University of Utah Student Newspapers | 2009-12-08 | Page 1

HUNK OF CHANGE The U has gotten quite a few updates in the past d Independent Student Voice Since 1890 Vol. 119 No. 57 I ©2009 Mestizo Institute faces forced closure Michael McFall donations, but with a monthly cost of $10,000, it's never enough to keep the institute open in the long run. This month is the first the coffee shop has ever broken even, said Mary Lucero, a U physiology professor and institute board member. To turn things around, Hurst left the city late last September on his bike and on a mission. He's traveling across the western United States, starting in Seattle and working his way down the coast before returning to Utah, asking everyone he meets to make a donation. They're ultimately shooting for $5 million, a sum its members are confident will allow them to keep their building open for a long time to come. But four months after initiating their huge push for donations, they've only raised $20,000. Although MICA is hurting under a damaged economy, its money troubles are nothing new to the neighborhood. MICA members are trying desperately to change that. The city's west side is often generalized as the more poor, criminal and hopeless half of the city—the shadow cast by the east side's light. "Kids grow up in the community and think some bad things about themselves," said Walter Mason, a project manager for the institute. NEWS EDITOR COURTESY WALTER MASON Xico Gonzales, an artist from California, works with students from the west side of Salt Lake City at the Mestizo Institute for Culture and Art. The MICA could be forced to close if it is not able to raise $5 million. RESEARCH AT THE U Former officers decry meth study Inconclusive results led to dismissal of 22 workers compensation claims Jake Hibbard STAFF WRITER cancer or other diseases, the U's Rocky Mountain Center for Occupation and Environmental Health was given $250,000 from the Utah Legislature in 2006 to conduct a study on the link among the police officers, said Kurt Hegmann, a U professor who was in charge of the study. If the study could find evidence that a link existed, officers would be able to use the results as evidence to the validity of their claim, he said. The ultimate total cost of the study was about $540,000, Hegmann said. A group also conducted a separate study on exposure among firefighters. More than 1o,000 police officers were contacted about participating in a questionnaire, Some former methamphetamine-lab busting police who filed for workers compensation for ailments related to their exposure to the dangerous drug while on the job are blaming their denied claims on a failed U study. Twenty-eight workers compensation claims have been filed by former police officers blaming meth lab exposure for their health conditions, and all but six have been dismissed, said Karla Rush with the Utah Labor Commissions. Many of the denied claims were because the officers could not prove that their ailments were because of exposure to meth, Rush said. To research possible links between meth lab exposure and See METH Page 7 NEWS EDITOR After several criticized or mired projects and two successful ones, today the student government's leaders will sit down with students and go over what they've done for the past eight months of its administration. Although the government leaders are likely to address what the government has planned for the future, Tayler Clough, president of the Associated Students of the University of Utah, and Vice President Rachel Rizzo have received mixed results for the initiatives already under their belt since taking office in May. Most of their success came through the Internet. In October, they posted the ASUU budget online. Although it was seen as a good-faith attempt at transparency—more than last year's administration can say—its eligibility as a complete success was weighed down by the fact that expenditures were left as vague line items without clarification. Clough has asked students to come to him with any questions they might have about the budget. Also in the administration's favor is its creation of a central website for all student groups, which was well-received. However, other attempts from Clough's administration haven't shared the same success. During their campaign, Clough and Rizzo spoke about rescheduling summer classes to energy-sustainable buildings in order to reduce the U's carbon footprint. Although it was wellintentioned, they quickly came to terms with the fact that it's an initiative that will have to wait for another administration as See MESTIZO Page 7 Budget remains unclear, Young says U president discusses financial situation at Academic Senate Chris Mumford STAFF WRITER Although doubt still clouds the fate of the U's budget for next year, U President Michael Young appeared before the Academic Senate on Monday to offer an early prognosis. The budget remains "unclear in the extreme," Young said, but he has reason to hope that the situation will be a repeat of last year, only this time the looming 17 percent baseline cut from the Utah Legislature will be offset with state funds, rather than federal stimulus money, to again reduce the impact to around 9 percent. "So, essentially, our budget would be held constant," Young said. In recent weeks, advocates for higher education have pushed for tax increases on gasoline and tobacco to help mitigate the impact of future cuts, but Young said these are increasingly unlikely to succeed. "It appears that there is a movement against tax increases, perhaps with the exception of the tobacco tax, which would probably be dedicated towards health care," Young said. Young said he and his colleagues spent a lot of time explaining the situation to Gov. Gary Herbert and leadership in the Legislature, but said that, ASUU to discuss projects Michael McFall U art professor Jimmy Lucero arrives in a classroom on Salt Lake City's west side each week with an art lesson and a dream for his students that they can rise above their circumstances and go to college. But soon it will remain just that—a dream. The Mestizo Institute for Culture and Art, where middle schoolers and high schoolers take free art classes from members of their neighborhood and U professors, will be forced to close its doors in early 2010 if it doesn't find a way to raise enough money to keep its building on 600 West and North Temple. In order to keep a program that encourages young people on the west side to stay in school, get involved in art and—just as importantly—apply for college, MICA is holding a fundraiser Saturday for city residents to donate plasma and give the $35 they earn to the institute. But the forecast for their success, like the one hanging over the city, is a gloomy one. Their financial troubles are nothing new It has been a challenge to keep the doors open since founders Terry Hurst and his wife, Mary Chacon, an internationally renowned artist, started the institute in June 2008. MICA relies on revenue from an adjoining coffee shop and grants and personal obstacles came up, such as the fact that most older buildings can't be completely shut down. Still on the horizon is Clough's proposal to begin a mentoring program. ASUU legislators criticized the proposal when originally presented as a $15,000 program to have U graduate students go to Granite District high schools to show students how to apply to the U. The most recent version of the proposal describes it as a program of the same cost that would have graduate students visit Granite District junior highs to mentor younger students in basic academics. Although the proposed senior class gift of an at least $20,000 social center in the Marriott Library plaza passed unanimously in the ASUU Assembly, two senators have criticized it as misguided. [e-mail] MIKE MANGUM/The Daily Utah Chronicle At the Academic Senate meeting held Monday, U President Michael Young addressed the budget cuts the U is facing. Young said he has spent time explaining the U's financial situation to Gov. Gary Herbert and other leaders in the Legislature. in general, the mistaken perception of the university's dire financial situation exists. "The point that we've been making is exactly that—which is that these funds are not (interchangeable)," Young said, referring to the U's inability to use research money for basic budgetary needs. The use of research funds donated to the U is narrowly circumscribed by legal contracts, leaving little room for administrators to divert them to address other needs. "There's always a sense that we're somehow awash in money and we can See BUDGET Page 2 Students join with PETA for petition Group aims to collect signatures to end animal labs Jamie Bowen STAFF WRITER In light of recent findings from the undercover investigation by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals at the U's research labs, students are continuing to make an outcry. As of Monday evening, the U.S. Department of Agriculture still has not sent any unannounced inspectors to the U's animal labs to investigate if PETA's threeweek-old complaints to the U's department—that the labs violate federal law with mistreatment of animals—are true. If they are, the labs would lose their license and their animals. But students are taking matters into their own hands. The Student Organization for Animal Rights at the U has teamed up with petal, PETA's youth organization, to collect signatures to end animal testing at the U on dogs and cats bought at a low cost from local shelters. "We've already collected more than 1,000 signatures," said Justin Goodman, research supervisor in the laboratory department of PETA. The petition received an overwhelming and positive response, Amy Meyer, SOAR spokeswoman and a senior in environmental studies, said in a statement. A statement from PETA regarding its findings in the investigation said a dog's neck was cut open and a medical device was implanted before it died and a cat had electrodes implanted in its skull that would send electrical impulses that would move its legs. "The media has come out against the practice, and the students have come out against the practice," Goodman said. "Now it's time for the university to do the right thing. We hope that the U will stop testing on poor animals and that the community will provide a safe haven for the animals." The group also sent a letter to U President Michael Young asking that the cat with electrodes in its brain be released from the labs. [e-mail]