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Show AggieLife Page 8 Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 Initiative could cause a political change Last winter the Utah Legislature passed what it deemed an ethics-reform bill requiring that legislators report any gift from lobbyists that are valued at more than $25. However, as time went on local newspapers found that little to no change has taken place in the reporting of gifts from lobbyists. In response to the legislature’s failure to act, a citizen’s initiative has been proposed and grassroot efforts are gathering signatures to put a new ethical reform initiative on the ballot next November. The proposed bill would be far reaching and has the potential to reform and alter Utah politics drastically. Currently, legislators may take any amount of gifts from any corporation, individual or political action committee (PAC). The new initiative would limit the donations from an individual to at most $2,500, donations from a PAC to at most $5,000 and would outlaw any donations from corporations. Money raised for campaigns would have to be used for the actual campaign process, and legislators would not be able to share money or raise money for their political party’s PAC. According to The Deseret News, if the initiative were applied to 2008, about half of the legislature’s funds, approximately $2.4 million, would be banned. The initiative would also stop legislators from being hired on as management for businesses that would have matters and interests that are raised in the legislative session. Also, members of the legislature would not be allowed to be lobbyists and legislators at the same time, which occasionally happens in Utah. According to a Deseret News/KSL poll, 85 percent of Utahns support the creation of a nonpartisan ethics commission in order to regulate the legislators’ actions. The citizen support for the initiative reaches across party lines, despite the strong Republican majority in both the House and the Senate. Utahns are finally waking up to the corruption and partisanship control of politics in their state and petitions are circulating to have the initiative put on the ballot next November and it is very likely that the majority of Utahns will vote for the commission to be created. But there is a price tag to the reform: $472,000 annually to fund the commission. Also, the commission would not be subject to judicial review and the attorney general does not participate in any way with the commission. Some of the measures may seem harsh and there is a hefty price tag, but it is only after decades of legislators abusing their roles as Utah representatives that voters have reached this point. Under the current system, Utah has some of the most lax ethic rules and regulations – apparently Utahns are ready for a change. But are legislators ready to change the way politics is done in Utah? Our own representative, Lyle Hillyard, RCache County, expressed his dislike of the reform when he told KSL news, “I would challenge everybody who signs that petition and everybody who supports it, tell me: Have you read all 20-something pages? Do you feel comfortable with everything in that bill?” While some of the reforms seem somewhat questionable, the history of ethical abuse in the legislature leaves Utahns no choice but to finally react and show the representatives that ethics is not something only practiced in church but also in politics, regardless of party affiliation. Don’t forget to log onto www.aggietownsquare.com and voice your opinion. Seth Bracken is a senior majoring in print journalism. Questions or comments can be sent to him at seth.bracken@aggiemail.usu.edu Farm: Reaching out to all ages -continued from page 5 students know a lot about the nutritional aspect of food and why we should eat vegetables,” Vitale said. “Now students have the opportunity to experience the actual growing and harvesting of the food they know so much about.” One of those students, Blake Beyers, began working at the student organic farm last summer, while looking for a hands-on job. As a student in the dietetics program, Beyers stumbled upon the College of Agriculture while taking a chemistry and a nutrition course for general education requirements. However, Beyers is not a typical College of Agriculture student. When asked about his background in agriculture, Beyers is quick to say that he doesn’t have one. Never having a garden before, Beyers now knows practical farming techniques such as composting, harvesting and planting because of his time spent at the USU Student Organic Farm. Through research and development programs, Beyers hopes to eventually create solutions for diet-related health issues, such as childhood-obesity rates. He is gaining hands-on experience from the partnership between NDFS and the farm that has created a project to teach elementary-school children about the importance of eating vegetables. “The best way to teach kids about food is to use food,” Vitale said. As a teaching process, children are able to visit the farm. Besides teaching children, the new partnership is also interested in teaching the importance of produce to USU faculty and students. The farm does so by selling produce outside the Taggart Student Center every Wednesday from 11 p.m. - 2 p.m. It has launched a Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) program that allows people to pay for a weekly variety of produce from the farm. Vitale said the majority of produce people buy travels an average 1,500 miles from the location it was harvested to the store where people buy it from. For more information about the Student Organic Farm, to apply for a job or to volunteer contact Jennifer Reeve at jennifer.reeve@usu.edu. – xxkarizxx@hotmail.com, waychow@hotmail.com JANET WILLIAMSON DEMONSTRATES the utility of the “Farming Glove” kit. These kits are being distributed to classrooms around Utah. TODD JONES photo Service project brings materials to teachers By TAYLOR ADAMS guest writer Each year during Ag Week at USU, students gather to participate in a service activity. All students are welcome to join Ag Council in the Taggart Student Center International Lounge at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 30, for this year’s project. The focus of Wednesday’s service project is Agriculture in the Classroom (AITC), a program developed by the United States Department of Agriculture, which helps students nationwide understand the importance of agriculture. Participating in the project will allow students to assemble educational kits for teachers across the country. Debra Spielmaker, director of Utah AITC, welcomes volunteers who don’t mind assembling kits. Assembly of kits, she said, involves cutting wheat, bagging seeds, counting cotton, cutting yarn and rolling posters. Alisha Hill, AITC outreach coordinator, said volunteers will assemble two kits on Wednesday that will be available at the AITC e-store to be purchased by teachers. “It’s a valuable resource for teachers both in state and out of state,” Hill said. “We are busy for back-to-school and ship out about four kits per day.” Without help from Ag Council and other volunteers, Spielmaker would be unable to supply classrooms. “If we want teachers to teach about agriculture we need to supply them with resources that do that,” she said. “Lesson plans, kits, DVDs, maps and PowerPoint presentations are just some of the resources we supply to teachers.” Jacie Fasselin, public relations chair for Ag Council, said another bonus is that cookies and milk will be offered to volunteers. “We would be happy to have people from all majors participate in this activity,” she said. Fasselin said Ag Council is excited to partner with AITC and students from across campus. “This is a chance for students to participate in Ag Week and a convenient opportunity for students to do service on campus,” Fasselin said. If you are unable to volunteer on Wednesday, AITC has other service projects throughout the semester, where pizza is usually provided to volunteers. Clubs can also volunteer to do a work-party by contacting Alisha Hill at alisha.hill@usu.edu. – t.k.adams@aggiemail.usu.edu Street Speak What is your definition of stress? “Procrastination. And don’t forget women.” – Reza Ghaemi, senior, biology “Right here, answering questions.” – Mike Lau, junior, graphic design “Feeling overwhelmed.” – Lacey Essig, sophomore, social work “Something really irritating and hard to deal with. You need something to relieve it.” – Seth Peavler, sophomore, math information gathered by April Ashland photos by Steve Sellers |