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Show Page 4 StatesmanCampus News Parking: Director encourages use of facilities continuedfrom page 3 ate and come to a decision about pilot participation at a later date. The next presentation came from USU Parking and Transportation Services where assistant director James Nye quizzed the council on their parking knowledge. Because parking services is a self-supported entity, no student-paid tuition goes towards parking. Also contrary to popular belief, only nine percent of parking revenue comes from citations. Parking services also has 38 student employees and still owes about $350,000 in bond payments for the parking terraces located on campus. However, parking was said to make "over and above" with a total revenue of 1.3 million dollars. After his initial presentation, Nye suggested ASUSU encourage utilization of park- ing services in regards to guests and visitors. Parking services include direction for guests, notification of arrival to hosts, and most importantly, direct parking so that no citations are issued. Concluding presentations was Kevin Webb, program adviser. Webb provided the council with legislation training so that members could better understand the process. Webb reminded the council of their main duties as active members. Training also included bill and resolution instructions. "You act as the sole student voice," Webb said. "You speak for the students, so listen." Putting their training to work, the council then voted on two discussion items already approved by the Capital and Support fund. The first item was a request for $250 for the carnival hosted by the LIFE club as part of National Coming Out Day events. Because the actual cost of the event is $120, ASUSU avoted to approve $200. The second item passed was the request for the funding of an ASUSU iPod application. The bill for the request stated that there has been a 35 percent increase in cell phone usage across campus and the application will provide easy access to ASUSU events and website along with calenders, social media, and campus maps. The application is already in the design stages and once funded, will be released within months. The total cost of the application is $21,000. — jessie.a.sweat@aggiemaiLusu.edu Web: Shepard says blogs can be harmful I continuedfrom page 1 create transparency through their blog. an ethical journalist in all you do," Shepard said. "One thing "Blogging, like Facebook and Twitter, is another tool that I am certain of, over time, it will be the trusted news sources allows you to reach out to the audience to get help," Shepard that endure." said. "I think it's an awesome time in journalism and there are Shepard said she sometimes brings issues of concern genertons of possibilities ... journalism isn't dying, the platforms ated by NPR listeners into her media ethics class, in order to and delivery systems are changing." challenge her students to think critically, she said. The goal The best blogs are blogs that create a personal is to provide credible information that readers, connection between the reader and the author, listeners, and viewers can rely on. Shepard said. Good blogs use a conversational Any students planning on becoming pro"You have to be style and use active verbs, but it is important to fessional journalists should do their best to thinking all the state that the blog is an opinion. stay neutral in the public realm, Shepard said. time that we now Journalists Among the vast advantages offered by should avoid displaying political or live in a world advances in technology, Shepard said there are religious opinions on social media sites. where the mic is also many dangerous pitfalls to blogging and "You have to be thinking all the time that we tweeting. now live in a world where the mic is always on," always on. You The Internet can provide a false sense of Shepard said. "You have to be a professional, have to be a pro- that's security with privacy settings, she said. It is your job." fessional, that's important for users to know that privacy is very Journalism eventually became Shepard's your job." limited on the web, and posting information passion, she said. Hers was a non-conventional online makes it very accessible. trajectory that focused on doing what she was "There's not enough of an understanding of Alicia Shepard, interested in. Shepard said she urges her 23the impact of how you can hurt your reputation year-old son, Cutter, to do what fascinates him, NPR Ombudsman and she encourages her students to do the same. and your credibility with what you do on the (internet)," Shepard said. "Really good journalism, at the end of the Shepard referenced a recent incident in which a reporter day, gets you interested in something that you had no idea had to resign from his job because he posted opinions about you'd be interested in," Shepard said. "So here I am 30 years Mormons on his professional website. She said it is important later, and I still wake up excited." to consider the impact and "think before you hit that 'send' button." — dan.smith@aggiemail.usu.edu "If you are serious about journalism, be serious about being - Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010 Hobo: Few suspected bites have been verified continuedfrom page 1 the entire state of Utah, Davis said. "Doctors may be incorrectly diagnosing health issues as spider bites, and a person's health issue could be more serious, such as a staph infection," Davis said. Vetter said there is a psychological component to the problem, too. People want a diagnosis from a doctor in some cases. Also, "people want to blame the spider," he said. The research in the "Annals of Emergency Medicine" says a researcher implicated the Hobo spider in necrotic lesions in 1987, after pushing the spider into the shaved flesh of a rabbit. Since that time the Hobo spider has been listed in medical texts along with the Brown Recluse as medically dangerous, according to the article. This research was "sufficiently valid circumstantial evidence," the article says, "to elevate the spider to that of medical significance." The problem, Crawford said, is scientists have now learned that animal models are not necessarily good models to test the effect of something on humans. An example is the effect of black widow spiders on rats. "The black widow has very little effect on rats," Crawford said. Since the research by Vetter and Isbister, Utah State's extension service has changed its fact sheets on the hobo spider, Davis said. The change has downgraded the medical significance of the hobo spider. "There are two reasons why people may be able to be less concerned about hobo spider bites," Davis said. "One, the sample used in the rabbit study was small. Two, there are few verified hobo spider bites." This doesn't mean that hobo spider bites aren't dangerous, Davis said, but researchers need more verified bites to study effects further. "We want the proof," Vetter said. Vetter said the only verified bite causing a lesion was on a woman who had a disease that also causes necrotic lesions, Vetter said. This is the only bite in 80 years. Doctors now say they will have to look more closely at their diagnoses, Vetter said. The reason bites need to be verified is that people will identify the Hobo spider by a pattern on its back, but lots of spiders have the same pattern. In this situation, the spider has to be identified by a professional, Vetter said. Davis encourages people who think they have been bitten to find the spider, put the spider in a container, and bring it to the lab. This way it can be identified. According to the journal article by Vetter and Isbister, the hobo spider cannot be accurately identified by visual inspection. "One must examine the microscopic structures (of the spider) for accurate species identification," the article reads. "The jury is still out," Vetter said. —keith.burbank@aggiemaiLusu.edu To Gary Andersen and the Aggies, For returning the glory to Utah State football. 1 For representing our university with hexcellence in the national spotlight.. I Ail ending 17 years of agony:Alum'', For making the largest student crowd in USU history worth our while.... "PtA For giving us a reason to be the first ever to storm Merlin Olsen Field.....r A ui lAik\ 4 d For all of this, and surely much more in th , future, we say "Thankyou!!!1 .: tirj , k'i Wc e r e ly, The students Of USU i IV lig rr -- gti 1 . VI.. 41111110. ME .at UtahStateUn iversity ASSOCIATED STUDENTS p4„ |