Being Miss USD Will Take You Places

By Warren Egebo

This past Sunday was the 60th Anniversary of the Miss University (of South Dakota) Scholarship Pageant (there was no pageant in 1980 or 2004). Last January at the Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas, I met Morgan Peck, the reigning Miss South Dakota and last year’s Miss USD. I am a 1972 graduate of USD and eighth graduate from my family (my wife, my two sisters, my brother-in-law, and several nieces and nephews have all attended USD over the years). Currently a board member for the Miss Philadelphia Pageant, I have been involved with pageants in the Miss America system for over 30 years, and that all began with Miss University.

It all started in the summer of 1957 when my sister, Sylvia, brought home from Vermillion the USD annual: THE COYOTE. I immediately noticed the “GLAMOUR” section that had full page head shots of Miss Vanity Fair (the yearbook queen), fraternity queens, Miss Dakota, Honorary Cadet Colonel, and the queen of queens on the USD campus – Miss University.
When my sister Hazel attended USD in the 60′s, she gave me a copy of the 1963 Miss University Pageant program that had Tom Brokaw as the emcee of the pageant. As many USD alums know his wife Meredith Auld won Miss South Dakota in 1959 as Miss Yankton. During those years when it was held annually at Slagle Auditorium each of the five sororities and the four girls’ dormitories fielded a candidate.

When I arrived at the USD campus in 1968 there were 20 or more candidates each year. Oh, how I remember Cecilee Streetman with her long chestnut hair winning the title in 1973 after singing the song “Killing Me Softly with Your Eyes”! She went on to be the first runner-up to Miss South Dakota that June.

The very first Miss University (1948), Carol Quinn, won Miss South Dakota in 1949. Then in 1950 Irene O’Connor not only won Miss University and Miss South Dakota, but in September in Atlantic City she became the first runner-up to
Miss America 1950. Other Miss University/USD titleholders who then captured the state crown and went on to the Miss America Pageant were 1957- Pat Miller, 1966 – Deborah Molitor , 1975 – Gina Campbell, 1995 – Kimberlee McKay and now Morgan Peck, Miss South Dakota 2009. Many a Miss South Dakota competed in the Miss University/USD pageant, but won the state crown with another title; some that come to mind are June Delbridge, Ann McKay, Sara Frankenstein, and Nikki Grandpre.

I congratulate the candidates for Miss USD this weekend. You are a part of a great tradition on the USD campus. And good luck to this year’s winner Valerie Menning as she competes for the state title in Hot Springs in June! Bring home another state crown to Vermillion!

Warren Egebo
Miss Philadelphia Pageant Committee member
Hegins, PA
USD grad 1972, BS in speech education

Monopoly Money

By Thomas Emanuel

I am a dietary ethicist. I don’t eat meat and only drink milk rarely (hurrah for soy protein); I buy organic and/or local whenever possible and try to avoid brand names. I don’t eat junk food, and I refuse flat-out to eat fast food or shop at Wal-Mart.

I do this because I don’t like the means by which big companies produce their food – paying immigrants 30 cents an hour to pick tomatoes, for instance, or razing the rainforest in order to make room for cattle so McDonald’s can get cheap hamburgers.

Therefore, I alter my shopping habits, withdrawing my support from objectionable companies and throwing it instead behind brands and products that I can feel good about buying. In my own small way, I use the laws of economics against the likes of Chiquita.

By forcing me to pay $650 a semester for a meal plan, however, Aramark and USD have robbed me of my choice to eat ethically. U.Dining offers commercial, brand-name products: enriched macaroni product and bleached white bread, Frito Lay and Sara Lee. Don’t eat meat? Hope you like salad and… salad. If I had my druthers, I would never eat any of the food offered at the MUC.

Theoretically, I could still choose not to eat there. But that would be wasteful – they’ve already got my money. I might as well get some use out of it.

The problem is, I don’t even get that much bang for my buck. Not only purchase a meal plan for mass-produced, unhealthy meals; we are also made to pay exorbitant prices for them. A cup of cantaloupe costs $3. I could buy a whole cantaloupe for less than that!

It could be argued that we’re paying for the convenience, but we should be able to choose to pay for the convenience. For my part, I’d rather make the walk to Jones. Furthermore, it’s not as if we can force prices down by refusing to buy, because we are required to pay in the $650 or $1,000 in order to live in the dorms – it’s either use it or lose it. It gives new meaning to the term “Monopoly money.”

I am not advocating USD get rid of meal plans altogether. Many students have no problem with having a meal plan; it certainly makes life simpler when you live at North Complex to walk downstairs and have an all-you-can-eat buffet at your fingertips. Then again, it makes life simpler not to think about where your food comes from too.

Perhaps USD could make meal plans default, but not mandatory. That is, they could offer students the possibility of opting out of meal plans, with the understanding that if a student does not actively opt out, she will automatically be charged for one. This way, most students would probably still end up paying for a meal plan, while those of us who don’t want to have to choose between eating at the MUC every night and wasting our money would be left with other options.

Of course, I should be thankful – and trust me, I am – that I’m even in a position to complain about meal plans; my life could be much worse. But despite my great good fortune, it would still be nice not to have to pay too much money for food that I neither want nor feel comfortable purchasing.

CORPORATE INVOLVEMENT IN POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS

By Senator Jason Gant (R-Sioux Falls)

On January 2, 2010, the United States Supreme Court, issued a historic ruling in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission with regard to political communications by corporations. The Justices stated that because the First Amendment applies to corporations they should not be completely prohibited from being involved in political campaigns. This decision does a lot to change the political landscape in South Dakota.

Although the State of South Dakota won’t now have the ability to decide whether a corporation should be allowed political speech, we have retained the responsibility of ensuring openness and transparency in this new time. To that end, I authored an amendment to House Bill 1053 and current South Dakota law to clarify this emerging campaign finance issue during the 2010 legislative session.

I have long believed that the residents of South Dakota should be keenly aware of where political contributions come from. With the Supreme Court’s ruling as guidance, I was determined to ensure that the public knew who was funding corporate political speech. I started drafting with the premise that all corporate political speech would include the language of disclosure that has become commonplace throughout the states: “Paid for by . . . “. South Dakotans are comfortable with this language and it was important to me to keep that disclosure.

My amendment also ensured corporations are held to the same open and transparent standards as candidate campaign committees or political action committees or even political parties. It only makes sense that these groups should be treated equitably.

In order to avoid the mistakes of our past, I also included language addressing the ownership of corporations paying for political speech. I wanted to be as sure as possible that all owners were listed with the Secretary of State, but I wanted to keep the process least onerous on South Dakota corporations. The result is a simple filing requirement for our domestic corporations since they are already required to file their articles of incorporation and annual reports with the Secretary of State.

Further, I required that if another corporation or LLC was an owner of the corporation paying for the political speech, that their corporate information would be filed with the Secretary of State. This helps to keep closed loopholes that might have been opened and helps ensure that different corporations or LLCs or LLPs aren’t created to try and hide their true intentions. Foreign corporations would also be required to comply with the same type of disclosures, although they would have stricter time and financial requirements.

The final result of all this work is that South Dakota will comply with federal precedent and allow corporations to be involved in political activities, but that those corporations will be held to the same standard as all other groups involved in political campaigns.

I believe it is paramount to ensure that political campaigns in South Dakota are open and transparent. I trust that this new law on corporate political speech will do just that.

Note: Senator Gant’s House Bill 1053 of the 2010 Legislative Session passed the Senate and House of Representatives unanimously and the Governor signed the bill into law on March 29, 2010.

Jack Walter’s Twitter page Feb 19th.

 

11:30 PM

Roomm4t3 thr3w m3 out of t3h dorms. Said I had to “get a life” and that I “shouldn’t waste valentines day playing wii sports in my underwear.” Bar3ly got out with my bl4ckb3rry. I’ve posted a poll on my Facebook and Myspace pages to see if you agree with him.

11:32

Going to go to the local Frats d4nce. At least they have fr33 b33r. L33t

11:40

Stupid GPS lied about where the Frat was, but I found it. Turns out it was right in front of our dorm whoops lol :S.

11:50

Oh my god this party sux!!! It’s too dark, the music is terrible, the b33r is cheap though it is b33r, and… holy crap, girls kissing! XD

11:59

Dropped my bl4ckb3rry, :S but it’s fine. I paid the extra $200 for the indestructible L33t version . What was I talking about? Let me recheck the posts.

12:01

Yeah, the party sux. I’m going to stuff a few b33rs in my pocket and head to mc… cute girl alert!!!! :3 She’s just dancing by herself towards the corner. Should I go over th3r3? 3v3ry time I talk to girls that act m3g4 3vil, but she’s sooo cute XD. Post on my page and I’ll follow the advice of the fifth poster.

12:13

Chickwilliams2321 says “Ball up man, and get yo ass over there.” alrighty then here I go.

12:15 okay NOW here I go.

12:20 we danced :D:D:D:D! Not very w3ll, and only for a few minutes b4 she told me to stop, but we danced! She has a bl4ckb3rry too and friended me on facebook. I’m going to send her a superpoke.

12:23 okay, I’m totally not sure what to use here. Is the kiss too forward? What about a bitchslap? For irony? Hug? Is that too wishy-washy? I’ve put a poll on my myspace account with a list of options. I’ll go dance with her some more, and in about 15 minutes I’ll check the poll and do whichever one wins.

12:45 I sp3nt the l4st 20 mins texting her, she is 4we5ome:D. I just checked the facebook poll and you guys voted on a bitchslap superpoke.

12:46 just sent it.

12:47 she’s checking her facebook… now she’s typing something.

12:48 got an e-mail. facebook says she sent me a superpoke.

12:49. Wow, I didn’t know they made a superpoke for that .

12:50 okay how hot is she? Seriously, how hot is she? I t00k a pic and am uploading it on my profile. Tell me how hot you think she is in my “how hawt is she?” poll.

12:53 5he’s coming up to m3, and she looks frisky

12:55 she saw the “how hawt is she?” poll and kcked m3 in t3h nutz. …lsinmg consioudsness. cant tipe. p4in…

 

election 2008 losers

Losers

Northern Republicans:

While republican Susan Collins held her senate seat in Maine, New Hampshire republican senator john Sununu lost his senate seat. Chris shays lost in Connecticut, and with that, there aren’t any more house republicans in New England. An area that was once a haven to moderate republicans has become toxic to all but the most popular and moderate republicans. Look for democrats to target Judd Greg in 2010, and a possible cabinet position or party change for Olympia Snowe (R-ME). Republicans in New York lost three house seats, and are now left with the same number in the state. They also lost the New York senate, depriving them of any power within Albany. Republicans failed to win any house seats in Pennsylvania, losing one in the process, along with losses in New Jersey, Maryland, and the loss of electoral votes in Indiana. Of the four house seats the republicans gained, three came from the south. Being a regional party (especially one primarily in the south) is never an advantageous place to be.

Bill Clinton:

Bill’s legacy will take a beating over the next four to eight years. Aside from Hillary losing the primary, despite all of his efforts, there’s the inevitable comparisons between Obama’s win and Clinton’s wins. While Clinton won more electoral votes than Obama, Obama has the mandate that Clinton never did. Obama won a majority of the vote, turned three states blue that Clinton never did, and unlike Clinton, Obama had gains in the house and senate when elected. If Obama governs better than Clinton, then people may start to forget the good times during the Clinton years and focus more on the scandals and impeachment. One good piece note for Clinton is he no longer holds the record for worst performance in the south for a winning democrat. Obama only won three southern states to Clinton’s four.

Missouri

As this is being written, McCain holds a 6,000 vote lead in Missouri. Should this hold, it would mean that Missouri’s record of always voting for the winner of the presidential election since 1956 would be over. This may not bold well for Missouri democrats, but considering they took the governor’s seat, they probably don’t have to worry about that.

Wave prognosticators

Almost every media outlet predicted a wave election with +30 democratic gains in the house and 7-9 senate seats gained. While the senate is still up in the air, it is unlikely that democrats could get more than seven seats. It appears the democrats will be victorious in a net total of 17-20 seats. It was a good night for dems, but not a wave. The media was way off on this.

Gay rights activists.

Gay marriage bans passed all over the country and one such ban is likely to pass in California. Arizona, which in 2006 voted against such a ban, reversed course, voting to ban gay marriage. While democrats won big in the election, they’d be wise to avoid issue of gay marriage, or at least tread cautiously, lest they incur the publics wrath.

Clean government fans

Convicted felon Ted Stevens appears likely to win re-election in Alaska, along with Alaska house rep Don Young who’s being investigated by the FBI. William Jefferson, the democratic Congressman who was caught with thousands of dollars in his fridge is likely to return to congress. Seriously? A CONVICTED FELON??!!??!! What the hell Alaska, what the hell?

Turnout.

While results are still coming in, it doesn’t look like turnout was that much higher than it was in 2004. It might increase by one million votes or so, but at the moment, the number votes in 08 look the same as in 04.

Dubya

There are so many reasons why he lost, but here’s a big one. Bush lost the distinction of having the votes for president, and unless McCain gets a lot of votes, he will keep the distinction of having being elected, but still have more people voting against him than any other person elected president.

election 2008 winners

The media are going be stating and restating over the few months who won tonight, but they’re going to make the most obvious choices. What about the not so obvious winners and losers. There are those who won big silently, or lost big and are in hiding. It’s time to bring these winners and losers into the light to get the full picture of what election night means for the next four to eight years. 

 

Winners:

Historians:

Between the historic nature of the primaries, and the election, not to mention the thrills of the campaign, this will talked about by historians for years. First African American president, first potential female nominee, republican vice presidential nominee, first potential Italian nominee, there were a lot of firsts. Looking beyond labels, the election was the most exciting in years. While 2007 will likely be glossed over, everything from Iowa on will be meticulously examined and debated in political science classes, and will provide easy work for plenty of political advisors, analysts and professors.

Howard Dean and the 50 state strategy:

Dean argued in 2004 that democrats needed to expand beyond Ohio Pennsylvania and Florida. Dean lost, then Kerry lost in 2004, but Obama learned from their mistakes. Obama adopted the 50 state strategy, and reconfigured the electoral map. Obama won States that haven’t gone democratic since 1964, like Indiana and Virginia. Republicans also lost North Carolina for the first time since 1976. Margins in strong republican states diminished greatly, nearly costing McCain Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, and possibly Missouri (the results are still out). Democrats gained house and senate seats in Virginia, possibly Maryland, Colorado, Idaho, Michigan, Alabama, Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida Nevada, New York and others. Democrats won democratic and republican districts, in democratic and republican states. Republicans retook three very republican districts and one seat from a scandal plagued incumbent. The fifty state strategy worked.

Rasmussen Reports

This polling firm correctly pegged the final result at 52-46 for Obama. Unlike zogby, Gallup, and all the others that gave Obama a larger lead, Rasmussen was dead on.

Southwestern democrats.

Democrats made major gains in the southwest, McCain’s region of the country. New Mexico democrats gained two house seats, and now have an all democrat congressional congregation. Democrats in Nevada, Colorado, and Arizona all gained a house seat, along with a senate seat in Colorado and New Mexico. Starting with making Nevada an early primary state, and choosing Denver as the convention location, to election night, Democrats are laying down roots in the south west.

Oprah

Her endorsement helped Obama in Iowa, gave him some much needed extra star power in the beginning, and the sudden camera shot to her in the crowd during the speech was hilarious. Oprah in 2016?

Saturday night live.

Rather than explain it, just go here 

 

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/episodes/

Election night almanac

Here’s a link to a great election night alamanac written Xiao Xi Zhang and myself (Taylor Poro).  it’s provided on the college democrats web blog, feel free to comment.  The whole thing should be up soon (it’s big).  It should provide a lot of useful information for tonight, and don’t forget to check out my liveblog starting at 5:30 on the volante website.

 

http://blogs.usd.edu/usddems/entry/the_election_guide