May 26, 2020 - Utah Statesman - Utah State University

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Week of May 26, 2020 www.usustatesman.com (435) 797-1742 TSC Room 118 Free single copy NEWS | Are you a hoarder?

LIFESTYLES | A never-ending story

SPORTS | New recruits

The USU pyschology department is studying how to help those who face hoarding problems.

You might like reading books, but have you ever tried viewing your life as a novel?

USU men’s basketball team announced two new recruits from Europe during the past week. Who are they?

see PAGE 3

see PAGE 2

see PAGE 4

THE DIFFERENCE MAKER Why Neemias Queta’s return is important for USU men’s basketball

Some push for removal of Logan officer involved in McCluskey case By Taylor Cripe NEWS CONTENT MANAGER

Some Utah State Universi-

ty students and alumni have

started a Twitter campaign calling for the removal of a Logan police officer who handled the case of mur-

McCluskey

dered University of Utah student Lauren McCluskey after al-

legations arose that he may have shown off explicit photos of McCluskey to a co-worker.

McCluskey, a senior track athlete at the U., was murdered

by her ex-boyfriend in October 2018. Before her death, she

reached out to University of Utah police for help. As reported by the Salt Lake Tribune, McCluskey explained to Officer Mi-

guel Deras that she was being blackmailed for compromising

photos taken of herself. After she sent the photos to campus police for evidence, Deras allegedly showed off the photos to

an unnamed male co-worker and bragged he could look at them whenever he wanted.

Deras resigned from the U. and started working for the Lo-

gan Police Department in September 2019.

One of the people responsible for starting the Twitter cam-

paign is Paulina Rivera-Soto, recent political science graduGRAPHIC BY Dalton Renshaw USU men’s basketball center Neemias Queta announced he will be returning for the 2020-21 season. What does that mean for USU men’s basketball? By Jacob Nielson SPORTS WRITER

Well over a month after the suspension

of all athletic activities, there wasn’t

much to be excited about in the world of sports. That was until a three-word

message from Neemias Queta was sent

on Twitter, sending shock waves across Cache Valley and beyond: “I’m back… again.”

Utah State men’s basketball center

Neemias Queta made the decision to

forgo the NBA draft (again) and come

back for his third season at Utah State. Queta told USU play-by-play announcer Scotty Gerrard in a recent interview, “It just wasn’t the right timing to go and I

just felt like I really had a really good

gonna be scary for some teams that we

proving…I just felt that we had probably

The Neem and Bean Machine had the

opportunity to stay here and keep im-

play against.”

the same amount of chances as we had

fourth and fifth best defensive ratings

So, what does Queta’s return mean for

past season — Bean at 24.6 and Queta

last year to win another championship.”

Utah State basketball in the 2020-21 season?

“His abilities on the court are so valu-

able and it’s gonna elevate our team so

much and it’s gonna be so good to have him back,” said junior guard Brock Miller.

Junior forward Justin Bean, shared a

similar sentiment.

“My right-hand man is coming back,”

he said. “I think that being able to have

him alongside me in the frontcourt is

in the Mountain West conference this at 23.3 — which helped the Aggies earn

a 94.6 defensive efficiency rating as a

team. That rating was No. 2 in the conference and No. 48 in the nation.

Queta has been a near immovable

force defensively. The seven-foot center earned Mountain West defensive player

of the year his freshman year, and this past year led the league in blocking per-

centage at 7.79%. His seven-foot-four

wingspan limits the space that opposing see “Queta” PAGE 5

Aggiethon organizer wins national leadership award peer fundraising, raise money

By Karcin Harris NEWS SENIOR WRITER

for our local Children’s Mira-

A Utah State University

graduate was one of 25 stu-

dents nationwide awarded the 2020 Miracle Network Dance

Marathon

Distin-

guished Leadership Award on April 30.

Jenna Stoker, who recently

graduated USU with degrees

in dietetics and human move-

ment science, received the award for her work on the Aggiethon Dance Marathon.

The Aggiethon is a stu-

dent-led

event

that

part-

ners with Children’s Miracle

Network Hospitals to raise awareness of childhood illPHOTO COURTESY OF Utah State Today Jenna Stoker, a recnet USU grad, recieved recognition for her work on the Aggiethon.

ness and injury.

“Students, through peer to

cle Network hospital, Primary Children’s Hospital,” Stoker

said. “Each year we have a culminating event to show

our support for the Miracle

kids from the hospital and to celebrate all that has been

fundraised by the students.

This event includes dancing, activities, stories from Miracle kiddos and their fami-

lies, performances, food and more.”

Stoker

has

three

nieces

who are regularly treated at

Primary Children’s and said she’s seen the positive impact the hospital has on children.

Stoker said she was “super see “Aggiethon” PAGE 5

ate and former USU Student Association Student Advocate

vice president. She said she believes in second chances but “not when the safety of others is involved.”

“I’m not saying the public should play judge, we have laws

and a system,” Rivera-Soto said. “However, with what we

know, how can you ask women, especially when Logan is a college town, to feel safe if that’s the kind of example set?”

Rivera-Soto, along with fellow USU political science gradu-

ate Logan Loftus, has been urging people on Twitter to con-

tact Mayor Holly Daines and Chief Gary Jensen to ask that Deras be removed from law enforcement.

“The city of Logan deserves better than him,” Loftus said.

“The fact that he was hired after such a controversial case is discouraging.”

When the news broke about the allegations against Deras,

the Logan Police Department released a statement saying

they were unaware of the situation but were launching an

internal investigation. On Monday morning, after receiving multiple phone calls and emails, Jensen released another statement urging the public to “remember they are allegations.”

“Reportedly, through the investigation of the University of

Utah, there was no evidence to substantiate any part of the

claim,” Jensen said in the press release. “We intend to reach out to the Tribune to seek opportunity to speak to their unnamed source for further clarification and information.”

“It’s ridiculous,” Rivera-Soto said after reading Jensen’s

statement. “It’s already hard enough for victims to come for-

ward and the message that is being sent is they will not be taken seriously. It’s victim blaming at its core.”

Jensen received heavy criticism for his decision to hire

Deras in September. At the time, he called Deras “a quality young man.”

Loftus said she wished Jensen had listened to concerns

about Deras when they considered hiring him in the fall.

“Miguel Deras should not have been hired in the first place

and should be removed from the force immediately,” she said.

It should be noted that the University of Utah was aware

Deras had McCluskey’s photos and showed them to another officer. However, according to Christopher Nelson, the U.’s

communications director, the question is whether he showed

the other officer as part of an investigation or if he did it with lewd intent.

On Monday evening, Chief Rodney Chatman of the Univer-

sity of Utah police also issued a statement and said the U. was opening an outside investigation into the incident with Deras.

— taylorcripe@gmail.com @cripe_taylor


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