Wednesday, Feb. 1,2012
Utci
"Campus Voice Since 1902" • Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com
Group provides local LGBT support BY D. WHITNEY SMITH copy editor When an individual outs themselves as gay or lesbian in Cache Valley, it's never easy for them or their friends and family, according to members of local support group Cache Gay Families. In about a month, family and friends of
lesbians and gays should have a new local support group, if everything goes according to plan, said Amy Bailey, assistant professor of sociology at USU and vice president of Cache Gay Families. "We've had meetings since October - monthly meetings - and every single meeting we've had new people show up we didn't even know were
coming," Bailey said. Cache Gay Families has held a series of organizational meetings to discuss plans to create a local chapter of a national organization - Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Group organizers have submitted the final applications necessary to make the chapter official.
Now, she said, they just have to wait. Bailey said her efforts are those of a concerned member of the community and have nothing to do with her university affiliation. "There are amazing resources with the PFLAG national that we can rely on," Bailey said. "In our discussions, we've identified safe
CACHE GAY FAMILIES ORGANIZERS, President Patsy Marx and Vice President Amy Bailey, hold group meetings in the Lake Bonneville Room at the Logan Library. If all goes according to plan, Bailey said the group will soon become an official local PFLAG chapter - Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. CODY GOCHNOUR photo
ASUSUvotes to dissolve grad senate BY ROUCHELLE BROCKMAN staff writer
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The ASUSU Executive Council voted to disband the Graduate Student Senate and briefly discussed the possibility of an on-campus car rental agency at its meeting Tuesday, Jan. 31. Currently, graduate students are represented in a legislative body separate from their undergraduate counterparts. Under the new legislation, academic senators will represent both undergraduate and graduate students from their respective colleges. The new bill also states that the current position of Graduate Student Senate president will be transferred to the Academic Senate under the title of graduate student senator. "We're not eliminating any representation," said Graduate Student Vice President Cami Jones. "We're just shifting representation." The senatorial reconstruction came in response to a "consistent lack of interest in the Graduate Student Senate," Jones said. She said senate hopefuls frequently run unopposed, and positions have been appointed in the past due to lack of candidate interest. ASUSU Public Relations Director Hannah Blackburn said the new system will be more streamlined, because, in the past, undergraduate and graduate students were performing the same duties. Both undergraduate or graduate students are able to apply for academic senate positions, Jones said. Jones said the bill passed with a two-thirds majority in the Graduate Student Senate, but there was some concern that in a combined system, academic senators would devote more attention to undergraduate
•>See ASUSU, Page 2
schools as a real critical issue in Cache Valley. There are LGBT students in our schools who don't feel safe. There are gay and lesbian parents ... who don't feel like their kids are safe." Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students attend Cache Valley middle schools and high schools, as well as at USU, and several members of the LGBT community have experienced unsafe conditions at school, Bailey said. Amid the perennial controversy between gay rights advocates and the dominant conservative Utah culture, USU alumnus Reed Cowan spoke at an on-campus screening of his award•winning documentary "8: The Mormon Proposition" on Oct. 21, 2010, in the Eccles Conference Center Auditorium. The film analyzed the LDS church's support of a California proposition to ban same-sex marriages in that state. Bailey, who attended the event, said she witnessed testimony given by distressed LDS parents who, while fighting back tears, said they were torn between love ►) See PFLAG, Page 3
USU revamps summer school BY CATHrRINE BENNETT editor m chief Students who regularly enroll in USU'i; summer semester classes wili find that five departments are adding courses that may be difficult for students to get into during the fall and spring semester. Departments adding classes include health physical education recreation, biology, geology, English and family, consumer and human development. Prior to the summer 2012 semester, the summer class schedule was separated into four periods of time allotted for classes. There were three four-week periods and one eight-week period. Now, the schedule is more simple to follow, said Lisa Hancock, program administrator for new student orientation. The new schedule includes one four-week block beginning in May and one seven-week block beginning the first week of June. Classes in session during the four-week block will occur Monday through Friday with each class lasting two
hours. The seven-week block allows for a thlee-day weekend, as classes do not meet Fridays. These class periods are one hour, 15 minutes each. "The university wants more students to take summer classes," Hancock said. "The classes are typically smaller, but it's good for classes that are hard to get into the other two semesters. It helps the university as well, because it relieves some of the congestion of those classes in the fall and spring semesters." Sophomore Aaron Anderson said because his computer science major requires many math courses, he is planning to attend summer school for the first time this summer so he can get ahead. "If I want to graduate on time, I will need to take classes during the summer," Anderson said. "I will probably do the four-week course in May, because it will still allow me to have a su·mmer. I don't need the four months off school." He said it will be convenient to be able to finish the courses he needs all at once, so he can enjoy the rest of his summer.
The previous summer semester bell schedule was difficult to follow, said John Mortensen, USU registrar. Now, the schedule is more uniform with a clear bell schedule, because none of the designated course periods overlap. He said USU administrators found it necessary to make summer semester more attractive to students. "There is stricter enforcement of the calendars," Mortensen said. "We want students to package together classes that work with their schedules." Mortensen said this strict schedule will not allow much flexibility for professors and instructors to decide when they want to teach. USU's Outdoor Recreation Program is taking advantage of the summer school schedule changes, too, Hancock said. Because many summer school students will have a three-day weekend, ORP is setting up trips to local areas to give those interested a lesson in Cache Valley's many outdoor recreation possibilities, Hancock •)See AFFORD, Pa e 2
RECENT CHANGES TO SUMMER SCHOOL will ease the strain on student schedules, said Lisa Hancock. program administrator for new student orientation. DEl.AYNE LOCKE photo