Monday, Sept. 20, 2010
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Documentary recognizes USU agents killed on duty By KEITH BURBANK staff writer
The premiere of a documentary honoring three LDS church members who died in the line of duty with the FBI, two of whom were USU students, aired in the Taggart Student Center auditorium Friday night. “I brought the premiere to Utah State because two of the agents graduated from Utah State,” said Rob Sibley, a director and producer with BYU Broadcasting. Sam Cowley and Douglas M. Price served with the FBI until both died of gunshot wounds in the line of duty, according to the documentary. The third man, J. Robert Porter, also died of gunshot wounds while attempting to stop a man entering an FBI office in 1979. Sam Cowley was J. Edgar Hoover’s most trusted agent when he died as a result of wounds suffered in a gun-battle with George “Baby Face” Nelson, a notorious criminal during the gangster era in the U.S.
SAMUEL P. COWLEY
Douglas M. Price was shot and killed in San Antonio, Texas, in April 1968, Sibley said. Sibley expects the documentary to be available on BYU television sometime after January 2011, he told the crowd after the viewing. Roughly 40 people came to see the documentary, some who own antique cars that were used as part of the film. Other people attending were relatives or friends of the fallen. Also, many of the scenes Sibley said, were filmed in Logan because the city has preserved many of its buildings, Sibley said. Cowley served the FBI in the 1930s, so Logan was a good place for filming. Doyle Cardon, a Utah resident and 1935 USU graduate, lived through the Cowley era, and said he enjoyed the movie. Tyson Hadfield, a former USU studentworking with Sibley, said the agents in the movie are a “great example of dedication of faith, family and country.” Hadfield called the movie “moving.”
Two FBI agents attended the premiere. James S. McTighe, special agent in charge, Salt Lake City division, and Kenneth R. Porter, assistant special agent in charge and son of J. Robert Porter, spoke to the crowd after the showing. “I am honored to be here,” McTighe said. “These men sacrificed their lives, but the families also make sacrifices too, especially if a family member dies on duty.” Porter said the movie focuses on the agents’ lives, the good lives they led, and their families. Porter said that people don’t become FBI agents to become rich. “I consider it more of a calling than a job,” he said. “I never had an epiphany, but I am glad I did,” Porter said about choosing to work for the FBI. Porter did not necessarily become an agent because his father was an agent, he said. When Porter was looking for work, one of his dad’s old partners
- See FBI, page 4
Students win $10,000 for mayonnaise substitute By DAN SMITH staff writer
Utah State took first, over BYU and Cornell, in an Idaho dairy product competition and brought home a $10,000 prize, said Bob Ward, assistant professor in food science. Doctoral candidates Ranjeeta Wadhwani and Subash Shrestha, developers of the mayonnaise
substitute Yogonnaise, said their product won the August competition because the judges felt it could be best applied to products already on the market, like salad dressings and sandwiches. The competition is sponsored by the Idaho Milk Processors’ Association (IMPA), which is an organization of dairy-related companies in Idaho, the fourth largest dairying state in the U.S., Ward said. IMPA holds the annual event as a way to get
new ideas, enrich dairy studies, diversify the market for dairy products and get milk ingredients in other foods, Ward said. The competition is also a platform for recruiting the next generation of students into the field, he said. “It really ends up pulling together our curriculum. We do these various classes in isolation, and it’s neat to see this sort of synergy when you develop a product like this,” Ward said. Wadhwani, who is specializing in cheese and
dairy science, said she and Shrestha used knowledge gained from food chemistry, food safety and food processing classes to help with the project. Shrestha, whose emphasis is on food safety and quality, said a product development class also played a big part in their success with finalizing the product. The idea for a product like Yogonnaise was
- See DAIRY, page 3
USU alumnus kicks off HASS speaker series By MEGAN ALLEN news senior writer
The college of Humanities and Social Sciences held its monthly Distinguished Alumni Speaker Series Friday, featuring Robert C. Gross, who graduated in 1972. Gross graduated with a degree in political science with minors in history, English and business administration. “My own quest for lifelong learning really began on this campus and continued on through my life,” Gross said. Gross made sure the audience understood he is not a motivational speaker. “Motivation comes from within. It is insular and a matter of our own free will,” he said. “It can be developed, redeveloped and built upon over time.” After graduating from USU, Gross went on to succeed in many career fields. He has been CEO of three companies in both the private and public sectors. He has worked as a commercial attorney and as an educator. He is the founder of Robert C. Gross Associates, a public policy and commercial conflict resolution company. Gross is also the former president and executive board chair of First Interstate Bank of Utah. He was the founding executive director of Utah’s Department of Workforce Services. Later, at the request of the White House, he served in Baghdad as senior adviser to the Iraqi Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. “It’s OK if you change your career five or six times,” he said. “In fact, you can expect it. That is the age we’re in.” Gross asked the audience why lifelong learning is important. Ted Pease, department head of journalism and
Inside This Issue
communication, said “If it’s not important, we’re just spending this time getting dumber.” “Lifelong learning is what gives us the ability to grow cognitively and emotionally,” Gross said. “The thinking that we can’t keep growing and learning because we get older is wrong.” “Put yourself in an environment to learn,” he said. “The brain is always growing and evolving. It grows based on what you feed it. If you don’t use it, you will lose it.” To grow emotionally, Gross said it takes motivation, practice and repetition. Gross said he has learned a lot of things the hard way, the first of which is that words matter. “Tell people ‘thank you’, say ‘I’m sorry,’ and ask them what they think,” he said. Gross said to remember that it’s always about other people and not about you. Gross then talked about three things he wanted the audience to take away from his talk. “First,” he said, “whatever you do, do it with passion. Do it with passion that is tied to principles.” Next, Gross said it is important to have the ability to write. “You need to be able to out-read them and outwrite them,” he said. “More than anything else though, writing stimulates the neurons in your brain and makes them grow.” Last, Gross said to remember the importance of humor and laughter. “Laughing makes the brain more effective and efficient,” he said. Gross said he hoped his speech was a “blinding flash of the obvious.” He said he was there to remind them of the importance of learning and being happy. “Don’t ever be the one standing at the company water cooler complaining about how hard life is,” he ROBERT C. GROSS spoke in HASS’s distinguished alumni speaker series and said one way to said. “Just enjoy it.” make the brain more productive is by laughing often. ANIE AGHABABYAN photo
9/20/10 Football falls to 1-2 after a dismal second-half showing versus Fresno State. Page 9
Wild Bill on the path to recovery after almost a year of illness. Page 6
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