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Show Utah Wednesday, March 21, 2012 imam rim .di - "Campus Voice Since 1902" • Utah State University • Logan Today's Issue: Campus News This year's legislative session improved financial support for higher education. Page 1 Features JOURNALISM PROFESSOR MATTHEW LAPLANTE directs questions at panel members from USU's Extension program and the political science department. LaPlante worked with the military science department and access and diversity center to organize dual panel discusions Monday, the ninth anniversary of the Iraq War. CODY GOCHNOUR photo Panels discuss feelings on war in Ira BY D. WHTINEY SMITH copy editor For some students, donating blood plasma is part of their weekly routine. Page 4 Soldiers no longer occupy Iraq the way they did for nine years during a war that journalism professor Matthew LaPlante said most Americans don't understand and many want to forget. A two-part panel discussion held Monday in the TSC Auditorium, "Out of Iraq," targeted feelings of confusion and ambivalence that many USU students and Cache Valley community members may experience, LaPlante said. "Honestly, I wanted a good starter discussion about a war that I think a lot of people are very happy to forget, put aside and to say `That's in the past,'" he said. "It's not in the past. It stays with us, it continues with us — the legacy continues and it even grows. I wanted to foment that discussion on this campus." Monday marked the ninth anniversary of the Iraq War and U.S. military presence in Iraq. Former and current USU students — who have each served at least one tour of duty in Iraq — along with Army ROTC recruiting officer Greg Stewart, met to form the first of two panels that would answer questions and discuss various viewpoints about the war. The audience comprised students, faculty and other community members, some of whom also served in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East. LaPlante asked one audience member, sociology major and Iraq veteran Tara Earl, what she felt veterans need now that the war is over. "I think every veteran — coming home — needs help," Earl said. "Because we get trained up, at minimum, three months on how to be a soldier, how to go over there and how to almost learn to hate their culture and ... know that they're an enemy. When you come home ... they don't train you how to be a civilian again." Panel member Marshall Thompson, a USU alumnus, said when he returned home from Iraq family and friends threw a welcome-home party, and he didn't know how to act — his mind couldn't process a life outside of the war. "I ran a newspaper as a public affairs soldier, as a sergeant in Iraq," Thompson said. "We actually did some polling of (soldiers), and we asked them if people back home understood what they were going through, and 99 percent said, 'No way.' I think that's pretty accurate and pretty consistent for most soldiers who go over." Philosophy major and Iraq veteran William Holloway said when he got home he wanted to walk on grass and carpet without having to wear his boots all the time. He also talked about his time in Iraq. "We talked to people who had met Saddam Hussein and had been shot," Holloway said. "They had the bullet holes to prove it and said `We're glad he's gone, but we want to run our own country."' There were differing opinions among panel members regarding whether U.S. involvement in Iraq and the Middle East was and still would be a good thing. Stewart said he met several Iraqi citizens who he became friends with and were glad American troops were there to help. Journalism student Dale ►See IRAQ, Page 2 New cafe brings changes to campus dining BY CATHERINE BENNETT editor in chief The Monday opening of Luke's Cafe on the Quad in the new Agricultural Sciences Building marked the completion of one of many projects USU Dining Services has had in the works throughout this school year. Dining Services is pointing toward one goal — to enhance students' college experiences by providing not only food, but atmospheres where they can create memories, said Alan Andersen, Dining Services executive director. The same day Luke's Cafe opened, the hours of operation for the Hub were extended. Instead of closing at 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, the Hub, located on the first floor of the Taggart Student Center, will stay open until 5 p.m., except for Scotsman's Corner and Salad Masters. Taco Time will continue to stay open until 9 p.m. "We are looking to create areas Men's basketball is set to play Loyola Marymount in the Spectrum. The game is free for students. Page 7 "While our media outlets decide to display images of everything but the parts of our military that make us proud to be Americans, let's go the extra mile to remember the dedication and perseverance so many of our soldiers show while on duty every day." Page 10 Interact Now! LUKE'S CAFE ON THE QUAD opened in the university's new Agricultural Sciences Building. With a new range of menu items, Dining Services is working to create a variety of meals and atmospheres to benefit the highest number of students it can. Luke's is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. KELSIE MASON photo Today: Did you know you can search through 10 years worth of Statesman archives? Legislative session ends well for higher ed BY LIS STEWART staff writer Added Value! Have you utahstatesman. com & page 13 where students want to come and hang out," said Jaime Bradford, operations manager for Dining Services. "We want to create that experience throughout our dining options. It's in everything we do." The cafe was named after the Luke Family, who donated funding to the College of Agriculture that was needed for the cafe's construction, Andersen said. The Dining Services staff said they want the name "Luke's" to catch on, instead of "Cafe on the Quad." The cafe will be open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. "This cafe will become a hub of traffic," Andersen said. "We are going to get patio furniture around the outside and it will be a smokefree patio. The College of Ag really wanted to do that and we are supportive of that. USU Police is also supportive of enforcing that." Bradford said Dining Services wants every dining experience on campus to have a different feel. Luke's menu offers food items that cannot be found anywhere else on campus, she said. Some of these items include lasagna rolls, artichoke dip, a veggie pita pocket and sandwiches unique to the cafe, including the Avery Island Sandwich — a croissant filled with shrimp salad. The entire menu is displayed digitally ►See LUKE'S, Page 2 checked out the gags in our joke contest? Vote for your favorite. Send yours in next time! Online exlusives, blogs, a place to comment on stories, videos and more. Free Classfieds, too. www.utahstatesman.com One of the biggest successes affecting USU in the 2012 Utah Legislative Session was the boost in higher education funding, according to Neil Abercrombie, USU Government Relations director. "This session was very positive," Abercrombie said. Budget cuts were virtually nonexistent during the legislative session this year, which USU President Stan Albrecht said was mostly positive despite all the requests for funding from colleges around the state. "It's a difficult session — there's a lot of money," Albrecht said. If signed by Gov. Gary Herbert, a bill passed during the Utah legislative session appropriating higher ed funds could mean a 1 percent increase in compensation for state and higher education employees in the coming fiscal year — including those working at USU. The Legislature also gave USU $1 million for Regional Campus Distance Education, as well as one-time and ongoing funding for the Utah Science Technology Research initiative, which invests in commercializing research from USU and the University of Utah. The College of Engineering at USU will also receive a boost. That's not acceptable. They have done more ... with less." — Sen. Steve Urquhart state of Utah Senate "USU will benefit from a $2.5 million engineering initiative across the state for engineering degrees and faculty hires," Abercrombie said. Higher education took a 2 percent cut last year after that number was negotiated down by the end of the session, Abercrombie said. This year, with more than a $400 million surplus, lawmakers had more to work with. Instead of cutting money from the higher education budget, the state Legislature passed a budget giving a 3 percent increase in state funding to public colleges and universities, pending approval from Herbert. Herbert's budget recommendations in December did not include a compensation increase for higher ed employees, but these were included in the final budget after negotiations in February. Senate Higher Education Appropriations chair Sen. Steve Urquhart, R-St.George, disagreed with leaving out college employees in a January blog ost. "That's not acceptable. (Higher education employees) have done more — huge enrollment increase — with less — significant budget cuts," he said. Braden Jensen, who interned for Abercrombie during the session, said it was the intentions of the Higher Education Appropriations Committee to give compensation to state higher education employees and therefore inserted in the final budget. "I think they recognized it was a priority," See LEGISLATIVE, Page 2 |