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Show Monday, Aug. 29, 2011 Utah "Campus Voice Since 1902" • Utah State University • Logan, Utah Today's Issue: Campus News Fountains encourage bottle reuse BY ROB JEPSON news editor Pullitzer prize winner Chris Rose speaks to new students in Convocation lecture. Page 2 Features A FRESHMAN STUDENT fills up her water bottle at one of the new bottle-filling fountains in the TSC. AN! MIRZAKHANYAN photo ar loaded with activities to kick off the year. A new student initiative has left an early mark on campus, adding new water bottlefilling units to drinking fountains in the Taggart Student Center and the MerrillCazier Library. As of June, these new units make it possible for students to drink from one faucet and fill up their water bottles from another. Diversity vice president Brooke Evans led the initiative. "The goal is to promote the use of our quality local tap water and refillable water bottles, thus reducing the waste of both plastic bottles as well as the fossil fuels that it takes to transport them," she said. "Most bottled water is just tap water bottled then sent across the U.S. to consumers who then pay for tap water." The initiative is part of Evans' service learning capstone. For funding for the project, Evans went to assistant vice president for Student Services Eric Olsen. "(He) was extremely responsive and jumped right on board when I told him my idea," Evans said. Though Evans proposed the idea and saw it through to completion, she said she did not have an idea of how much the project had cost. A Statesman straw poll shows that so far the new fountains seem to be getting only positive responses. Skyler Saunders, a transfer student from Utah Valley University majoring in biology said, "I like it. Because you know when you fill it up (from the spout) you get that weird angle. You know, and it doesn't fill up all the way." "I like that I don't have to prop up my knee while holding my book to get my water bottle filled," said Ryan Beeter, a junior majoring in nutrition. Paul Perry, an incoming freshman studying aerospace engineering, said. "It's just really convenient. You don't have to worry about it." The new fountains also keep track of how many times the bottle-filling function has been used. The unit with the most recorded water bottle fills is on the first floor of the TSC, which has been used more than 5,500 times. The next step, Evans said, is to get the support of the various deans and spread the ∎‘See WATER, Page 3 Construction updates for student uptake he presently-abandoned rt Barn is the future home of the USU Museum of nthropology. It has previously housed horses, an art museum, labs and offices. Page 4 Sp orts Art Barn The new building will house RCDE offices and state-of-theart distance education classrooms. USU will be able to better fulfill its mission to serve the state's diverse populations and communities with this new building, expected to be completed summer 2012. LU 0 8 tau C" Aggie Bull-avArd HPER field p---30-foot thermal energy Women's soccer undefeated, starting the year off better than ever. ank is being put in the ground on the HPER Field. It will hold two million gallons of water that will be used to cool buildings all over campus. he project should be corn- Page 13 MP Opinion "Americans fought for years to ultimately attain the freedom of speech, and what a waste it would be if we did not take advantage of it." r Ok 16 -4LAIMw I C onstruction on the new Ag • k le 1±±r - Ag bldg. e gra to $5,00 revamp the are Main. It no sits on a concrete pad, which will stop it from sinking into th soft dirt near the Quad. Five feet of paver bricks surround he area to avoid it becoming muddy. N Page 18 To allow easier access to the Ag building, Champ Drive was reconstructed. The project wrapped up 17 days earlier than expected and has created a better area for passenger pickup and drop-off. Interact Now! Today: Check out photos from Saturday's Gardner's Market. building passed the halfway mark i n May. Wiring, elevators and other mechanical features are in progress. The building compleion is set for January Champ Drive w+ E S BY MARISSA CROOKSTON, MEGAN ALLEN Outdoor Rec. pays to get more business BY LIS STEWART staff writer Added Value! Crossword Puzzle Across 2 Having a furniture sale tor students D o wn I Subject of Chris Dose . tale 3 Now band. coming Swag 4 Has a 30-foot statue In his honor 2 Wants wales dispensers in CSC freshmen. always 'hangs out' You're going to love a new puzzle in this fall's Statesman. And you can win restaurant certificates just by filling it out! Page I I Online exlusives, blogs, a place to comment on stories, videos and more. Free Classfieds, too. www.utahstatesman.com Aggies who want to try outdoor activities will have an added incentive to do so this semester with a $20 credit good for rentals and activities from the Outdoor Recreation Program, Brian Shirley, ORP coordinator, said. Equipment rentals are the most successful thing the ORP offers, Shirley said. The program, which also hosts classes and recreational trips, has seen periods of highs and lows. "I think it's going to get people to realize what's here," Shirley said, regarding the credit. During the summer the ORP shop averaged about 30 customers per day, Kailey Burch, a student employee at the shop, said. With the credit, those from the ORP hope to bring in more than the usual number of peo- ple in the fall and spring. Most rentals at the ORP cost $20 or less, and a one-day snowboard package for students is $22, meaning they would only have to pay $2 after the discount. Still, giving students a free $20 — essentially a coupon — to use at the ORP is somewhat of a gamble. Shirley said although a credit will be added to all feepaying student accounts this fall and next spring semester, it may not happen again, or may only be available to first year students in the future. "If the credit is extremely popular we'll have to entertain how it'll work out," Shirley said. For this year, ORP staff will be working hard to ensure students know the program exists and what they can do there, since their fees already pay for it. See OUTDOOR, Page 2 THE OUTDOOR RECREATION PROGRAM sponsors outdoor activities and trips for USU students. It also supplies outdoor gear and book rentals at a low cost. Statesman file photo |