Campus
Student activity fee increase put on hold in light of tuition freeze
Because of wariness from the South Dakota Board of Regents to allow an increased student activity fee in the same year that in-state tuition was frozen, USD’s General Activity Fee will not continue to rise as originally anticipated. SGA President Nathaniel Steinlicht said the reason for the SDBOR’s hesitation stemmed from the fact that they didn’t like the […]
University sign vandalized, search for letters continues
The USD sign at the corner of Clark and Pine Streets on the southeast part of campus was vandalized this past weekend, losing nine of its letters. Tena Haraldson, director of Marketing Communications and University Relations, said she was told of the incident immediately Monday morning. This isn’t the first time this has occurred, she added. “I do […]
Waste audit highlights minimal recycling efforts at USD
Despite the presence of recycling bins on campus, USD doesn’t have an official recycling program. In fact, a majority of recyclables collected around campus are actually thrown in the trash. After a university waste audit was completed earlier this month, the President’s Committee on Sustainability is awaiting a recycling evaluation from Verdis Group, an environmental consulting […]
PHOTOS: USD hosts 96th annual Military Ball
Members of the USD Reserve Officers’ Training Corps attended the 96th annual Military Ball Saturday evening in the Muenster University Center. The keynote speaker for the ball was USD alumnus Brigadier General Ronald Place. Place is responsible for 14 medical treatment facilities on the Eastern seaboard and in the Southeast. This year also marks the […]
Photo gallery: spring drag show
“We’re here again,” drag show host and performer Martina Shakers said after the first performance was complete. “Good God.” The second drag show of the year, hosted by Spectrum: Gender and Sexuality Alliance, was held in the MUC ballroom Thursday night at 8 p.m. Condom necklaces were available for purchase and a “random bag of crap” was […]
SGA recommends changes to Math Emporium
SGA senators weren’t convinced by the presentations of Math Department Chair Dan Van Peursem that all is well with the Math Emporium, and so they drafted a resolution recommending a list of changes that should be made to the Emporium. The resolution described Math administration officials as unreceptive to recommendations, and unable to justify why […]
SGA votes to tentatively withdraw from Student Federation
After a lengthy debate about an issue that’s been on SGA’s radar for some time, Senators voted Tuesday night to tentatively withdraw USD’s membership and all related financial support from the South Dakota Student Federation. The Student Federation is an organization whose purpose is to “bring the six regental institutions together. … To come together and collaborate […]
Study: USD faculty gender pay gap less than one percent
When looking at the raw data, it appears as though women faculty members at USD are paid 16 percent less than their male counterparts. But, when accounting for rank and academic discipline – as one university study recently did – that gap shrinks to less than 1 percent. Associate professors of economics Mike Allgrunn and […]
Movie theaters get cleaned up, cleared out
The sound of drilling and demolition filled the air in downtown Vermillion Saturday, as USD volunteers from Habitat for Humanity and the ROTC came to clean up and clear out the town’s movie theaters as part of a long-term renovation project that began this past fall. Work began at 10 a.m., and Jason Thiel, executive director of the […]
USD recruiters set goal to surpass new student enrollment numbers for fall 2016
As the end of the semester approaches, USD’s Admissions Office is increasing its efforts to enroll more students for the upcoming school year. A total of 1,198 first-year students enrolled at USD this past fall, a 3.8 percent increase from the fall of 2014 when 1,154 new students enrolled. University officials are hoping to stay in line with the same rates of increase […]