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Show Wednesday, March 28, 2012 UtilhStat•S "Campus Voice Since 1902" • Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstates Today's Issue: Campus News Anberlin to appear at End of Year Bash BY ROUCHELLE BROCKMAN news senior writer Seniors are gearing up for graduation. Page 3 Features Anberlin is set to perform at USU's End of Year Bash April 27, as announced at the ASUSU Executive Council meeting Tuesday. The band cost $22,000 to book, said Zach Larsen, ASUSU Programming vice president. Larsen said he estimated about 90 percent of the cost for this event is covered by revenue from the Howl, and the remaining 10 percent is covered by student fees. After Anberlin's performance, which is scheduled to start at 10 p.m., there will be a dance party, Larsen said. A venue for the performance has not yet been finalized, Larsen said, but full details about the event will be released soon. Anberlin is a rock band from Florida whose album "New AN ALTERNATIVE ROCK BAND, ANBERLIN, will be the final major performance of the 2011-12 schoolyear. ASUSU Programming leaders announced they will perform April 27. Press photo Surrender" peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 in 2008. Larsen said Plastic Musik and other local bands will also be performing during the End of Year Bash. According to the band's website, Plastic Musik is an "abstract percussion show" based out of Las Vegas that combines plastic tubing and other plastic objects to recreate well-known songs. Gym Class Heroes, Jack's Mannequin, Matisyahu and Manchester Orchestra were other bands Larsen said he considered booking for the End of the Year Bash. "We have been working on this for months," Larsen said. "We had a hard time locking down a band." See SELECTION, Page 3 History of war in Afghanistan Retired U.S. ambassador breaks down more than a century of national tension Read about some of the strangest incidents USU Police officers have seen. Page 4 Sp orts The Aggie men's basketball team will compete in the CIT tournament finals Wednesday. Page 7 Opinion "We love Police Blotter entries, not only because they are hilarious but because we are reassured of the safe environment our community provides." Page 10 Interact Now! Surprising how often those Vegas guys are right. What do they say about USU vs. Mercer. Added Value! Time to vote for your fave. Go to pg. 13 or website and read the gags, vote. Online exlusives, blogs, a place to comment on stories, videos and more. Free Classfieds, too. www.utahstatesman.com The current strategy of withdrawal of U.S. troops and shifting focus to BY STEVE KENT news editor PETER TOMSEN, a previous U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, spoke in the Eccles Conference Center about many periods of peace and war in Afghanistan. In the war between Afghanistan and the U.S., Tomsen said Pakistan was not a U.S. ally. DELAYNE LOCKE photo The U.S. is on the right track in the war in Afghanistan, a former ambassador told USU students Tuesday. In a speech at the Eccles Conference Center, former U.S. Special Envoy to Afghanistan Peter Tomsen said the key to victory in Afghanistan is not to Americanize the war, but to support the Afghan people in defeating terrorist and insurgent forces themselves. Tomsen explained the history of the current conflict in Afghanistan and what he sees as a positive move by the U.S. to strengthen the Afghan army rather than fight the war with U.S. and coalition troops. Tomsen, who worked for the State Department in Vietnam in the 1970s, said the U.S. experienced similar difficulties when it relied too much on U.S. forces. "In Vietnam and Afghanistan both, the United States, in these guerilla wars, these counter-insurgent situations, we can't win the war," Tomsen said. "The indigenous government and the indigenous forces have to decide that they want to win the war." strengthen Afghan forces is a good move, Tomsen said. The U.S. withdrew 10,000 troops from Afghanistan in 2011 and plans to withdraw 32,000 in 2012, leaving 68,000 in the country. If all goes according to plan, Tomsen said, the U.S. should have a minimal military presence in Afghanistan by 2014. No matter the outcome of the 2012 Presidential Elections, the situation in Afghanistan should improve as long as Congress and the presidential administration remains committed to support Afghan forces. A similar strategy of strengthening indigenous forces rather than sending U.S. troops worked well against the formidable Soviet Army in the '80s, Tomsen said. "Nobody really predicted the Soviet Union would be defeated by the Afghans in the Soviet-Afghan War. Afghans lost over a million people in that war, and prevailed," Tomsen said. "We helped a lot; we gave the Afhgans a lot of the wherewithal to defeat the OSee CONFLICT, Page 2 Fund revamps out-of-date classrooms BY ROUCHELLE BROCKMAN news senior writer The Academic Senate approved a total of $75,000 in funding for improvements to various classrooms around campus at the senate's Classroom Improvement Fund meeting Monday. These improvements ranged from new dressmaker's forms for the theatre department — about $1,900 — to new furniture and equipment for a veterinary science laboratory — about $16,500. According to the Tier II Tuition Proposal released March 2006, the money for this fund comes from Tier II tuition. Tier I tuition is set each year by the State Board of Regents, said Whitney Pugh, executive director of the Budget and Planning Office. Tier II tuition varies by university, and both Tier I and Tier II tuition stay at USU to be used for various university expenses, he said. The Academic Senate originally proposed more than $100,000 in improvements. Tanner Wright, Academic Senate president, said having a proposal greater than available funds is a good thing. "Being over on this is a good thing," Wright said. "It means the senators were thorough in searching their colleges for classrooms to improve." The senate rejected a proposal of approximately $9,400 to supply new chairs and tables for the Fine Arts Visual Building. Mary Jacobson, senator from the Caine College of the Arts, said she had "mixed feelings" about her proposal being cut. She said the classroom the proposal would have benefitted is FAV 113E. The classroom has outdated furniture and equipment, with most of the mismatching chairs coming from the 1970s, she said. Kevin Webb, program coordinator in the Student Involvement and Leadership Office, said the Fine Arts Visual Building received about $21,000 from last year's Classroom Improvement OLD PROJECTORS AND CHALKBOARDS still exist on campus, but the Academic Senate designated $75,000 toward updating classrooms with these features. CURTIS RIPPLINGER photos Fund for technological updates. "The college needs to step it up and get its own funding for this project," Webb said. "Something has to not be funded," Jacobson said. "The arts senator for next year will just have to apply for the money again." The senate also rejected a request for approximately $6,800 for a geology classroom that needs acoustic improvements. Joe Watson, senator from the College of Science, said he could accept losing the funds for Geology Room 105 in exchange for the $16,526 for improvements to the veterinary science laboratories. He said this laboratory is frequently used by students from the College of Science. "(The professional) vet science program is new," said Jarvis Pace, senator from the College of Agriculture. "And nothing says, 'Welcome to a new program' like a crappy lab." Watson said the acoustic problems in the geology classroom might be fixed next year anyway when the carpet will be replaced. The senate also rejected an approximately $14,700 proposal for improvements to the Academic Senate Chambers. This proposal would have provided new chairs, lighting, and other cosmetic improvements to the senate's chambers. See VET LABS, Page 3 |