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Show DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Wednesday, February 26, 2014 Bees are all the buzz around campus Emilie Trepanier STAFF WRITER There is a lot of buzz around the U, both from the students and the bees. The Union fourth floor is currently home to active beehives. The project has since spread to the Marriott Library with approximately io to 12 hives each season. Tom Bench, a graduate student in environmental sustainability, began his beekeeping journey at the U in the spring of 2012. This next season will be his fourth. Bench said there are a number of reasons why bees and beekeeping are important, and No.1 is honey. Bench said students at the U can enjoy the honey production from the Union's hives. The bees also pollinate the U's student gardens, creating even more produce. For students, Bench said, the most important asset the bees offer is an educational experience. The next goal for the project is to incorporate research opportunities for students that involve climate change and nectar flows. Bench also said industrial agriculture is a threat to killing bees with harsh pesticides. The Beekeeping Ordinance, passed in 2009, aided the problem by allowing bees to be kept legally. Beekeeping has since quadrupled, Bench said. Kirstie Kandaris, a senior in biology, has been involved in the bee program since it began. She is the vice president for the program and is in charge of community outreach and recruitment. "I was in love with it right away," Kandaris said. Her favorite part of watching the bees is the "complex symbolic language" of the insects. She said the bees speak through something called a "bee waggle dance." The language of dance is spoken by how the bees turn and how fast they waggle. The direction they're facing is the direction where food is, and the faster they waggle, the further the food is. She said the beehives "promote a healthy lifestyle in every sense," adding to the U's green campus. Kandaris also believes the project is educational for students and children who are involved in the Bio Kids Program on campus. She loves watching a child go from fearing the bees to finding them amazing to watch and discover. Amy Sibul, a faculty advisor for the Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund and a service learning coordinator in the Department of Biology, which houses the bee program's funding, resides over Bench and provides emotional support for the program. "I think that this has so much value," Sibul said. Sibul encourages students to watch the beehives when they are on campus. She said students can attend weekly inspections of the hives standing just two feet away — with the bees safely behind glass. The project also offers a university course each season, consisting of a two- to three-hour class period once a week where students can experi- BRENT UBERTY/The Daily Utah Chronicle Bees buzz around on the fourth floor of the Union. ence hands-on learning with bees. There will be a kick-off in late March where students can learn more about the project, and harvesting will begin in June or July. Additionally, the Marriott Library GRIEVANCES Continued from page 1 BRENT UBERTY/The Daily Utah Chronicle Students get the opportunity to see blueprints, ideas, and looks of the new residence hall and entrepreneur space that Pierre Lassonde is supporting. LASSONDE Continued from page 1 "It's a new building, a new concept, and it's definitely unlike any building or any dorm that you'll see on campus," said Farah Azmi, a senior in finance. At the event, the institute provided displays of potential housing developments and left space open for students to give feedback. The proposals for types of housing include traditional dorm, loftstyle and modular — the last of which was met with mixed feedback from students. The modular-style dorms would consist of just a bed and a desk in a small pod, which would likely be moveable. Wallace Fetzer, a sophomore in psychology and economics, thought the modular idea was "cool." Other students on the comment-board disagreed howev- er, saying the lack of sunlight and unusual community environment might have a negative impact on the residents. The loft-style housing, on the other hand, was met with praise for its adaptability. Aside from housing developments, the new center will also be a location for "garages," which will function as work spaces where students can develop business models and products. "It's not an academic space, per se, in that there's no classrooms and no teaching occurring," said Nick Lorenzo, of EDA architects. "Student-driven projects for the entrepreneurial program is what we're looking at, and what works for the garage space, which is flexible maker space." Kim Hatten of the architecture firm Cannon Design thinks the environment will be perfect for student entrepreneurs. "Really, it's taking new ideas of housing typeology and mix- ing it with working space that the students use," she said. "The garage is really their large making space, where they use different equipment and have places to be able to come up with their business models and ideas for what they're doing in their program." Hatten also wanted to stress that any students who are interested have a chance to be involved in the program and the center. "There are opportunities for other students within other programs to become part of this community," Hatten said. Current students at the Lassonde look forward to what their feedback can do. "I think that it's cool that they're taking student opinions," Azmi said. Further suggestions for the new Lassonde Center can be sent to lassonde@utah.edu ivy.smith@ chronicle.utah.edu 3 "No one knows that it's happening until it happens ... even those who have been working on a campaign," she said. "My goal ... is letting people know that elections aren't as cut-and-dry as people want." Matt Fagen, deputy chief of staff for ASUU and a senior in biology and chemistry, has been disappointed by the drama this election season. "I absolutely view ASUU differently," Fagen said. "This is my first year being involved in the ASUU office. Seeing elections from this perspective only has led me to believe that there is work to be done and improvements to be made." Fagen also said he feels Team Unite has been singled out and treated unfairly during the primaries. "I feel comfortable saying that, as it has now been documented that the Grow Party and Vision Party worked together ... to form a grievance against Team Unite," Fagen said. Ali Sadler, the former is hosting a lecture today about beekeeping. Francis Whitby, a biochemistry professor, will be speaking about the U's Beekeeper's Association at noon. e.trepanier@chronicle.utah.edu presidential candidate for the Grow Party, said her party's role in the grievance process was solely to provide evidence to ASUU of elections violations when they came up. "Our role was to provide information, which is part of the elections grievance process," she said. "When information came up that we weren't sure about, we brought it up to ASUU." Black, the Vision Party's vice presidential candidate, said the allegation that her party worked with the Grow Party to get Team Unite disqualified was "extremely inaccurate." "We did not collaborate or work with the Grow Party in an attempt to disqualify Team Unite. That was not our intention," she said. Black said her party brought concerns that Team Unite was engaging in precampaigning to elections registrar Taylor Thompson in November, but they were deemed "invalid concerns." However, she said the Vision Party was later contacted by Thompson and the Grow Party to revisit the concerns they had. ASUU "Er Sign up now Continued from page 1 the fact that he, Seastrand and other ASUU officials still have time left in office until the semester ends in April. He said ASUU will be hosting many upcoming events from the showing of "Bridegroom" on Thursday night to a showcase for many a capella groups in Utah to annual events such as The Grand Kerfuffle on April 19. "We are where we are because of who came before us and we realize that," he said. 'And we hope the work we've done this year will carry on next year." k.johnson@chronicle.utah.edu news can be inspiring, too. "Our intent was always to have this elections process be friendly," she said, citing a lunch all three parties' candidates had before the Spring Semester began to discuss the elections. Fagen applauded the Supreme Court's decision to reverse the disqualification of Team Unite, calling it "a complete waste of time and resources for 71 candidates of Team Unite had the Supreme Court not reversed the decision." Fagen also said ASUU needs to continue to attract "high-class" student leaders from across campus, but the events of this election season will not entice them to join. "I cannot envision an ideal future for ASUU if the process of deciding to be involved, forming or joining a party and putting yourself on the line during the actual elections process is continually compounded by the high-stakes drama that takes place," he said. "Quality students simply will not want to be involved." e.andrews@ chronicle.utah.edu n.turner@ chronicle.utah.edu jor iiika a or a Deals for food, entertainment and everything else for students, faculty and staff at the University of Utah. iv, • Contact a.drysdale@chronicle.utah.edu for information about being a news writer for The Daily Utah Chronicle. Go to: www.UtahCampusDeals.com and sign up today to get $10 in Deal Bucks! |