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Show THE THUNDERBIRD SUSC MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 1989 PAGE 3 1 Everest climber speaks at Convo BY ,'T WEDNESDAYS ELECTION RESULTS BY DISTRICT 0 !l JASON NORTH Stacy Allison, the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, talked about her trek and narrated a slide presentation in Thursdays Convocation. Three plastic pink flamingos ascended Mount Everest on Sept. 29, 1988 with Stacy Allison. The flamingos are purely frivolous, she said. When youre under stress, you need distractions; you bring silly things. Many things led up to the moment that Allison stood on the summit of Mount Everest. Her first mountain climbing experience came during spring break from Oregon State University when she and a friend took a trip to Zions National Park with a rock climbing club. Five years later in 1982, Allison was a member of an eight'woman expedition to Ama Dablam in Nepal. From the summit of Ama Dablam, Allison could see Mount Everest towering 7,000 feet above her, she said. At that point in time, said Allison, I made a secret goal to climb Everest. But I kept the goal inside to let it kindle and gain energy and momentum. Allison had to prepare herself physically, mentally and emotionally for her goal, she said. She researched Mount Everest and used visualization. I saw myself at base camp, climbing the mountain, standing on the summit, and most importantly, coming back safely, she said. Emotional support comes from the people we surround ourselves with, she noted. Allisons first expedition to Mount Everest was in 1987, but the team was forced back by winds after coming within 1,000 feet of the summit. She was gravely disappointed about turning back, she said, because it takes at least six years to gain a permit to climb the mountain, and she feared she would not have another chance. Luckily, there was another Northwest American climbing expedition leaving the next year, Allison said. She applied for and was accepted as a member of the team three months before the expedition was to leave. The team arrived in Nepal on July 23, 1988. You know youre in Katmandu when cows take precedence over parking spaces, Allison said. It took 1 1 days and a $2,000 bribe to get the 30,000 pounds of food and equipment out of customs, she said. We got off easy. We thought it would take $4,000, she said. Allison stressed that she had to keep breaking her goal down into manageable chunks. I just concentrated on making it through day by day, she said. The expedition team was divided into summit teams. Allison, two other Americans and three Sherpas Nepal natives were the first summit team. Above 19,000 feet, the team needed bottled oxygen. While climbing, Allison saw two of the Sherpas fall behind. Then she realized that they had turned back, taking with them two extra oxygen bottles. The four members could not complete the hike to the summit without the additional oxygen, but they continued to climb, ignoring the oxygen problem, she said. Eventually they stopped to make a decision. It was decided that Allison should take the one spare oxygen bottle and finish the climb. Allison continued without ropes up the mountain. The other Sherpa followed her. The thought of standing on the summit outweighed his risk of running out of oxygen, she said. Allison reached the summit at 10:30 a.m. I felt a swelling emotion, she said. I wanted to hug somebody and share the experience. It was the happiest, yet loneliest, moment in my life, she said. Allison left a piece of turquoise, her good-luc- k Buddhist prayer scarf, 20 corporate banners, a Susan B. Anthony dollar and a picture of herself and her boyfriend on the summit with the flamingos. But Allison took the most important thing back down with her her will to risk adventure. Channel nine will broadcast the Convocation Monday at 6 p.m. Cedar tallies highest voting turnout BY JAMES SPAINHOWER Statistically, voter turnout for Cedar Citys Nov. 7 general election has never been higher. But, as Karen LeFevre, deputy clerk for Iron County, said, it isnt because of a surge in civic responsibility among voters; rather, it is due to boundary adjustments which have influenced overall figures. In June 1989, we changed the voting districts making them much larger. This served to effect the figures, LeFevre said, conceding, however, that the Winter Olympic referendum lured many to the polls that would have otherwise not voted. District 7, one of two districts in Cedar City having a high SUSC student concentration, counted 677 potential voters registering in the 1989 general election with, a total voter turnout of 56.16 percent. District 8, the second district with a large percentage of student residents, tallied approximately 922 registered voters with 68 percent casting a ballot. In comparison, District 7 had 177 as the number of registered voters with 156 voting in the 1988 national election. District 8 listed 363 voters registering with 287 turning out at the polls, LeFevre said, pointing out that aside from the boundry . " readjustment, other factors figure into the difference in registered voters from 1988 to 1989, the most crucial being the offices being vied for. In the 1988 election, the public voted for state representatives. Because of this, voter turnout was one of the highest some districts reporting more than 90 percent, said LeFevre. Estimates on the eve of the 1989 general election were projected to be somewhat lower, around 50 percent. Nevertheless, LeFevre emphasized that the 1989 vote was equally important on the local level, with Cedar Citys mayoral seat and two councilman slots open to election. Additionally, council positions were decided in Parowan and the office of mayor was determined through popular vote. Ease of voting, no doubt, had an impact on the number of polling voters this year, since Iron County officials implemented a punch card voting system. Besides advantages for the voter, other benefits were realized, LeFevre said. Because financial allocations from the state Legislature are based on per capita growth in Iron County, increased voting this year could be representative of a surge in the countys population. A census count in December of this year will determine if more than 19,500 citizens live in the county. If so, LeFevre said, another state representative position could be made available in the future. Semimonthly pay deemed too costly BY KIMBERLY DRIGGS Although SUSC student employees have lobbied k the administration for pay periods, the college has maintained a monthly payroll status. Its a long tradition, said Paul R. Southwick, executive vice president of financial affairs. The tradition of paychecks became a Utah State of branch a SU was when policy two-wee- once-a-mon- th University, said Southwick, although employees are paid on a semimonthly schedule. The difference, said Controller Dorian Page, lies in the computation of wages staff wages are salary based while student wages are hourly based and require increased processing time and money. In researching the request, a controller cost study showed that the cost of semimonthly or weekly paychecks for students on an hourly wage would be non-stude- nt too great an increase in costs resulting from the additional staff hours that would be required for processing time. If they were paid every two weeks, the paperwork would kill us over here, said Page. Southwick said two problems with semimonthly paychecks include doubling the number of checks printed and student time cards would have to be calculated and turned into payroll twice as often. Southwick said that in order to change the policy, SUSC would have to allocate a sufficient budget to cover the cost of it. According to Page, the time it takes to process the large number of checks would require a two-wee-k delay payment plan checks would be issued two weeks after the hours worked. Questions and comments concerning SUSCs payment policy rise annually, but there have only been two big pushes in 1984 and 1987, he said. |