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Show Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009 StatesmanCampus News Page 3 Student panel debates hot political topics Briefs Campus & Community By LIS STEWART staff writer Student representatives from four USU political clubs debated issues relating to gay rights, legalization of marijuana, health care reform, Afghanistan and whether President Barack Obama deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. The event took place Monday in The Hub and was hosted by Associated Students of Utah State University (ASUSU) to kick off Civic Awareness Week. Spencer Lee, ASUSU executive vice president, said, “We gave everyone in attendance a better overall view of politics.” The College Republicans were represented by Justin Hinh; senior Nichole Paul represented the Gays, Lesbians, Bisexual and Transgender Allies (GLBTA); Andrew Barnard represented the College Libertarians and Erin Cottle, a graduate student, spoke on behalf of the College Democrats. The first 30 minutes of the debate were devoted to questions prepared and asked by Lee, and the remaining time was given to the audience to ask questions. Gay rights was the prominent issue asked by students. The question of whether religious beliefs should influence the legalization of gay marriage was brought up the most during the open-mike portion. Barnard said the marriage of same-gendered people would not be harming anyone directly, and therefore the government should not legislate against it. Religous rationality was cited by Hinh as the reason that College Republicans oppose same-gender marriage. He said he agreed that the same rights should be given to all Americans, and that is why Republicans support civil union, but allowing same-sex marriage will destroy the religious institution of marriage. Cottle said the College Democrats are not universally united behind gay marriage but it does generally support civil unions. “Democrats champion rights,” she said. Paul, of the GLBTA, said marriage licenses are granted to anyone regardless of religious affiliation and division of church and state in the U.S. makes it not a religious institution. She said marriage has considerable religious significance to many people but it is also a legal contract. “The issue at hand is not whether religious institutions should accept homosexuality but whether the individuals deserve equal rights,” Paul said. The question of what Obama should do in Afghanistan was asked by Lee first. Hinh said the position of the Republicans was that Obama should listen to his generals and not to political parties. “If they say to increase troops by 10 or 40 thousand, then he should,” Hinh said. Paul said, “We need to stop it from becoming another Vietnam.” Barnard said the Libertarians’ view is that Obama’s overall goal should be to safely withdraw from Afghanistan and give total control back to the Afghan people. Science Unwrapped listens to cosmos DURING THE CONTROVERSY DEBATE Oct. 26 in The Hub, Justin Hinh, Nichole Paul, Andrew Barnard and Erin Cottle discussed topics such as same-gender marriage. ERIN R. GABRIEL photo “Nation-building is not the job of the USA,” he said. Cottle said she agreed with the Libertarian view that nation-building should not be the United State’s policy in Afghanistan. Lee said the purpose of the debate was not to necessarily talk about the most pressing issues in the political realm but the ones that are closest to people’s hearts. “We’re debating everything that makes people mad,” Lee said. “Politics is really about people’s feelings. As much as you want to say that it is about policy and about how your money works and economics and all that. The most important thing people care about in politics are social issues.” Anna Harris, sophomore in international relations who watched the Sprouting seeds of service debate, said she found out about the debate from an e-mail sent by the College Democrats. She said the questions asked during the debate were constructive, and she liked how international politics were brought up. The audience started small and Lee said by the end he estimated 175 to 200 people watched the debate. Certain answers from panel members were cheered by members of the crowd. In an interview after the debate, Cottle said she didn’t think she had seen this many people at a debate before. Lee said ASUSU hopes to make debates like this a more common occurrence at USU. He said debates get people thinking and they also raise civic awareness. – la.stewart@aggiemail.usu.edu Committee created to finalize info desk bill By BENJAMIN WOOD news senior writer STUDENT VOLUNTEERS participate in the revitalization project north of the Aggie Parking Terrace. Participants helped revamp the abandoned landscape. PETE P. SMITHSUTH photo Festival helps refill CAPSA’s funds By CATHERINE MEIDELL assistant news editor Due to the struggling economy, the Community Abuse Prevention Service Agency (CAPSA) is working with limited funds to support victims of sexual abuse, said Rachel Brighton, coordinator for Sexual Assault and Anti Violence Information (SAAVI) at USU. State and federal funding cuts have impacted imperative social service programs that communities cannot do without, she said. “CAPSA staff members are sacrificing and finding creative solutions to save money, including working without lights on and turning the heat down into the ’60s,” Brighton said. “Their goal is to do what they can to provide uninterrupted services to those fleeing violence in our community.” One in three women report experiencing sexual assault at some point in their lifetime and fewer than 12 percent of the cases are reported to the police, according to www. nomoresecrets.utah.gov. The site also states 3,300 victims of abuse fled the violence and attained refuge in a shelter like the facility CAPSA locally provides. USU students affected by sexual abuse have created and submitted T-shirts to USU’s Women’s Resource Center. The T-shirts are of all colors and sizes and display personal thoughts, as well as detailed instances regarding the victims’ experiences with sexual abuse. The Clothesline Project is a nationally recognized project and this year is USU’s 10th year participating in this effort that makes the voices of sexual abuse heard, said Michelle Bogdan, Women’s Center’s and Reentry Student Center’s interim director. The Clothesline Project will join with the Healing Outreach Passion Effort (HOPE) Festival to greater support those who have suffered or been impacted by sexual abuse. The festival will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday in the TSC Sunburst Lounge. “We want the festival to gain momentum and become an annual affair,” Bogdan said. CAPSA is a crucial service offered in the community that must be supported to ensure those who suffer from domestic violence have a safe place to live, Brighton said. She said by giving CAPSA funding, the staff will be able to work more comfortably than they do now. The money donated will alleviate some of the financial pressure CAPSA is currently experiencing. During the HOPE Festival, local vendors will set up booths in the lounge selling homemade goods to benefit CAPSA by donating 25 percent of the money made, Brighton said. Some of the vendors include Imagine Jewelry, Modernshape, KJ Designs and Sunshea Products. Brighton said, “By purchasing Christmas gifts from vendors, students literally become supporters of the abused.” A raffle will take place during the festival and all the money made will be donated to CAPSA, Brighton said. Possible prizes are a night’s stay at University Inn, a Sports Academy membership and sports equipment. None of the money donated to CAPSA is “earmarked,” Brighton said. The money can be used in whatever way CAPSA sees fit, whether it be paying electric bills or building new facilites, she said. The Clothesline Project is accompanied by “The Sounds,” which represents the number of assaults that occur every day. A gong represents an assault that is reported and sounds every 10 to 12 seconds. When a bell chimes, it symbolizes that a woman is killed by her intimate partner. This happens three or four times a day. USU’s veteran’s office and the International Student Council have collaborated with SAAVI and the Women’s Center this year to increase the work force in preparation for the festival. Refresments will be served at the festival and live music will be performed by Todd Milovich and the Traveling Band of Gypsies. The Clothesline Project will be displayed through Friday. – catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu After a motion from the Associated Students of Utah State University’s executive vice president, the Executive Council created a sixmember committee that will analyze and adapt the previously discussed bill. The ASUSU president named himself, Athletics Vice President Jeremy Winn, Programming Vice President Erin Reeder, Service Vice President David Knighton and Natural Resources Sen. John Rentschler as members of the committee at Tuesday’s meeting. The sixth member has yet to be named and will be selected from the Academic Senate. Executive Vice President Spencer Lee will act as non-voting chairman. The bill will require elected officers to spend time at the ASUSU Information Desk on the first floor of the Taggart Student Center (TSC). Following suggestions made at the council’s last meeting, the proposed bill now requires officers to sit at the desk for one hour per week and allows exceptions during Finals Weeks and activities for which the officers are directly involved. The new version of the bill also clearly expressed that the desk would be unavailable to non-ASUSU clubs and organizations, except for those who seek and gain express approval from the executive council. Lee said the approval process would be intentionally difficult to cut down on excessive clutter and advertisements at the desk. Some council members expressed concern at the exclusive nature of the bill, to which Lee responded that locations in the TSC, like the outdoor patio and hallway that passes the bookstore, continue to be available to campus clubs. Others agreed that the desk’s effectiveness was being dampened by overcrowding. “Right now if you go down there it’s kind of a mess,” Graduate Studies Vice President Rick Kelly said. Two Logan City Council members, Holly Daines and Dean Quayle, visited the council during its meeting. Both candidates expressed their - See INFO, page 4 The USU College of Science’s October Science Unwrapped presentation combines science with music to display the talents of world-renowned musician and multimedia artist Andrea Centazzo. Inquiring minds of all ages are invited to “Whispers from the Cosmos: Listening to Gravity’s Hidden Message” Friday, Oct. 30, at USU. Admission is free and open to all. Hosted at 7 p.m. in the Performance Hall, Centazzo’s portion of the program, titled “Einstein’s Cosmic Messengers,” features images projected on a cinema screen, complemented by live synchronized music performed with an array of acoustic and digital percussive instruments. The presentation is the final segment in Science Unwrapped’s “Windows on the Cosmos” series, which celebrates the International Year of Astronomy. The monthly presentation series takes a break in November and December but returns with the new “Origins” series in January 2010. For more information, visit www.usu.edu/science/unwrapped, view Science Unwrapped at USU on Facebook or call 797-3517. Program publishes religious journal The Religious Studies Program at USU recently published the inaugural issue of the Intermountain West Journal of Religious Studies. According to Charles Prebish, director of USU’s Religious Studies Program, the journal is one of the very first – if not the first – entirely student-run peer-reviewed online journals in the field of religious studies in North America. The project is designed to promote the academic study of religion at the graduate and undergraduate levels, student organizers said. And while the journal is housed at USU, submissions are accepted from students around the world. The premier issue features five articles on Muslim conversion in the United States, issues involved in both Islamic and Mormon polygamy, the rituals of Gnosticism, the Utah War and the development of Mormon scripture. The journal is located online and is housed by the Merrill-Cazier Library. Undergrad explores science of learning USU freshman honors student Linsey Johnson knows that many people are intimidated by science, but she’s discovered that the more they learn about the subject the more enthusiastic they become. The undergraduate research fellow’s own interest in science was heightened in 2008 when she traveled with her high school physics teacher and two classmates to Switzerland’s European Organization for Nuclear Research – better known as CERN. At the world’s largest particle physics laboratory and home of the Large Hadron Collider, Johnson observed scientists exploring the basic fundamentals of matter. “It was cool – I liked being in that atmosphere,” says Johnson, a high school Sterling Scholar in science who was named the first valedictorian of Utah County’s newly established Salem Hills High School. “Everyone was so excited and passionate about what they were doing. I started thinking then about a career in physics teaching.” As part of a research project, Johnson is working with her USU faculty mentor Shane Larson to create activities to complement future Science Unwrapped presentations and developing tools to evaluate participants’ responses. “Good teaching is the key to developing students’ interest in science,” she says. “That’s the reason I want to become a teacher.” -Compiled from staff and media reports |