Month: September 2019

Parking seems to be the bane of every college students existence; however, Dixie State University is attempting to think ahead and make improvements before the issue gets out of hand.

Josh Thayne, executive director of event services and risk management, said DSU has plans to accommodate the ever-increasing number of students. These plans include more parking stalls and parking garages being added to the university campus.

Specifically, the Edith S. Whitehead Education building will be torn down after the opening of the Science, Engineering and Technology building and a parking lot will be added. Another parking lot near facilities management, which lies south of Shiloh Hall dorms, is also going to be available, said Sherry Ruesch, executive director of facilities management.

“We are exploring a paperless hang-tag/sticker permit system to a license plate permit reading system,” Thayne said. “The number of parking permits sold and prices will likely increase to meet the campus parking demands [such as parking garages].”

Blake Ence, a junior business administration major from St. George, agrees.

“Parking up by the science building is almost impossible unless you get lucky and there is a student pulling out,” Ence said. “But [parking near the Hazy] is not too bad.”

“Parking seems to be the bane of every college students existence”

ABBy doman, dsn staff

This semester there has been an increasing number of students parking in spots not designated for parking, such as out-of-stall in lot drive lanes and along curbs not striped for parking stalls, Thayne said. This parking is for emergencies and, therefore, poses a risk.

Thayne said he would like to remind students that “white-marked stalls are for students, yellow-marked for faculty/staff only, and green-marked for visitors (non-student, employee) only.”

Visit parking.dixie.edu for answers to frequently asked questions, a map and other parking resources.

The Dixie State University Police Department received its accreditation at a board of trustees meeting on Sept. 27.

The accreditation was granted through Utah Chiefs of Police Association; DSUPD is the first university police department to be accredited in the state of Utah, and one of seven departments to receive this recognition statewide.

According to Barfuss, accreditation requires:

• “168 specific points of proof to show policy manuals, general orders, procedures, responses, and other police services meet industry best practices. This means for every point of proof, DSUPD needs to show a policy, photograph, explanation, or process, or how we meet or exceed each proof required.”

• “[An assessor who reviews] the materials and determines if all written standards are met. If the written documentation is approved, the assessor conducts a site visit to inspect evidence processes, building standards, interview administrators and officers and determines if the agencies actions meet written standards.”

• “Once an assessor approves the written documentation and conducts a site visit, the assessor writes a recommendation to the UCOPA board approving or not approving the agency. If the assessor approves, the UCOPA board votes to accept or reject the assessor’s approval. Once the board votes to accept the assessment report, the agency is officially accredited.”
  

“I want to congratulate Barfuss and his staff because it is a lot of work,” Shupe said.

Accreditation is voluntary in Utah. Upon completion, DSUPD received a plaque and a sticker to place on university vehicles to display its approval.

DSUPD’s achievement is creating a ripple effect throughout the state.

“We are very happy because we have had some other universities who have inquired that they want to be part of the process,” Shupe said.

As Dixie State University nears full capacity of beds in its on-campus and private housing, a new student housing complex, currently referred to as ‘Campus View Suites Phase II’, is expected to make its debut in 2021 in efforts to accommodate the increasing rate of student enrollment.

The construction of Campus View Suites Phase II will come at the expense of tearing down Shiloh Hall. The new building will be located in its place, across the way from Campus View Suites. Shiloh Hall currently houses 48 male students, but will not be available for rent next year.

The DSU Board of Trustees, Utah State Board of Regents and Utah State Legislature all had a role in approving the bond for the addition of the new building.

Paul Morris, vice president of DSU administrative affairs, said, “We are getting near full capacity in beds with our own on-campus beds and the private beds around, so to be able to support the new students that want to come to [DSU], we are going to need to have new housing in the next couple of years.”

Related Posts:

The new complex is projected to be one-third larger than CVS and contains approximately 450 beds, compared to the 350 beds in CVS. 50% percent of the rooms in the building will be private bedrooms and 50% will be shared rooms.

“I know a lot of people who wanted to live at [CVS] but weren’t able to because spots were full,” said Josh Thompson, a junior recreation and sports management major from Ontario, California. “I think this new, larger building will make a lot of students happy.”

“I think adding the new complex will make on-campus housing more desirable to prospective students and current students.”

Resident life specialist Jill Fiske

The apartment layout and features will be similar to those in CVS. Each apartment will have a refrigerator, sink and a microwave but will remain without an oven or stovetop. Like in CVS, there will be a full kitchen on every floor for students who like to cook full meals.

Resident life specialist Jill Fiske said: “I think adding the new complex will make on-campus housing more desirable to prospective students and current students. As well as give students a more positive experience while they’re in school living in on-campus housing.”

Architects will help make the decision on exactly how many students and rooms there will be per unit, but the anticipated norm is three to four rooms and five to six students per unit.

The similarities between CVS and Campus View Suites Phase II will also be reflected in the pricing.

“It’ll be priced similarly to Campus View Suites and what’s happening with the private housing complexes,” Morris said. “The reality is we have to borrow money to build this building and the rent that we collect from students living in the building have to pay the payments on the bond. But, we’ll make sure it’s priced fairly in relation to all of the other beds that are available.”

The project is still in the financing stage and DSU has yet to name a contractor or architect. While there is no groundbreaking date set at this point, Morris said the structure should be completed by fall 2021.

“The biggest benefit of the project is it allows more students to continue to come to [DSU] and they can find housing and attend school here; so it really supports the educational mission of DSU,” Morris said.

Losing your life seems to be the new trend.

Trends in ingesting black market vape products are the cause of recent death in teens, according to nbcnews.com.

In the U.S., there are 530 reported cases related to vape lung injuries and nine deaths, according to the Center for Disease Control. Of the 530 vape related cases 67% are people who are 18-34 years old.

Aberegg, who has been working on many of these new vaping cases, said that more than half of the Utah patients wanted to privately explain when family wasn’t around that they had been smoking THC products and not just regular vaping products as they stated before. Most patients feared the backlash they would receive from their families if they told the truth in front of them.

“America is in the middle of a moral panic, and good policy rarely follows from moral panics,” said Gregory Conley, an advocate for the American Vaping Association. “The evidence continues to point squarely at illicit contaminated THC cartridges as being the cause of all or nearly all of illnesses across the country.”

Conley said that in Utah, the state health department has released that around 90% of in-state cases are related to THC.

Josie Lathim, a freshman physical therapy major from Kanab, said: “Vaping has become a huge trend for many teens. I don’t think they fully understand the risks.” 

Dr. Craig Booth, DSU Health and Counseling Center MD, said that people are even mixing drugs like fentanyl into these blackmarket mixtures which can be extremely dangerous.

“I would say to kids, if you’re going to vape, make sure you’re using clear and clean products,” said Booth, “Don’t take some friend’s mixture.”

According drugabuse.gov, teens are more likely to use products like e-cigarettes, vapes and JUUL’s than cigarettes. Teens and young adults are more likely to be susceptible to vape products due to the rising trend throughout the nation.

Michigan and New York recently passed bans on appealing fruity and minty flavors e-cigarette companies create that health officials say young people are attracted to.

“America is in the middle of a moral panic, and good policy rarely follows from moral panics,”

Gregory Conley, advocate for the American Vaping Association.

“Recent reports increasingly indicate that these adverse events are linked to illicit substances such as THC and cannabis, not e-cigarettes,” According to the Vapor Technology Association. “Such inaccurate warnings will result in either (1) people continuing to use the risky products actually causing the harm about which they have not been specifically warned; or (2) many smokers using e-cigarettes becoming ‘scared’ by these reports and moving back to deadly combustible cigarettes.”

The VTA also stated they condemn the sale and ingestion of black market products and believe that law abiding, FDA approved creators of “clean and safe” vape juice shouldn’t be punished for the abuse of the adult products.

In addition, the VTA said they do not condone the regulation of THC, CBD or any other non-FDA approved additives to vape products.

Ac In the U.S., there are 530 reported cases related to vape lung injuries and nine deaths, according to the Center for Disease Control. Of the 530 vape related cases 67% are people who are 18-34 years old.

For more information on vaping in Utah, visit the Southwest Utah Public Health website.