Hard News Café Weekly News Roundup (4/22/2013)

News about Cache Valley and USU
from the Department of Journalism & Communication 
  



April 22, 2013

All the Local News:
Earth Day and a Gallery walk; USU student journalists dominate region with 20 ‘excellence’ awards; local forum on guns; men walk a mile in heels; forgiving the Holocaust; Caine College of Arts raises tuition; annual Braveheart Run benefits 5-year-old; award honors ‘curmudgeon’; confessions of an art lover and a Facebook junky, plus sports & weather.

BABY ANIMALS on TV—USU public relations students Katie Duncan and Lauren Gould took some of their cuddly friends 
from Baby Animal Days at the American West Heritage Center on a fieldtrip to Salt Lake City.

The Hard News Café named as the 2013 Society of Professional Journalists’ best independent student news website in the InterMountain West.

CACHE VALLEY & UTAH NEWS

Hug Your Mother—Logan joins international Earth Day celebrations
By Jessica Sonderegger LOGAN—The third week in April traditionally presents a parallel of deadlines and celebrations. Where Cache Valley residents were expected to complete the legal requirements of Tax Day, April 15^th, they also celebrated the planet Earth the following Monday. Though participation in the latter is less of a legal obligation, there are many ways to engage in the festivities of Earth Day. In fact, efforts to provide an annual, local, well-rounded celebration of this international holiday, first celebrated in 1970, have been three years in the making. And coordinators are saying it’s getting better every year.

Community forum on gun violence scheduled
By Paul Christiansen LOGAN—The hot-button issue of gun violence in America is prominent in the media and on the minds of many people, both nationally and locally. Last week’s Cache Valley Gun Violence Community Forum was an opportunity for local citizens to express their concerns. “We are not too good, in terms of our general culture, at having a conversation about tough issues that is meaningful and productive,” Pastor Paul Heins said. “Our hope is to have a discussion on the issue of gun violence. It’s an issue that has a lot of emotion attached to it.”

A-TV News—Gas prices, hate crimes, men in funny shoes . . . and more!
LOGAN—This week on your A-TV news. Gas prices are on the rise and we’ll show you how to keep your wallet nice and thin. What would you do if you were a victim of a hate crime? We show you one women who used a hate crime as an opportunity to make a difference. And guys walking in high heels...we’ll show you why. Only on your A-TV news, anchored by Emily Landeen and Jenna Lynn.


Paradise asks sheriff’s deputy to keep a closer eye on Thrill Hill
By Dawn Otterby PARADISE—Residents can expect to see an increase in police presence during the coming months. Wednesday the Town Council met with Cache County Sheriff Deputy Blake Hansen and discussed plans for summer police coverage.The council asked Hansen to pay extra attention to Paradise as the weather warms up. “One of the problems spots that we have every year is on 200 West [and] 9200 South, what we call Thrill Hill,” Mayor Leland Howlett said. 

Sky View students to survey N. Logan about park
By Jonathan Larson NORTH LOGAN—Three Sky View High School students visited the City Council on Wednesday and presented ideas for the development of Meadow View Park. They asked  permission to send out a survey in the city newsletter, but their ideas were met with enthusiasm and the group was granted much more. “We think the park needs to be improved because there is not enough equipment for the kids play on so they have to wait for other kids to stop using the equipment,” said Marvin Martinez, one of the students.

Parole violation may mean prison time for Logan woman
By Jonathan Larson LOGAN—Shay Lynn Spackman stood in front of First District Judge Thomas Willmore, a notary and about 40 people Wednesday afternoon and signed a power of attorney document, relinquishing her control over her estate in the event she is sent to prison. The 36-year-old Logan resident was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of using oxycontin, a violation of her parole for previous shoplifting and controlled substance abuse convictions. 
  
Local carny begs Richmond council for festival spot
By Shayna Marcure  RICHMOND—Residents of this tight-knit community have launched plans for the annual Black and White Days, starting with the annual city clean up. “If you bring back one garbage bag full of waste, you get a lunch ticket,” said Councilman Paul Erickson.“We’ll have burgers and dogs at the park.” Dave Gordon, a local carnival owner and entrepreneur, sought the council’s approval for a four-night open carnival and block party during the third week of Black and White Days, beginning May 14 and running through May 18.

Gallery Walk a great opportunity to stroll, enjoy the arts
By Jonathan Larson LOGAN—The Cache Valley Center for the Arts hosted its bi-monthly Gallery Walk in downtown Logan. For some artists, like photographer Tom Bunn, it was an opportunity to showcase the beauty he sees in nature. “It’s amazing stuff,” Bunn said. 

USU NEWS

Art, Music, Theater courses will cost more under new tuition plan 
By Katie Swain 
LOGAN—The Utah Board of Regents has approved Utah State University’s Caine College of the Arts for differential tuition—extra fees charged for all courses in the college. Starting July 1, all CCA courses cost students $12 more per credit hour, raising about $200,000 for the college next year. Arts Dean Craig Jessop said the differential tuition increase will be offset by about half with a reduction in course fees. The extra charges will increase to $36/credit in the 2015-2016 academic year.

Aggie journalists best in region with 20 awards
By Kelton Wells Photos by Danielle Manley
SANTA FE, N.M.—Students from Utah State University broke school records, and swept areas of competition in the 2012 Mark of Excellence awards sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists. Aggie journalists won 20 MOE awards in 12 different categories, more than any other school in the region—Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico. Rio Grande SPJ Chapter President Laura Paskus said she was impressed with the quality of work submitted by students this year. “I often worry about the future of journalism,” she said. “But after having read, listened and watched the works of journalism submitted by these students, I know our future is in good hands. The next generation of competent newsroom leaders is sitting with us today.”
  
Spiked! USU journalists create fitting award to honor ‘curmudgeon’
LOGAN—A new award was created to honor Ted Pease, head of the Department of Journalism and Communication at Utah State University, who is stepping down from his post at the end of the academic year. The award is named for the long-time journalism educator, and will be given annually in recognition of individuals whose careers exemplify service to journalism. “Officially, it’s the Ted Pease Award, but we’re informally calling it the Ted Pease Award for Curmudgeonly Service To Journalism,” assistant professor Matthew LaPlante said. “In years to come, we hope to give the award to those who don’t really give a damn what people think about them, so long as they’re doing what’s right on behalf of journalism and journalists.”





Elizabeth Smart tells USU crowd of her ordeal
By Shayna Marcure
LOGAN—Over 10 years have passed since the young Elizabeth Smart was rescued from a nine-month kidnapping, but a crowded Taggart Student Center quieted respectfully Wednesday to hear her story. “‘I have a knife to your neck. Don’t make a sound or I’ll kill you,’” Smart’s kidnapper told her the night she was taken from her Salt Lake City home. Smart shared some riveting details of her abduction with the largest crowd ASUSU has seen at its midweek Common Hour presentations.

‘Caring for America’—Feminist scholar describes underappreciated caregivers
By Jessica Sonderegger LOGAN—Feminist scholar Eileen Boris of the University of California, Santa Barbara, came to Utah State University this week to introduce faculty and students to her current research. “Our study focuses on personal attendants, in-home support workers, homemaker-housekeepers and home health aides,” Boris said, referring to her 2012 book with Jennifer Klein, Caring for America: Home Health Workers in the Shadow of the Welfare State. “The premise of our book is that the labors of care . . . are work. That cooking, cleaning and caring is work.”







Students propose recycling system for USU cafés
By Dawn Otterby LOGAN—A group of Utah State University students is waiting for approval from USU Dining Services before implementing a recycling system in three campus cafés. The students teamed up with Dining Services after discovering a lot of campus waste was caused by poor communication, lack of understanding and an overall poor recycling system. “It’s a beautiful campus and we’re trashing it and we shouldn’t,” said student Eden Williams.

Annual Braveheart Run benefits 5-year-old Melanie Clawson
By Grady Smith LOGAN—Utah State University’s Air Force Cadets hosted the 3rd Annual Braveheart Run  Saturday with proceeds going to support 5-year-old Melanie Clawson, a Cache Valley girl who is struggling with several health issues.“This is the third year we have done the run, and each year a new child is chosen for the donation,” event coordinator Michael Swanson said.
  
AARON the computer creates constantly changing art at USU museum
By D. Landon Graham LOGAN—A new exhibit at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art at Utah State University, donated by USU professors David and Terry Peak, opened last week. The exhibit is a screen showing artwork that is modified by the artist as people watch. Day and night, the art on the screen is constantly changing. That’s because the “artist” is AARON, a computer program created by Harold Cohen.

68 years after Auschwitz, survivor explains why she forgives the Nazis
Story & Photos by Dani Hayes LOGAN—In 1995, exactly 50 years after the liberation of the Nazi death camp in Auschwitz, Poland, Eva Kor released a “Declaration of Amnesty” to all the Nazis and their supporters. The 418-word document from one of the few remaining Auschwitz survivors is one of forgiveness—forgiveness not for the perpetrators’ sake but for her own, because it gives her the power to move on. Kor presented her lecture of forgiveness in a classroom overflowing with people who spilled into the hallway. 

OPINION

Opinion: Art is much more than a pretty picture 
By Dani Hayes When I say I’m studying art history, I see the word “pointless” glaze over people’s eyes. Or a smirk crosses their lips. Or eyes wander as they scramble to change the subject. It’s annoying. I honestly can talk about art for hours. What can I say? it’s one of my passions. Art is so much more than a pretty picture.  

Opinion: Do women have to leave Utah to achieve equality?
By Jessica Sonderegger As a student and employee, I have concluded that if I am to seriously pursue a career—one where I will be recognized and adequately compensated for my expertise—I not only need to leave the valley, but the stateliness of Utah.

Opinion: Confessions of a recovering Facebook junky
By Jessica Sonderegger I consider myself one of the original gangsters when I reminisce about my Facebook story. Though I wasn’t even one of the first hundreds to join, I dare say I was one of the first few in my middle school, and I’m not letting anyone take that bragging right away from me. It’s safe to say that ALL of us would be stuck in the past without Mark Zuckerberg’s amazing time-wasting invention. Not to mention a little more grammatically correct, and a little less obsessed with political issues that we are not qualified to debate.

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Department of Journalism & Communication
Utah State University
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