OCR Text |
Show UNIVERSITY JOURNAL CAMPUS NEWS Convo speaker to address Islam Cedar cost of living stays stable Even in the midst of a recession, the cost of living in Cedar City stays at 93 percent and Mormonism FROM RENEE BALLENGER UNIVERSITY NEWS SERVICES BY SHOHEI KAMADA JOURNAL STAFF WRITER Mahera Harouny will speak on the topic of “Islam and Mormonism” at today’s Convocation, which begins at 11:30 a.m. in the Auditorium. Harouny is president of East-West Exchange, an organization that specializes in academic, social and cultural exchange programs between the West and countries and regions in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. She is a native of Afghanistan and was commissioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to translate the Book of Mormon into the Farsi language during the late 1970s. While translating the book, Harouny gathered information about the similarities and differences between Islam and Mormonism. Harouny has lectured in a number of countries and has been published in three languages. She is interested in the study and comparison of world religions. She will talk about the historical background of both religions, the similarities and differences between the two and cultural implications of each society. “There isn’t much written about Islam,” Neal Cox, dean of students, said. “Twenty-five percent of all people in the world are Muslims, but we don’t understand [their beliefs] so they have been mysterious to us.” Maherq Harouny Harouny said the purpose of her speech is : to provide audience members with a better understanding of both religions so that they will THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 2002 Food prices remained relatively high (112.9 percent), but health costs were below average (96 percent). Cedar City’s published composite for the third quarter of Data gathered by Alan Hamlin, professor of management 2001 came in at 93.3 percent, the same as the previous at Southern Utah University, revealed that the cost of living year. Costs were high for food (110.5 percent), but low for in St. George decreased over the past year and remained at housing (75.1 percent). about 97 percent of the national average, while Cedar City Costs for other cities were: - stayed constant at 93 percent. M Provo/Orem 109.7 (a significant increase) A quarterly study funded by Intermountain Health Care, M Logan 97.3 WECCO, the Washington W Salt Lake City 99.6 County Economic W Las Vegas 107.0 Th e st ab il it y is encouraging Development Council and W Los Angeles 142.2 the Iron County Economic since there have been great A family who moved to Development Office offers the Los Angeles area from sw in gs in the co st of data that is included in the Southern Utah would have to Cost of Living Index. The electricity, gasoline, food make about 46 percent more index is published by the income (after taxes) to keep it em s an d in te re st rates in American Chamber of the same standard of living as Commerce Researcher’s the interim,” Alan Hamlin, they had in Utah. ; Association. Sin ce dat a is col lec ted SU U pr of es so r of One result of the study is quarterly, local costs can be that costs in southern Utah management, said. tracked over time. During the can be compared to prices in three-month period between other areas around the October and January, overall prices nation. dropped 0.17 percent in St. George and 0.32 percent in The published overall cost of living for St. George for the . Cedar City. . third quarter of 2001 was 97.1, with 100 percent being the “This probably reflects general nationwide trends since national average cost. Last year the figure was 96.4 percent. the economy has slipped into recession, which won'’t be “The stability is encouraging since there have been great reflected in the other cities’ costs until they are reported swings in the cost of electricity, gasoline, food items and by ACCRA in a few more months,” Hamlin said. interest rates in the interim,” Hamlin said. Hamlin said he anticipates that the cost of living in Overall housing costs in St. George, including costs for southern Utah will continue to be attractive in the future, single-family residences and apartment rents, were 75.1 adding that the overall cost of living has remained between percent and utility rates were 81.9 percent. 92 percent and 100 percent for more than a decade. SUU students watched a live performance on Saturday night by local punk band, The Problems, at Groovacious, a music store which understand and respect others’ beliefs. based on his or her topic and the events of that time of the year, g ‘ ' hosts live music and poetry readings. The band (from left) is comprised of Chris Proctor, bass, from Cedar City; Zeke Carter, drums, a sophomore finance HEIDI NEDREBERG/JOURNAL “Because of the ongoing conflict with [Afghanistan], it is good to have a better understanding of Islam,” Harouny said. Doing so allows people to compare Islam to their own belief system, she added. Cox said it is important to understand what people from the Middle East think, feel and believe in. “One of the big reasons we have Convocations is to open the window to the world so we can see beyond the present state and understand more about the world we live in,” Cox said. “We think it’s a timely topic and hope everyone will join us [today].” Convocations are free and open to the public, faculty, staff and students of SUU and Cedar City. “Convocations are a chance for students to look beyond SUU’s campus and experience the world in which we live,” said Cox. Each Convocations speaker is chosen each semester major from Cedar City; Darrin Blanchard, vocals, a senior computer science major from Cedar City; and Keisuke Sasaki, guitar, a senior nutrition major from Japan. it 3 { i |