The Signpost: FUNDING FOR VOTERS >>> WSU GETS OUT THE VOTE

Friday | October 23, 2020 | Volume 93 | Issue 18

FUNDING FOR VOTERS BRIELLE HARKER | The Signpost

>>PAGE 3

NEWS » PAGE 7

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02 | MyWeberMedia.com| October 23, 2020

Senior Reporter

Clubs and organizations at Weber State University can earn funding by getting all members of any campus club or organization to register as voters through TurboVote.

Students are eligible to register to vote, and there’s additional incentives through using TurboVote for WSU’s variety of clubs and organizations.

Heather Cimino, coordinator of clubs and organizations on campus, said TurboVote allows verification of members.

After all members were registered, political engagement will transfer funds to their club account.

Cimino also explained the importance of being politically aware. It is

important for all citizens, not just students. Cimino suggests that if citizens feel that their voices won’t be heard, then they won’t. If enough people challenge this self-defeating mindset, actual change is possible.

According to vote.utah.gov, “The Utah Campus Cup is a statewide voter registration challenge sponsored by the Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office.

Universities and colleges compete for the ownership of the Campus Cup trophy, cool prizes, bragging rights and a meeting with the Lieutenant Governor.”

WSU is ranked first on the most registered voters, followed by Snow College and Utah State University, who hold second and third places, respectively.

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Cimino credits this to word-of-mouth at the university and student body president Ben Ferney and his dedication.

“I also think the CCEL office has done great work trying to get students to register through fun campaigns and incentives, like the awesome “VOTE” shirts they gave out,” Cimino said.

Clubs and organizations using TurboVote have a great deal of incentives to ensure that their members are registered to vote, which is a win-win situation, according to Cimino.

“I would encourage anyone to get involved through TurboVote and do their part as a Weber State student, a Utah resident and citizen of the United States to educate themselves on the views of those that are running for office,” said Whitney Olson, Vice President of Clubs and Organizations at WSU. Olson also said since most citizens of the U.S. are eligible to vote, we have the right to express our opinions, and common sharing of differing opinions

helps us pick out leaders that reflect those same positions.

In addition to cash incentives and prizes, there are benefits from being involved with clubs and organizations who are using TurboVote. Those involved have the opportunity to learn more about voting, how it works and why they, as individuals, may or may not want to register to vote.

“It is a win for clubs and orgs,” Cimino said. “Receiving funding is always a good thing that helps clubs and organizations achieve their goals, and it is a win for our community because it is helping young people see the importance of doing their civic duty, educating themselves and creating life-long voters.”

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BRIELLE HARKER | The Signpost

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04 | MyWeberMedia.com| October 23, 2020

MILES SHAW Asst. Section Editor

Heartbreaking finishes are one of the best parts of being a sports fan. The highs and lows of the game culminating in one final play, or series of plays, where the game is won or lost by either team.

But when your favorite team is always coming out as the loser at the end of the game, it becomes a lot less enjoyable. In fact, it’ll start to drive any fan mad.

I’m a fan of the Minnesota Vikings, and I’ve been one since I can remember.

I remember watching Daunte Culpepper light up defenses with bombs to Randy Moss and a few years later seeing Adrian Peterson throw opponents to the side and run them over while gaining 2,097 yards and falling just eight yards shy of the single season record.

Those moments will always be unforgettable for me.

But being a fan of the Vikings means Sundays in the fall can be disappointing, head-scratching and often infuriating.

Heartbreaking losses didn’t just begin for the Vikings. These gut-wrenching end-ofgame fiascos stretch back decades, and continue to happen, becoming all too common for us Vikings fans.

However, there’s still been a lot of success.

Minnesota’s been one of the cornerstone franchises of the NFL, to go along with being one of the most successful. The team’s 54.6 winning percentage is the sixth highest all-time in the NFL. But losing when it matters most has become more than a recurring theme for the team. It’s become a tradition.

Before the present troubles for Minnesota started here in 2020, there’s the thrilling, yet painful past.

The Vikings marched into Sun Devil Stadium for the last game of their 2003 season. The week before, I had watched in awe while Culpepper and Moss completely dismantled the Kansas City Chiefs.

A win was all the team needed. A win and Minnesota was playoff bound, or so I thought.

An 11-point Minnesota lead with six minutes left in the game seemed like playoff chances were over for Arizona. But their quarterback, Josh McCown, led a drive that resulted in a wild scramble and touchdown throw, which cut the lead to 17-12.

Arizona then recovered an improbable onside kick attempt and took the ball down to the Minnesota 18-yard line. After a sack and fumble, which Minnesota didn’t recover, it was fourth down for Arizona, from the Vikings’ 27-yard line.

A heave from McCown with five seconds remaining and a catch by Nate Poole in the end zone resulted in game over, 18-17 final score.

Unbelievable.

Then came 2009. Brett Favre signed with the Vikings after leaving the arch-rival Packers and playing a forgettable year with the Jets. I couldn’t have been more excited.

The 2009 season unfolded into the best season of Vikings football I have ever witnessed.

The old gunslinger himself, Favre, led the Vikings during a magical season that saw the team set franchise records and reach the door-

step of football glory. The NFC Championship game, in the Superdome, was against the New Orleans Saints.

After a back-and-forth game, which saw three Peterson touchdown runs, the score was tied 28–28. Vikings’ ball at the Saints’ 38-yard line with nineteen seconds left. Favre rolled to the right and with room to run, he threw it.

Interception.

Minnesota lost after the Saints hit a field goal in overtime.

Devastating is the only word.

Minnesota found themselves back in the playoffs in January of 2016, against the reigning NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks. The Vikings were led by the steady quarterback play of Teddy Bridgewater and the season’s leading-rusher Adrian Peterson.

A negative six degree temperature at kickoff, with a negative 30-degree wind chill, made this the third-coldest game ever played in NFL history, but it was about to get much colder at TCF Bank Stadium.

After a defensive slugfest of a game resulted in a score of 10–9, Vikings kicker Blair Walsh was warming up for the game-winning kick from the 17-yard line after Peterson drove

the ball down into the red zone through the frigid air.

Nobody can convince me Walsh wasn’t nervously sweating in the frigid temperatures when he was shown on the Fox telecast practice kicking into the net on the sideline with the clock ran down to 26 seconds. I could sense it, feel it in the air — disaster was about to strike.

Walsh trotted out onto the field and kicked the field goal wide left — very wide left — leaving fans in utter horror while the Seahawks’ coaches and players laughed in celebration and disbelief at their victory.

The pain of having to watch your team’s kicker shank away an entire season from the 17-yard line is a different kind of misery, and this wasn’t even the first time this happened in Vikings history.

There’s a long history of kicking woes for the Vikings. A memory lane which, when traveled, is paved with agony, tears and sleepless nights for fans in purple.

This kick brought back memories for fans of Gary Anderson’s infamous missed field goal in the Metrodome during the 1998 NFC Championship game against the Atlanta Falcons.

Unfortunately, the problems with this year’s team run much deeper than kicker.

Minnesota started 0–2 before the Tennessee Titans arrived in Minneapolis. Kirk Cousins and Justin Jefferson torched the Titans.

Jefferson had 175 receiving yards to go with two touchdown grabs.

In short order, Tennessee came back from a 12-point deficit and won after kicking a field goal to go up one; then, they intercepted Cousins to end the game.

The team’s start to this season has been a disaster, and that’s putting it mildly. They are 1–5 through their first six games. Even worse is the amount of talent is on the team: Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen and Eric Kendricks are all fantastic players.

The Vikings’ last two losses this season were in completely different fashion but horrific all the same.

On Oct. 11, the Seattle Seahawks were 4–0 and the hottest team in the NFL with Minnesota headed to the Emerald City. Minnesota got off to a great start behind the running of Dalvin Cook and took a 13–0 lead into the half.

But after a fumble and interception, they fell behind, 14—13. They retook the lead 26– 21 with seven minutes left in the game.

Then came fourth and one at the Seattle sixyard line. With Cook out of the game with an injury, Alexander Mattison was left running for Minnesota.

He had a gaping hole to his right but ran straight up the middle. Turnover on downs.

A Seahawk march down the field and it was game over with a Wilson-to-Metcalf fourth down touchdown. How can this happen?

It’s unbelievable, mind-boggling and nothing short of extraordinary the way they find ways to lose games.

Nonetheless, it appeared all hope wasn’t lost with the 0–5 Atlanta Falcons up next on the schedule.

An easy win to get back on track, right?

Nope. In typical Viking fashion, they were down 20–0 at halftime to the winless Falcons.

The final score came to 40-23. It seems only the Vikings can go from almost beating one of the NFL’s best to losing to its worst.

The Vikings have sailed into too deep of water, and the team’s start to this season has been a complete disaster.

Quarterback Cousins, with an offense loaded with talent, was supposed to bring a Lombardi Trophy closer into view this season, but at the moment it seems farther away than ever.

Ultimately, the Minnesota Vikings will always be the greatest NFL franchise in my eyes, and I’ll be saying “Skol Vikings!” for as long as there’s pro football to be watched while wearing purple every Sunday.

But maybe, just maybe one of these days, the torturous finishes will cease to happen so frequently and with such regularity that it’s become normal for Vikings fans to have to endure these hope-stealing tragic endings and worse — come to expect them.

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06 | MyWeberMedia.com| October 23, 2020

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Utah has a pressing need for social workers to care for the communitys.

By JOSHUA KAMP

tion Council from 2016 really got their attention.

“It showed that social services and all the things that social workers do professionally, especially at the master’s graduate level, those needs were rapidly outpacing the number of new social work graduates,” Bigler said.

The report also showed that Utah only has 209 mental health providers per 100,000 people — the national average is 311.

Bigler had also heard similar concerns from community partners who take interns from WSU’s existing social work program.

“They had positions that were open but couldn’t fill them because there weren’t people who had the right training,” Bigler said.

“Particularly in the areas of mental health and substance abuse treatment. They just couldn’t meet those needs.”

Bigler also noticed that, while students could choose to go to elsewhere in Utah to

Reporter

In fall 2021, the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Weber State University will offer a new Master of Social Work program. The program comes as a response to an increasingly-urgent lack of qualified social workers in the region.

Some factors that make the need for social workers in Utah a pressing issue include a sudden and exponential rise in population, a growing Latinx community with specific social needs, an opioid crisis and more general problems of frantic modern life.

Utah State University and Utah Valley University also created similar programs in recent years, which got the attention of Mark Bigler, professor and chair of the Department of Social Work and Gerontology at WSU. Bigler said a report by the Medical Educa-

pursue a master’s program, many enter this field specifically because they want to stay near and care for a community they have always known.

“What we began to understand is that students were saying, ‘this is my home, this is my community, I want to put my roots down deeper here,’” Bigler said.

For some students, having the program in Ogden isn’t just a matter of convenience; it’s a matter of dedication to the town they love.

While social work students care deeply for their own communities, Bigler said it also takes a global perspective. He said this work takes concern and empathy for society.

Many students with caring natures are drawn toward social work degrees and in the degree they find a greater sense of purpose.

“I do get personal fulfillment from what I do,” said Eduardo Franco, a recent graduate of Weber’s social work bachelor’s program

and now a TRIO Talent Search advisor at Ben Lomond High School.

Talent Search, one of eight federal TRIO programs, aims to increase the number of disadvantaged teens who complete high school and help prepare them to enroll and succeed in postsecondary education.

Franco explained that since he’s working with and helping students, he knows the struggles and stressors of making these decisions.

“Being able to help them with that gives me hope,” he said.

Students who wish to join the program for fall 2021 may apply through WSU’s College of Social and Behavioral Sciences by Dec. 1.

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THE SIGNPOST TEAM Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Greenlee jennifergreenlee@mail.weber.edu

Photo Editor Robert Lewis robertlewis7@mail.weber.edu

Sports Editor Raymond Lucas raymondlucas@mail.weber.edu

Managing Editor Daryn Steed darynsteed0@gmail.com

Asst. Photo Editor BriElle Harker brielleharker@mail.weber.edu

Asst. Sports Editor Miles Shaw milesshaw@mail.weber.edu

Chief Copy Editor Nic Muranaka nicholasmuranaka@weber.edu

Culture Editor Caitlyn Nichols caitlynnichols@mail.weber.edu

News Editor Marisa Nelson marisanelson@mail.weber.edu

Social Media Manager Kalli Prendergast kandidkalliP@gmail.com Webmaster David Morris david.lee.morris@gmail.com

Design & Graphics Editor Aubree Eckhardt aubreeeckhardt@mail.weber.edu Asst. Design & Graphics Editor Alli Rickards alexandrarickards@mail.weber.edu Videography Editor Sarah Earnshaw sarahearnshaw@mail.weber.edu

Asst. News Editor Francia Henriquez Benson fhenriquezbenson@mail.weber.edu

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Adviser Jean Norman jeannorman@ weber.edu Ad Manager KC Sanders kcsanders@weber.edu The Signpost is a student publication, written, edited and drafted by Weber State University students. Student fees fund the printing of this publication. Opinions or positions voiced are not necessarily endorsed by the university. The Signpost reserves the right to edit for reasons of space and libel and to refuse to print any letters. Letters should be submitted online to thesignpost@weber.edu and read letter to the Editor in the subject box. Letters should not exceed 350 words.

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