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Show Page 3 StatesmanCampus News fridav, March 28. 2008 Briefs Food for the masses Campus & Community Utah residents to recieve artfunds The Utah Arts Council Board of Directors has voted to approve fourteen grants totaling $31,102. Applications were submitted through the 2008 Folk Arts Teaching Grants program. Teaching Grants support the transmission of traditional arts and cultural practices in an educational setting between a master artist and apprentice or a master artist and a class composed of members from the master's cultural community. Recipients have one year to complete their educational programs. "We were very pleased with the number and range of applications for our Teaching Grants program this year. We received over thirty grant applications and funded fourteen. It is promising to know that in the light of today's many distractions, Utahns still hold an interest in learning the crafts of their cultural backgrounds. Often these traditional art forms are lost to technological innovation, competing interests, time, or financial situations in general. More often, these traditions can be vital to a community's identity and functionality. So, while directed to individuals, it is our hope that the impact of these teaching grants will eventually benefit the health of traditional communities," said Margaret Hunt, Director of the Utah Arts Council. STUDENTS TOGETHER ENDING POVERTY and Aggies for Africa hosted the Hunger Banquet Thursday evening in the Walnut Room to help raise awareness of world poverty. Items were available to purchase to help raise money to fight poverty. DEBRA HAWKINS photos ASUSU to print Students warned of improper disposal of hazardous waste newsletters By DEBRA HAWKINS Grant awards ranged in amount from $630 to $3,000. Recipients live in Cache, Salt Lake, San Juan, Uintah, Utah, and Weber Counties. Projects funded include the teaching of Northern Ute Beadwork, Native Quillwork, Armenian Needle Lace, Saddle Making, Navajo Rug Making, Hawaiian Hula, Kathak Dance, Tahitian Drumming, Tongan & Polynesian Crafts, Kolam Rangoli (traditional household decoration from India), Ute Bear Dance Apparel Making, Cambodian Dance, Mexican Mariachi Music, and Didinga (Sudanese) Music & Dance. , (l By LIZ WILSON staff writer senior writer With the end of the school year fast A newsletter detailing what ASUSU officers have being doing approaching, students will soon begin their while in office will now be available to students once a semester. annual spring cleaning, and for the employ, The newsletter will let students know what the officers are ees of the Logan City landfill, this is the spending their time and resources on. busiest time of year. According to the policy paper, written by ASUSU President Hazardous waste technician Tony Peter McChesney, while campaigning for president, he was Douglass said they get a lot of problems the approached by a student wishing to know what the elected offilast week of school because no one wants to cials do while in office, and now this newsletter will be able to take stuff back where they're from, so they answer questions students have. Some of the strengths of havjust throw everything away. ing such as newsletter, as cited by McChesney, include students Douglass described a variety of incidents being able to have a first-hand source of information about what involving USU students disposing of hazardthe officers are doing, helping keep the officers accountable for ous materials improperly, including students what they have promised the student body they would do. at an apartment complex who recently threw Nick West, senator for the College of Humanities, Arts and away gasoline. He said some of the most Social Science, said, "I think this would be a good thing. We commonly disposed of hazardous materials should be held responsible for not only how we spend our time are car oil, antifreeze, household cleaners in office, but we should be accountable for where we spend their and tires. money too." "A lot of people don't know that Windex The newsletter will come out once a semester in the form of a is hazardous waste," Douglass said. "If peomass e-mail and paper copies that will be available to students. ple were more educated. I think they'd make -debrajoy, h@aggiemailusu.edu the right choice when they threw things away." By disposing of waste properly, he said students not only help the environment, but they also avoid fines. "Usually the first time, depending on the severity, they get a warning," Douglass said. "After that there could be fines, and they can even have to pay for the clean up cost." Although there may be less incentive to properly dispose of smaller things like household chemicals, fellow technician Dan Barnes gave an alternative to taking them to SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Hundreds of Questar Gas custom- a disposal facility. "The best way to eliminate hazardous ers are learning they owe more money for keeping their homes waste is to use it up," Barnes said. warm. If someone doesn't need cleaning sup. The utility said problems with high-tech meters mean some plies, "give it to your neighbor," Barnes Utah customers actually used more natural gas than appeared suggests. The landfill promotes the reuse of on their bills. materials by recycling 50 percent of its hazLori and Michael Garcia of Santa Clara were told they ardous waste, Barnes said, through vendors owe $1,064. Art Wasik of Salt Lake City was hit with an extra and environmental groups. In some cases, $1,200. Overall, Questar is trying to recover $600,000 from when things like couches, TVs, refrigerators about 500 families. and stoves are donated and are still in good The utility said state rules allow it to recover the money, condition, they are taken to what Barnes but customers have filed complaints with the Utah Public calls the landfill mall. These unwanted items Service Commission. Questar is willing to set up payment are placed in an area where anyone in need plans or make other arrangements. of them can come pick them up. "We're not happy about this. We messed up. But we hope If someone needs something, Barnes (our customers) will understand," spokesman Chad Jones said. said, they can go down and take a look. Questar told customers that an electronic transmitter on the The landfill is open Monday through gas meters was faulty, causing it to send the wrong informaSaturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Douglass said. tion. He said if televisions and computer "They weren't malfunctioning. They just weren't set propmonitors are in bad condition, they must be erly," Jones said. disposed of properly because they are on the , The company four years ago began putting radio transmitlandfill list of hazardous materials. ters on all meters. The transmitters allow laptop computers "The Environmental Protection Agency inside company trucks to automatically read meters on every home. It eliminates the need for company employees to personally check each meter. "We've saved our customers millions of dollars," Jones said. '^And when we were (reading meters) manually, we had much WEST JORDAN, Utah (AP) - A middle higher incidents of misreads and disputed bills." school was evacuated after an anonymous Lori Garcia said there was no way she and her husband caller claimed to have heard reports of a could have known the transmitter on their gas meter was man with a gun in the parking lot. sending the wrong information. Officials say West Jordan Middle ,' "We had this home built and moved in two years ago," she School's 1,000 students were sent home "said. "It was about the same-size house we had before, and the early Thursday afternoon as a precaution. bill was about the same for both." Jordan School District spokesman Robert Slattery of Salt Lake City was told he owes $370. Michael Kelley says officials were work"I was told that I should have known when my bill went 1 ing with police to determine whether the down, that something was wrong/ he said. "But that was story was a hoax, which seemed more likely around the same time when I had a new furnace and extra after nothing was found during a thorough insulation put in my house. It made sense to me that my bill search. would go down." West Jordan Police Sgt. Greg Butler said Questar Gas says customers owe $600,000 in bills Grants are open to any member of a traditional, ethnic, or cultural group interested in developing their knowledge of an artist practice from their heritage. The Utah Arts Council is part of the Division of Arts and Museums within the Utah Department of Community and Culture. H A Z A R D O U S W A S T E technicians warn students of the dangers of simply putting hazardous items, like Windex and antifreeze, in the garbage. BRITNEY BRENT photo illustration Summer program seeking applicants USU hosts the 19th annual Engineering State program June just recently said these are hazardous," 9-12 for all local, national and Douglass said. international high school students. Barnes said the glass is lead-based, makThe application deadline has been ing improper disposal of TVs and computer extended until March 31. monitors a hazard to ground water supplies. The program is designed to When looking to clean out an apartment give students a glimpse of various or dorm, students might find information engineering professions through on hazardous materials hard to find. If they an in-depth, hands-on experience. have any questions about what's hazardous, Participants will have the opporthey can give the technicians a call, Douglass tunity to build relationships with said. experienced faculty and staff from "I know Utah State also has a hazardous every department in the College of waste facility up there," Douglass said. "They Engineering, and will be treated to take care of the stuff basically on campus." a tour of the state-of-the-art Space This facility, run by the Environmental Dynamics Laboratory and USU's Health and Resource Center, is a convenew engineering building. nient alternative to driving waste to the "Students will learn about new landfill. Both the Logan Landfill and the engineering technologies and solve Environmental Health and Resource Center common problems using today's are also willing to pick up hazardous mateinnovations and strategies," said rial if transportation is an issue. Scott Hinton, dean of the College To give students added encouragement of Engineering. "They will also to take advantage of the facilities, Douglass work with Utah State's nationally said when dropping off materials, "Other acclaimed faculty and make new than tires and refrigerators, the rest of it's friends in the process." free." Engineering State provides stuIn summarizing the goal of their prodents with opportunities to explore gram, Douglass said, "We're just here to the most up-to-date strategies, basically protect our ground water and the tools and engineering technology. environment." Go-carts, canoeing, swimming and -Hz.w@aggiemaiL usu. edu friendly competitions are part of the week and students can win prizes and apply for university scholarships. The $100 application fee covers housing for the week in university housing and all meals. Qualified officers and bomb-sniffing dogs searched the building and campus. Butler said all stu- applicants must be high school students entering their junior or senior dents from the middle school and a neighyear in Fall 2008, have a strong boring elementary school were accounted interest in math, science, technology for. or aviation and display citizenship Butler said the caller did not want to excellence on their scholastic record. leave her name and called the school district For more information, or an instead ofjust dialing 911, so he was skeptical there was anything to the report. If there online application, visit http://www. engineering.usu.edu/estate or call was a caller who really overheard two boys Kathy Peacock at 797-2843. talking about an armed man at a convenience store, police would like to speak with her, Butler said. [MCompiled from staff Utah middle school evacuated and media reports |