OCR Text |
Show StatesmanCampus News Monday, Nov. 5, 2007 Colleges collaborate on water initiative Briefs By LINDSAY ANDERSON staff writer USU has six different colleges and 20 different departments that work with water, "and most of them have no clue what anybody else is doing," said Kim Shreuders, system administrator and project manager of the Utah Water Research Lab. Established in 2003, "the USU Water Initiative is an attempt to try and help tie together all the disparate pieces here at the university of departments, activities, programs and things that do stuff with water," Shreuders said. There are seven colleges at USU, and the only one not involved with water is the College of Education, "but we know there are people who work on water education, we just haven't figured out who they are yet," Shreuders said. "There is a lot of field science that people do with water around here," said David Tarboton, professor of civil engineering. "One of the things we are trying to do is integrate them together, get the data from them all in to common databases, and stimulate collaboration by sharing data. If you can go to a single database and get information, you are likely to do more with that information." Tarboton said this research is important because "water resources are critical to Utah and the waste we've got. "We have got great populations and great agriculture, with people to feed, and with this scarcity and possible climate change, we don't know what that is going to do to our water resources." Shreuders said the program is putting on water activities to bring people together and get them started in collaboration "because the sum is going to be greater than the total pieces." The program focuses on anything that academically has to do with water, Shreuders said. "This goes from landscape architecture and their water conservation programs, analysis and research, to the water lab that is doing water instrumentation development and analysis," she said. Shreuders said one of the focuses of the program is trying to get graduate students interested in water to come to USU. "If you are looking to be in that next generation of movers and shakers in water, then we want you to come to USU," she said. As part of the program, there are monthly seminars held in Room 413A in the Engineering building. The next seminar will be on Nov. 13, and the topic will be "Aging Infrastructure, Ecosystem Restoration, and the New Economy of Rivers," presented by Martin Doyle, a professor from the University of North Carolina. All students are welcome to attend. Shreuders said there is a run-off conference in the spring. The conference will be held at the Eccles Conference Center March 31 and April 1. Students who would like to learn more about the USU Water Initiative or get involved can contact Shreuders at 797-2941. -lindsay.anderson@aggiemaiiusu.edu FACULTY MEMBERS from different colleges and departments attend a nationwide presentation via the Internet concerning the study of worldwide water trends. The Water Initiative at USU is a collaborative effort between researchers in all of the colleges to share water research data in fields ranging from civil engineering to natural resources. CAMERON PETERSON photo Candidates: Contestors reveal future plans for Logan City •I continued from page 1 mentioned that to you that we came in participates to coordinate with a $1.4 million deficit. We've turned that around and now have an operable issues like reserve that's comfortable. transportaUS: Why did you vote against the tion and Intermountain Power Plant 3 Program? land-use Swenson: I voted against it because planning. there are other options out there than US: How burning dirty coal, and we already have will your a significant proportion of coal in our decisions portfolio. We have 16 years before we affect univerneed more base-load power. There are sity students? SWENSON going to be a lot of options between now LS: and then for contributing to our portfoUniversity students wishing to stay in lio. It's not a question of waiting for the the valley will have a better place to live. future, just developing it. The biggest problem I see facing the valSTEVEN TAYLOR, INCUMBENT ley is growth and dealing with that in a SEAT 2 sustainable way. And if we can do that, it w,iH make, this a much more livable- • • •• • • - US: If you axe elected, how will you place for any students who want, to make,, , improve Logan? this their homeintheifuture; i<r. .ii.e • , ] Taylor: Logan's a pretty nice place to US: What are the important issues . live, all by itself, with the quality of life facing this year's election? that we have and everything about it. I can't say that there's a ton to improve, LS: Looking to the future for growth but the first thing that 1 would do is and planning for that. In regards to maintain our stance on fiscal respontransportation and land use, revitalsibility. When we came into office izing our downtown and preserving four years ago, we had a negative $1.4 the defining character of Logan. Facing million, but we've turned that around the county in general, we have issues of through a good economy, and through sprawl, of growth that's eating up the the adminisagricultural land, the valuable open tration and space and the boundaries between cities us working that help each city preserve its identity. together, we In order to address our transportation now have problems, we need to concentrate our $6 million growth in areas that transportation can in reserve. serve, such as along bus routes, rather We're not out than just dividing up all the available of the woods land into building lots and filling our yet, you valley. don't solve US: How would things be different problems if you are elected, as opposed to your financially TAYLOR opponent? overnight. LS: I put a lot of time into studying fiscal issues. I organized the Citizens US: How will your decisions affect Financial Advisory Committee that university students? prepared a five, 10, and 20-year plan. ST: Looking at just fiscal reponsiI delve into each issue, understand it bilty, if a city doesn't have the finances and make the best fiscal decision for that it needs to do what it does on a norLogan. Maybe other candidates have mal day-to-day basis, we can't provide the support and the infrastructure and the things that are pleasant like trails and walking paths. If we don't have the funds to do those things, we just maintain status quo. We can't ever improve anything. That fiscal responsbiltiy is almost a center core to everything that we need to do in order to be able to help university students. US: What do you feel are the important issues in this year's election? ST: Power is one. We own a $30 million power company. It has very limited reserves itself. If something went wrong with that power company, it would upset the whole apple cart, so to speak. So how we manage that power company is critical. We made a decision not to buy coal and to look at affordable renewables, and that's what we're doing. Had we bought into (the Intermountain Power Plant 3 Program), we would've had everything that we needed until 2045, and we would have spent all of our resources and not have been able to go look or do anything else. Once again, that provides the power for the university students. US: How would things be different if you are elected, as opposed to your opponent? ST: I think the experience and background. Four years ago, when I started in office, 1 thought I knew everything and could solve everything, but municipalities just run differently. They're slow, it takes time to get things done, you have to know who to go to and how to make it happen. And once you understand that, you can enact things a lot quicker and get things more timely, if you will. I think simply from the standpoint of my experience in the last four years. I think that's critical. Being responsive to individuals. That's critical. Listening. I've learned how to utilize the position in the best interest of the constituents. HERM OLSEN, CANDIDATE SEAT 2 US: If you are elected, how will you improve Logan? PoliceBIOtter Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007 • USU Police responded to a fire alarm at Davis Hall. Upon arrival it was discovered that an individual frying food in a pan on the stovetop activated the alarm. The alarm was reset and there were no further problems. • A DVD player was reported stolen from room 163 in the Merrill Cazier library. Police are investigating. • USU Police received a report of a lost cell phone on campus. This phone was lost between Nutrition Foods Service building and Widtsoe Hall. • Police responded to Old Main for a fire alarm. The alarm was set off by a defective detector. The detector was repaired and the system was reset. Valley View Tower. The doorknob was removed in an effort to remove the key. • Offer dispatched to speak to a lady about and incident that happened in the parking lot behind the Education Buillding after the basketball game. • Police responded to Aggie Village on a utility problem. A water line broke and set off the fire alarms. Housing was called to fix the water line. • USU Police responded to a fire alarm at the University Reserve building. The pull station in the basement was accidentally triggered by a Facilities employee who was vacuuming the floor. The alarm was silenced and reset without any further problems. • USU Police responded to the Aggie Parking Terrace for a report of a light the was removed from the ceiling. This investigation is continuing. • USU Police responded to the Old Main building where an intrusion alarm had been activated in the Anthropology Lab. It was found that an employee had accidentally set off the alarm while locking the room. The alarm was reset with no further action taken. Wednesday, Oct. 31,2007 Thursday, Nov. 1,2007 • A University key got stuck in one of the doors at • A driver called our office and complained that Olsen: I don't know that I can do much alone, but I hope that as a part of a city council, we will really commit to work on the serious air quality problem that Cache County has. I am concerned about the serious traffic congestion that seems to be getting worse, and I hope to promote higher use of the transit system and bike paths. There's much debate on whether an increased budget for the transit system will increase ridership. I support any idea that's going to get us out of our vehicles more and onto the bus more. We have a culture, especially here in the West, which makes us think that we have the right to drive from our front porch to within 15 feet of where we want to go. And in the long term, we simply are going to have to recognize that such convenience comes at a high price OLSEN not only financially as gas prices go up, but environmentally, as we damage a fairly thin curtain of air that we have to breathe. It's not a simple solution, it will come at some cost, but I do believe we owe it to ourselves, our children and our grandchildren to seriously address air quality and our quality of life in Logan. US: How will your decisions affect university students? HO: Obviously Utah State is part of the broader community, but over the years, we have really tried to work with both the downtown and the university to promote both understanding and cooperation. The issues which we address involve off-campus housing, parking issues, coordination of bike [ ] See CANDIDATES page 4 Contact USU Police at 797-1939 for non-emergencies. Anonymous reporting line: 797-5000 EMERGENCY NUMBER: 911 another vehicle had made a sudden U-turn in front of them, which almost caused an accident. This called was turned over to Logan City Police, and they investigated this offense. • USU Police responded to a minor traffic accident at 1200 East and Highway 89. No one was hurt in this accident and there was only minor damages. Logan City Police also responded and conducted the investigation. • USU Police responded to the HPER building for a report of criminal mischief. This investigation is continuing. Friday, Nov. 2 , 2 0 0 7 • USU Police responded to the Univerity Inn for a report of a student involved in a bicycle accident. The rider was taken to Logan Regional Hospital. • Police responded to the Recycling Center for a report of an employee falling and was injured. The employee was taken to Logan Regional Hospital by Logan EMS. H C o m p i l e d by Arie Kirk Campus & Community Biotechnology Teacher Symposium today The Seventh Annual Biotechnology Teacher Symposium is today from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Biotechnology Building Room 103. This one-day program provides 7-12th grade teachers with the practical knowledge they need to engage students in hands-on laboratory experiences. Participants will learn to analyze minute amounts of genetic material for CSI-like criminal investigations, to purify proteins much as pharmaceutical companies do to create anti-cancer drugs, and to use computers to sift through vast data bases to find important human genes. Participants will hear from practicing scientists and their colleagues who have implemented biotechnology education in their own courses. The goal of the workshop is to create effective ways to bring the excitement of biotechnology to the classroom. Thanks to the support from the Utah State Office of Education, teachers will be awarded service credit. There is no fee for this Symposium. LAEP speaker series begins this week The department of landscape architecture and environmental planning at Utah State University presents a lecture series throughout the year, and the first lecture is Thursday, Nov. 8, with an appearance by Richard L. Haag. Artists of Landscape Architecture Speaker Series 2007-08 is hosted by USU s LAEP department and is sponsored by the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation. Haag is a landscape architect from Seattle, Wash., who was recently award the American Society of Landscape Architects Design Medal. Haag is featured in two public events on the USU campus. The first is an informal discussion Nov. 8 at 9:30 a.m. in the Tippetts Gallery of the Chase Fine Arts Center. The second is his lecture presentation, "Join the Conspiracy," at 1:30 p.m. in the Taggart Student Center Auditorium. The activities are free and open to everyone. Haag, a fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects, received the Design Medal in honor of his exceptional accomplishments in design. The medal is awarded to an individual landscape architect who has produced a body of exceptional design work at a sustained level for a period of at least 10 years. His creativity and H A A G sensitivity to the natural environment and adaptive re-use of existing structures and facilities has been expressed in more than 500 built projects. He is the founder and professor emeritus of the department of landscape architecture at the University of Washington. He teaches and lectures internationally, while practicing as principal of Richard Haag and Associates. Two of Haag's best-known projects are Gas Works Park in Seattle and Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island, Wash. He was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Japan for two years and was named a Fellow at the American Academy in Rome. For information on Haag's visit to USU, contact LEAP faculty member Caroline Lavoie, 797-0505. Weavings of War to focus on continuity Jill Stein, a research associate with the Institute for Learning Innovation in Annapolis, Md., will deliver a free lecture on the USU campus entitled "Threads of Continuity: Memory and Identity in Hmong Story Cloths and Chilean Arpilleras." The presentation is Tuesday, Nov. 13, at noon in the USU Haight Alumni Center. The lecture is part of the USU Department of English Speakers Series and all are invited. Stein curated the exhibit "Threads of Resistance" in 2004 at the Mather's Museum of World Cultures at Indiana UniversityBloomington. The exhibit explored the ways in which women have used traditional textile skills to cope with war and violence and increase their political voice and economic status. Stein's lecture is part of the ongoing programming for the "Weavings of War, Fabrics of Memory" exhibit, an exhibit of traditional global textiles depicting modern warfare. The exhibit will remain on display at the Thatcher-Young museum, 35 West 100 South in Logan, through Nov. 27. For more information, contact Lisa Gabbert at 7972721. {MCompiled from staff and media reports |