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Show Wednesday, March 20, 2013 T AEILY www.dr UTAHCHRONICLE The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice Since 1890 hchronicle.com Vol. 122 No.123 ©2013 ALSO INSIDE: Adaptation of C.S. Lewis' novel 'The Screwtape Letters' to arrive at Kingsbury Hall » 5 Founder of Fossil Free U argues the U's divestment from fossil fuels presents a financially and environmentally smart choice » 4 U to face 4.4 percent tuition increase Marjorie Clark NEWS EDITOR Next year students can look forward to the lowest tuition increase in io years. On March 12, the Board of Trustees approved a 4.4 percent increase for the 2013-14 school year. The proposed increase will go before the Board of Regents for approval on March 29. "We don't consider that a victory, even though it's the lowest in io years," said Taft Price, a member of the Board of Trustees. According to the board, 5o percent of the tuition increase will go toward faculty and staff salary increases and retention. Student support constitutes 24 percent of the increase and student aid is 6 percent. "[Faculty] haven't received raises in several years, and that was the least amount we could do and feel like we weren't impairing the quality of the education," Price said. Another factor of the increase is the rising cost of health benefits. Price said the money will be mostly used to pay for benefits given to staff and faculty, rather than a huge salary increase. "We fully recognize that making a quality education as affordable as it can be is part of our responsibility," Price said. "We can't control the cost [of health benefits], but we can understand and encourage people to save as much as they can." The 4.4 percent increase in tuition means $155 per semester for in-state students taking 15 credits. Additionally, a fee increase of $4.15 per semester has also been approved for a total of $159 for undergraduate students. Graduate students will take an increase of $16o, including tuition and fees. "Every year it will be a fight, every year we will do what we can to keep See TUITION page 3 Starting with a clean slate TUITION INCREASE BY YEAR 10% 8 6 4 .4 . 0 2 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Source: www.dailyutahchronicle.corn Pro bono clinics give law students experience Anna Drysdale STAFF WRITER WARMING UP After a long winter, the Utes kick off practice for the 2013 season » 6 CHAD ZAVALA/The Daily Utah Chronicle Freshman quarterback Brandon Cox and the Utes take to the field Tuesday afternoon for their first practice of the 2013 season. Irish festival brings a small CHOICE urges students to go taste of Ireland to Union abroad, work against poverty Kelly McArthur STAFF WRITER The Union Programming Council brought a piece of Ireland to the Union Ballroom on Tuesday afternoon to celebrate St. Patrick's Day by hosting its annual Irish festival, 0 Lucky U. "0 Lucky U is not a fundraising event," said Scott Moffitt, director of Arts and Special Events board at UPC and a senior in biology. "It's for students to have a free lunch, play some games and have a good time." At the festival, students ate traditional and famous Irish dishes, See LUCKY page 3 Carolyn Webber STAFF WRITER MADELINE SMITH/The Daily Utah Chronicle Caitlin Hiatt (left), a freshman in sociology; Caitlin Jensen, (middle), an undecided freshman and Abby Reyes (right), a junior in communication, dish up food at 0 Lucky U. Start-up aims to offer LED lighting for third-world operating rooms Blake Belden STAFF WRITER Surgeons in developing countries face many difficulties in the operating room. Because of an unreliable flow of electricity and their remote locations, some of these surgeons are forced to work with broken surgical lamps or alternative light sources. IlluMed, a start-up run by U stu- dents, is developing a surgical light in to complete the surgery," lamp they claim will alleviate said medical student and part hospitals in developing countries owner of illuMed, Bob Chestnut. of these issues. "Our plan was to come up with a "On many occasions, they've light that could fix that problem." been performing surgery, the IlluMed has partnered with a power has gone out, and they've bioengineering program at the either finished the surgery with U called bioWorld. Two of bioeither flashlights or cellphone World's student engineers went lights, or they've pulled the oper- to Mongolia to do field research, ating table over to a window and opened the window to let day- See LIGHTS page 3 Humanitarian work is an experience in which many students take part during school. An organization returning to campus, CHOICE Humanitarian, provides students with the opportunity to participate in international humanitarian trips. CHOICE Humanitarian, a statewide humanitarian organization, had a campus presence in the 198os and 199os, when co-founder Jim Mayfield was teaching at the U. He said it was far more common for students to join humanitarian organizations at that time. After he retired 15 years ago, the group's campus connection was lost, and students did not join the group as frequently for humanitarian trips. Now Mayfield and current students are working to restore connections between the U and CHOICE. CHOICE's group on campus is now called CHOICE Humanitarians. Mayfield hopes using the plural form will signify that students are able to participate in various parts of humanitarian aid. He believes there are several different types of students who can benefit from the 10-14 day expeditions the group goes on. Students can choose between Mexico, Bolivia, Guatemala, Kenya and Nepal, each location having diverse work. See CHOICE page 3 Lawyers are often pinned in the highest earning bracket, and getting a lawyer can be notoriously expensive. But receiving legal advice doesn't have to break the bank. In fact, students at the S.J. Quinney Law School at the U are teaming up with attorneys to provide free legal counseling. The clinics are provided through the school's Pro Bono Initiative, which includes a number of these clinics that deal with specific issues from family law to immigration law to debt counseling. John Wiethorn is a third-year law student and the student director of the Street Law Clinic, which deals with almost all legal issues, except for criminal, family and immigration disputes. He said the pro bono clinics are probably one of the reasons the U's law school was named one of the most innovative schools in the nation earlier this year. Students who participate in the clinics get first-hand experience that many of their counterparts at other institutions miss out on — many graduate from law school and pass the bar without ever having interviewed a client. The Street Law Clinic provides a unique opportunity for both the students and the clients involved. Because of that, Wiethorn said the school actually has to limit the number of students who can participate. Each Tuesday, eight students show up to run the Street Law Clinic at the Horizonte School on Main Street, supervised by between one and six attorneys. On any given week, they serve up to 4o clients, though they are equipped to handle as many as Ioo. Brett Hastings, a first-year law student, is really involved at the clinic. "It's great to get out and really work on real life issues ... to work with real people, real problems, real issues," Hastings said. Both Hastings and Wiethorn agree one of the greatest advantages students get out of the program is developing the social skills that go along with the legal trade. At the clinic they learn to be compassionate and understanding, and even offer advice in situations in which the law cannot help. "Many times, there's a legal issue that you might not be able to do anything about," Hastings said. "Then you end up giving more practical advice about how to handle it, how to make it the easiest it can be." The clinic has paperwork on hand to help clients get on the right track, and at least one Spanish translator is present at each meeting. Students do all of the interviewing, then turn to an attorney who counsels them through the process. The clinic deals with a lot of landlord issues, discrimination claims, debt issues and employer/employee problems. "We get everything," Wiethorn said. "Weird stuff, normal stuff, it's fun." Clinics in the Pro Bono Initiative are designed to give law students experience in donating their legal expertise in the hope that when they go on to become attorneys, they will be involved in more pro bono work. The law school aims to have each law student graduate with at least 5o hours of pro bono service. a.drysdale@chronicle.utah.edu |