Utah State News Service

By Jason Walker  The Facing Project came to Logan on Friday with its newest show, “Facing Depression in Cache Valley,” which took aim at stereotypes of people who struggle with depression in their lives. Students from the Utah State University Department of Theater Arts performed short monologues at the school’s Black Box Theater, telling the stories of Cache Valley residents who had sat down with writers to share their story of how they overcame depression. “Our main goal,” said Matt Omasta, the director of the performance, “was to take the stories that we had and portray them as authentic as possible to try to reach a wide audience and create a piece that would be engaging and interesting, but honor the stories we were working from.” The Facing Project is a national nonprofit which works with communities to put on performances to address a variety of issues, including mental health. Jenni Allred, who organized the Facing Depression project, said depression is very...

By Lauren Bennett  When Utah State University-Brigham City student Kyle Dority was unsure about whether he’d done everything necessary to keep his financial aid package, he did what school leaders suggest: He reached out to an adviser. Dority said he was relieved to hear the adviser tell him that “it would be fine.” It wasn’t. Dority, who ended up losing the financial aid he was asking about, called the situation “frustrating.” And he’s not alone. USU-Brigham City’s dean, Tom Lee, said he’s heard from several students who have complained about advising. “I always hate to hear that, but sometimes it happens,” Lee said. “Advising almost always comes up if you talk to students.” Lee said he’s hoping events like the campus’ first “Dinner with the Dean,” which was held earlier this month, will create an open space for communication between students and faculty, offering the information needed to make changes to problems, such as those he’s hearing about with the advising pr...

By Ford Rasmussen  A musical score that premiered in Utah on Sunday got enthusiastic reviews from its composer, who said it was the best performance in the history of the 12-year-old piece. The piece, “Variationes Alchemisticae,” commissioned by the Chamber of Music Palisades, has been performed dozens of times, American composer Byron Adams said. He has been present at about 10 of the performances, in places such as Colorado, Los Angeles and England. Adams, who had never been to Utah before, attended Utah State’s Museum and Music concert at the Caine Performance Hall on Sunday. The concert’s musicians consisted of members from the Utah Symphony and the Fry Street Quartet. “There have been no better performances, and it was beautiful in every way,” said Adams, who sat on the upper aisle closest to the stage during the event. The Utah-based musicians “internalized” the work, Adams said, and excelled in their attention to dynamics. Austin Chadw...

By Lauren Bennett  To convince lawmakers of the dire need for more mental health providers at Utah State University’s regional campuses, student leaders are hoping to demonstrate the issue is being taken seriously by fellow learners across the state. To that end, a vote scheduled for this week on whether to raise student fees by $15 could prove crucial. “It’ll probably take a couple years before the state will increase any funding to address the problem,” said David Bush, a licensed psychologist and the director of the university’s Counseling and Psychological Services office. “But more immediately we thought, well, this year we can at least show the state that the students are willing to put their money where their mouth is.” Bailee Bird, the student executive vice president for the university’s Uintah Basin campus, said increased awareness of where the money will go is vital, because students typically are wary of fees.  “The term ‘adding a fee’ is kind of freaky ...

By Abby Bart  Utah author and historian Rebecca de Schweinitz will appear at the Orem Public Library on Thursday at 7 p.m. to discuss the role of children in the Civil Rights era as part of the library’s Black History Month series. De Schweinitz, a history professor at Brigham Young University and author of  If We Could Change the World: Young People and America’s Long Struggle for Racial Equality , was a consultant on the creation of the newest American Girl doll. The doll, named “Melody,” is a young African American girl living in Detroit, Michigan, during the Civil Rights Movement. “I’m planning to talk a little bit about the time period of the story, and especially what it was like for children living in this era,” de Schweinitz said. She plans to read a few excerpts from Melody’s story, as well as “talk about some of our hopes for the Melody project.” Orem Public Library event coordinator Marilee Clark said the library’s staff hopes to re...

By Monica Esparza  As the nation’s largest beer maker brews up controversy with  a Super Bowl commercial  celebrating its German founder’s immigration story, Utah State University is sharing a similar tale of ale in its first alcohol-themed exhibit. On Jan. 26, the university’s Merrill-Cazier Library launched “Utah Brews: The Untapped Story of Ogden's Becker Brewing and Malting Company,” an exhibit focusing on the story of John S. Becker, who immigrated to the United States from Germany in 1845 to escape European imperialism — and to brew beer. The exhibit was coordinated by Utah State student Cody Patton and manuscript curator Clint Pumphrey, who worked together for more than six months to tell the story of Becker and his pilsner-making progeny. “I found this project particularly interesting because even though I have grown up in Utah my whole life, I had no idea that breweries played a significant role in the state’s history,” Patton said. The...

By Ford Rasmussen  For the first time in years, those who attend Utah State’s Opera Theater will hear the performance accompanied by a full orchestra. The USU Symphony Orchestra has teamed up with the USU Opera Theater to perform Mozart’s “La Finta Giardiniera,” starting Feb. 2. “It’s the first time in my stay that it’s happened,” said Benjamin Krutsch, one of the students who will be appearing in the opera, of the collaboration between the school’s opera theater and symphony orchestra. Krutsch has been at Utah State since 2013. The orchestra will be directed by Daniel Helfgot of San Jose, California — a perennial guest director at Utah’s Opera Festival in Logan since 2006. Helfgot’s repertoire includes more than 220 productions, including six other operas by Mozart. “This is the first production I’ve done at USU with a director of his caliber,” said the department’s musical director, Dallas Heaton. The cast has been practicing six days a week in preparation for t...

By Hannah McDonald It’s a five-minute bus ride from the center of campus to Utah State University’s office for Sexual Assault and Anti-Violence Information. On foot, it might take 15 minutes. But for victims of sexual assault — who are often torn over what to do — those minutes can be the difference between reporting a crime and staying silent. That’s one of the main reasons why the office, known as SAAVI, is planning to relocate to the center of Utah State’s campus next semester. In January, SAAVI will take over a third-floor office in the Taggart Student Center currently occupied by the student newspaper, which is moving to a first-floor space vacated by Zion’s Bank. The move will put SAAVI right next to the department for Counseling and Psychological Services and the Center for Women and Gender. Felicia Gallegos, a student intern in Utah State University’s office for Sexual Assault and Anti-Violence Information, or SAAVI, said she hopes the move will help students feel mo...

By Hannah McDonald On   July 1 , at the conclusion of his 35th year with the Utah State University police department, Capt. Steve Milne will set down his badge for the last time. Milne has been a fixture in the department since its inception in 1982. He is second in seniority only to Chief Steven Mecham, who will retire in January. “I figure it’s time,” Milne said. “It’s been great, but I’m at the point now where I kind of want to enjoy life. It’s especially hard this time of year when you’ve got the football games and stuff. My wife and kids go to the games, but I’m having to work them. I’m ready to go and enjoy it with them.” Milne joined the department as a university student in 1982. At the time, he was working on a degree in education and sports coaching. That summer, an opening came up for a full time police officer. Milne was accepted for the position, and he has worked in the department ever since. Emergency management coordinator Judy Crockett has worked with Mi...

By Junshi Zhao South Korean students at Utah State University are feeling the effects of political unrest back home as the calls for the resignation of President Geun-Hye Park have intensified in recent days. The instability — resulting from recent revelations that the daughter of a famous cult leader allegedly exerted undue influence within Park’s government — has made USU student Suki Kim question a decision to return home after graduation. Park said on Tuesday she would be willing to leave office if ordered to do so by the Republic of Korea’s parliament. If Park did resign, though, it would defy Kim’s expectations. “I don’t think she would give up this position,” Kim said. “But things will continue to grow and get worse if she staying. It scares me.”   Hyun Jin Cho, who is studying aviation at Utah State, agreed. “I think it will become more serious if she decides to do nothing and keeps lying to citizens,” Cho said. Cho took some comfort from the fact that Park i...

By Shanie Howard A workshop aimed at helping students develop resilience could become a credit-generating class at Utah State University by the fall of 2017. Dr. David Bush, a psychologist at the school’s Counseling and Psychological Services center and the director of the workshops, said resilience is “the strongest predictor of academic success — more than GPA or IQ tests.” Bush has received permission from the school to monitor the grades of students who have attended the resilience workshops. If he sees an improvement, Bush will begin expanding the curriculum to fill a semester-long class.  “I would love to see this workshop eventually expanded to a two-credit course,” said Becca Phillips, a student studying instructional leadership who helped research and develop the trainings. “Building resilience is a process, and it doesn’t happen right away.” Phillips began her research in June. Despite spending more than five months studying and building up her own resilience, ...

By Shanie Howard Utah State University’s Counseling and Psychological Services center is now broadcasting counseling workshops to the university’s regional campuses. Leaders from CAPS made the decision to broadcast   their   workshops to other Utah State University campuses last month. The results, so far, have been varied. “It has worked well for some of our topics,” said LuAnn Helms, the assistant director of CAPS. So far the classes have only had between five to 12 students attending, but Helms believes that by next semester   more students will participate and CAPS will be able to better determine which topics work well via broadcast and which don’t.  “We will try it again next semester and try to get more people,” Helms said.  CAPS began offering counseling workshops for students in 2011, allowing students to sit together and discuss ways to deal with different issues they faced, such as dealing with stress, building resilience and getting heal...

By Hannah McDonald Ten people were arrested at Utah State University’s annual Halloween party — a four-year low, according to police. Utah State Police Captain Steve Milne is unsure why police made fewer arrests at this year’s Howl, but he said he hopes word is getting out that the party, which draws thousands of Utah State students and guests from across the region, is not the place to be for students who are drinking. “When you have 30 police officers spread out between two buildings, your chances of getting caught are going to be increased a lot,” Milne said. “I don’t know if the word has gotten out on that. We’ll see. If crime rates continue to stay low for the next few years, then I guess so.” The drop in arrests is part of a four-year trend. Last year, police made 16 arrests. In 2014, 23 attendees were arrested, and in 2013, law enforcement arrested 28 partygoers. Emi Facer, the student director of the Howl, said the lower crime rates may correspond to party planners’ ...

By Jessica Dryden In the wake of a student government declaration of a “mental health crisis,” at Utah State University, some Aggies are working to launch a National Alliance on Mental Illness club on campus. Once the club is in place, likely by the end of this year, NAMI state organizations will train students to lead peer support groups. Those sorts of resources, organizers said, could help combat the waitlists students face for on-campus mental health care. NAMI is the nation’s largest mental health organization, and has had a presence at Utah State University in the past. But Ty Aller, a NAMI USU outreach board member, said it’s not uncommon for university clubs to lose membership with students constantly graduating and moving. “I believe that NAMI USU suffered a loss due to just this,” Aller said in an e-mail, “students being students.” Aller is currently working with the organization’s Cache Valley affiliate to determine ways to minimize member loss in the future, ensu...

By  Bronson Teichert Vitamin imbalances in rabbit feed have been causing Utah rabbit owners to suffer losses for the past six months. The problem was discovered on Oct. 21 in toxicology labs at Utah State University. “These bunnies were our beloved pets and 4-H projects,” said Vicky Sleeman, an owner of a small rabbitry in Ogden, Utah. Sleeman switched feed brands to Commercial Rabbit in May. In the past six months, her farm has experienced the death of three females, two complete litters of newborn rabbits, infertility issues and abnormal eating behaviors. According to Sharon Christianson, a representative of Commercial Rabbit, the feed company changed to a different distributing company in May that had a 20 percent higher concentration of vitamin D. Bracken Davis, a representative of the state’s Plant Industry Feeds Program, said multiple farmers noticed problems with their rabbits all summer and into the fall but were not able to determine the cause. A feed sample w...

By Hannah McDonald The Utah State University Board of Trustees voted on Friday to approve a new amnesty policy — a student code amendment that protects students who request emergency help while engaged in illegal activity. Student body present Ashley Waddoups and her executive council approved the policy on   Sept. 12 . “We don’t want any student who’s been drinking underage or drinking on campus to be afraid to call the police,” Waddoups said. “With amnesty, you can call the police and say, ‘Hey, there’s a problem going on down there.’ If you call and alert them, you’re not going to be in trouble.” Medical amnesty became a state law in 2013. The policy grants immunity to illegally intoxicated minors who report a legal or medical emergency, provided they cooperate with law enforcement officers and emergency personnel.  Utah State University’s policy is an extension of the state law, protecting individuals from academic discipline for breaking university-enforced rul...

By Hannah McDonald The national clown-sighting phenomenon has reached Utah State University, where police have so far responded to three calls about clown-related incidents. “I don’t know what’s brought this on,” Utah State Police Captain Steve Milne said. “We’ll continue to follow up on each and every one, but at this point there’s no criminal violation.” Ethan Muhlestein, a freshman majoring in wildlife science, was the second student to contact the university police. Muhlestein was driving a friend back home to Valley View Tower, near the campus center, around   1 a.m.   on Tuesday   when he saw an oddly dressed individual standing with another person. “I was thinking to myself, ‘This doesn’t look right,’” he said. “So I flipped the car around and shined my brights on both of them, and there was just this clown that was holding something in his hand. I assumed it was his mask. There was another car in the parking lot, and he started to shine his brights, too...