Our View: Our stance on statewide
The Sept. 23, 2024 edition of The Utah Statesman is the seventh iteration of our special statewide editions. The first statewide edition was published during the fall 2022 semester. The purpose of these special issues is to provide coverage to satellite campuses that would not necessarily have the platform otherwise.
The mission of USU Student Media is, “to inform and entertain the public while training and developing our students.” Reporters at the Statesman found it difficult to get in contact with sources and find information on happenings at Utah State University campuses statewide.
“I found it very difficult to reach out to the Blanding campus,” wrote reporter Bailey Daniels. “Despite trying to connect with an array of different departments and workers via phone and email I did not receive responses. Even when told they’d be happy to have an interview, they would end up never responding again which was disappointing. It would be great to include other campuses in the Statesman, but they do not make it easy.”
We acknowledge and appreciate those sources who did respond and of the estimated 30 sources that were continuously reached out to for interviews and information for statewide coverage, over half did not respond.
Sports editor Ashley Dorius wrote that she encountered several obstacles with her work this year and in previous years as a reporter.
“As a reporter and current editor, I encountered several obstacles with statewide stories.
As a reporter, I would scour the internet to find contacts for my stories. After 14 search tabs and enough research to write a dissertation, I would not have much to go on. The times I was able to find and connect with a source, they seemed reluctant
to contribute or would take an extended period to respond, which would cut into the crucial time necessary for writing, interviewing and pursuing other leads. The entire process would stall, and I’d become frustrated as the deadline loomed. My work became rushed, less diverse and lacking in the quality the story deserves.”
Statesman reporter Mikey Bishop said he found himself grasping at straws to receive a response or interview from sources he reached out to.
“The greatest joy I have experienced as a reporter has come from seeing how the exposure my story provided has positively affected the article’s subject. Writing a statewide story can help the reader understand the importance and impact the underrepresented groups or clubs at Utah State can have on them and the Utah State community,” Bishop said. “The information needed to write an accurate story depicting the subject’s needs is immense; however, the possibility of gathering the necessary information is close to zero.”
Dorius said she appreciates the sources who have collaborated with us and thanks to their contributions and cooperation, the Utah Statesman has had the opportunity to spotlight moments of community and newsworthy events across campuses.
“Our role of creating a compelling and accurate newspaper that reflects the diversity of the USU community is not one we take lightly,” Dorius said. “We are committed to featuring all sides of the Aggie and Eagle family and will continue our efforts to do so.”
The Utah Statesman is committed to coverage spanning all 31 campuses. Regardless of our recent difficulties, we will continue to exhaust ourselves to provide Utah State’s underrepresented groups with the attention they deserve.
-The Editorial Board
September 6, 2024
- A caller requested help removing a skunk from a contruction hole. USUPD officers responded, and the skunk was able to get out of the hole alone.
- Attempted email fraud was reported. The assisting officer documented copies of the email for evidence and offered resources to the claimant
September 14, 2024
- A physical altercation occurred at a tailgating party. Witnesses provided USUPD officers with statements, and the individuals involved the altercation were cited for disorderly conduct. - USUPD officers responded to the report of a possibly intoxicated individual. Upon arrival, officers determined the individual needed to be transported to the hospital for further evaluation. The individual was cited for an alcohol offense and left in the care of hospital staff.
USU goes green in Moab
By Aubrey Holdaway STATESMAN REPORTER
The new Utah State University Moab academic building was dedicated in April 2022 and officially opened to students for the summer 2022 semester. It houses classes, career and technical education programs and USU Extension.
“We’re right up here, nested next to the rim and the pipe dream bike trail,” said Samantha Campbell, associate campus director at USU Moab. “We really wanted to be part of the landscape.”
The inside of the building is impressive. Campbell described its many large windows and a floor-to-ceiling reclaimed wood wall. “It’s really pretty, it’s really open and there are lots of spaces for the students to be.”
The building is a first for USU and one of the greenest academic facilities in Utah, marking a milestone in the university’s commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility.
Roslynn McCann, Moab’s sustainable communities extension specialist, spoke on the method used to construct the building. “We avoided red-list materials and used reclaimed wood, minimal flooring, PVCfree interior finishes and VOC-free furnishing,” McCann said.
The design incorporates solar energy and geothermal heating and cooling. This produces 105% of the energy needed to run the building, ensuring comfortable temperatures year-round while minimizing the need for external power sources.
“Offices and classrooms were intentionally designed with many windows to allow for natural light,” McCann said. “Over the last year from this date, we used 206 megawatt hours, generated 304 and fed the grid 97.9.”
The goal for the building was to gain a silver-level Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. LEED, a globally recognized green building certification, assesses a building’s environmental performance and encourages sustainable practices in design and construction.
January. The scorecard for the building can be found on the U.S. Green Building Council website.
“USU hopes the building will inspire students, faculty and visitors alike to consider their impact on the environment and take steps to reduce it,” Campbell said.
The academic facility serves as a community focal point for students and Moab residents. “Our main goal here at the campus is really to serve the community that we’re in,” Campbell said. “We’re focusing in on what they need.”
USU Moab often partners with Grand County School District to provide tours and demonstrations. “The idea is to expose kids to a college campus sooner and more frequently,” Campbell said. “The building has allowed us to do that because we have enough space that we can host them.”
USU Moab also plans to host the Colorado Grand, an annual classic car charity tour. According to Campbell, it’s a “unique partnership” that provides the university funds for nursing students to travel. “It gave them an opportunity to go to larger hospitals and expand their education,” Campbell said.
USU Moab will hold an open house on Oct. 2 for students and other community members to learn more about the campus and what it has to offer. “We’re seeing community members that just are interested in
the campus and the building itself, and they want to come up and see it,” Campbell said.
The success of the Moab building could lead to further net-zero construction projects, cementing USU’s place as a leader in sustainable development.
“I would hope that there are plans, especially with USU’s passing of its Greenhouse Gas Reduction Resolution and our goal at USU of carbon neutrality by 2050,” McCann said.
For more information on USU Moab, visit their website: moab.usu.edu.
Aubrey Holdaway is a senior studying print journalism who loves Kabuki, afternoon naps and Aussie Lemonade Monster. She wishes a happy midwest emo fall to all who celebrate.
— Aubrey.Holdaway@usu.edu
PHOTO BY Jack Burton Patio outside Moab’s green building in June of 2024.
North Logan never forgets
By Malory Rau STATESMAN REPORTER
The Major Brent Taylor Foundation hosted an exhibit called The 9/11 Project in North Logan to commemorate the events of Sept. 11, 2001. The exhibit lasted four days and was hosted in the Hansen Family Sports Complex.
Inside the complex was a walk-through exhibit detailing the before and after of 9/11. Attendees found themselves going through a New York subway tunnel and on the streets of Manhattan.
Outside of the complex were fire trucks, helicopters and a stage for speakers.
Hector Soto, a former employee of the New York Transit Authority, was a speaker at the event and sat down for an interview with The Utah Statesman beforehand.
Hailing from a family of New York’s finest, Soto now lives in Utah but remains true to his New York roots through his native accent and 9/11 remembrance work.
“I come from a family of cops, so there was four of us in my family who served,” Soto said. “Two of us got cancer, and between the two of us, I’m the only one still alive.”
Soto worked a six-to-six overnight shift with New York City Transit and had finished a shift a few hours before the first plane hit the North Tower at 8:46 a.m.
Soto found himself in New Jersey that day but immediately clocked in for work later that evening.
“The island of Manhattan was shut down. Nobody in, nobody out, because they thought there were still terrorists on the island that they didn’t want to get out. So the island was completely shut down. It took me about four and a half hours on a normal 90-minute commute,” Soto said.
When the towers fell, they immediately destroyed the subway tunnels running underneath them. The 1 Train, also known as the Broadway Local to Soto, was destroyed. Being a member of the transit authority, Soto was sent to work underground before the fire department and police were.
“We’re more qualified than police and fire to be able to go down on the track since they’re electrified, and so a lot of times we assisted them and worked alongside them,” Soto said.
Soto had several friends and family pass after 9/11 due to related illnesses.
“After 9/11, on the event that we do here, everybody goes about their daily lives, but there are still people that live 9/11 every day that’s suffering some type of pulmonary disease or some type of cancer,” Soto said.
According to BBC, 6,781 9/11-illness-related deaths have occurred since 9/11.
USUSA President Matt Richey made a solo appearance at the exhibit on Sept. 12 to play “Amazing Grace” and a few other songs on the bagpipes. He explained that the bagpipes are often a patriotic instrument.
“‘Amazing Grace,’ particularly on the bagpipes — it’s really emotional for a lot of people,” Richey said.
The community event also housed booths with pieces from the buildings, flags dedicated to 9/11 and other historical memorabilia.
Other notable moments of the exhibit included the presence of the American Red Cross, poetry readings and singers.
Soto spoke multiple times throughout the exhibit, telling his 9/11 story and talking about life thereafter. He would only get emotional talking about his friend Eddie Lee.
Lee worked alongside Soto at the New York Transit Authority, but his wife worked in the towers and passed on 9/11.
“They never found her. He was away from work for two to three months going to different hospitals, trying to find her,” Soto said.
Lee was a bit older than Soto, who saw him as a role model throughout the years. The pair worked together
for 30 years, including on 9/11. Lee later died of cancer he got from working on Ground Zero.
“He lost his life. Man, that was — it was pretty emotional. Man, he lost his life to lung cancer, and the guy never smoked, believe it or not,” Soto said.
Soto’s jacket and hard hat that he wore on Ground Zero are being installed this month in the national 9/11 museum.
“I’ll leave you with this —I tell this all the time. You don’t realize how much stuff we take for granted in life. And so when you think about 3,000 people went about their daily lives not knowing that that day was going to be the last day here, I always tell people, ‘Listen, before you walk out your front door, you make sure you validate the people you love, because you never know if that would be the last day you ever come back through that door,’” Soto said.
Malory is a junior who has lived in five different states. Before Utah she found herself in New Jersey and exploring the streets of NYC. She hopes to one day go back and visit the New York Metropolitan Musesum of Art.
— m.rau@usu.edu
PHOTO BY Aubrey Holdaway
Matt Richey plays bagpipes in front of the American flag at the 9/11 exhibit put on by the Major Brent Taylor Foundation on Sept. 12, 2024.
USU Eastern VR technology provides realistic training
By Essence Barnes STATESMAN REPORTER
The Utah State University Eastern Police Officer Academy has revolutionized police cadet training from videotapes on a projector screen to a fully immersive virtual reality simulation, and the improvements keep coming.
The VR training simulator was created by Apex Officer, a company leading in the production of new technology for police training. It was first established at the USU-E police academy in 2020 through the efforts of Scott Henrie.
Scott Henrie, the founder of the academy and former program director, wanted to step out of the box and enhance the current police training methods in a modern way.
“We are the only academy in the state that has virtual reality training,” Henrie said. “It’s the same training they’re getting, they’re just getting more of it.”
The most modern forms of police training pre-VR technology included a system called VirTra, where cadets would stand in the center of 300-degree screens and simulate themselves in the scene. The new VR technology allows for complete integration into training situations and offers users total freedom to move and interact with the scene as they wish.
“You are no longer confined to that little platform in the center of those 300 degree screens,” Henrie said. “Now you are right in the scene itself.”
The system at USU Eastern has been updated to include a second laptop, giving instructors the control of multiple virtual individuals in the scene with the ability to directly interact with the user.
“They are truly a lot more authentic and life-like,” Henrie said.
Shawn Addley is the new director of the police academy at USU-E and has witnessed the impacts the VR system has had on campus.
“Cadets have mixed reactions prior to using VR and once they do the scenarios in the VR headset, they all have nothing but positive feedback on VR,” Addley wrote in an email to The Utah Statesman.
Not only do students like the realistic feel of the VR system, but it gives them greater opportunities to work on and perfect dissipating a variety of different dangerous situations. Some of the scenarios include traffic stops, active shooters, domestic violence, hostage situations and more.
“We can set up the scenario in a matter of seconds, compared to nearly 30 minutes to set up a scenario using actors, instructors, and time constraints,” Addley wrote.
According to Addley, the VR technology is updated every month with new scenarios and increased realism.
In efforts to further expand the scope of VR training
scenarios, USU-E has recently purchased a VR driving simulator to help give cadets experience with operating a police vehicle.
“Once our driving simulator is on campus, we will continue to provide both VR technologies to all agencies within the state of Utah,” Addley wrote. “The driving simulator can also be provided to schools to show the dangers of texting and driving, and distracted driving.”
The police academy works with the USU-E drone program to train cadets with a form of VR technology becoming more utilized by law enforcement.
“I believe VR training is going to keep advancing in all aspects of public safety,” Addley wrote. “It will get to a point where the VR headsets and equipment needed will get smaller, more portable, and environment inclusion so we can download environments, or use a specific area such as USU-E campus.”
According to the Apex Officer website, it is their mission to consistently improve and adapt their VR technology in order to prepare a new generation of officers with the experience needed to work in a 21st century world of crime.
Essence Barnes is a student who can’t come to terms with deciding a major. She enjoys reading, writing and spending money she doesn’t have on coffee.
— a02413313@usu.edu
Lily Child is the host of “Music Soup”, a show that will fill you up in more ways than one with an eclectic blend of sounds old and new. Lily enjoys sharing music that might broaden your music horizons! You can tune in from 10:30 a.m. until noon every Monday on Aggie Radio KBLU LP 92.3!
Boots of Spanish Leather Bob Dylan
Angel from Montgomery Bonnie Raitt I Would Hurt a Fly Built To Spill
Loungin’ Guru, Donald Byrd
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A person wears a virtual reality headset for training at the USU Eastern Central Instruction Building in a criminal justice lab.
New education building breaks ground at USU Monument Valley
By Lacey Cintron STATESMAN REPORTER
Anew education center is set to open at USU Monument Valley around January 2026, representing a decades-long effort to revitalize the community and provide a new environment for students and locals alike.
The building will contain classrooms and welding, nursing and technical education labs. At 10,000 square feet, the education center will also house spaces for business development and public events.
Tucked within the red rocks at the southern Utah and Arizona border, Monument Valley is a small, tightlyknit community. Its remote location has made access to education a challenge, one that USU Monument Valley hopes to alleviate with the building.
Kristian Olsen is the senior associate vice president at USU Blanding.
“We’ve been operating out of the same building in Monument Valley since the ‘90s, which is literally falling apart,” Olsen said. “We wanted a space that was new, didn’t leak when it rained and felt comfortable for students.”
Jim Dandy is the Native American Serving Nontribal Institutions coordinator at USU Blanding. Dandy taught at Monument Valley High School for 21 years prior.
“That building they’ve been utilizing is very unhealthy,” Dandy said. “They’ve found asbestos and that the structure is not very safe. I felt like we needed something better.”
Currently, the Monument Valley campus occupies a portion of the old Seventh Day Adventist Mission Hospital, which was first built in 1951. According to Olsen and Dandy, the building is in desperate need of
repair and cannot sufficiently meet student needs.
As a result, students in Monument Valley frequently drive about two hours east to USU’s Blanding campus to attend classes and labs.
New certificates and degree plans, like the CNA nursing and the welding lab, offer students in Monument Valley opportunities they previously had to travel 77 miles to reach.
Donald Mose is the site supervisor for Monument Valley. “Having the labs available in Monument Valley would save students a tremendous amount of time and money,” Mose said.
The building will be located within walking distance of the local elementary school and high school, allowing students to continue their education closer to home.
“There’s going to be this little educational zone right in the middle of the valley,” Olsen said. “It’ll really help support education within the community.”
According to Olsen, the building will host concurrent enrollment classes to get high school students thinking about their next steps towards college.
“We’ll be offering concurrent enrollment classes, so high school students can just walk over and take classes at the building,” Olsen said. “We think it’ll help more students see that they have the potential and ability to go to college.”
According to PBS.org, proximity to a college campus can significantly affect enrollment. One in six American high school seniors are unable to attend college due to a lack of nearby campuses and significant cost of relocation.
“Whether a student decides to go to college or not, the closer they live to campus, the more likely they are to go,” Olsen said.
The building’s location at the heart of Monument Valley aims to mitigate financial and geographic barriers for local
high school and university students.
“There’s something about having a college in your town,” Olsen said. “It sends a signal that we are invested in the community. For a place as remote as Monument Valley to have this building, it shows how much they want this and how much they value education.”
Surrounding Monument Valley’s small township is almost entirely canyon backcountry. The nearest airport and big-box stores are over 100 miles away, with only small convenience stores scattered along U.S. Highway 163.
“This is something we can be proud of,” Mose said. “Even if you’re not a student here. The infrastructure of Monument Valley seems to be improving every year. This building is a puzzle piece our community really needs.”
According to Dandy, creating new job opportunities for residents of Monument Valley is another goal of the project.
“One of the big things Kristian and I talked about was making sure professionals from that area are employed,” Dandy said. “I think it’ll bring a lot of teachers back and help native people take ownership of the building.”
More than an education building, this will be a space for the community and gathering.
“I would like to see not just college classes being taught there, but also for it to be a big resource of the community,” Dandy said.
According to Data USA, Monument Valley was home to 729 residents in 2022.
97.9% of these residents are Navajo and represent a majority of the students attending USU Monument Valley. According to Dandy and Olsen, the Navajo Nation and culture are heavily involved in the building’s plans.
“I’m really glad they implemented a lot of the traditional cultural teachings with the building, like the four directions,” Dandy said. “I’m glad they are very sensitive to that and are valuing the culture and tradition of people in that area.”
Lacey Cintron is majoring in psychology. She loves learning about the human mind, sharing stories and naps.
Retired riders: Davis Ag Center gets seniors back in the saddle
By Landri LaJeunesse STATESMAN REPORTER
The Davis Agricultural Heritage Center, located north of the USU Botanical Center in Kaysville, is a multi-use facility where Cindy Champneys spends her evenings roping and barrel racing with her husband and friends.
She also happens to be 68 years old.
Champneys, her 69-year-old husband Fred and their cohort of retired friends use the Davis Agricultural Heritage Center, known more commonly as the Davis Ag Center, two days a week to meet up, rope and barrel race.
According to Davis Ag Center facility manager Diane Huffman, they use the facility as a replacement for the old Davis County Legacy Center, which the county paved over and remade as a sporting facility in 2019.
“When they did that, the equine community got booted out of Davis County,” Huffman said. “And even though we are growing into the metropolis we are today, there is still a need.”
Champneys and her friends had to get used to the switch from dirt arenas to soccer fields — a transition she said left them without anywhere to go back then.
“It’s really hard for us in this area because the county government actually took our facility from us in Farmington,” Champneys said. “The commissioners thought that soccer was more important than the horse industry, so we actually had that taken away from us.”
According to Champneys, that was the case until Utah State Extension sponsored the development of the Davis Ag Center. Now, she is able to saddle up again and be part of the bigger agricultural community.
“It’s really good to have Utah State step in and work with the county,” Champneys said. “Because Utah State is involved, they won’t be taking this facility away from the horse people.”
According to Champneys, the facility wasn’t built in a day. Without the help of what she calls “the horse people,” she doesn’t believe the Davis Ag Center would be of much use to anyone.
“Our group, our ropers, actually set up the arena, the roping shoots and everything,” Champneys said. “They actually did the work, and it’s helped Diane put all of it together using materials from the old fairgrounds.”
According to Huffman, because of everyone who helped set it up, Champneys’s group of retired rodeo enthusiasts are not the only ones who benefit from the Davis Ag Center.
Along with group roping and racing, the facility is home to various shows and events, including a stock show, 15 team roping events, 4-H events, four barrel racing events and even dog shows.
All of these events, which draw 80-100 participants each, are a part of what Huffman believes is the bigger picture.
“I think what people tend to forget is that the agricultural community is our foundation,” Huffman said. “It’s a necessity.”
According to USU Extension, Davis County ranks as
the second highest-producing county for greenhouse and nursery crops, with 34,000 tons of alfalfa hay and 26,000 tons of corn silage harvested in 2024.
“So many people forget where the food on their plates and the clothes on their back come from,” Huffman said. “The important thing about having this facility here is that we help people that aren’t involved know that it is still relevant and prevalent here in Davis County.”
Working alongside people like Champneys, Huffman thinks the Davis Ag Center plays a large role in educating people about the importance of community involvement in the agricultural scene.
“I’m a big advocate that you need to educate to inspire people,” Huffman said. “To have the opportunity for community members to participate in and watch those kinds of events will inspire them to maybe get involved eventually.”
For Champneys, a big part of that comes from having a place to spend time with her 70-year-old friends again.
“When you’re old, you have to have something to do. It’s an opportunity to stay active,” Champneys said. “We do it because we love the sport, and we love to get together.”
Champneys’s group of ropers and barrel racers are not an official group at the Davis Ag Center. Instead, according to Champneys, they are more like family.
“We are just friends who rope, and we just pitch in money-wise and provide enough cattle,” Champneys said. “All summer long, we still get together to eat food and goodies and have drinks.”
With USU’s support, Champneys and Huffman agree that the Davis Ag Center has become a beacon for them and the equine and agricultural community in Davis County.
“Not all of us are soccer players,” Champneys said. “So to have something for us here, we’re so grateful.”
Landri LaJeunesse is a sophomore studying journalism and communications with a minor in yoga studies. Catch her radio show RADIO ESPRESSO Wednesday @ 10 a.m. — A02411668@usu.edu
SUBMITTED PHOTO
An aerial view of the Davis Agricultural Heritage Center.
A breakdown of Title IX, USU
By Ashley Dorius STATESMAN REPORTER
On Tuesday, Sept. 10, Utah State University released a response to the United States Department of Justice’s letter regarding USU’s “substantial non-compliance” to an agreement both parties made on Feb. 12, 2020. This agreement sought to correct the university’s violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, more commonly known as Title IX.
The original agreement
The USU website pertaining to sexual respect explains the agreement, saying, “Utah State University signed a resolution with the U.S. Department of Justice on Feb. 12, 2020, after a review of the university’s response to reports of sexual misconduct involving students received between 2013 and early 2017. This review found system-wide failures in USU’s processes to prevent and respond to sexual misconduct and echoed the findings of an internal review USU conducted in fall 2016.”
The site also says USU took responsibility for these failures and began implementing changes in fall 2016, most notably requiring Title IX training for staff and students and Upstander, a new bystander intervention program. In collaboration with the DOJ and community feedback, the Office of Equity created “updated policies and procedures [which] prohibit sexual misconduct in university programs and activities, address reporting requirements for USU employees and provide supportive measures and a grievance process for individuals who experience sexual misconduct in a university program or activity.”
In February 2023, updates were once again added to these policies with the DOJ’s approval, and the Office of Equity said there will most likely be more as changes are made to Title IX regulations.
What steps have been taken
Utah State has taken several steps since the original reports began to highlight this issue in 2016, the most notable of which are increased training and staffing, along with policy changes.
The university requires students and employees to complete Title IX training every year. This training outlines sexual misconduct and how to help those who experience it. It also describes the resources available to those who experience it and informs reporting employees of their duties when reporting.
The Office of Equity now has 19 positions, compared to its original four. These include deputy Title IX coordinators and prevention and resource specialists.
USU has also added resources for campus police to support victims, implemented several sexual misconduct surveys and released reports to better inform decisions regarding this problem.
dismissals of several individuals in USU athletics resulted in their employment being dismissed from their roles.
In July 2023, former USU President Noelle Cockett had the law firm Husch Blackwell conduct an independent review based on the USU Office of Equity and Office of Legal Affairs’s recommendations. This review sought to understand which employees were aware of allegations of sexual/criminal misconduct by a USU football player in spring 2023. It also clarified how and when they discovered the allegations and who they told. This investigation continued with the university presidential transition to Elizabeth Cantwell in August 2023.
After this review, USU moved to terminate the employment of Blake Anderson, Jerry Bovee, Amy Crosbie and Austin Albrecht.
The DOJ Letter
The DOJ sent a letter to the university on Wednesday, Aug. 21, discussing the failures they’ve noted since monitoring the university’s compliance. DOJ Chief Shaheena Simons, Deputy Chief Amanda Dallo, and trial attorneys Victoria Lill, Brigid Benincasa and Christine Bischoff, along with Chief Amanda Berndt of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah signed the letter. In it, they said the most obvious examples of non-compliance were in the football program.
“Specifically, the University has failed to take prompt, equitable, and effective steps to remedy an ongoing hostile environment within its football program,” the letter stated.
The letter highlighted several discussions and meetings the DOJ had with university officials regarding this environment, specifically pointing out nine such letters and teleconferences. However, these reminders did not seem to reform much, with the DOJ pointing out USU has not made policies or procedures regarding this.
“Four and a half years after our initial notice to the University of our findings regarding the football program, there continues to be alarming evidence of a pervasive, sexually hostile culture and climate within the football program and in (now former) senior leadership in the Athletics Department,” the DOJ wrote. “This environment has been allowed to grow and fester due to repeated ineffective, inequitable, and untimely responses by the University, including the OOE and the Athletics Department.”
Later in the letter, they gave details on specific incidents involving failure to report and player misconduct, including at Title IX training.
The DOJ recognized there have been some steps to change but said more must be done.
“The Department acknowledges the work that USU has put
into implementing the Agreement since it took effect in February of 2020 and notes that the University has taken several responsive steps since it received the June 5th Report,” the DOJ wrote. “Yet significant work remains to be done to address ongoing issues with USU’s response to Sexual Misconduct related to the Athletics Department, and the football program specifically.”
The university’s response
On Saturday, Sept. 7, USU sent a letter in response to the DOJ, where they agreed to continue improving their compliance. The letter was signed by Mica McKinney, senior vice president of legal affairs and general counsel for USU.
“While there is much to celebrate about the proud tradition of USU football and the talent and resilience of our student-athletes, USU acknowledges that culture and climate issues have persisted within this program since the execution of the Agreement,” USU wrote.
They shared efforts made by the Office of Equity to cultivate an improved culture.
“The Office of Equity has met with Athletics leadership and in that context has discussed strategies for sexual misconduct prevention and climate improvement,” the letter said. “The Office of Equity has also created targeted training to address climate concerns, including addressing misconceptions of issues of sexual misconduct. In addition, University leadership has sought to engage the Athletics Department to address climate issues proactively.”
They also gave more detailed information about each individual incident and laid out their plan to remedy the noncompliance. These plans include updating training materials, creating new procedures to respond to the culture issues in the football program, communicating with athletics staff and including them in the creation and delivery of Title IX training.
“USU has already taken a number of steps in response to the findings of the Husch Blackwell report, including terminating four employees and issuing strong public statements regarding the importance of USU’s Reporting Employee policy,” the letter said. “USU, including President Cantwell and the USU Board of Trustees, are committed to building a culture of accountability and to ensuring all University programs and activities are free from discrimination and harassment.”
The letter concluded with an invitation for the DOJ to provide feedback on the plan.
“USU welcomes the Department’s feedback on this response and the planned course of action for USU,” the letter said.
Ashley Dorius is a sophomore studying journalism. She bakes for her coworkers and listens to jazz when stressed, instead of being productive.
PHOTO BY Jack Burton
The bleachers are filled at Maverik Stadium on Sept. 14 for the USU vs Utah football game.
Aggies draw with Cougars, unbeaten streak remains
By Mikey Bishop STATESMAN REPORTER
The No. 7 Utah State Aggies (8-01) dueled with the Washington State Cougars (3-3-3) at the Chuck & Gloria Bell Soccer Field on Thursday Sept. 19, ending in a 0-0 draw. The Cougars held the Aggies scoreless, becoming the first team to achieve the feat this season. The Aggies were able to record their 6th clean sheet of the season, the first as an Aggie for the graduate transfer goalkeeper Cora Brendle.
The game featured physical play from both sides, with 25 total fouls being committed by both teams and four yellow cards being assessed.
When asked about the physical play, USU Head Coach Manny Martins said, “It was a physical game. They are a team that plays with a lot of spirit. I don’t think anything’s dirty. They just play with a lot of spirit, and we do too.”
The Utah State offense came out in the second half looking energized after only recording five shots in the first half. The Aggies outshot the Cougars 10-2 in the second half, creating many opportunities
late in the game.
“You know, in the end, I think we just ran out of time, and I think if we get five more minutes, maybe it is a different result,” Coach Martins said.
Although Utah State did not achieve the desired result, its performance against its PAC-12 foe is plenty to be proud of.
Known as a defensive team, the Aggies returned to their dominance by holding another opponent scoreless after conceding five goals in the previous two games.
“We definitely haven’t been impressed with our recent performance in giving up goals because that’s not usually our style,” said senior defender Addy Weichers. “We made sure to put a big emphasis on putting defensive pressure on our opponent.”
Following Sunday’s tilt against Grand Canyon, the Aggies will enter conference play in the Mountain West. A year removed from a campaign that saw them crowned as the Mountain West tournament champions, the Aggies are looking to repeat.
“We are looking to make a statement that we are the best in the Mountain West, and a championship is something we are definitely going for,” Weichers added when asked about the importance of preparation heading into conference play.
The Aggies will travel to Phoenix, Arizona to take on the Grand Canyon Antelopes in a showdown between two defensiveminded teams this Sunday at 7 p.m.
Utah State will return to its home field on Oct. 3, playing host to the San Diego State Aztecs.
Mikey Bishop is a sophomore studying journalism. He is from Virginia but is an avid Boston sports fan. — A02351608@usu.edu
PHOTO BY Jack Burton
Alysia Butters, 20, jumps for the ball against three Washington State players at the Chuck & Gloria Bell Soccer Field on Sep. 19.
By Avery Truman STATESMAN REPORTER
The idea that aliens, if proven to exist, would resemble something like an octopus or spider has always irked me. Why would an interstellar species from an environment completely unlike anything we know on earth evolve to resemble creatures like ours?
Is it that, from the human perspective, octopuses are the most alien-like species our imaginations have access to? Strikingly intelligent, capable of changing hue on command and fitting through holes the size of bottle caps — it would make sense why a science fiction writer may turn there for inspiration.
And spiders — do we use them in place of extraterrestrial life simply because they’re “scary” and unsettling? Or perhaps anything with more than four legs is deemed strange and therefore akin to an alien.
I was skeptical when I realized “Project Hail Mary,” a science fiction novel by Andy Weir, followed the spideralien trend, but my misgivings were quickly rectified after just a few pages.
The science of “Project Hail Mary” works within the rules and bounds Weir set for himself, giving him opportunities to show creativity in solutions for seemingly impossible problems.
The first-ever confirmation of life outside of Earth didn’t spark a reaction of wonder or excitement but dread from the masses. Astrophage, Greek for “star eater,” was discovered as an unexplained arc trailing from the sun to planet Venus. It quickly became clear that millions of microscopic organisms were somehow diminishing the sun’s energy, and the same was happening to nearby stars as well.
Readers follow Ryland Grace, a scientist who wakes up on a spaceship with no memory of how he got there or why, as he slowly uncovers the truth about his past and how to stop the Astrophage cataclysm in a last-ditch effort to save humanity, a Hail Mary attempt.
Grace quickly realizes he is not alone in his mission when an unidentified ship makes contact. Like Grace, the five-legged headless spider alien aboard was the lone survivor of his ship. The human scientist and alien with an affinity for engineering team up to try and save both their dying worlds, while learning about each other’s respective civilizations in the meantime.
“I want to spend the rest of my life studying Eridian biology! But I have to save humanity first. Stupid humanity. Getting in the way of my hobbies.”
I admire that Weir never worked around some of the more difficult questions with, “It’s fiction, it doesn’t need to make sense.” He always described the reason the solutions worked with fictional explanations that might be far-fetched but were rooted in real science.
For a book about a topic so grim, it had a lot of really good humor. Grace and Rocky are loveable characters with a light-hearted narrative that leads to some great comical moments. As Rocky said, “I am scary space monster. You are leaky space blob.”
The story doesn’t come without deeper themes of selfdiscovery.
Grace struggles with the concept of selflessness and what it means to be a hero throughout his journey. He slowly gets his memories back, which leads the audience to wonder how he ended up alone on the ship trying to save the world.
The reason I don’t mind the spider-like appearance of Rocky, the alien of “Project Hail Mary,” is because Weir expertly shows through natural storytelling how the species evolved to his planet’s unique conditions. Rocky “sees” through the vibrations of sound because his planet Erid is too dark for light to be useful. He communicates using an array of complex notes that Grace must decipher. Due to the fact that Rocky can’t “see” color, breathes ammonia and doesn’t speak English, Weir had to come up with some pretty creative solutions to allow the two of them to communicate and eventually, become friends.
During the present time on the spaceship, Grace thinks himself a hero for volunteering to go on such a grave suicide mission with the intent to save humanity. But it becomes clear during his flashbacks that he may not have been the most heroic type during his life on Earth. More often than not, the regrasping of his memories leads him to more questions than answers.
Weir wraps the book up in an ending that is satisfying in both the aspect of character growth and scientific discovery. The path of the plot caught me by surprise, but it undeniability showed that our hero learned the value of selflessness and embodied it to the end.
“Project Hail Mary” is an enticing novel that demands the readers imagination to blossom. With many “Aha!” moments and original themes to go around, this book has made it to my top favorites without a doubt, even if the alien may resemble a spider.
Avery Truman is pursuing environmental studies and geography. When she’s not working in her position as the Utah Statesman Lifestyles editor, she enjoys writing for NASA and reading science fiction.
Letter to theEditor
Do you feel like you’ve been backstabbed over the athletics ticketing issue? In short, welcome to USU. You can get a good education here, but you will also be backstabbed by the administration. The “powers that be” typically only fake concern for your well-being as a student while constantly making decisions that impact your life in negative ways. The current issue with reducing student ticket allotment is just the most recent issue.
Meanwhile, perfectly good student housing was demolished so that yet another building for the school of business could be built. If there’s a lesson we wish the administration had learned before now, it’s that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should. I have seen plenty of other issues in my time as a student here. Take, for example, the “tuition plateau.” One day, the administration at USU decided that anyone taking 12-18 credits should pay the same tuition. Now, those taking less than 12 credits pay much more per credit than they would if the pricing was linear. Graduate students are considered to be full-time students at 6-9 credits, as opposed to 12-18 for undergraduates, so the plateau model hurts graduate students. The plateau also hurts part-time students, many of which are trying to work while going to school so that they don’t graduate with an enormous amount of student debt.
The list goes on: charging everyone $250 per semester for books when more and more textbooks are being distributed for free, building the ARC on top of the HPER field even when the student body voted “no,” continuing to funnel money in increasing amounts to athletics when many buildings around campus are in desperate need of basic repair/ remodeling, etc. Spoiler alert: the administration at USU will almost always try to squeeze more money out of you while giving as little back as possible. Sometimes, they will throw you a bone, usually in the form of free food or, in the case of COVID lockdowns, an itty, bitty rebate in fees. But in the end it’s all just Aggie Bull: the lighted “A” upon the hill stands for “Administration,” not “Aggies.”
That being said, we can actually do something about it. Instead of showing up to games to “show that we have a strong demand for student tickets,” as was suggested by our elected student leadership, we should forget showing up to games at all. We should show that there is no demand for bad policy, or for any policy that affects the student population in negative ways. We should vote for more skeptical student leadership: if it isn’t directly enhancing the educational experience of the student body, we shouldn’t be paying for it. (I should also say that having the “best” student section in the nation is nothing to brag about: is anyone planning to put that on their CV?) Let’s send the message that we’re done being duped!
-Ben Shaw is a graduate student at USU. He enjoys the outdoors and spending time with his wife and three children.
For information on submitting a letter to the editor or guest column, go to https://usustatesman.com/opinionpolicy/.
OPINION: Amy Crosbie’s Impact is Powerful
Iremember sitting at the student-athlete graduation breakfast in 2019, shortly after I began my career at Utah State. I was listening to the guest speaker deliver one of the most incredible speeches I have ever heard. The way she spoke about sports, life, and the opportunities in front of each of these student-athletes as they prepared to take on the next chapter in life was so inspiring and captivating. While I wasn’t a collegiate athlete myself, as a recent graduate, I could relate to so much of what she was saying. Her speech was full of pride, ambition, and humor, and it made me so excited to tackle this next chapter in my own life. I leaned over to my coworker and asked, “Who is this?” He responded, “That’s Amy Crosbie, she played volleyball here, and we are about to announce her as our Senior Woman Administrator.” I remember being so excited and thinking, “I’m going to get the chance to meet this woman and work with her.” I had no idea she would become the most wonderful mentor, and most importantly, an incredible friend.
I have worked with Amy in the athletic department for the majority of the past five years. I work on the external side, and she was over internal affairs, but that didn’t stop her from taking me under her wing from just about day one. That’s just the kind of person that Amy is. She invests in the people around her, is a selfless leader, and approaches every situation with integrity, grace, and love. She has such a unique ability to guide people through any given situation, and I have been fortunate to benefit from her knowledge, leadership, and compassionate heart for the entirety of my professional career.
Over the past couple of months, I have watched as Amy has been dealt a challenging hand. Her dismissal from Utah State comes with so much heartbreak for me and many others. She is a powerful presence, and her absence leaves a large void. This situation has also given me the opportunity to reflect on and appreciate how much I have learned from her. Amy’s impact is immeasurable, and the lives of everyone fortunate enough to know her are better for it. In seeing how she has carried herself and handled this situation, I feel more and more grateful for her influence on my life each day and am so proud to call her my mentor and friend. I can say with absolute certainty that you will not find a more genuine, trustworthy, or higher-character individual than Amy.
-Sophia Hamilton
For information on submitting a letter to the editor or guest column, go to https://usustatesman.com/opinionpolicy/.
Last week’s solution:
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