By the students of the USU department of journalism and communication

Dr. Vincent Wickwar shows off the device at USU that creates a green laser beam to study the middle section of the atmosphere. / Photo by Michael Hamblin

* * *

Cow College. Hicksville. . . . Sleepy little Logan, Utah. A wide spot on the road between Salt Lake City and nowhere.

We've all heard these comments, or something like them. Logan, and the Carnegie I research and land-grant university that calls the city home, are sometimes denigrated by those who don't know any better. Truth to tell, Utah State University, Logan and the valley that surrounds them boast a surprising variety of high-technology research projects and government contracts.

Didja know, for instance, that this admittedly rustic corner of the world is home to . . .

-- The world's top manufacturer of holograms.

-- A federally funded atmospheric laser, gathering data on global warming.

-- A company pioneering an environmentally friendly way to remove toxins from the earth.

-- The manufacturer of the perfect environment to grow viruses, to help scientists who aim to eradicate them. (And yes, this project does require the ultimate sacrifice on the part of some cows.)

-- Experimental carpal tunnel surgery that cuts recovery time to a fraction of the original.

The students of an advanced news-feature writing class at Utah State University, "Beyond the Inverted Pyramid," have profiled some of the pioneering efforts of scientists and inventors who call this valley home.

Click on the links below to learn more. And smile when you say, "Cow College," in honor of our bovine friends.

--- the Eds.

Experimental surgery in Logan has carpal tunnel patients recovering in a hurry
05/23/00 Dave Harrison, 54, of Wellsville, woke up one July morning with discomfort in his wrist. It made holding a book or a newspaper or gripping a steering wheel difficult. The feeling was normal for Harrison. What wasn't normal was that three hours later, he sat gripping the wheel of his `57 matador-red Chevy, cruising to a car show and feeling fine. / By Lucy Boone

Utah company gives 360-degree virtual tours of homes for prospective buyers
05/30/00 It's not an ordinary picture of a living room. With a click of the mouse, the picture revolves -- tiled entrance, then view from the window, then carved mantle and full circle back to the entrance. Is this the future of searching for real estate? / By Nancy H. Austin

Global Mart thrives in brave new e-world
05/09/00 Starting with sales of camping equipment and global positioning devices, Logan's Global Mart has grown into a staff of more than 50 selling more than 15,000 products online. / By Paul Edwards

ZapCode blurs the line between virtual world, existing media to make purchases easy, quick
05/09/00 By pointing a laser scanner at a bar code the size of a grain of rice, which is printed on anything from a magazine ad to a newspaper story to an actual product, you can connect to a web page that has more information. For example, scan the ad for a flower shop with your ZapScanner, and buy the flowers. / By Carrie Saunders

Devil in the details of precision drill and lathe work keeps planes in air, rollercoasters on track
04/24/00 In Hyrum, fields of cows and half a dozen small houses in the distance surround the 18,000-square-foot warehouse of Brough Johnson Tippits, a company responsible for crucial parts on airplanes and amusement park rides. When a plane manufacturer is putting lives on the line, the margin for error is zero. / By Tucker Heap

SyllaBase internet learning system grows from a USU basement to a worldwide network of students
04/21/00 Kathy Williams earned her master's degree in technical writing from Utah State University in December. The courses she took to earn her degree were offered entirely over the internet. And Kathy is blind. The learning tools she used are helping students from Taiwan to Israel. / By Eric Buchanan

Phytokinetics offers poplar trees as solution to agricultural runoff
04/11/00 The issue is agricultural runoff - a problem that a 1994 Environmental Protection Agency study identified as the greatest source of pollution for Utah waterways.Water treatment pioneer, Ari Ferro, doesn't claim to have a quick fix for groundwater contamination, but he believes his philosophy can produce a marked improvement in the Bear River Basin. The secret, he said, stems from the root system of poplar trees. / By Jeremiah Stettler

Hyclone finds treasure in 'waste' from cow blood, helping scientists aiming to wipe out disease
04/18/00 Hyclone Laboratories of Logan does not study diseases or make vaccinations. It leaves that to researchers and pharmaceutical companies. Instead, Hyclone provides the first of several steps in studying diseases and creating vaccinations for them. Employees wear protective gear, not to shield themselves, but rather to keep their product pure. Their product? A perfect environment for growing nasty little things. / By Richard Jenson

Digital maps keep getting sharper, as ground and satellite data zero in on gas lines, fish, algae . . .
04/19/00 To restore the depleted salmon habitat in the South Fork of the Salmon River, Lonnie Johnson, an environmental engineer at the Institute of Natural Systems Engineering a USU, used Geographic Information Systems software, satellite photos and state-of-the-art computer technology. Thanks to new technology, the layers of detail are reallllly sharp. / By Lynnette Hoffman

Experience is best teacher for CHEC Systems users, even if it means burning fabric or making a 'barf bag'
04/19/00 Mount Logan Middle School students in a Technology Life Careers class explore careers with a unique combination of software and classroom simulations. For example, they have to care for some smart baby dolls, to learn about child care, or style a mannequin's hair to get a feel for cosmetology. / By Leah L. Culler

See that reflection on your Timex watch? That's the work of the world's top holorgram maker
04/19/00 A shed the size of a fast-food restaurant and a second building next to it, maybe twice its size, house the world's leading manufacturer of holograms. Visitors pick their way across the Logan train tracks to get to Krystal Holographics Inc., an unassuming business that cornered the market in September. / By Heather Fredrickson

Starry, starry night: Thanks to clear nights of Utah, laser gathers global warming data dozens of miles up
04/18/00 The green beam of light you may notice shooting into the sky on a starry night on Utah State's campus measures the temperatures of the middle atmosphere, and Logan is just the place to do it. / By Rosanne Radcliffe

Hollywood insiders' web site, promoted at Sundance, shooting for the moon
04/19/00 With an extensive database, including the hit movie Toy Story, ShowBIZData.com is headed toward where Buzz Lightyear calls, "Infinity and beyond." / By Brook Cox

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