Christmas Traditions

     Finals are wrapping up and students are heading home for Christmas break.

     Many students either drive or fly home for Christmas break to spend the holidays with their family in a unique way.

“I just like that my family is always, seems to be always closer. We kind of put aside any issues that we’re having, we all just spend time together, and I really like giving gifts,” Madison Mills said.

Many people said that they enjoyed cooking and hanging out with their families on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

“Just making cookies with my family; my mom and my brother, my dad and I,” Mills said. “We always cook them on Christmas Eve and even though my brother and I are older we still leave cookies out for Santa.”

But there are many other Christmas traditions that people observe. Many people will place a star on top of their tree, go caroling, or take part in a community event in the days leading up to Christmas.

“My families Christmas Eve. We get salami, and sausage, and crackers, and cheese, and we all sit around and we all get to open a present and we used to color in a Christmas coloring book, but now we don’t do that any more,” Bethany Firsick said.

Some traditions do not take place on December 5^th, but the tradition is what makes the holiday season memorable for many people.

Some traditions that take place on Christmas day include; not being allowed to open their gifts until after a religious service or brunch, having a randomly picked family member pass out the gifts, or going out for breakfast. Bethany Firsick said that they are never in a rush to open their presents.

“We sleep in, cause no one likes to get up early in my family, and then my parents make us a breakfast casserole, something like that, and we hang out and talk and then we’ll kind of slowly go over and open some presents,” Firsick said.

With the Christmas season here people are still running to stores to try and find gifts for their family, but for many the idea of Christmas is religiously driven and is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

Nativity sets are very popular and hold a special place in many houses. Religious institutions also offer live nativity scenes where people re-enact the events that took place in the Christmas story.

Here is a link to more information about holiday traditions:
http://www.cozi.com/live-simply/50-holiday-traditions

What Veteran's Day means

For many people Veteran's Day is a holiday that people will say, "It's when we take a day to celebrate those who have served and continue to serve our country."But beyond this basic definition many people don't know the history the national holiday.


The idea of Veteran's Day came from the end of World War I when president Woodrow Wilson decided that the U.S. would observe Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, when on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month troops temporarily ceased combat. This date is the official end of the war even though the war ended June 28, 1919 with the Treaty of Versailles.

But "Armistice Day" was only set aside to honor those who had fought in World War I.
At the end of World War II in 1954 president Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first Veteran's Day Proclamation saying, "In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible."
This proclamation made this holiday an observance for all those who have ever served in the military.Many people observe this holiday in different ways. Many people visit memorials and military cemeteries across the country. Others attend parades where veterans show up in dress uniform and others will plant flags or flowers or tie a bow around a tree and hang a flag in front of their house. What ever it is that someone does in honor of this holiday, it holds a patriotic in peoples' hearts.


President Wilson said, "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"

Pheasant Season Opens in South Dakota

 Out of state hunters have flocked to South Dakota for the Pheasant season opener and their chance at bagging a 1 million dollar pheasant.

            Although the bird population is estimated to be at its lowest level since 1987, according to the state Department of Game, Fish and Parks, hunters still come to the prairies.

            “We know, despite the low bird numbers, South Dakota is still the number one place to hunt pheasants,” said Wanda Goodman, deputy secretary of tourism.

            Not only to hunters get the chance to shoot a pheasant but they also get the chance to bag a million dollar pheasant.

            The Aberdeen Convention and Visitors Bureau has released 100 pheasants in Brown County as part of the Million Dollar Pheasant Contest.

            These 100 pheasants each have a numbered band on them and one lucky hunter could win 1 million dollars if they bag the right pheasant.

            If one should be lucky enough to bag the million dollar pheasant they will receive $25,000 a year for 40 years.

            The area where these pheasants have been released covers nearly 300 thousand acres and on average 50 birds are bagged each year with only one number drawn at the end of the season in January.

D-Days Parade brings Community Together

Hundreds of people lined the two mile parade route from the Austin Whittemore House to Prentis Park to see the Dakota Days parade Saturday morning to support the University of South Dakota bring the community together during USD's homecoming week.

It was 43°F out but this did not stop people from crowding the streets to cheer on the USD Coyotes and support community businesses. Kids lined scrambled to pick up candy thrown out by those who walked in the parade.


"It was marvelous! The energy in the crowd... it was a fun environment to be in and the kids picking up the candy that we were throwing made it a great experience," Hunter Wilkes a University South Dakota athlete said.

Wilkes was one of many athletes who walked in the parade for the first time with the USD basketball teams.

The Vermillion Fire Department led at the front of the parade with some of the volunteer firefighters and were followed by USD President James Abbott and First Lady Colette Abbott:

As the parade continued it was clear that the whole community was in attendance to celebrate this great week of festivities. This parade really set the energy for the day and carried through to the USD football's first Missouri Valley Conference win against Missouri State later that afternoon.

Another first was the inclusion of the University of South Dakota athletes and the Cross Media Council in the parade.

The USD Athletes followed the The Sound of USD marching band passing candy and promoting the university athletics program.

It is clear from the D-days football game that with the support of students and the community the university athletics can be a winning program.

Even when there is snow on the western part of the state and tornadoes to the east, the university and Vermillion community can come together, celebrate and have a good time.

The Colorado Floods

All Mark Changaris and Stephen Smith of Boulder, Colorado could do is stand by recording with a camera and watch the water flow into the house and over the balcony to the first level and out the front door. When the river of water stopped rushing into their house Mark just started to play his piano. This is one of the many stories of those effected by the flooding in Colorado. But like many residents, they are not letting this event take their spirit away.

Mark and Stephen's Story:
(http://www.upworthy.com/watch-a-man-playing-piano-in-his-house-after-the-floods-for-a-heartbreaking-reason-am2-5c?g=3)

Photo from www.accuweather.com

Photo from USAToday

Thousands of residents of Boulder, Colorado have been effected by this storm system that has created flooding through out 17 counties. The flood destroyed 1,500 homes, according to Colo. Office of Emergency Management, and more than 11, 750 people have been evacuated.

“The good news is we’ve got 16 helicopters,” said John Schulz, a spokesman for the sheriff’s office in hard-hit Larimer County, about 60 miles north of Denver for The New York Times. “The bad news is they can’t go anywhere.”

Rains on Sunday prevented rescue efforts to continue for those who are still stranded with no way of getting out. Power, cellphones, and landlines have been out since early last week.

Monday the water receded enough that residents
could return back to their homes. Most of these homes, however, have been destroyed and are covered in a layer of thick muck.

What is causing this flooding?
The reason the flooding is happening is because a blocking pattern keeps drawing moisture up from the tropics. This blocking pattern is a system of atmospheric pressure that is nearly stationary causing whether systems not to change. Currently there is a blocking pattern that is bringing moisture from the tropical region up through the US. When this high moisture air hits the Rocky Mountains it is forced up into the atmosphere and condenses into heavy rain clouds.

Until this blocking pattern dissipates it will continue to rain. Some scientists are already contributing this event to global warming and the effect that it may have on the global climate.

Syrian Dilema

     President Obama is currently advocating the use of military force in Syria. In a prime time news conference Tuesday night Obama urged the American people to support him in this effort.

     "No one disputes that chemical weapons were used in Syria. The world saw thousands of videos, cellphone pictures and social media accounts of the attack," Obama said. "If we fail to act the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons. As the band against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas and using them."

     This is the same domino effect excuse that governed the US in the early 1950s. The belief that communism would spread to neighboring countries of communist states unless someone stepped in to stop it. The united States Government used this theory to support the unpopular Vietnam War from 1954-75. The use of force had no effect and the communist victory in Vietnam did not increase the spread of communism.

     How did this Syrian problem start? When Hafez Assad died in 2000, his son, Bashar Assad had to take control. Bashar had been studying in London to become a doctor but when his brother, who was brought up to rule after his father, died in a car accident, Bashar was next in line to succeed his father. The Syrian people believed that Bashar would bring change but he continued the oppressive rule of his father.

   With the Libyan protests and revolutionary ideals spreading to other surrounding countries and Syria in 2011 Assad reacted with military force starting a civil war. The US closed the embassy in Damascus. Initially Obama was opposed to military action but with the recent use of chemical weapons Obama sees it as our duty to humanity to make the violence stop.

     Many American people are not willing to support a Syrian conflict at the whim of the President and seek a more democratic process in dealing with chemical weapons in Syria.

     Tewe Burri expressed his concern with the judgement by Obama in a comment on the article by the Los Angeles Times "Obama's Syria strategy: Deft improvisation or impulsive risk taking?", writing,"Compulsive risk taking, wars, military strikes and invasions into other countries, shouldn't be executed at the whim of Obama's order, and shouldn't be rushed.  ...Have majority public approval, preferably 75%public approval by official vote by mail, ballet(similar to referendum), or petition, before military can be deployed in, or strike, other countries."

     Currently the US government is working with Russia who has an arms trade agreement with Assad to find a solution to remove the chemical weapons from Syria. Syrian President Bashar Assad said that he would hand over his chemical weapons because of the initiative by the Russians on this matter. 

     According to the proposal by the Russians, Syria would join the international Chemical weapons Convention and then turn over all information on its chemical weapons programs. 

     US Secretary of State John Kerry is set to meet with the Russian Secretary of State late Thursday in Geneva to discuss this further. 

     

Chobani Yogurt

If you haven't seen this story yet it is quite interesting. Greek yogurt is loved by many and despised by others. It has a taste and texture that many find distasteful. But for the health nut Greek yogurt is a must because it has the best protein ratio. But dairy, like other food products, is subject to outside pathogens and even in the most sterile environments contamination is still a threat.
The Greek yogurt company Chobani is being scrutinized over the harm that dairy mold is causing in 38 of their flavors.
Eighty nine people have reported illness after eating one of these contaminated yogurts in the Twin Falls area.
Last week Chobani told stores carrying these containers to destroy 35 varieties. According to an article by USA Today the code for these containers is 16-012 and the expiration dates between Sept. 11 and Oct. 7.
The "mold can act as an opportunistic pathogen for those with compromised immune systems," Chobani said last week.
The threat from this is low and the sickness that people have experienced has been minor. However, it is important if you are at the grocery store over the next couple weeks looking for yogurt check the product code.