In the News

• Cache Valley Daily Tuesday, Apr. 09, 2019

  See Cutting Edge Outdoor Products Friday at USU

  The program is only four-years old and at the end of the week, Utah State University’s Outdoor Product Design and Development (OPDD) will be hosting their Senior Exhibit for the first graduating class to go through the program in its entirety. Senior students will be presenting their portfolios as well as final projects to the OPDD Industrial Advisory Board Friday, April 12th from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the lobby of the Daines Concert Hall at USU, and the public is invited. ... “Our students really want to make products that are impactful, (they) see that in our consumer culture there’s a lot of products that frankly, probably don’t even need to exist,” explained Anderson. “Our students are very sustainability minded, they want to make stuff that matters. They want to make products that people are going to use for a long time and not just throw away, products that are going to make a difference.” Products range from apparel to backpacks and tents, even a rooftop tent. ... The goal of the program is to get those with great ideas, designers and developers prepared to leave the program and go right out into the workforce specifically in the sports and outdoor industry.

• The Herald Journal Monday, Apr. 08, 2019

  USU Landscape Team Competes to Present Plans for Emporium Center in Logan

  This week, three teams of students from all over Utah will be presenting their proposed plans to remodel the Emporium in downtown Logan. Former Mayor Craig Peterson announced three years ago that the city had purchased the Emporium with the hopes of making way for a new library and community center. Since then, Mayor Holly Daines has spoken publicly about the location, most recently in her State of the City address in January, and in 2018 announced Cowboy Partners to be the developer behind the project.Now for the first time ever, the Utah Real Estate Challenge, an annual intercollegiate competition for students throughout Utah, has decided to team up with Logan to assess the needs of the community and create proposals for Cowboy Partners to use as influences. ... “It’s pretty cool that the whole state and bankers are looking at the unmet needs in Logan,” Johnson said. “USU’s team has an advantage because it is familiar with the area and the history of downtown.” The team from USU is one of three teams presenting at the Little America Hotel in Salt Lake City on Wednesday in the final rounds of the competition. The winning team will receive a grand prize of $20,000. Landscape architecture students Madison Pong, Braden Miskin and Survier Castillo teamed up with finance students Zach Swenson and Houston Hyde to work on the development plan.

• Deseret News Monday, Apr. 08, 2019

  Utah State University Lab Up and Running After Upgrade

  Utah State University’s Gary H. Richardson Dairy Products Laboratory is back in business following a four-month, $900,000 upgrade. ... “But we’re back and up and running again, and we really appreciate everyone’s patience while we were shut down,” Irish said. “It was a necessary thing, and we made some really substantial improvements. It’s really the first time that we’ve shut the dairy products lab down in 40 years.” The remodel, which took about three weeks longer than scheduled, was set in motion due to regulations mandated by the Food and Drug Adminstration’s Food Safety Modernization Act. Funding was provided by a bill that passed the Utah Legislature in 2018.

• The Herald Journal Sunday, Apr. 07, 2019

  Ag Professor Retires After More Than 40 Years of Hands-On Teaching

  Lyle “Doc” McNeal was honored at the Riverwoods Conference Center on Monday night, celebrating his more than 40 years at Utah State University. McNeal will be retiring in July from teaching agricultural sciences. McNeal recounted a time in 2007, near Evanston, Wyoming, where he lay unconscious after a 385-pound ram hit him in the chest and face, knocking him off a ledge and into the sagebrush below. McNeal wasn’t alert for six minutes while a medical student cleaned up his wounds. The rest of the students in attendance worried and waited for an ambulance to find them in the middle of nowhere. This is only one of the many stories McNeal shared while talking about his career. He said that in the last four decades he has had almost every part of his body operated on due to multiple accidents with animals and students alike. However, McNeal said he has no regrets: he loves his work and that these accidents come with the territory. ... “Doc is just the nicest teacher on campus and he really does care about his students,” said Ashlee Jenkins, a former student. “All of his classes are experience-based rather than textbook-based and he’s a fountain of knowledge.” ... “He’s such an amazing man and has made a huge impact on my college career and life,” said former student Hilary Johns ... McNeal said that he still reads every night in a continuous effort to learn. “Learning is a lifelong process and it’s never over,” He said. “I love history and I like to be outside, with animals. Things you see and do with your hands will never be forgotten.”

• Cache Valley Daily Saturday, Apr. 06, 2019

  USU Extension 4-H Refugee Team Succeeds at Robotics Competition

  A team of teenage refugees from Cottonwood High School, including a number of Utah State University Extension 4-H members, competed at the Regional FIRST Robotics Competition and won in the Rookie Category. They will go on to compete at the FIRST World Robotics Competition in Houston on April 17. The team, named the Cottonwood High Underdogs, is made up of 14 teens from countries such as Haiti, Iraq, Myanmar, Somalia and others. Many have been in the United States only a short time and chose to join the team as a way to meet new people and improve their English. ... All the robotics teams were challenged to design and build robots that collect “planetary samples,” which they store in cargo pods using robots either operated autonomously by computer code or guided with a video system manually. ... The USU Extension 4-H program encourages youth to get involved in hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) projects.“We want to help youth gain the life skills now, and especially the application of those skills, while they are young so they can compete in the job market later on,” said Nysse Wilson, USU Extension 4-H refugee program coordinator. “Many youth have not had this type of experience before, and seeing their level of personal dedication and initiative is invigorating. Youth get the opportunity to teach, mentor and inspire younger youth, and robotics is an exciting way to involve youth of varying ages and cultural backgrounds. Technology, especially in a team setting, can also serve as a common language.”

• The Herald Journal Friday, Apr. 05, 2019

  Artists Showcases Artwork in New Life Sciences Building

  One of the most striking things about the new Life Sciences Building at Utah State University is an art installation created by Atlanta-based artist Amy Landesberg. The piece extends between the first and second floor with giant blue glass “waterdrops” reminiscent of a climbing wall. “I didn’t want to create merely a representation of water,” Landesberg said Friday evening in the Life Sciences Building. “I sought interaction. Something people can experience.” ... Pomilio’s piece and Landesberg’s, titled “Surface Tension,” are just two of the unique aspects of the building. The new facility benefits students of more than 30 majors and provides space for foundational biology classrooms. It replaced the Peterson Agricultural Building, which was demolished in 2012. ... “Every project is selected by a committee,” Glenn said. “Nine people from USU were on this committee and chose the artists after looking at thousands of images from possible choices.” Glenn said it was an honor to work with the artists at USU.

• Cache Valley Daily Wednesday, Apr. 03, 2019

  Aggie Speech and Debate Team Brings Home Another National Title

  In March, Utah State University’s Speech and Debate team won its third national title at the Pi Kappa Delta National Tournament at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York. This is Tom Worthen’s 37th year as the unpaid Speech and Debate coach and he runs a program that receives no budgeted money from USU. “I do appreciate the President’s office has helped us out,” Worthen says, “and the Dean’s office and our department chair. It’s just that we’re not guaranteed that as an item in the budget.” Coach Worthen said only Utah and Utah State sponsor speech and debate teams in-state, but the Aggies don’t offer scholarships. A lot of time we just pull people out of my classes, some of them have had high school experience. “We don’t get the top students that were state champions that go to a school because they can get a scholarship, because we don’t have that funding. So, a lot of time we just pull people out of my classes, some of them have had high school experience.” ... “We do it for the passion, because we love it, and it’s good for the university,” said Worthen. “Often the best educational activity many students receive is outside the classroom and these students are prepared for a lot of things in the world as they go forward.”

• The Herald Journal Wednesday, Apr. 03, 2019

  USU Range Club Raises Funds with Dutch-Oven Grub

  The smell of bacon, broth and potatoes drew the attention of some hungry Utah State University students in front of the Quinney College of Natural Resources on Tuesday afternoon. The smell radiated from the USU Range Club’s annual Dutch Oven Potato Fundraiser, which the club hosts in order to raise funds to travel to the Society for Range Management Conference. “This is a way to just kind of raise money for travel to those competitions,” said Delaney Phariss, a club member. ... Range Club members participate in competitions at the state and national level throughout the year where students test their knowledge in plants and how to manage land, according to club member Hannah Johnson. “There’s a lot of other different activities that go on there,” Johnson said. “Students also have the opportunity to present their research at the competitions.” ... Aside from competitions and conferences, Phariss said the club brings in different speakers to talk to the students about different range management topics. They also bring in professionals to inform the students about their jobs and potentially offer jobs to students. “We’ve done things like going out to ranchers’ properties and seeing how they manage their lands,” Phariss said.Students interested in joining the club may do so at the beginning of the year or by attending any of the events the club hosts.

• Cache Valley Daily Wednesday, Apr. 03, 2019

  Utah State's Quinn Taylor Named to the Mountain West squad

  Utah State senior forward Quinn Taylor has been named to the Mountain West squad in the Dos Equis 3x3U National Championship, with games set to begin at the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minn., on Friday, April 5. Taylor will be joined on the MW squad by fellow conference seniors J.D. Paige from Colorado State, Deshon Taylor from Fresno State and Kris Clyburn from UNLV. Taylor finished his career at Utah State having played in 129 games, the fifth-most in school history. Over the course of his career, Taylor averaged 6.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. He capped his senior year with one of his best seasons to date, averaging a career-best 8.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Taylor consistently ranked as one of the top offensive rebounders in the Mountain West, averaging 2.5 per game as a senior to rank sixth in the league, and 2.5 as a junior to rank eighth.

• The Herald Journal Monday, Apr. 01, 2019

  Regents OK 3.25% USU Tuition Increase

  Utah’s higher education governing board, the Board of Regents, met at the Salt Lake Community College in Sandy last week to listen to proposed tuition adjustments for Utah’s public colleges and universities. For the first time, each of the eight higher education institutions had the opportunity to propose their tuition increases. Previously, it was up to the governing board to establish a uniform tuition rate, but after a policy change last fall the board now approves the proposals instead. ... Utah State University was approved a 3.25% increase, the second-highest percentage increase after Dixie State’s 5%. USU Eastern and Blanding campuses will see an increase of 4.2%. Chairman of the Board of Regents Harris H. Simmons called the process “robust and thorough.”“The Board of Regents has worked to consider the needs of our growing institutions while keeping tuition as affordable as possible for Utah students,” Simmons said. “This approved increase hits the right balance between those priorities,” Simmons said. “We appreciate the work and collaboration of our institutions, their trustees and their student leaders in this process. We also thank the Utah Legislature for its support of higher education, which allows us to keep these increases as low as possible.” ... SU President Noelle Cockett addressed students in early March to announce the proposed increase. In 2017, USU increased its tuition by 5% and last year it was by 3.9%. Cockett told students at the Truth in Tuition town hall meeting that transparency has become a major motivation around tuition and that she isn’t just “throwing a darts at the dartboard,” but rather is extremely specific in what the tuition increase is used for. “We are conscious about raising tuition, but as I hope you see, we do need tuition investment,” Cockett said at that event.

• The Herald Journal Monday, Apr. 01, 2019

  Search for New USU Police Chief Underway

  Utah State University announced on Friday that it is conducting a national search to find a new director of public safety and University police chief after the previous chief, Michael Kuehn, accepted a job at Brigham Young University-Hawaii. “We will conduct a national search for the best candidate possible,” said Tim Vitale from USU Public Relations and Marketing. ... “We know this is a great opportunity for Chief Kuehn, not to mention it’s an opportunity located in Hawaii,” stated USU President Noelle Cockett in a press release on Friday. “He’s been a great asset to our campus community the last few years, and we wish his family all the best for the future.” ... Harris has been an officer with USU Campus Police since 2010. Kuehn spent over 25 years with the Utah Department of Public Safety before becoming USU’s police chief in March 2017. ... The police chief leads and directs all functions of the university police departments in Logan and at the regional campuses, including emergency management and fire marshal services. Amanda DeRito, director of crisis communications and issues management at USU, wrote in a press release that Kuehn “has forged collaborative relationships with on and off-campus partners, secured new public safety software to better communicate with other law enforcement agencies and overseen improvements of USU’s emergency notification system.”

• The Herald Journal Friday, Mar. 29, 2019

  Program to Help Latinx Students With College

  A new initiative in Cache Valley will promote post-secondary education among the Latinx student population in the valley. The Leadership, Educational Achievement and Prosperity (LEAP) organization was founded by local business owner Rigo Chaparro and his wife, Lisa, to help remove barriers limiting student success and help Latinx students pursue post-secondary education after graduating high school. “I feel really passionate about it because I was there when I came from Mexico,” Chaparro said. “Because of some role models, some people that took me in under their wing in Star Valley, I was able to accomplish some things that I want others to accomplish as well.” ... “We really feel strongly that we need Hispanic leadership in our communities,” Chaparro said. “With an education, they’ll be able to be better off and have the time to give back to the community.” The LEAP Initiative’s goals are to highlight the role and contributions of people from different backgrounds in civic leadership, recognize outstanding achievements in leadership by students, provide mentoring and networking opportunities for Latinx students, encourage Latinx students to pursue leadership roles and support Latinx students through internships and scholarships.

• The Herald Journal Friday, Mar. 29, 2019

  Student Raises Scholarship Fund With Stickers Featuring President Cockett

  “At what point do I tell President Cockett I made fan art of her?” tweeted Sierra Wise, a Utah State University Student on Wednesday afternoon. The tweet was accompanied by a picture of a sheet of purple stickers featuring an illustration of USU President Noelle Cockett with the words “Go Eggies” written in the background, a reference to how Cockett pronounces Utah State’s “Aggies” mascot. ... The proceeds from the stickers will fund a student-to-student scholarship for an Aggie in the Caine College of the Arts. As of Friday afternoon, more than $250 had been raised from sticker sales. “People love President Cockett and people also love stickers and so it’s been overwhelmingly positive,” Wise said. “People have been really stoked, really excited that these exist. People that I don’t even know have been reaching out.” ... “Noelle was the perfect subject because she is someone who is so relatable for so many students,” Minor said. “She is always one to be with the students rather than leading from afar. People know who she is, they have heard her speak. They feel seen and heard by what she says.” ... Wise said she probably should have communicated with Cockett about the sicker design before they started selling them, but she hadn’t anticipated how far the project’s reach would be. “I have a roll of stickers especially for her that we are going to give to her and let her know that we love and appreciate her,” Wise said. “And now, because she is so great, this student is able to have this scholarship.”

• The Herald Journal Thursday, Mar. 28, 2019

  USU Aviation Announces Partnership with SkyWest Airlines

  Utah State University’s Aviation program announced a new bridge program with SkyWest Airlines on Thursday. “We just got all the signatures and we are ready to make this official,” said Michael Logan, a recruiter for the School of Applied Sciences, Technology and Education at USU, before the announcement at the Eccles Conference Center. The opportunity with SkyWest will provide mentorship, first-look applications for the airline and up to $15,000 in tuition reimbursement for graduate students.“SkyWest pilots have more career opportunities than any other carrier,” said SkyWest Chief Pilot Roy Glassey. “This partnership will provide students with a great amount of guidance and benefits.” Glassey said that the program will help students understand the industry and allow for SkyWest to recruit the best pilots from USU.“We offer the best airline training available and we are so proud to have this partnership with Utah State,” Glassey said.

• The Herald Journal Wednesday, Mar. 27, 2019

  USU Kicks off Year of Suffrage Celebrations with Open-Mic Event

  Wearing long purple and yellow capes and “Votes for Women” sashes, two Utah State University professors led a group of students, faculty and community members in singing historical suffrage songs at a kick-off event on Tuesday. “We wanted something that the students could really be involved in,” said Candi Carter Olson, one of the professors who organized the event. “We were thinking that the suffragists were spontaneous and they came up with readings and they came up with songs.” The “Women’s Voices, Women’s Votes” event marked the beginning of a year of suffrage celebrations. ... Multiple students read poems by USU alumna May Swenson, and other individuals read pieces they had written themselves, including Ketzel Morales. Before presenting her poem, Morales spoke about how it is important to remember not all women voted after the 19th Amendment. It was not until 1965 when the Voting Rights Act was passed that minority populations had their right to vote protected. ... Outgoing student senator for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences McKenna Allred said the event was part of a week of celebrations focused on programs in the college.“It’s an amazing addition to CHaSS week,” Allred said. Out of “anybody on the whole campus, I think that it is CHaSS students who are going to get out there and fight for women’s rights, both men and women.”

• The Herald Journal Wednesday, Mar. 27, 2019

  USU Speaker Recalls His Life in WWII Japanese-American Internment Camps

  Yukio Shimomura, 83, the last living member of his family who was forced into an internment camp during World War II, spoke to an audience at Utah State University on Wednesday night. Shimomura graduated from USU in 1965 and lived in Ogden from 1947 to 1962 after the war ended.Shimomura presented an outline of his life to the audience, including the two and a half years he spent in an internment camp in Topaz in Utah and Tanforan in California.“I want all the students to stand up,” Shimomura told the audience. “Turn around,” he said.Shimomura had the students raise and lower their hands and sit down. “That was only a few seconds that I was in control of your actions, but that is only a minute experience compared to what my family went through for over two years,” Shimomura said.

• Cache Valley Daily Tuesday, Mar. 26, 2019

  USU is the First College in Utah to Offer a Minor in Drones

  Utah State University is the first college in Utah to offer a minor in drones. Andreas Wesemann, director of USU’s professional pilot program, said a Business major took the aero-photography drone class and it led to a job.“He got hired by Aggie Air and he is actually flying, while he is here in college, as a part-time job,” Wesemann explained. “And he’s done all kinds of videos for local folks who need some good quality drone video.” He said the minor in drones was approved last year and interest has grown rapidly.

• Cache Valley Daily Monday, Mar. 18, 2019

  Utah State Men's Basketball Ranked 25th in the Nation in Both Polls

  Following its three wins in the Mountain West Tournament last week, culminating with a 64-57 victory against San Diego State in the championship game, Utah State men’s basketball is nationally ranked for the first time since the 2010-11 season as it comes in at No. 25 in both The Associated Press (AP) and the USA Today Coaches polls. Utah State garnered 73 votes in this week’s AP poll and 48 votes in the Coaches poll. For USU, it is the first time it is nationally ranked in the AP poll since the 2010-11 team entered the NCAA Tournament 19th in the nation. USU finished that season ranked 25th in the Coaches poll with a school-best 30-4 record.All-time, Utah State owns a 56-18 (.757) record as an AP ranked team. Furthermore, Utah State is one of just five schools in the nation to enter the NCAA Tournament nationally ranked and finished the college football season nationally ranked along with Cincinnati, LSU, Kentucky and Michigan.

• The Herald Journal Friday, Mar. 15, 2019

  University President Excited for Aggie Basketball Success

  With the Utah State University men’s basketball team playing in the semifinals of the 2019 Mountain West Men’s Basketball Championship for the second straight year, there are many happy Aggie fans. One of those is university President Noelle Cockett. The 16th president of USU has been seen doing the Scotsman at games, cheering on the team and even throwing out sandwiches to students before a contest at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum earlier this season. Athletics are important to the president, as they have been to most of her predecessors.“It’s really about the students,” Cockett said. “We have the student athletes; we have the cheer squad; we’ve got Big Blue; we’ve got the fans. It draws everyone together to a sense of community and being part of that Aggie family.” ... “I appreciate coach Smith; he has been phenomenal, just a wonderful person,” Cockett said. “I read the articles in The Herald Journal and love reading his comments. He has so much personality and so much exuberance about whatever he does. I think what he has brought to the team is a feeling of being part of something big. I’m just so proud of how all of our players have developed over this season. I think they will do well tonight.” ... “We have all these people here with blue Aggie U State T-shirts; they are part of this community,” Cockett said. “I think it is the one area where anybody can participate. We’ve got little kids, current students, graduates and grandparents. All of us can be part of this. It’s really exciting.”

• Cache Valley Daily Friday, Mar. 15, 2019

  USU'S (AWE) Mission Will Study Weather From the Space Station

  NASA has selected Utah State University’s Atmospheric Waves Experiment mission — known as AWE — to study space weather from the International Space Station. USU Physics Professor Mike Taylor is lead investigator for the AWE mission. He explains the concept.“We’re going to use an instrument,” Taylor explained, “that we’ve developed at the Space Dynamics Lab (SDL) — the Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper — and fly it on the Space Station where it will look down at the earth, during night times, and make measurements of waves propagating up from weather sources in the lower atmosphere and then interfering with the ionospheric region where they affect space weather.” Dr. Taylor said this is the first time that SDL is the main lead. He said the project finds USU scientists working together with USU-SDL engineers.The launch is planned for August 2022.