04 Broadcaster Press January 7, 2014 www.broadcasteronline.com CHAMBER CHAT item, shopping gift cards, or monetary donation through Jan. 15. Drop-off/delivery location: The Broadcaster/Plain Talk, 201 W. Cherry St. Monetary donations can be mailed to American Legion Post 15, Veterans Build (South Dakota Homeless Housing Fund), 1701 Legion Drive, Sioux Falls, SD 57106 or The Chamber Business: Cornerstone Rescue Mission, Business After Hours: Are Attn: Vet Relief Drive, P.O. you looking for an Box 2188, Rapid City, SD opportunity to showcase 57709. your business and network The school systems or with your peers? Sign up to youth organizations raising host a Business After Hours the most in relief items will event. These events generally receive a telescoping flagpole run from 5-7 p.m. on a and USA Flag. For further weeknight and the hosting information, e-mail business provides hors Autumn.Simunek@gmail.co d’oeuvres and refreshments. m. If interested, contact Ann at ALA “Buddy Basket(s)” annb@vermillionchamber.co Home-warming Welcome m or at 624-5571. Recipe: Assemble a Laundry Announcements: Basket/Waste Basket filled Announcement: Veteran’s with: Paper towels, bathroom Holiday Homeless Relief tissue, window cleaner, Drive – help celebrate scrubbing cleaner, rubber Christmas and ring in New gloves, cleaning sponges, dust Year’s 2014 for at risk pan with hand broom, light homeless families. Join the bulbs, shower curtain with Department of South Dakota rings, bath towels, laundry American Legion Auxiliary, detergent, eating utensils, The American Legion Post dishes, frosted with clear 15, and Miss Siouxland in wrap, bow and greeting providing a comfortable tag/card. Holiday Season and New Contribute single item(s) Year’s to our veterans and of need: Towels, sheets military families in need (single bed), shower curtains, By Bob Mercer throughout South Dakota. alarm clocks, hygiene State Capitol Bureau Contribute an American products (shampoo, Legion Auxiliary (ALA) deodorant, etc.), shopping PIERRE – South Dakota’s “Buddy Basket” filled with gift cards, household kitchen public universities and household relief items, a items, winter coats, gloves single household or hygiene public technical institutes and hats. aren’t a bargain for South Dakota residents to attend, according to statistical reports and anecdotal evidence presented to the Served at The Main French Bread, Tossed state’s new Council on Street Center & Salad, Plums Higher Education. Town Square, “Meals Thursday – Swedish Total costs for a fullon Wheels” Meatballs over noodles, time undergraduate Peas, Fruity Salad, student who was a South Please call before Seasonal Fresh Fruit Dakota resident attending 9:00am to schedule or Friday – Baked Fish, one of the six state cancel a meal at 624-7868. Company Potatoes, campuses averaged $13,529 Menus listed below are Stewed Tomatoes, in 2013. That was thirdJanuary 8 – January 14. Tropical Fruit highest in the eight-state Menus are subject to Monday – Enchilada change without notice. Pie, Sliced Yellow Squash, region, behind only Minnesota and Iowa. All menus are served with Mixed Fruit Meanwhile the four whole grain bread and 1% Tuesday – Swiss Steak, technical institutes are milk unless otherwise Mashed Potatoes, generally much more noted Creamed Peas, Fruit expensive than similar Cocktail. schools in Nebraska, Iowa Wednesday – Lasagna, and Minnesota and consequently have difficulty competing in recruiting students, state and local officials said. They said another challenge is wages paid by businesses for some highdemand occupations such as diesel mechanics are so high that the technical institutes face trouble keeping faculty members. The universities and tech schools became more and more expensive during the past decade. The Legislature’s financial support didn’t keep up with rising costs at the universities, such as for payroll and health insurance, and that shifted more cost onto students. 10,800 copies distributed with 27,000 Vermillion Area Chamber of Commerce & Development Company 116 Market Street, Suite 103 Vermillion, SD 57069 (605) 624-5571 vcdc@vermillionchamb er.com www.vermillionchambe r.com Is steady tuition increase limiting South Dakota’s labor force? DAKOTA SENIOR MEALS More Bang for Your Buck! readers per issue and now in a larger, reader-friendly format! Call 624-4429 to get your ad in! James Heating & Cooling “Quality Service with Reasonable Prices.” “Serving the Vermillion Area Since 1993” Vermillion, SD 57069 • 605-624-9140 Our Services Include: • Furnace and A/C Replacement/Repair • Hot Water Boiler Replace and Repair • Air Duct Cleaning • Window Replacements • In Floor Heating Systems In 2002 state general fund support from the Legislature provided 57 percent of the educational and general funds for the university system, while students paid the other 43 percent. By 2012 that ratio had flipped, with the Legislature giving only 38 percent and students paying 62 percent. The tech schools meanwhile engaged in a building program that jacked state fees from $16 per credit hour in 2009 to $29 for the current academic year. The facility fee rose to $25 from $14 and the maintenance and repair fee went up to $3 from $2. The South Dakota tech schools have the highest tuition and fees in the eight-state region, according to Deb Shephard, president of Lake Area Technical Institute at Watertown. She told other council members at their meeting Wednesday that many South Dakota students enroll at campuses in neighboring states where their education will cost less. She added that companies often are willing to underwrite tuition if students promise to take jobs with the companies afterward. “Where it hurts the state, though, is if those kids don’t come back,” Shephard said. “That’s a huge issue for us.” Last summer the Board of Regents, whose members govern the state universities, declared the Want to Downsize Your Gas Guzzler? Find your answer in the Broadcaster Classifieds – in print and online! • Water & Sewer • Basement Excavation • Demolition • Site Preparation • Ditching • Grading • Liscensed • Bonded • Insured Rock • Sand • Gravel Quartzite • Fill Material IMMEDIATE OPENINGS OAKWOOD APARTMENTS Hard to ?nd this many acres in one spot with this much variety for the Outdoorsman. Excellent deer, duck, turkey and small game hunting and features established grasslands, timber, thick pockets of brush and water supplied by the Big Sioux River. Located 1 mile East of Richland, SD just NE of Elk Point, SD. 06 CIVIC. Ru ns great. 34 MPG, 30k mile s. Call Jim (605) 555-3210 . Broadcaster Classifieds Mike Pollman PO Box 424 • Wakonda, SD 57073 Phone/Fax: 605-267-2768 Cell: 605-661-1063 xkv8tor@yahoo.com 209.77 +/- acres AUTOMOTIV E Go to www.broadcasteronline.com or call 605-624-4429. Licensed & Insured • Call for a FREE Estimate Yankton, SD top the system’s top budget priority to be a freeze on tuition and fees. Gov. Dennis Daugaard heard that call and recommended in his budget speech earlier this month that tuition and fees be frozen for the coming academic year starting in fall 2014 for undergraduate students attending classes on a state university campus. Daugaard also proposed a similar freeze for the technical institutes, which are managed as part of their local school districts and are under the general supervision of the state Board of Education. Muth Electric, based at Mitchell, recruits from neighboring states as well as South Dakota, according to Terry Sabers. He is the vice president for finance at the company and a member of the state Board of Education. He said sometimes the students’ tuition bills get paid while they are in classes and sometimes their student loans get paid afterward. “We’ve recruited all the way through the recession,” Sabers said. “The heat is on.” Rapid City public schools superintendent Tim Mitchell said some employers are convincing students to leave their carpentry courses at Western Dakota Technical Institute and go directly to work. The same things happen as companies hire away instructors, even when •AFFORDABLE RENT ADJUSTMENT FOR YOUR INCOME •LARGE 2 AND 3 BEDROOM RENTAL UNITS •STOVE, REFRIGERATOR & AIR CONDITIONING •OFF-STREET PARKING AND PLUG-INS •UTILITIES INCLUDED •ON-SITE COIN LAUNDRY •PLAYGROUND EQUIPMENT & SAND BOX •3 BLOCKS FROM CAMPUS CALL NIKKI OR DAVE (605) 624-9557 EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY contracts call for penalties for leaving early. “The employer pays the fine,” Shephard said. She described employers are “getting very predatory” because they need skilled workers. “I bet a week doesn’t go by that we’re not talking to somebody about their labor shortage,” Shephard said. To what degree price has hurt South Dakota’s competitiveness isn’t immediately clear. The universities have steadily increased their production of students receiving undergraduate degrees in recent years. The Watertown, Mitchell and Sioux Falls technical institutes have generated more graduates while the Rapid City school has stayed steady. The percentages of those graduates who have jobs or are continuing their educations in South Dakota are 94 to 97 percent for the technical institutes, depending on the year. The numbers aren’t as strong for the universities. They show 69 percent to 73 percent placement, depending on the year, for graduates who were South Dakota residents when they began classes and 29 to 33 percent for non-residents. Over five years there’s been a general slight uptick for the universities as a whole. “We like to see the trend but it’s not a significant trend,” said Jack Warner, executive director for the regents. Buy Local! Shop the Classifieds! GUBBELS SALVAGE WANTED: • Old Cars • Farm Machinery • Any Type of Scrap Iron • Grain Bin Towing Service & Skid Removal Loader Work. Paying Top Dollar 1-402-640-6335 Will Pick Up Coleridge, NE Newcastle Village Apartments a handicap apartment and 1-bedroom apartments available for elderly or disabled. Rent is based on adjusted gross income. Rental assistance available. Call 800-658-3126 for Carolyn or Pam. This institution is an equal opportunity employer and provider.