THE VOLANTE APRIL 2, 2014
TIMEFLIES TAKES OVER DAKOTADOME Read the full story on Page B4
REBECCA KROEGER I THE VOLANTE
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Ex-inmate speaks on death sentence Megan Card
Course requirement changes in the works
Megan.Card@coyotes.usd.edu
July 19, 1996. This day would lead to a 6-by-9 foot prison cell, convictions of first degree murder and rape and a sentence of death for a then 22-yearold Damon Thibodeaux. B u t Tuesday, Thibodeaux sat a free man in a blue "Witness THIBODEAUX to Innocence" T-shirt on the Farber Hall stage. He was exonerated and released from prison Sept. 28, 2012 — more than 15 years after his initial trial. "You can't have a death sentence and 15 years of your life taken away and not be angry," he said. "But I've redirected it at as a driving force to put my life back SEE FORUM, PAGE A6
MALACHI PETERSEN I THE VOLANTE
Senior Jeff Mettler, a Spanish tutor, helps first year students Shelby Loffelmacher and Brianna Haugen at a peer learning session April 1 in Slagle Hall.
Josie Flatgard
Josie.Flatgard@coyotes.usd.edu
Changes for the 2014 Academic Catalog were approved by the curriculum instruction committee of the College of
Arts and Sciences after several discussion meetings over the past four years. Requirements for math, humanities and social sci-
ences for all students in Arts and Sciences and the language requirement for the Bachelor of Arts were proposed to be changed.
The committee that produced the proposal consisted of Associate Dean for Academics in the College of Arts and Sciences Emily Haddad along with six other faculty members. She said discussion about curricular issues, academics, what a liberal arts education should look like and what it looks like around the country led up to the consideration of the proposal in efforts to keep students in Vermillion. "We’re quite concerned about the fact that USD’s retention and graduation rates are not as good as they could be given the kinds of students we recruit and the quality of our faculty," Haddad said. Changes made to the catalog must still be approved by the Board of Regents. The proposal for changes was voted SEE CATALOG, PAGE A8
Wacipi draws crowds from across US Malachi Petersen
Malachi.Petersen@coyotes.usd.edu
The University of South Dakota Tiospaye Student Council presented its 42nd Wacipi March 28, despite the difficulty of raising enough funds to host the $28,000 event. Jordan Catlett, Tiospaye president, said planning for the 2014 Wacipi started early in 2013, and that getting enough funds to put on the two-day event was among the biggest roadblocks in the planning process. "The price of Wacipi goes up every year," Catlett said. "We get some funding from the Student Government Association — they give us quite a bit, but not as much as they used to." SGA allocated $11,000 to Tiospaye in April 2013 from the General Activity Fund, but Tiospaye also received an additional $1,000 from SGA March 4 as part of a special appropriation to ensure "their event goes off without a hitch," said then senator Tyler
ONLINE ONLY Video of the 42nd annual Wacipi.
Photo gallery of the various events held during the Wacipi.
volante online. com Tordsen during the March 4 meeting. Because of fundraising shortfalls, Catlett said gathering the remaining funds elsewhere was a challenge. "That was kind of difficult for us to overcome and find other money sources," Catlett said. Aside from SGA, Tiospaye received funding from private donations, casinos and local tribes who helped sponsor Wacipi. Native American tribes from across the country came to the DakotaDome for the
Programs combat neglect Cristina Drey
Christina.Drey@coyotes.usd.edu
Most late-night ice cream runs made by University of South Dakota students don’t end with a coloring session at the Vermillion Police Department with three young children. Junior Kate Turner, who is also The Volante's advertising manager, had a “relatively strange” evening last October with a friend, who asked not to be identified. Shortly after midnight, Turner and her friend saw three girls walking alone, one without any shoes on, by the Lee Medical Building on the first cold night of the semester, Turner said. “We pulled around into the parking lot, I got out and walked over and they were all three crying,” Turner said. After Turner approached the girls, she bent down to hug the girl, a toddler, who wasn’t wearing shoes and was wrapped up in a blanket. “She was literally only in her underwear,” Turner said. “No shoes, no clothes — only underwear, wrapped in a blanket.” Turner gave her sweatshirt to the little girl. She said the other two children had on mismatching shoes with no coats and were wearing pajamas. Turner believed them to be early elementary age. “I asked them what they were doing and they were all crying, so we put them in the back of the car because it was warmer in there,” Turner said. “We drove around until they could calm down and tell us where they lived, but when we went back there were no lights on in the house.” Turner took the children to VPD after the children told the students they were walking to their mother's boyfriend’s house across town. “(We) stayed there with
SEE NEGLECT, PAGE A6
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MALACHI PETERSEN I THE VOLANTE
Participants in the 42nd Wacipi dance in traditional regalia March 29 in the DakotaDome.
SEE WACIPI, PAGE A8
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Music students sacrifice health for their art Verve, B4
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Volleyball team loses head coach Houk
Sports, B1