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Show Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2012 Page 4 AggieLlif• Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com A wolf among the herd BY CALE PATTERSON staff writer A betta fish can be the most exotic pet a college student has time to care for. Kimmi Kraus, a sophomore majoring in wildlife science, is raising her 10-month-old wolfdog Damu, and the pair can be seen almost daily on Utah State's campus. Damu is high content wolfdog. Content refers to the amount of wolf heritage in an animal. High contents range from 85 percent to 98 percent. Kraus estimates Damu's percentage to be around 85 percent to 90 percent wolf. When fully grown, he is expected to be roughly 130 pounds, with a shoulder height of about 32 to 33 inches at the shoulders. Kraus typically takes Damu to campus for several hours each day, and said she often gets caught up with people near the Quad. She said these walks serve both to educate people and dispel myths about wolves and wolfdogs, as well as to help Damu get exposure to a variety of settings and build socialization skills. Kraus said these visits with students can also serve as a means of stress relief for students. "It takes your mindset out of the stress of classes, and you get to interact with an animal that will help lower your blood pressure and just make you feel a little bit normal aside from the whole crazy classes and tests and midterms," she said. "It is just nice to take a break while you're running through campus." Damu is an ambassador animal, which Kraus described as an animal used for education and public awareness. The two of them have done both formal and informal educational pre- KIMMI KRAUS IS RAISING A HIGH content wolfdog named Damu. Kraus, a sophomore majoring in wildlife science, runs and occasionally sleeps with Damu. SAMANTHA BEHL photo sentations in an effort to eliminate myths and misconceptions regarding the purity of wolfdogs, as well as a belief that wolfdogs are from the wild and possess vicious tendencies. "Lots of people have stereotypes and perceived ideas," she said. "People fear what they don't know." In spite of his large and wolf-like appearance, Damu actually has a very agreeable temperament. "He's actually a really sweet guy," said O'Neal Bunderson, a freshman majoring in wildlife science. "He's very submissive. A lot of people don't know what to do with him because he's so big. He's a really fun dog to be around. He's just happy." According to Kraus, Damu's father was a British Columbian black phase bred with a malamute. She said two of Damu's brothers were used in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Damu eats three to four pounds of meat per day. Kimmi provides him with a diet of raw meat and bones and many different types of fruits and vegetables. Kraus said the raw diet helps to clean Damu's teeth, reduce stool and lessen shedding. "A wolf's bite pressure is a little under 1500 pounds per square inch," said Kraus. "Imagine a wolf just crunching through the femur of an elk or a deer. They have an intense bite pressure. The bone is actually pretty good for them because it has all the vitamins and they love the marrow. Having that bone is so pivotal — you can't just give them boneless meat. They need to have all that natural nutrition." Kraus is no stranger to exotic animals, having worked with them since the age of twelve. She has experience with horses, tigers and grizzlies. She ►See WOLFDOG, Page 7 Guide dogs lend a paw tip APRIL ASHLAND senior features writer TIBETAN MONKS, SONAM KARUSHAR and Khenpo-la will destroy a sacred sand mandala in the Taggart Student Center during the week of Oct. 21. MICKELLE YEATES photo Tibetan ritual reaches USU BY CARL! SORENSON staff writer During the week of Oct. 21, Venerable Sonam Karushar and Khenpo-la, Buddhist monks from Tibet, accompanied by Dr. Hun Lye, professor of East Asian studies from Davidson College, will be creating and destroying a sacred sand mandala in the Taggart Student Center. Khenpo-la, a resident of Pittsburg, became a monk at 40 years old and has been a part of the construction and destruction of mandalas numerous times. He has mostly created them with Sonam Karushar. Karushar lives in Boston, and 1979 had to make a choice between marriage and becoming a monk. He decided to become a monk. The mandala Sonam and Khenpo-la are creating this week is a compassion mandala. "We bring compassion," said Khenpo-la. "Compassion deity is our inspiration." Karushar said Utah State will produce many world leaders, and they seek world peace and harmony. This focus on peace and harmony is reflected in the mandala being constructed representing compassion. "The construction of this sand mandala is a part of expe- riential learning," said Dr. Wijitha Bandara. He said students usually read about the ritual, and the mandala is a great opportunity for students to learn about one of the many religious art forms in Asia. Pete Wosnik, a senior majoring in history and religious studies, said he was especially impressed with the beginning of the event. "It was a very neat event," he said. "They did some religious rituals with some chanting, some bells and a drum. It was really interesting to watch." Bandara said this whole project will enlighten students on an ancient yet still thriving sacred form of Buddhist art in East Asia and will enrich the partial knowledge students have concerning this ritual. Dr. Hun Lye said the sand mandalas represent sacred cosmologies, divine energies and spiritual principles. "Mandalas can be created in many ways — painted, sculpted, visualized, and more recently, digitally," Lye said. "The mandala is an ancient Tibetan art form depicted with colorfully dyed, delicate sand arranged on a surface with painstakingly calculated geometric patterns and archi►See MANDALA, Page 5 It's said that a dog is a man's best friend, but for Lewis Burdette and Sachin Pavithran, the role of dogs went much further. Burdette and Pavithran are both visually impaired and have received assistance from seeingeye dogs. Pavithran is the assistive technology specialist for the Center for Persons with Disabilities, and said he retired his dog Barstow in June, after having him for nine and a half years. Pavithran said he talked to SACHIN PAVITHRAN retired his guide dog Barstow in June after many other visually impaired more than nine years of service. and blind people before decidPhoto courtesy of Sachin Pavithran ing to get his dog. He said he met a girl who had a seeing-eye dog and thought having one might be a way to gain more independence. "When I was in school, it was fine because I had people around me, but when I started working, I had to travel and get around on my own," Pavithran said. Burdette is a junior majoring in exercise science and said he decided to get a seeing-eye dog because his sister had one, and he realized how helpful her dog was in maintaining mobility on campus and around town. "I called Guide Dogs, a place in Oregon, and asked them how to go about applying, and they sent me the forms," Burdette said. "So I filled them out, sent them in, and began the process to receive my own dog." The process requires both online and paper forms. Applicants send in their name, address, information about their visual disabilities, training received, how the individual crosses the street, destinations regularly traveled to and more. The next step is to meet with a consultant to discuss specific needs. According to the Guide Dogs website, the consultant discusses motivation and support for getting a guide dog, lifestyle and travel practices and the applicant's health. Then, after more forms, a home visit and finally, if accepted into the program, the applicant gets to visit one of the campuses to receive a dog. "They find out your lifestyle, your work environment, if you are a fast or slow walker," Pavithran said. "They take all that into consideration, and then they try to make the best match with the personalities of the dogs they have ready." Guide Dogs for the Blind is where both Pavithran and Lewis received ►See DOGS, Page 6 |