StatesmanCampus News Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 Page 3 Senate: Prospective building projects are in the future Briefs Campus & Community I continued from page 1 Now that Kennedy is back in Washington, D.C. after spending three years at USU, he said he has high hopes for the university's future. In my new job, I hope to continue, frankly, to help the university from the federal side and do everything we can to be beneficial to USU and to the entire system of higher education. He said President Albrecht is a unique leader who focuses on his team and the university as a whole. Which he said is evident in the success of the university. "President Albrecht is the kind of guy I would follow into battle," he said, "that kind of inspiring of a leader." The university is going in a great direction from a government relations standpoint, he said. There are several prospective state-funded building projects in the near future. "There are a lot of exciting things on the horizon, on the state level, putting in some new buildings and hopefully some salary increases for employees at USU," Kennedy said. "Especially for our faculty, as we go forward in our next sessions, if the budget scenario improves." He said the university is currently doing close to $2 million in federal research, and lauded professors and the vice president of research for going after competitive grants. "It's great to be joining an office where there is that commitment to the citizens of Utah, and to be able to continue to contribute to my home and the people of my home, where my heart is, frankly," Kennedy said. DeVilbiss said the university faculty is sad to see him go, but they understand how great an opportunity it is for Kennedy and his wife. Posters on the Hill applications due In April 2011, the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) will host its 15th annual undergraduate poster session on Capitol Hill. This event will help members of Congress understand the impor— dan.whitney.smith@aggienzad.usu.edu tance of undergraduate research by talking directly with the students whom these programs impact. Abstract submissions will only be accepted by using the online submission form. For more information, and the link to submit an application, please visit: http://www.cur. org/pohcall.html . Prior to submitting the form, students should gather the contact information for all co-authors, advisors and sponsors (if applicable), prepare a short vitae/resume, and poster abstract. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 15, 2010. Podcast to feature Logan Canyon myths By ROUCHELLE BROCKMAN staff writer The stories of Logan Canyon will be told through a podcast series from Stokes Nature Center in 2011. The program will include 15 podcasts explaining the history and lore of various Logan Canyon sites, which participants can listen to while at the locations. "I haven't seen most of the areas she talked about in my time in the canyon, so I think it would be interesting to actually listen to the story while at the sites," said Kelly Goonan, human dimensions of ecosystem science and management graduate student. Elaine Thatcher, program coordinator of the Mountain West Center for Regional Studies, gave a lecture Thursday about the stories covered by this program at the MerrillCazier Library. "Telling stories gives you a sense of place and makes you feel you belong," said Annalisa Paul, director of operations at the Stokes Nature center, "so many people in the community are interested in history. We wanted to find a compelling way to share these stories." Paul said the series could benefit USU students both socially and academically. Thatcher said Logan canyon was supposedly named for Ephraim Logan, a fur trapper from St. Louis. She said there is another theory that Logan canyon and city were named after Omaha Native American Logan Fontenelle, who had a friendly relationship with the LDS leadership of the time. Thatcher also gave a history of the nunnery. St. Anne's Retreat, formerly owned by the Catholic Church, was a summer haven for nun. Thatcher said there is no evidence of the common belief that it was a retreat for pregnant nuns or that a child was drowned there. However, she acknowledged that in 1997 several teenagers trespassed on the private nunnery grounds. Guards captured these teenagers and held them captive in an empty swimming pool. The guards later received criminal charges. Thatcher attributed most of the legends about the nunnery to "xenophobia." Thatcher then explained the story of the Bear Lake Monster. She said Paris, Idaho resident Thomas Sleight claimed to have seen the monster swimming at great speeds and eating sheep and barbed wire. Thatcher said witnesses described the monster variously as brown, green, hairy, and scaly. The sightings caused a panic and between 1868-70 gun sales "skyrocketed." Thatcher also told the story of Old Ephraim, who was a supposedly a 9 feet, 11 inches tall grizzly bear that preyed on sheep in Logan Canyon. Frank Clark, a sheepherder, killed the bear in 1923. Thatcher said Clark described the bear's roar upon being trapped as an "awful roar of mingled pain and misery." Clark then skinned and burned the carcass. There is now a monument constructed at the grave site. While many assume Tony Grove is given its name after a man named Tony, Thatcher said this is not the case. The Tony Grove area was a very popular vacation spot for wealthy Logan residents. Workers in Logan canyon referred to these "high-toned" vacationers as "tonies," Thatcher said. This term resulted in the area's current name. The Utah Humanities Council funded the podcast series. Paul said podcasts and maps will be free to the public. "I'm not originally from this area, so I thought this would be an interesting way to connect with the city," Goonan said. USU hosts Inventor Portal Workshop The Technology Commercialization office at Utah State University recently launched the USU Inventor Portal. All USU faculty and graduate students are invited to attend the Inventor Portal Workshop. The worksop will be held Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 4 p.m. in the FACT Lab at the Merrill-Cazier Library. The electronic Inventor Portal streamlines the submission process for disclosures and allows inventors to view the status of existing inventions from any webbrowser. Additional dates and times will be available as needed. Interested parties may call Karen Boghossian to schedule a private workshop for their department: 435-797-9603 or karen.boghossian@usu.edu . For more information about USU's Inventor Portal and to RSVP, visit the website. USU Press creates Monograph Series — rouchellebrockman@gmad.com ELAINE THATCHER LECTURED THURSDAY in the Merrill-Cazier Library on stories about Logan Canyon. The stories will be made into Podcasts in 20 I I. TODD JONES photo Government: Voters were divided into groups based on religion I continued from page 1 feel safer and more protected," Lyons said. "At the same time we claim to want change, we deadlock government." Lyons suggested many of the Democratic Party's struggles this election stemmed from the Obama administration not learning from the past, especially in regard to the recently-passed health care bill. Voters, he said, are wary of legislation that represents sweeping and dramatic change and interest groups were able to instill a certain degree of fear. "The American public is not receptive to change, no matter how appealing that is as a campaign slogan," Lyons said. After the 2008 election, Lyons said the Democrats had an attitude of not wanting to waste a crisis. In a similar way to how the Republican Party used 9/11 to expand the war against terrorism, the Democrats capitalized on the recession to push through a dramatic overhaul of the health care system. In both examples, Lyons said, the action proved deadly to the party. "The Democratic Party is going to pay a heavy price for health care reform," Lyons said. Following Lyons' remarks, Cann spoke about the Utah election results, drawing data from the Utah Colleges Exit Poll. According to the data presented, Utah Governor Gary Herbert lost among independents. In most states, losing the independent vote would cost a candidate the election, but Cann said the overwhelmingly high number of republicans in Utah diminished this threat. "Even if Herbert loses among independents by a relatively small margin, it doesn't matter," Cann said. Through the exit polling, voters were divided into groups based on religious activity. Herbert won three-fourths of the votes from those identicent of Tea Partiers answered accurately. fied as "very active" in their religions. On the "They're not saying 'I don't know,' they're sayother end of the scale, Herbert's opponent Peter ing 'I do know' and they're wrong," Cann said. Carroon was able to pick up more votes among Lyons described the data as "troubling," the less active and "don't care to say" voters. saying the Tea Party platform is built around Cann said this division is constitutionality and members typical for elections. "I see a serious risk of are generally eager to invoke the "Utah politics isn't difconstitution during debate. Later something similar to ferent from other states in on, Lyons said he would not be the Tea Party emergthe trends that we see ...it's surprised to see a liberal counterdifferent because of the com- ing in the Democratic part to the Tea Party emerge. position of the electorate," "I see a serious risk of someParty" Cann said. thing similar to the Tea Party Michael Lyons emerging in the Democratic Cann addressed the subject of the Tea Party, which USU Professor Party," Lyons said. proved to be a significant Following their remarks, pizza force in this year's political was served to the roughly 30 stuclimate. Cann described the movement as unique dents in attendance and the floor was opened up in that they represent a populist anti-governto questions from the audience. The professors ment sentiment, but added their existence is not were asked for their hypotheses on the Obama unprecedented. administration's next moves, Obama's re-election "We've seen groups like this pop up from time odds in 2012, and the outlook for both parties to time," Cann said. "They tend to go away." heading into the next session of congress. Cann said Utah represents an excellent venue Both professors agreed Obama is likely to for observing the Tea Party, in that 40 percent of be re-elected to a second term in office, though the state's voters strongly approve or somewhat Cann said attempting to judge presidential elecsupport the movement. tion outcomes based on mid-term elections is "That's very high relative to most other "dicey, dangerous business." states," Cann said. Lyons referred again to the division of power Cann presented polling data that tested and said voters will likely see Obama as less of voters' knowledge of the powers of congress a threat now that the Republicans control the enumerated in the Constitution. Voters were house. given congressional powers such as the ability to borrow money on the credit of the United States — b.c.wood@aggiemad.usu.edu and were asked if such an act was constitutional. Generally speaking, members of the Tea Party demonstrated a lesser knowledge of congress' powers; for that particular question, only 19 per- Utah State University press and the Merrill-Cazier Library have established a new monograph book series for USU faculty. The series is open to original manuscripts in any discipline that make a significant contribution to their respective fields. Submissions will undergo a rigorous peer review process and successful manuscripts will be published by USU Press in an open access collection hosted by Merrill-Cazier Library. Richard Clement, dean of libraries at Utah State University, announced plans for the project. "We are initiating an experiment to publish USU faculty authors in all fields and disciplines as open access electronic books, freely available to the citizens of Utah and the world," Clement said. USU Press is a department in University Libraries and is led by Michael Spooner, director. "As the world grows ever more digital, we believe this series will be a unique and noteworthy innovation in scholarly publishing," he said. Spooner has directed USU Press for 17 years, and has overseen the gradual incorporation of digital technology into every dimension of the department's work. Clement said the project can go beyond the digital format. "Of course, we recognize that many authors and readers will want their books in the traditional package of paper and a binding," Clement said. "For those, we will offer a print-on-demand feature that will provide a traditional book as well." USU faculty wishing to submit a manuscript for the new USU Digital Monographs Series should visit the university press website, www.usu.edu/usupress to see the posted call for proposals. !Compiled from staff and media reports