University of Utah Student Newspapers | 2013-01-09 | Page 3

DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Wednesday, January 9, 2013 RED BUTTE continued from Page 1 Raising the final si million has proved to be a difficult task for Red Butte because the nine-month period the Alternative Visions Fund set is short in terms of what is standard for big fundraising projects. "Foundations ... have relatively lengthy decision-making processes," Lee said. "There are some foundations that we don't even have an opportunity to go to during their funding cycle and still be within this deadline period." Because of this, most of the funds Red Butte has raised have come in the form of many smaller donations from private individuals instead of hefty contributions from foundations. Throughout the next month, Lee said Red Butte will be seeking out more of these individuals. In addition, letters and emails soliciting donations have been sent to members of the garden. One of the goals of the garden is to convince residents to make water-wise landscaping choices AIR QUALITY continued from Page 1 Protection Agency and cooperatives such as WRAP to reduce pollution that affects visibility in Class i areas, which are protected, and pristine national parks and wilderness. To make a complex issue such as air pollution easier to understand, Barickman focused his lecture on a single type of polluting particle: sulfur dioxide. "Any time you get into talking about air quality issues, whether it's talking about ... visibility or health, it gets complicated very quickly because you have many different chemicals and pollutants that are interacting in different ways," Barickman said. "By focusing on [sulfur dioxide], you can talk about some of the mechanics of air quality issues in a way that can leave off a lot of caveats." The work of the Utah Division of Air Quality that Barickman detailed has been the gathering of visibility-decreasing pollution statistics by proving water-conserving gardens can be beautiful as well as cheap and more sustainable than traditional turf. Lee said making more water available through the public's adoption of water-wise gardening would help students seeking jobs in Utah. "Businesses and people are going to locate in the future in the West based on where water is available at a reasonable price," he said. "If we can help to cut domestic use by 3o to 4o percent by changing landscaping practices, that frees up all of that water for economic development, agriculture and other uses. As [students] graduate from [the U] and are looking for jobs in this community ... [conserving water] helps to promise a better economic future." Samantha Jackson, a senior in health promotion and education and an Office of Sustainability ambassador, said conservation is an important interest for students. "We need to do whatever we can to make the world better for when we grow up," Jackson said. "The only way that happens is if we do our part." As a sustainability ambassador, Jackson works to decrease water consumption across campus. Changing water use practices can often be controversial and having an example in the water conservation garden would make it a little easier, she said. "A lot of faculty, professors and even students butt heads with our office because things we try to implement seem hard at first," Jackson said. "If we have a beautiful display all ready through Red Butte to show them that we can still keep campus green and beautiful, I think it'll be very beneficial." Jackson added donating to the Water Conservation Garden Fund would be a "great and somewhat innovative way for students to get involved in sustainability," because they'd be able to see tangible results relatively quickly. If Red Butte reaches its $1 million dollar goal by Feb. 1, the Water Conservation Garden is expected to be completed in i8 to 24 months. a.wrigley@ chronicle.utah.edu in Class i areas near Utah, such as Canyonlands National Park or the Grand Canyon. Sulfur dioxide is one main pollutant in these areas and has a particularly strong influence on visibility, so its reduction can have a big positive impact on air quality. Although some of the pollution that comes over Class I areas on the Colorado Plateau drifts down from largely populated areas such as Los Angeles or Las Vegas, Barickman said coal-powered electrical plants in rural areas near Price also contribute to the problem. The statistics gathered by the Utah Division of Air Quality show the installation of sulfur dioxide removing scrubbers on one of the units in one of the power plants helped decrease pollution in national parks in the Four Corners area. Barickman reported such measures, in combined use with others, have resulted in a slow but steady decrease in the sulfur dioxide levels in the Class i areas near Utah. Barickman said he feels the cooperation between the government and environmental agencies shows progress students should feel optimistic about. "I think [the Regional Haze Rule] is a good example of legislation and regulation that was pretty well thought through and has been executed in a pretty good way," Barickman said. "I think we can feel good about that part of the way our system works, where we take a certain openness and objectivity, and it's serviced well in terms of environmental protection." Dasch Houdeshel, a doctoral student in civil and environmental engineering, was not as convinced a decrease in sulfur dioxide alone merits being called a success. "He did bring up a specific case where ... conflicting parties got together and made a goal and achieved it, and that is optimistic," Houdeshel said. "But on the same token, it only addressed a small piece of the puzzle. The problem is so big and incorporates so many factions ... that it's still very daunting to incorporate all the different sources of problems." [e-mail] 3 BRAIN continued from Page 1 emotional and creative aspect nature can bring, which is why she was brought onto the team. Three years ago, Strayer and Paul Atchley went with other cognitive and neuroscientists for a backpacking trip. They performed psychological tests on themselves and found a 45 to 5o percent increase in cognitive abilities such as attention and memory. In their research, the team used the remote associate test, known as the RAT, which is a creativity test in which participants need to find how three words are connected. The trio found this to be the easiest test to administer and, despite its simplicity as it only requires a pen and paper, it was also the one with the greatest effects. These tests took no funding because they didn't have to pay the participants and the organization was intrinsically interested, Ruth Ann Atchley said. "[Outward Bound] was really keen on trying to get some scientific evidence that would support all the things people were saying they experienced," Strayer said. After his initial research, Strayer said he has been contacted by several groups to continue his efforts. "It was the first step to show there is an effect, and it's a big effect and is something that matches up with the experiences from all the nature writers ... Now we try to understand what is it that's happening and why you get these benefits," Strayer said. The trio has been careful to say they do not know why they saw those changes because there are many factors influencing the change, Atchley said. Strayer said it is probably a combination of the separation from technology, the natural environment itself and a little bit of exercise. The next step will be to measure more of the body and not just behavior, Atchley said. The researchers will be using the brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a naturally secreted protein found in the brain used to measure reactions such as stress. Researchers will also look at blood protein levels, heart rates and brain activity. They are looking toward starting pilot studies in the spring of this year. Although it will take more resources to perform these tests, Stayer said the interest is out there. The Atchleys are already working with local school districts to implement this data into classes and perform studies with different age groups. "Twenty to 25 years ago, people knew that exercise made them feel better but didn't know the psychological effects," Strayer said. Now that the research has been done, people can understand what causes the improvement in brain function. Strayer said he believes a similar movement will happen on this topic because there is plenty of work to do. "You're interacting in nature where you notice sound, you notice sights you didn't notice before, you smell smells differently," Strayer said. "It's a recalibration to more of what our evolutionary background is like. We as a species interacted with a more natural environment and now we have created an artificial environment." [e-mail] Contact Marjorie Clark at [e-mail] for more information. Contact [e-mail] to apply magazin The outdoor magazine for University of Utah students