Utah Public Radio plays new program called “Playing Shortly”

UPR is scheduled to play a series of productions or episodes every Friday during the month of April at 8:30 p.m. called “Playing Shortly.” This series was performed by Utah State University’s Fusion Theater Project in front of a live audience.

“Fusion is a company made up of students, professionals and faculty. We develop new work, such as plays, and produce it,” said Shawn Fisher, founder of the Fusion Theater Project.

One year ago, Fusion received a grant from the OC Tanner Foundation. The requirements for this grant included a combination of the arts with technology in some form.

“So our thought was to use the technology of radio, recording, sound editing and all that stuff. Let’s use that to help support live theater,” Fisher said.

“Playing Shortly” is made up of eight plays performed (or read) in front of a live audience and recorded for radio purposes. Each episode consists of two 10-minute plays that supply the main portion of a 30-minute episode. Four episodes will be played this month.

“We started off with almost 500 scripts, solicited from all over the country, and narrowed it down to the eight we currently have,” said Richie Call, collaborator for “Playing Shortly.”

Two of the eight plays in “Playing Shortly” were written by USU students of the Caine College of the Arts.

 “I wrote a play called ‘A Thoroughfare for Freedom Beat,’ and it’s going to be featured on Utah Public Radio. I’ve never been so honored,” said Scotty Zaborski, a USU student. “It just shows that I am multi-faceted. That I am not just a 2D type of person. That I can do more than just act. That I can research and that I can publicize. I can write and be published. Fusion helped me understand all of those things.”

For now, the show will be performed regionally for UPR, meaning it will reach Utah, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Idaho. However, according to Fisher, the show could potentially be performed on National Public Radio.

“I never thought that I would get to have an experience like that,” Zaborski said. “Fusion did things for me that I never expected. Fusion made me become a better person and with some sort of art that’s what you’re hoping for, to grow in the process.”

USU Dining Services hosts Luau

Utah State University Dining Services is hosting a luau for students on April 15 in the Taggart Student Center. Starting April 1, tickets are free upon request at any retail dining location on campus, such as Luke’s Cafe on the Quad, The Artist’s Block Cafe and Bakery, The Quadside Cafe, The Hub and The Quickstop.

 “This event will help students realize how awesome Dining Services is because we give away free stuff all the time,” said Kimberly Stephens, retail marketing graphic designer. “It will bring awareness to the Dining Services operations and night life to the TSC.”

According to Jaime Bradford, assistant director for retail operations, free food will be given away at this event, including a pig roasted over a spit. There will also be a limbo contest and hula hooping contest where winners will receive prizes.

“I am so excited to get my hula on,” said Karli Salisbury, manager of Luke’s Cafe on the Quad. “I think that this is a great way for retail dining to end an incredible school year and start off the summer with a bang.”

Aggie Radio will be set up in the Hub to provide music and entertainment.

“Dining Services has been great to us this year and we are really excited to be working with them on this luau,” said Cody Scott, Aggie Radio station manager. “During the event, we will be talking to people about our switch to FM radio, announcing winners to different contest and, hopefully, provide the students with an entertaining night.”

Dining Services is only handing out 350 tickets to students. Students must have tickets upon arrival or admission will not be permitted.

“Our mission statement is to create an excellent college experience,” Bradford said. “We want to give students something to remember, hopefully something they will look back on and think, ‘That was really fun.’”

I Am That Girl is hosting the Mental Health Is No Joke campaign

I Am That Girl is a new club to Utah Stat University that started fall semester 2014. Sheree Haggan, the Multicultural Program Coordinator in the Access and Diversity Center, brought this organization’s new chapter to USU. Haggan and her committee for mental health awareness are hosting a new event on March 31 through April 1, called Mental Health Is No Joke. According to Haggan the committee hopes host this event annually.

“What we do, in I Am That Girl, is we bring girls together, we unify them, we strengthen them and then we set them up for success,” Haggan said. “Our mission statement is that we are a community, a support system, a movement inspiring girls to be loved and express who they are.”

Alexis Jones is a co-founder of the I Am That Girl organization and will be at Utah State University on March 31. She will be attending the “Mental Health is No Joke” campaign and will be the keynote speaker.

“What does it mean to be that girl? It means to be the best version of yourself,” Jones said.

According to Haggan, the organization is fundraising to create two $500 scholarships to give out each semester to students who proactively host an event to raise mental health awareness.

“We are almost done fundraising,” Haggan said. “Last I checked we were really close to our goal of $1,500. Our goal is to start an endowment to have money saved up for future I Am That Girl mental health scholarships. We will be announcing and dedicating the scholarships the night that Alexis Jones speaks.”

Once students are awarded the scholarships they will sit on the planning committee for the annual Mental Health Is No Joke event series.

“I think what they are doing is great,” said McKenna Phipps, who helped spread the word of the fundraiser. “I know some may see it as just another scholarship, but I do believe that creating awareness of mental health is an important thing. The best part of it is the students awarded the scholarships will be on a committee for the series. I like this because they, in a way, pay the scholarship back.”

I Am That Girl does other events, such as self defense classes, open mic night fundraisers at Pizza Pie Cafe and make blankets for partnering organizations like CAPSA, or Citizens Against Physical and Sexual Abuse.

“I encourage people to come,” Haggan said. “Everybody has some influence on how a girl is treated. Come out, show support and be a part of change on campus.”

Bubble Soccer comes to Utah State University

This March the Utah State University Latino Student Union will host a Bubble Soccer tournament. Bubble Soccer is a new version of soccer. Players stand inside clear, plastic, inflatable orbs that are four to six feet in diameter. The players must use their own soccer techniques to get the ball into the net before they are bounced out of the way by the competitors with their bubbles. The tournament will take place March 27-28 on the USU Quad and Legacy Field.

“Soccer, food and dancing are our most popular events,” said Grecia Jimenez, LSU Vice President. “These events are made possible with the money the club raises during the fundraiser.”

Each team is required to pay a fee of $50. This event will help provide LSU with funds for future events.

“The money collected goes to the club fund, which is used for scholarships, club activities and more Bubble Soccer,” Jimenez said. “LSU has to do a fundraiser each year to be able to do fun activities for the club members and campus students. Without fundraising, the club has almost no resources.”

According to Eddie Campos, LSU President, each year the LSU hosts a soccer tournament to raise money for the club. This year will be the first year the organization has attempted a Bubble soccer tournament.

“Bubble soccer is a fun event that we are all looking forward to,” said Sarah Ramos, the Activities Coordinator.

According to Jimenez, each team is guaranteed to play at least three games. The LSU is limiting the number of teams to sign up at 24 due to a limited number of bubbles.

“Hopefully in the process of this tournament we will be able to meet new friends, welcome new members and have a good time with fellow Aggies,” Campos said. “I am just counting down the days to be able to get into one of the bubble balls for the tournament.

Taco sale bursts into flames

A fire was started on Feb.18, during a taco sale by the Utah State University Latino Student Union.

The LSU sold tacos outside of the Taggart Student Center to promote Latino culture and awareness on campus. During the taco sale, the LSU President Eddie Campos used a butane burner to cook the tacos when it suddenly caught fire.

“In the moment you kind of just freeze and don’t know what to do, but after a split second you react,” Campos said. “It was a little scary, but most of all I was just worried about the safety of other people and making sure nothing around caught on fire.”

One of the butane burners was not connected properly and leaked gas. This was the cause of the fire.

“Thankfully it didn’t go back to the butane burner and explode,” Campos said.

Inside the TSC, Braden Probst, a USU Dining Services employee, noticed the fire and ran for a fire extinguisher.

“The students were not properly trained on the operation of the gas burner,” Probst said. “It was this lack of training that actually caused the fire.”

Other employees working in the Hub, a retail dining operation inside of the TSC, began to notice the fire as the flames grew.

“It could have been much worse than it was,” said Kimberly Stephens, a USU Dining Services employee. “I was appalled at how I saw one of them trying to put out the fire by waving a piece of cardboard at it which only fanned it to life.”

Probst returned to the scene with his employer Jaime Bradford, the assistant director for retail operations. Bradford used an extinguisher and put out the fire.

“We are glad that Jaime was there,” Campos said. “She helped us out a bunch and got it all figured out. We are glad we had someone that knows how to use a fire extinguisher because there have been other fires that she has dealt with this school year.”

The LSU utilizes their taco sales each year to raise money toward scholarships for hispanic/latino high school seniors. So far, six taco sales have taken place this school year and the club hopes for two more sales at the end of March. According to Campos the money raised at these fundraisers goes toward two scholarships for high school seniors and often one more for a Utah State University student. Each scholarship covers about a years worth of books.

Commemoration Ceremony for Utah State University Student

A commemoration ceremony will be held Saturday in the Ellen Eccles Conference Center at 2:30 p.m. in honor of Natalie Linetska, a victim of suicide.

“She was loved by everyone who met her and was a very good and supportive friend,” said Arshak Papazyan, a friend of Linetska.

Linetska, originally from Odessa, Ukraine, was a student at Utah State University. She was studying business administration and was in the interview process for the Huntsman Scholar Program.

“She was a very studious and hardworking student,” said Renee Escobar, a friend of Linetska. “After she finished her undergraduate studies, she wanted to move to Los Angeles to pursue her career in business and make a new and happy life for herself.”

The Division of Student Services and the staff of Counseling and Psychological Services has since reached out to the Utah State student body to help during this time of mourning. A conference was held in the Taggart Student Center Auditorium at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday to discuss the needs of the students during challenging times and inform them of available resources on campus.

“We wanted to focus on creating hope,” said Dr. Justin Barker, the assessment coordinator for Counseling and Psychological Services. “College students are more at risk to suicide. It is the second largest cause of death among college students.”

This semester, there have been four students who have attempted suicide. One out of those four actually went through with it.

“A lot of things we’ve seen recently have been directly related to alcohol,” Barker said.

During the conference, Mark Nafziger, clinical coordinator for CAPS, spoke on the different ways people grieve and how to help others through this time.

“Realizing that everyone grieves differently is a big deal,” Nafziger said. “It’s often times very helpful to focus on helping others during this difficult time. Over time you can grow from your grief.”

USU Bookstore holds Wild About You competition

This year, the Utah State University Bookstore’s annual Valentines Day competition was slightly altered from tradition. Each year, the bookstore employees host a competition called The Kiss Off, where couples would place a block of wood between their lips and the couple who held the block in place the longest won a prize.

“People would cry because you go crazy standing for so long like that,” said Carrisa Dominy, Utah State Bookstore’s marketing manager. “We decided that we wanted to keep the Kiss Off tradition but also mix it up. Make it a little more enjoyable and quicker so that it didn’t last all day long.”

Instead of only doing the Kiss Off, the bookstore marketing team decided to create a new, animal themed event called The Wild About You Competition that took place Wednesday, Feb. 11. This contest included an altered version of the Kiss Off and a series of challenges with objects commonly found around the house, otherwise known as “Minute to Win it” games.

“We thought it’d be fun because we know that people sometimes don’t like us due to text books, buy backs and different things like that,” Dominy said. “We don’t like that image. A lot of people don’t realize that the bookstore doesn’t run for profit. All of the money that we make goes back to the students through scholarships and different things.”
The competition began with the Kiss Off and 24 couples competing. Instead of standing with the block between the contestant’s lips, the couples were asked to do different animal movements such as: flamingo, gorilla, beached whale, kangaroo and more. The last 12 couples standing moved on to the next task.

“We were really planned out, but at the beginning, with our animal kiss off, we only had a couple of ideas for them to do,” said Ryan Erwin, announcer for the event. “We went through them really quick and all couples were still in, so we had to start making some up.”

The next event was the Chocolate Unicorn. Couples stacked Ding Dongs, chocolate round cakes, on their foreheads. The first six couples to complete the task continued in the competition with Pink Elephant. Headbands with a slinky connected were placed individually on each of the couples foreheads. The couples worked together to get each slinky to stand in the upright position. The first three couples that accomplished this task proceeded to Mad Dog. Boxes of Tic Tacs were glued on to each end of a ruler. The couples had to place the ruler in their mouth and shake their head until each box was empty. The first two couples to succeed went on to the final round, How’s It Hanging. A banana was tied to a string and strung around the waist of each contestant. The couples, in turn, had to swing the banana between their legs and hit an orange down an isle into a hula hoop. The first couple to finish and win the competition was Hannah Anderson and Sam Anderson.

“The banana game was difficult,” Sam said. “Hannah accidentally hit her orange backwards and that set us back. I was worried there, but for the most part we did pretty good.”

Hannah and Sam each won $100 gift cards to the USU Bookstore.

“It was really fun to take a break from all the stress and be crazy and fun,” Hannah said. “It was just fun to cheer each other on and support each other.”

“I think the Amazing Race will be next for us,” Sam said. “They should do this every year. It was awesome.”

Aggie Radio is going FM

    This September Aggie Radio will officially be an FM broadcasting station. This progression to the Utah State University radio station is due to a change in the Federal Communications Commission.
    “The FCC have these FM frequencies that aren’t being used, and for a long time they weren’t open to the public,” said Cody Scott, Aggie Radio station manager. “Just two years ago they opened them up for application.”
    The application process took just over a year. An application was submitted in September of last school year. Aggie Radio received confirmation in October 2014 that they would be making the transition to FM radio. The station will continue to broadcast online at http://tunein.com/radio/Aggie-Radio-895-s86622/ with a variety of shows each day.
    “Aggie Radio is here to inform students, entertain students and all that; but it is also meant to help the students that get involved with their development,” said Nathan Laursen, Vice President for student services. “Becoming an FM station will only add to that.”
    The radio station will be installing equipment over the summer and should be broadcasting an FM signal by July. The official coming out date is set for Sept. 3 of this year.
    “The reason we would like to start on 9/23 is because our frequency is 92.3,” Scott said. “We are also coming out at that time because of the transition period.”
    Once the transition is made, Aggie Radio will continue to broadcast from their current studio, on the main floor of the Taggart Student Center. Their signal will wirelessly transfer from the Utah Public Radio tower.
    “I feel the transition is going well, we have been working towards this for a while, doing small things like a public file, as well as improving over all quality of the station,” said Riley Thompson, Aggie Radio marketing director.
    Currently, the Aggie Radio website is broadcasting a variety of music genres at different times of the day. Once the station goes FM the genre of the music will be centralized to indie rock.
    “A lot of students like that kind of music and there is no station in the valley that has that,” Scott said. “Music will be played throughout the day and night, but we will also do a morning news/sports show and then talk shows in the afternoon.”
    Right now Aggie Radio is asking for volunteers. The station is a completely 100% volunteer organization. Hours are logged on the school service giving website and last year Aggie Radio had the most hours logged.
    “We need people to come sit in for an hour and do news or music. Aggie Radio has grown a lot this year but we’re not quite where we need to be to go FM,” Scott said. “The nice thing about it is a lot of our staff are young freshmen and sophomores. They’ll probably have a chance to see a day where DJs (people that play music) are payed and one has to apply for the job. So it’d be best to get on the ground floor now.”
    “I am looking forward to the opportunity the students will have, not only students that are involved but those that will be able to listen to the programing these students are doing,” Laursen said.

ARTsySTEM: The Changing Climates of the Arts and Sciences.

     This semester ARTsySTEM is a newly offered class to Utah State University. It allows students to come together and learn how to form science into art, and art into science.
    Two professors teach this class. Professor Mark Koven teaches the art portion of the class and Doctor Nancy Huntly teaches the science portion.
    “We wanted to show that science needs to open up a little bit and not be so narrow,” Koven said. “Art can be more than just a painting on a wall so to speak, it actually has a purpose beyond visualization of information or communication.”
    According to Huntly, the split between artists and scientists in the class is even. The class currently has eight students enrolled.
    “We would like them to start recognizing the value of working with people outside your field, I mean way outside your field,” Huntly said. “There is everything from the conceptualization to the actual hard work of doing the experiment where an artist could be interval.”
    According to Koven, the class is only one brick of the foundation for the overall system - ARTsySTEM. It’s essentially looking to integrate art with the branches of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
    “The way I envision this happening is by having the multi-prong, just like I feel art does,” Koven said. “Art hits you on multiple levels and so the program hits you on multiple levels.”
    The different levels include the course, the lecture series, joint artist/scientist residency, the creation of a public art piece and an exhibition with art donated by visiting scholars throughout the semester.
    The list of visiting scholars for the class consists of artists, scientists and scholars that are both artists and scientists. A few of the visitors will be Allison Kudla on Feb. 19, Mark Dion on March 19, Brandon Ballengee on April 10, Andrea Lucky also on April 10, Rebecca Solnit April 16, Paul Vanouse on April 17, Bonnie Baxter also on April 17, Matthew Coolidge also on April 17 and Andrea Polli who appeared Jan. 22.
    Polli visited campus for the ARTsySTEM class and for the school’s annual Arts Week. That evening Polli gave a lecture to the public and displayed an art piece on the side of the USU Performance Hall. The piece was called “Particle Falls.” A waterfall was projected on the side of the building. The waterfall changed color depending on the air conditions as well as showed particle elements that were currently in the air.
    “Despite the invisibility of air, the modern sensors can detect tiny particulate pollution levels in real time,” Polli said. “Particle falls provides a real time visualization of particulate pollution.”
    The art piece will be re-shown on the evenings that the other visiting scholars give lectures to the class and the public.
    By the end of the semester the class will be broken into groups, including one scientist and one artist. They must come up with an art piece combining the two subjects. This semester the course will pay special attention to water ecology and therefor the final project/art piece will be centered on the Logan River.
    “I would like the students to understand the connections between the two disciplines,” Koven said. “Break down the fear of crossing outside your comfort zone, being in the arts and not wanting to work with a scientist, as well as the necessity to understand the process.”
    The next time this class will be available to students will be spring semester 2017, as it is only offered every other year. 

Trivia Night

    Utah State University Dining Services and Aggie Radio are teaming up to host Trivia Night in the Hub February 5 at 6 p.m. Planners for the event are Karli Salisbury, operations manager at Luke’s Cafe on the Quad, and Riley Thompson, an Aggie Radio marketing director.
    “I am stoked to finally get a trivia night up on campus,” Salisbury said. “Trivia night is meant to bring night life to the Taggart Student Center and create another social outlet for those students who live on campus.”
    According to Salisbury, this will be the first trivia night campus life has seen in five years. Rules for the game were created by Salisbury and the dining services retail marketing team. Six different question categories will be introduced that evening and five rounds will be played.  During each round, one question will be asked from each category. Judges will walk around to check answers and keep score. Once a round is complete scores will be announced and the next round will begin. Winners are promised prizes, a trophy and bragging rights.
    According to Thompson, Aggie Radio is creating a lot of buzz on this event with commercials and liners to play during their various shows.
    “Many DJ's were excited to audition for the position of MC for the event,” Thompson said.
    Dining services is planning a special menu for this event: buffalo wings; deep-fried veggie basket; spinach artichoke dip and nachos.
    According to Jaime Bradford, the assistant director for retail operations, dining services hopes to utilize trivia night to help create an excellent college experience for students.
    “We are excited to start a new tradition here at USU, and are happy to work with another organization on campus,” Thompson said.
    “My hope is that we can do this more than once and turn this in to a monthly event,” Salisbury said.

Campus parking get’s a facelift.

    The Big Blue parking terrace and the Blue Premium parking lot have some new machinery that intends to speed up the payment process while exiting the structures.
    According to James Nye, director of parking and transportation services, one would have the option to pay at the ticket reader, the employee booth or with the new stand alone parking booth.
    “Stand alone parking allows you to pay in advance for either parking in the Blue Premium or the Big Blue terrace. You scan your ticket and pay. You have an allotted amount of time to get to your car and exit the structure. That should make it go more quickly by having alternate options of payment,” Rebecca Turner, a staff assistant in the parking and transportation office said.
    This booth is located at the bottom of the South staircase in the Big Blue parking terrace.
    According to the parking and transportation advisory committee’s new resolution, the Big Blue parking terrace and the Blue Premium parking lot are two of the most used parking lots on campus. These parking structures are important to the success of student life functions on campus. The Big Blue parking terrace has a capacity of 317 stalls. Currently, 100 permits are allotted to the faculty/staff of the university and the remaining 217 stalls are available to the public. The Blue Premium lot has 155 stalls; 15 are dedicated to service vehicles/disabled permits and 142 are left for students with a Blue permit.
    Last semester these two parking structure’s work hours were from 7:30 a.m. - 10 p.m., Monday - Thursday, 7:30 a.m. - 7 p.m. Fridays. Once closed, the gates of the structures would open and let vehicles out without charge.
    “People would park there all day and leave when the gates go up. We’d have as many as 125 - 150 vehicles leave when the gates go up,” Nye said.
    The hours have now changed and parking in these two structures will be a 24 hour business. There will be no more raising the gate at 10 p.m. to let vehicles out. The gate will now drop at 7:30 a.m. Monday morning and will raise at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Student functions will have free parking Friday night’s and weekends. There will still be a booth attendant to assist people from 7:30 a.m. - 11 p.m. week days. During off hours one will have to pay at the new ticket reader.
    “It really encourages the students to be in there for the time they need to be. We’re not saying you can’t use it for an emergency place to park but just to pay for your time that you’re in there, rather than just having your friends bring you up at night to get your car,” Turner said.
    According to Nye, some concerns have been expressed on how this 24 hour change could effect the student center and their functions on week nights. To offset this issue, the Aggie shuttle is now running until 9pm.
    “You can pick up every 10 minutes and it’ll take you around campus or down to the stadium parking lot and that has really helped a lot,” Nye said.
    According to Nye, campus might see a new parking terrace in the next 5-10 years.