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Show Two IN W AMNESTY NEEDED: Reed Nelson says lighter The men's basketball team won two consecutive games for the first time since early January» 6 sentencing for those who help i alcohol emergencies could save lives» 5 Monday, March 1, 2010 TA H C H RON I CLE D sity of Utah's Independent Student Voice Since 1890 www.dailyutahchronicle.co 201 Cl_egislatnie Vol. 119 No.87 02010 In like a lamb ession Tobacco tax changes focus Michael McFall NEWS EDITOR Sen. Allen Christensen isn't ready to let a tobacco tax go up in smoke. Christensen, R-Ogden, proposed a bill that almost triples Utah's sales tax on tobacco, only to have a Senate committee shoot it down Thursday. But the next day, Christensen unveiled a plan to win over lawmakers: earmarks. On Thursday, a senate committee voted 3-4 to not pass Christensen's bill to raise the tax to $2 a pack. Christensen and his supporters at the committee hearing—mostly health professionals from the U —made their case for the bill as a means to save lives from cancer. But opponents argued that it unfairly taxes lower-income Utahns and could potentially lose Utah more than the $40.3 million a year See TOBACCO Page 4 Senate relaxes cell phone bill Punishment changed to a secondary offense Jake Hibbard STAFF WRITER The Senate passed a bill Friday that would make it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to use a cell phone while driving, but not before legislators drastically reduced its potency. With the new amendments, Senate Bill 113 would make using a cell phone a secondary offense, which means police could only pull over offenders if they were in violation of another traffic offense. Also, points would not be added to an offender's driving record for the offense, and talking to a parent or legal guardian on a cell phone was added to the list of exemptions to the law, which already included reporting a crime and emergency situations. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake City, was voted down by the Senate on Thursday before revisions were made to it. Once Romero amended it, watering down its consequences, it passed the next day. "I obviously prefer it was a primary offense," Romero said. "But this is just part of the legislative process. You have to find the right balance and will of the whole body." Romero and Rep. Phil Riesen, D-Holladay, both NATHAN SWEET/The Daily Utah Chronicle Matt and Beth Vukin go to the field on upper campus to enjoy the fresh air with their dog Andy. With the slowly rising spring temperatures, more students have been getting outside during their free time. Sexuality-related stress shown Conference highlights health disparities for sexual minorities Tiffany Thorne of sexual minorities and the unique prob- seven times more likely to have ever atlems they face. tempted suicide, Rosario said. "There are massive health disparities beEach of the speakers begged the audience The mood was somber in the Officer's tween lesbian, gay and bisexual youth and to see through the numbers to try to underClub at Fort Douglas as grave statistics their heterosexual peers," said Margaret stand the difficult reality faced by sexual were presented concerning the health of Rosario, professor of psychology at the City minorities. sexual minorities. University of New York and guest speaker David Huebner, professor of psychology The conference, "Controlling Sexuality at the conference. at the U, called the situation "ridiculous and Through Violence, Shame and Cultural OpLesbian, gay and bisexual youth are seven unacceptable." pression: Implications for Human Rights," times more likely to report having six or Huebner stressed that the elevated risk hosted by the U's Tanner Center for Nonvi- more sexual partners in their lifetime, three behaviors of lesbian, gay and bisexual olent Human Rights Advocacy for the latter times more likely to have major depression half of last week, focused on the experience and other psychiatric disorders and up to See SEXUALITY Page 3 STAFF WRITER Group prepares hygiene kits for Haiti Jamie Bowen STAFF WRITER See CELL Page 4 Senate Bill 113 Sponsor: Sen. Ross Romero Description: After Friday's amendments passed, police can pull over minors talking on a cell phone only if they are in violation of another traffic offense. Although media focus has turned to the devastating earthquake in Chile and tsunamis hitting the Pacific Ocean during the weekend, U students are doing their part to ensure that relief in Haiti continues. Campus Crusade for Christ collected and assembled supplies for 270 hygiene kits Thursday evening in the Union. The kits will be delivered to Haiti through the charity Global Aid Network. "It's a huge success," said Alex Esquibel, organizer for the student group. Campus Crusade, the U chapter of the interdenominational Christian group, wanted to help out in the Haiti relief effort. They decided to do hygiene kits. To make them a reality, they talked to See KITS Page 4 LENNIE MAHLER/The Daily Utah Chronicle U pre-pharmacy student Hoa Huynh gathers items such as toothbrushes and bandages to assemble a hygiene kit Thursday in the Union East Panorama Room. The kits will be shipped to Haiti to help with the relief effort. U's website moves up to No. 48 ranking worldwide for page views Deborah Rafferty STAFF WRITER The U's prestige is snowballing as it gains more awards and fame for its contributions to science. Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, an international ranking system, ranked the U's website 48th most viewed of 8,000 institutions worldwide based on its prominent web presence. The U has moved up eight spots from its previous ranking and is now back to where it was two years after the slight drop. It is the only Utah institution to be ranked in the top 5o. When compared to universities in Canada and the United States, the U is ranked 44th. The U's ranking is based on the number of hits the utah.edu domain receives, which has links to about 85o sites, said Paula Millington, director of media solutions in the University Information Technology Office. It is also based on the hits to various documents available to the public, such as research papers, Millington said. "It's not just the website," Millington said, referring to the design of the pages. "It's the content. We get a lot of hits because of Nobel Prize winners." Millington also said websites such as the one maintained by the U's Genetic Science Learning Center have contributed to the new ranking. The website launched its "Cell Size and Scale" interactive animation in October, which quickly became the eighth most popular search on the Internet, Louisa Stark, director of the Genetic Science Learning Center, said previously. Papers and research information done by U scientists that have been uploaded and available to the public are also essential to the new rank- ings, Millington said. She said she believes that if scientists perform the research and no one is able to read and learn from it, then the research doesn't mean anything. Having the research available online helps the researchers connect with investors and other people needed to make the research applicable in the real world, she said. See SITE Page 4 |