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Show StatesmanCampus News Page 2 Briefs Wednesday, Nov. 3, 2010 Mountain lions studied to track their population Campus & Community By MEGAN ALLEN Program asksfor mentor nominations Utah State University's School of Graduate Studies is now accepting nominations for the 2011 Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award. The award will be presented at the graduate hooding and commencement ceremony in May. The award recognizes faculty excellence in the complex process of mentoring graduate students to prepare them for productive careers. Those nominated should be effective advisors who facilitate degree completion, model sound scholarship and ethical behavior, help students understand and benefit from departmental and university resources, provide emotional support, offer constructive criticism and involve students in publishing and other professional activities. Nominations may be submitted by USU faculty, students, alumni or a department or program and are due to the School of Graduate Studies Office (Main 164) by Nov. 23. The recipient of the award is given a prize of $2,000 and is invited to prepare a brief essay about his or her mentoring experiences that is shared with the university community. Auditions open for Old Barn production The Old Barn Community Theatre announces auditions for "Once Upon a Mattress". Auditions will be held on Friday, Nov. 5 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the theatre. Directions to the theatre can be found on our website www.oldbarn. org. Please come prepared to sing 16 measures of a Broadway song. An accompanist and a CD player will be provided. You may also be asked to sing songs from the show. We need actors, singers and dancers - especially ballet dancers. All roles open. Only those 18 years old and above please. The show will run from March 426, 2011. Questions call Laura Lee or Marvin Hull at 435-257-1312 or e-mail questions to hulllauralee@ yahoo.com . Big Blue tries to break hug record USU students seek to reach out to underprivileged people in developing countries by raising money for the Small Enterprise Education and Development (SEED) program. To raise money, students will be selling pins for an event where Big Blue will attempt to break the world record for most hugs given by a mascot character in 20 minutes. The event, "Hug Across the World" will be held on November 3, 2010, on the Quad, an outdoor venue on USU's campus. Big Blue will seek to hug as many people as he can in 20 minutes to try and break a World Record of the most people hugged by a mascot character. The current record holder is Nintendo's popular character Mario at 172 hugs. (www.worldrecordsacademy.org ) Students will be selling pins as admission to help break the world record. The SEED program, established in 2007, gives USU students "a life changing learning opportunity, while also providing meaningful and lasting impact in the areas [it] operate[s]." (huntsman.usu.edu/ seed/) The program is designed to fund business plans of those ambitious individuals who seek to better their situation and rise out of poverty through becoming entrepreneurs. Everyone is invited to take part in the cause by either buying a pin or making a cash donation. For more information or to make a donation, email Nick Stocking at Nksox123@gmail.com . El Compiled from staff and media reports news senior writer In the Oquirrh mountains above Camp Williams and Kennecott Copper Mine, 12 mountain lions are being tracked with GPS collars and studied by USU doctoral student David Stoner. Stoner, who is working on his Ph.D in wildlife ecology under wildland resources professor, Dr. Michael Wolfe, came into the program mid-project. Wolfe began studying mountain lions on Monroe Mountain outside of Richfield in 1995, and was asked to find the most effective ways to estimate the size of the cougar population. Wolfe said he and his researchers first tried track counts, aerial surveys and using the capture and recapture method to estimate the size of the cougar population, but could not come up with any "silver bullet" techniques. The land they were studying was not closed to hunters, he said, so animals were being killed, throwing off their counts. "Cougars are very elusive animals. They are mostly nocturnal and do not travel in groups," he said. "Plus, in comparison to other animals, they are not a large population." The area of the Oquirrh mountains that is being studied is closed to hunters, so the animals are not exploited, he said. Stoner said he became interested in studying mountain lions while working on a research project after he graduated with his bachelor's degree. He was studying deer populations and the role of their predators, such as mountain lions. This study led to his involvement as a technician on the Monroe study, which led him to his graduate work. "The model of research we do is very applicable to many places in the country," Stoner said. The land they are studying is DAVID STONER poses with a mountain lion which lives above the Kennecott Copper Mine in the Oquirrh Mountains. Stoner has tried many techniques to track these mountain lions as part of his doctoral dissertation. Photo courtesy David Stoner deer rangeland with potential to be converted from agricultural land to subdivision property, he said. "It's about two communities coming together," he said. "The people and the animals all use the suburban interface to varying degrees." The research is happening on two different scales. They are studying the animals in the whole area, as well as in the marginal habitat. Wolfe said the main goal of their research is to find out what these animals are doing. "No one really hears a lot about the lions," he said. "The media focuses on them only when they come down from the mountains or on the rare occasion someone is attacked, but that's not what they really do." In the last 110 years, there have been approximately 50 people attacked by cougars, he said. Most attacks have happened in California and British Columbia. "People really don't have anything to worry about," Stoner said, "they just need to be aware." The mountain lions who are the most apt to come into the valley are young males. "They are not tolerated by their society," Wolfe said. "Their mothers don't want them, their fathers don't want them, so they are left completely on their own." The young lions cannot take care of themselves and come down to the valley to find food and help. Wolfe said in one occurrence, two young lions wandered down from the Kennecott site and ended up in downtown Salt Lake City. The fountains at Temple Square are a water source from City Creek, which is an ideal riparian environment for them. Another kitten has been nicknamed "the Sundance kid" after he came down from Kennecott through Provo and ended up on property owned by Robert Redford. One chapter of Stoner's doctoral dissertation will focus on this investigation of the urban dispersal of the cougars. Another part of the dissertation will talk about wildlife management at the state scale and how it varies. The recent fire at Camp Williams should actually be beneficial for the mountain lions in the long term, Wolfe said. Once the plants that were burned grow back, they will be higher in protein and iron, which will be healthier for the cats. If the plants are more beneficial to the animals, they will be more likely to eat it, even though they don't love it, he said. "The oakbrush is not an ice cream sundae," he said. Stoner will be defending his dissertation in the spring and will graduate in May. - megan.allen@aggiemaiLusu.edu Religion: Floor opens to questions about gay marriage perspectives I continued from page 1 "If I presented Judaism as a monolith, I would be doing it a disservice," she said. "We have an obligation to be in dialogue with our sacred text, and that means that we have to interpret it and we have to weigh modernity and tradition together." Schwartzman said the world of reformed Judaism is open to observing and condoning gay marriage as long as it follows along with secular laws. Gastroenterologist Vikram Garg, a practicing member of the Hindu faith, gave a short background of his religion and its history. Hinduism has no one religious leader that will take a stand on the subject of homosexuality. "Love, in Hinduism, means a devotion between two people, whether it is romantic or platonic," Garg said. "There's really no information in religious scriptures about marriage and same sex." Each panelist was given an eight-minute period to speak for their faith. Following the speaking session, members of the audience were invited to stand up and ask questions of any of the seven panel members. Five members of the audience subsequently asked questions. Several questions were asked regarding why religion has such a big concern with gay marriage. "Increasingly, groups are seeking to harness religion along with other social institutions, such as family and church, to accomplish their aims of cultural reconstruction," said William Duncan, director of the Marriage Law Foundation and member of the LDS faith. A graduate student of psychology who introduced himself as Josh asked, "What does each religion do to support GLBT, even though you may not support the act, what do you do to support them and further their rights in the communities that they live in?" Police Blotter Friday, Oct. 22 • Police responded to the Valley View Tower on a citizen assist. Upon further investigation, one individual was arrested for minor in possession of alcohol. The individual was cited and then released. • Police responded to a hit and run accident that occurred in the west parking lot of the Romney Stadium. A blue Chevy S -10 was hit on the left back bumper area. • USU Police received a request to watch the new statue of Merlin Olsen during the night. Hourly patrols were made and no problems were found during the night. Saturday, Oct. 23 • USU Police responded to a traffic accident in the Moen Hall parking lot. Police investigted and found that a vehicle backed out of a parking stall and into a parked vehicle, causing damage to the front bumper. The drivers information was traded amongst the owners and a report was made. Sunday, Oct. 24 • USU police was called to the Aggie Terrace on a fence being pushed over. Officers met with the complainant and found out that the damage was in Logan City. English professor Michael Sowder, a representative of the Buddhist community, said his faith welcomes gay and lesbian members of the community as it would welcome anybody. Homosexuality is not a matter of religious debate, according to Western Buddhist philosophies. "Compassion is the ultimate ideal in Buddhism," Sowder said. "Why is sexuality such a highly charged issue in religion? I think that's why we have this focus on it, it freaks us out." "We endeavor to be a safe place and to be welcoming," Springer said, of her Episcopal faith. "We're not perfect, we don't always succeed, but that's our goal." Springer said she felt like she was speaking for the entire panel when she said dialogs among panels like this one are necessary for moving forward. - daniel.whitney.smith@aggiemaiLusu.edu Contact USU Police at 797-1939 for non-emergencies. Anonymous reporting line: 797-5000 EMERGENCY NUMBER: 911 Monday, Oct. 25 • Police responded to the Sculpture Lab on an unsecure premises report. Complainant informed the police that the east front door was open to the building when he arrived for work today. Police are investigating. • Police responded to the Valley View Tower on a fire alarm. The alarm was activated by a student who burned two Pop Tarts in the toaster. The toaster was discarded since the Pop Tarts ruined the coils. The alarm was silenced and reset without any further problems. • Police responded to the Eccles Conference Center on a medical assist. An employee who fainted, fell and hit her head on the concrete while walking up the stairs. Paramedics arrived and transported the patient to the Logan Regional Emergency Hospital for medical treatment. Tuesday, Oct. 26 • Police responded to a theft that occurred in the Kent Concert Hall. A sum of money was stolen out of a wallet that was lost. Police are investigating. • Police are investigating a possible theft from an ex -employee. Upon further investigation it was determined that the ex-employee was hired from another campus department. There was no further action taken. • USU police was contacted by the USU water lab to see if law enforcement could locate the owner of a large metal container that was left in their parking lot. There was no VIN on the container nor was there a name painted on the container. USU water lab has had construction work going on at their building and it was suggested that they contact the construction company. • Police are investigating a theft that occurred in the Fine Arts building. A framed print that is valued at $100 was removed from Studio No. 102. Wednesday, Oct. 27 • USU police responded to MVT on a report that someone put super glue on one of the electronic door locks. There are no suspects at this time. • USU police responded to the incident address on a report of a domestic dispute. Upon officers arrival officers separated the couple and began to determine what had occurred. Minor injuries were visible on the male victim due to being assaulted. One female was arrested and booked into the Cache County Jail. (Compiled by Catherine Meidell |