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Show : The Utah RESEARCH From page 1 Angel Cicero, a senior majoring in physics, also had a display in the showcase. In his research, Cicero challenged the idea of nothing being faster than the speed of light. While the idea may never be proved, he said his findings offer a greater understanding of the basic laws of nature. Cicero said he enjoyed being part of the showcase. He also said there are many advantages to participating in a showcase. "The benefits for students that participate is that one, you get exposure. Two, from this project or any project a student made you acquire knowledge. Through the process, you learn a lot and three, you also learn how to explain what you think, you learn how people are interested in things," he said. During the showcase, an awards ceremony was held to name the outstanding undergraduate research mentor and undergraduate researcher of the year from each college. The undergraduate research mentors of the year were Ken White of the College of Agriculture; Kenneth Bartkus of the College of Business; Brian Higginbotham, the College of Education and Human Services; Anhong Zhou, College of Engineering; Michael Nicholls of the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences; Wayne Wurtsbaugh, College of Natural Resources and Joseph Li of the College of Science. David Law was named the undergraduate research mentor of the year from the regional campus. The undergraduate researchers were John Brinkerhoff of the College of Agriculture; Jeanette Blackham from the College of Business; Aaron Anderson, College of Education and Human Services; Gerald (Dusti) McEwen of the College of Engineering; Lenaye Howard, College of HASS; Kelly Sivy from the College of Natural Resources and Jan Marie Andersen from the College of Science. Sean Haggarty and Shanna Wheeler were named the undergraduate researches of the year from the regional campus. -ariek@cc.usu.edu APphoto MALIYAH HERRIN IS TRANSFERS) from the operating table where she received a kidney from her mother to a gurney by technician Malissa Hess and anesthesiologist Dan Evans to be taken to intensive care Tuesday, April 3,2007, at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake City. The five-yearold was separated from her conjoined twin last August. Each girl kept one leg. Mother successfully donates kidney to 5-year-old daughter SALT LAKE CITY (AP) A kidney transplanted from a suburban woman into her 5-year-old daughter started working almost immediately, doctors said Tuesday after a pair of surgeries to help the formerly conjoined twin. "It's working beautifully," Dr, Rebecka Meyers said. It's the first time Maliyah Herrin has a kidney of her own. Her sister, Kendra, kept their shared kidney when the girls were surgically separated in August. "We did this so you could have your daughter not go to dialysis three times a week," Meyers told their father, Jake Herrin, after surgery at Primary Children's Medical Center. Doctors removed Erin Herrin's right kidney 11:41 a.m. MDT. Fifty-two minutes later, doctors implanted it in Maliyah, who spent a total of seven hours in surgery. "It seemed to work almost immediately after the blood began to flow to it," Sorensen said, "So far, so good. We're off to a very good start." Maliyah was in critical condition and is expected to spend several weeks in the hospital. Erin Herrin, 26, was in fair condition. Sorensen said the surgery had no complications. "It's always exciting to see a kidney that has been taken from one individual basically come alive in another individual," he said. "I never get tired of it." Kidneys remove water and waste from the blood for excretion. People typically have two kidneys but can survive with one. Before the transplant, doctors worried about the amount of scar tissue they would find inside Maliyah, who had extensive reconstructive surgery after being separated from her sister. Another concern was squeezing an adult-size kidney into her smallerthan-average abdomen. In both cases, things were better than expected, although surgeons did some reconstructive work to make the kidney fit, Meyers said. The kidney was also a little smaller than average, which helped, she added. Jake Herrin said his family was grateful for surgeons who have performed "miracles" for his daughters. The Herrins, who live in North Salt Lake, had been working with doctors and planning for the kidney transplant even before Maliyah and Kendra were born. "Looking back, it's amazing how far we've come. We thought we'd never get to this point," he said. "We're really through the big challenges." Doctors will now be watching Maliyah for any signs of bleeding, infection and organ rejection. The surgery is expected to be the last big medical hurdle of Maliyah's childhood, her parents said. If all goes well, she's expected to be riding bikes, playing with Barbies, jumping on the trampoline and going to preschool within weeks. "We have this saying in medicine, 'We hope for the best and plan for the worst,'" Meyers said. "It's really a joy when you hope for the best and have it come true." Man charged with robbery found dead SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - A 28-year-old man charged with robbing a Utah bank was found dead behind a plasma clinic in the Las Vegas area, the FBI said Tuesday. Graham Faeth was shot twice in the chest. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police was investigating it as a suicide, the FBI said. "All I can tell you is what was reported to us. They have an ongoing investigation," FBI agent Trent Pedersen said in Salt Lake City. Las Vegas police detectives did not return a phone message seeking comment. Federal prosecutors last week charged Faeth with robbing a Zions Bank branch in Salt Lake City on March 22 and stealing a Honda Accord as his getaway car. "We were looking for him," Pedersen said. "Whether he was fleeing from the charge or doing something else down there, I can't say." Faeth entered the bank with a silver handgun and demanded money, according to an FBI affidavit filed to support the charges. He warned that he "would start blasting people" if police were called, agent Daniel Patrick wrote. Faeth's mother and girlfriend recognized him when surveillance photos were aired by local TV stations, Patrick said. His girlfriend said he had talked about robbing a bank and wanting to "get into a gunfight with the police," the agent said. Briefs Campus & Community \ Insurance public forum on Thurs. Dr. Jim Davis, director of the Student Health and Wellness Center, will give a presentation about the proposal to make student health insurance mandatory. There will be a question and answer session following the presentation. The forum will be held at noon in the Sunburst Lounge. Utah Public Radio plans S. Utah stops Utah Public Radio travels to St. George and Cedar City Wednesday, April 4, to meet listeners and learn more about its communities. The trip will include a live morning broadcast and a free evening concert. UPR begins the day in St. George for a broadcast of "Access Utah" live from the USU Center on the Dixie College campus from 9 to 10 a.m. Listener comments and questions are encouraged. The live call-in program will focus on growth issues in Southern Utah. From 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., UPR staff members will host a reception at the Painted Pony Restaurant located at Ancestor Square, 2 West St. George Blvd., St. George. Listeners and other community members are invited to this free event. At 7:30 p.m. in Cedar City, UPR will host a free public concert featuring the Fry Street Quartet, Utah State University's faculty quartet-inresidence. The concert takes place at Canyon Middle School, 1865 North Main Street, Cedar City. Attendees are invited to meet and visit with quartet members and UPR staff during a reception that follows the performance. Members of the Fry Street Quartet are Anne Francis, cello; Rebecca McFaul, violin; Russell Fallstad, viola, and newest quartet member William Fedkenheuer, violin. To find broadcast stations in other areas, visit www.upr.org. For more information about the April 4 events, call 800-826-1495. USU art professor opens new exhibit Gideon Oake$/gid@cuisu.edu JENNIFER FISCH WAS ONE of the exhibitors at Tuesday's research fair. Fisch is an undergraduate researcher and was one of 70 students who participated in the fair. Huntsman gets pandemic flu recommendations SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - State health officials are recommending that large public gatherings of any kind, including Utah Jazz games, concerts and business conventions, be outlawed during an influenza pandemic. It is one of several broad recommendations presented to Gov. Jon Huntsman on Tuesday by the his Task Force for Pandemic Influenza Preparedness. If a flu pandemic as severe as the one in 1918 were to hit the state today, it's possible more than a million Utahns would become ill and 4,000 people would die in a year, according to a state report. The task force's recommendations seek to limit the severity of any outbreak. ''We need to have authority at the time to limit congregations," said David Sundwall, director of the Utah Department of Health. The task force is urging the Legislature to expand powers available to state and local officials during a public health emergency and to clarify who is responsible for enforcement. It's still unclear when state officials would want to use such authority to close schools, churches, shopping malls and other places where people gather. Those measures could be applied statewide even if an outbreak seemed confined to one area of Utah because it would only be a matter of time before the infection spread, Sundwall said. The task force is also recommending the state stockpile antiviral medications. Earlier this year, the Legislature allocated $750,000 to do that. Huntsman said Tuesday he would ask the Legislature to spend more on medicine next year. Other recommendations include creating an advisory committee to guide ongoing influenza preparedness, defining responsibilities for each agency or organization that might respond to an outbreak, and identifying ways to help businesses function during an outbreak. USU Professor Craig Law has seen some amazing things in his career. Among the more mysterious have been the ancient Native American rock art he has been photographing for over 15 years. He hikes and climbs into little traveled canyons to find them, and then he waits for the light to be "right." Professor Law photographs mostly the Barrier Canyon style pictographs, which date back, some believe, to over 2000 BC. A new exhibit of his Barrier Canyon rock art photographs will be featured at the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville. The exhibit opens April 5 during the Heritage Centers Baby Animal Days event. A special reception for the opening of the exhibit will take place April 6 at 4 pm. The Barrier Canyon Style Project began for him in 1991 when he was invited to the Great Gallery in Horseshoe Canyon, where one of the most impressive panels of rock art decorates a large canyon wall. The project has been a labor of respect and love for the earlier inhabitants of the Colorado Plateau. The hope is that the photographic archive they produce will be a significant resource for the current and future researchers to give added insights and understanding about this ancient culture. Law's work is included in the permanent collections of the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; and many prestigious museums, including many in Utah. His photos of Native American rock art have also been the subject of an article in Smithsonian Magazine. "What strikes me is how stunningly beautiful they are," indicated Elisabeth Johnson, Education Director and Exhibits Coordinator at the American West Heritage Center, "—the pictographs themselves, and the photos of them, really capture the rock art in their natural environment. We're so thrilled that Professor Law would show his work here at the Heritage Center." The exhibit will run through the summer. It is free to the public. For more information, contact the Exhibits Coordinator, Elisabeth Johnson at (435) 245-6050 ext. 23 or e-mail her at ejohnson@awhc.org. • Compiled from staff and media reports i |