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Show AggieLife Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009 Page 6 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com Local charity impacts community Food pantry unveils plans for new facility, gears up for the holidays By TAM ROUNDS staff writer Rose Dhein and her husband work full time, even overtime. Their wages cover the bills but leave little in their budget to feed their family of eight. Fortunately, Dhein has a good friend who told her about the Cache Community Food Pantry. The Dheins brought their paycheck stubs to the pantry, which established their need and qualified them to receive food aid. Dhein said, “My kids love Tuesdays. I come to the pantry and fill my cart with fruits, vegetables, the necessities and always a little treat for them too.” This week the treat was Halloween-decorated minicupcakes, donated by a local grocery store. Dhein’s children range in age from kindergarten to college. She said all of them help out to support the family. Having to get additional help from the community is nothing to be embarrassed about, she said. “The shameful thing is when someone is in need and doesn’t ask for help,” Dhein said. Dhein said when money wasn’t so tight, she was able to contribute to the pantry. “Receiving is just the other side of giving. You can’t have one without the other,” Dhein said. Matt Whitaker, director of Cache Community Food Pantry, said the economic downturn is having a direct impact on locals being able to put food on their tables. “One hundred and forty-five families in Cache Valley utilize the food pantry for sustenance each week. That is a dramatic increase from the 100 families we served just one year ago,” Whitaker said. Whitaker is grateful for the help that USU students offer the pantry. “I can’t say enough about what students do, especially the Stuff A Bus program,” Whitaker said. “They deliver an enormous amount of food at a very critical time.” Brittany Ingalls, chair for the Stuff A Bus program this year, said the program began Nov. 1 and it supports the Sub for Santa program, as well as the food pantry. Every Monday in November at 6 p.m., students ride the Aggie Shuttle buses out into the community. Greeks, clubs and athletes also conduct their own donation-raising projects in conjunction with the program. Students in the past have brought food from their cupboards, but their real impact is in asking other community members to donate. Besides going door to door, students campaign outside of local grocery stores. Logan native Lisa Sheppard was shopping at Lee’s Marketplace last year when USU students were requesting donations. “It made giving to a cause I support very easy for me,” Sheppard said. “They had a flier listing all of the items needed, and I was able to purchase some of them while doing my regular shopping. They even had me recycle the list back to them when I gave them my donations so they could give it to another patron.” The food pantry operates from a well-maintained but inadequate warehouse that was built in 1952. It was never designed to store food, yet the volunteers and employees have made it work over the years. They have a new future to look forward to – a new building, designed by Thomas Jensen, at Architectural Nexus. The $400,000 project will provide the much needed additional space, including more refrigerators and freezers as well as proper ventilation. Food pantry volunteer Mary Laine said, “We are always grateful for the generosity of the public, USU students and local businesses. They are the reason we are able to give people what they need. We are asking for a little more right now to help us to continue and to better serve those in need.” Laine said the undersized building that the pantry works from now forces people to wait in line outside. “It really breaks my heart to see the people standing outside in ice-cold conditions, waiting for their turn to come in,” Laine said. She said the capacity of the new building will eliminate this problem and allow them to properly store all donated foods. “These are hard-working families, single moms, the disabled and the elderly trying to get by, and the new building will serve them with dignity,” Laine said. – tam.r@aggiemail.usu.edu Rose Dhein visits the Cache Community Food Pantry. Dhein visits every Tuesday to fill her cart with fruits, vegetables and the necessities. One hundred and forty-five families in Cache Valley use the food pantry for sustenance each week. PETE P SMITHSUTH photo Professor digs deep into students’ education PROFESSOR Bonnie Pitblado specializes in archaeology from the Paleo-Indian era, or about 8,000 to 12,000 years ago. She is currently trying to help map where early inhabitants of North America lived by tracking their tools. photo courtesy BONNIE PITBLADO By SETH BRACKEN features senior writer While scaling a mountain face during an archaeological dig in southeastern Idaho, a USU professor was almost killed by a rolling boulder, kind of like Indiana Jones in “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” Bonnie Pitblado is a professor of anthropology and is an archaeologist. Pitblado said she specializes in archaeology from the Paleo-Indian era, or about 8,000 to 12,000 years ago, which is when most archaeologists agree that there were humans on the North American continent. She focuses her studies on the Rocky Mountain regions and examines rock chips and rock tools because there wasn’t pottery in the Paleo-Indian area. “I think there’s a perception out there that there are no jobs in anthropology,” Pitblado said. “But there are a huge number of jobs out there for anthropology majors.” The USU professors of anthropology all have field-work experience and try to help their students learn the skills necessary for them to be competitive and land jobs when they graduate. Pitblado helped USU bring in a grant from the National Science Foundation that totaled more than $500,000. The money was used to buy lab equipment. “This lab will be the cutting-edge technology,” Pitblado said. “Normally schools can’t afford the same equipment that the private industry can. But with this grant we’ll be able to give our students the experience they need to be the leading graduates in the field.” The anthropology department uses a mentor-like program to help its students through their education so they receive the necessary job training, not just the academic knowledge, Pitblado said. Professors take students with them to study in the field. Also, USU has a private program, USU Archaeological Services, and many students begin by working there, she said. Deborah Neville, junior in cultural anthropology, said the professors are knowledgeable and helpful. “Professor Pitblado is passionate about what she does, and she translates that into helping the students get excited too,” Neville said. “She helps me focus my ideas and bring them to fruition.” Allyson Martin, sophomore studying archaeological anthropology, said there are aspects about anthropology for everyone. “I love history but didn’t want to study books for the rest of my life,” Martin said. Martin hopes to go on to graduate school and have her research funded so she can go on digs around the world. While goals like these may seem difficult to attain, USU has a competitive program that helps students, like Martin, achieve their goals and helps graduates get jobs in their desired field, Pitblado said. There are federal and state laws that state when a public works project is undertaken – such as putting up a power line – an archaeological survey must be done to study how the surrounding area would be impacted, Pitblado said. And because of the surveys that must be done, there are a variety of jobs available to anthropologists. “These are recession proof, lucrative jobs,” Pitblado said. USU is also starting a master’s program to help students become more competitive in their search for employment, Pitblado said. Pitblado allows her students to accompany and assist her with studies. She is currently trying to help map where early inhabitants of North America lived by tracking their tools. - See ARCHAEOLOGY, page 8 |