Published: Saturday, November 24, 2012 1:00 AM CST

The business manager for the Yankton School District (YSD), said he wasn’t surprised when he found out both Initiated Measure 15 and Referred Law 16 were voted down during the election.

“The history in South Dakota has been pretty clear that residents do not want any new taxes,” Jason Bietz said. “We were hopeful that tax increase would pass and were somewhat optimistic that it would, but we never made assumptions on budget based on that passing.”

Initiated Measure 15 would have increased the tax rate from 4 to 5 percent and split the additional revenue evenly between education and Medicaid. Currently, the state aid for education is adjusted annually by 3 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less.

The measure failed across South Dakota with more than 56 percent of citizens voting it down, while more than 43 percent voted for the bill to be passed. Initiated Measure 15 failed in Yankton County with 55 percent of Yankton County voters rejecting the tax increase.

“We never really had concrete numbers on how much the sales tax increase would mean to YSD, but there were estimates that it could have meant about $700 per student in additional funding,” Bietz said. “Estimates showed the increase tax generating about $180 million in new revenue, meaning $90 million for education. The intent of Initiated Measure 15 was to make up for the funding that was cut two sessions ago.”

He added that district officials now must go back to square one, and YSD’s budget is still reeling from the cuts that were made a few years ago.

Referred Law 16 was an education reform act that would have established a teacher scholarship program, a program for science and math teacher bonuses, merit bonuses for teachers and a uniform evaluation system. It would have also eliminated teacher tenure.

The law failed across South Dakota, with more than 67 percent of voters rejecting the reforms proposed.

In Yankton County, 73.43 percent of residents that voted rejected the bill, while 26.57 percent voted yes.

“Frankly, most educators did not support Referred Law 16,” said YSD superintendent Dr. Joe Gertsema. “They looked at it as being a local decision, not a decision to be made at the state level. The state may continue to move forward with an accountability system and may also move forward with an evaluation system because the state agreed to a couple of those things when they accepted federal money. Whatever they decide, we have to accept.”

He added that teacher tenure is not an issue at YSD.

“We have an evaluation system here that is working for us, so we don’t think we need help in those areas,” Gertsema said. “We think the local school board can make those decisions. What we do need is a continued, on-going source of new revenue and state aid for education.”

Bietz said the message he took from the election was that citizens both in Yankton and across South Dakota are not in support of new taxes.

“We are still dealing with the revenue shortfall that took place after the cuts in funding were made,” he said. “It will take several years for the state to make that up just to bring us back at the level we were at prior to the deductions. We are in no different shape today then we were before Initiated Measure 15 was voted on. It would have made a huge difference though.”

He added the measure, if it was passed, would have brought about $1.8 million to the budget — about equal to a full year’s revenue source.

“It would have almost closed most of the budget shortfall that we are at right now,” Bietz said. “However, it would not have brought back the things we have had to eliminate. We need new revenue in the state or less spending. Less spending means cuts.”

Next up for officials in YSD is to monitor Gov. Daugaard’s upcoming budget address.

“We are waiting on proposals from the governor’s address and the new Legislature in Pierre,” Gertsema said. “The state has a larger surplus than they anticipated. The surplus is about $52 million, so we will see what happens.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Published: Saturday, November 24, 2012 1:00 AM CST

A Benedictine sister from Yankton was recently named a living legend by the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA).

Sister Mary Arthur Schramm was honored at the AANA’s annual leadership conference in Colorado last week.

Prior to this year, the ANNA awarded Schramm the Helen Lamb Outstanding Education Award in 1991 and the Agatha Hodgins Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in 2003.

Schramm is a native of Siegel and has been a member of the Sa  cred Heart Monastery since 1952.

“I had been involved with anesthesia for more than 50 years,” Schramm said. “I started on job training programs, and I was the one with the college that took the program to academic institutions in 1965, which was a transition until 1970.”

She became the first nurse anesthetist and woman to be admitted and complete her Ph.D. in Physiology and Pharmacology at the graduate School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota. While she was there, she helped in developing the curriculum for the program at Mount Marty College — the first institution to offer a degree in nurse anesthesiology.

“When I graduated, I was about .009 percent of the people who held their Ph.D. in physiology and pharmacology, which was back in the 1970s,” Schramm said. “I helped to initiate programs in Puerto Rico, South Africa, Jamaica and the West Indies.”

She added that one of the programs was intended to be temporary, but all of the programs she initiated continue today.

“I think all of those reasons were why I was selected as one of the living legends,” Schramm said. “This is only the third year the award has been conferred upon members. Each year the AANA recognizes two people: The first two years those were presidents of the association, this year they were educators.”

Schramm served as the program head of nurse anesthesiology and the division chair for health sciences at Mount Marty in the past and had also been active within the South Dakota Association of Nurse Anesthetists (SDANA) where she served as its president from 1969-1970.

She said she was shocked when she found out she won the Living Legends award.

“I didn’t even know they had the award,” she said. “For the people that nominated me, they all think it’s a great honor. I think getting the award means that I’m well respected within the field.”

Schramm, who is now retired and works part-time as a receptionist at the monastery, said there are things she misses about working as a nurse and professor.

“I miss the patient contact that I had. I loved the interaction that you had with other people when I was a professor,” she said. “However, with the aging process, I don’t miss all of the paperwork that you had to fill out in order to get a program accredited. I also don’t miss all of the work that teachers and professors have to do now, with syllabi, correcting papers and making and correcting tests.”

However, she added that she loved being in the classroom and teaching students.

She also thanked the community for its overwhelming support.

“I wouldn’t have gotten here if it wasn’t thanks to everyone else from the community, from Yankton and the state and parish support I had,” Schramm said. “I want to especially thank my own teachers because you don’t get honored like this alone. I think you take the support for granted initially, but when you look back, you think how amazing it is that they helped get you through everything.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Published: Wednesday, November 21, 2012 1:01 AM CST

Published: Tuesday, November 20, 2012 1:01 AM CST

Published: Thursday, November 15, 2012 1:02 AM CST

For Jessica Albers, the opportunity to represent Yankton in the Miss South Dakota USA pageant meant everything.

“My hometown is here in Yankton, and I’m the first Miss Yankton to be named Miss South Dakota USA,” she said.

She won the title at the state pageant held Sunday, Nov. 4 at the Brandon Valley Performing Arts Center in Brandon.

The annual competition consists of three segments, all of which are judged equally; swimsuit, evening gown and interview. Women must be between the ages of 14-26 to compete in either the Miss S.D. USA or Miss S.D. Teen USA pageant and also must be unmarried residents of South Dakota.

Alexis Rupp of Sioux Falls took home the honor of being Miss South Dakota Teen USA.

Albers currently works for Countryside Stores in northeast Nebraska as the executive of operations. She graduated from Mount Marty College with a business administration degree in 2009.

She has been in the Miss USA system for nine years, including one year as a teenager. She has been the first runner-up as Miss South Dakota twice, second runner-up once and the third runner-up three times.

“This year has been like so many other years. You’re standing up there in the top two holding the other persons hand and just hoping they pick you,” Albers said. “Not only is it an honor to win, it’s an unbelievable experience that I’ll be able to represent South Dakota in the Miss USA pageant.”

In order to qualify to compete in the Miss South Dakota pageant, contestants must submit a photo and resume, and directors select contestants from throughout the state for the preliminary round. Once contestants get picked at that level, they represent their hometown in the pageant.

This year, there were 16 women in the competition. Winners are announced in descending order, and whoever’s name is not called is crowned as Miss South Dakota.

“I’ve been in the top five quite a few times and you never want to hear your name called,” Albers said. “I was ready to age out of the system, so this was the last year I could ever compete in Miss South Dakota or Miss USA. I was more excited about just being on stage and having the support I’ve had throughout the years. I didn’t think I would win — my competition was the best I’ve ever seen it at the state level.”

She added that South Dakota hasn’t fared well in the national contest — the last time someone placed in the top 15 at Miss USA from South Dakota was in 1974.

After she was announced as the winner, she said she had hundreds of girls behind her, proud of her and wanting hugs.

“I represent every single girl that was on stage fighting for the title that I won,” Albers said. “When I go out in public, I think of the people I represent in South Dakota that were on that stage, too. The girls there were all so happy for me, and I felt as if I had met so many friends.”

Albers has high aspirations for Miss USA. The date and location of the 2013 pageant is to be announced.

“I really hope I can place in the top 15 at Miss USA, though I would really like to win it,” Albers said. “People in the state might not know the importance of this, but it’s a huge deal and people all over the world watch it.”

Miss USA is the second most watched program in the world, next to the Olympics.

Albers said she has always been a role model and someone girls have to look up to.

“I really feel as if I’ve always been a role model, and I think that’s one of the reasons the judges may have picked me to be Miss South Dakota,” Albers said.

She hopes she can exemplify what and who Miss South Dakota should be and how she should act.

“People underestimate the power of themselves all the time,” Albers added. “All these years I’ve been in the system and the top five, but I don’t need the title to be able to change people’s lives. It’s just an honor to get that title, if you’re able to. However, now that I have the title of Miss South Dakota, I have more people looking up to me, so I need to watch what I do and understand I have more people looking up to me, watching me and wanting to be like me.”

She said if she won the Miss USA Crown, it would bring attention to South Dakota and to Yankton.

“If I win I really hope Yankton County throws a huge party and thinks this is the next biggest thing since Tom Brokaw,” she said.

Albers has faced adversity while fighting for her goals.

“I grew up in Walnut Creek, Calif. My parents divorced when I was 12, and my mom chose not to be a part of the family anymore, so my dad moved us to Yankton because he grew up in Fordyce,” she said. “My dad just thought Yankton was the perfect town to raise two young girls.”

She has a sister, Nicole, who is 24 and works for BNSF.

“My dad brought us back here and raised us on his own,” Albers said. “I didn’t have a mom to teach me how to do makeup. My dad, God bless his heart, really tried hard to have his girls be important to him and said, ‘If you want to do pageants, then we’ll learn how to do makeup.’ So we were on the Internet learning how to put on makeup and how to walk, talk and dress in order to be in pageants.”

She said it’s hard for a girl to grow up without a mother to look up to, rely on and tell all her secrets to.

“My dad had to be a stern father who didn’t allow boyfriends, but also the kind and compassionate mother who showed you how to put makeup on and deal with feminine issues,” Albers said. “He became the most important person in my life.”

She added that she had to look to friends’ mothers for advice, but had amazing friends in high school to help her through everything she was going through.

After graduating from Yankton High School in 2004, Albers said she felt as if her closest friends and role models in high school were all moving away.

“I had finally felt like I made a home, even though it took me a few years to feel like this was home and a place I could come back to and rely on people here,” Albers said. “I wanted to stay here for college, so I went to Mount Marty.”

Albers started out as pre-med at MMC, but eventually switched to business administration.

She said being involved in pageants has “changed my life. They have made me more open, a better communicator and a much more confident person in who I am. It takes a lot of confidence to get on stage in front of thousands of people, wearing a bathing suit and make-up and acting like you’re just at the beach.”

She added that every woman that competes in pageants becomes more confident and calmer knowing that if they have the guts to enter a pageant, they can do anything they want.

“When I won Miss South Dakota, I was so happy my dreams finally came true,” Albers said. “When they announced who the winner was, I didn’t see my family, but I would have liked to have seen a photo of them — it probably would have been the best photo I’ve ever had.”

She said she is looking forward to representing Yankton and the entire state in Miss USA.

“It really means everything to me to be able to represent Yankton in Miss USA,” Albers said. “I wouldn’t have worked for 10 years to be where I’m at if I didn’t love my county and stayed here to represent it. I could have moved to a bigger state or lived in Nebraska, but I chose to stay here to represent Yankton.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Published: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 12:58 AM CST

Published: Saturday, November 10, 2012 1:02 AM CST

Thirty-five Yankton Middle School (YMS) students and teachers gathered in front of their friends and coworkers on Friday to help Larry Zimmerman make a point.

Zimmerman, the South Dakota state Command Sergeant Major, brought the students and teachers to the front of the gym to show the audience how many South Dakota soldiers have been killed in the line of duty over the past 11 years.

“I think it’s important for young adults like the students here to know the sacrifices so many people made for them to have their freedoms,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman became the seventh state command sergeant major of the South Dakota Army National Guard in 2009. As part of his duties, he serves as the adjutant general’s personal advisor on all enlisted matters, with a special emphasis on soldier issues and training. Zimmerman also acts as an advocate and representative for more than 3,400 soldiers from South Dakota.

In addition, he also visits soldiers and listens to their concerns and observes training across the state. He travels wherever soldiers are in South Dakota, or overseas to ensure their needs are being met.

“My main thing as a sergeant major in the state is to remind people that we still have service members serving in the state and abroad, and that we need to be thinking about them and praying about them on a daily basis,” Zimmerman said.

In addition to Zimmerman talking to the students and veterans in the audience, the program also included patriotic performances by the band, choir and orchestra. The Yankton Veteran’s of Foreign Wars and American Legion presented the colors for the ceremony. There was also a video tribute that played which honored the veterans of Yankton Middle School students and faculty.

“Being here and being seated in the gym today, kids will have a strong impact and will get a lot out of the ceremony,” YMS Principal Todd Dvoracek said. “Members of the choir, band and orchestra are performing songs. One of the songs the choir performed had each branch of the military stand up and the audience cheered to recognize them. Kids will have a good learning day from this. From hearing the music to listening to Zimmerman speak and mingling with the visitors we have, I think this will have a big impact on them.”

Dvoracek added that the social studies department at YMS implemented a few lessons to go along with the curriculum and the Veteran’s Day ceremony at the school.

“To get all these people included and to have the community come in, it’s a really emotional day. We’re very grateful to have everyone come join us,” he said. “It’s hard work for everyone involved. But we want to show support for veterans in the community and have them be recognized as well.”

Zimmerman said he was honored to have the opportunity to speak to students and veterans in attendance.

“Words can’t express how much it means to me to speak today. YMS puts on a program that’s unbelievable and I think it’s matched by no other ceremony across the state,” he said. “They do an excellent job.”

He told the audience our veterans and active military are trying to give people around the world the freedoms we enjoy in the United States, and that men and women have fought for more than 237 years for us to enjoy the freedom we have here today.

“We are all the beneficiaries of their determination to protect us,” he told the audience.

Zimmerman said he hopes the students and audience remember his demonstration over everything else he said during his speech.

“I hope the kids remember that numbers are important and people make sacrifices for the kids to do what they do today,” he said. “I love to get the message out about the sacrifices people have made for all of our freedoms.”

Dvoracek added that people in the audience should be proud of the veterans and the active military.

“If you’re not a proud American sitting at Yankton Middle School today, there’s something wrong,” he said.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Published: Thursday, November 8, 2012 1:03 AM CST

Avera Sacred Heart Hospital in Yankton was recently recognized as one of the best in the region for its patient care.Healthgrades independently measures hospitals based on data that is submitted to the federal government. No hospital can opt in or out of the analysis, and no hospital gets paid to be measured.

Avera Sacred Heart was just one of two hospitals in South Dakota to receive the outstanding patient experience award. This is its fifth straight year of winning the award.

Avera Sacred Heart was also ranked among the top 5 percent in the nation for outstanding patient experience in 2012.

The hospital won multiple five-star awards including for treatment of heart attack for the second year in a row, treatment of stroke also for the second straight year, treatment of pneumonia for the second year in a row, carotid surgery and for the treatment of bowel     obstruction.

In addition, Avera Sacred Heart was ranked number two in South Dakota for the treatment of stroke, and number four in the state for gastrointestinal (GI) services and general surgery. The hospital has been ranked among the top five in each category for the past two years.

“I think that getting recognized really causes us to celebrate. We are really pleased that we’re ranked with the top hospitals in the nation,” said Pam Rezac, president and CEO of Avera Sacred Heart Hospital. “Most importantly, we hope the people we serve feel more confident in our services and care because we’re being compared with the best of the best. It helps us insure patients that we give the very best care.”

Rezac said there is a national company that rates patient satisfaction, and all hospitals are required to participate in the patient satisfaction survey.

“The company compares scores of thousands of hospitals, and they rate and rank (the facilities) to determine which hospitals have the best experience,” she said.

Hospitals send over their clinical information through the Medicare program and submit all data based on specific areas. There are various criteria that hospitals are judged on whether they meet certain characteristics and protocols.

“We follow those guidelines each day and each hour to determine if we have fulfilled the correct protocol,” Rezac said. “The criteria are all very detailed and this comprehensive approach would not be possible without the electronic medical record data. We are able to have these comparisons thanks to technology.”

She added that she was most satisfied when she found out the hospital had gotten the patient satisfaction award.

“This was the most significant because it was both clinical surveys and seeing how satisfied patients are with the services we provided,” Rezac said. “It had both the clinical approach and the voice of the patient and their perception.”

She said that there are more than 50 hospitals in South Dakota, so to be ranked in the top five in many categories is a significant achievement.

“We feel as if this is a good measure of our success. If we are compared and ranked in the top percentile of the nation, it means we’re among the best of the best and that’s where we want to be,” Rezac said. “Our patients and people in the area deserve that kind of care.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal.

Published: Wednesday, November 7, 2012 12:06 AM CST

In the race for South Dakota state Senate, Republican Sen. Jean Hunhoff was on her way to re-election over Democrat David Allen Tuesday night.

At press time, absentee ballots had yet to be counted.

In the South Dakota House race, incumbent Democrat Rep. Bernie Hunhoff was ahead with Republican Mike Stevens leading for the second seat. Hunhoff and Stevens were defeating other candidates, Democrat Charlie Gross, who is a college educator and has served for 18 years on the Yankton City Commission and Thomas Stotz, who is a chiropractic physician.

Jean Hunhoff had 3,844 votes, compared to Allen’s 2,009.

In the House race, Bernie Hunhoff had 3,433 votes compared to Stevens’ 2,748. Stotz tallied 2,304 votes and Gross had 2,172.

Absentee ballots had yet to be counted as of press time Tuesday night.

Two-term Republican Rep. Nick Moser decided not to seek re-election this year.

Bernie Hunhoff has served six years as state senator, from 1993 until 1998, and has also served for the past four years as a state representative. He is also currently serving as the House minority leader.

“It’s gratifying to be re-elected knowing we have had a lot of controversial issues to deal with over the past few years,” he said of his tentative win. “The support in District 18 really means a lot. In terms of policy, voters generally agreed with us on a lot of the bills, this gives us a lot of leverage to compromise with the Republican party.”

Jean Hunhoff also thanked the people of Yankton County for their apparent support.

“I’m very humbled and very excited to get back to Pierre and to work for the people of Yankton County,” she said. “When I was listening to people talk and hearing people in the forums, they have said that education funding and healthcare funding have been the main issues they have had. The people are telling us we need to do something different, and we will work towards that. I’m here working for the people of this district, and I’m going to take my passion and energy to work to meet the needs of the people here.”

Mike Stevens could not be reached by press time.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal

Published: Saturday, November 3, 2012 1:03 AM CDT

Barack Obama has won the election.

With about 500 Yankton Middle School (YMS) students voting in a mock election on Friday, Obama narrowly defeated Mitt Romney by just eight votes. Obama received 251 votes, while Romney received 243.

Sixth grade students chose Obama over Romney 97 votes to 85, while seventh graders chose Obama 88 votes to 70. However, eighth graders overwhelmingly supported Mitt Romney 88 votes to Obama’s 66.

Students were given just a taste of what the actual voting process is like during the mock election.

“It’s important to give students an idea of what happens during the election,” said YMS social studies teacher Amy Long.

Students at Yankton School District (YSD) get United States government curriculum during their eighth-grade year, then again as seniors — which means there will be two elections students are a part of, the one next week, then again as seniors in 2016.

“Among young people, voter apathy is a problem so this mock election is a way for students to talk to their parents about voting and the election,” Long said. “We sent home some information and some teachers had an activity where students got online to a Time magazine children’s election website which showed what each candidate and political party stands for.”

She added that when she asks her students about the election, they often simply groan and say they are sick of the commercials.

“We were able to show the students what the ballot looks and tell them that voting is a right we have as citizens,” Long said. “People say it’s not important and that your vote doesn’t count, but when things don’t go well, we complain. If you don’t vote, you are giving those that do vote more power.”

Even though middle school students are a long way from being able to vote, Long said they still think it’s a good idea to go through the process as if they were actually voting.

However, one big difference between the mock election and the actual election is students only voted for the president on Friday.

“We decided not to do any of the local races or questions because that would make the process a lot longer,” Long said. “We’re focusing only on the presidential race, which makes it easier for us to count all the ballots. We decided just to keep it simple.”

Social studies teachers sent home sample ballots with students last week, and had parents sign them to say they talked with their kids about the election, ballot items and the importance of voting.

“When we sent those ballots home, it also encourages parents who are eligible to vote to think about the election,” she said. “As teachers, we shouldn’t influence students’ political beliefs. We try to keep everything non-partisan and just present the facts.”

Long added that getting the election and the voting discussion started with middle school students is important.

“Some students obviously speak to their parents a lot about politics and the election,” she said. “Some have been told what their beliefs should be by their parents. Politics is certainly something that your parents influence their kids about but it’s also important that kids start thinking about voting for the future when they can vote.”

Long said she reviewed the electoral college with her students, and told them that voting is a two-step process, with the popular vote then with the electoral college picking the president.

“We tried to set this up today like it was the regular election. Students showed their student identification, with student council members checking their name off the list,” she said. “We even got to use the actual ballot boxes and students stick their ballot into the box.”

This is a change from the last mock election when students just voted in their homeroom classes by filling out a ballot and returning it to their teacher.

One of the goals of the mock election is for teachers to raise student awareness on the importance of voting.

“Students in middle school are often pretty self-centered and not really aware what is going on in the world around them,” Long said. “It’s important to raise their awareness on voting by telling them they make a bigger difference by voting than by not voting. So we hope students know what’s going on, and even encourage their parents to vote and we hope they will vote in the future when they are eligible.”

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal