News

Debate clarifies issues and candidates
10/27/00 College students have some of the lowest voting turnouts among voter demographics, according to the mediator, Ross Peterson, a former history professor at Utah State. / By Natalie Larson

Gore vs. Bush could affect Roe vs. Wade, landmark abortion-case lawyers say
10/20/00 The upcoming presidential election could be a decisive factor in the continuing abortion debate, according to Sarah Weddington and Phyllis Schlafly, who spoke Thursday in the TSC Ballroom. The next president probably will appoint Supreme Court justices to replace any who retire, and the change in the makeup of the court could create the opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade. / By Natalie Larson

Analysis: Government efforts to suppress forest fires are only making them worse
10/19/00 According to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, 82,587 large fires have burned over 6,898,980 acres in the United States this year. This catastrophic fire year is due largely to the 80 years of fire suppression by government programs. / By Benjamin Kirk Davis

Features

Tattoos: a permanent fad
10/25/00 Every year thousands of people enter tattoo parlors. They sit through hours of pain waiting for a design to by placed on their body that they think they want. Surveys show that up to 50 percent of those with tattoos wish they hadn't gotten them. / By Emily Aikele

When most of the critters have fled only the Hotshots remain
10/25/00 Imagine a landscape charred and blackened by wildfire, with skeletons of pine trees, whose limbs reach out into the night like a beggar's outstretched arms. In the distance you hear the forest fire. It sounds like a huge freight train heading straight toward you. The Logan-based Hotshots, one of 70 elite U.S. government groups of wilderness firefighters, experience this scene regularly. / By Lizzy Scully

Sunlight wakes up the colors in U.S. 89 in Logan Canyon, during one of the most brilliantly hued autumns in recent memory. / Photo by Dusty Decker

Young voters count
10/25/00 The race is on. It has been going on for a while now. Political statements, campaigns signs, and debates about the issues remind Americans that elections are approaching. On Tuesday, Nov. 6, Americans will cast their votes for a new president. But do young voters feel represented by the candidates? / By Olivia Sanford

Can't drive? Let your mouse do your walking, or try public transit
10/24/00 Since high school I have had a car to get me around. I would just zip here and there. I would drive to the mall to pick up a new lipstick, or drive to the grocery store to get a gallon of milk, or when I was stressed I would just go for a drive to calm me down. I really took for granted how convenient it is to have a car. / By Whitney Wilkinson

Tai chi: When the exercise begins to teach you
10/18/00 The gymnasium is filled with 40 adults of all ages, moving in a slow, dance-like motion throughout the room. Instead of music, the voice of Kayo Robertson accompanies their movements -- known as Tai Chi Chuan. Each movement is performed slowly to make sure that each person is centered and balanced. / By Olivia Sanford

USU's green beam
10/18/00 On most clear nights in Logan, there's something to see in the night sky besides the stars and moon. Most people living in or near Logan are familiar with the green beam that shoots up into the sky from the Utah State University campus. However, the purpose of this green beam is a mystery to many. / By Kathryn Summers

Teaching kids to cruise the Net
10/18/00 Technology has changed the way we learn and access information. A recent survey found that more than 25 million children in the United States are on the Internet, up from eight million in 1997, and by the year 2005 the number of children online is expected to increase by another 70 percent. / By Jillian Sleight

Indians left some heavy footprints in their environment, speaker says
10/18/00 Often history is displayed as romantic and there occurs an exaggeration of events and people. Myths about Native Americans in the 15th century are still accepted today by those who have not stopped to consider what effects Indians possibly had on the land before the arrival of Europeans. These myths are replaced with research and facts in Shepard Krech III's book The Ecological Indian: Myth and History. / By Dusty Decker

Plagiarism is just a click away, but so are the anti-cheating police
10/16/00 Internet cheat sites offer a solution that is mighty appealing to thousands of students nationwide. Papers covering topics from Shakespeare to the atomic bomb are just a click away, thanks to the Internet and entrepreneurs like Kenneth Sahr, the author of a website called School Sucks. The site, created in 1996, offers thousands of term papers, some of them at no charge, to put students' last minute worries to ease. / By Marcie Young

Growth of wolf population helping create healthier ecosystem, expert says
10/11/00 The reintroduction of the wolf is causing profound effects on the ecosystems of Central Idaho and Yellowstone, according to a wildlife expert who spoke at USU. / By Natalie Larson

Aggie students tutor kids in math, reading
10/09/00 The S.T.A.R. program is appropriately named. / By Dusty Decker

Sports

Volleyball team falls to No. 14 UC Santa Barbara
10/30/00 Utah State's women's volleyball team, ranked 19th in the country, lost a three-game match to No. 14 UC Santa Barbara last Friday by ;final scores of 15-8, 15-4, and 15-9. The Aggies drop to 18-6 overall and 8-3 in the Big West with the loss, while the Gauchos imporved to 16-6 overall and 8-2 in league play with the win. / By USU athletic media relations

Aggie alum wins in his first wheelchair marathon
10/23/00 "I asked the cop that was tailing me that if he could go back and see how close the next person was," Jeff Griffin said. After Griffin was told that he had at least a one-mile lead, he knew he was going to win in St. George. / By Doug Layne

USU whips Idaho in coach's 'finest win'
10/23/00 The Aggies, 11-point underdogs Saturday, remain perfect in Big West conference play with a 31-14 victory over the Idaho Vandals in Romney Stadium. "The finest win I've been involved with," USU Coach Mick Dennehy said. / By Doug Layne

First Aggie basketball scrimmage is rusty
10/23/00 Utah State's basketball team conducted its first scrimmage of the season Saturday morning at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Fourteen Aggies participated in the morning practice with several players playing on both squads. / By USU atheletic media relations

Volleyball team defeats Fullerton
10/23/00 Utah State's women's volleyball team won its fifth straight match Saturday at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum by defeating Cal State Fullerton in three games by scores of 15-9, 15-13, and15-3. The Aggies improved to 17-5 on the year and 7-2 in the Big West Conference with the win. / By USU atheletic media relations

Aggie basketball on TV
10/13/00 Utah State will play Utah on TV. USU this week announced its basketball games that will be televised on SportsWest and Fox Sports Net during the 2000-01 season. SportsWest, a production company of Salt Lake City's KSL-TV will broadcast two Aggies games this year, while Fox Sports Net will feature USU once during the season. / By USU atheletic media relations

Football schedule toughens in 2001
10/13/00 Utah State University's first season as a football independent since 1977 will feature a demanding road schedule in 2001. / By USU atheletic media relations

Aggies lose, again, to BYU
10/11/00 Same old story, same old Aggies. Going into Friday's game the Aggies haven't defeated BYU in Cougar Stadium since 1978 and have managed only two victories against the Cougars in the last 20 years. Unfortunately for Ags, they fell short once again as BYU blew them out, 38-14. / By Doug Layne

Volleyball loses to Long Beach State
10/09/00 Utah State's women's volleyball team (ranked 25th in the country) suffered its first conference loss of the season Oct. 5 at The Pyramid against No. 18 Long Beach State in three games by scores of 7-15, 5-15, and 8-15 to fall to 12-4 on the year and 4-1 in the Big West Conference. / By USU atheletic media relations

USU soccer succumbs to Weber State
10/04/00 For the first time in three years Utah State's women's soccer team lost to in-state rival Weber State by a score of 2-1 Tuesday afternoon. USU slides to 3-7 overall (1-0 in conference) and the Wildcats nabbed their first victory of the season. / By USU atheletic media relations

100th meeting with Utah ends in loss for Aggies
10/02/00 After four games of disappointment, and looking anything but good, the Utah Utes came to Logan Saturday to face USU. Unfortunately, the Utes looked a lot better once the game began, winning 35-14 to spoil the Aggies' Homecoming. / By Doug Layne

Opinion

Take away the restrictions and you have . . . copyleft?
10/25/00 All those who find problems with just about any type of software, art, or literature raise your hands. Now don't you wish that when you come across a problem, you had the power to fix it? Well, there is a way if the material is "copyleft." / By Melanie Mason

Is the 2000 Miranda decision toothless?
10/23/00 It was described as one of the most important criminal law rulings in 34 years. But critics say the decision is "toothless" -- like its 1966 predecessor. / By Jeremiah Stettler

Bush gets mometum from debates, and deservedly so
10/19/00 Negative impressions of Al Gore formed during the presidential debates are giving a boost to George W. Bush in the polls." / By Lisa W. Maughan

Bush, Cheney spell disaster for environment
10/19/00 If Bush wins in November, the co-president of USU's Ecological Coalition of Students, says,"I suggest you quickly tour your favorite woodlots, public lands, and clean rivers; it could be your last chance." / By Doug Smeath

What's Nevada's nuclear waste got to do with Utah? Plenty
10/16/00 The U.S. Department of Energy is proposing that 70,000 metric tons of high-level nuclear waste be stored deep within Yucca Mountain in Nye County, Nev. A lot -- a whole lot -- of that waste would have to be transported through Utah's most highly populated regions. / By Emily Hutchinson

Cell phone-drivers, take the hint -- hang up!
10/16/00 Is it safe to dial and drive? That is the question many states and insurance companies are deliberating. / By Kristopher Moore

Deja vu all over again: Where are the headlines about heterosexual STD's?
10/02/00 It isn't exactly a state secret that the United States is having a major epidemic of sexually transmitted disease. Reportedly syphilis, once almost eradicated, is back. Recent CDC figures for chlamydia, gonorrhea and herpes 2 infection among teens are alarming. Fewer than 10 percent of teens screened for STDs give their orientation as gay. Yet government and news media continue to obsess about gay sex. We are entering Stage 2 of 1980s AIDS hysteria. / By Reid Furniss

Lifestyles

Cancun is for tourists but doesn't feel like it
10/24/00 Cancun was built in 1971 by the Mexican government for the express purpose of attracting tourists. Its amazing location, beautiful vegetation, and nearby Mayan ruins keep it from feeling like a tourist trap. The combination of local flavors attracts more than 2 million tourists (including topless European sunbathers) annually. / By Nancy Austin

Yeah, you could bowl, or watch TV, but how can that compare with shredding the white stuff?
10/24/00 Now that summer is officially over, many USU students are gearing up for another long season of movie watching and going to the bowling alley. This doesn't have to be your lot in life for the winter. You, Aggie friends, live in an outdoor paradise. / By Sam Pettingill

Don't be scared by that stringy, pulpy stuff; try making cookies with it
10/24/00 If you feel like doing some genuine pumpkin cooking or baking this fall and don't know where to start when it comes to using real pumpkin, than let me give you some tips. I did a little pumpkin searching on the Internet and found some information, but it was a bit too gourmet. So I stuck with the recipes my Grandma e-mailed me. / By Dusty Decker

Side-effects lead student to ask: Are antidepressants overprescribed?
10/23/00 Rather than finding relief from taking antidepressants, USU student Sherie Johnson experienced an extraordinary reaction that left her traumatized. This left her questioning the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs and wondering whether the medication is overly prescribed to patients by doctors as a quick remedy. / By Jane Cardall

Better diet likely for on-campus diners, food expert says
10/16/00 "A residential dining situation is a great solution to eating a well balanced diet," Brooke Parker says. "At the same time, an individual could continuously make poor choices and eat fried foods, soda, and desserts for every meal. It's all about giving the students choices and then educating them regarding healthy nutrition." / By Natalie Larson

Arts

Review: Come on down to the Ballyhoo
10/27/00 The Utah State Theatre Arts Department on Thursday opened its first play for this semester, and if this play signifies the department's talent thus far then viewers should look forward to the rest of the season. / Two endorsements, by Dusty Decker and Natalie Larson

Lovers of Harry Potter books defend against censorship attacks
10/20/00 The Harry Potter books have been under attack for the past year and a half by some parents and school administrators, says the American Library Association. According to the ALA, books in the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling top the list of books most challenged in 1999. The list of the top 100 banned books shows Harry Potter in the company of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. / By Mike De La O