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Show Campus News Page 2 Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2011 From Page 1 Land owned by USU alum AN EMPTY LOT across the street from Romney Stadium will be the future home of a living complex which would potentially feature a restaurant, an exercise facility and other amenities. The land is partially owned by USU and partially by LaVeta Financial, owned and operated by a USU alum. Kyle Pett photo deeded to the university — resulted in an agreement allowing La Veta to move forward with development. La Veta's plan is to utilize the space that it already owned and work together with USU to create a mixed-use housing development, Davis said. "This private developer decided that he would like to build a really nice development on this property," Davis said. "But he decided that by expanding it a little bit, he could add some really nice amenities that would add value to Utah State University." While nothing official has been decided yet, some of the prospects on the table include, Davis said, commercial/restaurant space and a gym facility. "One of the things that I'm excited about is that there are not a lot of immediate commercial enterprises close to campus, and this will help add more of a college element to campus," Davis said. The cost and name of the housing have not yet been disclosed, though Davis said the facility is intended to be high-end and the price will reflect the quality. Housing and Residence Life Executive Director Steve Jenson said renovations are also being made to many of the campus housing sites. Currently, housing capacity is close to 99 percent occupancy, he added, which means new facilities will be necessary in the near future, anyway. "We're trying to make some aggressive changes to improve the quality of life on campus," Jenson said. He said improvements include including new lounges and fireplaces in Rich and Davis Hall, relocating of the Student Living Center Housing Office, replacing the carpet and exterior stucco to Merrill Hall, adding new, energy-efficient lighting and new paint in the rooms of Mountain View and Valley View towers, and replacing much of the carpet in Aggie Village. Housing will also be putting insulation in the cinder block walls of Aggie Village to test whether insulation can reduce the cost of utilities. —allie.jeppson3@gmail.corn From Page 1 Champ remembered as composer, performer, pedagogue at the library, a year and a half ago, where he helped process documents donated to the university by the Champ family. What started out as an idea about her music turned into a full-on exhibit about Champ's life as a musician, with an internship grant from the Champ family for Lyon. "It was just a project for the summer, because I was really interested in it, and I wanted to do something fun," Lyon said. "So I did it." The exhibit includes several large panels depicting Champ's life as a composer, a pedagogue and a performer. Computers are set up so people can access the International Music Score Library Project at imslp.org , which houses Champ's compositions. Lyon said Champ, out of the three categories shown, was mainly a performer, but she also took the time to teach onstage. She also composed lesson books geared toward teaching piano to young children. Champ, raised in Minnesota, came to live in Utah, after she met her husband Frederick Champ, in 1921. She was trained as a classical concert pianist and attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, and later the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. The majority of her twenty-plus years as a performer occurred in Utah. In a sense, she was very ahead of her time as a feminist," Lyon said. Lyon said she challenged the norms of her age, performing and composing under her own name, instead of Mrs. Frederick P. Champ, something most women of that time did not do. Frances Champ is well remembered for her dedication to her music. Herb Champ, the only living child of Frances and Frederick Champ, said he remembers how his mother spent much of her time with community involvement and practicing piano. "She practiced eight to 10 hours a day to be a concert pianist," Lyon said. Frederick Champ is remembered for his contributions to the university while serving on the Board of Trustees, from 1925 to 1941. A student in landscape architecture, he also helped execute a master plan for the university. Several buildings were built during his tenure on the board, including Lund Hall and the Family Life Building. Champ Hall, in Old Main, and Champ Drive are named after him. Lyon said Frances Champ, being a woman and from Cache Valley, is no longer as well known as many classical composers, but in her time she was known as one of the best. Frances performed from coast to coast, as well as with the Boston Symphony, Utah Symphony and Chicago Symphony. Herb Champ said his mother never got enough recognition for her talents. "I'm glad to see the recognition for her, that's great," he said. "Dad had a lot of recognition over the years." The carillon bells, heard every quarter hour from the bell tower in Old Main, were gifted in 1978, by the Champ family, in honor of Frances Champ. Caine College of the Arts Dean Craig Jessop thanked the Champ family, seated in the front row at the reception, for Frances Champs contributions to Cache Valley's musical legacy. He said the success of the newly formed arts college is due in part to her determination and hard work. "Arts education is what speaks to the human soul," Jessop said. "In times of celebration, in times of grief, most often where we turn to first is the arts to bring us comfort — to bring us guidance, to bring us joy. And we're honored to celebrate the joy of this great woman, and the legacy that she brought to Utah State University." -la.stewart@aggiemail.usu.edu E CAMBRON, a senior majoring in voca performance, sings "Praise Ye the Lord for His Goodness," written by Frances W. Champ, while Emilee Bradley accompanies her on the piano. AMANDA DUNN photo College of NR teaches fourth graders research The future of water quality in Logan Canyon was recently placed in the hands of fourth graders, a decision made by leaders of a USU natural resources program. "Wildlife is really cool. It has lots of living things and some of them look cool," said fourth grader Andie Clegg, from North Park School, about her field trip to the Logan River. The annual Natural Resource Field Days, hosted by USU's Water Quality Extension Program, sent a bus full of fourth graders from all over the valley into Logan Canyon to take part in a firsthand study of the Logan River. The program joined forces with four other environmental agencies to sponsor the event, which teaches students about wildlife and the importance of water conservation. USU students, agency representatives and other volunteer supervisors divided the field trip locale into four different stations, to focus on the themes of the event — water, wildlife, soils and plants. Water Quality Extension specialist Nancy Mesner said this gave the students a hands-on opportunity to learn more about the importance of the environment. "One of our objectives is to get kids realizing that rivers aren't just water, but they're whole communities of important organisms and those organisms are dependent on the quality of the water," Mesner said. "We want it to be fun, and we want the kids to have a good time, but there has to be some learning involved." Mesner said the students were able to participate in a number of activities that allowed them to learn more about water quality and the environment. "We got these boots on, and we went in the (river), and we put these nets in the water; and if we were lucky enough, we would see some little bugs," said fourth grader Daniel Sanchez, of North Park School. "They also had these little cup things with little bugs ... and we had a magnifying glass, and you could (look at them)," Sanchez said. "I just learned that you have to take care of the habitat." Other activities the students could take part in included a station called Build-A Bug, where a volunteer student would dress up like an insect in front of their class to display some of the characteristics of the wildlife it was exploring. Students also came in close contact with the organisms they were studying. "We learned about habitats, so we had these animals, and we got to go and feel their skins and stuff," Clegg said. Field Days has been a 20-year tradition, and last year gradu- Commute without the fus2„i take the bus. ate student Tiffany Kinder researched how well the fourth graders retained the knowledge gained on the field trip — on both short-term and long-term levels. Kinder tested a group of students before, immediately after and eight months after the event, to see how well the students were learning and retaining the information. According to her study, test scores jumped 20 percent immediately after Field Days and dropped only four percent after eight months. "Research has told us that students learn more outside in the field than if they received the exact same instruction in the classroom (without any field experiences)," Kinder said. "Field experiences are better than classroom experiences." "In a nutshell, we found that field days do increase student knowledge, and that students retain that knowledge," she said. The organizations involved in the event make an effort to present the information in an objective manner, according to organizers. "It's not agenda driven, we're not preaching to anybody, it's science driven; and we're giving unbiased information," Mesner said. —kevin.mitchell@aggiemail.usu.edu |