• PIERRE, S.D. (AP) -- Fall enrollment at South Dakota's four technical institutes is up about 3 percent from a year ago.
• The state Education Department reports that the technical institutes now have 6,250 students, up from 6,073 a year ago. This year's enrollment sets a new record that's just slightly higher than the previous record set two years ago.
• Officials say the biggest enrollment gains were in courses dealing with manufacturing, business management and agriculture.
• Lake Area Technical Institute in Watertown and Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls set enrollment records this fall. Enrollment grew slightly at Mitchell Technical Institute and fell slightly at Western Dakota Technical Institute in Rapid City.
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• VERMILLION, S.D. (AP) -- University of South Dakota researchers are partici

pating in a multidisciplinary study to provide new insights into the complex issues regarding effects of traumatic stress.
• The research project is funded by a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
• It will examine the association between traumatic stress and health outcomes among veterans who have been fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Psychology professors Jeffrey Simons and Raluca Gaher will examine several social, psychological, environmental and genetic factors that contribute to individual differences in resilience and vulnerability. The project uses several advanced methods of data collection, including near real-time monitoring of behavior with palmtop computers.
• The research is being conducted with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Sioux Falls and the Veteran Health Care System in Bay Pines, Fla.
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• BROOKINGS, S.D. (AP) -- A Native American author who won a National Book Award is set to speak at South Dakota State University on Wednesday.
• Sherman Alexie is the author "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian," which won the prestigious award in 2007. The book has been selected as SDSU's common read for the fall semester. The common read is geared toward students in university orientation classes.

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