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Show VALENZUELA ADDRESSES U.S - LATIN RELATIONS BY MARY ROYAL /STAFF WRITER rturo Valenzuela, the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere and former NSC Special Assistant to the President for Latin Affairs, spoke about the current state of relations between the United States and Latin America on Monday at the Marriott Library. Valenzuela also spoke about the future of U.S. and Latin American relations and how far things have come between the two areas. Several times throughout the keynote address, Valenzuela walked down the aisle of the crowd, pulling out his wallet to aid in a demonstration. "I carry in my wallet two important pieces of currency,' Valenzuela said. "First is a A 500,00 cruzeiros bill from Brazil. At one time, not so long ago, this was worth less than a dollar by U.S. standards. The other important bill I carry is a 10 million Bolivian pesos bill which was the equivalent of about 2 American dollars. If you wanted a loaf of bread you'd have to carry a wheelbarrow full of these to the grocery store:' Of all the historical and economic changes, Valenzuela said the most important event was the end of the Cold War. "Many U.S. administrators thought the authoritarianism that existed in the Latin American countries was good because it would ward off the possibility of communism arising," Valenzuela said. "However, at the end of the Cold War, the U.S. mindset shifted to realize that maybe the authoritarians were part of the problem." A turning point in relations between the U.S. and Latin America were the attacks of Sept. 11 in 2001. Mexico, Chile and other South American countries condemned the U.S. decision to attack Iraq, claiming there was not enough evidence available to prove existence of weapons of mass destruction. As a result, former President George W. Bush refused to take former President of Mexico Vincente Fox's calls. Another point Valenzuela stressed was the importance of people understanding South America as a continent and nation. Brooke Jensen, a freshman in urban ecology, attended the event and said Valenzuela helped clarify the current state of affairs. "I am leaving this address today with a lot greater frame of reference about the past and present relationship between the U.S. and Latin America" Jensen said. "It brings a lot of current events that you hear about in the news into perspective" Valenzuela spoke at the U as part of the 17th Annual Siciliano Forum sponsored by the Hinckley Institute of Politics. Valenzuela's keynote address was the first of 21 forums on "The Future of U.S.-Latin American Relations" that will occur within the next week. m.royal@chronicle.utah.edu @mary_royal HONORING THOSE WHO SUPPORT THE U BY CHRISKANNAPEL /STAFF WRITER PHOTO BY DANE GOODWIN he U uses Founders Day not only to celebrate the school's founding in February of 1850, but also to take a look at the progress that's been made. Every February, the Alumni Association hosts a banquet to recognize professionally successful alumni for their accomplishments. This year, those receiving awards range from lawyers to rocket scientists. Susan Porter, the awards committee chair in the Alumni Association, said the banquet is designed to honor the U and recognize honorary alumni "who served their national and local communities and have supported the university's mission in providing excellence" There are two major awards in addition to a Founders Day Scholar scholarship. Four individuals will receive the Distinguished Alumni Awards designed for graduates who come back with service to national and instate communities and made contributions to the U. The second is the Honorary Alumni Award which recognizes those who attended and contributed research, service and support but did not graduate from the U. Mary Thiriot, the executive director at the Alumni Association said, "The Founders Day distinguished and honorary alumni awards are the highest recognition the U gives annually" The awards are decided after a thorough process. The association begins with alumni who have been nominated and then they review and discuss who represents the U the best every year. Thus, the awards are considered to be of high status. T "MN t■ ii;, - a 4 { THECHRONY I NEWS I OPINION I ARTS I SPORTS I TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24 2015 } "This is a great way to show the exceptional education that the university can offer," Porter said. "It shows that there are people out there making an impact on the world because of the educational opportunities the U provided" This years award winners vary in their fields, Porter said. Gregory J. Goff, the president and chief executive officer of Tesoro, will be awarded the distinguished alumni award. Other recipients are Brent C. James, chief quality officer at Intermountain Healthcare and head of the Institute for Health Care Delivery, Gretchen McClain, the chief director in the launch of the International Station Program and Clayton J. Parr, who has been listed in The Best Lawyers of America and has worked with the geothermal legislation in Utah. John and Melody Taft, leaders of the International Center for Earth Concerns, are the Honorary Alumni Award recipients. They donated 16 acres of land to the U in 2012 for construction of the Taft-Nicholson Environmental Humanities Education Center. Though it may take rocket science to receive an award, attending the banquet only requires an invitation. The event is not only an awards ceremony, but also a place where U graduates who have made an impact can be recognized. Specific students who show potential at the U are sponsored by the alumni. The banquet will be hosted at the Little America on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. c.kannapel@chronicle.utah.edu @chriswritine RED ROCKS EARN NATIONAL ATTENTION n 1993, the Utah gymnastics team released a marketing campaign that featured the Ute gymnasts greased up and flexing. It was the first glimmering of the idea for the "Red Rocks." "We did a little bit of a play with our gymnasts and how rock solid they are, but also the red rock of southern Utah," Utah co-head coach Megan Marsden said. "So it was kind of a combination name that takes in the part of our country that has the beautiful red rocks and the plateaus and then our gymnasts and their rock solid muscles." At the time, the women's athletics teams were all using the moniker of the Lady Utes, and that didn't sit too well with the gymnastics team or its coaches. Feeling that Lady Utes was a "little behind the times," the team set out to find a new nickname. The basketball team had its own unique name in the Runnin' Utes, so the gymnastics team thought they could have their own too. "Greg and our team felt strongly that we shouldn't be the Lady Utes, so we made up our own [name];' Marsden said. BY TALON CHAPPELL /STAFF WRITER PHOTO BY CONOR BARRY The Red Rocks were born. The name took a while to catch on, starting within the gymnastics team, before appearing in slogans and apparel and eventually becoming well known around the valley. "I think in Salt Lake City the people know exactly who the Red Rocks are: Marsden said. "But if you go nation wide, I don't think it sticks quite as well': The name, and the team for that matter, may be more recognizable on the national scene soon. The New York Times had a reporter and photographer in attendance for Utah's win over Stanford on Saturday, working on a story about the Red Rocks' large and loyal fan base. The Times chose a good night to come, as 15,202 fans were in attendance. In the rankings Breaking the 198 barrier for the first time this season on Saturday against Stanford wasn't enough for Utah to climb up the rankings. The Red Rocks remained No. 4 this week with the switch from total season average to regional qualifying score. The RQS is obtained by taking the six best scores, with three of those coming on the road, dropping the high score and averaging the remaining five scores. Utah came out with a 197.265. Oklahoma (197.64), LSU (197.335) and Florida (197.270) make up the top 3. Individually, Georgia Dabritz is ranked No. 1 in the nation on both vault and bars and Tory Wilson is No. 6 in the nation in the all-around. Balance check Marsden reiterated on Monday that though beam remains Utah's least consistent event, she is not worried about it. That said, she does want to see the team continue to improve on the apparatus. "I felt like we aren't sticking as many dismounts as I would like": Marsden said. "And I felt like a couple people worked cautiously, not everybody, but I think I still have some beamers that need to approach it more all out." Marsden said a cautious approach to the beam is more likely to produce balance checks — something that Utes have seen an abundance of this season. So while the Red Rocks are mostly remaining on the beam, they aren't having the walk-through performances they're looking for. "When they land something it's not a solid, no question about it, stuck element': Marsden said. "If you're really doing beam to win, you're doing beam to nail a walk through and you're able put it on a little bit of an automatic, take your head out of it, and I still think we have a couple still thinking about it a lot:' rmiller@chronicle.utah.edu @millerjryan |