Monday, Feb. 1, 2010

Page 1

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010

Utah Statesman The

Campus Voice since 1902

Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com

USU may Personal integrity key, alumnus says face more budget cuts By MEGAN ALLEN staff writer

By CATHERINE MEIDELL assistant news editor

USU budget cuts may increase from 3 to 4 or 5 percent this year, as a result of recent legislative discussion concerning state finances. The Utah Legislature suggests that the 3 percent cut will not be enough to balance USU’s budget this year and have therefore encouraged USU’s executive committee to prepare for an additional 1 percent cut, equaling approximately $1.4 million, said Ray Coward, USU’s executive vice president and provost. Spencer Lee, student body vice president, said it is more likely that the additional cut will be executed if students sit back and watch it happen and suggests that students involve themselves by writing a letter about their concerns to legislative representatives. “If you don’t write a letter, then don’t complain in the fall,” Lee said. “Students don’t realize they could come back to school and their major isn’t offered anymore.” The 3 percent cut for this year is affecting all central administration members and will require them to take a five-day furlough, a

- See BUDGET, page 4

Go abroad and see the world, Ambassador Lynn M. Hansen told students Thursday in the Distinguished Alumni Lecture Series for the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Hansen graduated from USU in 1960 with a degree in German and minors in Russian and physical education. He was involved with USU during his years and was given the Man of the Year Robins award. “Everything that has happened in LYNN HANSEN my life started here at Utah State,” Hansen said. While at USU, Hansen joined the Air Force ROTC. “I joined the ROTC to avoid being drafted by the Army,” he said. “I grew to love it and what it meant.” Hansen spent 23 years in the Air Force working in a variety of positions and agencies. “If you look at my biography, you’d think, ‘There’s a man who can’t hold a job,’” he said. Hansen said he spent time in the Soviet Union working “more or less as a spy” and was in Vietnam for much of the Vietnam War. Time in a war zone was not always spent in combat.

He told a story of a time in Vietnam when it was decided a type of holding cell for the captured enemies was needed. Hansen went scrounging for materials to build the cell. He dropped the materials off and went on another assignment. By the time he came back, a building had been built, but instead of a holding cell, they built an officer’s club. Hansen said he enjoyed all of his years in the military, except for the eight years he spent working in the Pentagon. After not getting a promotion he thought he deserved, his résumé got stuck to a pile of someone else’s papers, which led to an even better promotion as the assistant director of the U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency. Hansen retired from the Air Force in 1983, after 23 years of active service. “We have the finest military in the world,” he said. “Bar none.” After his retirement he went to teach at Texas A&M University. “I always wanted to be a professor,” he said. In 1986, Hansen was sent to Sweden as the U.S. delegation to the Stockholm Conference with the title of ambassador. After the conference, Hansen received a call from the administration at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., to teach in the political science department. The administration offered him the first endowed chair, the John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of National Defense and Security Studies. He took the job because he didn’t think he would fit in working in George H.W. Bush’s administration, as well as for the salary offered. After a few months there, he was asked if he wanted to be the vice chairman of the NIC.

“Yes,” he replied, “what’s the NIC?” Hansen spent a few years going back and forth between working for the National Intelligence Council and his job at the Air Force Academy. After the NIC he spent time at the U.S. Intelligence Community and as director of the Collection Concepts Development Center for the CIA. “The CIA was head and shoulders about all the other agencies I worked for,” Hansen said. Hansen gave a few words of advice to students. The first suggestion he had was to go abroad and see the world. “So many people have never lived or been abroad and don’t understand that there are people different than us,” he said. “It’s a different experience. It makes a difference.” Next, Hansen had a leadership lesson to offer students. “Personal integrity is the number one thing,” he said. “It is the ability to talk and listen to someone with a different point of view.” His ultimate advice was to “think like an adult.” He said he talked to the audience like he would talk to his grandchildren, who are young adults. “Children are after instant gratification,” he said. “The things you do at the university stick with you for the rest of your life, so make the most of it now.” Hansen said he has lived his life the best he can. “Things just happen,” he said. “You learn to deal with them the best you can.” – megan.allen@aggiemail.usu.edu

Students glimpse stages of cloning at Science Unwrapped By CATHERINE MEIDELL assistant news editor

In the Eccles Science Learning Center, a large projector screen displayed two cow ovaries and lab manager Ben Sessions showed the audience the blister type modules where eggs would be extracted for cloning. Among other presentations and activities, department head and professor of animal, dairy and veterinary science Kenneth White spoke about genetics and cloning, emphasizing USU’s success in this research, in his speech “Seeing Double: The Origins of Cloning,” a part of Science Unwrapped. Sessions held one of the cow ovaries for attendees to see it up close. Each blister-like formation on the ovary was called a follicle and housed one egg, he said. There were multiple follicles in each ovary, those that did not contain an egg were full of scar tissue. Sessions pointed at one of the follicles and said when extracting an egg a scientist will look for a follicle the size of a hole punch or smaller rather than the dominant follicle, which is a few times larger. The fluid from the follicle must then be sucked out to retrieve the egg. This topic did not only interest students of the collegiate level, but it drew elementary and high school students, as well, who arrived eager and ready to learn. “We have gone to all of the Science Unwrapped activities because they are really interesting,” 13-year-old Logan resident Simon Davies said. “There are hands-on activities at the end and one time we actually got to dissect a pig heart.” Michelle Larson, assistant provost, said Science Unwrapped is an event that happens on the last Friday of every month, each month providing scientific minds with new concepts. She said through these events the “hiccups” and “hurrays” of science are shared. “Science and genetics are a really big part of

my major, and I’m going to need to learn about this stuff in my labs,” said Alli Windley, freshman and pre-veterinary major. “We (my friends and I) are so geeky.” Quinngang Weng, a genetics and cloning researcher, showed the audience the beginning steps in cloning a somatic cell on an overhead projector. The cell was magnified by a microscope and Weng used a small pipette to make a hole in the cell and then place the donor cell in the egg. Weng completed these steps successfully for all to see. White said that in 2003, USU made a name for itself among other prestigious colleges, for successfully cloning an equine. The accomplishment recognized USU as a smart school, in the ranks with Stanford. Three identical mules were produced from this project, however, White said it was the most difficult project he has been involved in. One of the reasons the cloning process was difficult to sort out was that mules have an odd number of chromosomes. Before successfully creating the mule clones, the research group spent nine years studying cattle eggs, White said. In 1999 the equine research group tried one small cloning session with no pregnancies. In 2000 three large sessions were conducted with still no pregnancies, and four large sessions the following year also yielded no pregnancies. Finally, in 2002, three large cloning sessions were conducted with positive pregnancy results and the three foals were born the following year. When the mules were full-grown, White said they became racing mules, one ranking third fastest mule in the nation. “They really do race mules, believe me, but you probably won’t see it on ESPN,” White said. White explained why cloning animals is important to humanity and said it is ideal when cloning to duplicate those animals with

- See CLONE, page 4

GUESTS OF SCIENCE UNWRAPPED Friday see different stages of cloning in cells through microscopes. Science Unwrapped explores scientific concepts on the last Friday of every month and attracts college students as well as elementary and high school students. STEVE SELLERS photo

Inside This Issue

2/1/10 The poor economy makes students believe it’s now harder to get rich. Page 5

Bendall and Jardine combine for 37 points as men’s basketball wins 6th in a row. Page 8

www.aggietownsquare.com Watch Tyler Mistelbacher’s interview after the hockey team’s win over in-state rival Weber State at our Web site. www.aggietownsquare.com Official Student Newspaper of Utah State University • “It’s All The News You Need!”

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 Page 2

World&Nation Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com

ClarifyCorrect The policy of The Utah Statesman is to correct any error made as soon as possible. If you find something you would like clarified or find unfair, please contact the editor at 797-1762 or TSC 105.

Baptists arrested in Haiti

Nat’l Briefs Sarah Palin’s actions spur ethics debate JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – The fallout from Sarah Palin’s hasty retreat as governor is being cleaned up by the man she appointed attorney general in her waning days in office. Attorney General Dan Sullivan proposed broad changes to Alaska’s ethics rules. One recommendation that might sound familiar: Setting ethical standards for spouses and kids to travel with the governor at taxpayer expense. Another would that Alaska could pay fees executive branch officials rack up fighting ethics complaints, if officials are exonerated by an attorney general or by the state Personnel Board.

Celebs&People Miss Va. crowned Miss America LAS VEGAS (AP) – A 22-year-old Virginia woman who said she once thought her only talent was singing is the nation’s newest Miss America, emerging from a field of 53 contestants picked for their beauty, compassion and interCAMERON view savvy.

LateNiteHumor Thursday, February 5, 2009 Top Ten Reasons I’m Looking Forward To The Grammy Awards 10. By thanking family and friends on air, I can save money on my long-distance calls. 9. In the course of the evening, I’m hoping to marry and divorce Amy Winehouse 8. I’m nominated in the category of “Lillest Wayne” 7. Get to hang out with the Jonas Brothers. Have you seen these guys? They’re adorable 6. Watching Madonna ask for the senior citizen’s discount at the bar 5. The U.S. Airways pilot’s gonna land a plane on the stage 4. Green room crabcakes in the shape of Beyonce’s booty 3. It’ll be more exciting than my usual Sunday nights of watching “Desperate Housewives” in my underpants 2. In these tough times, Americans will appreciate the chance to watch a bunch of rich people kiss each other’s asses for three hours 1. Winners who talk too much get tased

THIS BOY with pink tape on his shirt was part of the group of children that U.S. Baptists were trying to take out of Haiti, looks at other kids playing at an orphanage run by Austrian-based SOS Children’s Villages in Port-au-Prince, Sunday, Jan. 31. AP photo

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – Ten U.S. Baptists detained trying to take 33 children out of earthquakeshattered Haiti without government permission say they were just trying to do the right thing, applying Christian principles to save Haitian children. But their “Orphan Rescue Mission” is striking nerves in a country that has long suffered from child trafficking and foreign interventions, and where much of the aid is delivered in ways that challenge Haiti’s own rich religious traditions. Prime Minister Max Bellerive on Sunday told The Associated Press that the group was arrested and is

under judicial investigation “because it is illegal trafficking of children and we won’t accept that.” The Americans are the first people to be arrested since the Jan 12 quake on such suspicions. The government and established child welfare agencies are trying to slow Haitian adoptions amid fears that parentless or lost children are more vulnerable than ever to being seized and sold. Without proper documents and concerted efforts to track down their parents, they could be forever separated from family members able and willing to care for them. Bellerive’s personal authorization is now required for the departure of any

child. The orphanage where the children were later taken said some of the kids have living parents, who were apparently told the children were going on a holiday from the post-quake misery. The church group’s own mission statement said it planned to spend only hours in the devastated capital, quickly identifying children without immediate families and busing them to a rented hotel in the Dominican Republic without bothering to get permission from the Haitian government. Whatever their intentions, other child welfare organizations in Haiti said the plan was foolish at best. “The instinct to swoop in and rescue children may be a natural impulse but it cannot be the solution for the tens of thousands of children left vulnerable by the Haiti earthquake,” said Deb Barry, a protection expert at Save the Children, which wants a moratorium on new adoptions. “The possibility of a child being scooped up and mistakenly labeled an orphan in the chaotic aftermath of the disaster is incredibly high.” The church members, most from Idaho, said they were only trying to rescue abandoned and traumatized children. “In this chaos the government is in right now, we were just trying to do the right thing,” the group’s spokeswoman, Laura Silsby, told the AP from inside Haiti’s judicial police headquarters, where she and others

were being held until a Monday hearing. Officials said they lacked the proper documents for the children, whose names were written on pink tape on their shirts. The children, ages 2 months to 12 years old, were taken to an orphanage run by Austrian-based SOS Children’s Villages, where spokesman George Willeit said they arrived “very hungry, very thirsty, some dehydrated.” “One (8-year-old) girl was crying, and saying, ‘I am not an orphan. I still have my parents.’ And she thought she was going on a summer camp or a boarding school or something like that,” Willeit said. The orphanage was working Sunday to reunite the children with their families, joining a concerted effort by the Haitian government, the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other NGOs. In Idaho, the Rev. Clint Henry denied that his Central Valley Baptist Church had anything to do with child trafficking and said he didn’t believe reports that some of the children had parents. He urged his tearful congregation to pray to God to “help them as they seek to resist the accusations of Satan and the lies that he would want them to believe and the fears that he would want to plant into their heart.”

Obama pushes nuclear energy in bill WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama is endorsing nuclear energy like never before, trying to win over Republicans and moderate Democrats on climate and energy legislation. Obama singled out nuclear power in his State of the Union address, and his spending plan for the next budget year is expected to include billions of more dollars in federal guarantees for new nuclear reactors. This emphasis reflects both the political difficulties of passing a climate bill in an election year and a shift from his once cautious embrace of nuclear energy. He’s now calling for a new generation of nuclear power plants. During the campaign, Obama said he would support nuclear power with caveats. He was concerned about how to deal with radioactive waste and how much federal money was needed to support construction costs. Those concerns remain; some say they’ve gotten worse. His administration has pledged to close Yucca Mountain, the planned multibillion-dollar burial ground in the Nevada desert for high-level radioactive waste. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has been criticized for his slow rollout of $18.5 billion in loan guarantees to spur investment in new nuclear power plants, and the administration killed a Bush-era proposal to reprocess nuclear fuel. What has changed is the outlook

for climate and energy legislation, a White House priority. The House passed a bill in June that would limit emissions of heat-trapping gases for the first time. But the legislation led to a Republican revolt in the Senate, where the recent election of Republican Scott Brown from Massachusetts has made the measure even more of a long shot. Obama reaffirmed his commitment to a bill in his State of the Union speech as a way to create more clean-energy jobs, but added that “means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country.” To back that up, he is expected to seek $54 billion in additional loan guarantees for nuclear power in his 2011 budget request to Congress on Monday, according to an administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the request has not been made public. White House officials say Obama’s actions reflect his long support of nuclear power. But lawmakers from both parties say the speech reflected a new urgency and willingness to reach out to Republicans who have criticized Obama for not talking more about the role nuclear energy can play in slowing global warming. The 104 nuclear reactors in operation in 31 states provide only 20 percent of the nation’s electricity. But they are responsible for 70 per-

PETE VAVRICKA conducts an underground train from the entrance of Yucca Mountain in Nevada. In an effort to win over Republicans and moderate Democrats on climate and energy legislation, President Barack Obama is endorsing nuclear energy like never before, calling for a new generation of nuclear power plants to be built around the country. AP photo

cent of the power from pollution-free sources, including wind, solar and hydroelectric dams. Several analyses of the climate bills passed by the House and under consideration in the Senate suggest that the U.S. will have to build many more plants in order to meet the 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050 called for in the legislation. One of those studies, by the Environmental Protection Agency, assumed 180 new reactors would come on line by 2050. “I see an evolving attitude on

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energy by the president,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander, who has called for 100 plants to be built in the next 20 years. Alexander, R-Tenn., said Obama’s mention of nuclear energy in the address Wednesday night was the most important statement that the president has made on nuclear power. “Up until now, the administration has been pursuing a national windmill policy instead of a national energy policy, which is the military equivalent of going to war in sailboats,” he said.

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StatesmanCampus News

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010

Page 3

Haiti has a future, USU professor says Briefs Campus & Community

USU prepares for Mardi Gras party

By JESSE FOWERS staff writer

Two USU instructors provided guests with historical and cultural context for the earthquake-ravaged Haiti during their lecture titled “Understanding Haiti” Wednesday, Jan. 27. Bill Furlong from the department of political science and Maria Cordero from the department of languages, philosophy and speech were invited to give the lecture by the Society for International Business and Economic Development (SIBED), a student club house in the Huntsman School of Business. Furlong, who specializes in Latin American politics and has taught the subject for nearly 50 years, presented an abridged history of Haiti. He said Haiti has never been able to establish a long standing government and has been plagued by a long history of revolutions and continual changes in leadership. “This resulted in ruthless dictatorship violence, a lack of education, continuing poverty, ineffective government,” Furlong said. The island was originally colonized by the French and was used as a plantation island. The Spanish laid claim to the eastern side of the island and that colony later gained its independence to become the Dominican Republic. He also described the history Haiti has had with the United States. U.S. Marines entered the island in 1914 because of civil unrest and were stationed there until 1934. Furlong also addressed the issue of the United States intervening in various regimes on the island “Someone once said of all the U.S. interventions in Latin America, this one failed more miserably than all of the others,” he said. Haiti has many citizens who wish to seek asylum in the United States, Furlong said. During his campaign, former President Bill Clinton promised to overturn a long standing policy preventing Haitians from entering the United States as refugees. According to Furlong, the CIA discovered that there were nearly 200,000 Haitians prepared to enter the U.S. on the eve of Clinton’s election, and Clinton was forced to maintain the policy. In 1994, the Haitian refugee problem hit its peak with an average of 2,000 Haitians a day attempting to enter the United States. Haitian refugee policy continues to be a controversial subject today, Furlong said. Any Cuban that reaches

MARIA CORDERO from the department of languages, philosophy and speech, shares her knowledge of Haiti’s culture during the lecture “Understanding Haiti” Jan. 27. She said Haitians are the most spiritual people she knows. STEVE SELLERS photo

the shore of the U.S. is granted refuge Cordero, whose emphasis is in status, but it is a more difficult proCaribbean studies, has conducted cess for Haitians, because, he said, research on Haitian voodoo art. In they are considered by the U.S. as eco- her lecture, Cordero said petro is the nomic refugees rather than political branch of voodoo that most of the refugees. public identifies with witchcraft and “Haiti has a future. I’m not as dark magic. nearly pessimistic as some of my col“They developed and used (petro) leagues,” Furlong said. “If the United to channel their anger that they expestates is going to rienced as slaves,” help Haiti ... we’re she said. going to have to She went “If the United stay awhile, and on to say that States is going to we’re going to it was a rather have to help for a small branch of help Haiti ... we’re while.” the religion and going to have to “That is what “the religion of stay a while, and I think that we the masses” was we’re going to should try always a more spiritual to do – is to try branch of voohave to help for a to understand,” doo known as while.” Cordero said. “Rada.” Voodoo “The Haitian peois an adaptation ple are the most – Bill Furlong, political of Catholicism spiritual people can be science professor and that I know, traced back to and I think it is Christianity and because they have the wide range of had such hardships. When you have indigenous African religions brought nothing, that is when you seek God by the slaves, and Cordero said she the most. If you watch the news there wanted to dispel the popular idea are images of children reading their that voodoo was a Satanic or evil reliBibles or listening to sermons on the gion. radio. That spirituality is expressed “As far as SIBED is concerned, in their art, which is some of the most the lecture represented a teachable colorful vibrant works of art that I moment, which hopefully helped have ever seen.” attendees gain some understand-

PoliceBlotter

ing of why the earthquake has had the massive impact that it has,” said Vijay Kannan, faculty adviser for SIBED. “The goal was to get beyond the emotion of the disaster and help understand some of the realities that it reflects.” SIBED is an organization that was formed by a group students who felt that business majors had a bad reputation of being completely profitdriven. Kannan said the lecture was part of an effort to communicate across campus that the Huntsman School of Business “can play a meaningful role in training business leaders who can, in addition to other aspirations, put their training to use in addressing pressing challenges faced by communities across the globe.” The president of SIBED, Heather Fawson, said, “We believe that people, in general, will have more opportunities to succeed in life, as ethical business leaders utilize the concept of conscience capitalism and use their experience in management, economics, profit, human resources and more for the benefit of society.” The organization has several other activities planned for the semester and more information could be found at the Huntsman School of business Web site, huntsman.usu.edu. – jesse.fowers@aggiemail.usu.edu

Contact USU Police at 797-1939 for non-emergencies. Anonymous reporting line: 797-5000 EMERGENCY NUMBER: 911

Saturday, Jan. 23

Monday, Jan. 25

Thursday, Jan. 28

• USU Police responded to Old Main Hill for a sledding accident. Officers located a young woman that had fallen off her sled and had been hit by another group of people sledding. The young woman said she was having neck and back pain. She was assessed by emergency medical services and transported to the Logan Regional Hospital by ambulance.

• The fire marshal responded to report of a fire involving a cutting torch. The fire was extinguished and the employee was not injured.

• USU Police responded to the construction sight near the Jones Education Building for a report of a fire. Police were able to locate a small propane weed burner that was on. Police contacted the construction site manager and advised him of the problem.

• USU Police received a report of an employee hearing several rifle gun shots in the area of the USU Heating Plant. Police responded to the area to find a funeral happening just inside the west fence that involved a bagpiper and two riflemen. Police contacted and advised the complainant of what they found. • USU Police responded to Wasatch Hall for a fire alarm. While investigating the fire alarm, police located alcohol. Police notified Housing of the violation of Housing policy so the individuals in the apartment could be fined. • USU Police responded to Bullen Hall for a report of tobacco and alcohol being consumed by minors. Two individuals were cited for minor in possession of alcohol and minor in possession of tobacco. • USU Police responded to the Skaggs building for a report of a suspicious vehicle. A subject was sleeping in the vehicle and contacted. The subject was advised that he needed authorization to be parked in this area. Sunday, Jan. 24 • USU Police responded to Aggie Village in two minutes for a noise complaint. Police made contact with the apartment identified making the noise. The subject said they were just taking a shower. No further action was taken by police.

• USU Police assisted Logan City Police with the funeral escort of a former Logan mayor. USU Police provided traffic control. Tuesday, Jan. 26 • USU Police assisted Logan City Police in searching for a suicidal man with a gun. The individual lives at the edge of campus and possibly was in the area of the Stan Laub Training Center. Officers searched for the individual and was unable to locate him. Police are investigating. • Police responded to the Water Lab on a report of illegal dumping in a metal recycling dumpster. Police are investigating. • USU Police responded to Old Main for a medical assist. A student was having a seizure in a classroom. The student was given a ride home by a roommate and refused to have emergency medical services respond. • USU Police responded to the Stan Laub Training Center parking lot for a report of a vehicle that had some items taken out of the vehicle. This investigation is continuing. Wednesday, Jan. 27 • A student reported his lost debit card and then found out that it was used to purchase unauthorized items. • A student reported receiving several harassing phone calls. Police are investigating.

• USU Police responded to a report of a physical fight in Wasatch Hall. Upon arrival, police determined that one of the individuals had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. The individual was booked into the Cache County Jail for the warrant. • USU Police responded to Bullen Hall for a report of an explosive device going off. A homemade device was set off in the yard west of the building. No damage was done to any vehicles or the building. This investigation is continuing. Friday, Jan. 29 • A student was concerned that they may have given personal information to an individual trying to scam them. It was determined that the person is a legitimate census taker. • The USU Fire Marshals Office reported to USU Police of a suspicious individual in the Aggie Terrace. It was reported that a white male with brown hair, glasses, slender and about 6 feet tall was looking inside vehicles in the Aggie Terrace. The individual left the area when he noticed the fire marshals. USU Police was unable to locate the subject. -Compiled by Rachel A. Christensen

USU will host Mardi Gras in the Taggart Student Center Saturday, Feb. 6, from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. DJ Marcus Wing from Studio 600 in Salt Lake City will DJ the event. The nationally credited hypnotist known as the “Trance Lady” will be present to hypnotize students with three different performances beginning at 9 p.m., 10:30 p.m. and midnight. The lounges in the TSC will be transformed to create the only casino in the state of Utah, with large prizes available for most chips. There will also be tarot card readers, palm readers, air-brushed painting, a money tank and Dave Brewer’s Photo Booth. Tickets can be purchased at the USU Ticket Office located in the Spectrum. Tickets are $5 for USU students and $10 for non-USU students. All guests must present a valid state or USU ID at the door and be at least 18 years of age. No props, masks or weapons are allowed. Generally offensive dress will not be admitted

Four films focus on immigrants A series of four films exploring the changing nature of American society and the experiences of those who cross real and perceived boundaries will be shown for free and is open to the public every Friday in February at USU. Films will be shown in Old Main, Room 121, and begin at 6 p.m. every Friday beginning Feb. 5. The schedule for the film festival includes “Spellbound,” Feb. 5; “God Grew Tired of Us,” Feb. 12; “The Border Wall”, Feb. 19; and “The Least of These,” Feb. 26. Each film addresses different aspects of immigrants’ adaptations to American Society. All films are free and open to the public, but seating is limited. As two of the films are not rated and deal with mature themes, parents are asked to exercise caution. The film festival is part of Crossing Boundaries, a year-long project promoting unity and diversity across community. For more information contact Scott Foster by e-mail, scott.foster@usu.edu, or by phone, 7977373.

Ten students receive engineering awards The first group of undergraduate researchers from Utah State University’s College of Engineering was recently honored with Engineering Undergraduate Research Program (EURP) awards. EURP awards are designed to involve outstanding undergraduate students in research projects with some the college’s most noted faculty. H. Scott Hinton, dean of the College of Engineering, said, “This new program is an effort by the college to ensure that some of our most outstanding undergraduates get the chance to work side-by-side with our best professors as they pursue their important research. These kinds of opportunities will both enhance their undergraduate educational experience and also set them up well for graduate studies as they continue their careers.” Recipients receive a minimum of $1,500 per semester, an amount they can receive for up to three semesters. The EURP researchers are required to work 10 hours weekly, and their research results must be presented at a professional venue. The new EURP researchers are Abiezer Tejeda, Alex Hatch, Alyssa Anderson, Andrew Fassmann, Dereck Hodson, Eduardo Monzon, James Wilson, Johnathan Nielsen, Jordan Bentley and Oscar Marquina.

-Compiled from staff and media reports

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they believe Jankowski is Hanson’s son. Records show that twice after the divorce, in August 2005 and in January 2006, Nikitina filed for protective orders against Jankowski, claiming cohabitant abuse. Unified Police Lt. Don Hutson told the Deseret News they can’t identify a specific event that triggered the shooting. He said there were ongoing custody battles, “but that’s nothing new.� Hanson, a concealed weapons permit holder, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of murder. She lives in Taylorsville, as did Nikitina. Salt Lake Community Action Program Head Start is a federally funded, comprehensive early childhood development program serving lowincome children between the ages of 3 and 5. Nikitina had been with the school for five years as an assistant teacher. Hutson said no children attend classes on Fridays, but teachers were there for training.

Budget: Rainy Day Fund could ease cuts -continued from page 1

period of time where faculty and staff members pay only one-third of their education, because a will receive no income. The central administrafraction of sales tax goes toward higher education includes the president, deans, provost, tion. When sales tax goes down, funds for eduassistant provost and all vice presidents. Central cation go down, as well. administration has accepted Lee said higher the furlough voluntarily. education will be conflicted “Students need “The legislature, right by budget cuts before many now, is saying we may have other entities, because public to say this is my to cut more than salary,� Lee education and funds for the situation and this said. disabled come first; however, is how I’ve been With $8 million in budthere is a gray area. affected.� get cuts that USU has yet to “How are we supapply, 60 faculty and staff posed to solve the problems members may need to be let the deaf and handicapped – Spencer Lee, of go. The 60 employees is in if we aren’t educating peostudent body vice ple?� Lee said. “Who are we addition to the 52 that were cut last year. president paying to teach in our handiGov. Gary Herbert procapped schools?� posed a budget plan to the If another 1 to 2 perlegislature, recommending cent is added to this year’s money from the Rainy Day Fund, which holds budget cuts, Coward said the money will come around $500 million, Lee said. If this proposifrom “specific expenditures� that have already tion is approved by the legislature, USU will been designated as part of this year’s spending. only need to worry about a remaining $3 to $4 Lee said budget cuts have taken away all of million in cuts rather than $7 million, he said. USU’s monetary cushion and is now taking away Lee said rarely is the governor asked to present from the “bones,� or structure, of the instituhis budget plan or political agenda to the legisla- tion. He said he believes entire programs will ture. have to go and USU will not be capable of offerIn the governor’s State of the State address, ing as many majors. Jan. 26, Herbert stated the budget was well If USU students voice concern to their legislareceived by legislators. tors in a positive manner, Lee said, legislators “Whether the cut is 3 or 4 percent, the presiwill be more likely to listen. He said because dent will employ the same strategy to get either budget cuts affect all students in some way, it is amount,� Coward said. their responsibility to take initiative of the curAs stated in his January 2010 letter to the rent financial situation, by becoming involved campus, one of the ways USU President Stan in the legislative process through voicing their Albrecht plans to save the budget is by taking opinions. interest money out of USU’s quasi-endowment “They don’t respond well to hate,� Lee said. funds. The interest from the funds are normally “Students need to say this is my situation and used for various college department scholarthis is how I’ve been affected.� ships. Next year, USU will have 21 percent less Though times may seem bleak, Lee said USU funding than it had two years ago, Lee said. students are fortunate, because they still have Students who wish to contact their legislative the opportunity to an affordable education in representative can find information at www. comparison to east coast students who pay close utah.gov/government/legislative.html, Lee said. to $6,000 in tuition per semester at a commu– catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu nity college. He said students must realize they

Clone: Lecture explores USU’s research -continued from page 1

THE PROFESSOR’S AIDE operates the microscope used during the live cloning technique demonstration. STEVE SELLERS photo

superior traits. This ensures high milk production in the animal and superior carcass traits, he said. USU has cloned 60 animals that yield prime meats. White said prime beef yields $150 or more per animal. After the lecture, attendees were free to explore the cloning stages of a cell through multiple microscopes, and three micromanipulation

stations were offered to help science enthusiasts better understand the cloning process. Becca Condie, freshman in biology, said, “I’m fascinated by the reproductive system, because of how miraculous it is. There isn’t anything that parallels it in the human body.� – catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu

AggieLife Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 Page 5

Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com

SCOTT PAGE photo illustration

Get rich or die tryin’ By DONIELL MOJAZZA staff writer

Question: Is it harder to get rich now than it has been in the past? There is no definite answer to this question. According to a recent study from Bankrate.com, 70 percent of Americans think it is harder to gain wealth in today’s economy. Some think that it will only get harder over the next 10 years. Also according to Bankrate.com, Americans say the most common reasons for lack of wealth are job loss or income reduction, or too many bills and not enough income. The main reaction to this issue is to save more and spend less. Citizens are being more responsible with their money and making smarter financial decisions. Alena Johnson, family finances professor at USU, doesn’t think it is harder to get rich in the long term. “College students can get rich over the years if they start investing now,” Johnson said, because getting rich is a “slow and steady” process. “It is all dependent upon how people manage their money, not on how much their income is.” If students invest regularly over a long period of time, they have the possibility of being rich by retirement. According to Johnson, there is also the fast approach. “The fast approach requires taking on risk. It doesn’t always work, but it helps to have the right personality and a little bit of luck,” Johnson said.

When asked what type of personality is right for the fast approach, Johnson said people need to be willing to take on risk, be aggressive and work hard for what they want. One book Johnson suggested to learn the slow approach is “The Wealthy Barber” by David Chilton, and a book for the fast approach is “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert T. Kiyosaki. Johnson said another option for students to get rich after college is by taking advantage of real estate investing. “Good credit and savings are the two best things you can have when you are trying to get started in real estate,” Johnson said. “Mutual funds are also a good way to invest and you can start with a small amount of money. The key is to start investing early.” Some say it is harder to get rich due to the inability to find work. According to wisegeek.com, outsourcing is an issue affecting citizens’ ability to obtain jobs. Some believe that by giving jobs to other countries, products will be cheaper for the U.S., and in return will boost the economy. However, others feel that outsourcing is taking jobs away from Americans, and since they don’t have a job, they will not purchase any new products. Mike Rees, junior in aircraft maintenance management, said he thinks it is harder to get rich now than in the past. “I don’t really have to worry about getting rich, or having a job or not because with my field of study, I won’t have to worry about losing job opportunities,” Rees said. “But if I had a different major, I think it would definitely be harder to find a job and secure it.”

Matthew Haddock, sophomore in exercise science, said he believes it is harder to now get a job in his field of study than it would have been 10 years ago. “People in a bad economy aren’t going to want to go to a gym and pay for a personal trainer. They are just going to learn to do it themselves at home,” Haddock said. “I chose my major over other majors because I didn’t want to have to take out loans for further education. Debt is really dangerous to have is this economy.” Kirk Smith, senior in Spanish, said he believes it is harder to get rich in Cache Valley now than 10 years ago. “The population has increased (in Cache Valley) over the past decade to the point that the job market has become very competitive,” Smith said. “People will accept less pay than they normally would, just so they can have a job, and lower wages make it harder to earn more money.” Clearly, USU students are stressed about finding and securing a job after graduation. It is not only becoming increasingly difficult nationally, but locally as well. A chain of events leads students to feel negative toward today’s economy and the future. Expensive college tuition requires a job. If a job is not obtained, student loans are acquired, which then accumulates debt after graduation. Due to the decreasing amount of jobs, the debt attained from student loans will take double the time to pay off, which leads people to believe they will never gain wealth. – doniell.mojazza@aggiemail.usu.edu

The art of putting it off Workshop offers students help with deadline issues By LAUREN GARDNER staff writer

JASON VONGERMETEN illustration

It’s Sunday night and a student has just realized the big assignment she has had a month to prepare for is due the next morning. Despite the professor’s warning to start the assignment early, there have been several more important things that needed to be done in that month’s time, such as watching a favorite TV show, snowboarding or skiing at the Beaver and, of course, Facebook. The student frantically throws together a messy, sloppy, but hopefully good enough, paper or project. Not surprisingly, this scenario is one visited by many students during their years at USU, and despite the stressful, humiliating experiences resulting from procrastination, many seem to not learn their lessons the first time. Luckily, there is hope for students striving to

rid themselves of procrastination and the affects it can have on their lives. The USU Counseling and Psychological Center will be presenting a monthlong workshop about procrastination and perfectionism. The lectures will focus on how to make students more productive and therefore happier people in general. Jesse Crosby, graduate student in psychology and an employee of the center, said the workshop is great for people who want to be involved in making a change in personal habits. “We see a lot of perfectionism and also problems with procrastination,” Crosby said. “We’ve been trying to identify ways to help more students. Sometimes simple things like this can help the most people.” The workshops begin Feb. 4 and will run every Thursday at 4 p.m. at the University Inn, Room 510. To sign up for the workshops, visit the Counseling

- See PRODUCTIVE, page 7

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Page 6

AggieLife

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010

‘Wincing the Night Away’

Over 25,000 books and more arriving daily!

Looking for a job? Thinking about looking for a job?

You gotta see the Statesman Job Widget at www.a-bay-usu.com. It’s right there on the right side of the page. National, regional, local career-type jobs... ready for your eyeballs and your resume. Check it out... .when you’re ready to make that change.

THE BAND BUFFALO play at the TSC Auditorium Friday as part of the Guitar Club Tribute Concert series. The bands covered songs made famous by The Shins. PETE P. SMITHSUTH photo

Sorority is memorable experience for student By DANIELLE ADAMS staff writer

$500 $2370-$3390 $2070-$2490

Utah Statesman: Name a movie you can watch over and over. Heather Brown: “Elf,” because he’s my role model. US: What are

your best and worst subjects in school? HB: My best is English, because I know the language, and my worst would be psychology.

Caught on Campus

Heather Brown sophomore secondary education

US: Do you own any pets? HB: Yeah, a shih tzu and a weiner dog.

US: Have you ever been in a physical fight? If yes, over what? HB: During a basketball game in high school, it was a jump ball and I threw her on the ground. US: Do people tell you that you act older, younger or your age? HB: Depends on who I am around. US: Do you dance? HB: Yes, every kind. I love to dance. US: What is your favorite hobby? HB: Sports and basketball would be my favorite. US: If I gave you $300 right now, what would you do with it? HB: Go buy jeans, because you can never have too many pairs. US: Do you regret anything you’ve done in your life? HB: No, because I have learned from all of my mistakes. US: Have you ever had surgery? HB: Yes, I shattered my pelvis, shoulder blade and collar bone during a fourwheeling accident. Now I am all full of metal. US: Are you a heavy or light sleeper? HB: A heavy sleeper. My husband snores a lot so I have to be. US: What song did you last listen to on your iPod?

SOPHOMORE HEATHER BROWN said if she were a pirate she would look in the Caribbean for treasure so she could be on the islands all day. DANIELLE ADAMS photo

HB: “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen.

because he is my husband, I guess.

US: Have you ever had a near death experience? HB: Yep, same as my broken things in the accident.

US: What do you look for in a boy? HB: Looks. Just kidding, mostly personality.

US: What is the best thing you have been part of at USU? HB: Join Alpha Chi Omega, my sisters are amazing.

US: Have you ever seen a therapist? HB: No.

US: When you die would you rather be cremated or buried? HB: Buried. US: If you were a pirate, where would you look for treasure? HB: I would look in the Caribbean, so I could hang on the islands all day. US: Name someone you can tell just about anything to. HB: Lance my husband,

US: Who is the best professor you have had at USU? HB: Tonia Triplet, because she is crazy. US: Have you ever won a trophy? HB: Yes, for academics, softball and basketball.

US: What is your favorite flavor of candy? HB: Chocolate, because I am a girl, of course. – danny.lynn.a@aggiemail. usu.edu

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010

Page 7

AggieLife

Aggies around the world Changing children’s lives in India

E

ducation is one of the most powerful building blocks a person can attain in her lifetime for a solid foundation. Unfortunately, many children around the world do not get the opportunity for education, and thus, are never given the chance to attain their dreams. USU students and several USU faculty members have been personally edified by education and are devoting themselves to creating opportunities in developing countries to change the lives of children by giving them the gift of education. In 2009, Casey Allred, Bushra Zaman, Rachael Senft and Doug Later started a non-profit organization called Effect International. The organization aims to empower communities in developing countries to create sustainable infrastructure by providing opportunities for education and health care. It began by building a primary school (grades K-5) in a village named Sasaram that is located in Bihar, India. Bihar is the poorest state in India and is wrought with problems, such as few schools; lack of clean drinking water; sporadic electricity; rough, unpaved roads and heavily polluted air. Bihar is the size of Illinois, but is home to 84 million people, of which 53 percent are illiterate. Zaman is a civil engineering Ph.D. student at USU and has always dreamed of helping her home country, India. “Someone has said that there is no such thing as functional illiteracy, because when a person is illiterate, he is not functional,” Zaman said. “Illiteracy is viewed as a greatest threat to a child’s future. I was fortunate enough to get an opportunity for a good education. Now I want to help these children who are in dire need. During the community meetings, I saw the parents’ desperation of getting their child’s name in the list in a hope that he or she might get a chance to study in a good school someday. We definitely plan to come up to their expectations.” Zaman returned to her home in Gaya in November 2009 to begin laying the groundwork for Effect’s initial project in Sasaram. Allred and Senft traveled to India in December 2009 to join Zaman and began a community needs assessment by meeting with the key leaders and surveying the

area. During their project they contacted nearly 500 eager children who do not have the opportunity to attend school. “It was heartbreaking to see all of their eager faces looking up at us. Their big eyes filled with hope and excitement,” said Senft, who studies social work. “I can’t sit back and let so many children grow up without the opportunity to fulfill their dreams.” After working in India, Allred and Senft traveled to Nepal to pursue another school project. They went to villages in rural Western Nepal, which is tucked under the Himalayan mountains. “As we rolled in on a jeep, the entire village knew we were coming. We were greeted by hundreds that draped flowers over our necks and red chalk on our foreheads, showing their appreciation, for our desire to work in their village,” said Allred, director of Effect. “So many of us have been educated with minimal effort. Some of these children walk six hours every day to attend school.” Effect International will be providing this village with new school benches, desks and a library this year. Next year, Effect will be building a secondary school. The organization’s first school will open April 2010 in a rented unit with more than 120 students in attendance and fully equipped with staff and supplies. Effect also received a donation of 10,000 square meters of land in the state of Madhya Pradesh, located in the center of India, for furthering its efforts to build schools. Library programs are being started in India and Nepal. If you would like to help Effect International promote education in India and Nepal, you can join our student group called USU Effect. USU Effect is led by students Tyson Stevens and Udita Sanga. For more information about Effect International and USU Effect, contact us at effectinternational@ gmail.com or visit us online at theffect.blogspot. com.

A GRANDMA STANDS IN a crowd with children from India, top. Below, Rachael Senft and Casey Allred take a picture while in Nepal. The two, along with Bushra Zaman and Doug Later started a non-profit organization called Effect International. photo courtesy CASEY ALLRED

This column is written by USU student Rachel Senft. Aggies around the world can be found every Monday in The Utah Statesman.

Productive: Receiving hope -continued from page 5 and Psychological Services Center are also available to Center in Room 206 of the students. Taggart Student Center or “The Academic Resource call 797-1012. Center is great for students Crosby plays a big role having trouble with their in the schoolwork,” workshop Crosby said. and was “It also helps “I decided to take excited to students who this opportunity be a part are having to be part of the of it. issues that workshops and “I’m a are making graduate their schoolhelp our students student work suffer. who want to be and one There are lots better.” of my of resources research available to all areas is – Jesse Crosby, graduate students.” perfecWhether student, psychology students tion,” he are said. “I having a hard decided to semester for take this financial or opportunity to be part of the personal reasons or due to workshops and help out stuthe dreaded habit of prodents who want to be better.” crastination, the Counseling The workshop is not the and Psychological Center only service offered by the has many options available counseling center, several to help students make this other workshops are offered semester as stress-free as throughout the semester. The possible. Academic Resource Center – lauren.gardner@aggiemail. and Disability Resource usu.edu

It’s a scramble for words

LOCAL TEAMS PARTICIPATE in the fifth annual Scrabble Scramble at the Haight Alumni Center Friday. Proceeds went to Bridgerland Literacy. The organization has helped thousands of Cache Valley adults who are unable to read. PETE P. SMITHSUTH photo

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 Page 8

MondaySports Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Bendall, Jardine slam Aggies past Spartans By TYLER HUSKINSON staff writer

Junior forward Nate Bendall scored a career-high 20 points and sophomore forward Brady Jardine also had a career-high 17 points to fuel the Utah State Aggies over the San Jose State Spartans, 77-58, at the Spectrum Saturday night. The Aggies (16-6, 6-2) extended their winning streak to six games and moved into a three-way tie for first place in the Western Athletic Conference with Louisiana Tech and New Mexico State after starting conference play 0-2. “We had a lot of guys play well tonight. It was great to see Bendall bounce back and have a double-double,” Aggie head coach Stew Morrill said. “He needed a game like that, because he’s had a few tough ones. I thought Pooh (Williams) was awfully good; Jardine obviously.” Bendall said, “I think I kinda got complacent after I strung along a few good games and didn’t really work as hard as I needed to work to be able to try and come in and be more of a dominant force in the league.” Bendall went 64 percent from field on 9-of-14 shooting, after only averaging about five points per game in the previous four games. “I forgot to just get out there and play,” Bendall said. The Aggies exploited the lack of size and depth in the Spartans line-up and played suffocating second-half defense. The Aggies hit 42 points in the paint, while the Spartans managed only 18, and the Aggie bench out scored the Spartan bench 25-10. Aside from Jardine’s 17 points, junior guard Brian Green scored eight points to account for the remainder the Aggie bench production. Junior guards Williams and Tyler Newbold held Spartan’s WAC leading scorer, junior guard Adrian Oliver, to 19 points. “We worked hard on him (Oliver), and we had guys aware of him trying to help. He’s 5-for-16, you’ll take that,” Morrill said of Oliver’s shooting night. The Aggies double-teamed Oliver and forced him into difficult shots. Oliver missed the rim on many occasions and had only 10 points at halftime, thanks to the Aggie defense. Oliver didn’t receive much help from his teammates either. Senior guard Mac Peterson was the only other Spartan in double figures, with 11 points, all of which came in the first half. Junior guard Justin Graham and senior center Chris Oakes are averaging double-figure point totals, but the two managed only four and six points, respectively. “San Jose is a very capable team,” Morrill said. “You saw that in the first half. We couldn’t get them stopped. That’s mainly what we focused on at halftime – was to get our defense better and acting like we were leading the league defensively.” The Spartans hit 54.2 percent of their shots from the field and 45.5 percent from the 3-point line in the

first half, and the Aggies went into halftime up 39-36. The Aggies, however, clamped down on the Spartans in the second half, allowing San Jose State to convert eight total field goals. The Spartans shot 21.4 percent from the field and 16.7 percent from the 3-point line in the second half. “It was a really good second half for us,” Morrill said. “We played awfully good basketball in the second half: defensively, offensively. Our defense in the second half was pretty strong.” The Aggies played well offensively in the first half and turned their offense up a notch in the second half. After shooting 48.4 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point land, the Aggies shot 60.7 percent from the field and remained constant at 50 percent from long range. Williams, who was the only other Aggie besides Bendall and Jardine to reach doubledigits, finished the night with 14 points and the Aggies shot a fiery 54.2 percent from the field and 50 percent from the 3-point line to finish the night. The Aggies continue to thrive on unselfish play as they dished out 20 assists as a team, and Jardine said the unselfish play was a key to his career-high point total. “I gotta give it (the credit) to my teammates. They’re making passes. They’re getting me the ball in easy-toscore places. It’s all my teammates. I owe it all to them,” Jardine said. After scouting out San Jose State, Morrill voiced concern for the speedy four guard line-up that the Spartans frequently use. What Morrill didn’t mention was his plan to fully exploit the mismatches down low on the Aggies’ offensive end. “Whoever they had a smaller guy on, we were going to attack that,” Morrill said. “That’s only fair if you’re going to make us chase around and guard four guards, then we’re going to make you guard us at the post. And we did a pretty good job of that.” The Aggies had a week of practice to get ready for San Jose State. The Aggies play two games at home this week. The Aggies face the University of Idaho Vandals on Wednesday and then the University of Nevada Wolf Pack on Saturday. “Every game is huge and that is the mentality that we’ve had the last five or six games – is one game at a time,” Jardine said. “We have two huge games next week.” The Aggies soundly defeated Idaho, 60-48, in Moscow, Idaho, Jan. 23, and revenge may be on the minds of the seventh-place Vandals led by former Aggie assistant head coach Don Verlin. Tip-off against the Vandals is slated for 9 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 3, at the Spectrum and the game will be televised on ESPN2. – ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu

SOPHOMORE FORWARD BRADY JARDINE throws down one of his three dunks during Saturday’s 77-58 win over San Jose State. PATRICK ODEN photo

HOCKEY

Hockey team sweeps weekend set against Wildcats, Bears By MATT SONNENBERG LANDON HEMSLEY

Friday vs. Weber State The USU hockey team delivered an emphatic reminder to Weber State about who reigns supreme on the ice in Utah this year with an 8-2 Aggie victory Friday night over the Wildcats. Utah State won the first three meetings against Weber State this season, but lost the last meeting by a score of 11-3 in Ogden. In Friday’s fifth meeting between the teams this season, the Aggies wasted no time before reasserting their authority over the Wildcats, who they had shown in the earlier part of this hockey season, scoring on a goal by Billy Gouthro just two minutes and 16 seconds into the game on assists by Jeff Sanders and Dave Wyman. The Aggies buried another goal off the stick of Brendan MacDonald three minutes and 16 seconds after Gouthro’s goal, this time coming off of assists from Tyler Mistelbacher and Kent Arsenault. Before the game had even reached its eighth minute of play, Mistelbacher gained control of the puck after a scrum in front of the Wildcats’ net to put in USU’s third goal of the game. USU looked to be on the verge of a blowout as the Wildcats seemed incapable of advancing the puck into the offensive zone, let alone getting quality scoring opportunities against a stellar forecheck put on by the Aggies throughout the first nine minutes of the game. Mistelbacher said, “I thought we came out strong at the beginning and we kind of broke down there for two goals.” The Wildcats finally broke out into the USU zone with a quality

scoring chance and Weber’s Braxton Green capitalized off an assist from defenseman Tim Bronconell to bring the game to 3-1. Green put in another goal two minutes later on a breakaway to make it 3-2. “We jumped right on them 3-0 and then we kind of sat back,” USU head coach Jon Eccles said. “They capitalized on some of the mistakes we were committing.” The two Weber State goals came from primarily a result of a breakdown within that same dominant forecheck the Aggies had thrown at the Wildcats early in the game. Eccles attributed the breakdown to the third forward on the 2-3 forecheck playing down too deep into the Aggies’ zone, which caused a defenseman to pinch down to try and seal the zone from Weber advancing the puck and Weber was able to slide a pass through the USU defense to Green for the Weber scoring chances. “I think we went into the first intermission thinking we’ve got to pick it up and that’s exactly what we did,” Mistelbacher said. First-period goal scorers MacDonald, Mistelbacher and Gouthro were not done for the evening as they scored the next three goals of game. MacDonald and Mistelbacher each netted goals in the second period, with both players assisting each other on their goals. Defenseman Matt Ferris and goalie Dan Cornelius also had assists on the second-period goals to give the Aggies a 5-2 lead going into the final period. The latter part of the second period didn’t come without some standard in-state rivalry type of chippy play between the two teams. Weber State forward Chris Roberts took a hack with his stick at a USU player, a play which escaped the vision of the

AGGIE FORWARD TYLER MISTELBACHER scores one of his third goal to give him a hat-trick against Weber State during Friday’s 8-2 win over the Wildcats. CARL WILSON photo

game’s officials, but not Mistelbacher. Mistelbacher stood toe to toe with Roberts and offered to drop the gloves to settle things in standard hockey fashion, but Roberts refused to go against Mistelbacher and skated away. “He hacked one of our players in the back of the head,” Mistelbacher said. “I don’t agree with that.” With the second-period tension seemingly diffused, the Aggies

quickly got back to taking control of the hockey game early in the third period when Gouthro got his second goal of the evening on assists from Jason Moore and Wyman, one of four assists on the night for Wyman. Mistelbacher put an emphatic cap on his five-point game with a hat-trick goal nearly halfway through the third period to put the USU lead up to 7-2. Following the final goal of the game

by USU’s Mike Morales, Weber State goalie Paul Pflueger was given a game misconduct for shooting the puck at the referee and spent the final nine minutes of the game in the team’s dressing room. On top of out shooting Weber State 63-21, Utah State was also

- See HOCKEY, page 12

StatesmanSports

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010

Page 9

Gymnasts flirt with upset of No. 21 BSU, ends in heartbreak By DAN FAWSON staff writer

UTAH STATE FRESHMAN AMELIA MONTOYA competes in the beam exercise during Friday night’s home opening gymnastics match versus the No. 21 ranked Boise State. PATRICK ODEN photo

Jeff Richards wants consistency. He really, really wants consistency. The Utah State women’s gymnastics coach watched Friday night as his teams’ recurring inability to stay consistent wire to wire resulted in a heartbreaking 191.625-191.125 loss to No. 21 Boise State. The meet was the Aggies’ home opener and second consecutive matchup against a ranked opponent. On Jan. 22, USU fell to in-state rival Southern Utah, who was also ranked No. 21 at the time. Holding a 143.525-143.425 lead heading into the final rotation, Utah State posted a 47.600 on floor, struggling on the apparatus for the second straight meet. The Broncos, meanwhile, scored a 48.200 on beam, aided by scores of 9.825 from junior Kelsey Lang, and 9.775 from sophomore Amy Glass, squelching the Aggie upset bid. The Aggies began the meet with a 48.22546.800 lead, but gave up ground to the Broncos in each of the three remaining events. “Overall, it was a good meet. We had some good things happening. We just weren’t consistent. We’re just not all firing on the same cylinders,” Richards said, lamenting the growing tendency of some of his gymnasts to follow up a good meet with a poor one. Utah State opened the meet with a 48.225 on vault and followed with scores of 47.500 on bars, 47.800 on

beam and finished with the 47.600 on floor. The Broncos posted a 48.725 on vault, a meet-low 46.800 on bars, 47.900 on floor and finished with the meetclinching 48.200 on beam. The Broncos had the top individual finishers in all four events, highlighted by freshman Hailey Gaspar’s 9.900 on vault. The loss dropped Utah State to 1-5 on the season, while Boise remained perfect, moving to 3-0. The Aggies were led by junior Lyndsie Boone, who won the all-around with a career-high 38.850. Boone finished second on vault with a career-high 9.825 and third on beam with a 9.725. “She’s a competitor,” Richards said of Boone. “It was her best meet of the season, and her best meet since she’s been here (at USU).” Boone’s only competition for the allaround title came from a pair of teammates. Senior Heather Heinrich finished second in the all-around, tallying a season-high 38.425. Heinrich tied for second on the floor with a 9.750 and tied Aggie freshman Amanda Watamaniuk for third on bars, both posted 9.650. Freshman Amelia Montoya followed up a second-place all-around finish in last Friday’s meet against Southern Utah, with a 38.050 against the Broncos, good for third overall. She tied her career-high with a 9.600 on vault, finishing seventh in the event. Despite another strong performance, Aggie fans will have to wait a while to see the freshman sensation in action again.

According to Richards, Montoya will be sidelined for two to three weeks as she nurses a hip flexor. “I think this is just a temporary fix to calm it down,” Richards said. He expects it will be something Montoya will have to deal with for the rest of the season, but hopes the time off will allow the star freshman to be around for the end of the season. The Aggies have dealt with injuries all season, something Richards believes the group is better prepared to handle than some of his teams in the past. “The nice thing is we have a little more depth this year,” Richards said, noting that many of the girls who may not have believed that going into Friday’s meet are “believing that a little bit more.” Despite the loss, Richards was happy to return home to Logan, saying the crowd helped his team forget mistakes and stay positive. “They were great,” Richards said of the fans. “It really pumps you up. We went to bars and had a little bit of a struggle, and you didn’t even realize it.” Unfortunately for Richards and his team, though, the battle for consistency will take them out on the road once again. Utah State will battle a pair of in-state foes during the next two weeks, first traveling to Provo on Friday to take on BYU and Denver, and then heading to Salt Lake City to square off against perennial national power Utah. – dan.fawson@aggiemail.usu.edu

Track notches 24 top-five finishes at Bronco Invitational By TYREL SKINNER staff writer

The USU track and field took many young runners and competed well in BSU’s Bronco Invitational over the weekend. The women’s team had nine top-five finishers, and the men’s team had 15 top-five finishes. The team took home a total of four first place titles. Senior Ashlee Cannon ran well in the women’s 60m hurdles for the second week in a row, with a time of 8.72,

placing third place. She also competed in the 60m dash with a fourth-place finish and a time of 7.84. A close fifth was sophomore Bailee Whitworth, with a time of 7.85. Whitworth was also strong in the 200m, with a fourthplace finish and a time of 25.10. In the field events, the women’s team picked up three more high finishes. Freshman Carli Cambell competed in the high jump and finished third with a height of 1.58m. In the shot put, junior Shannon Prince took third with a distance of 13.73m, while

sophomore Spela Hus won the event with a distance of 14.15m. The USU men’s team performed well with three first-place finishes. Junior Mike Pyrtle won the 60m dash with a time of 6.92. Sophomore John Goble placed third in the 60m hurdles, with a time of 8.51. Sophomore Jeff Alley placed fourth in the 200m, with a time of 22.15. Another firstplace finish came from junior James Allred in the 800m race, where he had a time of 1:52.70. The Aggies performed well in

the field events. Sophomore John Johnson took second place in the pole vault, with a height of 4.60m, followed by a third-place finish by Junior Phillip Noble, with a height of 4.45m. Sophomore Damion Szade took second in the long jump with 6.81m. Third place in the high jump was Casey Parker, who had a height of 1.95m. Rounding out the Aggie firstplace finishes was junior Clint Silcox, who cleared a height of 2.10m in the high jump. Performing well in the throws

was junior Joe Canavan, who picked up second place in the shot put, with a distance of 17.04m, and third in the weight throw with a distance of 17.91m. Freshman Spencer Hall also did well in the shot put with a distance of 15.45m and a fourth-place finish. It was an overall strong showing in Boise by USU’s track and field team. The Aggies will compete next in Albuquerque, N.M., at the New Mexico Invitational on Saturday. – t.g.s@aggiemail.usu.edu

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Page 11

Pot: Economy could open the gateway -continued from page 10 sinsemilla has quadrupled since the late 1970s. According to Dr. Sheila Kar, clinical chief of cardiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (and a member of the D.A.R.E America board of directors), marijuana has serious shortand long-term health consequences. It has been shown to cause an immediate rise in the heartbeat by 20 to 30 beats per minute along with an increase in blood pressure, thus increasing the workload of the heart. Marijuana is an irritant to the lungs and contains proportionally more carcinogens than tobacco smoke. It is associated with increased incidence of cancer of the head and neck area and lungs. It works on the brain, causing short- and longterm memory loss and impairing judgment, and it affects the sensations of taste and smell. One of its more pernicious effects is that it reduces inhibitions and can lead a person under its influence to try even more harmful substances. In other words, there’s a reason the federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug with a high potential for abuse. It is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States, and more teens are in treatment for marijuana addiction than for alcohol or any other drug. Do we really want this habitforming drug easier to get, particularly as the nation has made significant strides in reducing illegal drug use? Between 1979 and 2007, the rate of illegal drug use fell by half. Programs such as D.A.R.E. taught schoolchildren the facts about drugs, alcohol and tobacco and bolstered their critical thinking and decision-making skills so they can do more than just say no. In conjunction with Penn State University, the new D.A.R.E. middle school curriculum has been vetted and proved effective at reducing drug use. In

recent years, D.A.R.E. has added units on prescription and over-the-counter medications, abuse of which is growing among teens – another reminder, along with abuse of alcohol, that just because something is legal, it doesn’t necessarily reduce the risk of abuse. And that abuse costs all of us. The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, or CASA, at Columbia University estimated last year that substance abuse and addiction cost federal, state and local governments $467.7 billion in 2005. Break out federal spending on substance abuse and addiction as its own budget item and it would rank near the top with defense, Social Security and Medicare. This is where supporters of legalization like to say that decriminalizing marijuana would free up law enforcement resources and provide a tax base to fund prevention and treatment. In fact, CASA estimates just 13 percent of the combined state and federal substance-abuse costs are attributable to the justice system – a figure that also includes family court, driving under the influence and hard-core drug dealing. The bulk of the costs stem from direct health-care expenses. Imagine what a dent we could make in reducing health care costs if we prevented more drug and alcohol abuse. The California Board of Equalization estimates that taxing marijuana sales the way alcohol and cigarettes are taxed could add $1.34 billion a year to state coffers. But for every dollar in state and federal alcohol and tobacco taxes that is collected, CASA estimates government spends $8.95 to clean up the often tragic consequences of addiction, driving under the influence, domestic abuse or illness. That’s right: A dollar coming in; $8.95 going

out. Suddenly, that $1.34 billion doesn’t seem like much, particularly when one considers that it comes with significantly wider access to a habit-forming drug that has been shown time and again to be a gateway to even more dangerous drugs. Despite the gains of the past two decades, substance abuse remains a serious drag on the health, productivity and safety of our nation. There is a connection between marijuana and fiscal solvency, but supporters of legalization have it backward. Reducing, not expanding, marijuana use can save billions. It’s time to clear the smoke. This column by Skip Miller first appeared in the Jan. 29 edition of The Los Angeles Times.

FEBRUARY 3, 2010

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Caine School of the Arts • Crossing Boundaries Series

HELEN WHITNEY LECTURES AT UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY February 2-4, 2010 Helen Whitney has worked as a producer, director and writer for documentaries and feature films since 1971. Her documentary work has appeared on ABC’s “Closeup” and PBS’s “American Masters,” as well as on “Frontline.” Her documentaries have ranged over a wide variety of subjects, among them: youth gangs, presidential candidates, the mentally ill, a Trappist Monastery, Pope John Paul II, the class structure of Great Britain and the photographer Richard Avedon. She has received an Emmy, a Peabody Award, and an Oscar nomination, the Humanitas Award and the prestigious duPont-Columbia Journalism Award. Her latest documentary, “The Mormons,” aired nationally on PBS on April 30 and May 1, 2007. On Tuesday, February 2nd, Ms. Whitney will be screening her film “American Masters-Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light” at 1:00 in room FAV 113. After the screening there will be a question-and-answer session. On Wednesday, February 3rd, Ms. Whitney will be interviewed for the radio program “Access Utah” on Utah Public Radio station FM 89.5 or FM 91.5 from 9:00 until 10:00 a.m. At 7 p.m., she will be lecturing on her films and life as a film maker, followed by a question-and-answer session. This event is free and open to the public in the Performing Arts Hall. On Thursday, February 4th, Ms. Whitney will be screening some of her other films in the Department of Art. For more information on the times and location, please contact the Art Department at (435) 797-3460.

StatesmanSports

Page 12

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010

Men’s tennis splits two games in Vegas, women drop home opening match best of Zauere in a tiebreaker to win the final set 7-6, as well as log another point for the Aggies. No. 2 singles held a similar storyline as the No. 1 pairing, just not a similar result, as USU’s West fell in three sets to the Bulldogs’ Mehndiratta, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6. Commenting on the two thrillers at the top of the singles pairings, assistant coach Lukas Bouton said, “They both fought hard and had to try to find ways to win. I’m very proud of the way they played, not unhappy at all and it’s something you can use going into the future.” The Aggies also got victories in the No. 3 and No. 6 singles pairings from Kristina Voytsekhovich and Britney Watts, both coming in straight sets. A split of singles pairings ended up being just short of what USU needed for a victory. “In a match like this, where we split the singles matches three and three, the doubles point ended up deciding the match,” Bouton said. “In close matches that can be the decider.” When speaking of how close the match was in the end, Bouton said: “I told the girls there was probably 1,000 points played today and it came down to about two of them. Basically it doesn’t get any closer than that as far as who wins and who loses.” The women have a week and a half off before returning to action at home against Weber State University on Feb. 10. The men’s team opened up its weekend trip Friday against UNLV, falling by a 7-0 sweep at the hand of the Rebels. The Aggies did have a bright spot against UNLV in the No. 2 singles pair-

By MATT SONNENBERG assistant sports editor

Utah State men’s and women’s tennis teams were both in action over the weekend, with the men traveling to Las Vegas to take on UNLV and Northern Arizona, while the women stayed home in Logan to face the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Saturday’s match for the women was their home opener and second match overall on the season after starting off their schedule with a road victory over Idaho State last week. The home opener didn’t hold as favorable of a result for the USU women, as Gonzaga held off a solid Aggie effort for a 4-3 win. USU got off to a bit of a rocky start, as the Aggies dropped two out of three doubles matches to Gonzaga to give the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead in team points. While the Aggies’ pair of Hailey Swenson and Jaclyn West were able to secure an 8-7 victory in the No. 1 doubles pairing, USU lost by a final of 8-4 in No. 2 doubles and 8-2 in No. 3 doubles. Singles play was highlighted by hardfought battles by both Swenson and West, but just one of those matches yielded a favorable result for the Aggies. Swenson battled Gonzaga’s Kristina Zauere for nearly three hours in the No. 1 singles pairing, and West’s match against Gonzaga’s Rika Mehndiratta lasted just as long. Swenson dropped the first set to Zauere 3-6, then bounced back strong in the second set to win 6-3 to set up a third and final set to decide the match. Swenson finally got the

ing, as the duo of Sven Poslusny and Amit Maharaj teamed up to defeat Attila Toth and Matthew Kunkel, 8-6. Poslusny played and continued to play well for the Aggies throughout the early part of his freshman season. In singles play, UNLV players won all six matchups in straight-set victories to complete the 7-0 sweep for the No. 73 ranked team in the nation. The men didn’t wait long before bouncing back Saturday with a 5-2 win against Northern Arizona. Despite losing two out of three doubles matchups for the second straight day, with the Aggies’ lone win coming again from Poslusny and Maharaj, USU came out with the upper hand in five out of six singles pairings against the Lumberjacks of NAU. Utah State junior Jakob Asplund set the tone for the team in No. 1 singles with a third-set victory over NAU’s Andrew Reiff, 6-7, 7-6, 10-7. Poslusny followed up Asplund with a win at No. 2 singles over fellow German native Patrick Schimmelbauer in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. The Aggies also got straight-set victories from Maharaj and Nikita Ryashchenko at the No. 5 and No. 6 singles slots, while Bryan Marchant battled through three sets to grind out a victory at No. 3 singles. Splitting the two matches over the weekend puts the Aggie men at a 2-3 record on the season. Next weekend they will have another double-header in Boise against Lewis and Clark State and the Broncos of Boise State. – matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu

Hockey: Aggies cruise against Weber State and UNC -continued from page 8 perfect on the penalty-kill throughout the game, something Eccles complimented. “We’ve got fast, great skaters,” Eccles said. “They’re disciplined. We were getting the puck out deep into their zone and were tracking it down.” Mistelbacher echoed those opinions on the penalty-kill, simply saying, “We shut them down.” Friday’s game was the last scheduled meeting between the two teams this season and the 8-2 win put the Aggie’s record against Weber State at 4-1 for the year. Saturday vs. Northern Colorado

(ACHA) in terms of scoring. With a total of 38 goals, Mistelbacher ranks third in scoring on the season in all of D2 ACHA hockey, behind Samuel Wheeler of Northwestern University (46) and Michael Zenzola of University of Nevada-Las Vegas (39). Mistelbacher is tied with Kentucky’s Tony Valerino (38), though Valerino has played two fewer games than Mistelbacher this season. There are 187 teams nationwide in D2 ACHA hockey, and Mistelbacher is behind six players in the entire league in goals per game at 1.44. “He’s just on a tear right

now,” head coach Jon Eccles said, “but he’s on a line where we’ve got some good guys feeding him the puck and setting him up. But he’s a natural goal scorer.” Mistelbacher scored the first goal of the game in the first period and another in the second. UNC, trailing by three after two, managed to get one by USU goaltender Dan Cornelius in the third and held USU scoreless until the :15 mark. As a matter of fact, Eccles identified Cornelius as the standout player of the game for his excellent performance in the nets. Eccles said the goal that Cornelius allowed

was practically impossible to defend. “He played well,” Eccles said. “The goal they scored on him was a redirect. It got deflected. It might have even gone off of one of our guys, but Dan played a great game.” The save statistics from this game tell much about the pace and flow of the game in addition to how dominant Cornelius was. Cornelius had 22 saves on 23 shots made against his goal. By contrast, UNC’s goalie, Phil Tereyla, made 41 saves on 44 shots. Utah State was able to not only maintain possession of the puck and move it around in

UTAH STATE’S HAILEY SWENSON makes a backhand return during her match in USU’s home-opening tennis match against Gonzaga Saturday. Swenson won her singles match, but the Aggies ultimately fell by a 4-3 final. CODY GOCHNOUR photo

the offensive zone much more easily than their opponent, but also denied UNC any room offensively. “We’re playing well with team defense,” Eccles said. “Everyone’s getting back and helping. Our defensemen are chipping the puck out. We’re getting good breakouts, and we’re also getting enough people back to help. We’re doing well in the neutral zone, tying it up and creating turnovers.” In a desperate attempt to generate some offense and hopefully deadlock the game at three apiece, UNC pulled its goalie at the end of the third period, artificially creating the power play for the Bears. The plan backfired. USU was able to swipe the puck from UNC and made a beeline straight for the open net at the other

end of the ice. Jeremy Martin controlled the puck and dished it to Billy Gouthro. Gouthro, in turn, got it to David Wyman, who sunk the puck into the open net with 15 seconds remaining in the game, sealing the win for the Aggies. Also scoring in this game for USU besides Mistelbacher and Wyman was Jeremy Moore. Moore’s first-period goal put the Aggies ahead by two. Utah State will next head to Colorado to take on Denver University, a top-10 team in the region, and Metro State. USU’s next home game will be Friday, Feb. 19, when Denver University visits the Eccles Ice Center in the final game of the regular season for USU. The puck drops at 7:05 p.m. – matt.sonn@aggiemail.usu.edu

Tyler Mistelbacher continued his offensively potent season Saturday night against the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), scoring twice and leading USU hockey to a 4-1 win. Mistelbacher is separating himself from the field in Division 2 of the American Collegiate Hockey Association

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USU FORWARD BILLY GOUTHRO gathers the puck as the Aggies break out of the defensive zone during Saturday’s 4-1 victory over the University of Northern Colorado. The Aggies outscored their opponents 12-3 over the weekend’s games against UNC and Weber State. CODY GOCHNOUR photo 6

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Page 14

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010

StatesmanBack Burner

Today’s Issue

Monday

Student info

Feb. 1

The Registrar’s Office would like to remind everyone of the following dates: Feb. 1 is the last day to receive 50% refund, to add classes, and drop without notation on transcript, and tuition and fee payment due date. From Feb. 2-Mar. 12 drops will show as W on transcript.

On March 1 abstracts are due for the Student Showcase, USU’s Annual Undergraduate Research Event. For more info go to: http: research.usu.edu/undergrad/htm. Religion in Life Devotional will be held Feb. 5 at 11:30 a.m. in the Institute Cultural Center. IWA Girl’s Choice Formal Dance will be held Feb. 5 from 8:30-11 p.n. in the Institute. No overnight parking on Logan LSAT and GRE prep course City streets is allowed between will be held on Tuesdays and the hours of 1 and 6 a.m. Thursdays from Jan. 26- Mar. 4. through the end of February. It Register at http://sail2.ext.usu. is the responsibility of all Logan edu/lsat/index.cfm. Or for more City residents to inform guests info call Melanie Klein at 797of these restrictions. If you need 0462. assistance, please call us at 435The USU Aikido Club will 750-0255. be having a weapons seminar on Feb. 1 at 5:30 p.m. in the Sunburst Lounge. USU Healthy Relationships and The 3rd Annual College of Sexual Responsibility Week is Agriculture Chili Cook-Off will Feb. 8-12th. Sponsored by the be held Feb. 6 at 5 p.m. in the USU Student Health Services. ASTE building. Entry fee is $10. To Events include True Aggie enter call 797-2215. Dating Game, a Relationship On Feb. 10 the Ecology Center Panel. Open to public. will host a Seminar series by Dr. Lawren Sack from the University of California, Los Angeles entitled If you dine at Chili’s on Feb. 1 “Leaf Design and its Applications and mention you are supporting to Ecosystems Past, Present and the Native American Student Future” in ENGR 101 at 6 p.m. Council, it will donate 10% of Cache Valley Comedy Night its total earnings that it generpresented by LOL Productions will ates. This will help the NASC be held Feb. 26 from 8-10 p.m. at is preparation for its upcoming the Ellen Eccles Theatre. Compete pow wow on Feb. 26-27. to be the funniest person in Cache Valley and win prizes. It’s free to compete, contact Dustin at 801USU Extension and the Utah 814-8021. Tickets are on sale now. Commission on Marriage will The College of NR is hostbe holding a “Marriage Week ing a Summer Job Fair on Feb. Banquet” on Feb. 9 at 6:30 p.m. 2 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the at the Copper Mill Restaurant. NR Atrium. Bring a resume. Keynote speaker will be Dr. Professional attire encouraged. Victor Harris. Must pre-pay $10 Contact nradvise@usu.edu with per person by Feb. 4. Call 752questions. 6263 for more info. On Feb. 2, the Artisan Dairy Workshop will be held at the Caine Dairy Research and Teaching Center on Hwy 89/91 in Wellsville. For people interested from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Cost is $30. For more info or to register email karma.wood@usu.edu.

-Recyclemania, all day

Tuesday

Feb. 2

Today is Monday, Feb. 1, 2010. Today’s issue of The Utah Statesman is published especially for Katelyn Battles, freshman in photography, from Portland, Ore.

Overnight parking

-Recyclemania, all day -Dairy artisan workshop, 8 a.m.

Wednesday

Feb. 3

Almanac

-Recyclemania, all day -Men’s basketball vs. Idaho, 9 p.m.

Today in History: In 1790, In the Royal Exchange Building on New York City’s Broad Street, the Supreme Court of the United States meets for the first time, with Chief Justice John Jay of New York presiding. The Supreme Court later grew into arguably the most powerful judicial body in the world in terms of its central place in the U.S. political order.

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Views&Opinion

Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 Page 10

Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com

AboutUs

OurView

Editor in Chief Patrick Oden

Trying times call for trying measures

News Editor Rachel A. Christensen

Assistant News Editor Catherine Meidell

W

ith the new year comes a new round of legislative budget cuts affecting higher education and, in turn, USU. While the impending trimmings may not hold the same weight as last year’s cuts, the fact remains that USU is in for a few more changes that will stall our progress and economic recovery. Students began the ‘09-’10 academic year with less staff teaching noticeably larger classes. Many faculty did not return after the summer months and certain details, both large and small, of everyday collegiate life seemed to have quietly disappeared. Adjusting to the additional cuts that we are likely to receive, the university will let go of more faculty, classes will swell to larger sizes and more of the subtle nuances of our institution will cease. That’s the best case scenario. In the worst case, entire departments will have to be restructured, reorganized or simply eliminated from the breadth of university studies. It is not unreasonable to suggest that because the university is losing money every year, we will reach a point where certain majors can no longer be offered at USU. Students will have to alter either their career plans or their choice of institution for higher learning. These are dire times indeed, and we commend the university administration for its efforts in weathering the storm. Time and again USU President Albrecht and the central administrators have expressed their sincere desire and their ideas for preserving the caliber of education and employment offered here. Certain steps will have to be taken and sacrifices will be made. While students and staff alike will undoubtedly be negatively affected by the changes made, we hope everyone can remember that desperate measures must be taken in desperate times. An outpouring of negativity accomplishes nothing. ASUSU Executive Vice President Spencer Lee has encouraged the student body multiple times to take a productive initiative. We at The Statesman echo his sentiment. Contact your legislatures, voice your concerns through the appropriate channels. There are numerous resources available for expressing your position to those that can affect the outcome. It is only through action, unified and resolute, that we can expect to make a difference.

T

Don’t legalize it

he Los Angeles City Council’s vote Tuesday to shut hundreds of so-called medical marijuana dispensaries was a welcome move, but the larger battle over pot has just begun. Across the country, lawmakers and residents of cashstrapped states are edging ever closer to legalizing – and taxing – marijuana. In California, the first state in the nation to pass a medical marijuana law, backers of an initiative to legalize the drug expect to gather enough signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot. And a Field Poll last year showed more than half of California voters would support such a move. Two beliefs drive this push

to make pot legal: that new tax revenue will stave off deeper budget cuts and that marijuana is a relatively benign drug. Neither is true. Legalization almost certainly would bring with it additional substance abuse in the state, and the long-term public costs associated with that would vastly exceed the relatively modest amount of new revenue legal weed might bring in. Baby boomers who hazily recall their own experimentation with marijuana often are stunned to learn that the amount of tetrahydrocannabinol – or THC, marijuana’s primary psychoactive substance – in domestic

- See POT, page 11

Features Editor Courtnie Packer

Assistant Features Editor Benjamin Wood

Sports Editor Connor Jones

Assistant Sports Editor Matt Sonnenberg Copy Editor

Corporations, the high court and the Fourth Estate

W

ho knew that decades-old campaign-spending limits threatened to prevent newspapers from opinionating on candidates for public office? That’s the hideous boogeyman that Chief Justice John Roberts raised last week in justifying the Supreme Court’s decision to toss restrictions Congress had placed on direct corporate spending to sway elections. In arguing to uphold the limits, Roberts wrote in a concurrence, the government put forth “a theory of the First Amendment that would allow censorship not only of television and radio broadcasters, but of pamphlets, posters, the Internet and virtually any other medium that corporations and unions might find useful in expressing their views on matters of public concern.” That theory, he ominously warned, “would empower the government to prohibit newspapers from running editorials or opinion pieces supporting or opposing candidates for office, so long as the newspapers were owned by corporations – as the major ones are.” Roberts’ concern for editorialists and the role we play in “the vibrant public discourse that is at the foundation of our democracy” is quite touching. But, in the almost four decades since Congress started requiring corporations to channel their advocacy spending through political action committees, has anyone seriously suggested that media conglomerates should have to pay for their election commentary through PACs? To echo Roberts’ language, his claim is one that “I find quite perplexing.” Editorialists debate among ourselves whether it’s helpful or merely arrogant for us to recommend for or against candidates seeking election. We have resources to examine records and ask hard questions with the goal of providing an assessment that voters can add to the information they consider before casting their ballots. But some readers want just facts, not others’ opinions; some say they don’t want their newspaper “telling them how to vote.” But that wasn’t Roberts’ concern. Even though federal campaign finance restrictions don’t apply to newspaper editorials, opinion pieces or letters to the editor, he insists that’s “simply a matter of legislative grace.” And, you know, Congress could change its mind. Just like the court, I suppose. Roberts spent most of his 14-page concurrence in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission explaining that respect for precedent loses its importance when those precedents are just wrong.

“We must balance the importance of having constitutional questions decided against the importance of having them decided right,” he wrote. The key offender was a 6-3 decision in 1990 upholding Michigan’s ban on using corporate treasuries to promote or defeat candidates. That ruling included two “spirited dissents,” Roberts said, and has been “the consistent subject of dispute among members of this court ever since.” But it’s through personnel changes that those dissenters – Justices Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy – gained colleagues who also object to campaign finance limits. Justice Clarence Thomas joined the court in 1991, Roberts in 2005 and Justice Samuel Alito in 2006. Justice John Paul Stevens is the only member left from that 1990 majority – and he wrote a most spirited dissent in Citizens United. “The court operates with a sledgehammer rather than a scalpel when it strikes down one of Congress’ most significant efforts to regulate the role that corporations and unions play in electoral politics,” Stevens wrote. And, he said, “While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics.” Roberts, for his part, said the court struck down limits on direct corporate spending only after careful consideration, two rounds of briefing, two oral arguments and 54 amicus briefs. I’m skeptical whether any of that influenced what he considered the right answer. Opinion writers will continue to opine on whether last week’s ruling advances “uninhibited, robust and wide-open” public debate or further distorts the ability to influence electoral politics. We’ll continue to explore what the appropriate responses should be from lawmakers, corporations, interest groups and voters. We’ll continue to debate the use and abuse of judicial activism. But I doubt most of us imagined that the constitutional consternation surrounding “Hillary: The Movie” was about a potential government crackdown on opinion pages. This column by Linda P. Campbell first appeared in the Jan. 29 edition of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Campbell is a columnist and editorial writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Readers may write to her via e-mail at lcampbell@star-telegram.com.

James O’Keefe’s latest caper and the new media

F

ilmmaker James O’Keefe III is 25, meaning he was born about 13 years after five men were arrested for trying to bug the offices of the Democratic National Committee at the Watergate complex in Washington. The subsequent scandal, which led to the resignation of the burglars’ boss, President Richard M. Nixon, was fodder for history books by the time O’Keefe was old enough to read them. Chances are, he didn’t. O’Keefe, the Internet “journalist” who became an overnight sensation after his undercover reports revealed unethical behavior by the liberal activist group ACORN, now finds himself in the middle of his own bugging scandal. He was arrested Monday in

what the FBI alleges was a plot to “interfere with a telephone system” in the office of Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary L. Landrieu in New Orleans. According to federal court records, O’Keefe admitted that he worked with three accomplices, two of whom entered Landrieu’s office posing as telephone repairmen while O’Keefe recorded them with his cellphone camera. If convicted, the four face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. It isn’t clear what the men were after or why they targeted Landrieu, who is one of the most conservative Democrats in the Senate. But the fact that they tried to access the office’s telephone closet, where the wiring for the system is located, suggests that they may have wanted to tap

Landrieu’s phone network. O’Keefe was in legal trouble before now. When he and fellow conservative activist Hannah Giles posed as a pimp and a prostitute and secretly videotaped conversations with ACORN employees last summer, they may have been violating laws in several states, including California, that forbid surreptitious recordings. That didn’t excuse the behavior they uncovered at ACORN, nor the organization’s subsequent efforts to deflect blame and avoid taking responsibility for its internal problems. But it did mark the ascent of a new brand of online journalism employing methods that are at best unethical and at worst illegal. In an era of citizen bloggers and media fragmentation, old-

fashioned standards of ethics and objectivity are breaking down. The right and left alike – but especially conservatives – celebrate that turn of events; resentment over a perceived bias by the “mainstream media” has sent them flocking to partisan news outlets and turning the likes of O’Keefe into folk heroes. Yet his latest stunt less resembles legitimate investigative journalism than the kind of illicit political dirty-tricks campaign that brought down Nixon. O’Keefe’s fellow ideologues will no doubt continue to defend him, but embracing such methods won’t improve his credibility, or theirs. This editorial column first appeared in the Jan. 28 edition of The Los Angeles Times.

Mark Vuong

Photo Editors Pete Smithsuth Steve Sellers Web Editor

Karlie Brand

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