The building will enter the State approval stage on April 22.

Sydney Johnson

Sydney.G.Johnson@coyotes.usd.edu

The United Church of Christ, a building that has sat on Main Street since 1929, has begun the process of being included in the National Register of Historical Places.

Sandy Dickenson, a local architect and member of the church for 30 years, has been a part of the church’s nomination process along with parishioners Mary Edlen and Greg Redlend.

“While my role in the church isn’t an official one, I have been a part of the board of trustees for about 10 years and have just been very interested in protecting the integrity of the church,” Dickenson said.

These three church members have been working on this project for over two years. They began the talk of starting the nomination process in order to access Deadwood Funds.

Deadwood Funds are funds that are available for buildings on the National Register of Historical Places or

those in the process of being nominated. After receiving these funds, the United Church of Christ used them to build new storm windows.

The church is situated between two historic districts, each one block away from the church. Members of the United Church of Christ are confused as to why the church was never included in either the University Historic District or the Forest Avenue Historic District, yet instead sat between the two.

“We feel like the church is iconic. It’s got the big cupola on top that you can see for a long way around. With the four big columns on the front, it makes it a real landmark that anchors Main Street,” Dickenson said.

The church’s design and architecture are very unique and uncommon in the South Dakota area, Dickenson said. The original designers of the church were influenced by a woman named Mrs. Wellington. She had come from the east coast and was interested in the colonial congregational look of buildings. With this interest, the United Church of Christ took on this architectural style

and became one of the few buildings in South Dakota to have a colonial look.

Since the church members feel so passionately about making the United Church of Christ into a National Historical Site, they have asked for the help of Liz Amalie from the State Historical Society in Pierre.

The nomination process has recently finished, and will go before the state on April 22. If approved, it will then move on to the national approval stage.

Finishing the process could take months or years, Dickenson said. There is no way to know how long the approval stage of the process will take, but if it does get approved, the future of the church will be greatly improved. “(The approval) will raise a lot of awareness to the historical importance of the church,” Dickenson said. “It will help to protect the building so that people can’t just tear it down at will. It will also set up the possibility of additional funding that we could use to continue to help preserve the church.”

New SGA president, vice president and executive team appointed Maddi Kallsen

Maddilynn.Kallsen@coyotes.usd.edu

Student Government Association President Alexandra Feiner and Vice President Katie Brust were sworn in at the March 16 SGA meeting by former President Abuk Jiel.

Along with the new president and vice president, a new senate was also sworn in.

The new senators include Garrett Adam, Gretchen Biersbach, Lily Christian, Trenton Hoekstra, Abigail Johnson, Darby Knoll, Reagan Kolberg, Carter Linke, Keandra Rhead, Miranda Schulte, Brianna Serrett and Grace Siem.

Aside from Feiner and Brust as president and vice president, the new executive staff includes Addison Miller as director of communications, Paige Schroeder as director of operations and Logan Johnson as director of finance.

Senate Resolution 12 commemorating Hannah Booth and Carson Zubke for their leadership in Charlie’s Cupboard, Senate Bill 70 approving the Fiscal Year 2022 of SGA, Senate Bill 71 supporting the implementation of hammock polls throughout campus and Senate Resolution 13 encouraging USD to establish scholarship fellowship opportunities to international students all passed.

“USD and SGA stand with inclusivity and diversity which is why resolution 13 is relevant and important,” former senator Naivetya Patle said.

The former executive staff all had sentiments and goodbyes communicated in their final reports.

“This year taught me the importance of leaning into your friendships. I don’t want to take this time to talk about the things that we have accomplished as a team, but instead I’d like to thank everyone who made this year enjoyable and worthwhile,” Jiel said.

Former Vice President Carter Larson also offered sentiment to the former senate.

“I would like to leave you all with a quote my grandfather always told me, ‘The strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack,’” Larson said.

“This reminds me how we can all do much more together if we all push each other as a whole rather than just as an individual.”

File Photo | The Volante SGA President Ally Feiner (right), Vice President Katie Brust (left) and the new senate members were sworn in on March 16 at the SGA meeting by former President Abuk Jiel.

Lecture teaches about the history of voting rights for Black women Allison Horkey

Allison.Horkey@coyotes.usd.edu

USD’s History Department and the Knudson School of Law hosted the Vanguard Voting Rights Lecture March 18.

The lecture was a joint Shell Lecture, which the History Department usually hosts in the fall, and School of Law’s Gunderson Lecture, in honor of Women’s History Month.

The lecturer, Martha Jones, a professor of history and the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor at Johns Hopkins University. Jones is also a legal and cultural historian focusing on the history of Black Americans in democracy and author of “Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All” which her lecture is based on.

“Back in August of 2020, now-Vice President Kamala Harris accepted the Democratic nomination, and she explained the political history, out of which her own career, her own ascendancy ultimately to the vice presidency emanated. She invoked six women, Mary Church Terrell, Ida B. Wells, Mary McLeod Bethune, Diane Nash, Fannie Lou Hamer and Constance Baker Motley,” Jones said. “If you don’t know who those women are, you don’t know enough about Vice President Harris. And so, I’ve written a book that helps you understand the political tradition, out of which she has emerged.”

Jones started her research on this topic in the mid 1990s as part of her graduate studies. However, Jones credits her book also to generations of other historian’s works as well.

“When you peruse the endnotes, what you’ll discover very quickly is three, going on four generations of Black women’s historians, all of whom had contributed work that permits me to tell a story across 200 years. So it is a, in many ways, a reflection of a collective project that has long been committed to recovering Black women’s political history,” Jones said.

Sara Lampert is an associate professor of history and coordinator for the Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies program at USD and the primary planner for the Vanguard Voting Rights Lecture.

“We also have support from, I have a long list, the Center for Diversity in the Office for Diversity.

The Women’s Studies program, the university library is also contributing so there are a lot of a lot of different groups on campus helping make this possible,” Lampert said.

Both Jones and Lampert said there are significant challenges Black women and other minorities face when trying to vote today. Awareness of these issues is one of the most important aspects of this lecture.

“We are sitting in March of 2021. And by the last count, I heard there are more than 200 pieces of legislation pending in state houses across this country, all of which aim to continue the disenfranchisement of Americans, including Black American women. And so, we are still in that struggle for voting rights that Black women have been engaged in for a very long time. I don’t think that story’s over at all,” Jones said.

Lampert said the Black women who were central to voting movements in the 19th and 20th century are not often emphasized in secondary education.

“I think it’s important to know about these figures, and to know about their role, and to rethink some of our assumptions about who’s been driving significant changes in American history. I think, it’s in part, a duty of citizens to really understand their, their history. But more broadly, I think it’s important to tell rich and full stories about America,” Lampert said.

Jones’s book was released in September last year and the paperback version will be released in the fall of 2021 with an additional chapter discussing the 2020 election cycle as well as the inauguration of Vice President Kamala Harris, the first Black, Asian American, and woman to hold the nation’s second highest office.

Submitted Photos | The Volante (Left) The author of “Vanguard”, Martha Jones, is a professor at Johns Hopkins University. She is also a legal and cultural historian. (Right) Vanguard focuses on the barriers presented to Black women and how they defied them. The book was released in September 2020 and an updated paperback version is set to be released in Fall 2021.

Verve

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 THE VOLANTE

VOLANTEONLINE.COM/VERVE

FESTIVAL OF NATIONS CREATES TOGETHERNESS DURING PANDEMIC Alle Anduaga

Alle.Anduaga@coyotes.usd.edu

Alle Anduaga | The Volante

Flags from every country were hung up all around the MUC to display each nation.

Alle Anduaga | The Volante

Students enjoyed food from local restaurants like Silk Road, Café Brule and Hot Plate.

The International Club hosted its biggest annual event, the Festival of Nations, March 21. The event typically has about 350 attendees, however, due to COVID-19, the MUC ballroom had limited seating of 100 people.

International Club Vice President Sara Lane said Festival of Nations serves to embody what the International Club stands for by advocating for international students and spreading awareness of different cultures to USD. “We do have quite a few international students, but not as big of a student body as some schools,” Lane said. “So, I think there is a real need for it.”

In past years Festival of Nations offered different cultural dishes made by international students.

To take precautions during the pandemic, the international club

decided to order food from local vendors instead.

Diana Reyes, senior health science major and International Club events coordinator, said they ordered cultural cuisines from local restaurants like Silk Road, Café Brule and Hot Plate.

“A challenge was getting food.

People like to make their own food and show what it’s like and it might not be as traditional,” Reyes said.

Festival of Nations had COVID-19 friendly games such as a scavenger hunt and Spanish bingo—called Loteria—for attendees to partake in.

Attendees were offered goodie bags with origami paper and a QR code to explain how to create the different animals.

“We have candies from around the world. I found mango candy from India, strawberry ones from Mexico, globe chocolates and fortune cookies,” Reyes said.

Lane said students could not get as involved as they have in years past

because of COVID-19.

Usually, international students will dress in clothing matching specific cultures and perform a song, a dance or play an instrument that highlights their cultures. However, this year included prerecording’s of past performances at the event.

Members of the International Club individually created videos that were displayed along with the performer’s videos.

“For performers, it would be cool to be live, some people don’t feel comfortable recording themselves and showing it on a big screen. They might prefer to be in person,” Reyes said. “So that has been a little bit challenging.”

Reyes encourages students to interact with the International Club and the students involved in it.

“Learn about other cultures, get out of your bubble a bit,” Reyes said.

“There’s so many great things people will talk about and they are inviting.”

Alle Anduaga | The Volante

Students could play games like Spanish bingo—Loteria—in the MUC ballroom. They also received goodie bags with materials to make origami animals.

Union of African American Students hosts third annual Ruby Ball

File Photo | The Volante

File Photo | The Volante

Due to COVID-19, the MUC ballroom can only host 100 students. This year, there will Local performers were able to share and perform their music with students. be a socially distanced meal provided.

Allison Horkey

Allison.Horkey@coyotes.usd.edu

The Union of African American Students (UAAS) hosts an annual Ruby Ball which will be held March 27, at 7:30 pm in the Muenster University Center (MUC) Ballroom.

Tickets will be sold at the door for $15 and $10 at the UAAS table in the MUC during the week before the Ruby Ball. Attendees can also purchase tickets through Venmo.

Some of the proceeds from the event will go toward Dakotathon.

Blessed Vargas, the president of UAAS, said “I say that it’s kind of like a way better version of prom because it’s like a formal event, you know, you get to dress up, we serve food, in the past couple years it was catered by Aramark, for this time we have someplace different.”

Vargas said the Cafe Louisiana, a Cajun restaurant from Yankton, will be catering the event this year.

Maya McDowell, the Event Coordinator for UAAS, said, “there have been a lot of challenges, we had a lot of events planned, but then logistically it wouldn’t work because

of increasing COVID-19 numbers, and there’s only so many things you can do over zoom and there’s only so many zoom meetings everybody wants to do.”

Vargas said one of the biggest differences will be the lower attendance this year. The MUC ballroom capacity has been lowered from over 300 people to around 100 people because of the COVID19 pandemic. In addition to lower attendance, the Ruby Ball also will not be able to have a dance floor as they usually do. McDowell said that instead it will be more of a sit-down meal.

“We haven’t really been able to really get together with people and just have a good time and enjoy each other’s company. And, you know, because we are taking the precautions by only having a sit down, socially distance meal, we’re making do with what we can. I think a lot of people are kind of, starved for socialization,” McDowell said.

McDowell said Ruby Ball is a chance for students to dress up and have a good time, especially since

many freshmen missed their senior prom due to COVID-19, she said.

Even though there will not be a dance floor it will still be fun for students.

“Ruby ball is basically, you dress up and you just have fun for the night and that’s my biggest goal is just that people pop up, they feel included, and they have a good time,” Vargas said.

In addition to having a good time, this is an opportunity for the UAAS to connect and reach out to more students on campus.

“We often have local performers come and share their music. And it’s just a great time to introduce the club to everybody and show that it’s not just for African American students it’s for everybody to come and be together and have a good time and get to know everybody (and) make friends,” McDowell said.

Vargas and McDowell both said they would miss the dance floor at the Ruby Ball, but McDowell is hoping next year’s Ruby Ball will be closer to normal.

File Photo | The Volante

Senior Marcus Destin performed at the Spring 2020 Ruby Ball.

Verve

B2 Wednesday, March 24, 2021

The Volante | volanteonline.com

Rachel Review: Deadly Illusions, a must not watch

Press Photo | Netflix Rachel Thompson

Rachel.R.Thompson@coyotes.usd.edu

While not technically a Netflix original, a new movie dropped on Netflix on March 18 cleverly named “Deadly Illusions” (that might be the only compliment I give it).

The premise of the movie itself isn’t bad, it’s just everything else that is. The movie follows an author who is about to start her new book. So she is less stressed out and can focus on her book, she decides to hire a nanny to take care of her kids. Soon the lines of reality begin to break and we start to see the nanny’s true intentions.

See it sounds like a promising movie, but it leaves out the part to why the nanny has other intentions—no reason why she

wanted to do harm, and no clear reason to what may have provoked her. And the backstory they give her leaves more questions than answers; honestly, too problematic to get into.

If I wanted to be generous I would say that literally every aspect of this film was just average, but it’s not the truth, the truth is that it was all senseless.

I feel as if the writers went with the premise and spent less than an hour developing the idea after that.

The movie tells you everything you need to know, with it’s expositionheavy script. And when there are transitions that need actual details, they give the bare minimum.

The script gives the actors little room to really showcase their skills.

Supporting actress Greer Grammer definitely stood out with

her charisma and effort she put in the role. The other actors that were a part of this movie seemed to not care as much about their roles and did the basic job just like the writers.

The main actress, Kristen Davis, definitely had trouble portraying actual depth in her character, but I won’t blame her much as she had little to develop on.

One scene in the beginning really irks me. The husband was explaining why the wife needed to write the book and instead of letting him give a quick explanation, they just did some weird transition that was a fast forward of the husband explaining his reason why. This would have been the perfect opportunity to, at the very least, let the audience know what the husband’s job was, because in the third act, out of nowhere, he

is acting like a lawyer without the movie specifically telling you that he is one.

The movie continues to add plot points with barely, or just zero, setup. I would almost be ok with things just being thrown in, if the movie didn’t give me time to wonder why.

Instead, the awkward and confusing scenes give you time and plenty of confusion to think about what is happening.

In the third act it feels like they were just rushing to give some kind of resolution, then at the end it’s like they decide we are not clever enough to make a real resolution. They just decide to skip to a year later when everything is fine.

The last part I need to talk about is a big spoiler for the end, but you already know it’s bad so who cares.

In the last scene after it cuts to a year later, after the nanny tried to murder the wife and husband.

The wife just basically forgives her and visits her on a regular basis in a mental institution. Remember, this nanny probably drugged her a lot, stabbed her husband and tried to kill her.

But it doesn’t matter, and the last scene makes you feel like they have a mother-daughter relationship, when in the film that was clearly not the relationship.

I guess I could say it would be fun to watch with friends in “an I need to yell at something” type of situation.

Also, I still made it through, mainly because I was hoping the third act would bring some type of resolution.

But it did not.

Job and internship fair set to inspire students to work Maddi Kallsen

Maddilynn.Kallsen@coyotes.usd.edu

Over 100 organizations are involved in the upcoming job and internship fair hosted by The South Dakota Association of College Career Centers (SDACCC) on March 25.

Two fairs, one for everybody and one specific to future teachers, will take place online through the Simplicity site from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Heather Johnson, the assistant director of the USD Academic Career and Planning Center (ACPC) and employer relations chair for the Teacher Career Fair, said regardless of what students are majoring in, there’s going to be something for them.

The teacher-specific fair includes 79 nation-wide school districts, most of whom are looking for speech pathologists, counselors and other faculty positions aside from just K-12 teachers, Johnson said.

“The reason the South Dakota Association of College Career Centers started putting these fairs on is to connect our students in South Dakota with employers in career services.

We’re the bridge between our students who are looking for jobs and internships and employers that are hiring interns for full time positions,” Johnson said.

Johnson said her role was contacting the employers, the school districts and getting them to register and instructing them on how the fairs are going to work.

“As assistant director of the Academic and Career Planning Center at USC, it’s my job to help promote the fairs to our students and get them registered,” Johnson said.

In past years, this event took place in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

“Every year, we put on these fairs for students,” Johnson said. “Normally we do it in person in Sioux Falls, but this year with COVID, we had to go virtual.”

Ashlin Schoenfelder, career advisor and employer relations coordinator in the ACPC at USD and member of the SDACCC organization, said, over 400 students across South Dakota schools are registered to participate in the fairs.

“The goal of this fair is to connect our students to employers and the employers to students, whether it be for an internship, full-time job, just to learn more about their company, or to simply network,” Schoenfelder said Planning for an event like this takes months to prepare.

“As the employer relations chair, in September, we start sending information to the employers - employers have been registering since November,” Johnson said. “We usually wait until after spring break to start really promoting the events to students. These past couple of weeks we’ve been really ramping up and promoting it more.”

“There is still time to signup for the event if you are a student or an employer. Check your USD email or connect with the ACPC to find out how,” Schoenfelder said.

Students can register for the fairs by going to https:// sdaccc-csm.symplicity.com/ events

Submitted Photo | The Volante

The Special Education conference was done completely online this year. Almost 400 people attend the event via Zoom.

Annual Special Education Conference hosted for educators Bennett Clary

Bennett.Clary@coyotes.usd.edu

The annual South Dakota Special Education Conference is hosted by the Center for Disabilities in collaboration with the South Dakota Department of Education.

The event is targeted towards special education staff and educators across South Dakota. This year the conference was held virtually due to COVID-19.

Ryan Groeneweg is the director of community education. He oversees a team of training and technical assistance specialists at USD’s Center for Disability. Groeneweg said the event is to help professionals so they are better able to serve and work with individuals with a variety of disabilities.

“The purpose of this Special Ed Conference is to bring the latest, best practices and evidence-based approaches to work with children in the classroom,” Groeneweg said. “Especially those who have special education needs, but it serves as an opportunity for professional development and continuing education for many of the educators.”

Groeneweg said presentations lasted an hour and covered topics such as literacy, mental health issues and anxiety about navigating the pandemic.

Attendees registered for different hour-long presentations a week prior to the event.

“We tried to cover ages ranging from

pre-K all the way to twelfth grade so that they would have to choose topics that were relevant to their grade level,” Groeneweg said.

The committee picks a keynote speaker after a year of deliberation. This year, they picked Mike Veny. Veny gave a presentation about mental health and the statements associated with mental health disorders.

“What Mike Veny said is with stigma, if there’s shame that they’re silenced and that leads to greater problems,” Groeneweg said.

“In order to address that, you have to be willing to talk about it.”

Groeneweg said that students who are pursuing a career in education should be reassured that there will be opportunities to expand their knowledge in whatever field they choose to work in.

“It’s important that those who graduate, they come out with a good foundation as an educator, as a teacher, but their learning and their ability to be a teacher doesn’t stop,” Groeneweg said. “They need to keep going back for professional development opportunities so that they stay current and informed.”

Educators can find more information about the Special Education Conference can be found at centerfordisabilitiessouthdakota. wordpress.com/.

Sports

Wednesday, March 24, 2021 THE VOLANTE

VOLANTEONLINE.COM/SPORTS

COYOTES FALL TO OREGON IN NCAA TOURNAMENT

Scott Wachter | NCAA Photos

Senior center Hannah Sjerven (34) goes up for a layup against the Oregon Ducks.

Bailey Zubke

Bailey.Zubke@coyotes.usd.edu

For the second time in three years, the USD women’s basketball team participated in the NCAA Tournament, and faced a similar result, falling in the first round to a Power 5 Conference opponent.

The Coyotes fell to the ACC’s Clemson in 2019 after earning an at-large bid to the tournament. Monday, The eleventh seeded Coyotes took on the sixth seeded Oregon Ducks in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. The Ducks forced USD to shoot 9% in the first half in route to a 67-47 victory for Oregon.

“I certainly do (think the first quarter struggles carried over),” USD head coach Dawn Plitzuweit said. “And you know, certainly wasn’t from a lack of effort from our players. I thought we have a lot of joy and passion in how they play and certainly did a lot of great things during the course of the season. We just couldn’t find ways to get good opportunities early in that game and then when we did get them I just thought we were, you know, felt kind of rushed in the second quarter.”

Oregon jumped out to a quick lead thanks to hot shooting and stout defense. A Coyote team who averages 11 turnovers a game committed nine in the first quarter of action. Oregon led 25-8 after the opening 10 minutes, and only grew the lead from there.

USD’s last point of the first quarter came with 3:14 to play in the quarter, when Hannah Sjerven connected on a free throw.

The next Coyote point came with 4.5 seconds left in the first half when Sjerven made one of two free throws.

The 13 minute scoring drought for USD included missing 25

Scott Wachter | NCAA Photos

Senior center Hannah Sjerven (34) celebrates after a made basket against Oregon.

straight shot attempts. The free throw from Sjerven was the only point the Coyotes scored in the second quarter.

“I think our team did a really good job of staying composed,” Sjerven said. “I mean our shots may not have shown that but everyone on the court was echoing just you know keep shooting your next shots gonna fall. We got this. I don’t think there was a moment where that kind of team chemistry faltered and I’m really proud of our team for that.”

The Coyotes jump started the offense in the third quarter, scoring eight points in the first two and a half minutes of action after scoring nine in the first 20 minutes. The Coyotes were able to outscore Oregon 38-33 in the second half but the struggles of the first half and a 25 point halftime deficit proved to be too much.

“Yeah, it feels good for those shots to go in and I think what we were just saying to each other was it’s not going to happen all at once just little by little,” Sjerven said. “Get a steal. Get a stop, get a rebound and then go down and score and just keep trying to chip away at it as much as we could in the second half and I think we did a good job of doing that. Unfortunately, we just dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first half.”

The Coyotes were led by Sjerven, who tallied a doubledouble of 18 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Liv Korngable tallied 15 points to join Sjerven in double figures. The Ducks were led by Erin Boley. Boley tallied 22 points for Oregon on 9-of-13 shooting. Nyara Sabally pitched in 17 points and Sedona Prince 12 points and seven rebounds.

The Coyotes’ five seniors were all granted a free year of eligibility from the NCAA due to COVID-19 if they choose to take

it. So far, Korngable and Chloe Lamb have said they’re returning to action in the fall, while Claudia Kunzer said she won’t return so she can focus on her schooling.

“Claudia is a young lady who is pursuing some of her academics and won’t be (returning) and she is a young lady who has given so selflessly to our program over the course of her time and someone that we’re greatly going to miss, a someone that we will celebrate,” Plitzuweit said.

Sjerven and Monica Arens have not made official decisions as of yet, but Sjerven alluded to a return in the fall following Monday’s game.

“You know, South Dakota, they took a big chance on me,” Sjerven said. “When I transferred I hadn’t played a lot at New Mexico, and Coach P and the rest of the coaching staff worked with me, and I was nowhere near ready to play when I came here during my redshirt year. So I feel like there’s a lot of unfinished business for me here, and it would be really hard to leave.”

Plitzuweit also said they hope they can get Arens to return for next season, but it is still up in the air at this point.

“We’re still kind of in flux a little bit, with where Monica is going to be and where her academics are going to take her,” Plitzuweit said. “If she can do it academically and play basketball. “And I pray that she does have an opportunity to come back, I pray that she can find a way or academically we can find a way to make it work, because this is a really, really challenging experience for her.”

The Coyotes finish their season with a 19-6 record. Oregon advances to take on third seeded Georgia Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Coyote volleyball continues to be ‘a little bit better every day,’ preps for Summit League Tournament Madilyn Sindelar

Madilyn.Sindelar@coyotes.usd.edu

Coming off a pair of 3-2 losses against Kansas City, the USD (10-3) volleyball team faces Western Illinois (2-12) as their last regular-season matchup this weekend before heading to the Summit League Tournament.

The Summit League Tournament will see teams from across the league compete April 2-3 inside the Pentagon for a chance at an automatic bid into the NCAA Division I Volleyball tournament in Omaha.

The Coyotes have seen consistent wins over key Summit League schools like Denver and North Dakota State however, after dropping a match to Omaha and losing two matches to Kansas City, the Coyotes are looking to finish second in the conference during the regular season.

Head Coach Leane Williamson said heading into the tournament, the team is focusing on getting a little bit better every day.

“I think we’ve been dedicated to just getting a little bit better and I don’t think that there’s like a specific area of the game where I feel like we have to make these massive strides at this point in time,” Williamson said. “I feel like so much of it at this point in time in the season, especially like going into a weekend, is just cleaning a few things up, playing a little bit cleaner and transition service or receiving at a high level. But just continuing on that upward trajectory that we are getting better every single day.”

Williamson also credits the entire team for stepping up throughout different situations the team has been put into.

“I think every match we’ve had two to three players that may have led our team and it might not always be in total kills but it’s hitting for a really high percentage,” Williamson said. “ I think you know our middles have done a really good job, and I really think Aimee Adams has come along as of late and has done a really good job here these last couple of weeks of just being extremely consistent. I think that consistency is huge for us.

Another person, Lolo [Weideman], our Libero, improved greatly

throughout the season and is really just understanding kind of what that Libero position entails and how she can impact the team in a lot of different situations.”

The team has a lot of depth, they have a lot of people that are contributing and that edge is something that makes the team harder to defend, Willaimson said.

With two weeks left before the trip to Sioux Falls for championship play, the team is working to become the best version of themselves, Williamson said.

“Compared to where we started here, you know it’s the beginning of January, this team is a lot different than that,” Willaimson said. “That’s exactly what we want to see year in and year out. For us, it’s just to be the best if we continue to focus on each practice and we continue to take advantage of every opportunity that we have to get better with reps and then get better with an opportunity to play other opponents. We’re going to set ourselves up to be in a really good situation for the conference tournament.”

The Coyote volleyball team is preparing for its final game of the regular season this weekend against Western Illinois.

File Photo | The Volante

Sports

B4 Wednesday, March 24, 2021

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USD football prepares for second half of season Sydney Johnson

Sydney.G.Johnson@coyotes.usd.edu

File Photo | The Volante

Senior linebacker Jack Cochrane (39) prepares for the football team’s next play.

The USD football team is preparing for the second half of their season which will begin with a home game against North Dakota State Saturday at 1 p.m. in the DakotaDome.

So far, the Coyotes have gone 1-3 in conference play, with a win over then No. 7 Illinois State.

Freshman quarterback Carson Camp said the losses against North Dakota and Missouri State were based on not being able to finish plays. Knowing that only a few plays stood between them and a winning record became grounds to build off of in practice.

“As a unit I would say we have really been harping on execution,” Camp said. “When execution is at 100%, that’s when things go well for us.”

While the team as a whole has recognized the need for perfecting the smaller plays that will help them advance during the game, the players have also set personal goals for themselves.

“Personally, I want to make sure I’m staying poised within the games,” Camp said. “Also, I just want to keep making sure that I continue to be a leader and keep the positive mojo for the guys no matter what the score is.”

All athletes have had to learn how to deal with the new COVID-19 protocols and safety measures that have been put in place. Senior linebacker Jack Cochrane said the football team has been able to adjust pretty easily.

“(COVID-19 has) definitely been different for everyone, but honestly when you go out there for a game, you’re not really thinking about what’s going on,” Cochrane said. “It’s still football at the end of the day, it’s the same game and we’ve got the same group of guys that we would’ve had this fall.”

The Coyotes have had to make many adjustments this season, starting with moving football to the spring and then having to postpone, their first game against Western Illinois. Now they are working on perfecting their fundamentals in order to succeed during the remainder of the season.

Even throughout this unprecedented season, the players have found their love for USD football growing with each practice and game.

“What I love about football at USD is the fan base.

We have a really good support system behind us,” Camp said. “Also playing football at this level at such a young age has been teaching me a lot about maturity and it’s cool to know there are 23-year-old seniors who are looking up to you. I just love the atmosphere.”

As the second half of the games begin this upcoming weekend, Cochrane said it’s important for the team to come together in order to find their way to a winning record.

“There’s nothing like (football). It’s 105 guys with a common goal,” Cochrane said. “The love we have for each other here at USD is really special and has made me enjoy my time playing here.”

Coyote Sports Properties finds ways to engage fans during Pandemic Madilyn Sindelar

Madilyn.Sindelar@coyotes.usd.edu

Peyton Beyers | The Volante

Senior Marcus Destin leads the Coyote Crazies in a gameday chant.

Coyote Athletics is filled with athletes that fans all recognize by name, whether it be Carson Camp, starting quarterback, or Hannah Sjerven, a finalist for the Becky Hammon MidMajor women’s basketball Player of the Year.

However, it’s the people behind the scenes that create the environment that truly allow these athletes to succeed and shine across all sports. Learfield IMG College’s Coyote Sports Properties (CSP) General Manager Travis Lee is the leader in marketing, advertising and promotional opportunities.

CSP presents the pageantry of college athletics aimed at making an impact on businesses by reaching Coyote fans throughout the state of South Dakota and the upper midwest, according to the CSP webpage.

Lee got his start with CSP after working as Director of Athletic Marketing and Promotions for USD athletics. He has served as general manager since 2011, when Learfield made an agreement with USD for multimedia marketing rights.

“My role now is primarily focused on generating revenue for the athletic department through corporate partnerships,” Lee said.

“We develop customized marketing plans for a lot of area businesses, so basically we tried to connect local and regional businesses and their brands to promote their goods and services to a loyal fan base of KELO nation. And a big part of my job is building relationships, and then more importantly maintaining those relationships with our business partners.”

Lee’s job varies day to day depending on whether there are Coyote events happening or if he’s meeting with key stakeholders.

“You’ll see the signage in our facilities, primarily that of DakotaDome and the Sanford Coyote Sports Center,” Lee said. “We’re able to connect our partners to our radio broadcasts of many of our sports. We even control some of the inventory and the television broadcasts on Midco Sports Network. But really where the growth area is (is) the digital side, business ads are funneled through Salesforce properties.

You’ll also see our corporate partners attached to several of our social media elements through

the official count of athletic channels, as well as a lot of hospitality at football and basketball games where people get clients to get access to premium areas where there are opportunities for adult beverages and kind of premium food options.”

Lee said his favorite part of working with CSP is hosting gamedays, interacting with clients and fans, feeling the excitement of the atmosphere and showing them what being a Coyote means. However, taking partners to away games and giving them the VIP treatment is also a highlight for Lee. “Last time we had a full season, we took some of our top clients for the game and Oklahoma and being able to give them the VIP treatment,” Lee said. “You know, I take folks to games, basketball games at Kansas and Duke, just really fun to see things on a grand scale and then be able to tell them ‘hey, we can do similar things for your business back in our domain.’”

Most recently, Lee traveled to San Antonio with the women’s basketball team to help radio broadcasting and marketing promote the team competing in the NCAA Division I Basketball Tournament.

“One of my favorites is just the relationships I’ve built in a lot of those because of the longevity. I’ve been in this role for ten years, plus the two additional ones within athletics,” Lee said. “So that’s just the fun part... building and maintaining those relationships, and I think ultimately that leads to trust, which has been really great.”

When it comes to reaching fans digitally due to the pandemic, using digital channels is a key component of Lee’s position. There’s a lot of content being created by the athletic marketing and video team, leading the entire nation as far as engagement goes, Lee said.

“Features about players, coaches, and on our side we really try to create contests where fans can enter to win, whether it’s Coyote gear or trips to road games,” Lee said. “Finding ways to create interaction with various social media channels. Just because there is so much content and people are starving for content, and part of that is because there weren’t games to attend for a long time, so they wanted to find ways to keep track of their favorite team.”