UTAH TECH UNIVERSITY'S STUDENT NEWS SOURCE | September 08, 2024

Month: September 2014

Watt’s Your Future Worth: Advances in education fueled by energy

by Landen VancilPosted on

Passing a class is important. Passing life is crucial.

Without educating ourselves, the crucial challenge of passing life is nearly impossible.

There are so many outlets to which we can turn to gain knowledge. I suggest that you use them efficiently.

If you don’t have a clue about life and what is going on around you, then how will you make it through?

You won’t, at least not as successfully as you would if you were educated.

Becoming educated about our community, our country, our nation and ourselves is vital to being successful.

So, how do we become educated?

We go to school in classrooms lit by electricity.

We travel the country in vehicles powered by fuel to have hands-on experiences.

We search the Internet on various devices that stay charged by electricity.

We read electronic forms of our textbooks on devices that we charge every day.

Sure, there are experiences that increase our knowledge that may seem like they don’t take an ounce of energy to complete.  For instance, biking to the mountains and spending the weekend in the wilderness seems energy-free, but is it?

Energy is used in practically every activity we engage in, including those activities that increase our level of education and knowledge.

For a long time, I took for granted the amount of impact that energy has on a day of educational learning. Then, one day during middle school the power went out and school got put on a standstill.

The reality of education depending on energy hasn’t changed.

Lately I’ve started gauging my educational involvement off of when my laptop dies. If the battery in my laptop dies before the battery inside my own body dies, then I know I’ve had a productive day of learning.

Yes, I use my laptop enough in one day for it to die before I am even done using it for the day, but I also believe in energy efficiency.

Using energy efficiently does not mean not using energy at all. Efficiency happens when the greatest possible amount of productivity happens along side the least amount of waste.

Using your laptop isn’t bad; turning on lights so you can review your notes isn’t bad. Driving to school isn’t bad either, so long as all of these things are done efficiently.

When you are done using your laptop or any computer or mobile device, don’t just put it down and let it keep running – power it off or put it on power save mode.

A light is only useful if someone is around to use it. Don’t leave on lights in rooms that aren’t occupied. Being energy efficient while at school can be a little more tricky. You never know when someone is going to walk in the room right after you flipped the switch just to turn it back on. You never know if you turning the light off is going to leave someone stranded in the bathroom in the dark. So, make yourself aware of your surroundings before flipping the switch. 

Driving to school isn’t a bad thing so long as it is necessary. For many students, walking to school is unrealistic due to the distance. For those of you near school, I encourage you to walk or bike. You can continue to be energy efficient while you are at school by not driving your vehicle from class to class. Walking from the Holland building to the North Instructional Building can be a pain, but it is entirely doable. 

It is necessary to use energy to live the lifestyle that our society does. It is necessary to use that energy efficiently. 

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DSU to host undergraduate research conference in February

by Landen VancilPosted on

Dixie State University is set to host the ninth annual Utah Conference on Undergraduate Research. 

As the host university of the February 2015 conference, it is expected that there will be a high level of participation by DSU students.

The first step of becoming involved in the conference is for students to identify whom their mentor will be, biology professor Curt Walker said. 

It’s a lot like applying for graduate school; students interested in submitting abstracts or doing undergraduate research should first find a mentor, Walker said.

Any full- or part-time lecture adviser can be a mentor, English associate professor Stephen Armstrong said.  Any faculty on the undergraduate research committee can also be a mentor.

“Without a mentor, you aren’t getting accepted,” Walker said. “Students need to know how to write an abstract, and that’s not something they are born knowing how to do.”

Once an abstract has been submitted students need to consult with their mentor about strategies for preparing their presentations, Armstrong said. Students will revise their writing, collect data, draw conclusion, design posters and attend training workshops co-hosted by the DSU URC and DSU writing center. 

The training workshops will be offered in October. The first workshop will be held on Oct. 9 in Holland Room 471 at noon. The second workshop will be held on Oct. 30 in Holland Room 325 at noon. 

Students needs to make sure that they are well prepared to present, Armstrong said. 

“Practice, practice, practice in front of an audience, fielding questions – the more challenging the questions, the better,” Armstrong said. “Students planning to give oral and performance-driven presentations should practice with a timer, making sure their deliveries come in under ten minutes.”

A call for abstracts was made on Sept. 15. If students want to submit an abstract, they must do so before Nov. 16. 

“Last year we received 71 abstract submissions,” education assistant professor Nancy Hauck said. “This year we expect to receive 200. With the conference being held at DSU,  we hope to have about 100 DSU students present there.”

The conference was held at Brigham Young University last year, Walker said. There were a lot of BYU students there because of the convenience. It will be the same way with DSU students this year.

“As a teaching institution, our focus isn’t emphatically on what the teachers can do in terms of research, but rather what the students can do,” Armstrong said.

DSU hosting the UCUR means students from all over the state will be at DSU, said Christine Arlotti, undergraduate research events coordinator. 

“We are encouraging not only students to attend, but the community as well,” Arlotti said. “It will give everyone a chance to see all of the exciting things happening at DSU.”

Holding the conference at DSU allows the university to show colleagues throughout the university system that DSU has a viable undergraduate research program, Armstrong said.

“By hosting the conference, we demonstrate that Dixie has grown and matured, and that the climate here is absolutely supportive of the students as they conduct their research pursuits,” Armstrong said.

Science majors generally don’t have a problem getting involved because science is obviously research, Hauck said. Encouraging other majors to recognize that their field of study includes research is important. 

“We especially hope to get those students who don’t think their major fits into undergraduate research interested, including teaching, business and nursing,” Hauck said. “It is important that we help them to apply their research to their occupation because really every field is based on research.”

Raschelle Davis, a senior elementary education major from South Jordan, is currently working on a research project for the conference, Hauck said.

Davis said she heard about research day just four or five days before the abstracts were to be submitted. The undergraduate research program at DSU needs to be advertised more, she said.

“I am researching the misconceptions that students have about space,” said Davis. “I was enrolled in the NASA Grant Program last semester with Dr. Hauck and started noticing that a lot of students don’t have the correct information about space… I was becoming really interested in what I was learning, and then I heard about research day.”

Students who would like to find more information on the conference can go to dixie.edu/UCUR.

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Graduate fair presents opportunities for those soon to graduate

by Cody EckmanPosted on

Students who think they’ll wave goodbye to a university education after four years might find they have another thing coming.

In order to be competitive or marketable fields often require more than simply a bachelor’s degree. Where does the aspiring grad student start?

The Graduate School Fair will be held in the Gardner Center Ballroom from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow. Representatives of sixty-six graduate programs from across the nation will be available to answer questions, start building a network of contacts or explain the ins and outs of admission.

“It’s spectacular that we have this many programs on our very first fair,” said Ali Threet, assistant director of the Career Center. 

Because of the great number of programs there should be something for everyone at the fair, said Threet.

Threet advised students to come dressed professionally, be eager to make contacts, shake hands with the representatives who they meet and thank everyone who helps them.

The fair will be on campus once this year and students are urged by the career center to participate and get all they can from it.

“Even if a student doesn’t know exactly what they want to do, it would be a great opportunity for them to go,” Threet said. 

Even freshman would find the fair useful, Threet said, and they could “ask about what it takes to enroll, what life as a grad student would be like, and what a graduate degree can do for them.”

“I think that this would be considered something that you would expect when you come to a university,” said Steve Bringhurst, executive director of the Career Center. “You would be able to look at graduate programs from around your region or around your state.”

Graduate programs are still forthcoming at Dixie State University.

“Eventually, [graduate programs] are going to come because we are going to continue growing, but right now we are working on our bachelor’s degrees and developing more of those,” Threet said. “Our students still need the same opportunities as students from other schools, so by bringing the graduate schools to them it provides them better opportunities.”

If you’re interested in graduate school, “don’t drag your feet,” Bringhurst said. “You have to start looking at applications for graduate schools in January and February because they’ll be making those decisions by March.”

The benefits of going to the fair aren’t just academic; students will also get a free lunch just for stopping by and supporting the fair. 

“If you visit and fill out an exit survey, you get a free slice of pizza and a drink from Red Rock Café,” Bringhurst said.

If students have questions about graduate programs or preparing for them, visit the Career Center on the fifth floor of the Holland Centennial Commons. Some services offered there are help writing a résumé, interview tips and creating a timeline for your degree progress.

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New DSUSA initiative driven by nationwide goals

by Keshara BjorkmanPosted on

The student body president of Dixie State University is busy at work on several projects, the primary of which is the development of an initiative on sexual assault on campus.

This initiative is based on a state and nation-wide fight against sexual assault, as outlined in the first report release in April by the White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault titled “Not Alone.” Student governments at Utah universities and secondary education institutions are getting involved and establishing awareness on their respective campuses.

In the effort to increase awareness, schools across the country are working together to contribute to the cause of sexual assault prevention. Gregory J. Layton, a senior English major from Cottonwood Heights and student body president, said the Dixie State University Student Association will be coming up with a campaign to raise awareness on campus as early as November.

“During the summer [the Utah Student Association] had a conference call with some of the reps from the White House,” Layton said. “We talked a lot about how things were going in other parts of the nation and how this has been an effective tool to help increase the safety of students during their time at a university.”

The purpose of the task force is to take action and raise awareness to let university students understand that it is OK to reach out for help.

“It has come to the attention of all institutions of higher education that we need to more directly address the issue and work to provide adequate resources for those who are victims of sexual assault in any form,” Dean of Students Del Beatty said.

Another main purpose of creating awareness is to prevent. In a section of the report called “Why We Need to Act,” it states the task force is “also here to help schools live up to their obligation to protect students from sexual violence.”

According to the report, “One in five women is sexually assaulted in college. Most often, it’s by someone she knows – and also most often, she does not report what happened. Many survivors are left feeling isolated, ashamed or to blame. Although it happens less often, men, too, are victims of these crimes.”

In a report by the U.S. Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight from July called “Sexual Violence on Campus,” it is stated that “less than 5 percent of rape victims attending college report the attack to law enforcement.”

“I went through our records, and in 2012 was the most recent [case],” Layton said. “The number was two that year for DSU.”

Beatty said that many feel as though college campuses have a “reporting” problem.

“We might never know exact numbers of sexual assault cases on campuses in Utah,” Beatty said. “The truth is that we not only have a ‘reporting’ problem, but we have a ‘sexual assault’ problem on Utah campuses, and we need to implement the proper protocol to address allegations of sexual assault. We will work to educate our students about what resources are available to them, and encourage our students to ‘say something’ if they ‘see something’, or if they become a victim of any type of sexual assault.”

College student governments are dedicating themselves to the growth of the goals of the Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault, Layton said.  

“We feel like it is something that needs to be taken care of and that our efforts need to be improved on,” he said. “Not just as a university but as a community as a whole … We are going to do things that increase awareness. Then we are going to partner with the community, especially with housing.”

Most of DSU student housing is off campus, therefore Layton has plans to meet with the owners and operators of housing units to generate a bigger community outreach concerning the issue.

“We need to make sure that the resources are there for students, that the policies are in place and if a student has been involved with [sexual assault] that they know how to get help at the university,” Layton said. “Dixie’s values are targeted toward the health and safety of students … We need to continually create a culture of prevention.”

More information about the White House Task Force to Protect Students From Sexual Assault can be found at NotAlone.gov.

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The Storm drop to 0-4

by Taylor DeckerPosted on

Despite the lead in the third quarter, the Storm couldn’t clinch the win, resulting in a 42-23 victory for the Azusa Pacific University Cougars on Saturday.

Dixie State University had 180 total passing yards and 150 rushing, while APU did most of its work on the ground as it ran for a total of 308 yards. Senior running back Terrell Watson led APU with 187 total yards.

DSU junior quarterback Ben Longshore took the place of starting quarterback this week for the Storm. Longshore accounted for two touchdowns and 75 yards.

APU started the game strong with a quick touchdown in the first quarter.

Later in the first quarter, Dixie played double duty as it had Longshore and sophomore Hayden Gavett switching in and out at quarterback.

Longshore threw a 13-yard pass to senior wide receiver Dalton Groskreutz for a touchdown to tie the game with five minutes left in the first quarter. This would be the first touchdown in two weeks for the Storm.

“We played the best we have in three weeks,” said running back Hayden Clark, a sophomore business major from Mesa, Arizona. “Slowing down the pace on offense helped us eliminate missed assignments and drive down the field.”

Following Dixie’s scoring drive, Azusa didn’t stay down for long. Seven plays and 77 yards later, freshman quarterback Chad Jeffries rushed for a seven-yard touchdown, bringing the Cougars up 14-7.

Dixie moved up the field the next drive, gaining a few yards here and there. The Storm then called a timeout on a fourth and six to regroup. The Storm returned from the timeout with another 21-yard Longshore-to-Groskreutz touchdown, tying the score yet again, 14-14.

But Azusa rushed for consecutive first downs, quickly landing another touchdown for the Cougars.

On Azusa’s next drive, Dixie’s sophomore defensive back Jake Witham had his second interception of the season on Azusa’s first and 10. Witham ran it back for 19 yards.

With the momentum high, Longshore followed Witham’s big play by completing consecutive passes to junior wide receiver Nate Stephens for a total of 15 yards downfield.

Dixie then switched Gavett back in for Dixie on the first and ten on Azusa’s 31.

Without skipping a beat, Gavett then rushed six yards for another Storm touchdown. But the field goal was blocked, bringing the score to 21-20 into the half.

Dixie’s tactical advantage of two quarterbacks was reflected as APU’s defense couldn’t get a read on the Storm’s offense in the first half.

“We were just trying to give the [APU] defense a different look out there, as well as revamp our offense,” said linebacker Robert Metz, a junior business major from Tuscon, Arizona. “It worked pretty well. It was a huge improvement from last week.”

Coming back from the half, the Storm rolled back in with a 42-yard field goal by freshman kicker Alex Giordani, eliminating the one-point deficit for Dixie. Dixie, for the first time in the game, was ahead of APU 23-21.

Dixie never found another chance to score as the Cougars took advantage in the fourth quarter, scoring two more touchdowns. APU ended the night defeating the Storm 42-23.

Clark said the defense struggled stopping the run overall, but did a good job at taking away the big play.

The Storm take on Simon Fraser University Saturday at 6 p.m. at Hansen Stadium.

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Lancers shoot past men’s, women’s soccer

by Payton DavisPosted on

A different storm delayed Dixie State University men’s and women’s soccer matches before both teams lost to California Baptist University 2-1.

After hour-and-a-half weather delays, the Cal Baptist Lancers accumulated two-goal leads in Storm soccer’s Pacific West Conference openers Saturday at Hansen Stadium. The men’s and women’s teams scored late, cutting the deficit to one score and opening opportunities for equalizers, but both started conference play with a loss.

Men’s Soccer

Outscored 2-0 and outnumbered 11 men to 10 after DSU freshman goalkeeper Hayden Matthews received a red card, the team somehow found a late-match surge.

Storm sophomore defender Bryan Baugh’s 63rd minute goal came three minutes after Matthews’ red card, providing the Lancers an advantage compounded with their lead. Unable knock another goal in, DSU dropped to 0-4-1 overall and 0-1 in conference, but head coach Danny Ortiz said late-game lessons will go a long way on the team’s impending road trip.

As the Storm face off against conference foes during the season’s remainder, they mustn’t back down early against strong teams like Cal Baptist, he said.

“[The Lancers] are always top of the conference, so it’s tough competition,” Ortiz said. “So we just need to pick up all of the intensity early. That makes all the difference.”

Ortiz said when a motivated team finds itself in tough positions like being a man down, obstacles shouldn’t matter, and the Storm’s slew of four Hawaii road matches next week provide a perfect opportunity to capitalize on opportunities toward the match’s end.

Midfielder Kris Evans, a sophomore integrated studies major from Draper, said success in the Pacific West Conference and on the road requires tighter play than the Storm exhibited Saturday. Cal Baptist outshot DSU 12 to nine and further distanced itself with seven shots on target compared to the home team’s three.   

The men’s soccer team plays Brigham Young University-Hawaii Saturday in the first match of its road trip in Laie, Hawaii.

Women’s Soccer

Spurred by on-point throw-ins and set pieces, the Storm scored their first Pac West Conference goal in the 80th minute of Saturday afternoon’s game.

Freshman midfielder Darian McCloy’s late-match volley followed the Lancers’ two successful penalty kicks, which gave them the lead from the 27th minute on.  Bolstered by free kicks in the final 10 minutes, DSU women’s soccer found late opportunities, but failed to convert — dropping to 2-4-1 overall and 0-1 in conference.

Head coach Kacey Bingham said soccer is built on momentum, and sometimes it takes just moments of great team play to create a huge lead. The team’s four-game road trip next week will determine its ability to create game-changing plays.

“Momentum has to come from each player who steps out on the field; that’s what determines which team has an advantage,” she said.

Forward Jennifer Mason, a senior accounting major from Springville, pushed the ball to the Lancers’ net throughout and said the Storm’s seniors have a chance to help the team finish in the Pac West’s top two. DSU created opportunities, she said, but must practice executing them.  

The women’s soccer team plays Brigham Young University-Hawaii Saturday in the first match of its road trip in Laie, Hawaii.

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Volleyball 3-0 in weekend rally

by Ryan KellyPosted on

Dixie State University volleyball stayed hot on the road in California with three more Pacific West Conference wins, making DSU unbeaten through six games.

DSU now improves to 8-5 on the season with a 5-0 conference record.

The Storm finished its California stretch defeating Notre Dame de Namur 3-0 late Saturday.

Senior right-side hitter Kendahl Weiland led the night with an average of 10.1 points for the Storm.

Weiland and junior outside hitter Edithza Urias also led the team in kills with nine.

Dixie’s second win of the California stretch was against Academy of Art University, winning 3-1. Outside hitter Maddie Rex led the team with 21 kills and averaged the highest points on the team with 21.5 points.

The first two sets for the Storm were close, with Dixie winning the first set. But AAU came up clutch the second set as it defeated Dixie 25-20. AAU wouldn’t see another victory.

The first win of the series came Thursday night against Holy Names University in Oakland, California.

The Storm won in straight sets (25-11, 25-21, 25-22).

The team spent the week with a lot of intense preparation.

“Our practices have been intense and focused,” said head coach Robyn Felder. “We will be hard to beat.”

DSU came out firing, recording a .324 hitting percentage in the first set, but then cooled down to .269 for the match. In contrast, Holy Names was only held to a .110 mark for the match.

“We came out really strong in the first set,” said Rex, a senior 3business from Tucson, Arizona. “Then we made some errors and gave them the momentum. We got the job done, but it wasn’t the prettiest volleyball we played this year.”

Offensively, DSU was too much for Holy Names, producing more kills in each of the three sets.

“Overall, I think the setters did a nice job of distributing the ball,” Felder said. “The defense really stepped up and allowed our hitters a lot of chances to take a swing at the ball.”

Weiland recorded a team-high 11 kills for the match, while Rex added eight kills and 10 digs.

After the hot start, DSU had to fight with winless Holy Names. Each team went back and forth with the lead, but DSU held on to win each set.

The team just stepped up and finished strong to get the last two sets, said Rex.

“We are road warriors,” Felder said. “We have scouted these teams and know what they bring to the table.”

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Cheap, unique dates matter of creativity

by Haley HazenPosted on

Aspen Jones, a freshman nursing major from Salt Lake City:

“Glowstick caves in Snow Canyon are way fun. You just take some glows sticks, you can buy them super-cheap at Wal-Mart … it is down in this cave and it is pitch black  and there are glow sticks everywhere, and you play hide and seek for two hours. It is so much fun and super cheap.”

 

Eliza Harris, a sophomore biology major from Ogden:

“Fishing [is great] just to any of the ponds. There are a lot of ponds in St. George, and everyone just brings a fishing pole; you don’t even need to go and buy bait.” 

 

Spencer Fankhauser, a sophomore business major from West Jordan:

“So, one of my favorites [would be] the scenic outlook [in Snow Canyon Park.] I usually have some breakfast food ready and then go out there early in the morning … [and see] the sunrise, as it hits the red rocks over there. It’s one of the few places in the world where we actually get the white sandstone and the red sandstone to intermingle the way they do over there. It’s fun [and] romantic … You get to see each other in the early morning light.”

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Students on lookout for more support at games

by Taylor DeckerPosted on

He runs up into the end-zone, sweat dripping down his face; he just made the catch to win the game. He looks around at a crowd mostly filled with empty seats. Only few were there to see him make history.

In a university of more than 10,000 students, only an eighth attend Dixie State University athletic games.

But the biggest questions DSU students have are why Dixie doesn’t see packed stands, no matter the quality of the team. Some students believe that if more people went to the games, the teams would fare better?

One of the main reasons athletes say it is so important for students to go to games is because student attendance and athletes’ performances feed off of each other.

“I used to play football in high school — when you have a packed stadium you are always going to play better because you have something more than your team,” said Matt Devore, an junior integrated studies major from Mesquite, Nevada, and DSU Student Association marketing manager. “You have backing there for you, so [as an athlete], you are going to do well for them.”

DSU safety Colton Olsen, a sophomore business major from Spanish Fork, added he doesn’t think it totally affects how he plays, but it gives off positive vibes and gives the players confidence when there are lots of people in the stands.

Some students assume it is just the spectrum of people who attend Dixie State who decide they have better things to do on a Saturday night than watch football, but other students think it is because of poor marketing.

Devore said typically if the student’s friends aren’t going, then the student would not attend the games, but he said there is a big opportunity for more marketing.

“For me as a student, if I wasn’t involved in anything; I don’t really see when the games are home, or away,” Devore said. “I definitely think there could be an [improvement] in that.”

But Devore said marketing for the games does not primarily fall under the student government’s  responsibility.

“From my side of things, it’s been more of D-Crew’s thing,” Devore said.  “And we support it.”

D-Crew is where the spirit of Dixie athletics starts from. It is in charge of activities for the athletics. D-Crew has sport representatives who are over every sport.     

Those representatives talk with all of the head coaches and try to meet their needs. An example includes when volleyball plays all four Hawaii schools, the coach asked D-Crew to send out a message for all of the students to wear Hawaiian shirts to the games.

If more students knew about the games as well as the activites, would DSU see an increase of attendance at games?

For the last three years Dixie football and basketball haven’t seen more than 4,500 people in the stands, only half of which are students.

“I think that if more people knew about the games, more people would make time in their schedules to come,” said Ben Fuller, a junior business major from Alpine.

Fuller said his friends and him rarely hear about the home games so they don’t know when to attend.

Kamie Thompson, a sophomore general education major from Sanpete, said if there was more to look forward to at the games, like a big fan section, she would attend more games.

“College kids just want to be where the party is at,” said  D-Crew president Dustin Reidhead, a junior integrated studies major from Kane.

So D-Crew is trying to make the student section more of a “party” for all who attend, Reidhead said.

With that in mind, D-Crew has taken the opportunity to create a new figure around campus for the games called the Man.

The Man is mirroring North Dakota State University, which had something similar to the Man called the Yellers.

The Yellers were guys in yellow suits to stood in front of the NDSU’s student section and got the student section more involved in the games. The Yellers got so big they even caught the attention of ESPN.

Reidhead believes that if they can get the students excited about being in the student section, it will give them more of an incentive to come. He said that is the reason they are spreading the word throughout campus.

Since one of D-Crew’s main purposes is the spirit of the excitement, it figured it would do something similar, such as the Man. Along the lines of creating more student involvement, it has started working with the cheer coach so the cheerleaders can help give the students direction.

Reidhead also said when the D-Crew sign people up for D-Crew, they still try to get people who don’t want to join or don’t have to money to put their name down in D-Crew’s database.

With that, D-Crew can send text messages out to all of the people currently in its database about the upcoming games and activities.

But overall Reidhead believes why there is such sparse student attendance is a combination of people not knowing and students not seeing a bunch of people, so it’s not fun for them, all which could be solved with proper marketing.

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