April 2008

green living

reduce, reuse, recycleSchool of Mines Green Dorm Competition

By Katie AurandRaver Editor In economics, it is called the “tragedy of the com-mons.” Students living in the dorms do not bear the costs of energy consumption individually, so they tend to overuse electricity and wa-ter. This unbridled amount of energy and water use in the dorms results in higher utility prices that are even-tually transformed into in-creased housing costs for the subsequent year. The impact that any one individual could

See “Green Dorms”Con’t on Page 2

Volume 1 - Issue 2 April 2008

By Dr. Patricia MahonSDSM&T Dean of Students Welcome back from Spring Break—now it’s time for the busy end of the Spring 2008 se-mester! Not only is this a time to complete courses and projects, it is also a time for seniors to make plans for commencement and life after SDSM&T. As a university, we are preparing for a new President, construction of a Paleontology building, the Chemical and Biological and Chemistry building (CBEC), a new road connecting St. Pat-rick and St. Joseph streets and the remodeling of the Surbeck Center. For returning students it is a time of planning sum-mer activities as well as helping student organizations plan next years events. In assisting with

A note from the Dean of Studentsstudent organization planning, there is now a way to directly post 2008-2009 events on the University calendar. To learn more about this, contact Mike Keegan in the Student Activities and Leadership Offi ce. In the March edition of The Raver, the robbery at the Gas Depot was featured. Maintain-ing a safe and secure environ-ment is a priority for the cam-pus. We thoroughly debriefed this event with the Rapid City Police Department. Even when they feel the situation is of no threat to the campus they will immediately contact school of-fi cials and immediate notices will be distributed to members of the campus community. In a related matter, the Board of Re-gents signed a contract with 3n as our vendor for an Emergency Alert System. We are now mov-ing to the implementation phase and we expect to be up and run-ning by the end of this semes-ter. As a reminder, the Rapid City Police Department serves as security for the campus. Em-ployees, students and visitors are to dial 911 (or 9-911 if us-ing a campus phone) to report an emergency to law enforce-ment. The ‘Campus Emergency & Safety Procedures’ guide is available on line at http://sd-mines.sdsmt.edu/epcep and in-cludes information regarding campus emergency policies. Residence life has additional information for residents posted on line at http://reslife.sdsmt.edu/handbook/healthsafety.html I look forward to seeing many of you at the Senior De-sign Fair, the Leadership Hall of Fame event, the drama produc-tion, musical concerts and other spring events. In the meantime please let me know your issues and concerns. My offi ce is lo-cated in the Surbeck Center, and I can be reached by calling 394-2416, or e-mail at [email protected].

have on this problem is vir-tually inconsequential, but a committed group of residents could generate enough of an energy impact to quell rising costs. However, “greening” your dorm room does not mean that you have to wear hemp sandals and hug trees. Here are a few tips to effec-tively decrease the amount of energy and water you use in the dorms:Power Stripping Many everyday appli-ances use energy even when turned off, such as cell phones, iPod chargers and televisions. The best way to combat this is to plug those appliances into a single pow-er strip that you can unplug when you leave the room or go to bed.In the Dark When you leave your room, turn off the lights. Your fi sh does not need to bake under bulbs while you are in class. When you are in your room, open your window blinds during the day and use the natural light from outside.

Holing yourself up in a study cave with unnatural lighting causes your skin to become pasty and it wastes energy.In the Shower You don’t have to soak in a steaming cascade of water for over half an hour every-day. Cut your showering time so that you simply lather, rinse and sometimes repeat. Caution: Don’t stop shower-ing to conserve water (unless you want to be smelly and sickly).Turn Down the Heat Peterson Hall residents: do you really need to keep your room at the tropical temperature of 85 degrees in the winter? And at a cool 60 degrees in the spring and fall? An individual tempera-ture adjuster in each room is the bane of the dorm en-ergy crisis. Even turning the thermostat 5 degrees in the respective direction would cause mass energy savings. Residents of Palmerton and Connolly should watch their use of fans and heaters, too. Maybe add a few blankets to your bed and sweatshirts

to your wardrobe during the winter months and open your window more during the warmer months.Add More Clothes When your clothes are stinky, laundry loads shouldn’t be dinky! By clumping your clothes together to create larger loads of laundry, you will save time, money, en-ergy and water.Turn Off Your Tablet Some students use the iri-descent glow from their com-puter screens as night lights. Seriously, is this really neces-sary? I know you may like to watch the faux fi sh eternally trapped in your monitor bum-ble back and forth as you drift off to sleep, but think of all of the energy you are wasting. Turn off your computer when you are not using it; even put-ting your tablet into standby while toting it between class-es is better than just shutting the screen and letting it run on full power. Also, do not use screensavers as “energy savers” as they continue to use the monitor at full power. Once your computer is done charging, unplug it.

to your wardrobe during the

Publication of the South Dakota School of Mines

StudentsPrinted at the

Rapid City Journal

EditorsKatie Aurand

Erica Kjar

AdvisorDr. Kathy Antonen

JournalRepresentative

Alan Platt

DeadlinesMay Issue - April 22

Email Submissions to:[email protected]

“Green Dorms”Con’t from Page 1

Raver - April 2008NEWSNEWS

Melanie SatchellStudent Association President The project is starting to pick up with tremendous speed. We have hired Ricca Newmark Design as our food service con-sultant for the project and they are working very hard to put together designs and plans for the kitchen, serving area, and seating for the project. I want to reiterate that due to some things that transpired over December and January the timeline for the project sets completion of the kitchen remodel for August 2009. I am just as frustrated as you are about this set back, but it’s important to remember we are working for a quality project and that takes time, especially when we are working with large scale remodel of an almost 40 year old facility. Thanks for your patience, please let me know if you have questions. Fees will be approved at the March Board of Regents meet-ing and we will continue to plan for the project. To the right is a rough timeline for the project.

March 2008• Fee approval from Board of Regents; continue schematic design

April• Prepare Design Plan

May• Present Design Plan to state building committee

June• Present fi nal Facility Design Plan to Board of Regents

July& August• Construction & Bid Document preparation

September• Bids due

September & December• Preparation for construction (coordination)

January 2009• Contractors being on construc-tion

January - April• Main level construction

May-August• Construction of kitchen

September• Project completed

By Evan Waddell A thistle can cut two ways, and thistles there’ll be. No roses this month will see. This instal-lation looks at the dessert cart debacle. A thistle for students. Over the past semester, many students have noticed the disappearance of the dessert cart from the Din-ing Hall. A source of all things sugar in the past, this sprinkle receptacle was removed due to issues of disrespectful café con-duct, included but not limited to the bending and breaking of sil-

Roses and Thistles… and Sprinkles

Broken spoons, fl attened forks: According to Jo Lee Frederik-sen, director of Dining Services, this amount of fl atware damage occurs nightly.

verware and the defamation of trays. This boils down to a case of equal exchange. A thistle for Dining Ser-vices. The removal of such sa-cred diabetes-inducing delica-cies poses a moral question on the side of food admin, too. No warnings were made public to students, and no indication of causality was provided for the cart catastrophe. The ice cream capacity of the freezer has also seemingly decreased. Et tu, café?

University & Public Relations Saturday, March 29 from 1-4 p.m., the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology’s Mu-seum of Geology will be host-ing a “Dinosaur Extravaganza.” The event will be held in the Museum of Geology, located on the School of Mines campus. Activities include cast painting and activities about dinosaurs, their habits, diets, footprints and more. There will be six activ-

ity stations, and at each station children will collect a “dinosaur egg.” Each egg will contain candy, and 10 special eggs will contain a prize! The event is staffed and coordinated by members of the School of Mines Paleontology Club. This special event is free and open to the public, includ-ing children of all ages. To sign up, call (605) 394-2467. Walk-ins are welcome.

School of Mines to Host “Dinosaur Extravaganza”

University & Public Relations Offi cials from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology and Cargill have announced a major gift of $500,000. Cargill’s gift - which will be donated over a fi ve-year period - will go towards building and equipping a biorefi nery labora-tory in the university’s planned Chemical and Biological Engi-neering building. The grant will also be used to fund lab opera-tions and maintenance, student fi eld trips and continued educa-tion of the faculty. “Cargill has a long history with South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, and many of its graduates are now valued employees,” Bob Sieg-ert, vice president of Cargill’s corn milling business, said. “We’re proud to partner on this project and help these students achieve success in the class-room and beyond.” The gift was made possible by contributions from several of Cargill’s businesses includ-ing Cargill Corn Milling, Car-gill Grain and Oilseed Supply Chain and Cargill Dressings, Sauces and Oils . “On behalf of the entire university, I would like to thank Cargill for its generous gift,” Dr. Charles Ruch, School of Mines president, said. “Our longstand-ing, successful partnership has been strengthened by this gen-erous donation that will help prepare future engineers and scientists.” Cargill is an international provider of food, agricultural and risk management products and services. With 158,000 employees in 66 countries, the company is committed to using its knowledge and experience to collaborate with customers to help them succeed. For more information, visit http://www.cargill.com.

SD School of Mines and Cargill Announce Major Gif

April 2008 Raver - NEWSNEWS

Surbeck Center Renovation

Math

“One of the most important issues for the

university to focus its efforts on is strengthen-

ing the campus community. We really need

to have a strong and cohesive community to

support the changes that are being made and

to continue to help the school grow.”

Civil Engineering“I think changing our name would be a good step in helping make us a national player. The ‘Technology’ on the end of our name makes us sound like a Vo-Tech school. Eliminating ‘Technology’ and possibly even ‘South Dakota’ from our name would help to reduce any negative connotations and give us a more professional appearance.”

CalebSkjervem

Mechanical Engineering“The fi rst thing that comes to mind is the condition of the residence halls. I also think other areas of focus should include the issue of deferred maintenance and lack of visible on-campus security.”

SamFord

Industrial Engineering

“I would love to see SDSMT update the

rest of the building on campus, such as

the dorms and maybe even McLaury.

Some of these buildings are becoming

run-down and can be discouraging to

potential students.”

DeannaPalecek

Mechanical / Metallurgical Engineering“I think that the school needs to continue to

pursue funding for research and develop-

ment. We are doing well so far but there is

always room for improvement.”

Mitchell

Rodriguez

Mariah

Tooley

University & Public Relations To honor the legacy of the late Dr. William Hughes, a third free public forum organized by Bridges for Intercultural Under-standing entitled “What Citi-zens Believe: Do Spiritual and Cultural Values Shape Energy Policy” will be presented on Sunday, March 30. The event will begin at 2 p.m. in the Wells Fargo Theatre at The Journey Museum in Rapid City. Event schedule: 1:30 p.m. Refreshments and lobby displays by local environ-mental groups and vendors 2 p.m. Jeffery Viken pres-ents cuttings from Bill Hughes’ refl ections on values and his global world view of energy use. 2:15 p.m. “Coming Home” featuring re-nowned geneticist David Suzuki will be shown. In this fi lm from the series The Sacred Balance, sponsored in part by the Nation-al Science Foundation, Dr. Su-zuki explores biophilia -- the in-nate, hereditary need of human beings to affi liate with nature.

With awe-inspiring footage, Su-zuki helps us fi nd our place in the natural world. 3-4:15 p.m. “Do Spiritual and Cultural Values Shape En-ergy Policy”: Reactions and comments by members of area faith communities: Dr. Richard Fisher, United Methodist pastor, current vice president of the South Da-kota Association of Christian Churches, Wayne Gilbert, presi-dent, Synagogue of the Hills, Hani Shafi , Dream Design Inc., Charmaine Whiteface, Lakota language speaker, coordina-tor of Defenders of the Black Hills , Dr. John Usera, Chies-man Foundation, will moderate a question and answer session with opportunity for audience comments. Bridges for Intercultural Understanding proposed a three-part series to honor Bill Hughes, who was a founding member of BIU. The School of Mines and The Journey Museum cospon-sor Sunday’s forum in coopera-tion with the Rapid City Weekly News.

Energy Forum Explores Cultural and Spiritual Values

Photo PollBy Patrick Satchell

“In light of all the changes taking place across campus including the Chem and Paleo Buildings, Surbeck Rennovation, and hiring of a new President, what do you believe is the next step the university should take to improve/refi ne its image?


School of Mines Students win Dublin Dash Costume Contest

Galloping Green Leprechauns: (from left) Lukasz Dubaj, Derek Nordby, and Marcus Bartlett took home the gold for having the best costumes in the Dublin Dash.

Every year the fraternity brings in a new class of whole-some men. This year the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity is proud to pronounce its new group four-teen members. As each member joins our brotherhood, they get a chance to experience the life of a Delta Sigma Phi. These new brothers of spring 2008 bring in some-thing to the fraternity that makes it better. As we have brought in this new class we get to gain from the things that they will bring to the house of the Delta Sigs. Also, Delta Sigma Phi is hosting their 29th annual Cow-boy on March 29th. The main event during this get together will be a concert performed by Dustin Evans. Tickets will be available in advance from the members for the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity. Save the date and come have a good time!

The sisters of Alpha Delta Pi have had a fun semester so far and are looking forward to the rest of the semester being just as fun. Diamond days were fun for the chapter and we are happy to congratulate our new delta members Phoebe Li, Car-rie Reed and Christina Quiett. We had a very fun recruit-ment week and are very happy to welcome our four new alpha members Karina Garber, Eliza-beth Gores, Erica Kjar and Nic-ci Reynolds. We have many fun activi-ties planned for sisterhood week which is March 31st to April 6th. Some of these include sand volleyball and the trip to the Ronald McDonald House in Sioux Falls. During this trip the sisters will clean the house and bring various items that have been donated as well as all of the pop tabs that have been col-lected.

Alpha Delta Pi

Delta Sigma Phi

Engineering Question of the Month

Q.) How much does a house weigh??? A.) Just a tad more than a rural two-lane bridge can hold, apparently.

So would this be covered by house insurance, car insur-ance, or does it come under roadside assistance?

Clear Your Calendars!

Raver MeetingMonday, March 31 at 5:00 p.m.Next to KTEQ offi ce in SALC

We need writers, photographers, website programmers, graphic designers and salespeople (aka we need YOU).

Yank yourself away from your reams of engineering paper and help us tackle the giant issues on campus.

Free FoodOpportunity for pay!


Raver - April 2008COMICS

University & Public Relations Travis Walker, a South Dakota School of Mines and Technology student from Win-ner, has published an article in Chemical Engineering Progress, the professional journal of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICHE). The article, “Harnessing Natural Energy,” is based on a report that Walker wrote as a participant in the Washington Internships for Students of En-gineering (WISE) program. The article deals with the need for storage for intermittent energy sources such as wind and solar. Walker, a chemical engi-neering and mathematics major, conducted research on a public policy issue for 10 weeks dur-ing the summer in Washington, D.C, where he had the opportu-nity to learn about the interac-tion between the engineering community and the government in matters of public policy, and to see how engineers can con-tribute to public policy deci-sions in complex technological matters. Selection criteria for the WISE program included ac-ademic record, essay, extracur-ricular activities and interest in public policy.

School of Mines Student Published in Journal

Congratulations to Marcus Bartlett and Lukasz Dubaj, the newly elected Student Associa-tion President and Vice Presi-dent. The pair will be sworn in April 16. If you have any questions about Student Senate please stop by the Senate offi ce in SALC.

April 2008 Raver - COMICS

By Brad BlumeSports Information Director The Dakota Athletic Con-ference released the All Confer-ence selections for men’s and women’s basketball Monday with the South Dakota School of Mines earning four spots, in-cluding a fi rst team honor, two third team awards and a new-comer of the year honor. Senior Melanie Vedvei, an industrial engineering major, was named to the DAC fi rst team for the third consecutive season. “Melanie was the top vote getter in the conference,” said Hardrocker women’s head coach Barb Felderman. The 5-foot-7-inch guard from Lake Preston injured her knee 19 games into the 2007-08 season. She still fi nished the year with 399 points, 121 total rebounds, 110 assists and 87 steals. Vedvei broke the NAIA career steals record with 420 in her four-year tenure, as well as fi nished second all time in SD School of Mines history with 1,972 points. She also owns individual school records in: career steals at Mines (420), steals in a season (124), steals in a game (11), career free throws made (555), free throws made in a season (199) and free throws made in a game (17). “Anyone that has seen her play knows that there really is only one word to describe her

and that’s phenomenal,” Felder-man said. Vedvei earned the DAC MVP award the previous two years and was also a NAIA fi rst team selection last year and a second team honoree for the 2005-06 campaign. Senior Jennie Malone earned third team honors for the second consecutive year. Malone ended the year with 267 points, 107 assists and 75 steals even though she missed a por-tion of the schedule because she also played volleyball for the Hardrockers. “Jennie was always at a

disadvantage because she came into the season late (each year),” Felderman said. “She always had some catching up to do, but it was easy to notice her arrival each year.” Malone is an Industrial Engineering major from Rapid City, S.D., that fi nished her Hardrocker career with 1,003 points and No. 21 all time for the SD Mines women’s basket-ball program. “She probably missed the equivalent of an entire season so for Jennie to get over 1,000 points is wonderful,” Felder-man added.

Four Hardrockers earn spot on All Dakota Athletic Conference hoops list

Freshman Jerika Ihnen was award the DAC Freshman of the Year honor. Ihnen is a 5-11 for-ward from Tea, S.D., majoring in Interdisciplinary Sciences. Ihnen fi nished her fi rst season as a Hardrocker with 279 points, 31 steals and 16 blocked shots. “Jerika doesn’t know how good she can be but obviously the conference coaches do,” Felderman said. On the men’s side, fresh-man A.J. Trennepohl received accolades from the DAC as a third team selection. The shoot-ing guard from Lubbock, Texas, who redshirted last season, fi n-

ished the 2007-08 year with 348 points. “We had about fi ve guys on our team that averaged in dou-ble fi gures this year that could have gotten on the list,” said Hardrocker men’s head coach Jason Henry. AJ did very well during the DAC games. He led in scoring and he was very tough to handle for other teams in conference play.” At the time of the selec-tion process, Trennepohl led the Hardrockers in scoring, free throws made, three-pointer made, fi eld goal percentage, free throw percentage, was sec-ond in minutes played and was fourth in rebounding. He aver-aged 13.5 points a game, had an 89 percentage for free throws, 54 percentage for fi eld goals and a 49 percentage for three-point goals. Trennepohl established himself as a perimeter shoot-er. Against Dana College on Nov.24, the 6-2 Mining Engi-neering major cashed in on 7-7 from behind the arc and fi nished the contest with a 10-10 show-ing from the fi eld giving him 100 shooting percent.

By Brad BlumeSports Information Director The renovations of the King Center varsity locker rooms are almost complete on the campus of the South Dakota School of Mines. With the major construc-tion completed this past fall, the men’s basketball team, women’s basketball team and women’s volleyball team received a sub-stantial upgrade, with the addi-tion of new wooden lockers and a private dressing facility. The project came to be through money donated by for-mer athletes, private contribu-tors and SDSM&T alumni. The goal for the renovations was to

King Center locker room renovation nearly completeraise $50,000 and as the up-grade is nearly complete, the Hardrocker athletic department has almost $40,000 pledged to date and has already collected just over $30,000. The due date to have all the money pledged and collected is July 1, 2008. The Hardrock-er Club and Lady Hardrocker women’s basketball coach Barb Felderman have been at the front of the fundraising drive. Hardrocker Athletics Director Hugh Welsh will step in dur-ing the next couple of weeks and help the cause by contact-ing former athletes and alumni in hopes of reaching the goal of $50,000.

“We are hoping we can get our pledges up to $50,000 be-fore July,” Welsh said. Anybody that would like to

help with the project and make a donation can do so by contact-ing the Hardrock Club at 605-394-2601.

Senior Melanie Vedvei Freshman Jerika Ihnen Senior Jennie Malone Freshman A.J. Trennepohl

Raver - April 2008SPORTS

Luscious Lockers: The renovation includes new wooden lock-ers and a private dressing facility.

By Brad BlumeSports Information Director The South Dakota School of Mines indoor track and fi eld program added another All American to its list this past weekend during the NAIA Na-tional Indoor Track Meet in Johnson City, Tenn. Hardrocker senior Chandler Caldwell earned All American

Caldwell earns All American status at NAIA indoor meet

honors after taking third place in the pole vault event. The Metal-lurgical major from Thornton, Colo., cleared a height of 16-feet-3.25 inches to secure third place in the highly competitive fi eld. “That was probably as well as Chandler has ever jumped,” sad Hardrocker head coach Jerry Schafer. “He vaulted so

well (this past weekend). He had great technique and he is certainly capable of higher heights.” The event winner went to Zach Burrington of Bethel Col-lege (Indiana) who cleared 16-8.75. The runner-up was Robert Rasnick of Cedarville Univer-sity (Ohio), who actually had the same height as Caldwell at 16-3.25. “Chandler had three really good attempts at 16-8,” Schafer said. “He was close to the height limit for the pole he was on.” Caldwell’s height was also a good enough mark to set a new SDM all-time indoor re-cord. The old record, estab-lished earlier in the season by Caldwell, was 15-7. His height at the NAIA meet was the fi rst time that the Hardrocker senior had breached the 16-foot mark indoors or outdoors in compe-tition during his pole vaulting career. Caldwell also holds the

KANSAS CITY, Mo. The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) announced today that Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau has been awarded the 2009 and 2010 NAIA Women’s Golf National Championships. The 15th Annual event will be contested May 12-15, 2009, at Meadowbrook Municipal Golf Course in Rapid City, S.D. The 2010 national championship tournament will take place May 25-28. “The NAIA is excited to partner with the Rapid City Convention and Visitors Bureau for the NAIA Women’s Golf National Championships. Rapid City is supportive of character-driven intercollegiate athletics and will provide a great cham-pionship experience for student athletes,” said NAIA President and CEO Jim Carr. “Meadow-brook is a fantastic facility and

has a proven record for hosting prestigious events. We look for-ward to this partnership.” The event consists of four championship rounds and one practice round with a maximum of 129 golfers. Approximately 24-25 teams and 5-10 individ-ual qualifi ers will make up the fi eld. The best NAIA golfers throughout the United States and Canada will travel to Rapid City, known as one of the friend-liest and most supportive sports communities in the northern hemisphere. “From the beginning of the bid process Rapid City showed how supportive they would be of the NAIA and this event,” said NAIA Championship Event Manager Becki Almeida. “They have a great venue that will challenge the participants, and the location of Rapid City offers an array of sites and rec-reational activities for teams to

Rapid City Awarded 2009 and 2010 NAIA Women’s Golf National Championships

outdoor SDM pole vault record with a height of 15-11. After this past weekend’s meet, Caldwell is now a two-time All American also earning that status at last year’s national outdoor meet (15-11). Caldwell fi nished sixth outdoors last year. He settled for 12th place at the indoor meet, fi nishing with a height of 15-3. SD Mines other national competitor was Tyler Flattum in the 60-meter high hurdles. Flattum, a senior from Bris-tol, S.D., ran a quick time of 8.30 in the preliminary race, which advanced him to the semifi nal race, where the Industrial Engi-neering major clocked a time of 8.43. Flattum did not advance to the fi nals. His time was just two tenths of second from qualify-ing him for the fi nal race. “We were pleased with Ty-ler’s races,” Schafer said. “He was able to get into the semifi -nals this year. Last year he was

unable to get out of the pre-lims.” Schafer said that Flattum was looking strong at the be-ginning of the semifi nal race, as one of the lead runners to the fi rst set of hurdles. He then be-came a little passive which may have cost him some precious time down the stretch. “He got a little conserva-tive,” Schafer said. “He needed to be more aggressive over the hurdles.” Shafer added that it was encouraging to see Flattum run as he transitions to the outdoor season. “There is a lot more upside for Tyler,” Schafer said. “Hope-fully he can learn from the ex-perience and carry it over to the outdoor season.” The Hardrockers will open the outdoor season March 22 at the Colorado University Meet in Boulder, Colo.

take part in, as well as an easy location for travel.” Teams will compete on the links at Meadowbrook Golf Course, an 18 Hole Cham-pionship Facility, located at the foot of the beautiful Black Hills of Western South Dakota. Designed in the mid 1970’s, by David Gill and Associates, Meadowbrook is traditional in its layout. At over 7,100 yards in total length, the course is an impressive challenge and offers a wonderful golf experience. Rapid Creek fl ows through the course and comes into play on fi ve of the eighteen holes. The large undulating greens are vey well protected by more than 60 bunkers. Meadowbrook is considered one of the very best Championship Facilities in the country. The pristine greens have played host to the 1984 U.S.G.A. Women’s Public Links Championship, one of the

only two U.S.G.A. events ever to be held in South Dakota. Matt Reed, Sports & Events Manager for the Rapid City Convention & Visitors Bureau, partnered with Kristy Lintz, Pro-gram Coordinator of the Rapid City Department of Recreation to host the event. “We’re excit-ed to show the athletes of NAIA the caliber of golf, as well as hospitality, that Rapid City and the Black Hills are known for. This is a great opportunity for everyone involved,” Reed said. South Dakota has been the location for past NAIA men’s and women’s golf national championship events, however, this is the fi rst time for an NAIA event to be held at Meadow-brook Municipal Golf Course. “Bringing the NAIA Women’s Golf Championship to Rapid City gives us a chance to show-case the quality of golf we have in South Dakota. Meadowbrook

Golf Course has a long tradition of playing host to SDGA cham-pionships and is one of our most popular venues. I am confi dent that the young women compet-ing will fi nd that Meadowbrook offers a stern, yet fair test of golf,” said South Dakota Golf Association Executive Director, Wade Merry. Reigning champion Okla-homa City is among the 130 member institutions that spon-sor women’s golf and vying for a chance to play for another national championship title. To learn more about the NAIA and the women’s golf visit www.naia.org or contact Becki Al-meida at [email protected]. For additional information on Meadowbrook Municipal Golf Course visit www.golfatmead-owbrook.com and to learn more about the Rapid City Conven-tion and Visitors Bureau visit www.visitrapidcity.com.

April 2008 Raver - SPORTS

Dynamic Duo: Caldwell and Flattum recently competed in the NAIA National Indoor Track Meet. Coach Shafer was pleased with the resperformances.

By Katie AurandRaver Editor International groups from the School of Mines, National American University and the community will host the an-nual multicultural festival in the Surbeck Center Ballroom on Thursday, March 27, and Satur-day, March 29. “Cultural Expo 2008: Celebrating Our Cultural and International Diversity” will feature interactive booths,

By Katie AurandRaver Editor Marius Pettersen is a stu-dent from Norway who is com-pleting his Masters degree in Computer Science at the School of Mines. He received his B.S. in Computer Science from the Norwegian School of Infor-mation Technology in Oslo, Norway, before spending the past two years at the School of Mines. Pettersen chose to come to the School of Mines because of its reputation in Norway and the United States and also be-cause the School of Mines has a long tradition of hosting Nor-wegian students. I interviewed Marius about the differences between the cul-tures in the United States versus Norway. However, the best way to learn about a different culture is to either go live in another

country, perhaps by studying abroad, or at the very least get-ting to know the international students. Marius recommends attending ISI events on Friday nights to meet and interact with students from other countries. What is the biggest differ-ence between classes here and classes in Norway? In Norway there is no re-quired attendance and usually just a fi nal exam: no midterm, no quizzes, no homework, few-er projects. Is there a difference in how students study at the School of Mines than in Norway? Yes, students here study ev-ery day; in Norway, the students tend to study more in bulk. I guess it is that way because stu-dents here have more quizzes and homework and therefore can’t fall too far behind.


By Katie AurandRaver Editor “There is no cultural diver-sity at the School of Mines.” I used to think that until I re-alized that the School of Mines has lots of cultural diversity. Students are just too ignorant or apathetic to take advantage of the opportunities offered here. The obvious way to increase individual multicultural under-standing is to study abroad for a semester or during a school break. Suzi Aadland is the di-rector for multicultural affairs and she is an excellent resource if you are even tossing about the idea of traveling overseas (her offi ce is in the basement of the Surbeck Center). You can also check out Engineers and Sci-entists Abroad, where you can couple a senior design-like proj-ect with international travel. A painfully overlooked way that students should in-crease their cultural awareness is to meet foreign exchange students. By getting to know a foreign exchange student, you can learn what it is like to see the world differently- without the travel expenses. There are currently 109 international stu-dents on campus, or one for-eign exchange student for every 16.5 Americans on campus. 37 percent of the international stu-dents are from India, 8 percent are from Norway and 6 percent are from Mongolia, with the re-maining 49 percent from coun-

tries as geographically and cul-turally diverse as Saudi Arabia, China and Peru. A great way to meet these students is to at-tend an ISI event or any other event that a multicultural club is hosting (i.e. the Diwali Festival hosted by the India Club in the late fall). Taking a foreign language is a great way to increase career opportunities in the future, as our world becomes ever more globalized. Many students have already taken the beginning levels of Spanish or German (the only two foreign languages our school offers) back in high school. The administration needs to add more advanced foreign language classes and more foreign languages in gen-eral. This will not hurt the strict-ly “science and engineering” status of our school. Rather, it will enhance the quality of the institution and the forthcoming graduates as it prepares them to be “global engineers.” However, if you have not taken a foreign language, now is a great time to rack off a few of those humani-ties credits. There are many other ways to increase your cultural hori-zons at the School of Mines, including attending the Cultural Expo this weekend. Next time you feel smothered by the lack of diversity, open your eyes a little wider. Diversity is here, you just need to refocus your lenses.

live entertainment and food from different cultures. More than fourteen countries will be represented, including Norway, Mongolia and India. The booths are free to view from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Thursday and from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Thursday is geared towards area schools, as there will be educa-tional exercises for the students, while Saturday is for the general

public. School of Mines’ students may sample native foods for free on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. with their student identifi cation card. The general public may purchase a ticket at the door on Saturday to sample the food. Cultural enter-tainment including dancing and singing will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. The Cultural Expo is de-signed to promote friendship and cultural exchange between people of difference countries and cultures through multicul-tural activities and information-al booths. The event is sponsored by international students, faculty and staff, AISES, the Student Association at SDSM&T, Na-tional American University, International Students Inc., the Ivanhoe International Center, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology and a new corpo-rate sponsor: Black Hills Cor-poration.

What are some of the cultural differences between Norway and America? A big difference it that’s it is so much cheaper making it normal to go out for lunch/din-ner. (In Norway a big mac value meal is $15 and a subway 6-inch meal is almost $20) Americans are more open and friendly at fi rst, but Norwegians are a little restricted to talk to strangers. What are your plans for after graduation and how do you think studying in Ameri-ca will help you achieve these goals? I am going to work in Den-ver, CO and studying in America to get a more international edu-cation. It has defi nitely helped, since I now am going to work in the US and Ukraine in the com-ing 2 years. Do you think that there is

enough cultural diversity at the School of Mines? No, I think the school should recruit more internation-al students. This will also help the Americans at school to learn different cultures in the world. How many years have you taken English? In Norway English is man-datory from 3rd grade (9 years old) and up to junior high (16 years old). So 7 years. Do you think that Ameri-cans should spend more time learning foreign languages?

Yes, I think many Ameri-cans would benefi t from learn-ing a new language and travel. They should therefore take the opportunity to take a semester abroad. What type of food do you eat at home and how does it compare to American food? In Norway we eat a lot more home cooked meals. Here I eat a lot of steak, burgers, pizza and fast food. Not what you call healthy, but it is the American lifestyle.

Serving crowds: A booth from last year’s Cultural Expo serves both food and information from another country.

Annual Cultural Expo caters diversity Increase cultural awareness

A taste of Norway: an interview with Marius


By Katie AurandRaver Editor The School of Mines re-cently spent $30,000 to demol-ish what remained of Tower On The Hill, or TOTH, a symbolic sculpture designed more than 20 years ago by British environ-mental artist Andrew Leicester. Dedicated on Oct. 27, 1983, TOTH was vandalized the fi rst night as a fi nished sculpture. The defacing continued for over twenty years, resulting in a skel-etal structure barely reminiscent of its original design. Leicester designed the sculpture to depict the obses-sion humans have for the wor-ship and pursuit of gold. Inside of TOTH, there were stairs that led to a gold cube with a deep pit that served as a “burial site.” A cone of red dirt from the Spearfi sh formation cov-ered gold-painted animal bones. Rainwater and melted snow was channeled into the pit, slowly eroding the red sand to even-tually expose the animal bones underneath. The runoff was channeled into troughs reminis-

Photo by Katie AurandTough Times for TOTH: Smelter Hill is no longer home to a structure once standing over 40 feet tall.

cent of gold sluices, pouring out unto the hill and staining it red. TOTH pulled together four historic components of the Black Hills: fossils from prehistoric times, gold, the natural forces of wind, water and erosion, and the infl uence of humans, incor-porating elements of the Lakota culture. The overall design of the tower refl ected the timbered support system used in un-derground gold mines such as Homestake. Viewed from each of the four cardinal directions, TOTH symbolized four differ-ent meanings. The north side alluded to the lines of the Yates Headframe at the Homestake Mine. The gable-roofed silhou-ette on the east side symbolized the white man’s dwelling, while the teepee form on the west side symbolized the Lakota heritage. Leicester left the south side open to represent mans’ open-ness to growth. Leicester chose Smelter Hill for the construction of a sculpture to add artistic culture

to Rapid City because of its lo-cation. When he found the base of the old smelting tower, he drew up the plans for TOTH. The School of Mines donated the land to use for construction of the sculpture. The National Endowment for the Arts and the Rapid City Fine Arts Coun-cil sponsored TOTH under the condition that at least 50 percent of the construction costs come from the local area in the form of labor, cost and materials. In the spring of 2007, a few students gathered Greek input on the future of TOTH, as they are the students who histori-cally utilize the tower. Students walked up to the tower and did an informal assessment of the structural integrity. Large-scale student input on the matter was not collected. A survey of alumni indicated an almost unanimous opinion that TOTH should be either torn down or repaired due to its lack of sentimental con-nection to the campus. The future for Smelter Hill is currently undecided.

TOTH was once a symbolic sculpture TOTH was unhappy marriage of art, engineeringBy Katie AurandRaver Editor TOTH was Einstein on pa-per, Hindenburg in practice. A combination of the Lako-ta’s awareness of the sacredness of the Black Hills and the white man’s obsession with gold min-ing in the 1800s, TOTH was a brilliant allegorical monument for one day. It was vandalized the fi rst night as a completed sculpture, eventually deteriorat-ing into a hazardous eyesore. A Rapid City Journal article from 1989 states that the state engineer had already deemed the structure unsafe and the stairs to the top had been removed. This was within six years of the tower’s completion and almost twenty years ago. By that time, the beams already needed re-inforcing and the green timber planks had shrunk so that there were gaping holes sprinkling the tower. It was also called a “kinet-ic” sculpture. This was attribut-ed to the erosion of the red soil to reveal the gold animal bones underneath. However, the “ki-netic” adjective could also be applied for another reason: the top cube would sway as much

as twelve to twenty-four inches in the wind (this is why they re-moved the platforms). It is ironic that such a poorly engineered structure once cast a shadow on a university that has produced thousands of success-ful engineers. The artist even gave the School of Mines per-mission to tear it down, as it had failed to serve its original artistic purpose. His lack of planning, lack of engineering and lack of foresight combined to create a self-destructive concoction that resulted in the inevitable demo-lition of the structure. Now, a group of profes-sors has proposed to erect a gi-ant concrete Grubby on top of the hill. This will be vandalized even more brutally than TOTH, and Grubby himself is more of an eyesore than a decomposing artistic sculpture. Other rumors circulate about the possibility of a wind turbine. That could defi -nitely exploit the intense wind power on top of Smelter Hill, but it would look rather lonely. Maybe the best solution is just to let a hill be a hill. A blanket of natural foliage can be attractive. Let the natural beauty of the hill shine through.

Empty Horizons: A lone construction vehicle is all that remains after the demolition of the symbolic sculpture.

Greg Midzak, TreasurerSDSM&T Cycling Club We left on March 14 at 7:00 p.m. and got to our campsite at 11:00 a.m. the next day. The drive down there was pretty uneventful. We hit some bad weather coming out of Lusk, Wyoming, but that was about it. Moab, Utah, is a quaint little town of a little over 5000 people. From what we saw, it was basi-cally one long main street with lots of outdoorsy shops and res-taurants. Then, if you ventured off the main street, you would see an assortment of houses and trailers. The scenery was to die for. Desert landscapes. Huge sand-stone formations everywhere. The town is basically in a small canyon/valley. Off in the dis-tance, you could see a mountain range, with snow-capped peaks. Just stunning. We camped at a place called Pack Creek. It was a decent camp ground. There wasn’t a pool, or rec-room, and it wasn’t all that attractive of a camp ground. Personally, I don’t think any of those things really mattered. It was all made up for in the bathroom. Hot water ga-lore!!! There’s nothing like tak-ing a long hot shower, and then sitting next to a campfi re after a hard day of mountain biking. The trip was relatively in-expensive. There was a total of six people that went, and we all paid $150. That included renting the school suburban, carrying everyone’s bikes in a closed trailer, campsite, and two meals a day. It would have

been cheaper and more fun if there were more people going. I think that too many people are scared of the cycling club, be-cause they think that we’re all hard-core riders, with serious bikes. I was riding a fully rigid (no suspension) bike, with one gear. A very inexpensive bike I might add. I had a blast. I didn’t even feel out of place with those “hardcore” full suspension rid-ers that went. We were all there to have fun, and that’s what we did. The trails were awesome. Moab had everything that a rider could want. You could pick steep descents, super technical lines, near vertical climbs, fl owing single-track, or jaw-dropping scenic routes. Anything you had a craving for, you could fi nd in Moab. Though, it would have been a lot nicer to have gone a little later in the year. Daytime tempera-tures were between 45 and 60, and at night temps dropped be-low freezing. Nobody died of hypothermia, or starved for that matter. I think if we had gone even two weeks later, the weather would have been 200% better. Though I wouldn’t even consider saying that the tempera-tures put a damper

on my experience (but better weather couldn’t have hurt it either). I’d say the only thing that I would have wanted on the trip would be more people. We’re looking at hosting a bike race in April also. More people need to show up. Even if you are riding a Walmart bike. The whole point of the cycling club is to get people riding together. Not to compare bikes, and trash talk your rid-ing abilities.

Raver - Page 2 April 2008NEWSNEWS

Cycling Club treks to mountain biking Mecca of Moab, Utah

Photos byGreg Midzak

April 2008

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