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Show The Utah Proposed items offer preview of session B Y BROCK VERCAKIS Associated Press Writer SALT LAKE CITY (AP) Changing Utah's alcohol laws, eliminating caller ID abuse and reducing the number of students in the state's classrooms are among nearly 200 items the Legislature will consider studying before the next session in 2007. A Legislative Management Committee on Wednesday started the buildup to the next session by approving interim committee dates when legislators will winnow down numerous bill proposals in an effort to give them a greater chance of passing in the 45-day session that begins in next January. Beginning April 19, a dozen committees will begin deciding which issues they think are worth studying between that date and December. After the passage this year of a bill banning smoking in the state's private clubs, one of the study items legislators will vote on is whether to study possible changes to the state's alcohol and private club laws. In Utah, bars that serve liquor are considered private clubs and require paid memberships to enter. Private clubs had been exempt from a statewide ban of smoking in public places, including restaurants, but that will change in 2009The smoking ban bill's sponsor, Sen. Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, has said Utah should consider changing its laws that require all bars selling liquor to be membership-only establishments. So has Gov. Jon Huntsman. A compromise favored by the Hospitality Association allowing clubs to choose whether to go public and ban smoking or remain private and allow it was not considered by the Legislature this past year. Class-size reductions in public schools will also be among about 20 topics an Interim Education Committee will have to decide if it wants to study. One of the proposals would consider limiting class sizes in kindergarten through third grade to 20 students per class. The Education Committee will also consider studying statewide uniformity of school calendar years; providing bonuses for teachers who help spur progress in reading achievement, and addressing a school nurse shortage. House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake City, said he wants legislators to study the level of public involvement and testimony allowed at legislative committee meetings. He said many people were frustrated during this year's legislative session, which ended March 1, when members of the public were prohibited from offering input. Often, lobbyists and organizations directly affected by a bill were the only ones allowed to testify during some legislative hearings. Senate President John Valentine, R-Orem, also wants to make sure legislators are clear about the rules for considering a veto override on a bill the governor kills before the session ends. That happened this year when Huntsman vetoed a bill by Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, the day before the session ended. The bill would have let legislators overturn a governor's formal disapproval of radioactive waste sites. The Senate voted to override Huntsman's veto the last day of the session because it believed it had to do it that day. The House never took up the issue, letting the bill die. In a letter in response to Valentine's question about what the rules are for both houses to consider a veto while the Legislature is still in session, the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel recommended that state law be studied by the Utah Constitutional Review Commission to determine whether clarifications or changes are needed. Legislators question diplomas >. DIAMOND of students failing UBSCT From page 7 SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Some legislators still have issues with giving diplomas to students who fail to pass all of the state's new competency tests. For this year - the first year seniors were supposed to pass the tests to get a diploma - the state Board of Education decreed that districts would indicate on diplomas how the students did on the tests. Sen. Howard Stephenson, rules committee co-chairman and president of the business-backed Utah Taxpayers Association, said that decision sent a message that the pressure is off. "Students are saying they dodged a bullet," he said Wednesday during interim committee meetings. Rep. David Ure, RKamas, said, "This topic is not dead." Students are given multiple chances to pass the reading, math and science portions of the Utah Basic Skills Competency Test. After the first two times the test was administered, 13 percent of seniors still had not passed one or more of its sections. Among them were students with disabilities and students not fluent in English. Results of February's tests "will roll out any day now," said Patti Harrington, state superintendent of public instruction. Utah law says failing students "may not receive a basic high school diploma but may receive a certificate of completion or alternative completion diploma." State education officials balked at granting certificates of completion or alternative completion diplomas for fear that the recipients might be barred from getting federal aid for further education. The state school board then created three designations: diplomas stating UBSCT was passed, diplomas stating sections of UBSCT were not passed and certificates of completion. Specific decisions about how diplomas look were left to schools and districts. Calls by The Salt Lake Tribune to several school districts found compliance with the state board's required wording for the two types of diplomas, but use of the "certificate of completion" was less uniform. In Nebo and Wayne districts, for example, no such certificates are issued. "Students have to meet the minimum 24 units of credit to graduate," said Jessie Pace, superintendent of Wayne School District. In Washington School District and others, certificates of completion are given to students who do not try the UBSCT three times but meet other graduation requirements. They also are given to severely disabled students who attend school through their senior year but don't pass required classes. Harrington said that although some states with exit exams do not give diplomas to students who do not pass them, several are backpedaling in various ways, such as by instituting review processes for students who do not pass the tests. DEGREE From page 7 of degree makes a USU student much more marketable in journalism and agriculture professions because of the background it provides in agricultural communications. "I'd say it's the combination of skills," he said. "You can't have one without the other to market yourselves toward these kinds of jobs." The two departments don't anticipate any additional costs due to the new major. Currently, there are only a few colleges and universities throughout the nation that offer this degree, including Oklahoma State University, Texas Tech University and University of Florida, Tarpley said. "There's no other ag/journalism program in the Intermountain West," Sweeney said. -mmackay@cc.usu.edu James Schultz/schultz@ccusu.edu JARED DIAMOND, author and scientist, speaks at USU Thursday. The key for society today is to take advantage technology that allows communities around the world to communicate and prevent tragedies before they even happen. The world is at a disadvantage currently because of the large number of people and the rate of consumption that is constantly increasing. "We're a society with opportunities to learn from any society remote from space," he said. Diamond held a question and answer session after his lecture. David Joy, a junior majoring in physical science, said he was really impressed with the lecture. He came because he heard it would be very good. "He brought up a lot of interesting points," he said. "I like how he compared Easter Island to Earth." Diamond's lecture was sponsored by ASUSU's Arts and Lectures series. He is the recipient of a numbers of science awards, including the MacArthur Foundation Genius grant. In 2000, he received the National Medal of Science for his research in evolutionary biology. ~mmackay@cc.usu. edu >MRT From page 7 more at Box Elder High. Berkley explained some of his most memorable experiences, saying, "One of the coolest experiences had to be when we got our boiling water experiment back from space." The experiment was placed in a big container along with many other experiments and put into a space shuttle orbiting Earth. In space, there is no up or down and the bubbles went every direction, he said. "It was neat to see the effect space had on our experiment," Berkley said. For more than two decades, USU has been the leader in student space research, sending more experiments into space than any other university in the world. On June 27,1982, USU sent the first payload experiment into space and continued to send 10 more payloads into space, for a total of 11 experiments -just one less than NASA. A payload is a cubic aluminum container placed in the space shuttle con- taining microgravity experiments, according to mrt.usu.edu. "One of the coolest parts about being a member of the team is being able to tell people that I help design and build experiments for space," Berkley said. "That sounds impressive to potential employers at job interviews and also to in-laws at family reunions." NASA recently announced they will no longer be flying experimental payloads into space due to the impending retirement of the shuttle program. MRT is determined to continue their activism in space research and has been working to create alternative methods to assure their experiments make it to space, according to NASA.com. The team has been creating experiments for a Student Outreach Contained Research Available to Educators (ISOCRATE). An ISO-CRATE is completely self contained, unlike a payload, which relies on the power exuberated by the space shuttle, and weighs about 17 pounds and is the size of a shoebox. MRT is also working on the Remote Educational Learning Module, similar to the ISOCRATE, which is an aluminum box. The RELM contains a controller for students to program and control their experiments as well as a digital camera to record their experiment throughout the flight, according to GAS team history. MRT is currently involved with the construction of the sixth Materials International Space Station Exposure experiment. The MISSE consists of two aluminum suitcase-like structures which will be attached to the outside of the International Space Station. The small structures will be filled with about 145 different material samples, such as copper, zinc and aluminum. Once attached to the International Space Station, the "suitcases" will be opened, exposing the various materials to the space environment. The idea behind this project is to discover how the sample materials handle and "weather" in space to provide knowledge that will further indicate the best materials to be used for space/satellite construction, said Andrew Auman, past MRT coordinator and current member. Jeff Duce, MRT coordinator, said the next project the team will tackle is the construction of a replica of the historical Sputnik. Sputnik, a Russianbuilt rocket, was the first experiment to orbit the Earth. The first Sputnik flew Oct. 4,1957, and now nearly 50 years later, MRT will honor the its legacy by designing, testing and building an American version of Sputnik. "It is important for space research to continue because of the advantages and breakthroughs it has provided for life on Earth," MRT member Andrew Auman said. -lphippen@cc.usu.edu Briefs Salmon fly reintro offered to students Utah State University students are invited to help collect salmon fly nymphs April 8 at the bridge at the mouth of Blacksmith Fork Canyon on State Road 101 east of Hyrum at 10 a.m. After two hours, the groups will head to Logan Canyon to release the numphs and a cookout lunch with be sponsored by USU's BugLab. , Students are encouraged to bring waders. For more information, contact Chris Thomas at 801-797-3753 or email him at chris.thomas@usu.edu. E-day offer $7,000 in cash prizes today The Collegiate EntrepreneursD Organization (CEO club) is holding Entrepreneur Day today and tomorrow. Included in the event will be an elevator-pitch competition, with $7,000 in cash prizes awarded to finalists. The event will be held at 3 p.m. in the Eccles Conference Center at Utah State University. There have been 55 applicants for the elevator-pitch competition, of which there will be 20-24 chosen to present their business idea in two minutes or less to a panel of three judges. Prizes for the elevator-pitch competition will be awarded to the top six finalists: l-$3,000, 2-$l,5OO, 3$1,000, 4-5-6-$500. FridayDs activities include keynote speaker, Robert Harris of Chemdry, at 9 a.m. and three break-out sessions throughout the day, in which entrepreneurs will meet with students to tell their success stories and give advice to prospective entrepreneurs. There will also be opportunities for selected students to have meals with successful local entrepreneurs, giving them the opportunity to interact and share ideas on a personal basis. To sign up for meals, or for more information contact the CEO club at edayprize@gmail.com. Winner of research award announced DeeVon Bailey, professor of economics at Utah State University, was announced as the winner of the 2006 D. Wynne Thorne Research Award at a luncheon held Monday to honor some of USU'Ds top researchers. The D. Wynne Thorne Research Award; named after USUDs first vice president for research, is the most prestigious research accolade given by USU. The award is given annually to one outstanding university researcher who is recommended by a committee of peers, who are all previous award recipients. Nominees are evaluated by letters from nationally known experts in their field of study. Last chance for grads to say thanks Hundreds of seniors graduating in May have signed up to thank those who have supported them through school by having their supporters'names printed in the graduation program to be handed out at commencement. Many participating seniors were contacted by telephone during the past week. Graduate students getting advanced degrees can also participate. Monday, April 3, is the deadline for graduates to participate in the program. They can do so by donating $20.06 - reflecting their graduation year-to the University. Funds ate used for student scholarships, unless donors specify another use. "This is a great way to thank our parents and other supporters, while leaving something behind to help other students achieve their dreams of a college degree," said Blaire Saunders, Logan, a graduating senior and coordinator of the program. Seniors can participate in the senior gift program by paying the $20.06 online at www.usu.edu/seniorgift, dropping it off in Room 106 of Old Main, or sending it through campus mail to UMC 1420. Questions can be directed to USU annual fund director Lee Roderick at 797-2194 or Leer@cc.usu.edu. > Compiled from staff and media reports |