Snowman Gallery at USU cancelled due to warm weather

The Student Alumni Association’s Snowman Gallery Walk at Utah State University was postponed after the backup plans fell through.

“We had some backup plans in place in case it didn’t snow,” said Britnee Bromley, the SAA activities chairman. “We didn’t count on it being this warm, so even the snow maker wasn’t an option.”

The event has been postponed until Jan. 29 and appropriate changes have been made.

“All of our advertising was for the Snowman Gallery Walk so we decided to keep it the same,” said Paige Sjoblom, the SAA public relations director. “We are just changing it so it is less holiday-themed and more winter-themed.”

The SAA is going to use the extra planning time to make the event better, according to Bromley

“We would be dumb if we didn’t do more advertising and get more clubs involved,” said Bromley. “Now we have more time to do more advertising and get more decorations.”

Most participants still plan to take part in the event, even with it being postponed.

“The clubs were disappointed,” Sjoblom said. “But a lot of people wrote back and told us to count them in for January.”

Although the event was delayed, it was not due to lack of planning on the SAA’s part.

“I don’t want anyone to think it was lack of preparation,” Bromley said. “It will still be a great event. It will be a fun thing to do right when we get back from break.”   

Utah State gives trees to needy families

The Associated Students of Utah State University carry on the tradition of the annual Festival of Trees.

“It’s been a week designated to help student organization have the opportunity to provide service and get involved,” said Sloan Bailey, ASUSU traditions director and coordinator of the event. “Clubs and organizations decorated trees to donate to a family in need.”

Bailey said the event is beneficial for the participants.

“It’s a really easy way for clubs and organizations to get their members involved and give a little service,” Bailey said. “It also gives a good name to the university for helping out the people in Cache Valley.”

Zoe Fairbairn has worked to make sure the week went well.

“I’ve basically been Sloan’s right hand man this week,” Fairbairn said. “I’m just helping her with everything and making sure it goes smoothly.”

Incentives are provided for students who vote for their favorite tree.

“There are free cookies but you have to vote to get a cookie,” Fairbairn said. “It’s for a good cause, it’s fun to get involved with, and it’s fun to see how all the clubs decorated their trees.”

The festival is a week-long event.

“There is something every day,” Fairbairn said. “At the end of the week we are having an ugly sweater dance to celebrate the end of dead week and the end of Festival of Trees.”

The event is a good way to begin the holiday break for students, according to Bailey.

“I think it’s really important to the university because it helps students get in the holiday mood,” Bailey said. 

“It helps everyone to really remember the true meaning of why we celebrate the holidays, and puts them in that mindset.”

Academic Quadrathlon gives opportunities to USU students

Utah State University’s College of Agriculture took part in the Academic Quadrathlon hosted at USU on Nov. 27 and 28.

“It’s a national competition with the American Society of Animal Science,” said Brett Bowman, lecturer for the USU College of Agriculture and an organizer of the quadrathlon. “We are doing locals now. Whoever wins from locals will go to regions.  Whoever wins at regions goes onto nationals.”

The competition is made up of four segments: a written exam, an oral presentation or discussion, a practicum and a quiz bowl.

The written exam was comprised of 200 questions and each team was given two hours to complete it together.

The oral presentation required teams to study provided articles and graphs, specifically about the increasing average age of farmers, and then prepare and deliver a presentation about the information.

The practicum provided an opportunity for contestants to demonstrate their hands-on capabilities as they performed graded tasks with livestock in the all-day event.

The quiz bowl, modeled after the television show “Jeopardy!”, emphasized quick thinking as each team worked to correctly answer questions before their competitors.

“It’s all geared to test the knowledge they have acquired from their undergrad degree and hands on experience,” Bowman said. “It’s in relation to all livestock species, meat, and range. Anything from economics to business can be tested.”

It was the second time competing for Lauren Evans, a biology education major.

“It’s just a fun way to apply the knowledge you glean from all of your classes,” Evans said. “You have the opportunity to use that knowledge in a competitive atmosphere.”

Evans said the competition has been good experience for her. Her team finished in third place.

“I think it’s good to prepare students and to get them to participate in an extracurricular activity,” Evans said.

Jake Miller, a bio veterinary science major, competed for his first time this year.

“I will be applying for vet school this summer,” Miller said. “It will look good on my resume, plus it’s a good networking opportunity.”

Miller’s team won the local competition and will be competing at regions in June. Miller will continue to study the materials during the months before the next advancement of the quadrathlon.

Bowman said the competition is set up to help students with their future careers.

“The competition gives them that edge,” Bowman said. “It’s something to pad their resumes with and also good experience.”

Think Tank provides solutions for USU students

At Utah State University, student advocate Christian Orr is working to eliminate problems through the 

Student Voice Think Tank, which is made up of a group of undergraduates.

“Think tank is the reformed student voice committee,” Orr said. “The difference between this year and previous years is that we are not an organized group of complainers. We actively go to the students and look for things that can be improved, created, or stopped and then we execute it.”

The think tank came from several different ideas, according to Orr.

“It’s actually quite common in government,” Orr said. “It’s kind of a bureaucratic committee with some of the zesty passion of youth.”

Orr has a committee comprised of 12 students working on various projects.

“Right now I am working to make everything transparent for students,” said Kiri Higham, a think tank committee member. “We want them to be able to see exactly where their money is going.”

The think tank requires the committee members to do research on their topics.

“I am looking through years and years of student fees,” Higham said. “We will be showing students what their tuition has been used for in the past.”

For Higham, the think tank has been an opportunity to get involved with student leaders.

“I’ve met really awesome people who have such a passion for serving the students of USU,” Higham said. “I’ve gained a lot of respect for this school.”

According to Orr, school pride is one of the think tank’s governing factors.

“Students need to take ownership and pride in their campus through their actions,” Orr said. “That doesn’t happen overnight.”

While there is still a lot of work to be done, Orr views the beginning stages of the think tank as an accomplishment.

“I would say so far it has been successful,” Orr said, “but it is only in the beginning stages of what it can be.”

Utah State University fraternity helps the fight against prostate cancer

By Heidi Smith
Jcom 1130/Section 002

Utah State University fraternity Sigma Phi Epsilon, fundraised throughout the month of November for prostate cancer research.

With more than $1,000 raised, the SigEps were more successful than this year than last, according to Movember co-chair Braden Allen.

Movember is a non-profit organization dedicated to curing prostate cancer and creating awareness about the disease.

“We stumbled across Movember last year and thought it was a great idea,” Allen said. “We created a team on the Movember organization website, and they sent us some supplies to get started.”

Allen said the SigEps began more prepared this year.

“Everything happened on the fly last year,” Allen said, “After some trial and error this year has been a lot more planned out and a lot more successful.”

Last year, Allen said, the fraternity focused primarily on private donations, but this year it worked to offer a wider range of ways to get involved or to donate.

“We sold hot chocolate, T-shirts, and mustache buttons, and we had the Mustache Bash,” said Michael Ruefenacht, a Movember co-chair. “The bash was really successful. We charged $1 to get in and we sold T-shirts at the door. We made quite a bit in donations, and the bands that came said they would love to come back next year.”

Ruefenacht said SigEp plans to make Movember an annual fundraising effort.