UI ranks as the #1 Best Value Public School in the West fifth time
U.S. News and & World Report rankings
Georgia Swanson ARGONAUT
The U.S. News & World Report college rankings were released for 2025, announcing the University of Idaho as the Best Value Public School in the West for the fifth consecutive year.
This year, Washington State University dropped 11 spots to 189th in the Best National Universities category and UI has moved up six spots to 179th. This puts UI ahead of WSU by 10 ranks.
UI was also ranked 23rd in the category of Best Value Schools nationwide. The Best Value Rankings reflect an institution’s academic quality and the average cost of attendance for out-of-state
students after receiving financial aid.
According to the U.S. News & World Report’s introduction to the Best Value Schools category, “The higher the quality of the program and the lower the cost, the better the deal. Only schools ranked in or near the top half of their categories are included because U.S. News considers the most significant values to be among colleges that are above average academically.”
UI’s ranking as #23 is significant as most universities ranked above them on the nationwide Best Value Schools list are private schools, with the only public school ranked higher than UI being the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
Other notable rankings UI was assigned are as follows:
#179 in National Universities
#97 in Top Public Schools
#88 in Top Performers on Social Mobility
#124 in Best Colleges for
in a row
#156 in Best Undergraduate Engineering Programs #162 in Best Undergraduate Computer Science
#147 in Best Undergraduate Business #214 in Economics
According to Jodi Walker, Senior Director of Communications for UI, the rankings reflect the commitment UI has to the value of its students.
The rankings are a great recruitment tool for attracting more students to UI, which grows the university, helps with diversity, and provides more money and a better educational experience for all students, Walker said.
“The university is always looking for ways to increase assets and value to our students, so we continue to raise money for scholarships,” Walker said. “We continue to work with our industry
Macy Gilbert ARGONAUT
Anticipation rises as Homecoming Weekend closes in. The theme, “Where Vandal Dreams Come True,” will fill the campus with magical moments and familiar faces, setting the stage for an unforgettable week.
As alumni begin to arrive this Friday, the festivities heat up. The Oktoberfest Tap the Keg event will take place from 3:30 to 7 p.m. for patrons 21 and older, offering various alcoholic drinks and snacks. Later, the most vandalized fan will be announced at the women’s volleyball game.
At 8 p.m., the much-anticipated Serpentine will wind through campus. Led by the marching band and spirit squad, students will march through the campus, building a sense of camaraderie and excitement. The procession will end at the Kibbie Dome, where the Homecoming Committee will crown the student royalty.
institution in the area and the highest in
Though there won’t be a drone show this year, as last year’s sponsor was unable to participate, planners are working to bring it back next year. Fireworks will light up the Kibbie Dome parking lot at 9 p.m.
The grand finale of Homecoming Week takes place Saturday, Oct. 5, with a tailgate, the 116th Homecoming Parade and the annual football game. The day will feature live music, socializing and plenty of school spirit. Tickets are expected to sell quickly, so attendees are encouraged to purchase them soon.
The week’s events are organized by the Student Alumni Relations Board and the Homecoming Committee. According to Homecoming President Xochitl Perez, work for the event began just weeks after last year’s celebration.
Public discussion held about Proposition 1
Idahoans for Open Primaries advocates for ranked choice voting
Proponents of Proposition 1 on November’s election ballot say open primaries and ranked choice voting will give every Idahoan a greater voice in elections and reduce the political partisanship in current elections.
The group Idahoans for Open Primaries hosted a discussion about what it said are the benefits of passing Proposition 1 on Monday, Sept. 30 at the Kenworthy Theater in Moscow.
Three special guests were at the event to represent different groups and talk about the positives of the bill along with answering any questions audience members had.
The night began with an overview of the two-part bill. The first part is about open primaries in elections, meaning Idaho voters don’t have to declare their political party affiliation to vote in primary elections. There will be no ranking of candidates in the primary election; it is simply to choose the favored candidate and will not be limited to the Democratic or Republican parties.
What to know about ranked choice voting
Paige Wilton ARGONAUT
Ranked choice voting (RCV), a process in which voters individually rank candidates rather than choosing just one candidate, is now a proposed state initiative that would change the course of voting in the state of Idaho.
RCV is a form of voting where the candidates put on the ballot would be subject to individual ranking, meaning that voters rank them in order of preference. This method gives more insight into the specific popularity of each candidate rather than the traditional ‘one or the other’ option that primaries
The second part of the bill will institute a ranked choice voting system during general elections. The top four candidates in the primary will move to the general election and voters can choose their candidates by rank. Ranked choice voting is a system that counts all the first choice votes and eliminates the candidate with the fewest first choice votes.
If no candidate receives more than 51% of the votes, then the next round will begin and everyone who chose the candidate who lost in the first round will then have their vote count toward their second ranked choice. This process will continue until a majority leader emerges.
Luke Mayville acted as the moderator of the event and gave an overview of the bill. Mayville is the executive director and co-founder of Reclaim Idaho, a grassroots organization that spearheaded the 2018 ballot initiative to expand Medicaid in Idaho.
When discussing the core values of Proposition 1, Mayville said, “We believe every Idaho voter should have a real voice in our elective system.”
With ranked choice voting, the Idahoans for Open Primaries believe each voter, regardless of political party affiliation, will have a stronger voice with the opportunity for a second-choice vote.
candidates, and then reallocating the votes from the lowest ranked candidate to the other candidates.”
As ballots are tallied and votes come in, the candidate with the fewest votes would be eliminated first. For voters whose ballots ranked the failed candidate as their first pick, their votes would be reevaluated, with their second-choice candidate moving to their priority. From there, a new tally will conclude if there is a candidate that has won with an outright majority. If passed, Idaho Proposition 1, the Top-Four Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative, would strip away the classical partisan primary system and replace it with a topfour primary system. This means that the leading four candidates then go on to the general election
Mayville then introduced the two other special guests, starting with Joe Stegner, a Republican in the Idaho Senate who served from 1998-2011 and acted as assistant majority leader. He is a Vandal alum and served as Special Assistant for State Government Relations for UI.
Stegner was in the Idaho Senate when the closed primaries were instituted and said he voted.
“In my opinion it was put into place to manipulate primary elections by making people declare their party affiliations and not allowing them choice of candidates other than whatever the party puts up,” Stegner said.
The second special guest was Christie Wood, an Air Force veteran who retired as an Airman First Class before moving to law enforcement in Coeur d’Alene. Wood worked as a police officer for 26 years and currently serves as a city council member in Coeur d’Alene and board member of Veterans for Idaho Voters.
During her introduction, Wood read several testimonies of Idaho veteran voters for the audience to understand how people with a military background are reacting to Proposition 1. One testimony said, “I could vote for the person and he or she addresses issues not for the party or the party line.”
According to Wood, Idaho has the
ment, statewide, or federal elective office,” the law states.
On Nov. 5, 2024, the Idaho Proposition 1 would potentially be overriding the law set by Little in 2023 and enacting RCV in Idaho.
Although this would be a new form of voting for the state, McBrayer points out some theoretical benefits to this system.
“There are many theoretical benefits, like ideological moderation, a more complete expression of candidate preferences, larger and more diverse candidate pools and less negative campaigning,” McBrayer says.
If this initiative passes, it will change how voting works in Idaho. Due to the significance of it, there are many opposing opinions on it. While groups like Idahoans for
sixth highest number of veteran voters in the United States. With approximately 160,000 veterans in the state, most prefer to vote Independent and because of this, are unable to participate in primary elections without declaring a political party.
After introductions and speeches, the event moved to a Q&A segment where audience members could ask for clarification and more details about Proposition 1.
One audience member asked, “Why would people vote no? What are the negatives of the bill?” Mayville touched on the point of cost estimates, with one expert claiming it could cost as much as $40 million. Mayville countered this by saying Maine was able to implement a similar system without costing each voter more than a dollar. Utah was able to do it with a software update.
Another member of the audience asked about the Alaskan system, where an open primary system was recently put into place and is already being challenged. The person wanted to know what the likelihood is that Idaho will go through all this work to get the bill passed only for it to be challenged. Mayville responded with, “Part of the reality of trying to reform things for the better [in a democracy] is that sometimes no victory is ever final.”
How do you feel about a new high school in Moscow?
A group of students on campus is conducting a public relations survey as part of their capstone project to analyze the public’s reaction to the funding of a new public high school in Moscow The group consists of senior advertising and public relations majors. There is a lack of funding in the Idaho public school system, according to the group, and the state requires a pass with 67% of the votes on such bonds. The goal of the proposed bond would be to help the Moscow School District secure the funds necessary to construct a new high school building. Submitted answers will provide the capstone project with valuable insights. All recorded responses will be anonymous, and the survey takes five to seven minutes to complete.
encouraged to complete this survey by
Advertising and PR Capstone Group | Survey QR Code to public relations survey.
John Keegan | Argonaut
The Idaho State Capitol Building located in Boise
Student selected
for the
Scholars of Conservation Leadership program
Mary Visger wants to make the conservation field more diverse
Andrea Roberts ARGONAUT
A student from the University of Idaho was selected for the Scholars of Conservation Leadership program by the Land Trust Alliance in partnership with the USDA and U.S. Forest Services.
Mary Visger is a student majoring in wildlife resources and minoring in creative writing at UI.
“Mary is a beautiful writer, but she also has a passion for science communication through creative writing,” Ajiah Gilbert, the Community-Center Conservation Program Manager for the Land Trust Alliance, wrote in an email to the Argonaut. “Her application inspired me and the other application reviewers.”
Visger saw her acceptance to the Scholars Program as assurance that she belonged in the field of conservation.
“This acceptance is a personal affirmation that I’m still able to pursue my career in wildlife conservation in a competitive field,” Visger wrote in an email to the Argonaut.
She would also like to inspire children interested in the field of conservation to be passionate about pursuing careers in the field.
Visger became interested in conservation in high school when she learned of a species that would go extinct at her local zoo.
“Not wanting to imagine a world without some of Earth’s
awe-inspiring species, these experiences ignited my passion for wildlife conservation,” Visger wrote. “My passion led me to apply for the Scholars for Conservation Leadership Program because although my dedication for wildlife conservation is constant, I want to explore numerous possibilities of how to protect species.”
Visger is the only one in her family to enter the wildlife conservation field. She was urged to apply for the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program Collaborative by her counselor in her freshman year, where she was accepted that summer.
This led her to apply for the UI Semester in the Wild program the next year.
“To this day, I deeply value conservation programs and their opportunities,” Visger wrote.
The Scholars Program highlights how they want applicants from underrepresented communities and diverse backgrounds.
“At the Alliance we recognize that certain people and communities have been excluded from the larger conservation conversation,” Gilbert wrote. “We’re hoping to make the conservation field more diverse, because diverse voices bring different perspectives and solutions that we otherwise wouldn’t have.”
Visger also shared her struggle with having a disability and being represented in the line of work she wants to pursue. She
wants to advocate for students with disabilities with the opportunity of the Scholars Program.
Visger mentioned how she is half-Filipino and how she would like more representation of her heritage in the conservation field.
“I find this absence unfortunate because being a Filipino drives so many of my conservation actions and defines who I am as a wildlife conservationist,” Visger wrote. “This program will help me share my Filipino culture with the conservation field and perhaps, integrate some Filipino values into some ecological practices and encourage other Filipinos to enter the conservation field.”
Visger attended Rally 2024: The National Land Conservation Conference in Rhode Island from Sept. 25-28 with other selected scholars. The students had opportunities to make professional connections, attend workshops and learn how to further their careers.
Visger expressed gratitude for her family and all who have helped her through schooling and that led her to the Scholars Program.
“This program will encourage me to explore numerous opportunities in the conservation field, some of which I’m enthusiastic to be involved in for my first time,” Visger wrote. “This acceptance is a step in the right direction.”
UI releases 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report
Report highlights trends in various crime reports
The University of Idaho’s 2024 Annual Security and Fire Safety Report was released to the public on Sept. 30.
The report includes statistics from 2021, 2022 and 2023 and, according to the bulk email introducing the report, “includes information concerning reportable crimes that occurred on-campus, in certain off-site buildings or property owned or controlled by UI and on public property within or immediately adjacent to and accessible from university property.”
The report found that the university saw a 600% increase in burglaries from 2022.There were seven burglaries in 2023, one in 2022 and 11 in 2021
There were zero reported robbery incidents this past year, four in 2022 and eight in 2021.
There were five aggravated assaults in 2023, one on campus, one on campus in student housing, two noncampus and one on private property. There were four aggravated assaults in 2022 and only one in the year prior.
Motor vehicle theft rose, with seven incidents occurring in 2023; six on campus and one noncampus. There were two in 2022 and four in 2021.
There have been zero reports of murder, negligent manslaughter and arson in the past three years.
There were 15 reported rapes in 2023 compared to three in 2022. Of the 15, seven were on campus, six were on campus student housing and two were noncampus. There were 16 counts of rape reported in 2021.
There were five reports of fondling in 2023, with two on campus, one on campus student housing and two noncampus.
There were no reports of incest or statutory rape.
Reported Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) violations include two counts of dating violence in 2023, two counts in 2022 and nine in 2021.There were eight counts of domestic violence in 2023, 12 in 2022 and zero in 2021. There were nine counts of stalking in 2023, eight in 2022 and 10 in 2021.
There were 54 arrests for liquor law violations this past year, with 17 on campus, one on campus student housing, 10 noncampus and 26 on public property. There were 53 total liquor law violations in 2022 and a high count of 74 in 2021.
There were 246 liquor law violations that resulted in disciplinary referrals in 2023, with 80 on campus, 78 on campus student housing, 82 noncampus and six on public property. In 2022 there were 86 and in 2021 there were 46.
There was a high number of drug abuse violation arrests, with 56 occurring in 2023. Sixteen were on campus, five were on campus student housing, 28 noncampus and seven on public property. There were 46 arrests in 2022 and 25 arrests in 2021.
There were three counts of illegal weapon possession arrests this year; two noncampus and one on public property. There were two illegal weapon
possession arrests in both 2022 and 2021.
There was one hate crime in 2023, which was intimidation based on race, occurring on on-campus property.
This report is required of all federally funded universities by the Clery Act.
It should be noted that this report only includes statistics from within campus limits and does not include other events that took place in the city of Moscow.
All students, faculty, staff and visitors are encouraged to promptly and accurately report criminal incidents, accidents, emergencies and non-emergencies. For emergencies, call 911. For non-emergencies and other reports, call Vandal Security at (208) 885-7233.
New composting system implemented on campus
New system funded by $90,300 grant
As the University of Idaho continues to pursue more sustainable practices on campus, an Earth Flow composting system will be available to the dining halls starting this fall. Food waste will be turned into a nutrient-rich soil amendment that can be repurposed for campus landscaping projects, according to the university.
Sarah Dawson, the Director of Sustainability, provided more detailed information.
The machine itself is not in the dining hall – it is a 40-foot shipping container located outside of the facilities building on campus.
Dawson commented on the actual composting process, saying “Both pre- and post-consumer food waste is collected by Dining Services staff at the dining hall. They put the food waste in toters that
are specific to that purpose. The toters are picked up by the RSSW team and taken to the composter where they are lifted by a tote-tipper and emptied into one end of the composter.”
An equivalent amount of wood chips are then added to the food waste mix as a bulking agent. These chips are sourced from campus trees that required removal and local arborists.
Over the course of several weeks, the compost is mixed, and usable material comes out the other side of the machine. This compost is then able be used across campus for different landscaping projects. Any leftover compost will be sold to members of the community.
This composting machine was funded by a grant given by the Idaho Department of
Environmental Quality. The total grant amount awarded was $90,300 and the entirety of that money has been spent on this project.
UI aims to reduce the amount of waste sent to the landfill by 60% with the use of this system. This will also reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions associated with waste disposal.
For those looking to contribute to the composting system, the machine can accept all food waste except for pure liquid, bones larger than two inches in diameter, bioplastics, woody waste, green waste and paper products.
The Earth Flow composting system will accelerate UI toward achieving their carbon neutrality goal, according to the university.
Mary Visger Courtesy
Mary Visger in front of Rhode Island State House
Rebekah
John Keegan | Argonaut
The dust storm looms over one of UI’s water towers
John Keegan | Argonaut
Vandal Security and Moscow Police patrol campus
What’s Vandal Break Bus?
Chartered, professionally-driven buses to take students to locations in Idaho for breaks, sponsored by Parking and Transportation Services and the Dean of Students Office. Choose from two on-campus pickup locations: Wallace Residence Center or Bruce Pitman Center.
Vandal Break Bus Schedule
Fall break: Departs Nov. 23 | Returns Dec. 1 | Early bird deadline: Oct. 15*
Winter break: Departs Dec. 14 | Returns Jan. 5 | Early bird deadline: Oct. 15*
Spring break: Departs March 8 | Returns Mar. 16 | Early bird deadline: Feb. 7*
Two Idaho routes | Two great prices!
Advance purchase REQUIRED | Reservations sold first-come, first-ser ved
Buses pick up at Wallace at 7:10 a.m. and at Pitman at 7:35 a.m.
Travel to any city within the selected route
Early Bird purchase strongly encouraged!
Price is per round trip, per each academic break
Purchase o ne reser vation per student per break
Boise route
*EARLY BIRD PRICE: $135
LATE PURCHASE PRICE: $165
(If seats are still avail able)
Stops at: New Meadows Weiser Payette Caldwell
Nampa Meridian Boise
Idaho Falls route
*EARLY BIRD PRICE: $200
LATE PURCHASE PRICE: $240
(If seats are still avail able)
Stops at: Mtn. Home Bliss
Twin Falls
Burley
Pocatello
Blackfoot
Idaho Falls
parking@uidaho.edu
208 885 6424
www.uidaho.edu/breakbus
A wacky night with the Addams Family
UI presents “The Addams Family: A New Musical,” bringing humor and heart to the stage
Presley Zimmerman ARGONAUT
Get ready to embrace the kookiness and charm of the Addams family as UI presents “The Addams Family: A New Musical” from Oct. 24 to Nov. 3 at the Hartung Theatre.
This comical feast, written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice and music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, promises to be a delightful experience for audiences of all ages.
Craig Miller, the director of the production, shared insights on his approach to this beloved story. “It is always a little tricky when you are approaching such a long-lasting franchise,” he explained.
“There have been many interpretations of this spooky and kooky clan since the original... Our production strikes the right amount of iconography and new, so audiences will clearly recognize their favorite characters, but with a fun and creative flare.”
Unlike previous adaptations, this musical elevates the Addams Family’s quirky charm through song and dance.
“While there has always existed a sense of musicality in the Addams Family, this version takes that musicality and elevates it to being the vehicle for the story,” Miller said.
“There are lots of songs, lots of songs, but there is also a tremendous amount of dance numbers, expertly choreographed by Professor of Musical Theatre, Jess Hirsch and brilliantly executed by the immensely talented cast.”
As rehearsals progressed, Miller witnessed memorable moments that highlighted the actors’ growth and creativity.
“There is always a special moment in each process when the actors are mostly memorized and they start to drop their scripts, and the room suddenly explodes with all this creative energy,” he recalled.
“Once those lines are learned, the performers really get to connect with each other and there is this glorious sense of playing; making bold character choices and discoveries, which is extra important when playing such vibrant and larger-than-life characters.”
One of the production’s most significant themes is the concept of normalcy and belonging. “In this
DIY Halloween decor
A fun and spooky way to get creative for Halloween decor this year
There has been a distinct chill in the air lately, meaning that spooky season is officially upon us. Halloween is a staple holiday in the fall season, so it’s time to start getting ready for it!
This DIY Halloween decoration is great to make by yourself or with friends, and it is bound to make your house, apartment or dorm room look so festive and exciting this season. Embrace the holiday spirit and let your creative side shine!
For this DIY decor, we will be creating the “Glowing Spider Nest.” The following is all the materials to get started:
-Fake spiders
-String lights
-Tape
-Scissors
-Fake cobwebs
This decoration is meant to bring a festive feel to any surface of your
choice. After you have collected all your materials for the decoration, it is time for the fun part.
First, you will lay out your string of lights onto the surface and try to get a good amount of coverage over the whole thing. You may need to tape them down in a few spots to get the lights to stick.
Secondly, you’ll start stretching out the fake cobwebs and putting them over the surface and the lights however you want; do your best to make it look like a real spider’s web!
You may want to cut some smaller chunks to make it easier to work with. You’ll want to tape down the edges of the cobwebbing, ensuring that your tape is sticking to the surface as well, otherwise the cobwebs won’t remain stuck.
Once you have your cobwebs laid out how you want them to be, start placing the fake spiders all over the cobwebbing. Make each spider face different directions for a more realistic touch and a bit of fun variety. If you would like, you can also place other fake bugs along with the spiders.
version, Wednesday has fallen in love with a ‘normal’ boy,” Miller noted. “What is so fun and so endearing about this version of the Addams Family for our campus and student community is that Wednesday and her love interest, Lucas, are of an age that is relatable to our student audience.” He says, “The magic of this piece is that it manages to touch on all these experiences and themes, while being delivered through song, dance, a hilarious script.”
Miller hopes the audience will walk away with a deeper understanding of family dynamics and the importance of embracing differences. “I truly believe that it is this family’s odd, macabre ways that amplify that for the audience,” he said, “We are all living in an extremely polarized world, my hope is
Wicked
that audiences leave asking themselves, ‘Normal? What does that even mean?’”
The production will run at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 24, 25, 31 and Nov. 1, 2, with matinee performances at 2 p.m. on Oct. 27 and Nov. 3. Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased online.
Admission is free for UI students, $26 for general admission, $6 for kids 18 and under, $16 for seniors and military, and $21 for UI employees.
For those attending the Halloween night performance, there will be special pre-show activities.
Audiences can participate in Trickor-Treating in the lobby with fun characters, a costume contest on stage during intermission with prizes and the chance to meet the cast in full costume after the show.
Wednesdays to begin at Kenworthy
The annual tradition of horror movies is back for another year
Megan Kingsley ARGONAUT
UI JAMM students and the Moscow Film Society have chosen four different spooky movies to be shown at the Kenworthy throughout the month of October. These movie nights are known as “Wicked Wednesdays” which have become an annual tradition for the local theater. You can look forward to snacks, frights and seeing classic movies on the big screen. Each showing is on Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. Admittance is $8. The schedule for this year is as follows:
Oct. 2: Sorcerer Oct. 9: Coraline
Oct. 16: Killer Klowns from Outer Space
Oct. 23: Get Out
Oct. 30 : Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
Brooklynn Jolley ARGONAUT
Brooklynn Jolley | Argonaut DIY Halloween decorations
Hailee Mallett | Argonaut New carpet and seating inside the Kenworthy in 2021
Bringing archaeology to the public
Dr. Mark Warner believes everyone should be an anthropologist
Victoria Kingsmore ARGONAUT
Surrounded by stacks of books, scattered papers and the chaos of everything an anthropology professor needs, you might be able to find Mark Warner in his office when he’s not teaching. If not there, he is usually right down the hall in the archaeology lab, helping grad students with their work on recently unearthed artifacts from around Idaho.
Whatever the case, you find Mark when he finds you, and he seems to show up right when you need him.
Dr. Mark Warner is an anthropology professor at the University of Idaho and a historical archaeologist with over 35 years of experience. Originally from Michigan, Warner has been working for Idaho history and archaeology since 2003, starting with an excavation on a farmstead near Troy and most recently excavating near Moscow High School with UI students.
Warner often questions the social relevance of anthropology and archaeology — what is the value of what he does? When it comes to recent history, like local Moscow history just 100 years ago, he notes the familiarity of what’s left behind. Why does archaeology in a town like Moscow matter?
Collaborating with his colleagues Katrina Eichner and Renae Campbell, Warner is a part of Idaho Public Archaeology (IPA), a project that sets out to make archaeological excavations forward facing and collaborative with a community.
Take Moscow High School, for example — community members came out to dig alongside the Vandal students enrolled in the field school throughout the excavation. A point was made, Warner says, to have the dig sites be easily accessible so that anyone could see archaeology happening in real time.
“We have been doing a lot of smallscale projects that are very oriented towards the public. We try to do it in a place where people can come visit and we try to get people to volunteer, to say ‘this is how archaeology can contribute to Idaho’s history and be a meaningful contribution to the state,’” Warner said. “It’s history right there!”
Though they’re “not even close” to synthesizing everything, what they found at Moscow High School was
mostly trash. Bottles, containers, and animal remains dating from around the founding of Moscow at the turn of the 20th century. Before the high school was built, a neighborhood stood on that land, allowing trash to inevitably be left behind.
students are working on master’s theses based on those materials. Meanwhile, Warner and his IPA colleagues are writing on the “bigger picture” of field schools and archaeology within communities.
Not only does Warner facilitate
Trash can tell you a lot about a person, Warner insists. “I can learn a lot more about you from your trash than I can from your social media presence, or if it was thirty years ago, your diaries. You project a curated version of your life, but your trash is going to say the actual reality. It’s stuff you don’t even think about.”
Warner reported that the high school dig had 35 students working last fall excavating and then later in the spring, the biggest field school in memory, to Warner’s delight. Select students worked for the archaeology lab to do base-level analysis and processing of all they found. Currently, 3 graduate
Coffee on Campus
Discover your favorite places to grab a coffee within the UI Campus
Macy Gilbert ARGONAUT
As you head to your daily classes, inhaling the crisp autumn air, the thought of a steaming cup of coffee might cross your mind. With time, money and your academic needs in mind, finding the right spot for a caffeine fix is essential. Outside of ISUB locations like Einstein Bagels and Soda Spout, several places on campus cater to your caffeine cravings. Whether you’re fighting late-night cramming exhaustion, yawning in your 8 a.m. lecture or simply looking to enjoy a latte on a fall day, here are a few places to check out.
First up is Thomas Hammer Coffee. Upon entering the campus bookstore, you’ll be greeted by the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee, courtesy of Thomas Hammer. Known for its creative menu, Thomas Hammer offers a variety of unique drinks for adventurous customers. The most popular item, the “caramanilla,” blends espresso with milk, caramel and vanilla bean. For those feeling bold, there are options featuring jalapeño, lavender and orange.
Beyond coffee, the shop offers teas, energy drinks, smoothies and a selection of breakfast items, baked goods and sandwiches. While the variety is impressive, some may find the coffee’s bitter aftertaste off-putting. The price
may also be a drawback for students, with drinks ranging from $4 to $7, roughly $2 more than other campus options. For those particular about flavor, it may be worth the splurge, but for others, it might leave something to be desired. Thomas Hammer earns a 6/10 rating for its offerings.
One can also visit One World Café in the Jansen Engineering Building.
Tucked inside the Jansen Engineering Building, a satellite of the popular One World Café offers a convenient stop for students with busy schedules. Though it’s centrally located, the café’s limited hours of 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. are a drawback for some. Despite this, the space’s vibrant yellow walls, calming music and abundance of natural light make it a pleasant environment for studying or taking a break.
According to staff, the café’s atmosphere shifts from “productive and bustling” to “relaxed” throughout the day, providing a flexible study space. The drinks, like their caramel vanilla latte, strike a perfect balance of sweet and bitter. With reasonable prices, the campus One World Café is a reliable option, earning a solid 7/10.
Last but not least -- Monica’s Coffee Bar. For an all-around standout spot, Monica’s Coffee Bar, located next to Saint Augustine’s Catholic Center, is a must-visit. With a 20% student discount and hours from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monica’s caters well to the student lifestyle. The large tables and quiet atmosphere, free from external noise, make it an ideal place to study or
Warner somewhat stumbled into his passion for anthropology and archaeology. Attending Beloit College in Wisconsin without a clear goal in mind, he took a low-level anthropology class and found himself intrigued. The summer after graduating, he “packed everything up” and volunteered at an excavation, making it “the best summer of my life” — though he might just be saying that to convince you to be an anthropologist.
Shortly after earning participating in the summer excavation, he took on various jobs before ending up with the National Forest Service. All this time being outside pushed him into graduate school, where he eventually realized how much fun anthropology and archaeology could be. He earned an M.A. in Applied Anthropology at the University of Maryland, and soon after, a Ph.D. in Anthropology at the University of Virginia.
How did he end up at the UI? “I needed a job!” he said, but he did add that UI had a space for historical archaeology, Warner’s specialization.
Warner makes it clear, though, that it does not matter where the archaeology takes place. Every location, every state and every group of people have stories to tell that can be found again through anthropology.
“What makes cities distinctive, and what gives cities soul, is hanging out in their history,” he said.
When asked about his personal strategy when teaching anthropology, Warner said with a laugh, “I try not to bore them too much, but I also use them and their lives to teach about these concepts, using them as examples.”
hands-on student teaching with field schools like the high school excavation, the results filter into his own work and research. Warner’s studies tend to focus on those whose lives are lost to time, making everyday people who may have been invisible become visible again. He is focused on adding to a story of the past so that those today can understand the local history of our state.
“It’s all about showing how history and archaeology can be accessible to communities in Idaho,” he said about the drive behind his work. “[Archaeology and anthropology] are important because we live in a really small world now.”
chat with friends.
The mocha, a popular choice according to staff, exemplifies the shop’s balance of rich coffee flavor and sweetness. Alongside coffee, Monica’s offers Lotus drinks, snacks, matcha and tea. While the café’s religious connection is evident in its décor, the friendly staff
At the end of the day, Warner is an educator for a reason—to encourage others to think about the world in the most human way possible.
“Anthropology, in its broadest sense, is the study of humans and studying them through a lot of different ways. There’s a value to understanding people. [Especially] trying to understand the differences between and among people because we’re living in a world that’s getting smaller, not bigger,” Warner said when asked why someone should study anthropology.
“In 1820 your world was 50 miles… but that’s not the case today. We live in a global economy, our consumer choices are global in nature, and it’s an incredibly complex and diverse world we live in.”
and welcoming atmosphere ensure all patrons feel comfortable. For affordability, quality and ambiance, Monica’s Coffee Bar earns 8.5/10.
Next time you’re in need of a coffee break, try these spots and decide which one best fits your taste and budget.
Mark Warner | Courtesy
Mark Warner leads archeaology dig at Moscow High School
KUOI to celebrate College Radio Day tomorrow
Student-run station to join in worldwide recognition of college radio
KUOI, the University of Idaho’s radio station, will celebrate College Radio Day on Friday, Oct. 4, with a full day of live programming. The station’s studio, located on the third floor of the Bruce M. Pitman Center in Moscow, will be open for visitors to tour and learn more about KUOI.
College Radio Day is an annual event started in 2011 by Dr. Rob Quicke and Peter Kreten, who were general managers of college radio stations at William Paterson University and Saint Xavier University, respectively, according to collegeradio.org.
“The aim of College Radio Day is to raise greater international awareness of the many college and high school radio stations that operate around the world by encouraging people who would not normally listen to college radio to do so on this day,” the website states.
MoNdAy
DeMoCrAcY NoW
Today, more than 40 countries come together to celebrate high school and college radio stations. KUOI has been a participant in the event since the beginning, according to KUOI Program Manager Gus Trudell-Richardson.
“College Radio Day is important to me because it shines a light on college radio stations,” Trudell-Richardson said. “College radio is kind of a dying art because people don’t listen to the radio anymore. I like to see that light on it and the attention it gets. There are a lot of really cool college radio stations that deserve more attention, like KUOI.”
KUOI has a long history of involvement with College Radio Day, earning an Outstanding Leadership award from the organization in 2013 for its commitment. When asked why people should pay attention to College Radio Day, Trudell-Richardson said, “They should pay attention because College Radio Day is important for college stations like KUOI to stay afloat. It gives them an outlet to share information about the stations. If people are interested in college radio, radio in general and music, it’s a great opportunity to hear about it and learn more.”
KUOI began broadcasting on Oct. 29, 1945, and has grown over the decades. Today, the station has seven staff members, around 20 DJs and 26 programs that air weekly. Before this
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semester, the station had only about eight or nine shows and two staff members from the previous year.
“I think we’re definitely going to keep growing,” Trudell-Richardson said. “With events like College Radio Day and the more KUOI gets out there and does things, the more people will be interested in reaching out and getting involved.”
Trudell-Richardson, a sophomore hydrology student from Boise, started as a DJ last year but now manages all KUOI’s programs and DJs. When asked what his favorite part of working with KUOI is, he said he “really loves music and always liked radio,” and he wants to “bring KUOI back to the glory days of what it used to be.”
KUOI is a free-form radio station, meaning DJs and programs have the freedom to play whatever genre they choose, if there are no cuss words before 10 p.m. When asked what makes KUOI different from other Moscow radio stations, Trudell-Richardson said, “We don’t really have a genre we play, and there are no ads ever because we’re non-profit. Each DJ’s show is their own thing. It’s going to be different than any other station you’ll ever listen to because it’s all individualized.”
In addition to College Radio Day, KUOI is also planning future events, including the station’s 79th birthday celebration on Oct. 29 and a college radio conference later in the month.
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BaToRuDoRaGoN, battle
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“We just hope to learn more about college radio, what other college radio stations are doing and try to learn from that to help make our station better. We want to use it as a learning experience to find new techniques and make connections with other stations,” Trudell-Richardson said.
Though events like College Radio Day help college stations gain recognition, radio stations still face challenges due to streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify. KUOI has dealt with the effects of streaming, but the station remains optimistic with increasing listenership.
“It’s been around for so long now that it’s already affected us, and we’ve been dealing with it for a while,” Trudell-Richardson said. “I think it definitely hit us, but we’re coming back from that. KUOI is streaming online, so you don’t have to be in Moscow to listen to it. You have the web stream anywhere you have Wi-Fi. Most people who like radio continue to listen to radio. They didn’t really move to streaming. There are a lot of people who still listen to the radio in their car.”
To take part in College Radio Day on Oct. 4, visit KUOI on the third floor of the Bruce M. Pitman Center, or listen online at www.kuoi.org or on 89.3 FM.
DeMoCrAcY NoW
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Hannah Hale ARGONAUT
Vandals look to fell the LumberJacks
Idaho returns to Moscow for homecoming
Jack DeWitt ARGONAUT
Coming off a close loss to UC Davis, the Vandals look to flip the script and get their fourth win of the season against Northern Arizona University.
The Vandals will return to the P1FCU Kibbie Dome at 2 p.m. on Oct. 6 to take on the #25 ranked Lumberjacks for their homecoming game.
Coach Eck shared his perspective of Idaho’s road games to start the season and his excitement about returning to the Palouse and playing in front of a home crowd.
“We’ve definitely had a challenging road. I think Northern Arizona is a very good team too, I think they are one of the better teams we have left on our schedule this year,” Eck said. “It’s a
great challenge, we need people to come support this team. I think even in defeat you should be proud of these guys because they are fighting their tails off for you.”
After beating Sacramento State, NAU jumped up from being unranked to being ranked #25 in the FCS. Idaho, who was previously ranked #4, dropped down to #10 after the 28-26 loss to the Aggies. Idaho lost starting TE
Jake Cox for the season after going down with a knee injury. Starting QB Jack Wagner reaggravated his shoulder injury from earlier in the season, but Eck is hopeful about his status for Saturday. The Lumberjacks are ranked #3 in the Big Sky for total offense with 169 total points, as well #3 for total defense with opponents averaging 19.8 points per game. The NAU offense is led by QB Ty Pennington, who has 810 passing yards on a 65.7% comple -
tion rate thus far in the season. The Lumberjack rushing game is led by RB Darvon Hubbard, who has ascertained 301 rushing yards on 51 attempts, averaging 5.9 yards per carry.
Idaho’s defense ranks #4 in the Big Sky, which should be a great matchup against NAU’s potent offense. The Vandal defense, led by Linebacker Jaxton Eck, who leads the team in solo tackles with 19 and Edge Keyshawn JamesNewby, a nationwide premier pass rusher with, who leads the
team with 7 sacks, will look to neutralize the NAU rushing attack. Idaho’s offense will look to get back to its early season form. RB’s Elisha Cummings and Nate Thomas will lead the Vandal rushing attack against a Lumberjack defense that has allowed 818 rushing yards across all matchups this season. Cummings and Thomas have a combined average of 109.6 yards per game, with 5 touchdowns between them while sharing a near 50-50 attempt rate.
The nightmare on Stadium Drive: Meet Keyshawn James-Newby
Learn more about one of the nation’s best defensive linemen
Bryce Norwood ARGONAUT
If you are a fan of Vandal football, I am sure you have heard the phrase, “Sack by Keyshawn James-Newby” plenty of times. The senior defensive lineman has made his presence felt by quarterbacks across the nation ranging from Eugene to Albany. But what if I told you this dominant force wasn’t always a Vandal?
Keyshawn James-Newby played at Helena High School in Helena, Montana, and was originally committed and played at Montana Tech, a NAIA program in Butte, Montana.
In his time with the Orediggers, James-Newby was able to post 40 total tackles with 8.5 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks in his 2022 campaign. His success with Montana Tech helped him gain traction to transfer to another school.
Keyshawn James-Newby has to do a ton of work to get himself noticed coming from a NAIA program, having to make his own connections, which eventually got him to Idaho for 2023.
“Transferring out of there was difficult, transferring from one division to another. NAIA to division one FCS, it was very hard for me,” James-Newby said. “I was able to adapt to it, and it really was only hard getting out of there since there is no transfer portal, so you’re contacting and emailing
everycoach for a shot.”
In his initial season with Idaho, he had himself a respectable season, posting 38 tackles, 7 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks, and was an impact player on the 2023 team that reached the FCS Playoff quarterfinal.
“I think last year was a big chapter for this team. I think that how we are playing this year we are learning from last year how to learn from our mistakes, and always starting fast,” James-Newby said. “We always talk about doing your 1/11th right, that has been so important to us I can’t even tell you enough.”
The Vandals have recently hired a new defensive coordinator for the 2024 season, Coach Dan Jackson, who was previously Vanderbilt’s defensive backs coach. With this coaching change, James-Newby and the Vandals defense have seen a revamp of defensive schemes, which has been the fire for this year’s team success.
“I like the way Dan Jackson has his defensive scheme. I think he’s a smart guy too, putting up a specific play against a specific offensive formation. He’s really good at that,” James-Newby said. “As for the way our team reacts to it and handles it, I think we do very well in everyone doing our job.”
James-Newby currently sits at seven sacks on the year, already surpassing his sack total of five from 2023. He also ranks second in the nation for the FCS, with five of his seven sacks coming against FBS competition, putting up two sacks against Oregon, and three sacks against
Wyoming. James-Newby also has 23 total tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss, four QB hits, and two forced fumbles on the year, proving his dominance and leadership within the Vandal defense.
“Those three sacks from Wyoming?
That was the best feeling ever. I don’t even know how to explain it,”
James-Newby said about his favorite
moment this season. “If I could relive those three sacks again, it just felt like bread and butter, it was just sick.”
Keyshawn James-Newby and the Idaho Vandals look to continue their defensive success in their upcoming game on Saturday, Oct. 5 against the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at 2 p.m.
Riley Vogt | Argonaut Jordan Dwyer celebrates after touchdown catch
John Keegan | Argonaut Nate Thomas shows the crowd love
John Keegan | Argonaut
Corry Thomas Jr. and Keyshawn James-Newby celebrate
End to PAC-12 instability in sight
Five new teams from the Mountain West
Liam Bradford ARGONAUT
In 2023, the long-lasting Power 5 format in college sports was torn apart due to mass conference realignment.
One of the nation’s most beloved conferences—and the only conference that gave any real national recognition to West Coast teams—the Pacific 12 Conference was almost entirely dismantled.
For over half a century, the PAC-12 has been a staple conference in nearly every major sport. What once was an American tradition to finish off a day of watching college football with a “PAC-12 after-dark” showdown was put to an end after the 2023 season. The national championship runners-up, the Washington Huskies, also won the final PAC-12 championship.
The University of Washington, the University of Oregon, the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California all left their longtime conference to join the Big Ten. The University of Utah, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University all joined the Big 12. Stanford and California joined the ACC.
“Our mindset has been that we don’t want to change,” Katy Ryan, a senior and WSU’s middle blocker, said. “There are different teams that we play but not different expectations for ourselves.”
The choice to abandon the PAC-12 that many universities made was greatly scrutinized, especially by the two remaining teams in the conference: the Oregon State Beavers and the Washington State Cougars.
“I do not think the Southern California schools belong in the Big 10, nor do I think Washington will survive in the Big 10,” Elly Schraeder, a graduatetransfer middle blocker from San Diego State, said.
Schraeder joined Oregon State Volleyball for their first year of play outside of the classic PAC-12. She wasn’t concerned with the dissolution because Oregon State still plays a lot of former conference opponents in volleyball.
Along with current athletes, alumni
Vandals to take on Eagles
UI Volleyball hosts EWU for Homecoming
Jackson Hamelund ARGONAUT
The Vandals welcome the Eastern Washington Eagles to the Memorial Gymnasium Friday, Oct. 4. It is the first of two meetings between the schools for the 2024 season. The second match will be in Cheney, Washington, on Friday, Nov. 15. UI is 1-12 to start the season and EWU is 4-8. Both teams will also be looking to end their losing streaks—the Vandals have lost six straight, and the Eagles have lost two.
Recent history in this matchup has not been kind to the Vandals. The Eagles have won the last seven consecutive matchups against UI, outscoring them 21 sets to six dating back to March 2021. This year, both sides have yet to obtain a win in conference and are coming into this matchup off losses, the Vandals losing 3-0 to Weber State in Ogden and EWU falling 3-1 at home to Sacramento State.
The match will tip off at 6 p.m. and can be found on ESPN+. It is part of night one for Homecoming Weekend in Moscow. Along with other festivities, the game will be a big event with extra rowdy fans and students as they look forward to a weekend of fun.
have also expressed frustration with the way everything unfolded. At the time of the 2023 realignment, Michael Baumgartner, Spokane County Treasurer and WSU alum expressed his frustration with the situation, along with maintaining his confidence that the school would return to its nationally successful ways in the upcoming years.
“I have every reason to think that after the dust settles, that the same underdog, can-do mentality will allow Cougar sports to continue to excel in whatever the college football landscape brings,” Baumgartner said.
Just two weeks into the first football season without the widely beloved PAC-12, the conference welcomed five new teams, all from the Mountain West. The BSU Broncos, the CSU Rams, the Fresno State Bulldogs, the USU Aggies and the SDSU Aztecs are the newest members of the new-look PAC-12.
Though seven total teams are still less than the end goal for the PAC-12 committee, it is an excellent start and creates a possibility for a new era in the best conference on the West Coast.
For the new teams, the realignment provides an opportunity to play higherlevel competition more consistently as well as get more national attention.
The team that will likely have to adjust the most in the sports that generate the most revenue is CSU. Their overall consistency across all sports throughout the 2010s is the reason they
were chosen for the new conference rather than UNLV.
Boise State was an absolute no-brainer when it came to PAC-12 additions. They have enough dominance over Mountain West competition in football alone to earn them a secure spot in the new-look conference. Considering the revenue football generates compared to other sports, this realignment is a great situation for the Broncos.
“Tickets were $140 this weekend. When I was a kid, that never happened,” said Dominic Bullock, a freshman at UI and a BSU fan. “It’s really cool to see that we’re finally being wholly recognized on a bigger scale.”
Perhaps the most dominant team across all major sports in the Mountain West is the SDSU Aztecs. After an impressive stretch of consistent success on the gridiron in the 2010s, the Aztecs football program took a considerable step back following a sexual assault scandal. But with the men’s basketball program making moves that have never been made before, the Aztecs also were an easy choice for the new conference.
“SDSU moving to the PAC-12 is a plan years in the making… I think the PAC-12 will just be an all-around confidence boost for SDSU,” Schraeder said. “The sports programs are capable of competing at a higher level and this will be the perfect opportunity for the athletic department to prove itself.”
The Fresno State Bulldogs have been
so consistent in football and baseball that nobody was shocked to hear that they were finally leaving the Mountain West after 13 years. Since 2013, the Bulldogs have appeared in five Mountain West championship games, winning three of them.
The USU Aggies have had success in a variety of sports during their tenure in the Mountain West, tied for the second most Mountain West conference championships with four total. Their athletic program as a whole has the third-best overall winning percentage in the Mountain West.
The PAC-12 is likely to add more teams in the coming months. The Mountain West may also add more after losing five of its top schools. Potential teams to join either include Big Sky schools like North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Montana, Montana State and Idaho.
“The realignment is not what I expected,” Schraeder said. “The PAC-12 is basically just absorbing the top Mountain West schools, and I would love to see some greater diversity in competition and geography.”
Though this realignment is a positive change for the additions, the clear winners are the Cougars and the Beavers. The two schools who stayed loyal to the PAC-12 are no longer panicking to find a home beyond the 2026 season. Both athletics programs originally suffered the consequences of no longer being in a Power 5 conference: less recruitment and recognition. Now, not only has their conference recuperated, the Cougars and Beavers are most likely to succeed in the PAC-12.
“The PAC-12 teams need to make a lot of adjustments to meet the caliber of the teams they are replacing,” Schraeder said. “I think it is safe to assume OSU will be at the top of the new conference in all sports.”
Though Cougar fans have been very vocally frustrated since the departure of almost the whole conference, the new look could mean a new era of dominance in Pullman. “I am excited that WSU is going to be a leader of something brand new and I hope that will give us an edge, especially at the beginning,” Ryan said.
A Vandal with a lion’s mane
Sarah Rodgers continues to enhance the Vandals
Jayden Barfuss ARGONAUT
After a successful high school career, sophomore midfielder Sarah Rodgers signed her National Letter of Intent to pursue her goal of playing college soccer for Idaho. Rodgers, who visited Moscow before signing, knew that the Vandals were the perfect fit for her. “The biggest part for me was the girls,” Rodgers said. “The girls here seemed like the most loving and less drama-circulated group I met, and they all seemed to care about each other.”
Rodgers, who hails from Snohomish, Washington, was not even sure she wanted to play soccer growing up. “Growing up, all the way through middle school, I didn’t know what sport I wanted to play,” Rodgers said. “I was pretty solid at both [soccer and basketball]...I decided that soccer was my sport my freshman year of high school, and I decided I liked it more.”
Rodgers then attended Snohomish High School. When first-time head coach Briella Dodge saw Rodgers, she knew she was going to be great. “I got to meet her when I was an assistant varsity coach,” Dodge said. “She walked into our program with the confidence and composure of an upperclassman; our immediate [impression] was that she was going to be pretty darn special for our program for the next four years.”
Rodgers played pretty much every position for the Panthers. For two years she was a lockdown defender for the Panthers before she switched to forward, which paid off in her senior season.
Dodge, who was in her first season as varsity head coach, used Rodgers everywhere on the field to try to get the best out
of her senior star. “We could put her anywhere on the field and she was going to be successful,” Dodge said. “There’s no bad place for her, but the difficulty for a coach is, shoot, where am I going to put her that’s the most effective?”
Rodger’s versatility and willingness to play all over the field helped her and the Panthers reach state. Rodgers scored a program-record 32 goals in her remarkable senior campaign and added 10 assists.
Rodgers so greatly impacted Snohomish that Dodge and the Panthers talk about her legacy and play to this day. “She’s still somebody today that we talk about periodically throughout the season,” Dodge said. “Girls who are young and have never even played with Sarah...know the name, her legacy that she left in our program.”
Following her successful high school career, Rodgers headed to Moscow to start her next. She scored her first goal against Northern Colorado after seven games.
After the program’s first-ever Big Sky Championship, the Vandals had some key players leave, one of which was the holding midfielder. Jayd Sprague, who had two great seasons on the Palouse, transferred to the University of Oregon and left Idaho with a new starting holding midfielder. Rodgers won the job in the spring.
In her first full year as a starter, Rodgers has started in all 12 games and scored one goal last Sunday against Portland State. Rodgers may not show up on the stat sheet often, but her impact is huge. Her ability to
connect the Vandals’ defense and front line and her composure on and off the ball make the Vandals’ midfield one of the best in the Big Sky.
Rodgers credits her success to the time she spent under Sprague and her teammates. “Jayd was a really great person to look at on the field,” Rodgers said. “I worked as hard as I could [so] I could step into that role when needed.”
When Rodgers is not on the field, she enjoys being a college student. Her hobbies include hanging out with her teammates, reading and watching TV and movies.
Rodgers also has one more secret weapon to her success on the field, and it’s quite hairy. “My hair is a big thing. I always need to have my hair a certain way and if I do badly in that hair, I’ll switch it.”
After Rodgers graduates from college, she wants to continue with soccer. “I feel like I don’t want to step away from that right away,” she said.
Catch Rodgers and the Vandals next as they head to Cheney, Washington to face Eastern Washington University on Sunday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m.
Connor Anderson | Argonaut
The revamped PAC-12 could bring new energy to Palouse football
Colton Moore | Argonaut Sarah Rodgers scores against UNLV
BSU Volleyball’s
recent forfeit is bigoted and unprofessional
Backing out of match against San José State is likely rooted in transphobia
Finn Meissner ARGONAUT
Boise State University’s volleyball team allegedly recently forfeited a game because they assumed a player on the opposing team is transgender. Set to play against San José State University on Saturday, Sept. 28, the school instead issued a statement announcing the forfeit the day prior.
While the statement did not explicitly give a reason as to why the team chose to back out of the match, consensus from speculators is that the forfeit occurred because of SJSU player Blaire Flemings. Flemings is a third-year volleyball player and the subject of controversy that she is reportedly a transgender woman. Regardless of the lack of transparency, BSU’s refusal to confirm or deny the allegations speaks volumes about the true intentions behind the forfeit.
It’s not uncommon for labels to be thrown around in conservative areas. Transphobia, homophobia, racism: these are all things you’d never want to see or experience on a college campus where one goes to experience education and diversity at a larger scale.
BSU offers a course known as ACAD 101, a college preparation and Diversity, Equality, and Inclusivity course. This course stresses how the Boise campus prides itself on community and inclusivity. BSU advertises itself as a picturesque, bigshot school with academics and athletics at heart. With knowledge that BSU allegedly chose to forfeit a volleyball game because of an opposing team’s player’s gender identity, BSU’s morals and inclusivity should be questioned.
Why would any student or prospective student desire to enroll at a school they feel unwelcome at?
State Governor Brad Little spoke in support of BSU’s decision to forfeit the match against San Jose, stating on X (formerly Twitter) that it was ensuring “player safety for all of our female athletes and continuing the fight for fairness in women’s sports.” If it’s fairness they’re fighting for, why not grant that equality to trans women, who are women in their own right?
ASUI President recaps September
Hey Vandals! My name is Martha Smith and I am your ASUI President.
In the month of September, ASUI was busy! We passed a bill allowing our Director of Public Relations, Rebekah Boyd, to have $500 for the semester to create giveaways to promote our Instagram and athletic events. If you haven’t visited our Instagram yet, @ ASUIdaho, I highly recommend you do so. We’ve also passed a bill allocating $100 for coffee and donuts to table with to ensure students know how to get involved in ASUI, headed by Senator Aqeel, and $150 worth of Vandal swag to hand out for Homecoming, headed by VP Johnston and Pro Tempore Zuercher. In addition to this, we helped support both Africa Night and Bangladesh night by purchasing $200 worth of tickets each, thanks to our Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Josie Gaturutura. I highly recommend attending Diwali Night, hosted by the Indian Student Association, on November 12th in the Vandal Ballroom!
On the cabinet side, thanks to our Director of Sustainability Taylor McKinnon, we approved $150 to buy coats for our Vandal Coat drive; more information on our Instagram on that project. We also spent $20 to buy mini mics for ASUI to use to create content and interact with students. Finally, our Director of Traditions and Alumni Engagement bought
305 ASUI koozies to handout at the tailgate this weekend! This totalled up to $246.25. Finally, I transferred $200 out of my budget to support the Soil Stewards Club in providing pumpkins to students at their event on Saturday, October 12th at 425 Farm Road here in Moscow.
For the Homecoming game this weekend, Director of Athletics Hatten and I had been told that students were going to have to pay for overflow tickets if the student section was oversold. Thanks to donors, ASUI will be covering an additional 150 student tickets, at a $750 value, which should ensure that no student has to pay to get into the Homecoming game. Come early and be loud this weekend, Vandals!
I’m happy to announce that both the Senate and Cabinet have full teams! I’d like to welcome Arielle Hebison, Lance Butikofer, Bryan Juarez Ruiz, Harrison Brown, Alexa Benitez, and Saul Lorenza to the ASUI Senate. Emma Bolling will be serving as our Adjutant to produce our meeting minutes and agendas, both of which are available on the ASUI Website and our Linktree on our Instagram. On the cabinet side, I’d like to welcome Gavin Aus and Upal Kundu. Gavin will serve as the Director of Academics and will be launching our ASUI Academic Board. Applications are out on Engage now and will close on October 11th. This will serve as an opportunity for students to represent their colleges to ASUI and the Dean of Students office and provide
valuable insight into areas of the University of Idaho that are not always represented. Upal will be serving as our Director of Resources and has already hit the ground running with Career Services! The application processes were incredibly competitive and I have already been impressed with their work ethic and contributions.
Our Director of Safety, Health, and Wellness, Emily Roberts spearheaded ASUI’s efforts at Lauren’s Lap, which was an event held in Pullman aimed to promote safety related resources and met with the Interim Director of the Counseling and Mental Health Services to start a project for ASUI to help cover fees associated with accessing mental health services for students in need. More on this soon! Our Director of Student Spaces, Udit Sipani, is hosting the first ISUB Board Meeting this week. If you have input on what should, and shouldn’t, be in the ISUB, please feel free to reach out to him. Finally, our Director of Traditions and Alumni Engagement Justin Carpenter has ensured that ASUI is ready to rock and roll with Homecoming! He and I are also presenting to the Alumni Board this week.
As I said last month, this is just the tip of the iceberg of what ASUI is working on. If you’d like to provide feedback or hear more about a project, always feel free to reach out or stop into ASUI’s Office. Until next time, Go Vandals!
Say what you want about trans sports. Argue over their genetic composition, their metabolism, and their muscle mass. God forbid you ever come up with a solution, though. These people want to play sports, something they’re passionate about, just like any biologically identifying female or male. If BSU or Little care so much about trans people playing alongside cis athletes, they should come up with an answer such as the creation of a separate league.
Transgender people deserve joy like any other human, whether that’s by being an NCAA athlete, Sundance Film Festival Awardee, or the next Taylor Swift. We’re all humans. We all deserve affection, happiness and the pursuit of meaning in life.
If you’re so insecure about playing against someone who identifies as transgender in a volleyball match, fund a separate league. Give them equal TV coverage and funding. Or, just let them find themselves through the camaraderie of having a team like any other collegiate athlete. At the end of the day, trans people are just like any other person with passions.
So, play ball. Don’t pass bills stifling team spirit and diversity. Be the change, not the regression.
Voters should turn to “The Choice” for election information
“The Choice” by PBS Frontline offers a non-partisan understanding of the 2024 presidential candidates
Maddox Durham ARGONAUT
Young voters in America hold a unique position in national voter demographics, yet they often fall behind the average in voter turnout when compared to other age groups. Though younger voters are the citizens that will end up seeing many of the consequences of current economic and social policies, it was found by Harvard that new and young voters casting their votes will drop from 57% in 2020 to 49% in 2024. This is likely due to the fact that many new voters have just entered the world of national politics and are still discovering their own political identities.
It is paramount that young voters still get out and voice their opinions at the voting booths, so ensuring educational opportunities about political policies and candidates is important. When newly entering the vastly complicated and often stressful world of politics, it may be difficult to find your own political ideas and values. There is also the continuing issue of news reliability, where a growing number of mass media outlets are beginning to provide biased information, making the political world even less valued by young voters. One useful option for new voters to find a trustworthy source for unbiased information on the 2024 presidential candidates is the documentary The Choice 2024, by Frontline on PBS. The Choice has been made consistently over the last
30 years to offer unbiased perspectives on whichever two main running candidates. The documentaries have offered American voters a better understanding into candidates’ lives and stories, not just their political values and policies.
To bring the documentary close to home, this year’s director of The Choice is UI alum Michael Kirk, who not only graduated in 1971 with a degree in Communication, but also worked as an editor for the Argonaut. In 2000, Kirk was introduced into the school’s hall of fame for his exemplary work in political journalism and documentary making.
When first entering the ever expanding and complex world of American politics, it can be difficult to find reliable sources on presidential candidates. When it comes to this years’ presidential candidates, The Choice 2024 offers a unique way to see Harris and Trump for who they are as people - not just politicians.
The documentary for November’s election was released on Sept. 24 and is free to watch on the PBS website or on YouTube. By gaining an accurate and unfamiliar perspective on how the presidential candidates came to be, we’re able to be more confident in why our votes matter to us. Young voters should use this source to help gain a better understanding of the extremely polarized election that will be arriving shortly so that they can voice their own opinions and show America that its younger voters care and are ready to vote.
Martha Smith ARGONAUT
The ASUI Address
John Keegan | Argonaut Martha Smith addresses ASUI Senate
Alexandra Stutzman | Argonaut UI student votes at the Latah County Courthouse
Coach Eck is changing Vandal Football
Alison
ARGONAUT
Homecoming is just around the corner, meaning football season is in full swing. It’s so far, so good for the Vandals: our team has won three out of the five games to date, showing promise for this year’s season.
The man leading our team to greatness? No other than Jason Eck, Idaho’s head coach with coaching experience spanning the last 25 years. Beginning his time at UI in 2004 as offensive line coach, Eck jumped around to schools including Winona State, Western Illinois, and South Dakota State before returning to the Vandals in 2022.
Over the last three years, the way students and fans interact with Vandal football has shifted. Taking to social media, he encourages students to show up to games, rain or shine.
“You can be the difference. You can be the X factor in this game,” he proclaims in an Instagram video from last season, motivating students to attend a home playoff game against University at Albany. His poised, calm, yet commanding enthusiasm is contagious. You don’t have to care much about sports or football to share the pride he has for his team.
This video isn’t the only one of its kind—when scrolling through his account, @coach_eck on Instagram, you’ll find plenty of examples of him going above and beyond
to rally enthusiasm in students. You’ll often hear him say inspiring things such as addressing viewers as the “Vandal family,” reminding fans to show up early to games, and telling folks to be loud when the opposing team has the ball, and quiet when the Vandals are in possession.
It’s this unique understanding of how to connect with college aged students that makes all the difference for Eck. By sharing his personality and devotion to the sport, students can engage with him in a way that evokes a sense of loyalty and pride. The more you keep up with his engaging content, the more you start to truly believe the part one individual can play in determining a win or loss.
The proof of Eck’s influence on the team goes beyond mere social media spirit. During only his second season, he brought the Vandals to the playoffs for the first time since 1995. Nearly 30 years had passed since a leader took the football team as far as Eck did – and he did it as a first-time head coach.
Upon learning about Eck’s upbringing, it feels obvious his knack for his profession.
In a video posted by the Idaho Vandals football Instagram, Eck shares how his father was a college basketball coach for much of his childhood, provid-
ing inspiration for his eventual career. He details how watching the love his father had for coaching influenced him to find his own passion for the job.
“I feel like I really don’t work because I love what I’m doing,” Eck shared. “I love being around these players… these guys are at such an influential age that I think a coach can really have an impact on their life.”
Beyond the team players, many UI students have been impacted by Eck. Eliana Walsh, a second year Law student who also completed her bachelor’s at UI, shared how her relationship to the sport changed following the revamp in coaching.
“As an underclassman, I had no idea who the head coach was,” Walsh stated. “I didn’t care about the team at all. Now, Coach Eck’s team has made me love football. He’s fostered a new appreciation for the sport in me.”
Walsh cited a lack of unity and charisma regarding her disinterest in Vandal football in the years prior to Eck. “People want someone to relate to. They want someone who believes in the thing they’re cheering for, and he believes in the Vandals.”
On this effort to involve the school community, Walsh said, “Including people in the community that you serve is such a powerful way to connect with your viewers. The thing about football, it’s so much about the fans. What makes Eck different is he understands that and puts the work into recognizing that.”
Exquisitely aware of what it takes to bring a team to greatness, what makes his technique work is his focus not only on the technicalities of the game, but also on the emotion: beyond merely improving our team, he’s providing students with a level of excitement that hasn’t been felt in years.
As Eck’s journey as head coach and the 2024 football season power on, we can all take inspiration from him and allow the passion he so clearly feels for this sport to capture our spirits. And, as Eck would put it, we can show up for our Vandal family by being present in the stands when the next home game rolls around.
Since the start of this season, Eck and the other football coaches have hosted a radio show dubbed the Vandal Coaches Show. Each week, Eck and his fellow coaches discuss the previous game, their plans for the next and all things Vandal football. They also welcome a different Greek house each week to join them, furthering the team’s collaboration with other facets of the university.
Greek Life stereotypes can be harmful and untrue
relationship with each other.”
On the surface, Greek life appears to be full of stereotypes. In sororities, you have fake hair, fake nails, a fake tan and a fake smile. In fraternities, you’re just day drinkers who came to school to party. Greek life has always had negative connotations, but what if they’re wrong? Is there more than the clichés that are so deep in our society?
Nestled into UI is a diverse array of Greek life, with 10 Panhellenic Sororities and 19 IFC Fraternities on campus. Within this community are ideas of being just a pretty face, being unacademically driven, and being here for a good time, not a long time. Even the different houses have stereotypes for each other.
Three chapter members expressed how common stereotyping is. When asked what a typical view of fraternity life is, Brogan Bates, a senior in Delta Sigma Phi, said, “It’s just a house full of drunkards that don’t care about anything. They just go and be mean to each other and have an unhealthy
On the topic of parties, a member from Kappa Delta who wishes to stay anonymous said, “A lot of people do like to go out and party, and sometimes grades suffer because of that, maybe. But a lot of what sorority and fraternity life is about is making connections with people who have been in your house and getting jobs through that. So, a lot of it is kind of a networking thing, and a lot of it is based more on academics than people know.” Every member that was interviewed expressed how important academics are— school comes before social life.
With partying comes hazing, defined by Oxford Dictionary as “Humiliating and sometimes dangerous initiation rituals.” Hazing is the main reason people will not go through recruitment; the horror stories from universities all over the country are not something that can be brushed aside.
When members were asked if they believe hazing is a problem at UI, they had a lot to say.
Colton Hinson, a junior in Pi Kappa Alpha, said, “I wouldn’t say hazing is farfetched – there are some sources of hazing on campus, but we have a contract that we have our new members
sign that goes against it for our nationals.” Having a hazing contract seems to help keep incidents low on campus.
When asked if they believed that Greek chapters were created with hazing rituals in mind, the anonymous Kappa Delta member said, “I don’t know if we have any of those on campus... I know as a chapter it mentioned in many of our important texts that we are strictly a no hazing organization throughout our entire process up until initiation.”
Despite these negatives, there is some good. Underneath all the parties and hazing accusations is philanthropy: giving back to a specific cause. Each nationally recognized fraternity and sorority has one.
When asked about the anonymous member’s involvement, they shared, “We have a couple we work with locally, including Boost Collaborative, which is a great organization. We also support Prevent Child Abuse America, collaborate with the Girl Scouts of America and do activities with them to try to instill confidence in them at a young age.”
When asked about how philanthropy affects their house, they said, “I think it affects us mostly in the sense that people are 100% behind it. I cannot think of any person in our house that doesn’t really care about our philanthropies or the charities that we work with.”
So, do these sororities and fraternities make a difference with their causes? According to Kappa Delta’s website, they have given back over $33 million nationally to Prevent Child Abuse America over 41 years. The foundation was also created by a Kappa Delta.
While three members of the Greek community may not have changed the way it is viewed
at UI, hopefully this will help others to see that there is a good side to Greek life. The anonymous member shared how they felt welcomed despite their differences. “I am a person that uses all sorts of pronouns, and when I was coming into [rush], I was worried that I wouldn’t get into any house because of that. But...I ended up finding very supportive people who are willing to love me as I am.” There is more to Greek life than just parties and hazing rituals. Underneath it all, there is a rich community that deserves to be explored. It’s important to be open-minded—take rumors with a grain of salt, because they may not be true.
Idaho’s solution to the pornography problem won’t work
In today’s ever-advancing world, access to anything is quite literally at our fingertips. As internet access becomes the global norm, we gain the unprecedented ability to consume endless online content—with no limit to what that may be. And with a huge percentage of internet users being children, many are concerned about minors consuming adult content.
Over the last year, the U.S.
has seen many laws regarding online pornography. In July, Idaho joined the many states that now require age verification to view websites that publish and distribute porn. This is enforced through submission of a digitized form of identification or a third-party age verification tool. Instead of conforming to the new law, many sites like PornHub simply deny access to their services. In states like Idaho, Texas and Utah, attempting to visit the site redirects you to a landing page, denying everyone access to the site’s content regardless of age.
The porn industry by nature exploits women and children and reinforces sexual violence and rape. I myself support limiting access to this kind of content. But the topic is nuanced, and as long as humans are sexual beings, demand and production will always exist. While protecting children is always positive, age verification methods and the effects of such a ban leave many hesitating. Many consider privacy: with increasing public access to personal information, the idea of a pornography website collecting legal IDs is laughable. Once
that information is uploaded, what’s stopping cybercriminals from threatening to share users’ private internet activity with employers and family members?
For experienced hackers, it’d be like taking candy from a baby. What these new laws don’t consider is that people of all ages will look for this content regardless of the law. With mainstream websites disabling their services, people will move to those with far fewer regulations. The rise in traffic to sketchy sites exacerbates sex trafficking, child porn and the abuse many sex workers endure.
Laws like HB 498 are a feeble attempt at decreasing minors’ access to inappropriate content. While its intent is to protect children, it may very well expose kids to unregulated porn and exacerbate the exploitation of those in the industry. Government intervention in internet use is at best ineffective and at worst harmful. In the end, parents are best at controlling what children are watching. Laws can not only expose personal information, but open up discussions on the ethics of porn beyond what’s appropriate for children.
The Eck Effect: Breathing vigor and pride back into fans
Cranney
John Keegan | Argonaut Head Coach Jason Eck coaching the Vandal Football team
Dakota Steffen | Argonaut Greek Row houses during golden hour
Understanding cougars is life’s work for Maurice Hornocker
Famed researcher wins prestigious 2024 Wildlife
The quiet that falls on wilderness can be ethereal; only your breath and the crunch of pine needles interrupt the silence. Then, just as you momentarily forget that you are not completely alone in this vast wilderness, dogs bark. They’ve caught the scent of a mountain lion and are hot on its trail.
This was a common occurrence for Dr. Maurice Hornocker while he was studying mountain lion populations (also known as cougars) in partnership with the Idaho Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and The University of Idaho in the 1960s, in what is today known as the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness.
During the study, Hornocker was also hired as the Unit Leader for the Cooperative Unit, and eventually founded the Hornocker Wildlife Institute, which supports research into threatened and endangered species. The Institute was based in Moscow for 15 years before moving to Bozeman, Montana.
Now, in his early 90s, Hornocker is being recognized for his contributions to the wildlife conservation field with the 2024 Aldo Leopold Memorial Award, the most prestigious award given by The Wildlife Society to members of the field who have significantly contributed to the evolution of wildlife sciences.
Hornocker’s nomination has been two years in the making. Students of Hornocker – self-described “Hornocker Disciples” – nominated him for the award in 2023 but were unsuccessful.
Hornocker spoke with The Argonaut recently to discuss his award and career.
While fighting through tears, Hornocker shared what it meant to him to be honored by his past students and colleagues both through the Aldo Leopold Memorial Award and through a three-day event honoring Hornocker last fall.
[They] have known my failures and successes, because they experienced them as well ... I get kind of choked up about it, but they spoke from the heart. That was really humbling, and I can’t express my feelings adequately on what that meant to me. I place it right up there with the Aldo Leopold award,” Hornocker said.
In 2023, Hornocker published his memoir with the help of retired journalist David Johnson. The book, “Cougars on the Cliff,” details the 1964-1973 cougar study, as well as aspects of Hornocker’s early life that inspired where he is today.
Hornocker hired backwoodsman Wilbur Wiles to assist in the study. The two set up several camps in the wilderness, in and near what is now the UI-owned Taylor Ranch, on Big Creek in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. From late fall to early spring, Hornocker and Wiles would track cougars with hounds.
Once the hounds treed a cougar, one of the men would climb up the tree and shoot the animal with a tranquilizer dart. While the animal was still conscious, they would carefully lower the cougar with rope to the ground, then take various measurements and samples. This sometimes involved placing a simple collar on the mountain lion, for medium-range identification purposes, as this was before the days of radio telemetry, in which a collar provides a tracking signal.
Over nearly a decade, Hornocker and Wiles, sometimes along with other researchers, trekked over 15,000 miles in pursuit of the widely-misunderstood cougar. At the time, cougars and wolves were considered by many to be ruthless killers who had no business being part of wildlife management, and should be exterminated. Hornocker proved that cougars only killed what they needed to survive – predominantly deer and elk – and practiced a “mutual avoidance” with humans and other predators.
Hornocker’s work helped reshape attitudes toward cougars and other predators, resulting in greater protection of these animals, Hornocker went on to research cougars in New Mexico and Yellowstone National Park, and co-authored or edited three books on cougars, all of which were awarded The Wildlife Society’s Wildlife Publication Award. He also published in National Geographic, Smithsonian and National Wildlife
As the 2024 Leopold recipient, Hornocker will receive the award at the end of this year, joining the ranks of
past winners such as Dr. John Craighead, who mentored Hornocker and established grizzly bear studies in Yellowstone National Park, and Dr. David L. Mech, who was a pioneer in wolf research after they were extirpated from the lower 48 states.
The effort to nominate Hornocker was led by The Nature Conservancy’s Idaho Riparian Restoration Project Manager, Toni Ruth, who earned her doctorate while working for Hornocker on a cougar study in Big Bend National Park in Texas.
We have one planet Earth; we’ve got to take care of it.”
- Maurice Hornocker
“We wanted Maurice to be recognized because he fits what the award wants to recognize. He’s gone with so little recognition,” Ruth said in an interview with The Argonaut. “He has such a rich story and brought young budding biologists the opportunity he had. He saw something in us we often didn’t see in ourselves.”
Those who have worked for and with Hornocker often share similar
sentiments.
In a tribute to Hornocker, the “Hornocker Disciples” created a booklet of these experiences and sentiments, highlighting the importance of Hornocker in their careers and lives.
“Maurice possesses the ability to see traits in people that are undetected by others. He accepted me, an ‘average Joe,’ into his program because of what he saw. I owe much to Maurice. He gave me the start to a long and productive half-century as a research scientist,” wrote Mike Kochert, Scientist Emeritus at the Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center.
Jack Whitman, another of Hornocker’s family of students and wildlife research biologist, also wrote, “From my personal perspective, this man’s accolades can’t be shouted too loudly. Scientist extraordinaire, mentor, hunting/ fishing/skiing partner, teacher, and just all-around good guy. He took me under his wing when I was at that soft age, a mere adolescent, and showed me what it meant to ‘give it one’s all’. He made me what I am, and I thank him profusely for that wonderful life.”
The main thing Hornocker wants people to understand is that “we inherited a natural world.” The systems of that natural world need to be protected and cared for. “We have one planet Earth; we’ve got to take care of it.”
UI Library Special Collections and Archives Courtesy
Maurice Hornocker, above and below, examines cougars during his pioneering research in what’s now the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness in Idaho in the 1960s.
Wilbur Wiles, a colleague of Hornocker, checks on a cougar during their research in Idaho in the 1960s.
Mackenzie Davidson ARGONAUT
Climbing Club rocks Leavenworth
UI students boulder in one of the climbing hotspots of the PNW
John Keegan ARGONAUT
On Friday evening, 19 members of the UI Climbing Club departed from campus to make their way to Leavenworth, Washington, in order to experience some of the legendary climbing that the area has.
This Bavarian-themed town tucked away in the mountains is well-renouned for it’s climbing, both with ropes and without. Bouldering is a form of climbing in which the climber uses no ropes, and is only protected by foam pads placed on the ground below them. This means that the climbs only go up a fraction of the height, usually only 10-15 feet off the ground at most. Bouldering was the only form of climbing that they did on this trip.
There are a variety of classic bouldering spots within a few minutes’ drive of Leavenworth. These include the beach along the Wenatchee River, and the forest nearby, as well as the forestlands area further south from town. UI climbers hit each of these spots during their two trip.
The climbing club is planning more exciting trips for the spring to further explore some of the amazing climbing that the Pacific Northwest has to offer. If you’re interested in climbing, stop by climbing club at the climbing gym in the SRC, Monday and Wednesday 8-10 p.m.
John Keegan | Argonaut Climbing Club President Enoch Myers climbs a high boulder on the beach
John Keegan | Argonaut Club member Theo Pruitt climbs an overhang boulder in the Forestlands
John Keegan | Argonaut Hayden Chapple climbs a boulder in the Forestlands
John Keegan | Argonaut
Rachel Lampman (left) climbs a boulder in the forest climbing area near Leavenworth (above)
John Keegan | Argonaut Aydin Hasz climbs over water
John Keegan | Argonaut Zach Eaton climbs “The Hesitator” while Climbing Club cheers him on
