Dakota Days 2014

On November 20, 1914, an event known as South Dakota Day was created by the University of South Dakota in order to bring about school comradery. The event was formed by local townsmen and members of the university’s faculty as a way to bring students and the community together.

South Dakota Day was created under university president Robert L. Slagle as a way to gather students together to “promote campus spirit and harmony.” Throughout the years the annual homecoming celebration has evolved into a week-long extravaganza with various activities for students and alumni to attend. All of this culminates with the football game on Saturday.

Everything from the traditional talent show, to parades and floats can be found on campus or in the surrounding town of Vermillion during the annual homecoming celebration. Students select royalty, attend social events, and celebrate in much the same way USD alumni did years ago. This year’s royalty, Queen Lindsey Montileaux and King Brent Olinger, were crowned during halftime of the USD vs. UNI game on Saturday afternoon. This has been the custom since 1914.

The talent show, cleverly named “Yotes Got Talent,” takes place in Aalfs Auditorium right behind Old Main. It is a fantastic way for the school to display what its students can do outside of the classroom.

As the week of activities and events for this year’s Dakota Days wraps up for this year, it is important to look back at and reflect on what this week is about. From the talent show to the football game Dakota Days has something for everybody. This week is about student and community involvement. It is about coming together to celebrate the history and traditions of the University.

Plan of Attack: America Strikes Back

On September 10 President Obama spoke to an anxious nation about the threat of the most dangerous terror group in the world. The president has unveiled his plan of attack for dealing with this militant terror group, better known as ISIS.

The strategy calls on four main points for defeating ISIS including; increasing the use of airstrikes against the terrorists and working with the Iraqi government, increasing support to forces fighting the insurgents on the ground, continuing to draw upon the substantial counter-terrorism capabilities of the United States in order to prevent attacks, and continuing to provide humanitarian support to innocent civilians. Obama stated that those efforts will not involve troops fighting on foreign soil, but will rely more upon air strikes.

Historically, the United States has had a rocky relationship with Syria. According to the State Departments’ website, the United States established diplomatic relations with Syria in 1944 after it was determined that Syria had achieved effective independence from a French-administered mandate, but severed relations with the U.S. in 1967 in the wake of the Arab-Israeli War. In 2009 the U.S. began to review its Syria policy, looking to reestablish peaceful relations after seeing changes in the region.

The U.S. State Department says that relations with Iraq have been peaceful since 2011 when U.S. troops left Iraq to develop on its own as a sovereign, stable, and self-reliant country.

Members of congress on both sides have, for the most part, praised the president for his strategy, and are reacting on the decision to pursue ISIS in Syria and Iraq in a more positive way, but the president has come under fire after saying he would carry out his plans without congressional approval.

Democratic Senator and member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez said that, “temporary and targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria fall under the President’s powers,” but, Menendez says, if the campaign lasted too long, authorization would be needed for the use of military power.

 Time Magazine said on September 17 U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry showed his support his support of the president’s decision to engage in air strikes when he recently returned from the Middle East to rally some 40 countries in the fight against ISIS.

In a statement made to the Associate Press, House Speaker John Boehner seemed relieved when the president revealed his strategy, saying that the president, “has finally begun to make the case the nation has needed him to make for quite some time,” said Boehner.