November 28, 2022- The Utah Statesman- Utah State University

Utah State University, Logan, Utah

Eating holiday food with a happy, healthy attitude

By Jacee Caldwell NEWS EDITOR

Editor’s note: This story discusses eating disorders and po tential health risks with certain disorders. If you or anyone you know may be struggling, you can talk to a professional at CAPS. Schedule an appointment by calling 435-797-1012.

Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, many understand why the term “holiday weight” ex ists. Holidays typically come with lots of family time, tradition, parties and most importantly, food. With a variety of food and a seemingly endless quantity of it, many end up “binge-eating,” a term used to defne when someone eats a lot of food in a short period of time, even if the person may be full.

Binge-eating is more common during the holidays for a variety of reasons, one being the availability and conve nience of food at events like a family dinner or an offce work party.

Another reason is people allowing themselves to justify excessive consumption because it’s a special occasion.

According to Wake Health, the average person gains 10 pounds over Thanksgiving and Christmas from binge-eat ing.

Though the idea of a lot of food isn’t a scary thought for everyone, Utah State University dietician Brooke Lister said it does cause stress for many.

Lister explained the anxiety comes because people can lose self-control when they have mounds of delicious food placed in front of them, but then feel guilty for deciding to eat what they perceive as not being the most nutri tious.

“It really starts with changing our mindset,” Lister said. “Just the way we talk about food, the way that we think about food. Don’t label them as ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ I like to use ‘most of the time’ foods and ‘some of the time’ foods.”

Not only does holiday weight cause additional worry in people’s lives, it can also be a health risk long-term.

According a 2021 article from Everyday Health, a study published in Clinical Research in Cardiology said the holiday season means a peak in cardiac-related hospital admissions that can be traced back to overeating.

Much like how exercise, doing yard work or even something as simple as crying can make your heart put in some effort, eating is no different, the article explains.

The article also cites Sonia Tolani, co-director of the Columbia Women’s Heart Center, and the Centers for Dis ease Control and Prevention, saying consistent binge-eat ing can potentially lead to type 2 diabetes, a stroke, osteoarthritis, depression and anxiety.

Lister said along with the potential health risks, binge-eating is a type of eating disorder, as is bulimia, anorexia, compulsive exercise and extreme dieting.

“The need for eating disorder help has never gone

away, and in the last fve-plus years, the numbers have increased,” USU dietician Brooke Parker said. “This isn’t minimizing in society.”

However, both Lister and Parker said though people can go to an extreme, it’s still important to remember to enjoy the foods you love — moderation is key.

“It’s not something we need to be anxious about be cause we can enjoy foods and indulge, and our bodies self-regulate because typically we don’t do those things every day,” Lister said.

Parker gave a variety of tips to help people keep a good balance when eating in general, but especially with an other major holiday coming up.

“First, recognize food is fuel. The body needs fuel,” she said. “Recognizing your hunger cues and honoring them and then paying attention enough to recognize satisfed cues is a foundational step.”

Parker said it’s important to not let emotions and life challenges infuence how much or how often someone eats, either.

“Emotional eating can make food really complicated and can bring in disordered diet mentality,” Parker said. “Make sure there are many things in life that you can engage in to deal with boredom, happiness, stress, frus tration.”

Other than food, Parker and Lister said social media can have a huge infuence on eating disorders and how we perceive what we eat.

This infuence can be more prevalent during November and December when more people are posting about their holiday plans and food.

“With social media, there’s a lot of ‘Eat these top 10 fat-burning foods’ or a lot of ‘What I eat in a day’ videos,” Lister said. “It’s not always the most accurate information.

These things we’re seeing about foods are really dam aging to our attitude toward food.”

USU created an eating disorder treatment team during the summer of 2021 to give struggling students a resource and someone to talk to.

Parker, who helped head the team, explained its pur pose in a 2021 Utah State Today article.

“The main goal for this team is to coordinate the best personal care for any student struggling with an eating disorder,” Parker said. “Treatment objectives can be dis cussed frequently and proper courses of action can be set in motion in a very timely manner when the whole team is able to discuss situations together.”

In addition to the Eating Disorder Treatment Team, USU CAPS offers physical and mental health services with people specialized in helping with eating disorders.

To schedule an appointment with CAPS, call 435-7971012 or go to their website at usu.edu/aggiewellness/ mental-health.

To talk to a professional on the Eating Disorder Treat ment Team, reach out to Parker at Brooke.Parker@usu. edu.

Jacee Caldwell is studying broad cast journalism. Other than her love for writing, Jacee loves being a Sodista at Whips, cheering on the Dallas Cowboys, buying Nike clothes and watching “The Bachelor.”

— Jacee.Caldwell@usu.edu

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Statesman, Nov. 28, 2022

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee

Rolling with the punches to improve your health

By Kate Stewart NEWS REPORTER

Boxing is a combat sport that builds physical strength and cultivates positive mental health benefits.

This combination of positive mental and physical growth can especially help college students, who experience more stress than the average person.

Amanda Winterton, an instructor for the kinesiology and health science department at Utah State University, said boxing class es help students release stress and tension, build their self-esteem and improve their mental health and mood.

“I think, specifically to boxing, you’re able to get those aggressions out,” Winterton said. “If you’re stressed, or if you’re angry about something — if you’re upset about something — it gives you an outlet.”

Winterton said boxing is a safe, effective and healthy form of exercise that doubles as a way for students to release tension and anger and reset the cortisol levels in their body.

This reset of cortisol levels can even help boxers sleep better at night.

“We all know better sleep equals better recovery and mood through the next day so you’re not tired and get more homework done,” Winterton said. “You can focus bet ter; you stay awake during class.”

Winterton said this sleep improvement benefit of boxing should not be overlooked.

Rob Hunt, the owner of Top Defense & Fitness Gym in Logan, also said exercise improves sleep.

“Anytime you’re doing any kind of phys ical exercise, you’ve got endorphins that are going to rise,” Hunt said. “You’re going

to sleep better, you’re going to feel better, you’re going to have more of a positive attitude, you’re going to smile more.”

Winterton recommended students who want to get into boxing should first learn from someone who knows what they are doing, so they can help them get the right technique down. She suggested taking a class from USU or finding a local gym that specializes in boxing.

USU offers an aerobic kickboxing class, PE 1030, and TDF offers a variety of differ ent classes and programs anyone can join.

Emi Stahl, a 17-year-old combat athlete at TDF, said she has felt much happier since she started boxing a year and a half ago.

Stahl said boxing has been an avenue for her to let out her emotions and negativity without needing to talk to someone.

“I feel like I know just how strong I am now,” Stahl said.

She also mentioned the confidence box ing has given her as a woman who com petes.

“I feel so powerful walking in here and knowing that I’m the minority here, and not a lot of people — not a lot of women — are willing to do this,” Stahl said.

Since she started boxing, Stahl said she feels happier and more motivated and resilient.

Hunt said there’s not just one type of person who comes into TDF. He said they see people who are in shape, out of shape, male, female, old and young.

“The people we have in here, they’re con fident, they’re calm, they’re cool, they’re collected. They know who they are,” Hunt said.

But, Hunt said they don’t always start out that way.

“Some of them come in here a little bit

scared to begin with, a little bit intimidat ed, and next thing you know, their whole countenance changes,” Hunt said. “It’s fun watching the transition of people coming in here that are somewhat awkward, and then all of a sudden, they’re confident, and they’re happy. They have fun.”

Hunt said anyone and everyone is wel come to learn and participate at TDF. Other than teaching technique, Hunt said instructors at the gym also want to give their students confidence by teaching them to keep their heads held high, to smile and to box for the right reasons.

“Just because you know how to fight doesn’t mean you have to be mean or rude or nasty,” Hunt said.

Tanner Spilman, one of the boxing coach es at TDF, said boxing is an important skill for everyone to know, especially college students.

“A lot of people look for a release in some sort of way, to release whatever their emotions are, and they come in, and after a round or after a class, they feel better,” Spilman said. “They lighten up, they ease up, they start to laugh, they start to smile — you can see them enjoying it.”

Read the rest of this story at usustatesman.com

Kate is a junior studying journalism and marketing.

Kate is from Portland and loves all things family, friends and thrifting.

Kate.Stewart@usu.edu

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Darcy Ritchie managing editor editor@usustatesman.com 435-797-1742

Jacee Caldwell news editor news@usustatesman.com

Jake Ellis sports editor sports@usustatesman.com

Maya Mackinnon lifestyles editor life@usustatesman.com

Maren Archibald copy editor copyeditor@usustatesman.com

Bailey Rigby multimedia editor photo@usustatesman.com

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Cover art by Bailey Rigby

PHOTO BY Jacee Caldwell

Boxing student Emi Stahl practices punches with boxing coach Tanner Spilman on Nov. 14 at Top Defense & Fitness Gym.

Keeping your cool on Utah roads

By Tanner Thomsen NEWS REPORTER

Arecent Forbes survey found Utah to be ranked highest in the country in road rage incidents. This finding may come as a shock to some Logan residents, but to others, it’s stating the obvious.

Hayley Carroll, a lifelong Utah resident and USU stu dent said, “That’s fairly accurate. I grew up in Utah. People are just in too much of a hurry. They don’t care what the speed limit is.”

She compared interacting with drivers in Utah to driv ers on her service mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Arkansas and Missouri.

“I felt like people were way more respectful of your road space and entering and exiting freeways. Overall, very courteous of other drivers,” Carroll said. “I’ve been flipped off more times in Utah than I have driving in any other state.”

Carroll believes another reason Utah’s driving perfor mance is looked upon so poorly by the rest of the coun try is the widespread speeding.

“You could go 10 over on the freeway here, and you would still get passed all the time,” Carroll said.

USU police Capt. Kent Harris, a campus officer with 33 years of experience in the force, believes a key cause of road rage is pride.

“Everybody thinks that they’re the only ones that know

how to drive. We think we drive well,” Harris said. “The reality is much different. Nobody is a perfect driver.”

Harris mentioned a real danger in reciprocating road rage.

“You just never know who you’re going to be dealing with,” Harris said.

Instead of returning anger on the road with hand ges tures or honking the horn, Harris recommended putting a hand up in a conciliatory manner, as if to say, ‘Hey, sorry about that,’ or, ‘My bad.’

The increase in traffic in many of Utah’s towns may also contribute to the road rage incidents.

Harris said driving while late is particularly danger ous, and it contributes to the lack of courtesy on the road.

“Make a quick phone call to wherever you’re going saying, ‘Hey look, I’m running late.’ If you end up in an accident, then you’re never going to get there,” Harris said.

Harris said the key to preventing confrontation while driving is remembering the common goal all drivers have in arriving safely at their destination.

A common phrase Harris has heard that describes the mentality of many drivers is, “Anybody that drives fast er than you is a maniac, and anyone that drives slower than you is an idiot.”

The key to avoiding dangerous confrontations while driving is to lose that mentality. Harris said he will

often ask victims of road rage incidents, “What would have happened if you didn’t honk back?”

“I can just be patient and drive like everyone else is doing,” Carroll said. “There’s a reason there’s laws.”

In the end, all commuters just want to get to their destination. Sometimes, a little patience goes a long way.

Tanner is studying business and loves learning about new cultures and ideas. In Tanner’s free time, he listens to classic rock, rides his skateboard and reads anything and everything.

— Tanner.Thomsen@usu.edu

PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS BY Bailey Rigby

Is in-person shopping in Logan going extinct?

And there are many reasons why these students choose to purchase their last-minute needs and on-trend clothing online rather than in-store.

One is accessibility. With a tap of their finger, stu dents can buy everything they need straight from their dorm room.

Along with accessibility, many students argue there isn’t enough shopping in Logan.

“If I need to go shopping, I usually go back home and use the stores there,” Vaughn said.

Currently, Logan has one mall — Cache Valley Mall, with other retail stores littered around the city.

According to Cache Valley Mall’s website, the shop ping complex has 39 stores and no anchor stores. The last anchor stores to occupy the building were C-A-L Ranch, Herberger’s, and JCPenney.

“I mean, mall-wise, it›s not a good mall,” Jones said.

“When I went a while ago, I went to that one dress store, Bliss. I forgot what else is in there.”

Wings the other day, but it›s mostly just restaurants and WinCo for grocery shopping.”

The way students are budgeting could be attributed to the lack of in-person retail shopping in Cache Valley.

However, where Logan lacks retail shopping, it finds its strength in restaurants and food.

“I feel like (Logan) offers a good variety of chain restaurants that you›ll find, you know, in other areas, but also it has a lot of cute restaurants that are unique to Logan,” Brown said.

Students› willingness to spend more money at food places is also a shared sentiment across the country.

Datassential’s Topical Keynote Report on universities and colleges reported while 40% students are worried about money and don’t get a meal plan because of the costs, most students would spend a good amount of money on food products over other items like clothes or electronics.

By Alivia Hadfeld NEWS REPORTER

Arecent study by Marist Poll showed millenni als continue to be the leading age group in online shopping — and students at Utah State University are no exception.

“I shop probably about a few times a week — like three,” Lexi Jones, a USU student, said.

“I shop online about every two weeks,” Allie Vaughn, another USU student, said.

“I shop online around once a month,” Savana Brown, another USU student, said.

Brown said her experience with the local mall was limited.

“I›ve only been there once. But I wasn›t there for a long time and only ended up in one of the stores,” she said.

Other students, like Vaughn, didn›t even know the mall existed.

Along with the accessibility and endless shopping choices online shopping provides, college students would rather spend their money on food and necessi ties, making retail shopping in a college town less of a priority.

“I mostly go to WinCo because that›s where I get all my groceries,” Brown said. “I went to Buffalo Wild

‘POLICEBLOTTER’

ACCIDENT HIT & RUN CENTRAL SUITES

NOV. 4 — Central Suites resident reported damage to their vehicle that occurred at an unknown date and time. Case report taken, no suspect or suspects at this time.

CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE RICHARDS HALL

With USU students choosing to spend their money elsewhere, local stores may be facing extinction — only time will tell.

Alivia Hadfeld is a frst-year student at USU and loves being an Aggie. Other than writing, Alivia’s passions include songwriting, read ing and competing in pageants.

— Alivia.Hadfeld@usu.edu

WARRANT FIELDHOUSE

NOV. 9 — Proactive foot patrols due to increased reports of marijuana odors in housing units led to offcers observing the odor of marijuana in Richards Hall around a group of students. One adult male was found in possession of a large plastic bag with marijuana, and he was referred to the court for misdemeanor criminal charges.

NOV. 12 — Found wallet was re turned to owner. While verifying owners’ information, a warrant for the owners arrest was observed. Owner was taken into custody and booked into Cache County Jail with out incident.

Summaries are from USU Police Chief Blair Barfuss. You can fnd these and other USU reported crimes at usu.edu/dps/police/daily-crime-log. If you have any more information regarding these cases, contact the USU Public Safety Department at 435 797-1939.

PHOTO BY Aspen Marshall

The front of the Cache Valley Mall, located at 1300 Main Street in Logan.

Logan’s giving guide: Become Santa’s helper

By Carlysle Price LIFESTYLES STAFF REPORTER

Instead of flling out long personal wish lists this year, Logan’s local businesses have provided ways to give back to the community this holiday season.

Cache County Sub for Santa has joined with the KUTV Angel Tree program and placed trees at fve different businesses throughout the valley.

The Angel Trees hold paper ornaments with children’s wishes on them. Information like their age, interests and clothing sizes are included so community members can help sponsor a child for Christmas. The program aims to provide two gifts to each child up to 18 years old.

There is an Angel Tree at Smith’s Marketplace, Saddle back Harley-Davidson and Lee’s Marketplace in Smith feld and Logan. There is also a gift card tree at the Cache Valley Mall.

Emily Malik, one of the directors of the Sub for Santa program, said her favorite moment last year was when a family came to the distribution center for a child they had sponsored.

“They made the connection of how many kids and fam ilies need assistance and that a lot of it was basic needs,” Malik wrote in an email. “They were really emotional about making that connection. The next day, that family came back with more items to donate just because they really just felt like they wanted to do as much as they could for those who can use help.”

Jennifer Bishop, another director for Sub for Santa, said that she was there for that experience.

“These were little kids,” Bishop said. “It was so inspir ing. I think we all had tears.”

Those who want to donate can go to an Angel Tree location, pick as many papers for kids as they’d like and return to the business with the gifts by Dec. 5. All parts of the program conclude on Dec. 12.

Other options offered by the Sub for Santa program are listed on their website at cachecountysubforsanta.org.

Donors can buy from an Amazon wish list or sponsor a whole family.

These family sponsorships are meant to cost less than $150, and can help bring some holiday cheer to members of the community who may not have the means to cele brate with gifts this year.

Westside Coffee Company, owned by Diane McMorris, is also doing their part to bring Christmas cheer. There is a box at the front of the shop meant for donations to CAPSA.

“They do Christmas for any of the women and chil dren in the shelter and also help families that have gone through the shelter and are living in the transitional hous ing they have,” McMorris said via text message.

The box has a QR code to send cash donations and a small fier taped to the outside with a list of the items CAPSA is looking for. Including gift cards, new clothing, beauty supplies, winter clothes, Lego kits and Barbies.

CAPSA is collecting donations until Dec. 11 at Young Toyota, Downeast and Black Bear Diner.

Logan residents can even give back while eating at Olive Garden. Manager Scott Brown said Olive Garden will have their own giving tree program up at the Logan

location before the end of November to sponsor children’s Christmas gifts.

Donating to a child’s Christmas this year is an oppor tunity to give back and help parents who don’t have the means to check off their children’s wish lists.

Carlysle Price is proud of her exten sive magazine collection which has surpassed 50 editions, all of which have been read thoroughly. She would never skip to the cover story.

PHOTO BY Paige Johnson

A Christmas tree at Smith’s Marketplace has donation options for the gift box.

Holiday reindeer get veterinary checkups at Reindeer Express

By Avery Truman LIFESTYLES STAFF REPORTER

Before fying around the world, Santa’s reindeer will receive health checks in a holiday event organized by the Utah State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

The idea for the Reindeer Express was created by Michael Bishop, the director of academic and stu dent services for the college. Bishop said the event helps edu cate the public on the veterinary medicine program at USU.

“It was to promote the profession, promote the school,” Bishop said.

Bishop also said the event helps “build and inspire the next generation of veteri narians.”

“Most people who make it into our program self-identify very early,” Bish op said. “Like at the age of fve or six, they want to be veterinarians. That kind of fts this demographic.”

Juan Jimenez, student recruiter and event coordi nator, is in charge of planning the Reindeer Express this year.

Dr. Isaac Bott will be Santa’s head reindeer veterinar ian for the event.

“We’re so fortunate to have reindeer,” Jimenez said. “It’s thanks to Dr. Bott — he’s so gracious and willing to lend his rein deer.” The Reindeer Express is run by student volunteers from all USU col leges. While most of the volunteer spaces are flled, they are still looking for more help.

“It takes about 150 volunteers to run the event,” Bishop said.

Bishop said his fa vorite memory from the Reindeer Express was when Dr. Rusty Stott, a professor in animal, dairy and veterinary sciences, hummed the heart beat of a reindeer for the audience to hear during a health check. Instead of

humming a regular heartbeat, Stott hummed a Christ mas jingle.

“He was like, ‘Oh, this reindeer is Christmas through and through,’” Bishop said. “It was just one of those magical moments that wasn’t scripted.”

The event will take place at the USU Equestrian Center on Friday, Dec. 2. There will be two sessions: the frst will be from 3:45-5:15 p.m., and the second will be from 5:45-7:15 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by visiting vetmed.usu.edu/reindeer-express.

“People should come to help express the spirit of Christmas,” Jimenez said. “Yes, this event is to show case the vet students, but is really about the children. Opening up their eyes to Santa’s reindeer, they too, need help. And they can help them in the future.”

Jimenez said there will be many activities and booths for kids to participate in, including the Be-AVet program’s scavenger hunt, creating a personalized “elf name,” a stuffed animal surgery to showcase what vets do, a sleigh ride, a performance by the Cache Children’s Choir, various animals, letters to Santa and many independent clubs coming with their own activities.

“They actually had over 3,000 people the frst or second year that they did it,” Jimenez said. “I’m just excited that it’s back, honestly. It’s been on a hiatus be cause of the coronavirus. And I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to be involved.”

Bishop said this event is supposed to create a calm and thoughtful yet festive and cheerful atmo sphere.

“I hope that if they come, they will fnd joy in those simple traditions like carolers and sleigh riding,” Bish op said. “It’s an opportunity to just enjoy the calmer spirit of the season. Enjoy the moment.”

Avery Truman is a frst-year student pursuing environ mental studies and geogra phy. She is passionate about astronomy, writing and reading science fction, and learning about wildlife.

Friday I’m in Love The Cure Walk

Shot At The Night The Killers

Ray Harrison is a sophomore studying journalism with an emphasis in public relations. Her show “Stained Glass Records” features alternative and punk rock with a handful of local artists mixed in. Tune into her show every Friday at 2 p.m. on Aggie Radio.

Foo Fighters

Eastern Sun Lantern By Sea Iris The Goo Goo Dolls

COURTESY OF USU College of Veterinary Medicine Participants during a past Reindeer Express event.

Overall Wednesday: Uniting Aggie Nation

By Darcy Ritchie MANAGING EDITOR

On Wednesdays, they wear overalls.

USU students Parker Norton, Jaxon Hunt, Jeff Kelly, Connor Gray and Jake Hotchkiss are the overall-wearers behind Overall Wednesday, a movement with the goal of “uniting the nation through overalls, one Wednesday at a time.”

This group of friends — and bandmates — started wearing overalls every Wednesday during fall semes ter 2021.

When Norton returned from his mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he didn’t have many clothes that still ft him, so he bought a pair of jeans and a pair of overalls. His room mate and cousin, Hunt, also had a pair, and the two decided to start wearing them on the same day.

“We don’t see a lot of guys wearing overalls on campus, so we’re like, ‘Let’s just make sure to have strength in numbers and wear them on the same day,’” Norton said. “So we just chose Wednesday and just started wearing them every Wednesday.”

The two chose to wear their overalls on Wednesdays because it was a “middle ground” day.

“Friday’s a great day to wear your best outft to go hang out with friends in the evening, but we didn’t want to be wearing overalls every Friday. That might get kind of weird,” Hunt said. “So we found a middle ground, which was Wednesday, and that has proven to be perfect. It breaks up the week — something to look forward to.”

Overall Wednesday spread through the group. Norton said there was a lot of discussion about where to go with the movement. Norton designed t-shirts, and the group got a band together to perform at PoBev — in their over alls, of course.

“We didn’t really have an offcial band name, so we all just went up there in our overalls,” Norton said. “I think the announcers called us Overall Wednesday, so we were just like, ‘Well, there it is.’”

The PoBev performance was actually Gray’s frst time wearing overalls.

“It was the frst time I ever saddled up,” he said. “Hon estly, it was a special feeling to be in the straps.”

What started as a group of friends wearing overalls

Now, the group goes around every Wednesday to high light people wearing overalls on campus. The Instagram page has almost reached 500 followers, and every week, more and more people participate.

“There’s just this little community,” Hotchkiss said. “You just see somebody else wearing overalls. You just smile at each other and wave. And it’s just — it’s just a lot easier to talk to people on campus, which is super fun.”

Hotchkiss said it’s grown a lot more than he expected. Two workers once approached him while he was shopping at Al’s Sporting Goods on a Tuesday and asked if he was planning to wear his overalls tomorrow for Overall Wednes day.

“I was like, ‘This is so sick,’” he said. “It’s just spreading throughout Logan, which is super fun.”

The group has big dreams for the future of Overall Wednesday. These dreams include creating a national overalls event, a promo code for a discount on overalls, and a pair of Aggie overalls for the campus store. But, according to Norton, the real dream is to fnd ways to “unite that com munity a little bit more.”

“Whoever owns overalls — or doesn’t — feel free to join the movement, and we’d be happy to hype you up and get to know you,” he said. For those hoping to break into the overalls community, Hunt’s advice is to “just go for it.”

“If you don’t think you can pull off overalls, you’re wrong,” he said, “because you can pull off whatever you want to pull off.”

every Wednesday grew into a movement taking campus and Instagram by storm.

At Day on the Quad in August, the group went around taking pictures of people wearing overalls and posted them to their new Instagram account, @overallwednes day.

“We said, ‘Well, we tell everybody about Overall Wednesday, and we’ve just been posting it on our own accounts. What if we started our own one?’” Kelly said.

“So that day, we started an account, and then we would just go to everyone on Day on the Quad, and there was a lot of overalls. So we’d take a picture of them, tag them, and then we’d post it on our own stories.”

is a senior studying journalism and history. When she’s not obsessing over the Princess Diaries 3 announcement, she likes to duel her fellow coworkers in the TSC.

Darcy Ritchie

Nation one pair of overalls at a time

Q: Do you think there should be a national overalls day? If so, when should it be?

A: I do think there should be a national overalls day. Person ally, for me, I think it should be during a little warmer weath er, making it more accessible for everyone to wear them and some more variety of out ts. I think like — say, like, May. Like, a May 5 kind of day.

Q:Whatadvicedoyouhavefor rsttime overall wearers?

A:Iwouldsaycon- denceiskey.But you’vegottobesen- dy.Justputthemon, strapitupandjustgo for it. Smile and wave atanybodyelsewith overalls.You’lljustmake an instant connection.

and they planned their wedding for Wednesday, would you wear overalls?

A: This has been a huge debate and caused some serious stress and personal con ict. You know, is it appropriate to wear overalls at a wedding or at a reception? You know, sometimes I haven’tbeenboldenoughtodoit. I shied. I got too timid. But it’s be cause I didn’t have the right pair of overalls. I had my work overalls on. I didn’t have dress overalls. But recently I just made a pair of dress overalls, so that solves the con ict of whether they can be worn at weddings or not. You just need the right pair of overalls to t the occasion.

Je Kelly

Q: Where did your passion for overalls begin?

A: It started when a bunch of my friends would wear them, and I never thought I’d look good in them. And then they just kept doing it, and I real ized it wasn’t really what you look like. It was just that you’re part of something.

Connor Gray

Q: Did you anticipate the reaction to the Instagram page, where you have nearly 500 followers now?

: Honestly, yeah. I had high expec tations, and I still do. I think we can grow this even further.

Jake Hotchkiss

Parker Norton

Hook them with humor

An interview with Guerrilla Girl Frida Kahlo

By Maya Mackinnon LIFESTYLES EDITOR

Frida Kahlo, one of the founding members of the Guerrilla Girls, presented on Thursday, Nov. 10 as a speaker at the Caine College of the Arts Hashimoto Communication Arts Seminar.

Established in 1985, the Guerrilla Girls is a group of anonymous artist activists who, according to their mission statement, “use disruptive headlines, outrageous visuals and killer statistics to expose gender and ethnic bias and corruption in art, flm, politics and pop culture.”

Each member claims anonymity and goes by a pseud onym of a dead female artist. The group believes in “an intersectional feminism that fghts for human rights for all people.”

Their art has been featured around the world and continues to be fully accessible to the public. USU Special Collections and Archives owns the Guerrilla Girls’ portfo lio of work from 1985 to 2012.

“Your publication is called the Statesman,” Kahlo said. “Why can’t it be called the States woman?”

“Ironic,” I said. “Our editorial board is 85% female members.”

“You should change the name,” Kahlo said.

The Guerrilla Girls have visited Utah four times and spoken at USU twice. You said USU was one of the frst uni versities to believe in your work. This begs the question of how the connection was made and why?

Kahlo: Somebody here likes us, a num ber of people. Many here must like us. We have never been to Nevada, we’ve been to Wyoming once, never Montana, we have been to Idaho twice. So there’s just some thing in Utah — there must be forces in Utah and people who are

interested in our message.

Your main focus has been on the art world and many times on museums. Your work is in the street, but your outreach is mostly at universities and colleges. What is the signifcance of this?

Kahlo: We are chasing after the meaning of all these invitations. I think what it is, is from the very beginning, we have been producing knowledge, information about the art world. I think educational institutions are the most curious. They embraced us early on and within a year of being formed, we got invitations to talk at colleges. Museums were a little bit slower — I think they had to see there was interest in what we were doing. But it’s also important for us to talk to young students and to see how education is changing, how thinking is changing. We started in 1985. There was no such thing as socially conscious art programs; everyone was trying to be a rich

and famous painter or sculptor. And there we were, crit icizing the art world that they all wanted to be a part of, so it was a little confusing to students. We were also, in a way, examining art history in a new way, and museum structure and institutions in a new way. Universities are curious about that.

What role has the internet played in the evolution of your work?

Kahlo: It has been kind of critical because when we frst started, we were putting posters up on the street. Poster by poster by poster. We couldn’t be everywhere; we could only target a certain area. Oftentimes by morning, some one would have posted them over. When the internet came along, we realized that was the perfect way to com municate with people everywhere. It doesn’t have to be a physical object, it doesn’t have to be in a single place. All of a sudden, we started to get letters from women all over the world. Somehow our work had come to their attention. Early on it was because we xeroxed our work and let people reproduce it. But when the internet came along, it was just this great way — exponential way — of increasing our exposure in the world.

You have seen success. How does almost 40 years of work inform the work you do today? Is there a heightened sense of urgency?

Kahlo: Any kind of struggle for human rights, sometimes it’s two steps forward, one step back; one step forward, two steps back. It’s never an even ride. The conditions change all the time too. When we frst started out, we were interested in promoting diversity inside the art world, and we thought museums and galleries should really show art that looks like the culture we are part of when we realized that there were

PHOTO BY Kate Smith

Stateman Lifestyles editor Maya Mackinnon interviews Frida Kahlo, an activist and Guerilla Girl.

structural problems in the art world that made that complicat ed. Museums, for example, in the United States are not very democratic institutions. They are run by rich people. It is hard for the map to represent rich people’s values as opposed to everyone’s values. The deeper we got into examining all the components of bias, it got more and more elaborate, more deep. We have been following that — why women and artists of color don’t get shown in galleries, why women don’t get shown in museums, why they don’t get mentioned in art history books. There’s a kind of thread to all that. Things are changing now because I think everyone realiz es history has to be diverse. But it is hard to change the econom ic mechanism of that. The art world is really based on winners and losers — there are few winners and a lot of losers. You can’t let winners write history. It has to be written by everyone. History is never fxed. We are always fnding something new and interesting about the past that helps you understand your own time better.

What does the midterm election say about feminism today?

Kahlo: It means we have a lot of work to do, and that we also have a lot of support. The political establishment, in particular the Supreme Court, does not necessarily represent the will of the people. We really have to work on that. I am encouraged because there wasn’t the overwhelming victory for mean-spirited politicians that everyone was predict ing. I am hopeful, but there is a scary tendency in the world to want simple answers to questions and elect people to offce who are more interested in a strong man to make things happen faster than democratic leaders. But democracy is messy and requires people to discuss things. It is easier to be authoritarian. Too many people are looking for quick, fast answers to complex problems. I am hoping that might change.

If feminism was a food, what would it be?

Kahlo: Whatever it was, it would be something very nutritious coated in chocolate. Chocolate-cov ered peanut butter, that’s the one.

Was there something in particular you would like to have been asked during your presentation at USU?

Kahlo: That’s a really good thing to ask. Nobody

asked us how we support ourselves. It is something I am proud of because we sort of in vented a new way of existing in the art world. The conventional goal of many artists is to get out and sell their work for a lot of money and get famous and sell their work for even more money. To us, that puts all of the resources at the top and none at the bottom. So, we have always decided that we don’t want our work to be precious, single objects that can be owned and controlled by individual collec tors. For 30 bucks, you can have the same poster that belongs to the collection of museums. We sell merchandise, we do talks like this, we do small commis sions for museums. We earn our money in really different ways than most artists do, which is selling it to art collectors. We really would rather have our poster hanging in every college dorm room than over the couch of some billionaire art collector. Every museum in the world could own a portfolio of our work.

To see their work and learn more, visit their website at guerrillagirls.com.

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.

— maya.mackinnon@usu.edu

COURTESY OF Guerrilla Girls

An art piece of the Guerrilla Girls originally created in 1988.

PHOTO BY Kate Smith

One of the Guerilla Girls by the name of Frida Kahlo visited Utah State University on Nov. 10.

No

on hold: Jordi Holdaway’s first season back

By Nathan Dunn SPORTS REPORTER

Utah State Volleyball has proven they are in the top tier of the Mountain West Conference. A key player for the Aggies this season has been defensive specialist Jordi Holdaway. Holdaway, a transfer from in-conference rival Boise State, is in her sophomore season with the Aggies. The Monteview, Idaho native has appeared in more than 70 matches in her career.

at Boise trying to make a spot and meet friends. Here, I got to start fresh like I did at Boise, but whatever obstacle I faced, I got to push through it.”

Holdaway’s defensive specialist position, also referred to as the libero, stands out on the court. The libero wears a different color from the rest of the team and is not allowed to serve or rotate to the front line.

Typically, the libero is seen as the best defensive player on the team.

“She’s brought us a ton of depth at the libero position where we have three great players,” Neilson said. “It’s been pretty competitive. To see her win that spot and compete at a high level has been great.”

When the Aggies faced Boise State in Logan back in October, Holdaway set her season high for assists with eight and had 22 digs, her secondhighest of the season.

But stats aren’t the most important thing for Holdaway.

COURTESY OF USU ATHELTICS

In her freshman season at Boise State in 2019, Holdaway recorded 28 assists, 21 aces and 179 digs, all top-fve stats for her team. The next year, Holdaway yet again reached the century mark in digs and was second on the team in aces with 17.

But balancing academics and athletics took a toll on Holdaway’s mental health.

“A lot of people don’t understand how much mental health goes into college sports, so I was just struggling a lot for personal reasons,” Holdaway told USU Athletics in September.

She decided to take a break from volleyball and college and moved to Florida to work.

“I ended up just being done with volleyball for a little bit,” Holdaway said.

But after living and working in Florida, Holdaway decided to join her sister at Utah State for school. Following a semester of just being a student, Holdaway reached out to head coach Rob Neilson to try out for the 2022 season.

“It was a no-brainer when she was already in school,” Neilson told USU Athletics. “She’s been everything we hoped she would be.”

Renewing her career at Utah State, Holdaway’s numbers carried over.

Through 29 games this season, Holdaway had 96 assists, 362 digs and 25 aces. She placed top four in those categories, leading the team in digs by almost 75.

“Her stats at Boise were great,” Neilson said. “We knew she was going to be solid. Her athleticism and work ethic have carried the weight.”

Holdway said she still uses things she learned in Boise.

“When it gets tough, you have to learn to push through it,” Holdaway said. “I had some hard years

“I feel like it’s easy in college to forget what you are playing for. It’s stats and business-like a lot of the time,” Holdaway said. “You only see highlights of hitters’ percentage or liberos' amount of digs. At the end of the day here, I’m learning that it’s fun, and I do it because I love it.”

When you watch the USU-Boise game, you can see something written on Holdaway’s hand.

“I write a different word on my hand each game,” Holdaway said, pointing to her marked hand. “I put it there so that when I go to pass, I can see it. I like putting words like ‘fre’ or ‘them’ to remind me of my teammates. My teammates are my focus of the game.”

Holdaway also said that during Breast Cancer Awareness Month, she had a special reference on her hand.

“I put my mom’s (Cindy) name. She has cancer, so she is a good reminder. She has been a huge infuence on me,” Holdaway said. “She’s never missed anything in my life, from piano recitals, swimming lessons, dance or every single game she can come to.”

This coming season, look for what Holdaway is focusing on each game by reading her hands.

Nathan Dunn is a junior major ing in communication studies from Spanish Fork, Utah. When he’s not covering the Aggies, Nathan fears the uncertainty of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ pending offseason moves.

PHOTO

PHOTOS BY Elise Gottling and Heidi Bingham

Bailey Rigby is a senior studying art with an emphasis in photog raphy. When she’s not managing the photo team, you can fnd her tweeting about High School Musical, suing Ticketmaster for emotional distress or serving absolute insulin.

Drag kings and queens performed at the fourth annual Dragg Show on Wednesday, Nov. 16.

Strain: Students deserve more transportation options

Utah State University is a large institution with students from all over the word, however USU has a signifcant unaddressed issue that is often completely overlooked by those in decision making positions. USU lacks any decent transportation options to leave the valley that don’t involve driving. Many students don’t own automo biles, some just want an alternative, others (like myself) have no desire to pay the price of airport parking for the entire holiday season.

At the time of writing, tickets booked a few weeks out on the leading shuttle service between USU and the airport ranged from around 40$ for early morn ing trips, to over 50$ for more ideal times in the afternoon and evening. This could mean a student fying to Denver for the holidays could conceivably spend more money getting to the airport than fying to Denver on a budget airline. Many students pay these rates (plus a requested driver gratuity) be cause there simply isn’t another option.

In 2017 the Cache Valley Transit District released their Short-Term Transit Plan, which involved indepth analysis of potential future bus service. In this study, CVTD estimates that operating a route between the Logan Transit Center and the Ogden Frontrunner Station would likely cost $7.57 per rider (slightly less than 11$ adjusted for infation). This route has been discussed several times over the years and many operating scenarios have been considered, nothing has ever come of it.

While the idea of a bus route out of the valley has been in limbo for several years another possibility has arisen. Several states have requested that the Amtrak Pioneer be restored. This route ran between Seattle and Salt Lake City and further on to Denver upon its cancellation in 1997. Pioneer took a route along the western side of the Cache Valley on Union Pacifc-owned track. This route being restored would likely not solve the problem on its own. For its last several years in operation the Pioneer never actually stopped in the Cache Valley, and likely wouldn’t if service were restored unless some local government footed the bill to actually build a station and get a bus route established between the station and popu lation centers on the east side of the valley.

USU is the largest university in the state without a decent transit connection outside the region in which it resides. This should be seen as an issue, students from outside the valley are dissuaded from attending USU because of a lack of decent transpor tation. I fear this problem isn’t apparent to those who are in decision making positions because they drive everywhere, they aren’t affected.

Last week’s solution:

Sudoku puzzles are provided by www.sudokuoftheday.com.

Nathan Strain is a senior in the College of Natural Resources from Oahu, Hawaii.

— nathan.strain@usu.edu