April 26, 27 & 28, 2004
In the News
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
REGENTS PREFER
TO KEEP LID ON
Tennessee officials recently selected the president of the
state's flagship university in full view of the public and news
media. Anyone who wanted could watch the interviews via the
Internet -- or observe from the sidelines. Utah, in its search
for a University of Utah president, is not following the Volunteer
State's lead. … Florida has strong open-records laws that
require full disclosure of the names of anyone who applies for
any job with the state. Tennessee's decision to open its search
-- Utah State University President Kermit Hall was a non-winning
finalist in that process -- was not mandated by law, but chosen
by its trustees. (Salt Lake Tribune, 4/27/04) Click on: http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Apr/04272004/utah/161092.asp
FRUIT GROWERS
WATCHING WEATHER: COLD SPELL COULD YET DOOM PROMISING ORCHARD
CROPS
Utah fruit growers are thankful for recent sunshine and showers
but are keeping a wary eye on the temperature gauge. With tart
cherries past their full bloom, any long-term drop in temperature
below 30 degrees Fahrenheit could spell disaster for a crop,
said Robert McMullin of McMullin Orchards in Payson. …
Dean Miner, a county director for the Utah State University
agricultural extension office, said that tart cherries can withstand
temperatures down to 27 degrees for up to an hour. Hinton is
crossing his fingers that it won't get that cold. Even the recent
rainstorms haven't hurt orchards, since the rain fell after
the blossoms were pollinized. (Tart cherries are self-pollinized.)
(Deseret Morning News 4/27/04) Click on: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595058995,00.html
USU OFFERS BIOTECH
ACADEMY
The Utah State University Center for Integrated BioSystems
(formerly the Biotechnology and Genomics Research Center) is
offering Utah and Idaho teens the opportunity to explore how
scientists create lifesaving medicines, to debate the safety
of genetically modified foods and to learn about the latest
research progress in the areas of microbe, plant and animal
genomics. Scheduled for July 12-16 on the Utah State campus,
the fourth annual summer biotechnology academy is open to high
school students entering the 11th and 12th grades in the 2004-2005
school year. (Herald Journal, 4/27/04)
GLASSES FOR THE
MASSES
Hope ranks as important as a barge full of medical supplies
in the work of the Hope Alliance. The nonprofit organization
sponsors medical "expeditions" to needy communities
around the world. Max and Eva Gyllenskog of Smithfield spent
time during the last year arranging for that barge and more
than 50 volunteers to reach Iquitos, Peru, on the shores of
the Amazon River. Forty of the volunteers were also from Cache
Valley. It sounds like a contradiction in terms, but Iquitos,
a city of 500,000, is isolated, reachable only by river or air.
Because of poverty, its people lack what residents of developed
countries think of as basic health care. … Alan Stephens,
a Utah State University professor of business administration,
worked up a computer program to match patients with glasses.
At the eye clinic, workers used a retinoscope to determine a
patient's prescription. Stephens' program matched the recommended
prescription with the numbers of several pairs of appropriate
glasses. "We take a machine up to get the eye prescription
off the people, and then he puts it in the computer and it pulls
out the number of the glasses from the database," Eva said.
She said that before Stephens' designed his matching program,
it had not always been that easy. "Before, we'd get the
prescription, and then they'd thumb through all the glasses,"
she recalled. (Herald Journal, 4/27/04)
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
STATE FARM ORDERED
TO PAY $9M AWARD
The Utah Supreme Court on Friday ordered State Farm Mutual
Automobile Insurance Co. to pay more than $9 million in punitive
damages to end a lawsuit that exposed company practices of cheating
customers to maximize profits. ... The case began with a 1981
accident found to have been caused by Curtis Campbell on U.S.
91 in Sardine Canyon between Brigham City and Logan. Todd Ospital,
19, a first-year student at Utah State University, died in the
crash, and 26-year-old Indiana motorist Robert Slusher was permanently
disabled. (Salt Lake Tribune, 4/24/04) Click on: http://www.sltrib.com/2004/apr/04242004/utah/160280.asp
COMING UP: MUSIC
Easter offerings: The Utah Baroque Ensemble presents a free
concert of Easter music, including the Bach cantata "Nach
Dir, Herr, Verlanget Mich" (Lord, I Long for You) for choir
and orchestra, tonight at 7 at the Edgemont North LDS Stake,
2300 N. Canyon Road, Provo. Martha Sargent directs. ... Top
Utah State University percussionists Casey Cangelosi and Tyson
Titensor, graduating from USU this year, are featured in a concert
Monday at 7:30 p.m. in USU's Morgan Theatre. (Salt Lake Tribune,
4/25/04) Click on: http://www.sltrib.com/2004/apr/04252004/arts/160107.asp
ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR UTAH WILL NOT BE FOUND
'BLOWING IN WIND'
In recent months, the Salt Lake Tribune, according to a Web
search, has published more than 20 articles on renewable energy,
primarily wind energy in which wind power advocates suggest
"Utah is falling behind" or "Utah has been slow
out of the gate." Tribune readers may wonder, "What's
wrong with this state when it comes to alternative energy?"
... A Utah State University project in Cache Valley is converting
manure into electricity. (Salt Lake Tribune, 4/25/04) Click
on: http://www.sltrib.com/2004/apr/04252004/commenta/160141.asp
ROLLY AND WELLS: NABBING THE PARKING BANDITS
In its own version of the Patriot Act, the Utah Transit Authority
is checking out license plate numbers and taking down names
at its park 'n' ride lot in Kaysville, the last stop on the
morning express route to Salt Lake City. The idea is to catch
those sinister commuters from other Davis County towns who are
hogging the 70-car lot. ... But in his memory, flocks of blue
flamingos have been magically appearing on the lawns of unsuspecting
residents -- including Utah State University President Kermit
Hall. (Salt Lake Tribune, 4/26/04) Click on: http://www.sltrib.com/2004/apr/04262004/utah/160808.asp
GROUNDBREAKING SET FOR USU RECITAL HALL
The $6.3 million gift from sisters Kathryn Caine Wanlass and
Manon Caine Russell will metamorphose into a groundbreaking
Thursday for Utah State University's new School of the Arts
recital hall. (Deseret Morning News, 4/26/04) Click on: http://deseretnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,595058873,00.html
SCIENTIST UNLOCKS DNA MYSTERIES
The next Dewey Lecture will focus on scientific discovery —
but, through illustrations, it will be entirely accessible to
the audience at the Salt Lake Public Library. ... Delivering
the lecture will be Scott Woodward, chief scientific officer
for the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, a nonprofit
organization specializing in the study of DNA as a means to
assist in family history research. ... Woodward's doctorate
is in genetics from Utah State University. Currently, he is
a Brigham Young University professor (living in Alpine) and
is on leave for two years to develop a database to combine genetic
and genealogical information. (Deseret Morning News, 4/25/04)
Click on: http://deseretnews.com/dn/print/1,1442,595058195,00.html
SAGEBRUSH ALSO STRUGGLING IN UTAH'S DROUGHT
Sagebrush is the quintessential western desert plant, and the
fact that more than 600,000 acres of it in Utah, some decades
old, are dead or dying has federal and state officials concerned.
... Agencies include the National Resource Conservation Service,
Utah State University, Department of Natural Resources, Utah
Fish and Wildlife, and others. Reynolds, at the DWR, is the
team leader. (Standard Examiner, 4/25/04) Click on: http://www.standard.net/standard/news/print_story.html?sid=00040424230025507297
GARDEN VARIETY: SPRING INTO ACTION TO KEEP
LAWN HEALTHY
We expect our lawns to look great in the spring. After all,
this is when the weather should be perfect for our cool-season
grasses. Once the hot, dry weather of summer shows up, we are
not alarmed when our lawns looks a little rough -- we expect
it (Standard Examiner, Written by Jerry Goodspeed, horticulturist
with the Weber County branch of the Utah State University Extension
Service, 4/24/04) Click on: http://www.standard.net/standard/news/print_story.html?sid=00040423191507308540
GO PUBLIC IN HIRING OF UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS:
UTAH SHOULD STUDY TENNESSEE'S RECENT EXPERIENCE FOR TIPS ON
HOW TO DO IT
Kermit Hall, president of Utah State University, still has
his job. That, fellow Utahns, tells us something: Even though
Hall applied for and endured a public process of elimination
in the quest to lead the University of Tennessee -- he eventually
placed second -- his standing with the Utah Board of Regents
has not been diminished. If anything, the Regents are relieved
to still have a qualified leader who so narrowly missed landing
the job at such a large university. ... Hall, 59, no doubt wondered
if he was good enough to make it at an even larger school than
Utah State. That desire to excel and to stretch is the very
thing that continues to make him valuable at USU. (Standard
Examiner, 4/24/04) Click on: http://www.standard.net/standard/news/print_story.html?sid=00040423213006600294
BACKYARD ECOLOGY: YOUR YARD AS AN ECOSYSTEM
Our backyards are actually artificial, miniature ecosystems.
A web of life is formed from plants, trees, grass, squirrels,
birds, insects and much more. ...Cache County Extension plant
specialist Loralie Cox noted that we naturally find enjoyment
in a diverse assortment of plants in our yards. (Herald Journal,
4/26/04)
GUARDSMAN AIDS WMD HUNT: LOGAN MAN DESIGNS
NETWORK FOR IRAQ SURVEY GROUP
If coalition troops ever find weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq, Jason Foerster deserves some of the credit. ... Foerster,
a former Utah State University student, had co-founded a computer
service company in Cache Valley called Technology Network shortly
before he was activated. (Herald Journal, 4/24/04)
AGGIES WITH EXCESSIVE CREDITS TO PAY MORE:
OUT-OF-STATE RATE WILL BE IMPOSED SPRING TERM '05
Utah State students exceeding 135 percent of graduation requirements
- that's 170 credits versus the required 120 - will pay out-of-state
tuition beginning next year. Like all Utah higher education
institutions, USU will implement the new State Board of Regents'
Policy 510. It requires students beyond the set credit limit
after fall semester to be charged out-of-state tuition rates,
beginning in spring 2005. (Herald Journal, Written by Clark
Israelsen, Cache County Extension agent, 4/25/04)
STUDENTS EARN SCHOLARSHIPS
Utah State University students Stephanie J. Chambers and David
R. Hatch were awarded the Goldwater Scholarship for excellence
demonstrated in scientific research. The Barry M. Goldwater
Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation awarded only
310 of the scholarships nationwide in 2003. (Herald Journal,
4/25/04)
USU STUDENTS CLAIM TITLES
With the current princess unable to fulfill her duties, Utah
State University student Heather Dalton, of Wasatch County,
was advanced from attendant and named Utah's 2004 State Dairy
Princess. Her attendants are Emily Oldham of Cache County and
Tiffany Merino of Tooele County. (Herald Journal, 4/25/04)
CACHE TRIVIA: TODAY'S QUESTION
Who was Utah State's Merrill Library named after? Answer: Utah
State's Merrill Library is named after Milton Reese Merrill,
born April 3, 1901, in Richmond. From 1927 to his retirement
in 1971, Dr. Merrill served in a wide variety of administration
and academic positions at Utah State including USU's first vice
president under Daryl Chase. He died in 1971. (Herald Journal,
4/24/04)
WARM-SEASON FORAGES CONSERVE WATER
Because of our limited irrigation water this season, some producers
are asking about warm-season annual forages as alternatives
to corn silage. Warm season annual grasses such forage sorghums,
sudan-grasses, sorghum and sudangrass hybrids, pearl millets
and millets are all possibilities. They can be grown for hay,
silage or grazing with less water than corn silage requires.
(Herald Journal, 4/25/04)
KSL NEWSCAST: BIRD STUDY UNDERWAY
Columbian sharp tail grouse are mating in Cache County. The
birds are named after the pointy feathers held aloft while doing
the mating dance. A study is under way to expand the grouse's
range in Utah. The conservation Reserve Program aims to restore
the sharp tail population. One hundred years ago sharp tail
grouse populated the state border to border. Hunting was suspended
in 1979. Biologists in Cache County trapped two Columbian sharp
tail grouse and fitted with a radio collar. Biologists hope
to learn more about the grouse's biology and habits. (KUTV Newscast,
4/24/04, 11 p.m.)
Monday, April 26, 2004
OPEN SELECTION
PROCESS BEST
If Utah's higher education officials acted the way they have
long said people everywhere act, they would be turning their
backs on Utah State University President Kermit Hall right now,
considering him a traitor and looking for ways to replace him.
Instead, Dave Buhler, the associate commissioner of public affairs
for the Utah System of Higher Education, said of Hall's recent
failed attempt to become president of the University of Tennessee,
"It's a real compliment to Utah and to our presidents that
President Hall would be so well thought of by another top-notch
research university." He said more. "He (Hall) is
a great president and I'm sure that everyone will be glad he
will be here a while longer." That is, of course, the way
any administrator should react when learning that one his top
people finished second in the running for another job. And it
is exhibit B in the case against Utah's lingering reluctance
to make its own selection process for university presidents
more open. (Deseret Morning News, editorial, 4/23/04) Click
on: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595058050,00.html
NATIVE PLANTS
HARDY — AND BEAUTIFUL
With another year of drought, gardeners need to take a long,
hard look at the plants they are growing and new plants they
want to add to their palette with an eye toward water use. One
way to reduce the amount of water used in the garden is to select
plants that grow well in the high-elevation desert regions of
the Great Basin and surrounding areas. The hostile growing environment
— water shortages, temperature extremes, harsh soils —
eliminates all but the toughest of plants. … Larry A.
Sagers is the regional horticulturist, Utah State University
Extension, at Thanksgiving Point. (Deseret Morning News, 4/23/04)
Click on: http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,595057998,00.html
FROM THE STORY
PIT
Local children, parents celebrate library week "E-I-E-I-O!"
rang through the North Logan Library Wednesday morning, as a
36 inches-and-shorter crowd gathered at the Story Pit for singing
and storytime. Waving flannel animal puppets on their fists,
several youngsters -- and a few parents -- sang about a cat,
pig, dog and other barnyard favorites. They also sang Five Speckled
Frogs and Five Little Ducks, each with the help of flannel pictures
stuck to a glove. … Miss Cache Valley hopeful Sarah Jolley
also visited with the kids and parents. Her platform for the
upcoming scholarship contest is "Teaching Kids to Learn
to Love to Read." "It's fun. It's fun for the kids,"
said Jolley, a Utah State University sophomore. (Herald Journal,
4/23/04)
THREE DAYS, SEVEN
PLAYS
Seven original 10-minute plays from the Utah State University
advanced playwriting class come to life for three days only.
"Playing, An Evening of Short Plays" takes shape April
22-24 at 7:30 p.m. in the Studio Theatre (FA 224) in the Chase
Fine Arts Center. Tickets are $5 for the general public and
free for Utah State students who have a valid I.D. Tickets are
sold at the door for general admission seating. Patrons are
encouraged to arrive early for best seating. Throughout the
run of the project, all seven short plays are staged every night,
and are all produced by the advanced playwriting class led by
professor Mark Damen. (Herald Journal, Cache Magazine, 4/23/04)
ALL DRUMMED OUT
Two Utah State University graduates and a Logan High School
graduate are featured soloists in the final percussion concert
of the year at Utah State on Monday, April 26. Under the direction
of percussion program head Dennis Griffin, the concert begins
at 7:30 p.m. in the Morgan Theatre of the Chase Fine Arts Center.
Concert admission is $5 at the door, and USU students with current
ID are admitted free. Utah State percussionists Casey Cangelosi
of Logan and Tyson Titensor of Preston began percussion study
with Griffin as elementary school students. They have gone on
to become the most outstanding percussionists Utah State has
produced to date, Griffin said. Both have captured awards at
the Utah Percussion Festival, an annual event with 200 competing
percussionists. Cangelosi recently captured first place honors
at the national Music Teachers National Association percussion
competition. (Herald Journal, Cache Magazine, 4/23/04)
TRUMPETING IN
THE NIGHT
Utah State University bands host professional trumpet player
Adam Rapa in concert with the Wind Orchestra, at 7:30 p.m.,
Friday, April 23. Utah State student and senior percussionist
Tyson Titensor will also be featured in the performance at the
Kent Concert Hall of the Chase Fine Arts Center. Tickets are
available at the door and admission is $3 with a family rate
of $10. All students are admitted free. The evening's concert
is under the baton of Thomas Rohrer, director of bands in the
department of music at Utah State. (Herald Journal, Cache Magazine,
4/23/04)
SUNDAY PERFORMANCE
The Cache Chamber Orchestra, an all-volunteer group of community
musicians, ends its concert season with an event that highlights
high school musicians, announced conductor and director Robert
Frost. The year-end concert is Sunday, April 25, and begins
at 7:30 p.m. in the Kent Concert Hall of the Chase Fine Arts
Center at Utah State University. The concert is free and all
are invited. High school student soloists featured include violinist
Koning Shen, who will perform the first movement of the Bruch
"Violin Concerto in C minor," and Alexis Hoggard,
a cellist who will perform a first movement from an Elgar cello
concerto. Shen and Hoggard were selected to perform after earning
honors at the American String Teachers solo festival held locally
earlier this year. The third student soloist is a member of
the orchestra, Meleece Cheal, a senior at Mountain Crest High
School, where she was the Sterling Scholar representative in
music. She will play a concertino by the French composer Chaminade.
(Herald Journal, Cache Magazine, 4/23/04)
MR. BROWN RETURNS
Singer-songwriter Greg Brown will perform in concert Friday,
May 14, at the Utah State University Eccles Conference Center
on the USU campus in Logan. Pianist Radoslav Lorkovic, who accompanies
Brown on several of his CDs, will open the show. The concert
begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $22 at the
door, available at Sunrise Cyclery, 138 N. 100 East, Logan;
Maya's Corner, 1 N. Main, Logan; and USU ticket outlets (in
the Spectrum and Taggart Student Center). The concert is sponsored
by Bridger Folk Music Society and Utah Public Radio. (Herald
Journal, Cache Magazine, 4/23/04)
'DESTINED FOR
GREATNESS?' YOU DECIDE.
Graduating seniors from Utah State University's fine arts program
are getting ready to display some of their finest work in the
annual senior BFA exhibition. Their exhibition, "Destined
for Greatness," will be in the Twain Tippetts Exhibition
Hall in the Chase Fine Arts Center on campus. The show is open
to the public April 19-29, and gallery hours are 1 to 5 p.m.
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. "Each work in this exhibition
represents the culmination of four or more years of intense
study and effort," said Dennise Gackstetter, faculty adviser
for the 2004 senior BFA exhibition. (Herald Journal, Cache Magazine,
4/23/04)
A GROUND-BREAKING
GROUND BREAKING
Utah State University's College of Humanities, Arts and Social
Sciences invites the campus and Cache Valley communities to
the groundbreaking ceremony for Utah State's School of the Arts
recital hall Thursday, April 29, at 1:30 p.m. The ceremony takes
place west of the Daryl Chase Fine Arts Center, and a reception
immediately follows in the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art.
Attending the ceremony will be lead architect Vinicius Gorgati
and designer Scott Smith of Sasaki and Associates, a firm with
40 years of experience on 300 campuses in the United States
and overseas. Also attending are sisters Kathryn Caine Wanlass
and Manon Caine Russell, Utah State University alumni whose
$6.3 million lead gift is the biggest private gift in university
history. (Herald Journal, Cache Magazine, 4/23/04)
WIDE-ANGLE LENS:
HERE COMES 'THE BRIDE' REVIEW: "KILL BILL, VOL. 2"
(3 STARS)
Two down and three to go: Hit list in hand, The Bride (Uma
Thurman) is back in Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill, Vol.
2," the conclusion to last fall's ultraviolent "Vol.
1." When we saw her last, The Bride was working her way
down the list of former colleagues in the Deadly Viper Assassination
Squad who -- on Bill's orders -- gunned her down on her wedding
day. Served up cold, the revenge plot of the first volume left
me feeling the same way: Tarantino sent The Bride to Tokyo for
a stylized samurai slashfest that totally eviscerated the story
itself. The samurai sword is back, too, but one of the pleasures
of the far superior second volume is that no one dies by it;
each time a swordfight threatens to erupt, the plot twists away,
teasing us with the memory of the first film. Don't worry: Tarantino
dishes up plenty of violence again, but this time he pays as
much attention to narrative as martial-arts technique, spinning
out and weaving together the back-stories that bind these characters
together. … Brian McCuskey is an associate professor of
English at Utah State University, where he teaches courses on
film and literature. (Herald Journal, Cache Magazine, 4/23/04)
LIBRARY LECTURE
JaDene Denniston, a school library media teacher at Sunrise
Elementary School in Smithfield, brings her expertise and experience
to the final Friends of University Libraries lecture at Utah
State University. Denniston speaks Friday, April 23, at 7 p.m.
in the Merrill Library on campus. The lecture is free and all
are invited. Denniston said her lecture focuses on contributions
made by Utah State graduates in the field of children's literature,
both as writers and illustrators. "Since it is National
Library Week I wanted to focus on children's literature and
the people who have made a difference in children's literature,"
Denniston said. "I also wanted to focus on the people with
ties to Utah State who contribute so much to this field."
(Herald Journal, Cache Magazine, 4/23/04)
UTAH STATE HOOP
PLAYERS FACE CHARGES
Former Utah State University men's basketball star guard Cardell
Butler and tow current team members were issued citations April
10 for allegedly interfering with police offices who responded
to a noise complaint at a Logan apartment complex. Butler, 22,
Jason Williams, 20, and Quenton Harvey, 22, were cited about
3:30 a.m. at an apartment near 776 N. 750 East, near the USU
campus. Williams, a forward, and Harvey, a guard, are both juniors
on the Aggie men's basketball team. (Herald Journal, 4/23/04)
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