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Show Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010 Page 8 AggieLi Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.c Class teaches ethics from across the globe By TESSA KARRINGTON staff writer MARIA CASTRO, JEAN GUZMAN AND LOURDES TAVERAS play a game of racquetball in the HPER building. Racquetball and handball clubs are offered to students this year. CARL R.WILSON photo Off the wall Racquetball and handball clubs light up the courts at USU By GENEVIEVE DRAPER staff writer Though not well known, both racquetball and handball clubs exist at Utah State University, offering students, experienced or not, to come and join in the sports. Currently, both clubs are headed by students who are eager to promote the sports throughout the university. The presidents of both clubs said they were introduced to the sport as freshman and have developed an increased love for them over the years. Becky Drebin, USU senior and president of the handball club, said classes are offered for both sports, and prior experience is not necessary. "A lot of people come, they start playing, and they love it," Drebin said. The racquetball team this year consists of 18 individuals, both male and female. They practice Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7-9 p.m. Though there are not official coaches, master's student Doug Holt and institute teacher Curtis Jacobs assist with the racquetball club. The handball club is new this year, and had sign-ups at Day on the Quad. Around 35 people expressed interest in playing the sport, though the official dates for the practices are still to be decided. Right now the club is focusing on fundraising to help pay for tournaments and nationals. Herm Olsen, who teaches handball on campus, and Ron Bachman, who helps with the classes, work with the handball team. Also helpful in the success of the club are the "old guys," who Drebin said have played handball for years and are often seen on court at the HPER. Obvious as it may sound, the main difference between handball and racquetball is that one uses a racket and one uses only the hands. A smaller, harder ball is used in handball, and is generally played to 21 points, while racquetball goes to 15. They are played on the same court and have very similar rules. The ball can be played off of the walls and ceilings in both sports. The ball has to hit the front wall first for a serve to be valid. However, Drebin said the difference of hand versus racket does actually make a significant difference in how the sports are played. "(With handball) you have to be faster, have to have more accuracy ... Rather than a big old racket you have only your hand and you have to use your less dominant hand," Drebin, who plays both sports said. Drebin now has increased skill with her left hand just from playing. There are national tournaments for both of these sports. Last February, seven USU students competed in the national handball tournament, placing second overall in division two. For racquetball nationals, the team went to Springfield, Mo., last April 7-10 and took 12 students. Both clubs plan on attending this year as well. Scott Warner, junior in physical therapy, has been on the racquetball team for two years, and is serving as president of the club this year. He said he has enjoyed his experience with the racquetball team. Warner said the camaraderie and friendships make the team worth the time it takes. "(It's about) not playing to be perfect, but playing to be part of a team," he said. Warner said injury does occur in both sports, particularly I See CLUBS, page 9 Who knew bananas could create an ethical dilemma? A group of students at Utah State has discovered that Chiquita Brands International Inc. has created quite a stir, especially in the South American nation of Colombia. In business strategy (BUS 4880), a class in the Huntsman School of Business, USU students are assigned to work with students at Universidad EAFIT in Antioquia, Colombia to analyze ethical issues involving Chiquita Bananas. Assistant business professor Chad Albrecht said in 1997, Chiquita made an agreement with Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), by which Chiquita would pay AUC a penny for every dollar's worth of bananas exported, in exchange for security and protection of Chiquita workers and shipments. This was not the first time that Chiquita involvement in such deals has been alleged. Albrecht said reports circulated in the 1980s and 1990s that Chiquita made similar agreements with other groups in Colombia. Chiquita operates in arguably the most dangerous region of the world. According to Jenny Mead and Andrew C. Wicks from the University of Virginia, in 1996, there were 69.4 murders per 100,000 Colombians. In that same year, the United States had 7.7 murders in 100,000 Americans. According to mundoandino.com , an event known as the "Banana Massacre" occurred in 1928, when several of Chiquita's workers began a strike for better pay and working conditions. The month-long strike ended when the Colombian army killed many of UFC's employees. Albrecht said what is ethical in Colombia isn't necessarily ethical here. This is a prime example of the kinds of ideas and discussions the Huntsman School is hoping to foster with the new course. In the class, students answer questions like, "From the Chiquita executive's perspective, what are some of the positive and negative consequences of paying the AUC one percent of all exports?", "Is it ever appropriate for paramilitary groups to form inside a country?", "Do we have the right to go into a country to overthrow the government?" and "Why did these groups form inside of Colombia?" Kameron Kasparian, senior in finance and a student in the class, said many Colombians believe they have to pay paramilitary groups to keep them safe. He says it's just something they have to do. It's not a choice, it's about survival and maintaining a profitable business. Kasparian said Colombian businesses face challenges of basic security that American companies don't encounter. The students from Utah State and Universidad EAFIT work together to learn about the Chiquita case, conversing frequently via Skype or Facebook about their findings. Casey Humpherys, a student in the class, said, "Thanks to the high-tech world that we live in, it has been just as easy to work on this group project with the Colombian students as it would be to complete it with fellow students in the class." Kasparian said it is interesting to see the Colombian students' perspectives on the issue, because it is drastically different than the American perspective. Albrecht said the class has been beneficial to the students, because they are learning about other cultures. He says the idea for the class came from the four main pillars of the Huntsman School of Business, which are: Ethical Leadership, Global Vision, Entrepreneurship and Analytical Rigor. "This class is required to graduate. It encompasses business I See ETHICS, page 9 Professor brings blasts from the past By NOELLE JOHANSEN staff writer David Rich Lewis, history professor, is a man of mystery. In front of a classroom of 250 undergraduate students he puts on a rambunctiously educational show; in personal conversation he is reserved and genuine. He said he enjoys studying the minute details of human nature and culture, yet thoroughly rejoices in his own privacy, making him a bit of a contradiction. A child of the late '60s and '70s, Lewis said he barely missed the draft. He entered Utah State University as an art major, pursuing photography. It didn't last. He had a good eye, but not in the way necessary to make it in the artistic world, he said. Instead, Lewis said his love for current events and his ongoing endeavor to make sense of the post-Vietnam world led him headfirst into the archives of history and political science. While many are drawn to study history for the romantically pleasant moments and peaceful lulls between wars, Lewis said he found himself utterly engaged in primary research, challenged to step back from any of his preconceptions. "I was attracted by difficult, uglier moments where we kind of have to look at human nature and wonder why," Lewis said. "I was touching stuff that people hundreds of years ago created, reading what they never intended for me to read." Lewis graduated from USU with his bachelor's, earned a master's degree at the University of Toronto and yet another master's as well as his doctorate at the University of Wisconsin — Madison. Lewis returned to USU in 1988 to conduct research and teach courses on American history and American Indians. He is the editor of "The Western Historical Quarterly" and collects and restores fountain pens from the early 20th century. Lewis has a collection of neckties exclusively for when he teaches USU 1300: U.S. Institutions, a class that is more of a production than a lecture. From Dalmatians and The Beatles to Jerry Garcia and cars with fins, Lewis said he flaunts his neckties as objects of irony. They were collected throughout the 1990s, a period of "tie whimsy," he said. "If you're going to wear a tie, it might as well reflect an outrageous personality," he said, "even if I don't have one." With the ties and other rousing antics, Lewis said he aims to periodically wake students' brains and cause them to think on their feet. I See HISTORY, page 9 HISTORY PROFESSOR David Rich Lewis is the editor of "The Western Historical Quarterly" and collects and restores fountain pens from the early 20th century. photo courtesy DAVID RICH LEWIS |