UTAH TECH UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE | November 06, 2024

New Park Experience in Mesquite, Nev. Offers Awesome Thrills for Family, Bonding For Companies

The Awesome Adventure Park at the Eureka Casino Resort features a Supercross Swing, Zip Line, Remote Control Cars, Razor SideXSides, Rock Climbing, and more. Special deals are available for Dixie State students!

Mesquite, Nevada—Thrills and chills are in full swing at the new Awesome Adventure Park located at the Eureka Casino Resort in the destination of Mesquite, Nev. The Park, operated by the experts at Awesome Adventures, features several fun and exciting activities for the whole family, but is also a perfect spot for corporate, church, or other group events, or college students looking for a break. The action theme park was built to be a main attraction during the highly successful Mesquite Off-Road Weekend but is remaining open to keep the electrifying action and entertainment going through May before re-opening again in the fall.

As part of the opening season, special discounts are available for local residents in Mesquite, Dixie State students. Guests must provide a college ID to enjoy the special deals. Students can pick three activities from the list of Zipline, Rock Wall, RC Cars, Supercross Swing, and archery and pay only $25. A punch card will be used. Activities can be completed on separate visits.

“Mesquite is a diverse destination and with the success of Mesquite Off-Road Weekend we felt compelled to create an ‘awesome’ experience that allows fans to experience a similar adrenaline rush as world-class motocross and endurocross athletes,” said Stoney Ward, manager, Awesome Adventures, and a certified team-building facilitator. “The super cross swing lets riders feel what it’s like to be motocross legend ‘Cowboy’ Kenny Bartram. The side x side course is the same track used for the Mesquite Off-Road Weekend races. When families and businesses visit our Awesome Adventure Park they will walk away with memories of a lifetime. There’s nothing quite like overcoming a fear to bring people closer together.”

Awesome Adventure Park Activities

Archery Range Shoot 30 arrows at 3-D target that are staged in the desert canyon setting.
Obstacle Course The ultimate team-building experience is similar to a military confidence course.
Paint Ball Course Gun, safety equipment, 250 paint balls are included in this 30 minute activity.

Rock Climbing Wall Experience 20 ft. vertical challenges with auto delays.
RC Cars Racers use 1/10 scale Traxxas Slash rally cars during 20 minutes track time.
Razor Off-Road Kids/Adults drive 200cc Razor side x sides on Mesquite Off-Road Weekend track.
Supercross Swing Experience the sensation of a freestyle MotoX jump on this xx-foot swing.
Zip Line Riders will fly down 1,000 feet at speeds up to 40 mph.

“The Eureka Casino Resort is dedicated to providing our guests—and the Mesquite community—with high-level entertainment options and the Awesome Adventure Park is an exhilarating addition,” said Andre Carrier, President, Eureka Casino Resort. “We believe the park will be a favorite in Mesquite for years to come.” In other news, a donation of $1,650 was recently made to Virgin Valley High School by the Eureka Casino Resort to celebrate the opening of the Awesome Adventure Park.

About Awesome Adventure Park: Operated by Awesome Adventures, a leading Southern Nevada and Utah tour and adventure company, the Awesome Adventure Park brings thrills, fun, and exhilaration to Mesquite, Nev. The action-sports themed park features archery, an obstacle course, paint ball, RC Cars, Razor side x sides for kids and adults, a super cross swing, a zip line, and offers an unmatched experience for families and/or businesses. Individuals are welcome and custom group options for churches, wedding parties, companies, teams, and youth groups are available. Activity prices ranges from $6 – $35 and multi-ride packages are available from $25-99. Group discounts are also available. Call 800.519.2243 for reservations or visit AwesomeAdventurePark.com. The Park is open Fridays 4:00 p-8:00 pm, Saturdays 12:00 pm-8:00 pm, and Sundays 12:00 pm-4:00 pm but special group times can be reserved. The park will be open until May 31 and then available for special events from June through the summer.

About Eureka Casino Resort: Family owned and operated since 1997, the Eureka Casino Resort is a newly renovated, 214-room resort located in Mesquite, Nevada. The hotel recently renovated each guest room, and built a resort pool and cabana with scenic views of Mesquite’s red-topped mesas. The casino is designed for guest comfort and features slot and video poker machines; table games include blackjack, craps, roulette, and more. The casino has Mesquite’s only 24-hour poker room with a race and sports book. The Eureka offers three full service restaurants: The all-new Town Square Buffet; The Mason Street Courtyard; and Eureka’s signature restaurant, Gregory’s Mesquite Grill. Eureka hosts weddings, corporate gatherings, and golf groups in its newly remodeled Grand Canyon Ballroom, and other meeting venues. Additional information is available online at www.EurekaMesquite.com.

Media Contact:—
Stoney Ward, 702.289.1797
Brian Hurlburt, 702.497.3003 – [email protected]

Madden leads team into 5th place

The Dixie State University women’s golf team stayed in the middle of the pack all tournament long and finished fifth overall as a team in the Pacific West Conference tournament championships at the Hawaii Prince Golf Club in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. 

DSU sophomore Shelby Madden fared well in the second round, shooting a 77 on the second day of competition. Madden’s overall score of 160 was the lowest combined amount of strokes for the Red Storm.

Individually, Madden ended up tied for eighth overall in the standings, and all five DSU golfers finished in the top 30 individually.

The fifth-place finish this year at the PacWest tournament is a telling improvement from Dixie’s ninth place finish in last year’s conference tournament. 

The University of Hawaii-Hilo won the tournament by a total of three strokes over California Baptist University.

 

 

Free St. George Comic Con Comic Book Day

ATTN: St. George Comic Con is coming!

On May 3rd, come by Comics Plus from 11am-6pm for this awesome in store event. To commemorate it, we’re launching SGCC to coincide with Free Comic Book Day. The best part is….IT’S FRRRREEEEEEE!!!!!

Come on by for this awesome day of fun. We have a great line up of 7 celebrity guests. Meet them in person and show your support for our local talent. Plus, we’ll have some FREE COMICS!

A great day of festivities planned:
– Artists – Chad Hardin, Derek Hunter, Ol Raz
– Authors – David Farland, George Harmon, Amanda Gerry, Christy Hall
– FREE Comics Books
– Gaming Events
– Costume Super Hero & Star Wars Characters
– HUGE Store Sale

For more details, see the St. George Comic Con page:

www.facebook.com/StGeorgeComicCon

Please spread the word to all your fellow nerds.

Be there AND be Square!

Comics Plus
348 W. St. George Blvd.
St. George, UT 84770
435-673-3229
www.comicsplus.com

Dixie retires after 20 years of hard work, dedication

Dixie is leaving Dixie State University, but it’s not like what some might think.

At age 82, Dixie Campbell was Dixie State University’s oldest employee. Early Monday morning a retirement party was held in her honor in the Red Rock Café on campus.

Family, friends and students celebrated Campbell’s success by enjoying cake and ice cream and giving goodbye hugs. Many posed for pictures with Dixie, standing in front of a quilt display, which was a commemoration gift of her time at DSU.

Campbell began as an employee at The Market, and then she opened the Red Rock Café. She kept herself busy by cooking at the cafe and greeting students at the cash register.

Campbell is retiring from the Red Rock Café after 20 years of hard work and dedication. She said she would like to spend more time with her family, which includes her four daughters and one son, 19 grandchildren, 33 great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.

Some students, like Cody Wells, freshman computer science major from Las Vegas, enjoys the company of Campbell because she cares for students and knows how to put a smile on their faces.

“She was one of the first people I met there (at Dixie State University), and I’m very shy, so she made me feel like I fit in.” 

99th Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide

Genocide is the deliberate systematic destruction of a people, race, or culture. Around the world, the month of April is observed as Genocide Recognition Month. It is a time that we pause to look back in reverence and remembrance at some of the most brutal crimes of humanity so that we can learn from our mistakes and prevent the reoccurrence of such atrocities.

Millions of people were eradicated during the genocide instigated by the Third Reich’s Regime. This is a fact that all first world nations recognize today as The Holocaust. But there is a terrible genocide that has been egregiously overlooked. Referring to it, Adolph Hitler said, “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”
Armenia is a small country in Eastern Europe. It was the first nation in the world to adopt Christianity as the national religion. With all of the surrounding countries predominantly Islamic, this brought about great controversy for the Armenians.

The first major genocide that occurred in the 20th century was the destruction of the Armenian race by the Ottoman Empire. On April 24th, 1915 while the rest of the world was occupied with World War I, the Young Turk Party began rounding up all influential Armenians in the country. Politicians, doctors, educators, and any other individual who had the potential to lead were torn from their homes, tortured, and killed. This opened the floodgates, allowing the Turkish government to massacre 1.5 million Armenians and take over 90% of their land in an effort to remove the Christian element from the region. This purge lasted until 1923, and nearly wiped the Armenians off of the map.

This week marks 99 years since its occurrence. It is our obligation as a civilized and morally upright society to recognize this tragedy of humanity, and remember with respect those who perished and their survivors. Turkey denies that any genocide took place to this day. More tragic is the fact that the United States has never officially recognized the decimation of the Armenians as what it was: genocide.

If our own government will not acknowledge this fact, then we must educate ourselves, and share the knowledge with those around us. Genocide is only truly successful when there is no trace remaining of the culture that was eradicated. We speak of the Jewish Holocaust, we speak of Rwanda, but who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians? We should. Commemorate and honor the victims and survivors this April 24th.

Theater students tour elementary schools, entertain range of ages

Theater students spread laughter to St. George elementary children this month and held full-house, on-campus performances last week as they shared the story of a mouse.

Members of the DSU children’s theatre class, or THEA 2220, have been touring elementary schools in St. George since the beginning of March, performing the play “Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse.”  The play is based on Kevin Henkes’ book about a mouse named Lily who experiences a handful of life dilemmas with the help of her family and friends.

In addition to performing “Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse” at St. George elementary schools, the children’s theater class members performed April 15 and 17 in the Eccles Black Box Theater for DSU audiences.

Theater adviser Hanna Rahilly said while the children’s theater class is offered only during spring semester, every student enrolled in the class is guaranteed a part in the play, which varies from year to year.

Each showing of “Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse” boasted a full house, and the students filled the theater with laughter. The play took hard work and dedication, but the good comments made it all worth it, Rahilly said.

“If you are willing to fully commit to this class, it is so much fun and very rewarding, especially when you get to see the kids’ reactions to you,” said Jurnee Olsen, a freshman theater major from Layton, who played the lead character, Lily in other performances.

With only nine students enrolled in this semester’s class, some students were given the opportunity to play more than one role. In addition to Olsen, Liza Teo, a sophomore theater major from Long Beach, Calif., also played the lead character, Lily.

Teo said her performance in “Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse” was her first chance to perform at DSU, and she said she loved every minute of it. She said playing Lily was a challenge, but it gave her a chance to show her energetic side.

“At the end, when you finish giving a performance and you see how happy the kids are, and when they raise their hands to comment … that just makes me really happy,” Teo said.

Rahilly said touring the elementary schools gave students good practice for real theater outside of DSU.

“[Children’s theater] is a fun opportunity to act way younger and portray the younger you,” said Spencer Rice, a sophomore integrated studies major from West Valley, who played the characters The Bully and Lily’s baby brother, Julius.

Rahilly said the children’s theatre class students will continue to put on productions similar to “Lily’s Purple Plastic Purse” and tour elementary schools for years to come. She also said all DSU students can enroll in the class if they wish for the opportunity to perform on stage or the chance to broaden their acting experience. 

Written by Sabryna Tesch

DSU baseball sweeps Cal State, Los Angeles

Bring out the brooms because the Dixie State University baseball team swept California State University, Los Angeles in a three-game series Friday and Saturday.

CSLA, which is currently on an 11-game losing streak, went into the series hungry, head coach Chris Pfatenhauer said.

The Storm beat Cal State in game three Saturday 11-0. Junior third baseman Yuto Kata hit his first home run of the season in the bottom of the seventh inning. He also led the Storm with three runs. Senior pitcher Kody Christoffersen was the winning pitcher who threw nine straight innings.

The Storm were tied with the Golden Eagles 1-1 during the first game. The Storm started to fall behind into the third inning where Cal State had a two-point lead. That’s when the Storm rolled in. Dixie State had a series of on-base hits along with a grand slam by senior right fielder Kris Kaplan to put the Storm in the lead in the fourth inning.

“I had swung and fouled out to the pitcher before that, and at that point, since it was a full count, I was just trying to hit the ball hard somewhere,” said Kaplan, a senior biology major from Las Vegas. “It felt nice.”

The Storm had 10 runs in the fourth inning to bring the score to 10-4. The Storm continued to hold off the Golden Eagles’ defense while hitting doubles and singles to win the game 17-9.

The second game was the first of two shutouts for the Storm as they defeated Cal State 7-0. Senior first baseman Tyler Blair had three runs that game, along with a solo home run that helped Dixie defeat the Golden Eagles. John Conquy was the winning pitcher as he threw nine-straight innings.

Pfatenhauer said the Storm are now starting to prepare for playoffs May 15-18.

Pfatenhauer said the top three things the team needs to work on for playoffs are pitching, playing defense and making good decisions with the bases.

Pfatenhauer said before the team starts to worry about the playoffs, it needs to focus on the next two series against Point Loma Nazarene University and Fresno Pacific University.

The Storm will face PLNU April 25-26 in a four-game series at Carroll B. Lamb Stadium.

DSU golf teams vie for conference championship

The Dixie State University men’s and women’s golf teams vied for the Pacific West Conference Championship this week.

The women are coming off their best result of the season, which was 5th at a Western New Mexico University-hosted tournament. The men started the season strong with a second-place finish in a tournament held in St. George, and they have yet to get back to that mark.

Women

The women took their best finish as a hopeful precursor to the conference championships.

The tournament began Monday in Ewa Beach, Hawaii. The team was sitting in fifth place after the first day, 25 strokes behind first place.

Sophomore Shelby Madden led the team tied for No. 15 overall with 11 strokes over par. Sophomore Kellie Busse shot 12 over par and was tied for 18th place. 

The team shot 337, 49 over par, in the first round. University of Hawaii-Hilo led the tournament with only 24 shots over par.

Junior Haley Dunn and sophomore Madalynne Fedoruk were tied for 20th with 13 strokes over par.

The women finish out their tournament Tuesday in Hawaii.

Men

The DSU men’s golf team has talent, and it was looking to prove it.

DSU came up short of the Pacific West Conference championship trophy by placing second in the season’s final tournament but still won some individual accolades.

Sophomore Kenny You placed second overall by shooting a 218 after 54 holes but lost the playoff hole for the individuals championship. You lost after hooking his ball into the rough and the victor Drew Nelson from Dominican University two-putted his way to victory.

However, You ended up taking home the hardware for the PacWest Player of the Year. You’s year of golf rewrote the record books for DSU by having the best average score per round and being the first golfer from Dixie State to take home the conference Player of the Year award.

Junior Hayden Christensen finished fourth in the tournament and earned first-team PacWest Conference honors.

The Red Storm finished in second place, just behind University of Hawaii-Hilo.

Head coach Brad Sutterfield also took home the PacWest Conference coach of the year award.


Former players question women’s basketball coach

Athletes lose more than just games when non-sports related issues result in miscommunication between players and coaches.

The Dixie State University women’s basketball team started the 2013-2014 season with 21 players, but only six women plan to return next season. Some of the current and former team members have reached out with concerns about head coach Catherria Turner. Some claim that Turner unfairly disciplined and singled out members of the team based on extreme favoritism, and, in some cases, sexual discrimination.

“A lot of things just didn’t feel right to me with her,” said Vika Havili, a junior integrated studies major from Salt Lake City, who quit the team in December. “As time went on, I realized she was kind of manipulative in a way.”

Tia Matthews, a junior communication major from Las Vegas, quit the team before spring semester started because she said the environment was causing too much stress.

“I felt like I was kind of — I don’t know if bullied is the word — but bullied I guess,” Matthews said. “I got put in [the] locker room for stuff I wasn’t doing right. She’d degrade me a lot [in front of] the team, so after a while, I just left because it wasn’t worth it.”

Some players were released from the team after the season, while a number of them quit throughout the season.

“When [Turner] gave us our reasons why [we were released from the team], it was a list of all the team rules that she claimed we had broken, which she never discussed with us during the season and didn’t tell us that we were breaking these rules,” said Austen Harris, a junior integrated studies major from Phoenix, Ariz., and one of the three players released at the end of the season. “You would think the coach would help you get better, but she never approached us.”

Neither athletic director Jason Boothe nor Turner could talk about specifics as to why players were not asked to return.

“It’s our policy not to say why players aren’t on the team anymore,” Boothe said. “We don’t want to put them into a situation where they might not have a chance to go somewhere else … There’s actually an NCAA rule that you’re not supposed to say that. [The players] can say whatever they want, but we’re kind of limited as to what we can say.”

Turner said there were multiple rule violations, but Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prevented her from discussing it further.

“I think that within a program you have several different personalities, [and] I think the best thing that we did was we tried to talk about it and get through it,” Turner said. “Other than that, I can’t really specify anything else … Ultimately, I’m very proud of everybody that was a part of this team and what we were able to do, and I wish them the very best. I hope that they are able to get whatever it is that they want and be extremely successful at it.”

All of the players on the team signed a contract at the beginning of the season in which team rules were laid out.

“You have to buy into her system, and if you don’t, you’re not going to get as much opportunity as the others who are buying in,” said Kaylah Miller, a junior communication major from San Diego, Calif., and one of the players who is returning in the fall. “There were a lot of rules that came up in the year that sucked for a lot of us.”

Even with the established rules, different people who broke the same rules were not disciplined in the same ways, and punishment seemed to be harsher for some than for others, both Matthews and Havili said. 

“I feel like if they’re going to release those few [team members], they might as well release the whole team,” Matthews said.

Nanea Woods, a senior communication major from Portland, Ore., was the only player to be released from the team before the season ended because she was told she broke a rule by disrespecting a teammate.

Before she got released from the team, Woods spoke to coach Turner about singling out players in front of the entire team. 

“It was very uncomfortable, especially for us not involved and not knowing what’s going on,” Havili said.

Woods said some meetings got emotional and people were in tears.

“She accused me of not being a good teammate [and] totally bashed me in front of the whole team,” Woods said. “I get left with being shamed in front of my teammates for something I have not done. I am embarrassed. I am disrespected. And this is not the first time.”

Harris started to record meetings as proof of what was said.

“I made sure I recorded everything because after a while, you had to,” Harris said.

Despite some of the players’ efforts to improve methods of communication with the coach, the situation didn’t improve.

“I feel like it got worse [as the season went on], but it was just because we started realizing things about her,” Havili said. “She was very unfair. Punishments were different for each person.”

Favoritism took a toll on team relationships, but some team members saw it reach the court. Some said the favoritism was obvious and the starting lineup reflected it.

“Toward the end of the year, it really did get sloppy, and we just weren’t a team,” Miller said. “That was definitely hard. I know there are girls [who] don’t believe the starting five was the right starting five, which took a toll on us, but I think it just goes back to how hard you work and if you respect the coach or not.”

Boothe said there are always going to be some issues when a new coach is brought on with a new roster of players in any sport.

“There were issues throughout the year of just typical team stuff,” Boothe said. “[A New] coach (often results in) disagreements in rules and different styles. It just doesn’t work. It happens.”

Although a new style of coaching was introduced, some players on the team were opposed to it.

“I feel like playing time was predicted before the season even started,” said a former player who wished to remain anonymous. 

Havili said Turner tore down her newfound love for the game. 

“I still love playing basketball … but it’s not the same,” she said. “It was really hard. I love it, [but] I just don’t love it playing for her.”

Professors share tips to excel during graduate school

Getting his or her Ph.D. may have more significance to a student than simply being the smartest person at the party.

Although Dixie State University is not a research institution, students thinking about pursuing graduate school can find guidance and inspiration from their professors. Graduate school can be a slippery slope, but with the right tools, DSU professors say the struggle is ultimately worth it.

 

What are graduate schools looking for?

A more important aspect than looking good on paper is having the right mentality to endure graduate school, associate math professor Costel Ionita said.

“[Graduate schools] are looking for students who have the drive, energy and passion to spend four years doing very, very difficult work,” he said. “Show the school that you are more than just a regular student.”

Hosok O, assistant professor of history and political science, said a graduate student is a true scholar.

“It’s something you’re constantly working on,” O said. “It’s not just getting the diploma and that’s (the) end of (the) story.”

Biology Department Chair David Jones said because of the close-knit community DSU embodies, students are able to work directly with their mentors. Jones said that’s one of the main reasons why DSU students who pursue graduate degrees are so successful.

“One of the most common traits of our students is how independent they are,” Jones said. “They can function very well on their own, and I think that’s a testament to the experience they got before they left [DSU].”

 

Where do I start?

Ionita said students who are thinking about getting their Ph. D. should get in touch with a faculty member they trust as soon as possible.

“Students need to make sure they impress their professors, (but) not just by going to class and getting an A, but actually getting in the professor’s face and making [himself or herself] known,” Ionita said.

Because so much work and energy go into crafting a Ph. D., assistant psychology professor Michael Rahilly said graduate school is not the time to be in the exploratory stage.

“You have to be definite this is the career you want,” he said.

Rahilly also said another important thing students should begin to do is to study professors at the universities they want to go to.

“Look at the type of research [the professors] are doing,” Rahilly said. “You want to think about the professors you will be working with.”

Communication professor Randal Chase said one of the most important things students can do now is work on a research project for their senior capstone. He said recruiters from graduate schools will think that is the most impressive.

Jones said students should get involved in internships over the summer and engage in research projects.

“In those internships students find themselves essentially in a mini-graduate school experience,” Jones said. “They’re in the lab for goodness knows — 19 hours a day — and they’re immersed in it.”

Standardized tests like the Medical College Admission Test and the Graduate Record Examination are also key to a student’s success.

“These days most graduate schools give a lot of weight to [the standardized tests],” Ionita said. “They give very little weight to your grade point average. Make sure you have as good of grades as you can, but (what is) more important than the grades is [making] sure you can get three or four excellent letters of recommendation from your professors.” 

 

What can I expect while attending graduate school?

Students pursuing graduate school need to realistically think about how many hours will be spent on the degree, Rahilly said.

“The hardest thing is realistically adjusting to the long hours and the never-ending work load that you start to experience,” he said. “I would say the easiest thing is really the classes (because) they’re interesting and challenging in your field.”

Because students are spending so much time on their schoolwork, Ionita said limiting distractions becomes very important. He said the only other thing he had on his plate outside of school was family, and if he would have had to have a job, it wouldn’t have worked out for him.

O said the difficult thing is when students find themselves dealing with distractions.

“If you’re a single student with no distractions, it will be a breeze,” O said. “Typically, if you’re dedicated enough, it’s not going to be too hard.”

Although graduate school may be intimidating at first, O said the hardest part is undergraduate study.

“Once you are in the program, you are more focused,” he said.

Jones said students can expect to be surrounded by the most knowledgeable people in the world.

“When you’re there, you’re surrounded by brilliant people all the time and you’ll know if you want to engage in research long term pretty much on the first day,” Jones said. 

 

What’s the value in a Ph.D.?

Ionita said better jobs and getting paid more is merely a side effect of obtaining a Ph.D.

“I didn’t go to graduate school to get a better job or any of the financial reasons,” Ionita said. “It was my dream to get a Ph.D. in mathematics. The side effects of that are (that) you can get a better job. What I learned in graduate school, I don’t think I could have learned any other way.”

The professors you interact with on a day-to-day basis will become your best friends, O said.

“When you are an undergraduate student, you feel like you have more distance between your professors, but in a graduate program you will notice that these people will be your best friends,” he said. “With similar interests we become much more closer.”

Jones said obtaining a Ph.D. is a huge personal accomplishment.

“Other than being bona fide as being one of the smartest people on the planet, the purpose of getting the doctorate, ideally, is that you’ve contributed to human knowledge,” Jones said. “You have described something about the universe nobody knew before. It’s one little piece of information that humanity as a whole just didn’t know before. There’s the value.”