Utah Statesman Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009
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Fundraising needed for 2009 senior gift By BRENDON BUTLER staff writer
Three large maps of USU campus were placed in separate areas around the Taggart Student Center on Saturday. One of the maps was paid for as part of the class of 2009 senior gift, but the project is not yet wholly paid for, said Tonya Davis, associate director of USU’s Annual Fund and adviser to the Student Giving Committee. Although the 2009 senior class has paid $4,400 toward the sign, it still needs to raise another $1,600 to finish its $6,000 obligation, Davis said. Jordy Guth, architect at USU Facilities, said the $6,000 signs are part of a larger project on campus way-finding, paid for with state capital improvement dollars. The state capital improvement money is given to state-owned facilities based on need and doesn’t necessarily come every year, she said. “We were able to get part of that money for signage, and next year we actually have a little more money so we’ll continue to do work in the same vein for way-finding,” said Guth. “We’re calling this our Campus Way-finding Plan. (These signs) are one piece of the bigger puzzle.” When asked about the seemingly high price for each sign Guth said, “When you’re in the construction industry, that really doesn’t seem like that much. The signs themselves are expensive, but they are very high quality. We don’t want to put in stuff that we’re going to have to replace in a couple of years.” Guth said the cost also involves landscaping, irrigation system and construction expenses. Part of the reason for the $1,600 shortfall still owed to Facilities by the 2009 senior class was the donation of $1,900 of the $6,300 raised by the 2009 senior class to USU’s Student Emergency Fund to help struggling students pay for unexpected expenses, Davis said. Seniors who donated to the 2009 senior gift were allowed the option to direct their $20.10 donation either to the campus-map project or to the Student Emergency Fund, Davis said. Money from the fund will be distributed starting spring 2010 for non-tuition related financial emergencies, said Davis. Students who need them will be able to apply for the funds and a small committee will award them on an individual basis until the funds are depleted, Davis said. “The senior gift is a way to give back to the university,” said Amber Neil, junior public relations major who took over as Student Giving Committee chair during the summer. “Even though tuition seems like a lot, it doesn’t pay for everything you receive here.
It’s ... a way of saying ‘thank you’ to the university.” Neil said the committee is asking the December graduates of 2009 to chip in and help raise the final $1,600 needed to fulfill the senior gift commitment. Members of the class of 2009 who wish to donate may contact Amber Neil at studentgivingchair@gmail.com or by calling 797-1239. Neil said she also needs more students to join the 2009 committee. Neil said one idea for the class of 2010 senior gift includes rehabilitating the old fountain located on the hillside on the north side of the Living Learning Center. The fountain used to be popular for wedding photos and evening gatherings but fell into disrepair over the years, Neil said. Another idea is to add lights and a sound system to the amphitheater on Old Main Hill or even move it to another part of the hill, Neil said. “We are waiting for the class of 2010 to submit ideas, and then we’ll vote in the spring,” said Neil. Students who want to join the Student Giving Committee or give ideas for the 2010 senior gift should e-mail Neil at seniorgift@usu. edu, she said. Darrell Hart, associate vice president for Facilities, said the Student Giving Committee usually works with USU Facilities to collaborate on projects that are in line with campus needs. Both the amphitheater and the old fountain would be great projects for 2010, he said. The senior gift tradition was started in 1909 when the senior class raised money to place bells in the Old Main tower. Other senior gifts over the years include a bench on Old Main Hill overlooking the valley, donated by the class of 1920 and the amphitheater located on the southwest side of Old Main Hill, donated by the class of 1925. The tradition was dropped for some years after the 1960s and began again when the class of 2007 raised money to place a study room in the Merrill-Cazier Library. In 2008, an anonymous donor matched the senior class donation of $5,200 to place a nearly $12,000 Utah State University sign on 400 North, Davis said. The President’s Office donated another $1,200 after the project was underway, Davis said. “One of the challenges we always face is doing a project that can have an impact on campus with the small amount of money that we get every year,” said Davis. “This year one of our goals is to find a matching donor for student gifts so that every $20.10 that the seniors give is doubled. Actually, that’s what we did (in 2008). We had a matching donor and that was the only reason we were able to do such a neat project.” –butler.brendon@gmail.com
USU alumnus discovers legitimate pirate treasure By MIKAYLA RICH staff writer
Barry Clifford, an explorer, was invited to speak at Homecoming Week by Associated Students of Utah State University. He spoke Sept. 22 in the TSC Ballroom. He’s an underwater explorer who works with National Geographic. He is the only explorer to have discovered legitimate pirate treasure to date. Clifford and his team haven’t sold any of their findings. They’ve kept everything together and it is now in touring exhibits, which are booked for the next seven years. Clifford said the money from the exhibits funds all of their current projects including his most recent discovery, the Margaret. The Margaret was found by Clifford’s team off the coast of Salem, Mass. This ship is especially important because it was considered the lead ship of the U.S. Navy in 1797. In a letter to her husband, Abigail Adams wrote about losing friends in the shipwreck who were traveling from Amsterdam to America. Clifford’s most notable discovery, however, is the Whydah, a pirate ship that he discovered in 1984. He explained that according to local legend Sam Bellamy captained the ship. In Clifford’s favorite version of the tale, Sam met his girlfriend, Maria Hallett, under a blooming apple tree. He promised to return from trading in the Caribbean with a handsome dowry with which to wed her. In the meantime, she had his illegitimate child. She tried to hide the pregnancy by hiding the baby in a barn. However, the baby died and Maria was tried and convicted as a witch. She was run out of town and lived in a shack some miles away with a gray cat and a billy goat with a glass eye. Sam didn’t have much luck in the Caribbean and soon turned to piracy. He captured 54 ships, but his greatest achievement came with
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the capture of the slaving vessell, Whydah, in 1717. The ship had just dropped off a massive cargo of African slaves in exchange for more than four-and-half tons of gold, gold dust, jewelry and other treasures. With his large bounty, Sam sailed the ship to Massachusetts where it was hit by a violent storm and sunk. Most of the 146 crew members washed ashore, including Bellamy. Maria found Bellamy’s body while walking the beach. She consequently went mad and haunts the beach. Using the local folklore of eight survivors of the shipwreck Clifford found the court documents of their trial. Six of the eight were convicted and hung after telling of the massive bounty aboard the ship which was in bags, in chests between decks. Clifford also found the maps made by Cyprian Southack, a local cartographer, who was dispatched by the governor to find the ship. Southack kept a detailed log of his findings. He found the ship but was unable to reach it because it was 500 feet out and being pummeled by 30-foot waves. He watched the remains of the wreck sink to the bottom of the ocean and was never able to access the treasure. “We had to be sure something was still there after all of this time. Once we had put together all of this evidence we got a boat and we went out diving for it,” Clifford said. Clifford began his search with his good friend John Kennedy Jr. in the late 1970s. The official discovery of the Whydah came in 1984 with the first artifact, a piece of a musket. Some critics of Clifford didn’t think the musket proved he had found the Whydah. But in 1985, the Whydah’s bell was discovered, which proved that they had found the Whydah. Today they have found more than $400 million in treasure and they haven’t even reached the mother-load yet. “We think we know exactly where it is. We
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TREASURE COINS FROM THE WHYDAH, a pirate ship discovered by USU alumnus Barry Clifford, sit on display at an exhibit in the Field Museum in Chicago, Ill. It is the only recovered pirate treasure and was found in 1984. Clifford used folklore and maps he found to track down the sunken ship. MCT photo
were right on top of it this summer, but due to weather and other constraints we weren’t able to excavate it,” Clifford said. Barry, in addition to being an explorer, is also a teacher. Maybe he’s the modern day Indiana Jones. He doesn’t have to fight off Nazis, Indian gods or aliens but things have gotten pretty intense between him and other explorers.
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“As soon as you find something then the trouble starts. When you’ve got treasure fever, aspirin won’t cure it,” Clifford said. He also explained he’s not in it for the money and he won’t be selling anything that he finds. It’s just as the Whydah Web site displays,”It’s not what you find – it’s what you find out.” –mikayla.rich@aggiemail.usu.edu
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