OCR Text |
Show Now OPEN.' An AVEDA DaH Spa omplimentaPL) haircut haircu purchase rchase ot COIOP with service tor the month ot vJctober. tor an appointment or stop bij: 55 West 1000 Morfk Suite #2 Loqan, Utah 84321 435.753.6789 Maternity Supplement Insurance • Costs as little as $70/MONTH • Pays out as much as $4000 • Must be in effect 10 months BEFORE you deliver the baby. • Works great with other health insurance policies • Great prices on all Life, Health, Auto & Renters Insurance. Cache Valley Insurance, Inc. 94 South Main, Logan (435) 752-4560 Ask for Quent Casperson, JaNae Wolfley or AJ Rounds The owners were amazed Last night ! actually completed the Amazing Saltine she would eat something like that, but if you really Challenge! want to own a dumb, For those of ^ M . ^ ^ ^ you who haven't Garrett Wheeler slobbery pet, hide your knives. heard, the task is I have a theory simple; some animals, pets or Consume six not, are designed to ordinary saltine be useless. Take the crackers in sixty kangaroo for examseconds. ple. Sure they look Sounds easy cute when they're right? Sure, that's little, but for centuwhat everyone ries, they've endured thinks until flakes a major design flaw. of cracker start launching out their Kangaroos have a nostrils from laughneat little pouch to ing so hard. Salivation is the store things in, but for some key to succeeding. So if you're reason weren't equipped with anything like a St. Bernard, long enough arms to reach you should have no trouble at that pouch. No wonder they all. have to hop around so much. Yup, no problem until one Nobody else has that much day you decide to trade up trouble getting a wallet out of crackers for a 13-inch serrated their pocket. knife. Elsie, from Plantation, Another useless animal is Fla. decided last week to take the okapi. Look at it and think that challenge. about it... yup, useless. Elsie, a St. Bernard puppy, Lest you think I'm an anicouldn't control her com- mal hater, I must confess that pulsive licking and actually I do have a pet. It's a sildevoured a whole knife last ver-looking, useless goldfish week. The x-rays were impres- named Goner. Goner is at sive, but more importantly, least 2 years old. Goner is on the knife tasted like turkey. PCP. Luckily the vet removed the The only other time I've sharp instrument and Elsie has had goldfish in my life was fully recovered. in the sixth grade. My brother and I won a handful of the scaly critters at a fair. After a few "puuhleeeses," dad gave in and bought an aquarium set, signaling the beginning of the end of our swimming pets. Almost every night for the next two weeks our fish committed suicide and jumped out of the tank. We found their little bodies on the ground and after scooping them up with a paper towel, sent them to the big fishbowl in heaven, aka, the toilet bowl. So this time around I thought I was sure of what to expect. Let me recount Goner's brief life story. Two yeas ago I requested, as a joke, that someone bring me a tasty swordfish taco, fresh from California. I got my wish — only it came in the form of a flour taco shell with a bag of two goldfish in it and a small, blue plastic sword. Hmmm, "swordfish taco." Get it? Yeah, that was my reaction, too. The giver of the joke didn't expect me to keep the fish, so they were aptly nicknamed Flushie and Goner. I took them home and put them in a clear Pyrex bowl for the night. Overnight, the taco snelt hardened, and in the morn- ing, since I had no fish food, I decided to break off crumbs to feed them. This went on for two weeks until my brother reprimanded me, so I spent eighty-nine cents on fish food. Flushie died soon after and I delivered him to the location of his namesake. Goner, however, hasn't died, and probably never will. I've never seen a fish so happy to live in a Pyrex bowl on my shelf. I refuse to buy an aquarium, because we ail will know what will happen if I actually spend money. Six months ago, Goner did get a house remodeling to a forger glass vase and loves it immensely, or so it appears. It's surprising he has lasted two years because all he does is gaily swim around, bonking his nose on the glass. Maybe it's brain damage. So if you really want to get a pet anytime soon, find one that can do something useful - like eat six crackers in a minute. Just leave the okapi alone. Garrett Wheeler is a second bachelor's student in technical theatre design. Send any comments, column ideas or a large "Save Goner" campaign aquarium to wheel@cc.usu. Lecture warns of population dangers of the next century BY RYAN C U M M I N C H A M Staff Writer ASUSU's Arts and Lecture Series featured guest speaker Werner Fornos Wednesday afternoon in the TSC Ballroom. Fornos' speech focused on issues concerning the overpopulation of underdeveloped nations and he offered solutions to the problems faced by the world's governments. Fornos, president of the Population Institute, is widely considered one of the most prominent spokesman on global population. He has earned a number of honors for his work, including the Humanist of the Year Award and the Order of Merit from Germany, which is the highest distinction in humanitarianism anon-German citizen can obtain. He authored the book, "Gaining People; Losing Ground," which tackles the dilemma of overpopulation. In his lecture, Fornos brought attention to many of the factors caused by or causing overpopulation, particularly in undeveloped nations. In developed nations in regions such as Europe and North America, the population is expected to climb by only 58 million people by 2050, leading some critics to argue, Fornos said, that the "population 'bomb' has been diffused." However, Fornos countered, "In that u The water crisis is;very real and it threatens , _v ; world peace." Werner Fornos ^PopulationlnstiJ President same period, the poorest countries will add 2.6 billion people," a number much more staggering than the industrialized world will experience. No matter where the most growth will occur, Fornos argued overpopulation is a problem that will affect everyone. Specifically, Fornos cited the prospect of vast water shortages, a problem even the United States could face, he said. "The water crisis is very real and it threatens world peace," he said. Despite the harsh realities of overpopulation, Fornos believes there are still "rational and human solutions" to the population crunch. He emphasized, "This is not a gloomand-doom lecture," and he encouraged this generation to be a "conservation generation." Fornos offered several solutions to the global population issue, largely indicating female empowerment as a key concept to his solutions. He expressed concern for the widescale gender inequalities that plague many poor countries, pointing out that while women do two-thirds of the world's work, they only earn one-tenth of the world's income. After Fornos's lecture, the audience members participated in a short questionand-answer session. —cumminghamxc.usu.edu • BANNED BOOKS From page 5 ! 5O< OFF I Amazing goldfish beats the odds and lives for more than two years tacos and burritos ! $ 1 OFF j all combination meals Expires Sept. 30, 2005 MEXICAN FOOD EAT IN & TAKE-OUT OPEN 2 4 HOURS 750-0328 Is your health care plan making you feel a little restricted? At Broadbent Financial we have over 50 health insurance plan options to choose from! So whatever your needs, we have something just for you. ,11W. [250 V Bld». 3A Jamie Cjane/jamiecmne@a.u$u.edu FREE Consultations! No Appointment Necessary, M-F 8-5 BANNED BOOK WEEK was established in 1982 to educate people about what books have been challenged and encourage people to fight censorship. This week provides an opportunity for libraries and bookstores to increase awareness about the issues of censorship and banning. The Utah State Bookstore offered a 25 percent discount on banned books this week. The Logan Public Library has displays and recommends that patrons check out a banned book. The library also has information available about the history of banned books. Schools have also used this week to discuss censorship and to introduce classic literature which as often been banned or challenged, such as "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee. And while some use this opportunity to teach about these subjects, other schools have become the battleground for books, with most challenges issuing from parents who do not approve books that are in the current curriculum, including a 1990 case, when a traditional version of "Little Red Riding Hood" was pulled from some schools because of the wine brought to the grandmother it was reported to "condone the use of alcohol." Other challenges by parents and members of the community are brought to the extreme. In February 2005, a high school in Norwood, Colo., banned the book "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya. This book is on Laura Bush's List of Recommended Reading and the author was awarded the National Medal of Arts for his work by President George W. Bush. Despite the endorsements, the book was pulled from the school because of a complaint about profanity and after the ban was implemented, the superintendent then gave the school's copies — for the purpose of being destroyed — to the parent who challenged the book. Karen Clark says the library's advice is for parents to monitor what their children check out. That way, books are still available, but patrons can decide what belongs in their home. [udy Blume, a prominent children's author, said, "It's not just the books underfirenow that worry me. It is the books that will never be written. The books that will never be read. And all due to the fear of censorship." The ALA provides a list, based upon 6,364 reported challenges, of the 100 most frequently challenged books. Among them are titles such as "Where's Waldo," "Huckleberry Finn" and "Of Mice and Men." For the complete list, visit www. ala.org. Banned Books Week is endorsed by the Center for the Books of the Library of Congress and is sponsored by the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, Authors, the National Association of College Stores and the American Library Association. ~eliseras@cc.usu.edu |