University of Utah Student Newspapers--The Chronicle | 2007-02-07 | Page 3

Wednesday, February 7,2007 THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE U hires researchers under USTAR initiative Paige Fieldsted The Daily Utah Chronicle The U recently hired three researchers under the Utah Science, Technology and Research (USTAR) initiative. Cameron Charles, Brian J. McPherson and Guido Gerig are the first three of 30 researchers the U hopes to hire. The initiative's main goal is to attract world-class scientists and researchers to help boost Utah's economy. "Strong researchers will then bring in talented students...and more companies will be motivated to establish operations in Utah to gain access to talented graduates," Charles said. The initiative funding will also provide a new building with stateof-the-art laboratories. "USTAR is helping to attract the world's top scientists.-.which will support students and world-class programs at the U," said Jack Brittain, senior vice president of academic affairs. "Everyone at the U benefits from our ability to hire world-class scientists," Brittain said. Charles began work on Jan. 1 as an assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. His research will focus on highspeed wireless communication systems to improve data transmission speeds and reduce the amount of power used. Gerig will begin work as a professor of computer science on July 1. He will also be a member of the U's Scientific Computing and Im- continued from Page I COMMITTEE SAYS BEECH VIOLATED ELECTION RULES continued from Page 1 At the meeting, he also mentioned a memo that would be sent to the other parties disclosing the party's color, contact information and intent to have a clean campaign. Beech said the memo would also be sent to The Chronicle. The Chronicle printed an article mentioning the memo, "Beech reaches out to fellow student body president candidates," on Jan. 16. Beech said he was not aware McPherson will be researching ways to pump the carbon dioxide put off by power plants underground and use it as a way to push out hard-to-reach oil. "By injecting into the ground, we can prevent power plant CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere and contributing to global warming," McPherson said. The U is currently working on recruiting more USTAR researchers. p.fieldsted@ chronicle.utah.edu STUDENTS OPPOSE LEGISLATION AGAINST GUNS STUDENT MUSICIAN BRANCHES OUT Their debut CD, The John Whites Play Their Songs, was recorded in a garage. But while Guerra enjoys her position as the only woman in the band, she has also branched out with her own band: Franklin. On her computer, she records the guitar, drums and vocal parts, and then splices them together to form a track. Franklin was the elementary school Guerra attended, a name she chose because many people don't know her background and won't be able to connect it easily. "I write when I'm frustrated, usually about relationships or my parents or just about all the silly stuff that happens in life," Guerra said. "And there are a few about John White in there, too." None of Guerra's Franklin songs are available to the public, though; she pulled them from her MySpace page not too long ago. "I'm still insecure about my music," Guerra said. "When you open yourself up to people, it's inevitable that some won't like you and I tend to avoid that, because it's just easier." Her musical talents, she said, came from her grandparents, who used to sing. She had a great-grandmother who had no teeth but used to sing with a parrot. Guerra came to the United States from Panama, where she was born, 17 years ago, moving first to California and a year later to Utah. Her mom is an epidemiologist with the Utah Department of Health, working with STDs and HIV. Her dad works for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Guerra has worked as a hostess at The Ol• ive Garden for nine months and volunteers WVMV View Elementary School in South Salt Lake City with children who are refugees from Russia and Africa. Guerra, along with White, works in the after-school program, tutoring and teaching kindergarteners through sixth graders how aging Institute. Gerig is working on developing techniques for turning medical images into diagnostic tools. "This is vital to everyone who has ever had any kind of a tumor or brain disease," Brittain said. McPherson joined the U in August and has been working as an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering. McPherson is also manager of the new Carbon Management Group and the U's Energy and Geoscience Institute. continued from Page / KIM PETERSON/T/v Daly Utah Chronicle Jenny Guerra plays soccer with kindergartners at Mountain View Elementary School, where she volunteers three times a week, on Friday. to hip-hop dance and play sports. ' "I like teaching because it makes the kids feel better about themselves," Guerra said. "Because the kids don't know English, a lot of them feel dumb, so knowing the language makes them feel important and confident." During her free time, she likes to read comic books and go to dance parties. When she graduates, she hopes to join the Peace Corps and become a school counselor. "Even though I'll be doing music forever, I think being a musician is selfish," Guerra said. "I think it would be more fun to do something that actually makes a difference." a.breton@ chronicle.utah.edu but luckily a group of skateboarders scared the attacker off. McCrory, who is in a wheelchair due to a skiing accident (and was at the time of his attack); believes that if he had a weapon to defend himself, he could have thwarted the attacker and wouldn't have to depend on luck to save him again. The proposed bill allows Utah colleges to ban guns in faculty offices and permits students living in the Residence Halls to decide if they want to live with concealed weapons permit holders. Sen. Michael Waddoups, R-West Jordan, finds such parts of the bill absurd—especially a section that requires professors and administrators to post notices outside of offices where no guns are allowed. "This is like painting a target on yourself," Waddoups said. "It says, 'Come after me, I'll let you get me.'" LENNIE MAHLER/ The Daily Utah Chronicle Junior Thomas McCrory empties rounds from a magazine during a Second Amendment Students of Utah club target practice session. He said that he has never heard of a criminal that is out to hurt someone and "reads signs and cares." The bill's sponsor, Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, said that while he is "on the fence about the issue," he was the only lawmaker willing to sponsor it. "I strongly feel that the Legislature should be in charge of gun policy," Bell said. While both Bell and Waddoups think the bill will pass, Bell said the compro- mise wasn't much and Waddoups is doubtful that it will: solve any problems. For now, and SAS plans to contact legislators, rally with other groups and attend the committee meetings to make its presence known. [e-mail] GelinAbacL write about the ASUU elections and had already reported about Beech's candidacy in November. Beech also said that having a clarification of press relation rules, as presented on the Election Registrar's blog, shows that a discrepancy is understandable. He said the memo was only meant as a "goodwill gesture" to other parties and The Chronicle. r.mcconkie@ chronicle.utah.edu d.gardiner@ chronicle.utah.edu The Chronicle was writing the article on the memo. The grievance was filed against Beech on Feb. 5, on the grounds that he had not kept campaign information within the party, as pre-active campaigning rules require. At the grievance hearing on Feb. 6, Deputy Special Prosecutor Brad Clark argued that the campaign memo, which Evans approved to be sent to other parties, had been made external by the article in the newspaper, allowing it to be "seen by the student body at large" and giving Beech an unfair advantage. Beech's party argued that the Chronicle reporter did constitute an affiliated party because she is assigned to I Brooks JEWELERS FASHION PLAZA 152 East Winchester, Murray (801)2664747 Editor's note: In the interest of full disclosure, Cameron Beech released the memo found in violation of elections rules to Chronicle reporter Rochelle McConkie. MATHESON T i l l : GATl:\VAY 157 S. 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