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Show 265 profs opt for early retirement Wednesday, April 1,2009 Breaking News By RACHEL A. CHRISTENSEN news editor Raul Alfonsin, former Argentine president whose presidency symbolized the end of military dictatorship and the return of democracy across Latin America, died Tuesday. Campus News Students play football on the Quad no matter the weather. Page 3 Features Students share April Fools' Day tricks gone wrong. Page 5 AN ILLUSTRATION OF WHAT CIGARETTES CAN CAUSE on display in theTSC International Lounge Monday. Students cited that one person spends an average of $2,000 annually on cigarettes. PETE P. SMITHSUTH photo USU helps kick butts Students educated on adverse side of smoking Sports By |.P. RODRIGUEZ staff writer Students give their take on the Jazz and the NBA Playoffs. Page 9 Opinion "Ultimately, this loss of experience, this 'brain drain/ will come back to hurt the companies and, in this case, students the most." Page 77 Various organizations from USU and Logan presented information about the dangers of tobacco use and how to quit smoking Monday in the TSC's International Lounge. Stephanie Hodgson is an intern at USU's Student Health and Well ness Center (HWC) and organized Monday's event. Hodgson said this was done because of Kick Butts Day. "(Kick Butts Day) is a nationally celebrated event to let people know about the dangers of smoking and what they can do to quit," Hodgson said. Many different organizations participated in this event, which was organized mainly by the HWC. Other groups involved included the Health Education Association at USU (HEAUSU). USU's Environmental Health and Safety, the Bear River Health Department and The Truth Campaign, which is best known for their antismoking ads. Participating groups set up displays which gave people information about the dangers of smokinc. The HWC distributed quit smoking kits to interested students as part of their service. They handed out a total of 15 kits at the TSC since last Thursday, nine of these on Monday. These kits included candy, information brochures about quitting and things to do that may help people stop smoking, including things to keep peoples' hand busy, which Hodgson said is helpful to quit smoking. They did not include nicotine gum due to the high cost of that item. Hodgson said the HWC also offers ces- [M See SMOKING, page 4 Asof6:02p.m.March20, the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program received 2H5 applications, said BrandE Faupell. Human Resources executive director. "We're thrilled with how it's been received." she said. "It far exceeded my expectations and what others expected, that I know of." Dave Cowiev. associate vice president for business and finance, said 195 applications have already been approved. Thirty-five applications are still being reviewed and the remaining 13 percent of applications have been declined. Cowiev said an application was declined if allowing that employee to retire early did not save the university money or if the employee's department said they needed to keep that employee in order to function properly. Faupell said the program was created to compensate for money lost in the budget cuts. The program was successful in the number of applications submitted, she said, but the total impact the program will have on next year's budget is still unknown. "The true story is in the money," she said. Cowiev said the program has the potential of recognizing $7 million to $10 million in salary savings for the university. These figures would only be reached if the positions of those employees leaving are not filled in any way. Cowiev said some necessary positions will have to be filled, meaning actual net salary savings will be less than the potential amount, but the university will look for ways to save money when filling these jobs. "We might get juniors to fill positions, hire part-time employees or have one person cover multiple positions," he said. Although the figures of savings are not vet set in stone. Cowiev said he expects to still see several million dollars in net savings. Final figures won't be known until each applicant goes through the complete process, ending with a final agreement between all parties involved. The total process will likely take until the end of April. USUputs course material online By LISA CHRISTENSEN Almanac copy editor Today in History: In 1700, English pranksters begin popularizing the annual tradition of April Fools' Day by playing practical jokes on each other. Although the day has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery. Weather High: 32° Low: 22° Skies: 40 percent chance of snow. Archives and breaking news always ready for you at www.utahstatesman.com Despite being on opposite ends of the country and specializing in vastly different areas - among other marked differences - USU and MIT still hang in the same ranks in one area. With 80 courses currently posted, Utah State is second in the world in the amount of class material it shares using OpiMiCourseWare (OCW), a collection of digital content shared between various institutions and available to anyone with an Internet connection, said Brett Shelton. COSL director in the department ofTTLS. "OpenCourseWare is making available educational resources to students it wouldn't normally be available to," Shelton said. MIT is first in the world because it requires all materials from all classes to be posted on OCW, he said, which is an expensive process. However. Shelton said, even though all of their course material is on the Web. free and open to anyone in the world with a modem, the value of an MIT education is not cheapened in any way. "They believe the value of an MIT education is not in their materials but in the student-to-student interaction," he said, "the interaction students have with their professors." Utah State has the same philosophy, he said; however, this should not take away from the value the OCW has to people around the world. According to information provided by XOSO - College Algebra U S U IS S E C O N D I N T H E W O R L D for the amount of course material it posts online for the world to access. USU is second only to MIT. CAMERON PETERSON photo illustration Utah Stale OpenCourseWare, more than 750,000 individuals have visited Utah State's OCW site alone, accessing nearly 3 million lessons. While the U.S. is the country with the most users, a vast majority of L'tah State OCW s visits come from abroad, with China, India and Taiwan making up nearly 35 percent of those who use it internationally. Other countries represented include Zambia. Lithuania, Mongolia, Malaysia and South Korea, the Web site states. Shelton said Utah State tries to focus on putting courses on ()C\V in classes MIT doesn't offer and in which USU specializes, such as agricultural classes. He said the most popular courses from Utah State on OCW. though, are in economics. All materials are checked tor copyright restrictions before being posted, and citations are used instead [M See ONLINE, page 3 |