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Show Page 12 The Ogden Valley News Volume XXX Issue VII January 15, 2023 Once Homeless, Woman Is Now Award-Winning Student At WSU By Bryan Magaña A few years ago, Jessica Stratton was living in her car with $2.08 to her name. Now she’s a 4.0 student studying computer science at Weber State University, and last month received the Student Pathway Award from Women Tech Council. Stratton left a turbulent home at 18. There were stretches when she survived on cereal, showering at a gym and sleeping only every other night because she worked graveyard shifts—all while trying to save money to reach her dream of going to college. “At that time, I could eat, or I could go to school,” she said. “School got put on the back burner. I kept telling myself, when things get a little bit smoother, when I get a raise, then I’ll start looking at school.” After living in her car, Stratton said she “upgraded to a futon” in a friend’s basement before securing a one-bedroom apartment. Losing her mother to ovarian cancer in 2020 renewed Stratton’s desire for higher education—something her mother instilled in her and her four siblings from an early age. “We started doing times tables in kindergarten,” Stratton said. “My mother always said education was key, but she ended up passing away before she could see any of her kids get a college degree.” Through financial aid and private scholarships, Stratton found her way to Weber State, where she’s honing the same passions she pursued as a child and throughout high school: all things computers. “I looked into other universities, but I felt like a number to them—a test score, a GPA,” Stratton said. “But at Weber State, I feel valued as a person. Being here helped me see that I’m in charge of my own future.” Stratton plans to graduate in 2025 and pursue a career that fuses technology and art. She also wants to inspire people of all backgrounds to believe in themselves. “I’m not ashamed of my past—that’s still part of me,” she said. “It doesn’t matter where you come from, as long as you know what you want and are moving forward.” AVIAN FLU cont. from page 3 you don’t touch the birds or pick them up,” DWR Veterinarian Ginger Stout said. “Report it to us, and we will come collect them for testing. We are continuing to monitor this virus in wild bird populations. This particular strain is affecting more wild birds and is more widespread than the last outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza in the U.S.” The last outbreak of avian flu in the U.S. occurred in 2014–2015, when highly pathogenic strains of avian influenza were detected in wild birds of the Pacific, Central, and Mississippi flyways. During that outbreak, the virus was only detected in two healthy ducks in Utah. If you are going on any waterfowl hunts this hunting season, here are some tips to keep yourself and your hunting dog safe: • Do not harvest, handle, or eat any animal that appears sick. • Field dress game animals in a well-ventilated area or outdoors. • Avoid direct contact with the intestines. • Wear rubber or disposable latex gloves while handling and cleaning birds. Wash your hands with soap and water, and thoroughly clean all knives, equipment and surfaces that come in contact with the birds. Disinfect using a 10% chlorine bleach solution. • Keep your game birds cool, clean, and dry. • Do not eat, drink, or smoke while cleaning game or handling animals. • All game meat should be thoroughly cooked before eating (well-done or 165° F). • Dogs are susceptible to HPAI, but don’t often show clinical signs. Though the risk of infection is low, visit the DWR website to identify the locations with active cases of avian 昀氀u in wild birds and avoid those areas when using retrievers. Consult your local veterinarian if your dog exhibits any respiratory symptoms. • If you have domestic poultry, keep them separated from the wild bird carcasses you have harvested, and do not handle poultry after handling wild birds. For more information about the current avian flu outbreak in wild birds, visit the DWR website at wildlife.utah.gov/avian-influenza.html. You can also view all the latest cases of avian flu in wild animals on the DWR website. To report any symptoms of avian flu in domestic birds, contact the Utah Dept. of Agriculture and Food, also at wildlife.utah.gov/avian-influenza.html. county, and test results are currently pending. Summit County • A duck was found in Summit County, Sept. 29. Morgan County • A duck was found in Morgan City, Oct. 12. The birds were all collected by DWR officials and sent to the Utah Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Logan for testing, which confirmed they had highly pathogenic avian influenza. The samples are also being sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. As of Jan. 10, 2023, a total of 102 birds and three red foxes have tested positive for avian influenza in 13 counties. The birds infected with the virus in Utah include raptors and waterbirds, specifically Canada geese, great horned owls, hawks, pelicans, turkey vultures, grebes, gulls, ravens, and ducks. High pathogenic avian influenza viruses are very contagious among birds and can cause rapid and high mortality in domestic birds, such as chickens, turkeys, and domestic ducks. Typically, these viruses only occasionally kill wild birds, but this strain is more pathogenic and has been killing more wild birds. The most common wild birds impacted by the virus are typically waterfowl, shorebirds, raptors, and scavengers (which include birds like hawks, owls, ravens, and vultures). There are usually few symptoms in waterfowl and shorebirds, but the virus can kill raptors and scavengers quickly. The virus is spread among birds through nasal and oral discharge, as well as fecal droppings. It can be spread to backyard poultry and domestic birds through contaminated shoes or vehicles. Songbirds are not typically affected by avian flu, so people shouldn’t have to remove their bird feeders unless they also have backyard chickens or domestic ducks, which are susceptible to the virus. However, it’s always recommended to regularly clean bird feeders and baths. Although the current strain of the avian flu presents a low risk to people, it has been confirmed in at least one person in Colorado during this most recent outbreak. Visit the CDC website for more information on keeping yourself safe. “The outbreak is still ongoing, so we are still advising anyone who finds a group of five or more dead waterfowl or shorebirds—or any individual dead scavengers or raptors—to report it to the nearest DWR office. Make sure Editor’s Choice of Great Reads Compiled by Shanna Francis While there’s no bad time to curl up with a great book, January in Ogden Valley is especially conducive to reading… short days, long winter nights, a warm fireplace, and no yard work beckoning! While everyone’s reading interests are different, if you’re like me, you still crave a thoughtful list of suggestions for a great read. Here is a list of a few of my more recent favorites, and some old favorites, too. Biography • The Queen: Her Life by Andrew Morton • Bonhoe昀昀er: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas • Bibi: My Story by Benjamin Netanyahu • Peter the Great: by Robert K. Massie • Mohandas K. Gandhi Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth • Eleanor by David Michaelis • Schweitzer: A Biography by George Marshall & David Poling Self-Help • Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty • The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World by His Holiness the Dalai Lama & Archbishop Desmond Tutu with Douglas Abrams • 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson • Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear History & Politics • River of the Gods: Genius, Courage & Betrayal in the Search for the Source of the Nile by Candice Millard • The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland by Jim Defede • Genghis Khan & the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford • The Greatest Minds & Ideas of All Time by Will Durant • The Splendid & the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family & De昀椀ance During the Blitz by Erik Larson • Journey into the Whirlwind by Eugenia Semyonovna Ginzburg • First Principles: What America’s Founders Learned from the Greeks & Romans & How That Shaped Our Country by Thomas E. Ricks (winner of the Pulitzer Prize) • The Rise of the Western World by Douglass C. North and Robert Paul Thomas • The Elusive Quest for Growth: Economists’ Adventures and Misadventures in the Tropics by William R. Easterly & William Easterly • The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan Non-Fiction • The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, The Horse That Inspired a Nation by Elizabeth Letts • The Perfect Horse by Elizabeth Letts • Cadillac Desert: The American West & Its Disappearing Water, Revised Edition by Marc Reisner • 7 Women & the Secret of Their Greatness by Eric Metaxas • The Three-Year Swim Club: The Untold Story of Man’s Sugar Ditch Kids & Their Quest for Olympic Glory by Julie Checkoway • A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell • Character: Pro昀椀les in Presidential Courage by Chris Wallace • Battlegrounds: The Fight to Defend the Free World by H.R. McMaster • Churchill & Orwell: The Fight for Freedom by Thomas E. Ricks • Antonin Scalia: Re昀氀ections on Law, Faith & Life Well Lived edited by Christopher J. Scalia & Edward Whelan • If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska by Heather Lende • The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans & their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown • No god but God: The Origins, Evolution, & Future of Islam by Reza Aslan • The Hungry Journey by Gordon Allred • Code Talker: The First & Only Memoir by One of the Original Navajo Code Talkers of WWII by Chester Nez & Judith Schiess Avila • Land of the Burnt Thigh: A Lively Story of Women Homesteaders on the South Dakota Frontier by Edith Eudora Kohl • Team Of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin Fiction • The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles • Something Missing by Matthew Dicks • News of the World by Paulette Jiles • The Orphan Keeper by Camron Wright Memoir • If I Live Until Morning: A True Story of Adventure, Tragedy & Transformation by Jean Muenchrath • The Boy Who Runs: The Odyssey of Julius Achon by John Brant • 438 Days by Jonathan Franklin • The Volunteer: One Man, an Underground Army & the Secret Mission to Destroy Auschwitz by Zack Fairweather • The Ride of Her Life: The Ture Story of a Woman, Her Horse & Their Last-Chance Journey Across America by Elizabeth Letts • Between a Rock & a Hard Place by Aaron Ralston • The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba & Bryan Mealer • The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch • Same Kind of Di昀昀erent as Me by Ron Hall & Denver Moore • The Happiest Man on Earth: The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor by Eddie Jaku • Educated by Tara Westover • Unbroken: An Olympian’s Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive by Laura Hillenbrand • And There Was Light by Jacques Lusseyran • My Journey of Faith: An Encounter with Christ & How He Used Me to Spread His Love to the Poor by Charles Mulli • The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls • Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood by Oliver Sacks • A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout & Sara Corbett • The Amazing Story of the Man Who Cycled from India to Europe for Love by Per J. Andersson • Left to Tell by Immaculée Ilibagiza Nature & Science • Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard • In Defense of Plants by Matt Candeias • Beyond Words: What Animals Think & Feel by Carl Sa昀椀na • After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life & Beyond by Bruce Greyson • The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben Current Events • Russians Among Us: Sleeper Cells, Ghost Stories & the Hunt for Putin’s Spies by Gorgon Corera • Targeted: My Inside Story of Cambridge Analytica & How Trump, Brexit & Facebook Broke Democracy by Brittany Kaiser • 2034: A Novel of the Next World War by Elliot Ackerman & Admiral James Stavridis Old Favorites • The Wright Brothers by David McCullough • The Robe by Lloyd C. Douglas • Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens • A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles • The Agony & the Ecstasy by Irving Stone • The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas • Giants in the Earth by Ole Rolvaag • My Antonia by Willa Cather • O Pioneers by Willa Cather • Bowling Alone: The Collapse & Revival of American Community by Robert D. Putnam • The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boone • The Greek Treasure by Irving Stone pmp-utah.com For More Information Contact Rex 801-391-9272 |