March 20, 2023- The Utah Statesman- Utah State University

Underestimated and undervalued

By Maya Mackinnon LIFESTYLES EDITOR

It was Emily Hugie’s first time at the Utah State University Veterans’ Resource Office.

There was no question in her mind that she belonged there. She had served for four years, building relationships and creating bonds she hadn’t found in the civilian world. She had worked harder than she ever had in her life. She had been deployed twice.

But the man behind the counter didn’t see any of that at first. He didn’t even ask if she was the service member.

“I assume you are using your parents’ GI Bill,” he said.

“I can’t think of a better word right now,” Hugie said. “But ‘underestimated’ definitely comes to mind for how I felt. Like I wasn’t someone who could have been a service member.”

“Underestimated, undervalued — a bit like my service means less than the boys because they so quickly assume I’m not a vet or are so surprised to find out I am,” she said.

It boils down to proof for women in the military. Proof they are strong enough. Proof of their capabilities. Proof they have a place there. Proof they deserve respect.

“We had to fight harder for the same amount of respect,” Hugie said.

For Hugie, joining the military was like going back in time. She worked with old equipment, old aircraft and older men who told her how much better it was, and how much more they could do, before women joined the military.

“Sometimes I would come in from a job and tell them about it, and some of the men wouldn’t believe me until another man backed up my story,” Hugie said. “The men I worked closely with — I worked so hard — they could see that, so they would give me respect and trust my opinion without needing validation.”

Hugie was in a squadron with about five other women. Upon arrival, she was taken under their wing and mentored. As women, they were watching out for each other. They told her who to not be around alone, and who was dangerous when drunk.

About one in four U.S. servicewomen report being sex-

ually assaulted in the military, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Of those who reported cases, 38% experienced professional retaliation.

“Getting out of the Navy, I did this incredible thing,” Hugie said. “I should be proud of that.”

…

Chasity Tucker served in the U.S. Army National Guard as a supply specialist.

“When I was in, I wanted to show that I was more than what people saw me as,” Tucker said.

While serving, she received a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree, raised four children, worked as a personal trainer and became the district health and wellness director of the YMCA in Virginia.

“I remember climbing a 90-foot tower in bootcamp,” Tucker said. “People looked at me and said, ‘You won’t be able to make it, you won’t be able to climb that.’ It was the guys. Yeah, well okay, this girl powered through it

and muscled every bit of it.”

“Women have always been looked down at,” she said. “When the female proves she is more than just a gender, it’s like ‘Oh, look at that beast.’”

… Rebecca Haggerty served for eight years in the U.S. military as a cyber operations tactical communications officer.

“No one expects that I was in the military, let alone what I did,” Haggerty said. “That always throws people for a loop.”

When she was a first lieutenant, she was personally requested to join the joint special operations command in Europe. While serving, Haggerty received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees.

She had been deployed twice.

“The challenges I faced were challenges a lot of females faced,” Haggerty said. “You will say something, and it is a stupid idea. A guy will say the exact same words you said five minutes ago, and it is an amazing idea. It frustrates the hell out of me. It still happens.”

Haggerty is now receiving a degree from USU’s rotorcraft program to become a certified helicopter pilot.

“I have led two teams in combat, I know what I am doing,” she said. “But I have to take these leading teams classes.”

Leaving the lecture one day, she struggled not to be vocal and share as much insight as she wanted to. Haggerty was about to apologize to a fellow student for talking too much when the woman turned to tell Haggerty how insightful her comments are. It was a reassuring moment for Haggerty.

…

“It feels exhausting, frustrating and very demotivating at times,” Hugie said. “Why work so hard when they don’t value what you say, or trust you or understand your job as well as the men?”

Maya Mackinnon is a senior studying print journalism and art. When she is not managing the Lifestyles team, she is enjoying the outdoors and traveling.

DESIGN BY Monique Black

The student behind

By Leah Call LIFESTYLES STAFF REPORTER

Neve Pratt is from Salt Lake City, a first year student at Utah State University and a TikTok viral sensation. Her account @wisewordsfromneve has over 70 videos full of “dad jokes” and awkward eye contact that made Pratt’s popularity on the social media app soar.

“When I toured here, I was kidding around with my guide and I jokingly said that my declared major would be comedy,” Pratt said. “So, this is onbrand.”

Pratt made her first TikTok on Dec. 5, 2022, and has amassed over 248,000 followers, 16 million combined likes and tens of millions of views on her content.

“I made the account for my friends. I had been spewing out dad jokes and they were like, ‘Man, your delivery is killer, you’ve got to make a TikTok,’” she said. “So, I made it for them and decided to post one a day and like, see what happens. It’s the cheesiest thing ever, it’s so funny.”

She had been posting for about two weeks before her account really took off, with a video receiving over 2 million views.

“I did not expect it and was not planning for it to go viral or anything like that,” she said. “I had posted one in the Huntsman Building about finals, like telling people to study and it got 5,000 likes that day. We were all watching it and I was just like, ‘No way.’ I thought that was crazy and that was a lot for me. Then I posted one about finals the next day and I woke up and it had blown up. It was unreal.”

Pratt gets approached by followers and viewers quite often in reference to her videos and account.

“Someone will come up to me and say, ‘Mondays, right?’ or will say how much they love my TikToks,” she said. “I’ve gotten a

weird amount of people telling me their boyfriends love me. That’s pretty funny to me.”

Pratt plans videos around holidays or campus events and elicits the help from friends and roommates to film content.

“I just did one about midterms today. But I kind of just go with the flow because I’m finding them on Facebook or I’m coming up with them on my own,” she said. “If I’m coming up with my own jokes, it takes a little bit longer so I plan those out. I’ll be reading jokes out and they’ll be like, ‘That’s it, that’s the one.’ Something will catch their eye and they’ll send it to me. My roommate always knows which ones will go viral, and when they do it’s so funny. And my mom helps too. My mom loves to be all over it and sends me funny ideas and come up with her own stuff, so it’s been fun.”

Pratt’s long-time friend and first year student at USU, Mary Sheets, has been involved in the content creating process from the beginning.

“Her first one blew up right as we were leaving for Christmas break, that finals week,” Sheets said in an interview over

the phone. “It was kind of fun because it was blowing up when we were all home for Christmas break and then we got to come back to this big platform. It’s really funny because she gets recognized a lot when we’re out. It’s weird because I’ve been laughing at Neve for years and years so I just think it’s really fun to see her humor being appreciated by more people.”

Pratt said she loves to use her platform to make people smile.

“I’m just doing this to make people smile and laugh. I originally did it to make my friends laugh and now other people feel the same way,” she said.

“I mean from the get go, I decided to post one a day and I’m just going to continue to do that and if it lands, it lands. If it doesn’t go as viral, then it doesn’t go as viral, but I just want to keep up with posting and making people laugh.”

Pratt’s future in content creating is wide open and she is ready for whatever comes next.

“I’ve never thought about doing this before,” she said. “I mean, my major is nursing and that’s always been my plan, so to have this platform and have these opportunities be opening is so surreal to me. If I can make it some sort of career, that would be awesome. I love to do comedy, so we’ll see.”

PHOTO BY Claire Ott

Neve Pratt talks TikTok and the recent virality of her account, @wisewordsfromneve.

Leah Call is a junior pursuing her degree in print journalism. In her free time, she loves finding new music to jam to and is always on the lookout for the perfect iced chai tea.

ah Women and Leadership Project

Impact of missionary service on women’s college education

By Caitlin Keith LIFESTYLES STAFF REPORTER

On Feb. 2, the Utah Women and Leadership Project released a new research brief on the “Impact of Gap Time for Missionary Service on Utah Women’s College Outcomes.”

The research studied what impact taking time off from school to serve a full-time mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had on women’s college careers.

The brief summarizes findings from a study that analyzed data from over 17,000 female students who enrolled between Fall 2007 and Fall 2012 at Brigham Young University, and tracked their data through their college careers at the school.

Findings of this study state women who took missionary gap time were 33.0% more likely to switch to a major with a potential for higher earnings than women who did not take missionary gap time.

It was also found 96% of women in this study returned to college and continued their education.

This research was authored by Jocelyn Wikle, assistant professor of family studies at Brigham Young University, and Maggie Marchant, a librarian at Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library.

Emily Darowski works as the associate director for the UWLP.

“The mission of the Utah Women and Leadership Project is to strengthen the impact of Utah girls and women,” Darowski said in a virtual interview.

“And we do that through producing trustworthy, relevant research helping everyone around the state — whether that’s individuals, educators, community leaders, political leaders — understand how girls and women are doing by seeing data related to any topic related to them.”

The UWLP was founded by Susan Madsen, a professor in the Huntsman School of Business at USU, who currently serves as the director of the organization.

This study became connected to the organization when Wikle and Madsen met at an event a few years ago and started talking about research on missionaries the organization had done. Wikle shared the research she and Marchant were doing, and Madsen became interested in connecting the study with the UWLP.

Being connected with the organization helped Wikle and Marchant share their study with more people and with leaders around the state.

“What we get to do is use the

research and the data that we’re seeing as talking points for being able to show leaders how women are doing and where we need to move the needle to help women and girls thrive more in Utah,” Darowski said.

The research started as Marchant’s honors thesis when she was in her undergrad program at BYU.

In a virtual interview, Wikle said as Marchant brainstormed ideas for her honors thesis she hoped she would be able to talk her into looking into missionary service. That was when Marchant had the same idea.

“One thing that inspired me was seeing lots of friends and peers in while I was at BYU, that had gone on missions and came home, and seeing how that influenced their choices after and things that they decided to change,” Marchant said in a virtual interview. “So I was interested in looking at that more and seeing if those kinds of anecdotal experiences also translated into actual differences in what happened in their education.”

To conduct the study, Wilke said they went to the university and asked to have access to administrative records, which includes academic records but not access to people’s names.

With the records they were able to have information on 100% of BYU’s student body’s academic experience. They then sifted through the records to find patterns of how the experiences of the women who left school to serve a mission differed from those who didn’t.

The sample size of the study was 17,402 women. 29.1% of those women took a gap year from their college education to serve a full-time mission.

The findings of the research showed both benefits and drawbacks to serving a full-time mission.

One drawback was those who served missions were 10% less likely to graduate within an eight-year time period than those who did not.

“We, unfortunately, don’t really have the data to see why,” Marchant said. “Past research has shown that just being older is a risk factor for not graduating. There’s also the possibility that these women are finding other opportunities that are connected to their mission, that take them away from school, and it’s possible that they are more likely to get married, there’s lots of different things that might happen.”

Marchant said this information is important because it makes universities and those in the lives of these women aware of the issue so they can help them find a way to finish their education and to support them.

One benefit, Wikle said, for those women who did serve a mission but have struggled academically, is serving a mission helped set them apart and helped them get into more competitive programs and limited enrollment majors.

“It seemed like a mission was serving a special role for these women, it was signaling to others that they had valuable skills, and that they could make a contribution, even when they looked less than perfect on paper,” Wikle said.

This research isn’t just for those who take a gap year to serve a mission, but can be helpful for anyone who takes a gap year.

Marchant and Wikle said the purpose of this study was to help women who are thinking of taking a gap year from school be more aware of what they may be facing with this decision.

“I think it’s really important for people when making big life-altering decisions like this, to have the best information possible,” Wikle said. “We really hope that this study will empower women thinking about taking a break from school, to really be able to dive in and evaluate the costs and benefits of that decision.”

GRAPHIC BY Ali Thomas

Caitlin Keith is from Utah and is currently a junior studying journalism. Other than writing, she enjoys watching and ranting about tv shows or sports, speaking German and eating snacks.

Column: Why is Women’s History Month important? Why does it matter?

By Leah Call LIFESTYLES STAFF REPORTER

When I think of womanhood in the context of my own life, I think of long hugs and unwavering support. I think of my mother braiding my hair, relationship advice from my sister and hours-long conversations with my friends. Conversations about the chemistry test that was taken, the new lip gloss that was tried, the person that complimented them in line at Cafe Ibis, the general state of the world and how we’re going to fit into it upon graduating and becoming “real” adults.

When I think of womanhood in the context of the world, I think of women’s marches, flags and signs waving proudly. I think of women holding each other up and I think of the courage it takes to be authentically yourself. I think of all the influential women who have spoken out and advocated for all those past and present who had their voice silenced by the systemic patterns that kept them quiet — women like Susan B. Anthony, Maya Angelou, Marie Curie, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Gloria Steinem, Malala Yousafzai, Serena Williams and countless others throughout history.

This past month, the Washington Post published an article with the headline, “History months celebrate those who have been written out of the story.” It highlights the progress made by and for underrepresented groups in America.

Women’s History Month celebrates the significant progress we have made to have our deserved seat at the table and also to stand in solidarity as we continue on the path toward total equality. There is still work to do. There is work to do for equal treatment of all women — women of color, women in the LGBTQ+ community, transgender women, mothers, daughters, sisters and women in the workplace.

Women’s History Month recognizes the work done by the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 — which allowed white women the right to vote. Black women were granted the same right in 1965 with the Voting Rights Act. Women’s History Month recognizes women’s right to birth control in 1960, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Violence Against Women Act in 1994, not to mention all the “firsts” we’ve seen — the first woman on the moon, the first woman in Congress, the first woman to fly an airplane, the first female CEO and the first female vice president of the United States. This is all progress I am incredibly grateful for and see the effects of in my own life.

We have made leaps and bounds of progress since the first Women’s Convention in the late 1800s. So, why is Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day important? These are important because

despite the bravery and determination women have displayed in history, the goal hasn’t been achieved yet. Women’s History Month is important to commend the progress that has been made as well as forge a path for progress in the future, so one day we can see the first female president or the first female chief justice of the United States.

The wage gap remains with women earning 82 cents for every dollar a man makes as of 2022. Sexual and domestic violence against women remains. With the recent reversal of Roe v. Wade, reproductive rights hang in the balance on a very thin thread. Equal opportunity for women in the workplace leaves much to be desired.

In a study done by the Pew Research Center, it was found that 77% of those who think the country still has work to do think sexual violence and harassment as the current major obstacle when it comes to gender equality. In the same study, it was found that 70% say the feminist movement has played a significant role in advancing gender equality.

Women’s History Month is important because it raises awareness for all the progress that has been made and is a call to action for the work that remains. It’s really only in our recent history that we are getting anywhere near equal treatment, and to stop now would be doing a disservice to all the women out there who have a right to have a seat at the table. We deserve to take up space.

Audrey Flood cohosts the professionally unprofessional show Business Executives alongside fellow girlboss Darcy Ritchie every Monday at noon. Betwixt trying every new Mountain Dew flavor on air, Audrey and Darcy play music themed around different niche life experiences each week. Tune in when you’re in need of a distraction from the Monday blues!

Leah Call is a junior pursuing her degree in print journalism. In her free time, she loves finding new music to jam to and is always on the lookout for the perfect iced chai tea.

— A02395831@usu.edu

Women in Business Association

Uniting to empower women at USU

By Caitlin Keith LIFESTYLES STAFF REPORTER

The Women in Business Association welcomes everyone. It is a club within the Huntsman School of Business that focuses on empowering women at USU and connecting them with others.

LeAnn Ravsten, a senior at USU studying data analytics, is the president of WIBA for the 2022-2023 school year.

“It’s an all inclusive club that anyone can join, regardless of any major and it’s a place where we encourage, empower and uplift those in the club to — as the Huntsman motto says — dare mighty things, in all aspects of their life,” Ravsten said.

The club has three advisers who work as faculty in the Huntsman School of Business.

Lianne Wappett is the Huntsman Scholar program director and has served as a WIBA adviser for five years. Carmella Johns-Andruk is the senior manager of corporate relations for the business school and joined WIBA as an adviser in 2020. Lastly, Kristyn Allred is the director of the She’s Daring Mighty Things initiative within WIBA.

“When I first started, WIBA had maybe 10 students in the organization,” Wappett said. “So we did a reboot, I had two co-presidents at the time because there were two women who wanted to be involved. That was the board and the president and everything in between. There was a lot of hustling that first year, but it’s grown, and it continues to grow.”

Wappett said that since she became adviser to the club it has seen tremendous growth. Johns-Andruk said they usually have about 150 to 200 people who attend their activities.

They also encourage their club members to bring along friends or partners to their activities, emphasizing that everyone is welcome.

There is no national organization for WIBA, but Wappett said there are different groups of WIBA spread around the country. The one at USU came from the idea of students who wanted a place to be empowered and grow together.

“It really just sort of came from the idea that all students matter at the Huntsman school, and we know in many of our majors, women are underrepresented,” Wappett said. “We needed to create a place for them, where they can build their confidence in skills they may be lacking so

they are successful in their careers.”

As president of the club, Ravsten leads a board that includes her vice president Emma Mecham and nine other board members. After being appointed president, Ravsten played a major role in building her board of female students she thought would make a great leadership team.

“I took a lot of time to pick my board because I really believe leadership is with the whole team,” Ravsten said.

“It’s not just whoever’s president, my board is absolutely incredible. I feel I can give anyone any assignment and I know it’ll get done because we’ve developed this respect and appreciation for the hard work everyone puts in.”

The board works together to lead the organization, plan events and complete all other tasks necessary in running the club.

“It’s these young women’s leadership that really has coalesced into this organization,” Johns-Andruk said. “It’s become a professional organization where there’s a president and a vice president and the marketing team, and the events team and all of those different groups have very specific responsibilities.”

This year, the WIBA board came together in unity after one of the board members, Emily Fisher, died in a car accident in January.

Fisher was a senior at USU from South Jordan, Utah studying business management who was planning to graduate this spring. She served on the WIBA board as an event coordinator.

“It was really a cool experience to watch the board come together,” Ravsten said. “It was something that everyone was like ‘I need to be there for the person sitting next to me.’ We’re gonna get through this together and talking through the impact she had on our lives and the sweet spirit she brought.”

Ravsten said they decided not to replace Fisher on the board for the rest of the year because she is still a member of their board.

WIBA strives to make their events meaningful and useful for all those who attend. They also try to hold a variety of events throughout the year.

The club kicks off each year with the She’s Daring Mighty Things event. Home events have speakers from different companies and organizations.

The club holds workshops and interactive activities, which involve other clubs on campus and female executives in companies the Huntsman school or the advisers have a connection with.

“We’ve tried to be very strategic about the kind of events we host,” Johns-Andruk said. “We adjusted the kind of event to be more interactive. Students are not just sitting in their chairs, listening to something. They’re in a roundtable with other professionals. And they’re workshopping on whatever the topic is.”

see “WIBA” PAGE 15

@notnotphoebe @cartwatson @ChrisJPatty

@zachsilberberg

i love it when a vague title references something that happens later in the movie, like how The Banshees Of Inisherin is the name of the song Colm is writing, or how We Bought A Zoo foreshadows that they buy a zoo,

The most unrealistic part of TLOU is that Utah’s highway paint would last that long.

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Left to right: Adrianne Matthews, Emily Fisher, LeAnn Ravsten, Aubrey Shepherd and Lilly Quayle

Celebrating powerful women throughout history

By Savannah Burnard

STAFF REPORTER

Women’s History

Month is a nationally recognized holiday that celebrates and honors the struggles and achievements of women throughout the history of the U.S.

According to womenshistory. org, Women’s History Month began as a local celebration in Santa Rosa, California.

The Education Task Force of the Sonoma County Commission on the Status of Women carried out a Women’s History Week celebration in 1978. The task force chose the week of March 8 because it correlated with International Women’s Day.

The following year, other communities followed suit and planned their own Women’s History Week celebrations.

The movement kept spreading and by 1980, a group of women led by the National Women’s History Project petitioned for national recognition.

In 1987, Congress passed a public law officially designating March as Women’s History Month.

Since 1995, each president has issued an annual proclamation declaring March as Women’s History Month.

This year, in president Joe Biden’s proclamation, he recognized the women who fought for equality, opportunity and justice in our nation.

“We also reaffirm our commitment to advancing rights and opportunities for women and girls in the United States and around the world. We are mindful that we are building on the legacy of both recognized trailblazers and unsung heroines who have guided the course of American history and continue to shape its future,” Biden said in the proclamation.

Cassie Dearing, a junior at Utah State University, said Women’s History Month is important because it can help make society mindful there have been other people contributing to its history besides men.

“It›s really important to hear from voices that maybe aren›t always heard, like women,” Dearing said.

She said she likes to learn about women in history who have contributed to the U.S. she never learned about in school or may not be as well-known as other female figures.

One woman she spent time learning about is Rosalind Franklin, who helped contribute to the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA.

“She really inspired me just because she was so smart,” Dearing said. “Even though there was a lot going against her and a lot of people didn’t believe or really acknowledge her, she just cared about the science and furthering that more. So I think that’s really admirable to kind of block everyone else’s voices out and kind of just focus on your own thing.”

Through a text message interview, Mohamud Hamadi,

a USU alumnus who graduated in 2021, said he looks up to Harriet Tubman.

“She inspires me because she was a brave woman who helped free slaves in the Underground Railroad so enslaved African American men and women could gain freedom,” Hamadi said.

While it’s important to look at women in the past who have helped pave a future for the U.S., Dearing said modern day women have the power to look at women’s rights and opposition and continue to fight and create change.

“Women are great, and we couldn’t have society without them,” Dearing said.

@bolton69420 @MayorWheat @ItsMattsLaw @BLymanWarrior

@r8chelmarie

Instead of saying “I saw a tiktok that said ….” Im gonna start saying “I heard this old folktale” cause who’s gonna check me

me: the storm blew off 3/4 of our roof friend: oof me: yeah pretty much

Every bracket I’ve ever made I’ve completed in 75 seconds, guided solely by vibes and the hand of God. Couldn’t tell you who’s in my final four a minute after I make it, we’ll look into that later

GRAPHIC BY Bailey Rigby

0% increase in tuition and student fees for the 2023-2024 school year

By Andie Allen NEWS STAFF REPORTER

Azero percent increase in tuition and student fees was promised for the 2023-2024 school year at this year’s Truth in Tuition event on March 1, presented by Utah State University Student Association President Clara Alder and Utah State University President Noelle Cockett.

The Logan campus’s tuition will remain $3,693 for resident students, and $11,652 for non-residents. Student fees will be $459, the same as last year.

According to the USU Historical Academic Year Tuition file, this is the first year since 1980 tuition will not be increased.

Alder said, “President Cockett and I are committed to

advocating for greater transparency in tuition dollars being used, and exploring new ways to make education more affordable and accessible.”

Not raising tuition was a primary goal of Alder’s presidency.

Truth in Tuition is held every year for students to know how much tuition and student fees will be changing, and how tuition and student fees are being spent.

According to Alder, tuition is going toward “covering the cost of providing quality education, paying for faculty and staff salaries, maintaining facilities and investing in new technologies and resources, and financial aid programs that help students who may not be able to afford the full cost of tuition.”

Changes in tuition are decided over the course of months and approved by multiple groups. According

to Alder, the process began this January and has been reviewed by two student fee boards and a tuition board.

The zero percent increase was then voted on unanimously by the USUSA Executive Council on Feb. 14. The USU Board of Trustees reviewed the change on March 3, and it will be presented by the Utah Board of Higher Education on March 24.

In the past, the state government has provided 75 percent of the increase in salary for USU faculty and staff. The University has provided the gap amount of 25 percent by raising tuition.

However, because the tuition is not increasing this year, the 25 percent is unaccounted for.

According to the Utah State Legislature Brief, “The Utah Legislature provided funds for a 7.65% salary compensation increase for higher education employees.”

USU leadership must now determine how the salary compensation increase will be split between an acrossthe-board salary increase and discretionary increases to address issues of salary compression, employee retentio and pay equity.

According to two prior Statesman articles, previous increases in tuition have been a direct effect of the state legislature’s inability to provide total salary compensation.

The only change announced in this year’s meeting was a restructuring of USU’s technical education courses across the state.

The USU Eastern, Blanding and Moab campuses will see a tuition increase from $67.50 per credit to $95.00 per credit. Student fees will be decreased from $15 to $3.

The overall cost for commercial driver’s licenses and heavy equipment programs will have a differential tuition and some course fees.

According to Brian Warnick, department head for technical education, technical education programs are “supported heavily by the state, so the tuition rate is significantly lower over the past two years under the direction of the Utah Board of Higher Education.” This year the event was broadcasted live for anyone who couldn’t be there in person and for students attending other statewide campuses.

PHOTO BY Heidi Bingham

President Noelle Cockett addresses the crowd at the Truth in Tuition event on March 1.

Andie Allen is a senior studying English and journalism. Outside of writing, Andie loves the sun, reading and watching her to-be-read list grow.

Proposed Study of DEI in Higher Education bill doesn’t pass during legislative session

By Alivia Hadfield NEWS STAFF REPORTER

During the most recent Utah legislative session, North Ogden Sen. John Johnson proposed a new bill, SB 283, to study the funding that goes towards diversity, inclusion and equity offices at Utah colleges.

In a call with the Statesman, Johnson said, “This bill is more about finding out how we’re spending that money.”

Johnson said Utah currently spends $12 million on diversity, inclusion and equity offices for higher education.

“$12 million dollars statewide is quite a bit,” Johnson said.

He then gave an example of how much this would cost Utah State University, where he is a professor in the Data Analytics & Information Systems Department.

“We’ve got more than $50 million from the Huntsman Foundation for business school. To generate $12 million in cash every year, we’d have to have $200 million in endowments,” Johnson said. “If you just put it into perspective, you can see how much we’re actually spending.”

Johnson said after their study, his group concluded the money does have some good use, but it could also be better spent on other endeavors.

During the interview, Johnson also mentioned he liked the parts of DEI centers that “allow students to feel safe and have a place to go.”

He called it a “reasonable goal.” He thought that might fall under Student Services rather than its own division. Along with concerns about statewide spending, Johnson and many stakeholders share other concerns about “current DEI bureaucracies that may prioritize promoting particular political or social ideologies over academic rigor and intellectual diversity.”

“If we actually believed in equity, we would give everybody a really great education,” Johnson concluded. The bill was first introduced as Prohibiting Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. This first draft of the bill would have cut all funding towards diversity and inclusion offices and officers for public colleges in Utah.

It has since been changed to the Study of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Higher Education after the bill’s first draft received concerns.

USUSA President Clara Alder recently visited the capitol building for Aggie Ice Cream Day with USUSA officers and GRC members. Alder said the first draft of the DEI bill was brought up in conversation with Devin Wiser, USU’s vice president for government and external affairs.

In conversation with Alder, Wiser mentioned he was proactively meeting with Johnson to discuss the bill and

the impact it would have.

“I reached out to Devin, and he informed me that the meeting went well. He said that Senator Johnson would withdraw it and that we’ll work with him over the interim to try and address his concerns,” Alder said. Ultimately, the bill did not pass. The legislative session ended on March 3.

USU’s Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion was created in 2022. It has three different departments on Logan’s main campus: the Inclusion Center, Latinx Cultural Center and Disability Resource Center.

The Inclusion Center offers a Social Climate Support team that “provides support when an individual has experienced bias, racism, or microaggressions.” It also offers lounges for minorities, such as the Native American Lounge.

The LatinX Cultural Center offers three programs: LASER, USU Latinos in Action Chapter and Project Motivation. It also has computers and a snack bar.

LASER, or Latinx Space for Engagement and Retention, is “a nationally-recognized program that focuses on the scholarship and mentoring of Latinx students.” At USU, it is a three-step mentoring program for students

Latinos in Action’s mission statement is “Empowering Latino youth to lead and strengthen their communities through college and career readiness.” LIA is also a

mentoring program for students.

Project Motivation “aims to empower minority students through tutoring and mentoring opportunities. Through the project, we hope to have a positive impact on their rates of graduation and pursuit of higher education.” Project Motivation is also a mentoring program for students.

The Disability Resource Center helps students with disabilities receive accommodations for courses and campus living.

GRAPHIC BY Bailey Rigby

Alivia Hadfield is a first-year student and loves being an Aggie. Alivia’s other passions inlcude songwriting, reading and competing in pageants.

Common Ground Outdoor Adventures seeks volunteers

By Kate Stewart NEWS STAFF REPORTER

Common Ground Outdoor Adventures is a nonprofit organization in Logan that provides outdoor recreational activities to youth and adults with disabilities.

The organization enables individuals to participate in outdoor activities by providing adaptive equipment and support.

“By crossing perceived limitations individuals gain self-confidence, which carries over into the quest for meaningful employment, the pursuit of relationships, and active participation in community life,” the CGOA website states.

CGOA has various employees as well as local volunteers who are involved with the organization.

Anna Turner is the outreach and engagement coordinator at CGOA.

According to Turner, CGOA started in 1993 as a local branch nested under the Move United group, which is a national nonprofit dedicated to the promotion of parasports.

“Most of our activities are tailored towards individuals with disabilities because our goal is to help them get the boost they need to be able to participate in sports at the level that they want to,” Turner said.

The vision statement on the CGOA website states, “We want to do all we can to remove barriers and enhance people’s lives through recreational experiences, while reducing the stereotypes society has about people with disabilities.”

Turner said they have a group of about 30 core participants who regularly attend all of their activities.

She said their most common activities are rock climb -

ing, ice skating, snowshoeing, skiing, cycling, whitewater rafting, dog sledding, camping and hiking.

“I guess really, if it’s a sport, we probably do it at some point during the year,” Turner said.

One of CGOA’s upcoming activities is their wheelchair basketball game on April 4 from 6:30-9 p.m. at Grand Canyon High School.

This is a free event anyone is welcome to come and support.

While most of the activities take place outdoors, CGOA has two physical offices, one in Logan and the other at Beaver Mountain.

“The Beaver Mountain program primarily hosts our ski program. We offer ski lessons and snowboarding lessons to individuals with disabilities who are interested in those sports,” Turner said.

She said the Beaver office hosts day camps during the summer which includes similar events they would do in the Logan office.

“It really transitions every year — we try to come up with new activities as much as possible,” Turner said.

CGOA is always seeking help from local volunteers, especially any Utah State University students who are interested in helping out.

Turner said they always need help at the Beaver Mountain office, so if there are any students who are interested in skiing or snowboarding, there is an opportunity for them to get involved.

“We send out a monthly volunteer email that includes all of the activities that month that we still need volunteers for, and so if there are students who are interested in volunteering, they can contact us and we can put them on our contact list,” she said.

Those interested can contact CGOA through the volunteer page on their website

Volunteering with CGOA is a great opportunity for students to gain experience working for a nonprofit.

“If there are students wanting to work in maybe social work or in other minority communities or in nonprofit work, this is a great opportunity for them to step in and see what that’s like, by involving themselves in an organization that serves those communities,” Turner said.

Additionally, Turner touched on the happiness that comes from volunteering in this capacity.

“I have also seen a large mental health boost in a lot of our volunteers because being around our participants, it’s just a really fun time and they are just always smiling and laughing. It’s hard to be sad when you’re in a group with all of us,” she said.

Because Common Ground is a small local organization, they rely on their volunteers.

“So anybody who’s willing to volunteer with us regularly, we start to rely on you like family and we call you up when we need you,” Turner said.

Students who volunteer for CGOA will gain exposure to the other organizations CGOA works with.

“We work with a lot of different groups including special education programs around the valley, veteran programs and just the general disability populace,” Turner said. “We partner with the Cache Valley Veterans Association pretty regularly, so if there are any students who either have direct family ties and want to be more involved with them, or any veterans on campus, that’s an awesome organization that we work with pretty regularly as well.”

—

kate.stewart@usu.edu

PHOTO BY Paige Johnson

Common Ground Outdoor Adventures is located at 335 N 100 E in Logan. The nonprofit is made to enhance the lives of people with disabilities through quality outdoor recreation.

Elsie Murphy makes her mark in a male-dominated world

By Madison Weber SPORTS STAFF REPORTER

Elsie Murphy is a senior at Utah State University who has spent her college career networking, proving herself and moving up in the USU Athletics Department.

Originally from Smithfield, Murphy was asked to be the water girl for her high school football team. She accepted the position with one thought in mind: a front row seat to the games.

She grew up playing and loving sports. But her plan was never to come to Utah State. In high school, she made plans to attend a different college. When the high school football coach called Utah State Athletics to recommend her for a job, she decided to change her future plans.

“They got a hold of me and invited me up to some practices,” Murphy said. “I did spring ball my senior year of 2019, and I got offered a job right out of high school. I've been here ever since and I love it.”

Murphy worked on the equipment team for USU Football for four years and was recently promoted to a position on the coaches staff. There are significantly less women working in the sports industry than men. For Murphy, it hasn’t all come easy. She said she has felt pressure to succeed and perform because she is working in a male-dominated industry. She needed to prove herself more than others may have.

“I have been in positions where you're treated a certain way because you're a woman, and it was more of just a motivation,” she said. “I knew that it wasn't because I was a woman. It was just an excuse because I was fighting success. And honestly, that just pushed me more because I wanted to prove people wrong.”

In her new position as an administrative assistant, Murphy works in various areas helping with recruiting, player logistics, travel plans and tours. Her hard work has helped her make a name for herself with those working in the department.

Head football coach Blake Anderson spoke highly of Murphy and her work ethic.

“Elsie is one of the most positive, upbeat, pleasant people that I've ever been around in my career,” he said. “She doesn't take a lazy step ever, hustles and runs and jogs and sprints everywhere she goes and does it with a smile. She works extremely hard in every aspect and takes a lot of pride in any job that you give her.”

This attitude prompted coach Anderson to promote Murphy, without having an official role picked out for her.

“I like those kinds of people, and I saw her being an asset to us in our program,” he said. “I didn't know exactly

what her role would be but wanted to move her upstairs onto our staff. From day one, even really not even having a job description. Just, she just jumped in with both feet went to work.”

Murphy has grown comfortable with the players, coaches and her coworkers. In the beginning, that wasn’t the case.

“It was intimidating. I came in as an 18-year-old out of high school. That was probably the most intimidating, stressful thing I ever did,” she said. “A lot of people would stick their necks out for me. But what kept me going — and I would give advice to women wanting to do this — is if you love it, stay with it.”

She described how hard she pushed herself to make a good impression. She knew it would be hard — especially as a woman — and wanted to be treated just like everyone else. She expected preconceived notions from those around her, but her hard work is what set her apart.

“It was never players and coaches. It's a lot of outside people that make pre judgments,” she said. “I had to prove myself. My dad always told me respect goes both ways. You have to respect them for them to respect you. I walked in with the attitude that if I wanted respect, I had

to earn it just like anybody else.”

For Murphy, this position and the people around her mean more than just any sports team. She expressed how deeply she cares about the work and how it’s helped her succeed.

“She was kind of like my go-to person for everything on the field,” said special teams analyst Bobby Dodd. “She always got everything done before it needed to be done. You could just tell that it mattered, you know, like she cared a lot.”

Murphy credits her success to her positive attitude and the people supporting her along the way.

“I could not do what I have done without those men downstairs with me, those nine equipment managers and my boss. Truthfully, I could not have done what I did without them because there are definitely jobs I was not physically able to do,” she said. “I appreciate them more than anything. They drove me and pushed me to be the person I am today.”

Director of Player Development and Community Engagement Austin Albrecht works directly with Murphy in her new position. He described her visible success and believes it has set her up for a successful future as well.

“It's a pretty hard world to break into. The more people you know, the better chances you are of having a good job in this world. And she's done everything correctly,” he said. “Right now it's very unique for Elsie. She's in three different areas, three different roles, making a name for herself. She's hit the ground running. She's doing everything right.”

This male-dominated world may be hard to break into, but people like Murphy are proving that women can do it just as well as anybody.

“It's 99.9% male industry. It's a sport played by men and predominantly coached by men, but you're starting to see more and more females break in, in different roles. In her case, she stood out for all the right reasons,” Anderson said. “I've seen a lot of females have tremendous impacts in football, and Elsie’s got the kind of personality do the same thing.”

Murphy is looking forward to a long career in football, making her mark on USU and the sports industry as a motivated, hard working woman.

“Honestly it is a huge honor. It's not something that I thought would ever happen,” she said. “I love the people. I love the players. I love the coaches. I love my job. Football was never plan A, but it turned into my only plan. Football is and always will be my happy place.”

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Dunagan: There for USU Men’s Basketball

By Jake Ellis SPORTS EDITOR

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When Utah State Men’s Basketball players get hurt, Leah Dunagan is there to help. She’s the team’s athletic trainer and manages everything from in-game injuries to pre and post-game treatments for the athletes.

She has come to the rescue with head injuries and bloody lacerations on the court. Dunagan is the calming presence when things have gone terribly wrong.

“In order for the athlete to stay calm, you have to stay calm because if I panic, then they're going to panic and so keeping calm keeps them calm,” Dunagan said. “You're kind of taught how to manage emergency crisis in school... granted, you don't really know how you're going to react until it happens, but adrenaline kind of kicks.”

On top of that, she’s excelling in a male-dominated industry. Dunagan is one of four athletic trainers that work on a men’s basketball team that made the NCAA Tournament, per an email she received. She called that fact “pretty crazy.”

“It's crazy cause I never thought that I would have worked with a men's basketball team,” Dunagan said. “It was never an aspiration of mine, but now that I have done this it's — I don't think that I would want to work another sport.”

But even though she supports a male team with a pri-

marily male coaching and support staff, she “holds her ground,” Bairstow said.

“Everyone respects her and likes her a lot, and she fits in really well,” Bairstow said. “Really, really loved, and everyone’s happy to have her.”

It’s something Dunagan knew she would have to do as an athletic trainer.

“You know, you just got to stand your ground,” Dunagan said. “There's really no intimidation factor really at all. The profession and athletic training is also pretty male dominant, and so it kind of comes with the territory.”

Originally, Dunagan came to Utah State to support the gymnastics team. After working with them for three years and then the softball team for two years she was promoted to men’s basketball.

Now she’s best known for the fact that she assists a seven-footer in center Trevin Dorius.

“Everybody gets obviously a laugh out of it,” Dunagan said. “I'll either tell him to take a seat or I'll stand on something or whatnot, but we all make jokes about it.”

Dunagan also has to be prepared for anything and everything, such as when guard Sean Bairstow suffered a finger injury that took him out of a game during the 2021-22 season. Dunagan helped him recover from that as well as a wrist injury.

“I feel like the main thing is just like the effort that she puts forward,” Bairstow said. “She's there so many hours of the day and has so many different availabilities... and the care factor that she has for us.”

Rehabbing an athlete isn’t always easy. Dunagan said sometimes it takes a bit for the player to buy into the rehab process but they usually change their tune when they see results.

“But once that buy-in is in and they see the process work then they're usually completely bought in,” Dunagan said.

At the end of the day, win or loss, Dunagan knows she’s helped her student-athletes.

“It is incredibly rewarding,” Dunagan said. “It's nice to see an athlete go from — obviously it‘s not nice to see the athlete they get injured — but when they are injured and watching them go through the whole recovery process and rehab process and getting backed to on the court, it’s incredible.”

She added that it has been “an honor to be able to work” with this year’s Aggie

basketball team.

“Never doubted any of their hard work whatsoever,” Dunagan said. “They have never swayed in any kind of way. Their attitude has always been to keep pushing. They never looked back, so they knew that they were a tournament team and so did all of the support staff, the coaching staff, everybody. And to see all the hard work that they put forth to see it payoff has been incredible.”

And for other women that aspire to become athletic trainers, Dunagan says “to follow your dreams.”

“It is an incredibly rewarding profession,” Dunagan said. “Stick to your guns. It's a lot of fun.”

PHOTO BY Phil Weber

Utah State Men’s Basketball poses for a picture during their shootaround at the NCAA Tournament on March 15.

PHOTO BY Phil Weber Athletic trainer Leah Dunagan hands guard Sean Bairstow a bottle during Utah State Men’s Basketball’s shootaround at the NCAA Tournament on March 15.

Aggies lend helping hand in Las Vegas

By Jake Ellis SPORTS EDITOR

LAS VEGAS — Smiles abounded outside the Thomas & Mack Center the morning before the quarter-final round of the Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship on March 9. The Utah State Spirit Squad and pep band joined their counterparts from around the conference and the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation — a nonprofit serving disadvantaged children in Southern Nevada — to give out shoes, shirts and backpacks to 450 underprivileged kids in the Las Vegas area.

“It’s fun to see the little kids having a good time with the band and also with the mascots and spirit squads,” said Hillary Callister, a junior that plays clarinet in the USU pep band. “I think that it’s a really good thing they’ve got going on here. It’s a great opportunity to do something like that.”

It was a change of pace from the competitive nature inside the arena.

“They were so enthusiastic,” said Robbie Flaherty, an Aggiette and junior at USU. “It was fresh and nice to get into the more enthusiasm. You kind of miss that when you get into the game atmosphere… but when we’re with kids they just want to have fun and it makes me love this sport even more.”

Callister said it was a similar change of environment for the band as well.

“It was fun to play without being in a competitive spirit because normally we’re playing to hype up our team, but this time it’s just playing for fun and to hype up the kids and give them something to be excited about,” Callister said.

Lane Weaver, USU’s director of athletic bands, agreed but added that sports events are different for bands than teams and fans.

“It is a fun different environment, but you know in the musician side of the world — in the band side of the world — we’re always pulling for the other band,” Weaver said. “We don’t quite have the same sort of heated rivalries that the sports teams do. So we’re glad to hear other bands play well and our bands play well and it’s just kind of a different philosophy, different atmosphere.”

He added that the event is one of the band’s favorite parts of the Mountain West tournament.

“It’s one of our favorite things to do is to sit and be able to play tunes and watch kids with smiles on their faces dancing around, and it’s just a really nice

way for us to be able to give back a little bit,” Weaver said. “It’s a nice way for us to get out and not only interact with the other basketball bands, the other pep bands from the other Mountain West schools, but to do something that’s entertaining for these kids that are coming in for the Goodie Two Shoes program.”

The event has been going on for nearly a decade.

Nikki Berti, co-founder and CEO of the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation, said they like to partner with the Mountain West because it helps the kids “see college in a different way.”

“We love this opportunity every year,” Berti said. “It’s such a great experience for all the kids to come out and get to see college in a different way and different opportunities maybe with the band or the cheer team or the spirit squads and interact and just have this amazing day out.”

Flaherty also expressed that she liked helping kids get interested in college by having fun.

“It was so awesome,” Flaherty said. “I think it was a really great opportunity for little kids to get out and just have fun with the cheer squads and just get into the university spirit.”

Javan Hedlund, the Mountain West’s associate commissioner of external communications strategy, said he thinks the event and the foundation are amazing.

“We hope it just continues to grow every single year,” Hedlund said. “We’re just trying to start with the grassroots in trying to get kids to start to love the Mountain West and our schools all the way from Utah State down to Air Force to Wyoming and across the board.”

— jacob.ellis@usu.edu

This

Week in Aggie

Athletics

Tennis

Women’s

March 20: vs. Montana

11 a.m., Sports Academy & Racquet Club

March 25: vs. San Jose State

11 a.m., Reno, Nevada

March 26: @ Nevada

3 p.m., Reno Nevada

Men’s

March 22: vs. Idaho State

12 p.m., Sports Academy & Racquet Club

March 26: vs. Weber State

12 p.m., Sports Academy & Racquet Club

Softball

March 23: @ Brigham Young

5 p.m., Provo, Utah

March 25: vs. Saint Mary’s

12 p.m. and 3 p.m.

LaRee & LeGrand Johnson Field

March 26: vs. Saint Mary’s

9:30 a.m., LaRee & LeGrand Johnson Field

Track & Field

March 24-25: Willie Williams Classic

Tucson, Arizona

March 25: Utah Valley Collegiate Invitational

Orem, Utah

PHOTO BY Heidi Bingham

Big Blue poses with a group of kids at the Goodie Two Shoes Foundation event on March 9.

MBB: Kobe Brown, Missouri take down USU in first round of March Madness

By Jake Ellis SPORTS EDITOR

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — After trading blows through the first 10 minutes after halftime, Missouri’s Kobe Brown took over to knock Utah State Men’s Basketball out of the NCAA Tournament 76-65.

Brown went off for 12-straight Tiger points, including three 3-pointers, in just over three minutes midway through the second half. His boost got Mizzou up by six points, 59-53.

“Brown was tremendous,” said USU head coach Ryan Odom. “Two really difficult threes. Obviously the first two going to the basket. I mean, he's a load.”

From there, Tiger guard D’Moi Hodge poured in eight points to put Missouri up by double digits, 67-56, with three-and-a-half minutes left.

During that same stretch of time, the Aggies struggled to keep the ball secure, turning it over four times. Utah State was also having trouble drawing fouls from the contact they perceived.

When USU wasn’t getting the calls they wanted, the frustration boiled over and the Aggie bench picked up a technical foul. Missouri missed both shots but hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession. Utah State just could not stop the sharp-shooting Tigers, who hit five 3-pointers, including a couple of well-guarded ones, to blow the Aggies out of the Golden 1 Center.

That was after a grueling first half where the Tigers forced the Aggies off the perimeter and into the paint. It was Missouri’s game plan to take away the three and force USU into tough shots.

“We tried to force them to the basket to make them make two, make the big man score,” Hodge said. “Make them take tough threes, force them into bad shots. That helped us in the long run.”

Utah State outscored Missouri 46-26 in the paint, but that’s not how the Aggies are built to win.

“You got to understand at that point that's not how they want to score, that's not how they want the entire game to go,” said Missouri head coach Dennis Gates. “Our guys commend them. It's hard to give up layups or different things, but they stayed disciplined and they did not overrotate, which is one of the game plans we saw being used throughout their conference.”

USU guard Steven Ashworth credited the Tigers’ defense and bad luck to the Aggies’ struggle from the perimeter. “There has to be some credit given to Missouri, their style of defense, what they like to do to teams,” Ashworth said. “At times, even if you're getting open looks in those situations, you can be a little rushed into those shots. I think the first half we had a little bit of that. At the same time, it was we just weren't hitting the shots we normally make. I know even some of them were just bad beats.”

Ashworth cited a triple from Funk that went in but was taken off the board when the officials said he stepped on the line out of bounds.

“That could have been the one to open it up in the first half,” Ashworth said.

Instead, the Aggies ended the first half without a 3-pointer made on 11 shots.

Utah State turned it around a little in the second half with four made triples, but finished the game shooting 16.7% from beyond the arc.

However, USU didn’t take their blows lying down. During their climb back early in the second half, forward Taylor Funk hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 39 four-anda-half minutes into the half and then a layup to tie it again on the next possession, but Missouri always had an answer.

“I think our philosophy is not blinking,” Gates said. “We didn't blink no matter what the crowd noise was, no matter what the response or the plays that Utah State made.”

The Tigers responded with a 3-pointer from Hodge and a jump shot from Sean East II.

Later on, forward Dan Akin threw down two monster slams. But that provoked Brown to respond with his 12-point stretch.

“Immediately after he got those two dunks, after each one I was just telling my team, it's just two points,” Brown said. “We got to get back, keep playing. Like getting two regular layups to us. Like he said, we don't blink. We felt them getting the momentum, but we couldn't show that. If we would have showed that, things would have went a lot different.”

Funk led USU with 16 points. Ashworth and Akin added 12 points each.

Utah State ends the season with a record of 26-9. The loss is the Aggies’ 10th straight loss in the NCAA Tournament and ninth straight first-round exit.

Jake Ellis is a senior majoring in journalism. When he’s not covering the Aggies, Jake enjoys reading news coverage about Missouri’s mascot Truman the Tiger.

— jacob.ellis@usu.edu @jakeellisonair

PHOTO BY Phil Weber Missouri celebrates behind USU’s RJ Eytle-Rock and Dan Akin durring the NCAA Tournament game on March 16.

PHOTO BY Phil Weber

Missouri’s Kobe Brown celebrates making a 3-pointer during the NCAA Tournament game on March 16.

Along with the other events WIBA holds throughout the year, the club also focuses on service. They held an event this year to raise money for the Student Nutrition Access Center on campus.

They also reached out to a young women’s leadership organization at the Edith Bowen Laboratory School. Members of WIBA were able to share with the girls things they have learned and help empower them.

“We want to start them having the idea in their mind early, because a lot of what we try and overcome is these preconceived notions that they've been raised with, maybe they are supposed to stay in Utah, and be a certain way or whatever,” Johns-Andruk said. “You can pretty much do anything you want. And the core of all of that is to get a great education and to get your degree, and then go explore and live life to its fullest, and be an asset to your family, to your community and to the world.”

Ravsten said she has worked to make WIBA a club where everyone has a place and wherem they can learn they are valuable.

“Everyone has something important to say and to bring to the table,” Ravsten said. “There's something so powerful and having a diverse perspective on things, because one person may have been raised one way and had this outlook on life and someone else will have a different opinion on things, and being able to create a space where you can work and talk with those people.”

Caitlin Keith is from Utah and is currently a junior studying journalism. Other than writing, she enjoys watching and ranting about tv shows or sports, speaking German and eating snacks.

— A02312868@usu.edu

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