O.C. Tanner Symposium
By Melissa Salcedo
The O.C. Tanner Symposium took place at Utah State University from April 2nd-4th. The title was Celebracion: Latino Contributions to U.S. Culture. The symposium consisted of poets, filmmakers, musicians, artists, storytellers and historians all of which told stories about accomplishments made by Latinos in the United States.
The USU Special Collections Department spoke about their Latino/Latina Voices Project. The project, which began in fall of 2007, is part of USU’s Northern Utah Speaks and is an aggregate of USU Special Collections & Archives’ rich oral history collections. The project is under the direction of Randy Williams and Elisaida Mendez. Williams is the USU Folklore curator and oral history specialist. Mendez is the Latino Voices Assistant Director.
The Latino/Latina Voices mission is to identify oral history projects in areas critical to the people, environment and history of Northern Utah.
At the beginning of the session, Williams spoke about how one should go about conducting an interview. The interviewer should be well prepared, which includes having appropriate questions beforehand. The interview should be audio or video recorded and a transcript of the interview should be made following the interview.
Mendez then spoke about goals of the project. One of the most important goals is to bring the Latino community together and for Latinos to have a voice in their community. Latinos have a story to tell of their upbringings and what brought them to Cache Valley. By conducting interviews with these people, their strength and character will show. Jorge Rodas, a recruiter for the Latino/Latina Voices project, got the word out to the community about the project. He found people who wanted to contribute by being the interviewer or the interviewee.
After the interviews are conducted, they are translated into either English or Spanish, depending on which language the interview was given in. The reason for this is so that people can access the interviews through the Special Collections archives in the language of their preference. The translations are done by USU Spanish Masters students and are not native Spanish speakers. Each interview is stored in the library on the library server, c.d. and Mp3’s.
One interview that was used as an example was with a woman named Lucy D. Lucy is an undocumented Mexican living in Cache Valley. She does not have a last name. Lucy spoke of her motivation for crossing the boarder and coming to Utah. Her husband came first and she later came. She paid a man to bring her two children to Logan. Lucy knew that that was not a smart thing to do, but she had no other choice and prayer for the safety of her children.
Lucy felt inspired to come to the United States, despite not being able to speak English. When asked about her experience while crossing the border, Lucy was reserved and didn’t say much. She spoke about how her religion played a role in facing challenges. She relied on help from God.
After she read the transcript of the interview, she held it next to her heart and said, “It will be wonderful when my grandchildren can read this.”
Since fall of 2007, there have been 12 interviewers who have conducted 45 interviews. Some common themes for interviews have been work ethic, family unity, holidays and family naming patterns.
What do you think? Hit "Comments" below.
Friday, April 11, 2008
Kevin's Story—Cold weather
Goodbye to cold weather? ‘Halle-frickin-lujah!’
By Kevin Mouritsen
Snow. Ice. Sleet. Hail.
These are just a few of the weather conditions that Logan residents have been dealing with for about the last five months. USU students are speaking out against the wet and the cold, and rejoicing in the rumors of fast-approaching warmer weather.
“All I have to say is halle-frickin-lujah,” said Stephanie Rolz, a freshman majoring in Music, upon hearing that temperatures will start climbing this weekend.
Cold and wet weather must have a guilty conscience as of late; they’ve been blamed for a mile-long list of problems: car crashes, frozen toes, high energy bills, frozen pipes…not to mention all the Spring activities that USU students have had to postpone because of inclement weather.
“I’d be outside all the time having picnics,” said disgruntled freshman history major Kylee Christensen. “Just hanging out outside, playing hacky sack, you know, but that’s not gonna happen because it’s always snowing.”
And hacky sack isn’t the only activity that’s been abandoned these past few months. Students looking for the rejuvenating vitamin D from the sun’s rays, and a bronze-like tan, are voicing their opinions about the never-ending cold front.
“I looked out the window this morning and what did I see?” asked sophomore Josh Jones, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “Snow on the bushes. That’s what I saw.”
Jones said that the cold weather can make an already frustrating day even worse. “I already had a midterm this morning, on no sleep, so how did [the snow] make me feel? Not good.”
So what would Jones be doing if the sun were shining and the birds chirping? “I like to sunbathe, and that is one activity I cannot do with snow,” he said.
Other students said they were tired of having to bundle up every day to go to school.
“It’s annoying, because I want to wear my shorts and short-sleeve shirts, and it just won’t happen,” said sophomore finance major Andrew Vera. “I’m sick of winter.”
Sophomore Ben Draper agreed. “I wish it was warmer so I didn’t have to wear long sleeves everyday and not have a tan,” he said.
Some students also agreed that it’s not necessarily the cold weather that puts a damper on things, but the longevity of it.
“Basically, cold weather is okay for about 2 months, but then after February it should be gone,” said Erik Wynn, a junior majoring in Spanish. So how does Wynn feel about the cold weather lasting until February? “I hate it and am definitely sick of it,” he said.
Sophomore Tyson Stoddard, a landscape architecture major, is waiting for warmer weather so that he can get active again in the great outdoors.
“I would go golfing and I would play more tennis and go on hikes,” if it were warmer outside, he said.
Students say, however, that there are signs of hope that warm weather will soon melt away the frozen memories of a bleak Winter, and welcome in the dawn of barbecues, ultimate Frisbee, and, or course, sunbathing.
“It will be nice when we can get out and start enjoying the Spring,” said Stoddard.
What do you think? Hit "Comment" below.
By Kevin Mouritsen
Snow. Ice. Sleet. Hail.
These are just a few of the weather conditions that Logan residents have been dealing with for about the last five months. USU students are speaking out against the wet and the cold, and rejoicing in the rumors of fast-approaching warmer weather.
“All I have to say is halle-frickin-lujah,” said Stephanie Rolz, a freshman majoring in Music, upon hearing that temperatures will start climbing this weekend.
Cold and wet weather must have a guilty conscience as of late; they’ve been blamed for a mile-long list of problems: car crashes, frozen toes, high energy bills, frozen pipes…not to mention all the Spring activities that USU students have had to postpone because of inclement weather.
“I’d be outside all the time having picnics,” said disgruntled freshman history major Kylee Christensen. “Just hanging out outside, playing hacky sack, you know, but that’s not gonna happen because it’s always snowing.”
And hacky sack isn’t the only activity that’s been abandoned these past few months. Students looking for the rejuvenating vitamin D from the sun’s rays, and a bronze-like tan, are voicing their opinions about the never-ending cold front.
“I looked out the window this morning and what did I see?” asked sophomore Josh Jones, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. “Snow on the bushes. That’s what I saw.”
Jones said that the cold weather can make an already frustrating day even worse. “I already had a midterm this morning, on no sleep, so how did [the snow] make me feel? Not good.”
So what would Jones be doing if the sun were shining and the birds chirping? “I like to sunbathe, and that is one activity I cannot do with snow,” he said.
Other students said they were tired of having to bundle up every day to go to school.
“It’s annoying, because I want to wear my shorts and short-sleeve shirts, and it just won’t happen,” said sophomore finance major Andrew Vera. “I’m sick of winter.”
Sophomore Ben Draper agreed. “I wish it was warmer so I didn’t have to wear long sleeves everyday and not have a tan,” he said.
Some students also agreed that it’s not necessarily the cold weather that puts a damper on things, but the longevity of it.
“Basically, cold weather is okay for about 2 months, but then after February it should be gone,” said Erik Wynn, a junior majoring in Spanish. So how does Wynn feel about the cold weather lasting until February? “I hate it and am definitely sick of it,” he said.
Sophomore Tyson Stoddard, a landscape architecture major, is waiting for warmer weather so that he can get active again in the great outdoors.
“I would go golfing and I would play more tennis and go on hikes,” if it were warmer outside, he said.
Students say, however, that there are signs of hope that warm weather will soon melt away the frozen memories of a bleak Winter, and welcome in the dawn of barbecues, ultimate Frisbee, and, or course, sunbathing.
“It will be nice when we can get out and start enjoying the Spring,” said Stoddard.
What do you think? Hit "Comment" below.
Focusing the Story
On Apr 11, 2008, at 10:11 AM, Jordan Allred wrote:
How about this: It is called the Balanced Man Triathlon and it is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8 a.m., in the HPER building. It is supposed to be a benefit for youth that have AIDS.
On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 10:24 AM, Edward C. Pease wrote:
Get that story. A la WAPost story that we discussed Wednesday, remember the descriptions of the event and the participants—blood, sweat, tears. Remember to get people in there early and often. Lots of quotes.
Get it to me Sunday and I'll see if we can turn it around for the Statesman or Hard News Cafe.
On Apr 11, 2008, at 11:32 AM, Jordan Allred wrote:
I will, thanks. Do you think I should make the story about the triathlon or focus it more on the athletes? I also understand this is for a good cause, but that would be a harder story to write about, should I include a lot of what the triathlon is for (YouthAIDS) or make a brief mention of it? Or do you just want me to do the story?
On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 12:06 PM, Edward C. Pease wrote:
Everything is for a good cause. Which story would you read:
A: “Some 400 athletes gathered to help kids with AIDS Saturday.....”
or
B: “When Steve Fringlin fell, rolled and landed on his face with the gravel of Logan Canyon in his bleeding lip Saturday afternoon, he wasn't thinking about 14-year-old Amenda Pligget, who has AIDS.
“Mostly,” Fringlin said, “I was thinking about throwing up.”
The triathlon is the story, and becomes the vehicle for the larger issue of fundraising for YouthAIDS. If you can hook readers with the guy who got gravel in his lip (or Forrest Gump, who ran and ran and ran....), the reader eventually will ask the why? question. That’s where the charity event and, if you can, the kids who benefit become of interest. Otherwise, it’s another “baked goods for Darfur” fundraiser story.
That make sense?
How about this: It is called the Balanced Man Triathlon and it is scheduled for tomorrow morning at 8 a.m., in the HPER building. It is supposed to be a benefit for youth that have AIDS.
On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 10:24 AM, Edward C. Pease
Get that story. A la WAPost story that we discussed Wednesday, remember the descriptions of the event and the participants—blood, sweat, tears. Remember to get people in there early and often. Lots of quotes.
Get it to me Sunday and I'll see if we can turn it around for the Statesman or Hard News Cafe.
On Apr 11, 2008, at 11:32 AM, Jordan Allred wrote:
I will, thanks. Do you think I should make the story about the triathlon or focus it more on the athletes? I also understand this is for a good cause, but that would be a harder story to write about, should I include a lot of what the triathlon is for (YouthAIDS) or make a brief mention of it? Or do you just want me to do the story?
On Fri, Apr 11, 2008 at 12:06 PM, Edward C. Pease
Everything is for a good cause. Which story would you read:
A: “Some 400 athletes gathered to help kids with AIDS Saturday.....”
or
B: “When Steve Fringlin fell, rolled and landed on his face with the gravel of Logan Canyon in his bleeding lip Saturday afternoon, he wasn't thinking about 14-year-old Amenda Pligget, who has AIDS.
“Mostly,” Fringlin said, “I was thinking about throwing up.”
The triathlon is the story, and becomes the vehicle for the larger issue of fundraising for YouthAIDS. If you can hook readers with the guy who got gravel in his lip (or Forrest Gump, who ran and ran and ran....), the reader eventually will ask the why? question. That’s where the charity event and, if you can, the kids who benefit become of interest. Otherwise, it’s another “baked goods for Darfur” fundraiser story.
That make sense?
Mallory's Story: Dance Company
Mallory Hughes
Full Circle
Full Circle, Utah States contemporary dance company, performed “One”, to a nearly full house at Ellen Eccles Theatre Tuesday evening.
Full Circle began in the fall of 2007 and is affiliated with the University but members receive no credit for the class nor does the company receive any funding.
Each member of the company is a full time student at USU and dedicates at least 15 hours per week, “there’s no class, no credit, each person gives up their own free time,” Krissy Smith, founder of the dance company, stated.
The performance Tuesday night was compiled of dance routines choreographed by Smith and other members of the dance team.
Sitting in the audience was Annie Jensen, a former dancer in the company, who stated, “I really miss it, being able to dance with all of these talented girls.”
Other attendees of the performance included friends of the dancers, Utah State students and proud parents.
A mother of one of the dancers stood up at intermission to yell across the theatre to a friend of her daughter’s, “She called me at noon to bring her that light saber!” She said of her daughter’s silly prop in one of the dances.
The performances did not seem to follow a story or a theme, but rather a collection of stories and moods interpreted in each dance.
The contemporary dance genre is unlike many styles of dance that follow strict uniform, such as ballet or jazz, each girl is able to show her own personality with each movement in their routines.
The dance “Class of 2008” depicted high school clichés “but what happens when those stereotypes are stripped away and their worlds collide” Smith posed as the question at the beginning of the dance.
The dances ranged from silly high school depictions to performances such as “Letting Go” in which the girls danced with blue scarves representing “the things that hold us back.”
Other performances included “Imagine” with music of John Lennon’s with the same titled to gesture towards “a world full of happiness and hope of a better tomorrow.”
Special guest performances were given by Inishfre Irish Dance Company performing the native style dances titled “Road to Lisdoonvarna” and “Turnpike”, both dances had the audience involved and clapping.
Friends and family attended to support the company who raises all of their funds to keep Full Circle in motion.
Smith thanked the supporters and the dancers for all of the hard work put into the show, “I am so proud of these dancers,” she said through held back tears.
Full Circle
Full Circle, Utah States contemporary dance company, performed “One”, to a nearly full house at Ellen Eccles Theatre Tuesday evening.
Full Circle began in the fall of 2007 and is affiliated with the University but members receive no credit for the class nor does the company receive any funding.
Each member of the company is a full time student at USU and dedicates at least 15 hours per week, “there’s no class, no credit, each person gives up their own free time,” Krissy Smith, founder of the dance company, stated.
The performance Tuesday night was compiled of dance routines choreographed by Smith and other members of the dance team.
Sitting in the audience was Annie Jensen, a former dancer in the company, who stated, “I really miss it, being able to dance with all of these talented girls.”
Other attendees of the performance included friends of the dancers, Utah State students and proud parents.
A mother of one of the dancers stood up at intermission to yell across the theatre to a friend of her daughter’s, “She called me at noon to bring her that light saber!” She said of her daughter’s silly prop in one of the dances.
The performances did not seem to follow a story or a theme, but rather a collection of stories and moods interpreted in each dance.
The contemporary dance genre is unlike many styles of dance that follow strict uniform, such as ballet or jazz, each girl is able to show her own personality with each movement in their routines.
The dance “Class of 2008” depicted high school clichés “but what happens when those stereotypes are stripped away and their worlds collide” Smith posed as the question at the beginning of the dance.
The dances ranged from silly high school depictions to performances such as “Letting Go” in which the girls danced with blue scarves representing “the things that hold us back.”
Other performances included “Imagine” with music of John Lennon’s with the same titled to gesture towards “a world full of happiness and hope of a better tomorrow.”
Special guest performances were given by Inishfre Irish Dance Company performing the native style dances titled “Road to Lisdoonvarna” and “Turnpike”, both dances had the audience involved and clapping.
Friends and family attended to support the company who raises all of their funds to keep Full Circle in motion.
Smith thanked the supporters and the dancers for all of the hard work put into the show, “I am so proud of these dancers,” she said through held back tears.
Daneille's Story: Eco Center Talk
Danielle Criddle
Terry Chapin Environmental Talk
The ecology center’s last seminar of the school year was held on Wednesday night and the speaker was Dr. Terry Chapin.
Chapin is a professor of ecology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and talked of the problems with predicting how predicting global climate change is trickier than it has been in the past.
“We’re likely to see considerable warming in the next century,” Chapin said.
Chapin’s research is mainly based out of Alaska and deals with the social-ecological aspects of trying to face global climate change.
The focus of many researchers right now is on sustainability which Chapin says that is like “going back to the way things were.”
The old way of thinking is “the future is going to be like the past,” said Chapin.
He stated that he thinks that in today’s society it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict the future outcome of today’s problems based on how they have been dealt with in the past.
Chapin brought up some of his research in Alaska that he has done involving the native people and their ties with the ecosystem.
“There is a close connection between vegetation and native Alaska people,” said Chapin.
His research in this field has been on how to tackle the problem of a changing landscape with connection to the native tribes of Alaska.
“I think we might need to move to something known as an ecosystem stewardship,” he said.
This system would take into consideration: future of change, social-ecological benefits, biodiversity and it would incorporate disturbance.
This would allow the native people of Alaska to sustain the ecosystem that they have always had and that their cultural identities are dependant upon.
Fire is now a major problem in Alaska due to the thawing of permafrost as well as other factors and is resulting in less species diversity in the forests.
“There are both challenges and opportunities in how we deal with these things.” Chapin said.
Terry Chapin Environmental Talk
The ecology center’s last seminar of the school year was held on Wednesday night and the speaker was Dr. Terry Chapin.
Chapin is a professor of ecology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and talked of the problems with predicting how predicting global climate change is trickier than it has been in the past.
“We’re likely to see considerable warming in the next century,” Chapin said.
Chapin’s research is mainly based out of Alaska and deals with the social-ecological aspects of trying to face global climate change.
The focus of many researchers right now is on sustainability which Chapin says that is like “going back to the way things were.”
The old way of thinking is “the future is going to be like the past,” said Chapin.
He stated that he thinks that in today’s society it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict the future outcome of today’s problems based on how they have been dealt with in the past.
Chapin brought up some of his research in Alaska that he has done involving the native people and their ties with the ecosystem.
“There is a close connection between vegetation and native Alaska people,” said Chapin.
His research in this field has been on how to tackle the problem of a changing landscape with connection to the native tribes of Alaska.
“I think we might need to move to something known as an ecosystem stewardship,” he said.
This system would take into consideration: future of change, social-ecological benefits, biodiversity and it would incorporate disturbance.
This would allow the native people of Alaska to sustain the ecosystem that they have always had and that their cultural identities are dependant upon.
Fire is now a major problem in Alaska due to the thawing of permafrost as well as other factors and is resulting in less species diversity in the forests.
“There are both challenges and opportunities in how we deal with these things.” Chapin said.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Finding Story Ideas
Some of you are still at a loss to find story ideas. Some prompts:
1. Look in the newspaper for things that interest you (e.g., Audobon Bird Count, archery club....), or
2. Look in the Yellow Pages or classified ads for some weird business, or
3. Look ahead a week for anniversaries/holidays (e.g., last week was MLK's death; national grammar day...) or think about things that happen at this time every year (spring....?) and find an angle to use that as a focus, or
4. Take a national/international story (e.g., protests of Olympic torch run in Paris, global warming, the shooting of a grey wolf the day the protected status was lifted, the economics of oil sand...) and find a local angle or expert (like USU professors) to interview about it and find local angles, or
5. Find a local attraction of possible interest (the Brigham bird sanctuary, the spiral jetty, what happens to Blacksmith Ranch elk in spring....), or
6. Find someone interesting (a Mountain Man, the guy who takes care of chimps or tortoises at the zoo...) or influential/prominent (President Albrecht, polisci Professor Randy Simmons--the mayor of Providence, the Cache Valley sheriff...) and do a profile story....
Come on! a little initiative/imagination!!
1. Look in the newspaper for things that interest you (e.g., Audobon Bird Count, archery club....), or
2. Look in the Yellow Pages or classified ads for some weird business, or
3. Look ahead a week for anniversaries/holidays (e.g., last week was MLK's death; national grammar day...) or think about things that happen at this time every year (spring....?) and find an angle to use that as a focus, or
4. Take a national/international story (e.g., protests of Olympic torch run in Paris, global warming, the shooting of a grey wolf the day the protected status was lifted, the economics of oil sand...) and find a local angle or expert (like USU professors) to interview about it and find local angles, or
5. Find a local attraction of possible interest (the Brigham bird sanctuary, the spiral jetty, what happens to Blacksmith Ranch elk in spring....), or
6. Find someone interesting (a Mountain Man, the guy who takes care of chimps or tortoises at the zoo...) or influential/prominent (President Albrecht, polisci Professor Randy Simmons--the mayor of Providence, the Cache Valley sheriff...) and do a profile story....
Come on! a little initiative/imagination!!
Monday, April 7, 2008
NewsTalk—Week of April 6-12
Post stories that interest you or comments about the news for this week here (click on "comment" button below).
El Peez, News Poobah
El Peez, News Poobah
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Cecily Kiss
Sigma Chi Fraternity 4/10/2008
A certain image of beer cans strewn about, toga clad party-goers, and furniture on the front porch comes to mind when most people think of fraternities. Sigma Chi, however, has set out to prove to people that they are more than just a stereotype.
“We’re not the typical animal house frat boys,” Zach Larsen, an active member of the fraternity said “People need to look past the stereotypes and realize it’s more than that.” In all actuality the Gamma Kappa chapter of Sigma Chi in Logan is beneficial to both the campus and the community.
The Sigma Chi’s believe in having a philanthropy and are particularly service oriented. They distinguish themselves from other fraternities who claim to be dedicated to service by holding an annual week long charity fundraiser called “Derby Days” that raises money for the Huntsman Cancer Institute. John Huntsman of the Huntsman Cancer Institute is a Sigma Chi and Sigma Chi’s all over the nation participate in Derby Days. The Logan chapter of Sigma Chi has a goal of raising $7,500 this year. They hold events such as a dunking booth, date auction, Derby-Girl try-outs, a party with live bands, and they also sell burgers each day. All of their proceeds go directly to the Huntsman Cancer Foundation.
The members of Sigma Chi are very actively involved on campus. Recently thirty of their members participated in “Walk A Mile in Her Shoes,” an event to raise sexual abuse awareness. They also started a new tradition of holding an annual dinner to honor and show gratitude to professors that the members have nominated for their outstanding teaching abilities. The Sigma Chi’s are encouraged to be involved in several organizations and clubs on campus.
Scholarship is important to the members of Sigma Chi. They hold study tables which are set times that the members study together, and are required to have a certain amount of credit hours, as well as a required minimum G.P.A.
The Sigma Chi’s are a prime example of a fraternity that doesn’t conform to the stereotype that is given to them. They are a beneficial and underestimated organization on campus.