The Utah Statesman, April 25, 2016 by USU Libraries

Monday, April 25, 2016 www.usustatesman.com (435)-797-1742 Free single copy

SPORTS | Broncos and Brooms

Walk off homer leads to softball series sweep over Boise State.

SPORTS | We are the champions

STUDENT LIFE | True Aggie Night

Men’s tennis earns first-ever MW title in record-setting season.

Thousands of students and alumni gather around Block A to celebrate the history of an Aggie tradition.

see PAGE 6

see PAGE 3

Too good to be true: Housing scammers target students

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY Johnny Morris Student Housing on 6th east with for rent sign posted in front. House pictured is not known to be a scam. By Miranda Lorenc STAFF WRITER

With summer approaching, many students

that is located close to campus or downtown

Logan that is pet friendly, spacious and cheap, and they email the people who posted the ad. “We’ll email them and they’ll send this big,

are searching for housing, and they often turn

long email back about how they’re out of the

Craigslist. Some deals are better than others,

reach you,” Allan said.

to listing websites like KSL Classifieds and

and some are just too good to be true. That’s

country or out of the states and they can’t

In the email, they’ll also mention that they’d

because often times, they are.

originally put the property up for sale, he said,

deal,” said Ashley Blad, whose husband Allan

they were looking for. The scammer asked

“(Scams) always seems like a really good

Blad is a sophomore in undeclared business.

“Like, the price of it is significantly lower than a lot of similar-looking houses would be,

but the realtor wasn’t cooperating with what

them not to call the realtor on the for-sale sign in front of the property.

Those are are red flags that indicate the

especially for pet-friendly.”

listing is probably a fraud, Ashley said.

for a new place to live through Craigslist.

communicate through email, occasionally

Ashley said she and Allan have been looking

Occasionally, they find a good-looking place

Another red flag is that scammers will only through phone, but never in person.

Ecology speaker brings Tundra and Drylands research Meredith said. “Dr. Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi By Jillian McCarthy STAFF WRITER

Dr. Anthony Darrouzet-Nardi from the

University of Texas at El Paso was this week’s guest speaker at Utah State University’s Ecology Seminar Series on Wednesday.

Darrouzet-Nardi's talk titled "Tundra to

Drylands: Cross-biome contrasts in soil biogeochemistry."

His talk on Wednesday was geared to the

public and was followed with a catered social. His talk on Thursday will be a more in-depth talk on warming effects on CO2 exchange in semiarid soils with biological soil crusts and

will be held in the Merrill-Cazier Library room 154 at 4 p.m.

“We try to represent as many interests

within ecology that we possibly can, and one of the areas is soil biogeochemistry,” said

Gwendwr Meredith, a PhD student in environment and society and member of the Ecology Center Seminar Series Student Committee. “There are soil scientists here at USU and I

don’t remember when it was the last time we had a soil scientist come and talk.”

The committee is a democratic process that

selects scientists they think students, faculty and members of the USU community will

benefit from his or her scientific concepts.

They also arrange for the speakers to meet

with faculty and have lunches with graduate students who are interested.

“We try to get a group of speakers that are

diverse in where they are in their career,”

is quite new in his career and so we figured he

“Usually in the emails, they attach this

application-type thing that have kind of

was being used as a scam.

“All indicators showed me they were

personal-type questions that they want you to

probably from Africa somewhere and just

“Sometimes they ask for credit checks as well,

into thinking that the property was their

fill out and send back to them,” Ashley said. which is very dangerous.”

The scammers will do what they can to get

making money from people by deceiving them property,” he said.

The people behind the scam had informa-

victim to feel comfortable with them and then

tion about the property owners, some middle

said.

he said. They made up the rest of the informa-

ask for the first and last month’s rent, Ashley “So they’ll be like, ‘I can’t meet you, but if

you like the place, just send me, you know,

800 bucks and then you can move in on this

date,’” Allan said, “and then they just take off

information and a few pictures of the house,

tion about the interior and used pictures from other houses to make the listing seem more legitimate.

“They simply were looking to get first and

with their money.”

last month’s rent out of people,” he said. “They

Coldwell Banker Gold Key Realty, recently

off of each person they scammed.”

Ron Johnson, an associate broker at

discovered one his properties for sale in Logan

could potentially make $1000 to $5000 dollars see “Housing Scams” PAGE 8

Presidential Search:

Finding a new Stan

would be able to relate to grad students well.” Meredith said that she felt the seminar had

a great turnout for the Wednesday talk, and

the committee was able to fill up his schedule with meetings and lunches since Darrou-

zet-Nardi will be staying in the valley for the week.

“It is really good for students to see research

outside of USU and Utah in general so that

they can receive a broader scope of what their field in ecology is moving toward,” Meredith

said. “I think in particular, Anthony brought a perspective that is quite relatable to students because he is younger.”

Forrest Schoessow, a graduate student in the

Quinney College of Natural Resources and another member of the Series Student

Committee, said he thinks one of the greatest

things a university can do is promote diversity of thought.

“I try to attend as many scientific talks as

possible to extend my growth and learning

about environment and society in all direc-

tions of the world of geo sciences,” Schoessow said. “I study special analysis and so I am very interested in how things interact over space

and how different factors change as they go

across the landscapes. So it is always interesting to see how data is presented whenever

there is a special or temporal component, and I thought I could learn from this speech.”

see “Ecology” PAGE 8

PHOTO BY Johnny Morris The new presidential search panel holds open forum for Utah State’s students and faculty in the USU auditorum on Friday. This panel will help decide Stan Albrecht’s successor as president of the university. USU’s presidential search committee is comprised of 25 members representing all of the school’s campuses and the general public.

NEWS

MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016

PAGE 2

N AT I O N A N D W O R L D

Ruined Chernobyl nuclear plant to remain a threat for 3,000 years By Matthew Schofield MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU

PRIPYAT, Ukraine — Before the fire, the

vomiting, the deaths and the vanishing home, it was the promise of bumper cars that captured the imagination of the boys.

It will be 30 years ago Tuesday that Pripyat

and the nearby Chernobyl power plant became synonymous with nuclear disaster, that the

word Chernobyl came to mean more than just a little village in rural Ukraine and that this

place became more than just another spot in the shadowy Soviet Union.

Even 30 years later — 25 years after the

country that built it ceased to exist _ the full damage of that day is still argued.

Death toll estimates run from hundreds to

millions. The area near the reactor is both a teeming wildlife refuge, and an irradiated ghost-scape. Much of eastern and central

Europe continues to deal with fallout aftermath. The infamous Reactor Number 4

remains a problem that is neither solved nor solvable.

But to the boys on the night before their

world changed, nothing seemed more important than shiny blue and yellow cars, with

actual steering wheels, almost ready for a 10-year-old to drive.

The bumper cars were to be turned on May

1, 1986, a seemingly impossi-

ble-to-live-through week away. So as May Day

slowly neared, Alexandr Sirota and his friends couldn’t resist sneaking down into the new

park after dark, beneath the deep shadows of the yet unblinking new Ferris wheel, and

under the inky dark of what would soon be the electrified roof over the bumper cars.

“We’d sit in the cars and make car noises,”

recalls Sirota, who’s now 40. “It was every-

PHOTOS BY Claudia Himmelreich/McClatchy DC/TNS (TOP) The “Energy Worker” palace of culture was once where Alexandr Sirota’s mother worked in Ukraine. Deemed as a shining example of the future of the Soviet Union, the town was abandoned after the Chernobyl accident at the nuclear power plant it was built to serve.(LEFT) Alexandr Sirota shows a photo of himself and his fellow first graders in what used to be the yard behind School No. 1 in Pripyat, Ukraine. Sirota, now 40, has spent the last 30 years trying to recapture the happy memories of his life before the Chernobyl disaster. (MIDDLE) Swings and a ferris wheel remain in an abandoned amusement park of Pripyat, Ukraine. The park was scheduled to open on May 1, 1986, for the Soviet May Day celebrations. It never opened, as the Chernobyl disaster happened on April 26, 1986, a week before the opening. (RIGHT) Lichens are abundant in the irradiated zone in Ukraine. After being suddenly abandoned following the Chernobyl disaster, this formerly pristine community has been retaken by nature..

thing we could imagine wanting in life at that

energy, says that as the dials indicated

known it could happen.

suggest the Chernobyl area won’t be safe again

perfect.”

to shut down the test.

Soviet authorities had warned that a similar

that’s a span of time that if placed against

Sirota as he went to bed on April 25, 1986,

says. “That was not the course chosen.”

with the same kind of controlling devices. But

to School No. 1.

familiar with the disaster disagree on what

engineers who’d spent the previous 24 hours

appears to be that somehow when the

time. As young boys, our lives seemed

These were the thoughts that consumed

and after he woke on April 26 and rushed off But as he slept, sometime after 1 a.m., the

putting Reactor Number 4 through a stress test were getting nervous.

problems, the safe approach would have been “If we had, all would have been well,” he Even 30 years later, nuclear physicists

Three years before Chernobyl, he says,

problem had been detected at other plants no modifications were made.

“This was our arrogance at the time,”

horrible mistake.”

challenging the legacy of Chernobyl is. There’s

reaction by inserting control rods into the

After the roof blew, the walls collapsed and

protect the world from a 2,000-ton radioactive

Parashyn, who had been an engineer at the

evaporated, and in the sealed environment of

disaster. “We could make the forces of nature

bend to our will. There was nothing we could not do.”

In a matter of seconds, the temperature

The water used to cool the uranium suddenly

the reactor the steam had no place to expand. That’s when the roof blew, and an estimated 10 tons of the reactor’s 200 tons of enriched uranium blasted into the sky.

Georgi Kopchinsky, who on April 26, 1986,

He pauses. “This was the day, of course,

was a director of the Soviet central committee

Parashyn, who later would become the

smokes nervously as he talks about Chernobyl.

when we learned we were wrong.”

director of the complex and today remains one of Ukraine’s foremost experts on nuclear

Tetiana Verbytska, an energy policy expert

engineers attempted to slow the nuclear

inside the reactor increased by 3,000 degrees.

plant within an hour of the beginning of the

founding of Rome to now.

at the National Ecological Center of Ukraine,

masters of the atomic reactions. It was a

certainty, that we were in control of the power

plant since 1977 and was summoned to the

when King David ruled Israel and before the

Kopchinsky says. “We believed we were the

the superheated uranium melted and con-

we were playing with,” recalls Sergiy

modern human history would stretch from

went wrong. The only area of agreement

reactor core, the process actually sped up.

They had begun the tests full of confidence.

“We knew, with certainty, with arrogant

until the year 4986. To put that in perspective,

on nuclear energy, still wrings his hands and He admits it’s a very tough topic for him, in

part because, he says, scientists should have

sumed all that fell into it. All that remained to mass that was forming was the reinforced

concrete foundation and four relatively thin walls. Above was only the open sky.

The 10 tons of radioactive debris streaming

into the air spread out in all directions over

northern, eastern and central Europe. Eventually, a scientific report commissioned by the

European Parliament would estimate that, to

some extent, Chernobyl radiation contaminated 40 percent of Europe.

It is difficult to imagine how long Ukrainian

authorities must remain on guard. Estimates

For more information call Dennis • (435) 770-2326

thinks few people really understand how

a movement, she notes, aghast, even to shrink

the radius of the no man’s land that surrounds the plant from 18 miles to six. She warns there’s no solution.

“We don’t have the technology to fix the

problem,” she said. “We don’t have the process to develop the technology to fix the problem, and we don’t have the money to support the process to develop the technology to fix the problem. The solutions for our Chernobyl

problems are very much ‘seal it for now.’ We

will have smart children and smart grandchildren who in 100 years or so will figure out what to do.”

PAGE 3

MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016

STUDENT LIFE

Thousands of kisses:

Students and alumni celebrate True Aggie Night centennial By Morgan Pratt Robinson & Isabel Forinash STAFF WRITERS

As the day melted to evening on Friday,

twinkling lights illuminated the A.

A jazz band set a romantic vibe as Bill and

Sharon Larkin, along with other Utah State

University alumni, stepped up to become True Aggies during the centennial anniversary of the tradition. They shared a dainty peck

before they posed in front of photographers who snapped their picture.

But this wasn’t the first time they kissed on

the A and took pictures. Bill proposed to

Sharon on the A 41 years ago, back when the A block used to be on Old Main Hill.

“Then we took the opportunity to set up our

tripod to take some pictures to commemorate the event,” he said. “We just had to use the

self timer on the computer. This was before selfie sticks.”

But here’s the catch: Bill wasn’t actually an

Aggie. He was a Brigham Young University student and Sharon was the Utah State

University student. They met in the first grade and their first date was graduation from high school. Then they had a long distance

relationship for three years while they both went to college at rival schools until he proposed on the A in 1974.

“Six kids, seven grandkids and 41 years

later, here we are,” she said. “We’re hoping someday our grandchildren will come to

PHOTO BY Johnny Morris Aggie students tongue wrestle in front of thousands on top of the A on the hundredth anniversary of True Aggie night.

USU.”

Bill was adopted as an honorary Aggie by

President Stan Albrecht 35 years later.

“He’s just a little guy, but I picked him off

the ground and I gave him a hug,” he said.

S -“I’m an adopted Aggie and proud of it.” , Hours later, the environment changed as an , sestimated 2,000 students Aggies, known for .selfie sticks, waited in a hour-and-a-half line

to become True Aggies. The line started at the A block, wrapped through Old Main and

reached the opposite side of the Quad to be a part of the kissing legacy.

Hayden Jardine and Jamie Porter were first

in line. They are a freshman couple who have been dating since November. They said they

didn’t have the chance to become True Aggies until the centennial celebration.

“We’ve never done it and we wanted to

make it special,” Jardine said.

They said their relationship is getting pretty

serious, even though they are not engaged.

“We’re probably gonna get married in the

near future, so we figured we should do this

too and become a part of legacy,” Porter said. Blake Muir, a freshman majoring in social

work, waited in line to become a True Aggie for the first time.

“Becoming a True Aggie is a really powerful

tradition,” he said. “I want my experience to

event, said her first True Aggie Night was

Aggie night as a freshman. Because of a foot

first kiss.

a medical boot and a scooter to match, so she

during her freshman year of college. It was her “Now, as the organizer, it has brought my

college experience full circle,” she said. “I’m sentimental about it.”

She said True Aggie Night is her favorite

be really powerful and awesome.”

tradition at USU, especially because of what it

weight from one foot to the other as he

collaboration from nearly 100 people in the

Blake laughed nervously while shifting his

thanked his True Aggie kissing-companion

repeatedly. He said that between the glow of

the full moon, the acoustics of the John Allred band and the significance of the 100 year

anniversary, the night was bound to be special. “This is one of those moments where I will

stands for. The centennial celebration was a

Traditions Committee, the band, volunteers, the guard services, the Student Alumni

Association and Dining Services. There are many universities that have attempted to replicate it.

“True Aggie Night epitomizes everything

injury, she said she accessorized her look with was hesitant to go. Regardless, her friends encouraged her to go to True Aggie Night.

Not long after arriving, a boy had walked

up to her and asked her if she wanted to be

his True Aggie. She said she declined at first, but he was persistent.

“He basically pulled my scooter and made

me. I was little scared for a second but it was just funny,” she said.

Even though she was embarrassed having

to climb onto the A with apparent injuries, now she said it is a part of the nostalgia.

“Everybody has been to True Aggie Night.

look back and say, 'Wow, that was really cool,'”

that is the Aggie family and the Aggie experi-

It’s something that brings Aggies together,”

glad I did that.”

Aggie Night.”

together through this tradition.”

he said after he became a True Aggie. “I’m Maegan Kasteler, vice president of the

Traditions Committee and organizer of the

ence,” she said. “This is literally the best True Katelin Allen, with the Student Alumni

Association, said she braved her first True

she said. “Everybody has been brought

—morgan.pratt.robinson@gmail.com —isabel.forinash@aggiemail.usu.edu

Driving vs. Walking at USU By Veronica Stephen STAFF WRITER

Why do students feel they need to have a

car at Utah State University when Logan provides free bus and shuttle systems?

Jeron Robbins, a freshman majoring in

the bus schedules, so it's never very confusing,

and you always need to get where you need to get on time."

Winchell admitted, however, that driving

can be a better option.

"It is more convenient to have a friend with

a car because, for example, if you are going

mechanical engineering, said, "I don't like the

shopping and you are riding the bus, you can

out the routes."

"You're also more limited as to where you can

District website that details the different bus

you end up doing a lot of walking."

friends' cars.

require the use of a car. Brittany Page, a

to travel. I really like transportation by car and

works for a daycare off campus.

as well just ask them," Robbins said.

campus. If you work far off campus, it would

bus very much. I have to take time to figure Although there is a Cache Valley Transit

routes, students seem to prefer using their

"It's a great system, but it's not the way I like

if I know someone that's super close, I might

only buy whatever you can carry," he said.

go because of the bus routes and schedule, so Some students have jobs off campus that

freshman majoring in Elementary Education, "I think it depends on if you work on

Some students don't mind looking at the

be a total pain to walk there," Page said.

"I didn't have a car for the first two months

students still get jobs off campus for various

website and find it easy to use.

While there are many jobs on campus,

of school and so I used the bus system quite

reasons, such as better pay, or preferred type

majoring in special education. "It's really not

"It also depends on whether you are from

frequently," said Justin Winchell, a freshman

of work.

that hard to follow. Their online website is

out of state or not," said Fe'iloakitohi Heimuli,

the bus routes and the bus schedules are all

from Utah you should probably have a car

very informative and it's very easy to follow,

a freshman majoring in psychology. "If you're

posted and they're very good about following

because then you can go home to your parents

FILE PHOTO

and grab supplies and stuff. But people from

can do without a car as well, but there are

driving home every weekend."

a car," Heimuli said.

California are not necessarily going to be

Students from out of state have cars as well,

despite the long drive. Could this be due to the social advantage students with cars have?

"If you're talking a social aspect, it would

help out with driving friends to places.You

could throw dating in there, too, which you

more opportunities and things you can do with Time is also a factor to consider when

deciding whether to bring a car up to campus

or not. The bus system is free, but students do have to plan a considerate amount of time to get to the bus stop, wait for the bus, possibly

see “Driving” PAGE 7

MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016

LOGAN POLICE BLOTTER SUNDAY, APRIL 24

• Suspicion persons were seen in the area of 1000 North 400 West. The persons were located and cleared of suspicion. • Officers responded to a report of juveniles playing with a lighter in the area of 1000 W `1900 S. Officers arrived and took appropriate action. • Officers responded to the area of 100 W 1300 S on a report of a two juvenile in the area yelling for their mother. Officers searched the area and were unable to locate the juveniles. A reverse 911 was sent out, which

was able to reach the mother of the children. The mother contacted the Police Department and advised the children were with her and ok. An Officer went to the address and confirmed the children were in fact ok.

SATURDAY, APRIL 23

• Officers responded on report of a noise problem. The complainant reported loud music in an apartment complex. Officers contacted the makers of music and the music was turned off. • Officers responded to the hospital on report of a patient who was bit by a dog. Officers took the initial report

and passed the information to animal control.

• An officer responded to a suspicious incident near 50 W 200 S. The complainant reported a suspicious package in the gutter. The package was empty and was removed from the gutter. • Report of a medical overdose in the area of 600 North 100 East. The complainant stated that a male individual took several boxes of imodium. The male individual was transported to a local hospital for further assistance.

PAGE 4 Contact Logan Police at

435-753-7555

for non-emergencies.

EMERGENCY NUMBER: 911 • Officers responded to the area of 300 E 500 N on a report of a suspicious person. The complainant advised of a middle aged male who was pacing and knocking on the doors of various houses. Officers searched the area but could not locate anyone matching the description of the individual. • Officers responded to a road rage incident in the area of Home Depot. The dispute was not physical.

Polynesian Student Union celebrates 20 Years By Eddie Collins STAFF WRITER

The Polynesian Student Union celebrated its

20th anniversary with a native dance luau at

the Taggart Student Center ballroom Thursday

evening.

Since 1996, the club has focused on the

peoples and cultures of all Polynesian Islands

in the Pacific. Thursday night's luau displayed

many different styles of dance from several

different islands in the large and diverse

region. The islands of Fiji, Hawaii, Tahiti,

Samoa, Tonga and New Zealand were featured

throughout the night. Club members re-

hearsed throughout March and April in

preparation for the performance.

"I absolutely love the dancing," said Kenrik

Lopez, a junior accounting major and secretary

of the club. "The luau gives us a unique

opportunity to showcase the dances from

different cultures. We have fun, but even as an

audience member just watching it, you can

feel how fun it is."

Audience participation was highly encour-

aged by the master of ceremonies. Volunteer

PHOTO BY Johnny Morris Elijah Toa performing a Samoan slap dance at PSU’s Luau with two other members of the union.

dance challenges, including limbo and hula

put audience members' skills to the test. Trivia

questions about the islands quizzed their

memory and their knowledge of geography.

Boisterous call-and-response of native greet-

ings had the crowd shouting "Aloha," "Talofa"

and "Malo E Lelei" back at the MC.

"They're doing a great job of involving the

audience," said Brittney Walsh, a freshman

biological chemistry major. "I'm very interested

in learning about new cultures. I visited

Hawaii with my family when I was younger

and I really liked how friendly the people

were, so I figured the luau would be a great

way to become more familiar with the people." Members of the Polynesian Student Union

aimed to share a message about their people

through dance. A message of acceptance,

family and friendship is what junior account-

ing major and club president Matt Kimbrough

hopes students around campus associate with

the club.

"We accept everybody. Anyone can be in the

club," Kimbrough said. "We spend a week or two at a time learning about the different islands and their cultures. It's good to be familiar with every Polynesian country."

Polo Sui'filo, an executive officer, wants

Utah State students, staff and alumni to see

centered around family. Family is everything to

"My favorite to perform was the Samoan

them. They will drop anything they have going

slap dance," Polo said.

friend they consider to be family. Whether it's

as drums, slapping themselves rapidly while

on to help out a brother, cousin or even a good cooking for a wedding or providing a roof over their head, family is all that matters."

Lopez maintained the ideas behind Andy's

He, along with other men, used their bodies

also staying together to perform in unison. "My favorite dance? Probably the hula,"

Kimbrough said. Contrary to popular belief,

Polynesians as a welcoming people.

words.

that's always reaching out. We love to show

home because there's always some sort of

perform challenging dances at a high level of

more civil engineering major said. "The more

celebrate almost anything."

by the Polynesian students to celebrate their

"We are a very inclusive club. We're a club

our culture through our actions," the sophopeople we have, the more fun we have."

"I'm from Roy, so almost every weekend I go

party going on," he said. "My family will

The 20th anniversary of the club certainly

Andy Sui'filo, graduate accounting major,

isn't just "anything," and Lopez hoped to show

siveness and family life that came along with

Zealand war dance. An intimidating ritual, he

has experienced firsthand the type of incluher marriage to her husband Polo.

"My husband is Samoan. We both danced in

the luau, but I'm Caucasian. I just married into

the culture," she said. "I love how everything is

his passion during his performance of a New said it requires intensity and precision to

portray well. Lopez had to dance while also

delivering the commands for the other dancers

hula is traditionally performed by men.

The amount of preparation needed to

excellence was a testament to the care put in

culture and its meaning. "Kia Ora," a greeting phrase from New Zealand, literally translates

as "be well" in English. The Polynesian Student Union hopes to do just that, and to continue spreading their message for years to come.

—edcollins270@gmail.com

to follow.

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STUDENT LIFE

PAGE 5

MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016

Internment camp survivor speaks to prevent repeated history By Whitney Howard STAFF WRITER

When sharing her experience in Topaz

during World War II, Alice Hirai forgoes tame

words like “relocation” and prefers to refer to it as a “prison camp.”

“What happened to the Japanese Americans

— and this is not said enough — is that this was the worst civil rights violation in the history of the United States,” Hirai said.

Out of 126,000 prisoners, most have died or

become too ill to tell their experience first-

hand. Because of this, Hirai said she will share her story with anyone who will listen. Hirai

spoke at Utah State University on Friday, April 22.

Hirai was only 3 years old when she and

her family were taken from their homes and

sent to the Topaz War Relocation Center near Delta, Utah. Though she was young at the

time, Hirai has interviewed former prisoners and historians to gain context.

Even before the attack on Pearl Harbor,

there was discrimination against the Japanese in America, Hirai said. After Pearl Harbor,

leaders in the Japanese American communi-

ties, who were monitored by the FBI without their knowledge, were taken from their

families and imprisoned for the entirety of the war. Shortly after, anyone of Japanese descent was decreed to leave their home and relocate. Any items they didn’t collect after two weeks were lost, Hirai said.

Wanting to keep their dignity, Japanese

Americans showed up on moving day wearing their Sunday best. They also wore dog tags with preassigned numbers.

Hirai and her family were sent to a tempo-

rary location, Tanforan racetrack. They lived in horse stalls. Hirai’s grandmother was

diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer. Two

men drove her to Tanforan and left her on the side of the road; she was too weak to move. She died in a hospital a few days later. This was part of the reason why Hirai became a registered nurse later in life.

“I want to do a better job as a nurse and

never treat a patient like this,” she said.

When prisoners arrived in Topaz, they had

barracks to call home. There was no insulation. Each barrack was 14 by 20 feet and housed six families, which made privacy

PHOTO BY Whitney Howard A chair that Alice Hirai’s father made.

impossible. Other than community toilets and showers, there were no utilities. However,

prisoners wanted to make life in the camp as comfortable as possible.

After the war the prisoners were released,

and most did not have a home to go return to.

“They were doing all they could to make

their lives better within the camp,” said Atsuko Neely, a Japanese professor at USU who has collected stories from survivors. “They had

their own initiative to work so that the camp life was improving.”

The generation before Hirai wanted to try to

were compliant. Japanese Americans wanted to prove they were loyal to America, Hirai

said. With time, they were trusted and even

allowed to leave the camp from time to time. This was, in part, because they didn’t have

customer saying they don’t like Muslims.

“If I had time, I would have stopped that

conversation because that’s the kind of person

of what happened, Hirai said.

saying you hate Muslims, that means you don’t

long time, there was no oral or written history Discrimination against Japanese Americans

Utah.

“The [Church of Jesus Christ and Latter-day

I am,” Hirai said. “I wanted to say, ‘If you’re

like me. I’m Japanese. That’s why I got sent to prison camps, because they were saying the same thing you’re saying right now.’”

Hirai encouraged attendees to vote. That

Saints] community welcomed us,” Hirai said.

way, no group of people has to have their civil

treated us really well.”

she did.

“The LDS, because they were persecuted,

Hirai noted parallels between the culture

anywhere to go.

store, where she overheard a cashier and a

forget what had happened and move on. For a

remained, but Hirai is grateful she stayed in

While there were guards, most prisoners

today. She recalled a recent trip to the grocery

rights taken away with the stroke of a pen like

— whitney.howard@aggiemail.usu.edu

that led to the imprisonment of her family and

16 things to do in Logan over the summer quite a bit to do in Southern Idaho during the

2. PORCUPINE RESERVOIR CLIFF JUMPING.

usually spent tending to my 4-H dairy heifers

3. BIKING ALL OVER TOWN.

JULY.

fair every August.

4. FIRST AND SECOND DAM: PICNIC, FISHING AND

12. ALOHA SNO SNOW SHACK EVERY DAY.

11. THE CRUISE-IN CAR SHOW ON MAIN STREET IN

summer as well. My summers back home were and completing 4-H Projects for the county KORTNI WELLS

“Kortni’s Korner” —Kortni Wells is an Idaho girl, living in a Utah World with a secret affinity of adventure seeking. When she isn’t studying, you can usually find her daydreaming about summertime. She also loves to make and decorate cheesecake, and is always looking for taste-testers.

s . — kortni.marie.wells@aggiemail.usu.edu

PLAYING IN THE WATER.

I think one of the only things I have

continuously overheard throughout the year

13. DRIVE-IN MOVIE THEATER IN OGDEN.

here in Logan is how fun the summers are.

5. FLOATING THE ONEIDA NARROWS.

underneath me, and summer right in the

6. SUMMERFEST.

of the fun adventures here in Logan. But I

7. GARDENERS' MARKET ON MAIN STREET EVERY

Having just about two years of college

corner of my view, I'm on the lookout for some

14. WILLOW PARK ZOO. 15. WATCH THE METEOR SHOWER IN AUGUST.

have one problem: I've never been in Logan

SATURDAY.

16. BONFIRES WITH FRIENDS.

here for some of their favorite things to do.

than just the ones mentioned above. I'm

for the summer. So I asked some of my friends to do in Logan?" I smile and love to answer

Here's what they came up with:

8. BEAR LAKE: PADDLE BOARDING, SWIMMING, BOATING, ENJOYING THE SUN, THE BEST RASPBERRY SHAKES AND RASPBERRY DAYS IN AUGUST.

there's a lot more to do here than in rural

1.HIKE UP THE CANYON TO THE WIND CAVES, TONY

9. CRAFT SHOW AT THE TABERNACLE.

you have more ideas, email me and let me

10. ICE BLOCKING ON OLD MAIN.

adventure — to finish my homework so I can

Many people have asked me, "What's there

this question. My response is usually,"Well, southern Idaho."

GROVE OR WHITE PINE LAKE.

Okay, okay, just kidding. There is actually

I know there are more things to do here

currently making a summer bucket list, so if know. So long for now. I'm off on my latest start planning my summer getaways.

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M o r e I n f o a t : C a c h e Va l l e y F u n P a r k . c o m

MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016

PAGE 6

SPORTS

Men's tennis claims USU's first MW title By Thomas Sorenson STAFF WRITER

For the first time ever, the Aggies are the

champions of the Mountain West.

The Utah State men’s tennis team earned

the honor by virtue of a 6-1 conference record this season.

“This team is unlike any other I’ve coached,”

said head coach Clancy Shields. “I could not be more proud of my players, my incredible

staff and everyone involved in our program.” The championship was sealed with San

Diego State’s loss to UNLV on Saturday, giving every other MW member at least two losses. Not only is it the first MW title in school

history, it's also the first conference title of any kind for the men's tennis program.

Overall, the Aggies are 21-7, including a

10-1 mark at home and a 5-0 record in games at neutral sites. The 21 wins is the best in

program history, besting the 18 wins the team recorded last year.

"Eight months ago this championship

would've been hard to believe,” Shields said.

“We brought in seven new players, 70 percent of our roster was new and we lost four of our

six starters from the year before. However, we all committed more, learned from the past

championships before – the football team lost by a touchdown in the conference title game in 2013 – but three years after joining the

league, the tennis team is the first to break through.

“Championships form a bond that these kids

will share together the rest of their lives,”

Shields said. “They gave their heart and soul to this goal, and I'm so happy they can share in something historic for our school and our program.”

Sophomore Jaime Barajas leads the Aggies

with 15 wins at the No. 1 spot, the most in school history for a player in that spot. His record was unblemished against MW foes, going a perfect 5-0.

As a team, the Aggies were 6-5 against

ranked opponents on the year, including road

wins over No. 59 BYU and No. 70 New Mexico as part of a seven-game winning streak down the stretch of the season. The streak was

snapped by a road loss to San Diego State on

Apr. 17, but the Aztecs’ second loss gave USU the conference title.

The focus for the Aggies now turns to the

MW Tournament in Las Vegas, which runs from Friday to Sunday. USU’s first-round opponent will be determined this week.

years’ mistakes and set out on a new mission

— thomas.sorenson@aggiemail.usu.edu @tomcat340

this year.”

Utah State has come close to winning MW

PHOTO BY Matt Halton Luis Lopez and Roman Ugarte celebrate after scoring against Nevada’s Robert Allan and Andrew Poustie. Lopez and Ugarte win their match and Aggies win 4-0 against Nevada.

Walk-off winners By Paige Cavaness STAFF WRITER

“I had complete confidence in Katie going

in. She struggled a little bit but then she shut

the door,” Noelle Johnson said. “Then Alleyah

Libby Peterson’s walk-off home run in the

came in and just completely shut them down.”

softball an 8-7 win over Boise State on Sunday

brought one run in before there were any outs

Pedersen was up to the plate and said going

came in before the Aggies took the field in the

bottom of the seventh inning gave Utah State

In the sixth inning, a walk and three singles

afternoon to complete a series sweep at home.

on the board for Utah State. One more run

into it she was trying to calm herself down

seventh, bringing the score to 7-6.

struck out.

seventh, leaving Utah State with the simple

breath,” said Pedersen, a senior first baseman.

the game.

good things would happen.”

on Friday, in which the Aggies came out strong

and forget about her past at-bat in which she

The Broncos didn’t get any more runs in the

“I just tried to stay calm and take a deep

job of scoring at least one more run to stay in

“I knew that if I stayed calm in that at-bat,

The series started out with a double-header

And they did.

With a 2-1 count, she swung at the perfect

pitch and hit a walk-off home run to end the game.

“That ball came in like a watermelon,”

Pedersen said. “I just went for it and it went over the fence.”

with two runs in the first inning thanks to

smart base running from outfielders Jazmin

Clarke and Sarah Chow, who scored the runs

and both got on base with a bunt and a single respectively.

Alleyah Armendariz started on the mound

for Utah State in that first game and totaled

The hit helped the Aggies to an 8-7 record

two strikeouts and three walks.

“We knew we would come back,” Coach

the second inning with a sacrifice fly and two

able to come back and answer like that. It’s

only one baserunner that inning with no hits

in the Mountain West and 22-20 overall.

The Broncos scored three unearned runs in

Johnson said. “It was important for us to be

infield errors, but the Aggies manufactured

another step in our process of everybody

and no runs.

understanding how to win these games.”

Noelle Johnson started again on the mound

and struck out five of the first six outs for Utah State.

That inning only saw three batters from

Boise State continued to score in the third

inning, bringing the score to 3-4 by the time it was over.

Until the fifth inning the at-bats went by

quickly and the outs came in a steady tempo

each team, but the Broncos put the first run on

for both teams. But that tempo was changed

hits — a double and a single — making the

an RBI single from Armendariz followed by a

the board in the second with one run on two

for Utah State in the fifth inning, starting with

score 1-0 going into the third.

three-run homer from Pedersen.

Aggies put two runs on the board with a triple

sixth inning when Clarke walked to first then

stealing home.

fly from Noelle Johnson.

cushion in the fourth inning with a two-run

the seventh and scored two earned runs with

total season home runs with 41 and tied the

Schroeder then came in to relieve Armendariz

Boise State was scoreless in the third but the

from Chow that scored Clarke and then Chow

Victoria Saucedo brought the Aggies to a 4-1

One more run came in for the Aggies in the

stole her way to third and scored on a sacrifice The Broncos tried to come back in the top of

home run that broke the program record of

two outs on the board. Freshman Katie

individual single-season record at 12.

and threw a fly-out to center to secure the win

The 4-1 cushion didn’t last very long,

however. After three hits that loaded the bases and a grand slam that brought the Broncos ahead 5-4, Schroeder was brought in for

Johnson and allowed two more unearned runs but finished the inning with a strikeout.

The score was 7-4 going into the sixth

for Armendariz and record her first career save for herself.

Utah State then got right back to the field to

face Boise State for the second game of the day’s double-header.

Johnson started the game on the mound for

the Aggies and allowed two runs and three

inning and Armendariz once again took the

hits in the first inning, but her team retaliated

allowing no hits and no runs.

hits and left two on base.

mound for Utah State and shut out the inning,

on offense with six runs of their own with six

PHOTO BY Kyle Todecheene Alleyah Armendariz becomes the third substitute pitch in the game against Boise State on Sunday April 24.

After that power inning from Utah State,

they continued hitting the ball for the rest of

the game while the Broncos recorded no more

progression of our team and we have to finish strong."

USU's week starts Monday with a dou-

runs on one hit.

ble-header against Colorado State University

Aggies took the second victory 16-2.

San Diego State University.

The game ended in four innings and the “To come back from last week's close games

at Fresno State and take care of business like we did today is huge,” head coach Steve

Johnson said. “It's just another step in the

in Logan and ending with a three-day series at “It’s always good to go in with a win,” said

Johnson.

— paige.a.cavaness@aggiemail.usu.edu @ususportspaige

SPORTS

PAGE 7

NBA playoffs pale in comparison with NHL keep up with hockey 90 percent of the time.

The season is long and I don’t come from an

area with a team anywhere close by, none of my family members have teams I can bum

fandom off of, and all my friends are Black-

hawks or Bruins fans. Those are both kind of bandwagons, and I’m against that kind of

LOGAN JONES “Trail Blazin’”

— Logan Jones is a junior majoring in journalism. Contact him with feedback at: — logantjones@aggiemail.usu.edu @Logantj

thing on principle.

But when hockey playoffs roll around, I sit

up and watch. I’ll stay up late to watch two

teams I have no emotional investment in. It’s that good.

The NHL playoffs are so badly ignored by

the sports community that even this year, It’s the most wonderful time of the year.

Playoffs are in full swing, the games are all

on channels most of us can actually watch

without breaking blackout restrictions, and the high-stakes nature of each game keeps fanbases wrapped up in more rampant speculation with each passing day.

Are the Warriors garbage without Steph

Curry? Are the Rockets garbage despite

Dwight Howard’s monster showing in Game 4? Is James Harden the single worst recent MVP candidate in recent memory?

Oh also, hockey playoffs are going on too.

Sorry hockey, almost didn’t see you there. I

don’t know why, you’ve been the most exciting postseason in any professional sport for a few years now. Sudden death overtime? Chicago

rebounding from down 3-1 in the series? Are you kidding me?

Look, even as a sports junkie I don’t really

“Driving” FROM PAGE 3 transfer to another bus, then walk to the exact location they are looking for.

"I worked off campus at Taco Bell and that's

how I got to Taco Bell and back, so it does work fairly well. It definitely takes a good

chunk of time, though," said Melissa Yauney, a special education major and freshman.

When students are in college, sometimes

during the lamest first round of the NBA

postseason in recent memory, fans aren’t

buying a ticket on the Patrick Kane express.

What’s the deal? Do people just not get it?

Not know the rules? Are they like me and just

don’t know who to root for? It’s well-televised, excellently broadcasted and generally officiated without much complaint in the referees’ direction. What’s not to love?

You’re right, watching the shattered remains

of the Memphis Grizzlies’ season come

crashing down is super good television.

Watching the Spurs sweep a playoff series for

the hundredth year in a row was riveting. The Warriors played around with us for a game

against the only No. 9 seed to ever make the playoffs before crushing them again after

PHOTO BY Chris Lee/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/TNS The Chicago Blackhawks’ Artem Anisimov, middle, reacts after scoring in the second period against the St. Louis Blues during Game 6 of the Western Conference quarterfinals on Saturday, April 23, 2016, at the United Center in Chicago.

Cleveland Lebrons are still hunting for a title.

see how this summer’s NBA playoffs could

shoulder actually deserves to be there. The

for seasons to come.

being tied at 56 at the half.

Portland is trying to prove the chip on their

storylines in this year’s NBA playoffs. The

Warriors are so good it’s literally not even fun.

there is no other option than to take the bus,

other college students on other campuses?

There’s only a handful of compelling

despite the amount of time used in traveling. "If you have a job and you need to get to a

place that is a decent distance away from any of the bus stops, that's more time sensitive, it is definitely more convenient," Winchell said.

"It probably is because we are a little lazier

and we are going to choose what is most

convenient for us at the moment and what is faster and easier," Winchell said.

Although campus may seem congested with

cars, there may actually be fewer cars at USU

to then get to work on time."

Nye, the director of USU Parking and Trans-

catch a bus to then catch a subsequent bus, So are students at USU just lazier than

ever live up to the NHL, both this season and

Even as a basketball-first sports fan, I can’t

"I used to have to leave class early so I could

"Of the 17,901 student that attend USU,

we've sold to commuter students, 5,134

permits. And to residents living on campus, we've sold 2,390," he said "That's very

average, probably even below average compared to other college campuses."

than at other college campuses, said James

—roniastephen@gmail.com @RoniALake

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MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016

PAGE 8

OPINION

Where would I be without the M.IP? Spring semester of my freshman year I

the first time. I was forced to move out of the

class coupled with my experience at the

some friends. One night we were having a

helped pay the large fine I was facing because

make it my major.

moved into the Living Learning Center with party where there was, you guessed it, alcohol. When it was winding down and I was going to Jeffrey Dahdah

“Don’t drop that dahdahdah”

bone!”

common thing and not a huge life challenge in

yelled, “Oh, that’s my pinky! Oh no, that’s the

The top part of his pinky was crushed off in

— dahdahjm@gmail.com @dahdahjeff

were some police officers outside who were

very little of that.

I am graduating in a couple of weeks and

feeling a little pensive. Looking back, one

thing stands out as the best thing that ever

happened to me. Getting a Minor in Possession of Alcohol.

To anyone who has had an MIP, so a lot of

people in this valley, this will sound odd. I

want to say that I’m not trying to make light of the people struggling through the fine,

community service, alcohol classes and

probation right now. I know that is frustrating. I also am not complaining about the strict

underage drinking laws in Utah; I grew up

here and fully knew the potential legal issues

if I was caught drinking under 21. I just want to share my experience with it.

At the time I was miserable about the whole

thing. I flat-out screwed up. While now and at

the door of one the rooms. He also was also

but I would like to share a story that holds

I moved to cheaper housing.

bed I heard a door slam and one of my friends

— Jeffrey Dahdah is a senior majoring in Journalism. He loves the program and will miss the professors and classmates he has had the pleasure of working with since stumbling into the department.

I understand that this is the opinion section,

LLC because of the incident, which admittedly

one of the only sober people there. He rushed

the time I recognize that this is a pretty

the least, I still was terrified about the whole thing.

What happened after all of this is why I say

out and ran downstairs where luckily there

this was the best thing that ever happened to

able to give him a ride to the hospital.

panic about the fine I scoured Career Aggie

The next fifteen minutes were a blur. I

pulled the top third of my friend’s pinky off

the door frame and put it in a bag of ice and gave it to a sober person to take to the

hospital in case they could attach it — if

you’re wondering, they couldn’t. I started

ushering everyone out of the apartment who did not live there Then tried consoling the

me. I was a statistics major at the time. In a

Statesman made me love journalism enough to I became an editor for three years at the

paper and have loved being in the major I am in. I credit it to a series of decision driven by

the starting point of getting that MIP. I jokingly

say that underage drinking changed my life for the better and even developed a catchphrase

of “Where would we be without the MIP?” But there is some truth to the joke. The whole

experience for me was serendipitous. I know that sounds cliche, but I think it’s true.

If I could go back to that night I would be

and saw a job posting for the Statesman. They

thankful for the heavy doors in that dorm and

wandered into the office and asked about it.

thankful for the pinky. I would even be

were looking for writers. On Monday I

By the end of the day the editors took a

chance on me and hired me as the beat writer for tennis. I had no writing experience and at the time no interest in journalism.

After some rough stories and a fair amount

the drunken slamming of them. I would be

thankful that the police came knocking on our door. Because what at the time was an

extremely frustrating and upsetting event,

turned out to point me in the right direction. If there is a spin to be had with the story I

person who had slammed the door and felt

of coaching from the editors I started to really

guess it is to see things through, but even that

could tell him was that it would just suck to

journalism class as an elective when register-

share how something as jarring as a good

overwhelmingly guilty. At the time the best I type for our suddenly pinky-deficient friend. Naturally the police came with all of this

ruckus and two of my friends and I were cited with MIPs. However, I would like to add that

the police were very nice to us. They reassured me it was going to be okay and I even speculated with them how my family would react. After all, I was 18 and living on my own for

enjoy writing. I even decided to take a

ing for classes. It was beginning news writing, which had a reputation of being a very

difficult class. I was not aware of that going in so when the professor put up a pie chart

showing the large chunk of people who did

not pass the class I wrote it off as a bunch of smoke.

That class kicked my butt. However, the

is not necessarily why I wrote this. I wanted to friend parting ways with a finger led me to a

fulfilling college experience. I wanted to share this because it was the most important night of the four years I’ve been at Utah State. I

guess I just wanted to share why I get a little smirk on my face whenever people ask me how I ended up picking the degree I did. I don’t regret pinky night for one second.

We may hate them, but we can’t silence all opinions The self-proclaimed ally in me revolted

against the damaging letter. But as a reporter, I was morally conflicted. Many people don’t

realize The Utah Statesman’s policy allows all

opinions to be published, regardless if they are a student-based or not; that’s the way it Morgan Pratt

should be.

— Morgan Pratt is a journalism major who prides herself on reporting about diversity. Regardless of what I said here, I hope I can still maintain a relationship with many of my pro-LGBTQA friends.

how much I disagree with those perspectives.

“Mic Drop”

— morgan.pratt.robinson@gmail.com @morganprobinson

A hater wrote an anti-LGBTQA letter to the

editor that was published on April 11. It said, “...homosexual minds in heterosexual bodies

are sure signs of mind/body mismatches, and sure signs of disorders.” This letter continued with equally homophobic and barbaric rhetoric.

But wait, there’s more. The author of the

letter, Wayne Lela, has absolutely no connec-

tion to Utah State University, even though we

are a student-produced paper. And it turns out that Wayne Lela is the founder of the Hetero-

sexual Organization for a Moral Environment, which is an anti-gay hate group. (I wasn’t

kidding about the “hater” part.) Regardless,

the editorial board allowed his voice to seep through the vetting process.

“Housing Scams” FROM PAGE 1

In order to find out more about them,

Johnson contacted them and pretended to be a potential renter with a lot of money from an inheritance but with bad credit from a bad

divorce. They were interested in dealing him, but when he insisted on meeting with them they wouldn’t respond, he said.

“They’re playing it very well,” he said. “I’ve

done a lot of work over in Africa in the past

years as a government agent and there’s a lot of scamming that goes on on that continent,

Everyone deserves a voice, regardless of

That’s why I am a reporter. I don’t want to be another raging, uninformed extremist who demonizes and represses “the others.”

Censoring “the others” gets us absolutely

nowhere as a society. Far too often we shut down opinions that we don’t agree with as hateful, communist, socialist, fascist, etc. before we really hear their opinions. We

wouldn’t be where we are today with the

legality of gay marriage if we weren’t able to hear the voices of the once, much more marginalized, pro-LGBTQA community.

Not allowing Wayne Lela’s letter to be

published in the paper based solely on my own political views is a double-standard that I’m not willing to live with. I frown on historic

newspapers who once suppressed those voices. I am also appalled the FCC used to fine TV

stations for showing interracial couples on TV. That is a terrible silencing of freedom of

speech. I would never want to find myself a muzzling gatekeeper.

all kinds of little scams. A lot of the scammers

“Ecology” FROM PAGE 1 Darrouzet-Nardi’s said that when he was

invited to be a part of the ecology seminar

nutrient supplies and budgets.”

Darrouzet-Nardi said that the project he is

currently working on he is most excited about

would be interested in the work that he has

in Dryland ecosystems. He said he and his

opportunity to talk to an audience that he felt been doing.

Darrouzet-Nardi’s Wednesday’s talk was

summarized in the conclusion of his speech:

“The relevance of the solar organic matter,

or SOM, to providing plant nutrients via soil pore water-mediated exchange, represents a major difference in nutrient cycling and

decomposition among biomes,” he said. “In low-SOM (and possibly low SOM:biomass)

is researching the role of subterranean fungi team are trying to figure out if the fungi are

moving materials around, connecting plants and biological soil crusts and all different kinds of cool stuff like that.

To learn more about the USU Ecology

Center and upcoming events, visit www.usu. edu/ecology.

— jillian.mccarthy@aggiemail.usu.edu

ecosystems, we need to look more toward

It’s out of desperation for the scammers as

well, Johnson said. With poor economies, job

Internet, Wi-fi, and they’ll sit there at their

they are trying to make a living the best way

computers all day and make money.”

retention and N fixation to understand

series at USU, he thought it would be a great

are located in Benin and they’ll go to a café

and they work at a café all day, because it has

processes such as nutrient translocation,

opportunities and education in their countries,

it’s legitimate, the homeowners will try to get it back up, but if it’s a scam, then it’s likely to fall by the wayside.

Always insist on meeting face to face and

they can.

contact the realtor’s office or property man-

he said. Renters who are desperate for housing

reading the listings carefully and watching for

on pictures and then send them a check

in emails and the lack of direct communication

person anyway, but watch their response, she

The scams are perpetuated by desperation,

will overlook spelling and grammar mistakes

with the sellers because the listings seem like

such a good deal and they want to believe it’s true.

To identify and avoid scams, Ashley suggests

misspelling and bad grammar. Email the said.

If there is a listing that seems too good to be

true, flag it so it’s taken down, Allan said. If

agement company, Johnson said. Don’t depend expecting to get a key back.

“Use common sense,” Allan said. “If it seems

too good to be true, it probably is.”

—miranda.lorenc@gmail.com @miranda_lorenc

PAGE 9

MONDAY, APRIL 25, 2016

BACKBURNER

6 1

1 8 6

THE BOARD

6 2

sports editor

Kylee Larsen

Alayna Leaming

managing editor