Aggie Radio holds first USU/SA candidate debates

Utah State University’s Aggie Radio hosted student government debates this week — a first in history for the campus radio station.

Several candidates for Utah State University Student Association positions compared and contrasted their plans live on Wednesday and Thursday.

“We wanted to be involved with the elections more and we thought the debates would be a good outlet for the candidates to say what they wanted to say,” said Becky Eisenhower, the Aggie Radio event coordinator.

          

All of the candidates were offered the opportunity to participate, but four of the 28 candidates ultimately chose to take part.

    

“I feel that it is important for students to hear and understand the goals, thoughts and character of candidates running for president,” said Joshua LeFerve, a candidate in the presidential race. “Debates provide an environment to compare the ideas, plans and objectives between candidates.”

          

LeFerve debated fellow presidential candidate and current USU/SA president Doug Fiefia Thursday at 4 p.m.

          

“This opportunity allowed me to explain my ideas beyond the word limits set by the USU Statesman and USU/SA elections committee,” LeFerve said. “It also shows the student body my position and how I plan to serve them.”

The other two candidates that choose to participate were Matt Ditto and Spencer Steadman, who are running for the office of executive vice president. They debated Wednesday at 10 a.m.

          

“The debate went really well. Matt and I both represented our platforms and we were respectful of each other,” Steadman said. “I genuinely feel like anybody that listened has a better idea of who they should vote for, which was the whole purpose of the debate.”

          

While the majority of the candidates did not participate, Aggie Radio plans to continue with the debates next year.

          

“I think the candidates were really busy and since we've never done them before, they didn't know quite what to expect so they opted out of doing the debates,” Eisenhower said.

          

Aggie Radio plans to advertise the event better to listeners and candidates in future years and will give the candidates more advanced notice of the debates to get participation levels to increase.  

Tess Griffeth, Bailee Woolstenhulme, Mark Hanni, Eliza Welsh and Emi Tano contributed to this report.

USU climate program goes global

Simon Wang, an assistant professor of climatology at Utah State University, and Robert Gillies, the director of the Utah Climate Center, discussed their six-week tour of Asia during a seminar held Tuesday in the Agriculture Science Building.

The researchers chose Asia as their focus due to its high vulnerability to climate change. According to Wang, vulnerability comes when people become used to a climate and may not be prepared for bigger storm surges.

During the tour, the researchers explained how a big rainfall in Pakistan, which resulted in major floods and a high death toll, was not just a periodic monsoon, but an event tied to global warming.

“The implication is that with continual warming of atmosphere, those events could potentially become more frequent in the future,” Gillies said.

Wang and Gillies also saw the trip as a way to promote the work of the Utah Climate Center. 

The trip began with a conference in Macau, China on Oct. 23 and concluded with the International Conference on Climate Change and Water in Nepal, which Gillies helped organize. Other stops included Taiwan, Vietnam, Korea, India and Thailand.

As a result of their visits, a USU student has been sponsored to study with top climate experts in Taiwan at the Academy of Science in May and June. A scientist from Nepal is also coming to USU for a few months in October to learn climate diagnostic techniques that can help predict climate incidents up to 10 years in advance.

“We’re hoping to make this a norm,” Wang said. “We believe that the climate science is international, so students will benefit from mutual visits.”

The trip was funded in part by USU’s Office of Global Engagement, Agricultural Experiment Station, Ecology Center and School of Graduate Studies, the Taiwanese Weather Bureau and the Innovation Lab at Colorado State University.

“We believe we were successful in opening many doors,” Wang said.

Jared Dangerfield, Amanda Grover, Lindsey Hall, Heather Shulsen and Rebecca Wheatley contributed to this article.

Former professor lectures Cache Valley Astronomy Society

Hollis R. Johnson, a former professor of astronomy at Indiana University, spoke to the Cache Valley Astronomy Society on Wednesday night about the formation of the stars and galaxies.

The lecture, held at Utah State University’s Science Engineering Research building, included a discussion on the Big Bang theory, red giant formation and Johnson’s experience with writing research grants for NASA.

“We were incredibly excited to have Hollis come speak to us,” society secretary Dale Hooper said. “He has been an active coordinator between astrologists and NASA by helping write grants that have awarded universities over $2 million for undergraduate cosmology research.”

Having engaging speakers like Johnson encourages attendance and participation from its members, society president Tom Westre said.

Johnson now dedicates his time to traveling across the United States to speak to clubs and classes.

“I always set aside time to visit Logan when scheduling out my lectures for the year,” Johnson said. “The club always has a great turnout.”

Johnson said he loves sharing his experiences and passing on his knowledge to others.

“One of the greatest adventures of the human spirit is the discovery of the universe,” Johnson said.

The astronomy club meets every third Wednesday of the month, with some exceptions for guest speakers. 

The club’s next meeting is March 19 in the Science Engineering Research building on USU’s campus. For more information, contact Westre at 435-787-6380 or by email at twestre45@aol.com.

Whitney Fletcher, Kelsey Richardson, Melissa Allison, Taylor Murray, Erin Cox and Mike Cannon contributed to this report. 

Researchers working to identify animals that will be most impacted by climate change

Hundreds of American mammals won’t be able to adjust to climate change, according to projections from Josh Lawler, an associate professor in the School of Forest Resources at the University of Washington.

Lawler presented his research on how animals respond to large-scale changes, such as global warning, at the Utah State University’s Ecology Center Seminar Series in the Agricultural Sciences building on Wednesday evening. His presentation addressed concerns about species movement and population fluctuations affected by temperature and precipitation changes.

“Much of what I've done has been modeling and much of it has been forecasting potential future changes,” Lawler said. "Given the projected rate of climate change on average across North and South America, in any given place roughly eight percent of mammals won't be able to move fast enough to keep up with climate change.”

Lawler isn't the only researcher concerned about the changing climate — and mammals aren’t the only class of animals that will be impacted.

Thomas Edwards, a research ecologist and professor of wildland resources at USU, said global warming will impact many species.

“We are seeing effects such as lack of snowfall and less water in the streams which means streams are getting hotter,” Edwards said. “Trout have to live in cold, cool water. The water warms up and you lose the trout.”

According to Edwards, animals will eventually have to move, but some will be incapable of doing so. When they are not able to relocate, ecologists like Lawler and Edwards will seek to help in the migration process to ensure that the animals do not go extinct.

Although his research will help to protect animals as the climate continues to change, "it will all be a lot easier to deal with if we can slow down the climate change,” he said. “The Earth definitely goes through cycles but the climate change that we are seeing now, a large part of it is human caused.”

The department head of Environment and Society, Mark Brunson, was happy to see Lawler, who is a USU graduate, come back and present his research.

“He has been a leader in bringing together what we know about the habitats and animals and projected changes that climate predictions create, and mapping them in order to understand them much better, in order to understand what it means for animals,” Brunson said.

Lawler was one of eight researchers invited to present their research as part of the seminar series.

Jared Dangerfield, Amanda Grover, Lindsey Hall, Heather Shulsen and Rebecca Wheatley contributed to this report.

Bandito Rides Again concludes in Logan

On Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., the show Bandito Rides Again will be performed at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in Logan.

"This weekend will be the last time we ever perform this version of Bandito Rides Again," said T.J. Davis, the creator and actor who portrays Juanito Bandito. "It’s always emotional to say goodbye to a huge chapter in life, but as they say, one closed door means that another one is about to open. We’ll do all that we can to make these last two shows the best performances we've ever had."

A series of shows based on the character Juanito Bandito have been going on at Pickleville Playhouse Theatre since 2008, and this will be the sixth production done in Logan.

"We do a lot more shows in Bear Lake so sales up there are greater in every aspect," Davis said. "But we have thousands that see us in Logan and SLC during our touring production every year."

A special promotion called “buy tix and get an equal number of free tix for your friends who have never seen Juanito Bandito” was offered for the first time this year.

"We've always wanted to figure out an easy way for people to introduce their friends to Bandito," Davis said. "This year we decided that we would rely on people’s honesty and give it a shot."

Davis said some may see this as a silly way to lose thousands of dollars, but he is more focused on creating future friends and customers.

"We’re confident that once people see a Bandito show, if it’s their kind of humor, they’ll return for many years to come," Davis said.

The promotion was first tested out at the Salt Lake City shows.

"We had big crowds and a hugely overwhelming positive response at our SLC shows," Davis said. "Overall they were awesome — or a-w-e-s-e-o-m as Bandito would say — and I think the same thing will happen in Logan."

Davis said two members of the original cast had conflicts and could not do the shows, so Sharli King and Eric Sackett were chosen as replacements.

"They are pros and learned it really quickly," Davis said. "It’s been super fun to have some new faces in the show with us."

King said she is playing the part of Jesse — one of Bandito's sidekicks — and has choreographed every show at Pickleville Playhouse for the past 10 years, so "it was easy to slip right into this part."

"I'm excited to be a part of these shows," King said. "And I hope our audience members leave with sore cheeks and stomachs from excessive smiling and laughter."

Madison Smith, Madeleine Bramhall, Natalie Nix, Torrey Green, Morgan Poulsen and Diego Mendiola contributed to this report.