Opinion

My name is Marisa Cummings and I am the University of South Dakota project coordinator for the Violence Against Women Campus Project grant through the Department of Justice. My office is located in the University Counseling Center or Cook House. I am excited to join the University of South Dakota family and work towards reducing […]

The classic idea of a spring break trip is flying down to Cancun for a week in the hopes your parents don’t see you on MTV. As someone not overly fond of traditional excitement, I elected to take a geology trip with the earth science department to New Mexico. Most of my destinations were national […]

  The bees are dying. For the first time ever, bees were added to the U.S. endangered species list in 2016. While this may come as a shock to many because bees sometimes seem over-abundant, bee populations have been decreasing for a number of years. Because bees are an essential part of the ecosystem, the […]

What do social media and partying have in common? The fact that people can be careless when it comes to their participation in both. This became apparent to me last New Year’s when I was scrolling through social media and noticed an influx of posts related to underage drinking and partying. Globally, the culture of New […]

While the grass on campus is always lush and alluring, the sight isn’t as satisfying across Cherry, Plum or Dakota streets. The grass and sidewalks are cluttered with litter, as there’s no grounds crew to pick it up off-campus. While USD students aren’t responsible for all of it, it’s safe to say they contribute a […]

Many of you will notice that signage of some bathrooms around campus has changed. Wherever possible, USD is moving toward a policy of having “gender inclusive facilities” — or GIFs — on campus. These are private, single-stall restrooms that may be used by any person regardless of family status, parental status, gender identity or gender […]

One wouldn’t think being in Canada is much different than the States. While studying at Bishop’s University, I expected similar class formats and assignments like my past three semesters in South Dakota. Luckily, I’m very familiar with writing papers and a typical lecture format. However, the only grades on most of my syllabi are a […]

The last article people may want to read is about Obamacare. It seems like a pop song stuck in your head that won’t go away. Naturally, there will be heated debates about the pros and cons of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Regardless of your personal feelings about Obamacare, the effects to college students may […]

USD has many student organizations that volunteer. And while all philanthropy is valuable, it is imperative that it’s being done for the right reasons. This topic came up last month at an environmental justice primer held in Sioux Falls, which was attended by USD students and faculty. Lamont Sellers, associate vice president for diversity, discussed that […]

Last month the university released (via Facebook/social media) a Valentine’s Day video. Although most of these Valentine’s Day messages from students were harmless shoutouts to parents, friends and partners, there were clips that treated same-gender relationships as a joke and seemingly mocked these partnerships. The university received numerous complaints and removed the video. Then, on […]