Index of University Press Releases

April 19, 2007

DWU poll: Quality of life good in S.D.
Seth Tupper The Daily Republic

The McGovern Center for Leadership and Public Service took a step Wednesday toward its goal of becoming a recognized source of information on public policy issues.

The center, located at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, held press conferences in Mitchell and Sioux Falls to announce partial results of its first-ever poll of South Dakotans. The initial data focused on quality-of-life issues and revealed, among other things, that 85.61 percent of respondents rated the quality of life for South Dakotans today as either “excellent” or “good.”

Don Simmons, director of the center, said he hopes to conduct annual polling on numerous issues. Over time, he hopes to track and analyze the changes in the results.

“We would like to be a resource for economic developers and researchers and scholars throughout the region,” Simmons said.

The center is housed in the George and Eleanor McGovern Library, which was built and dedicated last year in honor of DWU alum nus and former U.S. Sen. George McGovern and his late wife. The activities of the center include the coordination of DWU’s new public service and leadership major, and the operation of the McGovern Legacy Museum.

“Part of that work,” said DWU President Bob Duffett, “is to do some polls and do some assessment on some key issues that people here in the region are thinking about.”

The first poll was a joint project of the center and DWU’s Mathematics Department. Between March 18 and March 29, 410 adults from across South Dakota were interviewed over the telephone. The poll’s margin of error was plus or minus 5 percent.