Housing construction a safety concern, expected to continue

In the past three years, several student housing facilities have opened around campus, which students say has caused safety issues. Logan city officials said they expect this pattern of near-constant construction around the Utah State University campus to continue.

Logan city senior planner Russ Holley said the concentration of apartment complexes near the university is a deliberate zoning effort.

“We look at where are people going to live, how will they get to work, how are they going to get to the store — planning is really to manage growth,” Holley said.

According to the city’s website, Logan’s population is expected to double every 33 years. Holley said that city zoning is fluid and changes according to elected officials and citizens’ needs.

With USU’s enrollment at all-time high, Holley said housing complexes are a good investment. In January, The Factory — the long-awaited luxury apartments — are expected to partially open. Its neighbors at Bridgerland Apartments are looking forward to construction concluding, although it won’t be completely finished until the end of spring semester.

“It sucks,” said resident Jake Bellucci, who has lived at Bridgerland since May. He is frustrated with the loud construction equipment. “Every morning you wake up to this noise. This is a quiet day.”

Mareille Jewett also lives at Bridgerland, and — like Bellucci — she is a junior at Utah State University. Driving on 900 East, the street between The Factory and Bridgerland Apartments, has been “the worst,” she said.

“It’s really annoying… Not a lot of it’s in their control,” Jewett said. “It’s kind of just little annoyances like it being loud. Blocking off the road wasn’t very fun for us.”

The four-way stop turning off 900 E and onto 600 N has been a cause for serious concern because of the construction, Bellucci said.

“I think it’s wasn’t done in a timely way. That should’ve been something done over the summer. If they had to block off the road, that shouldn’t be done when there are 16,000 undergraduate students trying to get up to campus,” Bellucci said. “I’ve almost gotten in so many accidents.”

Holley said that — while an inconvenience — construction around the university will not stop because of its growth.

“My impression is that it will continue, but it will ebb and flow a little bit. Some years you may not see as much as others,” Holley said. “I don’t have a crystal ball, but I think it’s a pretty safe bet that construction will continue to grow in that area.”

Artists' Gallery to participate in holiday gallery walk

"Don’t ever be an artist,” Scott Bushman said as he straightened his painting on the wall of the Artists’ Gallery. "But you know, I've always loved art."

Bushman has spent the past few weeks volunteering at the gallery, a co-op with community artists and the Cache Valley Center for the Arts. On Friday, the displays will be featured in the Christmas Gallery Walk. Bushman said it has taken a lot of work to prepare for the event.

“What we’ve done is got together 25 artists, some of which are students,” he said. “Usually they come through a recommendation from the art department, so they’re good students.”

In addition to compiling the work of photographers, painters and jewelers from the community, Bushman has been making his own landscape paintings show-ready.

“That one I’m gonna take it back and repaint it,” Bushman said, pointing to a painting of the Bear River. “I’ve got a drip right here. I’ll just sandpaper that down.”

There are 20 businesses and galleries participating in the Christmas Gallery Walk. Carole Warburton, who is featured at the Artists’ Gallery, said the co-op provides many opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have, including the six gallery walks a year.

“The reason we’re a co-op is because nobody’s paid — we’re all volunteers,” Warburton said. “So we pay a small rental fee to the Bullen Arts Center. They sort of sponsor us, so they give us a really good rate.”

The gallery walk will go from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Utah Theatre expected to open late

Due to complications with funding and renovations, the Utah Theatre may not be reopening until late spring, almost a year after the owners announced it would be operating.

Renovations began on the 91-year-old theater in 2008, but when the economy took a turn for the worse, so did the theater. Gary Griffith, managing director of the Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre Company and overseer of the renovations, said he has been remodeling the theater “longer that I care to think about.”

“Funding is always an issue. We’ve slowed down a couple times, but we’re getting close to finishing,” he said. “You never know. Things keep getting pushed back. It’ll probably be open in the spring.”

The biggest difficulty with the renovations has been remodeling the building -- namely adding more plumbing and better electricity. The walls of the theater are two feet thick, with reinforced concrete.

“If you want to build a door or add wires or plumbing, you have to cut through it,” Griffith said. “It gets messy.”

Terry Hunsaker studied music education at Utah State University in 1986 and — except for a religious hiatus — did not move away from Cache Valley until 2002. She dated her husband here, and they would often see films at the Utah Theatre.

“During that time, pretty much the only place I could afford to go to movies was at the Utah Theatre,” Hunsaker said. “I remember going to the movie ‘Newsies,’ and not very many people knew about the movie. It became my favorite, and it turned into a Broadway musical.”

Hunsaker said she has many fond memories of the theater, and she was disappointed to hear it had shut down.

“It was always run-down. I remember walking in all the time thinking it could be a beautiful place if someone fixed it,” she said. ”I was sad to see it had closed, because that was the main social thing I did. When my husband and I were dating, that’s what we did because that’s what we could afford.”

Hunsaker said she would absolutely visit the theater if it reopens, even though she now lives and teaches in Nevada. She is especially interested in seeing silent films and live productions, both of which Griffith said will be featured.

“It’ll be unlike anything this valley has ever seen before,” he said. “It’ll be a live theater but also a movie theater, performance hall and recital hall. People can hold events and have dinner here. After a performance they can go on the rooftop to have dessert. It’ll be a very multipurpose theater.”

The Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre Company will own and maintain the theater when it opens, Griffith said, but many other groups will use it for performances.

Hunsaker agrees that — when it does open — the theater will the jewel of the community.

“It’s just so sad to see it sitting closed for so long,” she said. “I can understand the difficulty and expense involved, but it’s just sad.”

Community event to help fund students' research

Scott Bartholomew had no idea the Logan Tabernacle had a secret room for hiding polygamists. That is, until he researched the tabernacle and produced a video for the Cache Valley Historical Society this summer.

Bartholomew is one of three students who was awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the historical society in May. He is student to earn his doctorate at Utah State University, which is where he originally heard about the scholarship.

“My adviser saw that I had a background in videography, and she pointed it out to me as something I should try,” he said.

All of the money for the scholarships is raised from the historic home tours in Cache Valley, which the historical society helps with. Bernice McCowin, who has chaired the tours for the past eight years, said the historical society does the scholarship because it helps students conduct their own research.

“It only goes to students who are researching local history. Their research needs to be local,” McCowin said. “We’ve had no trouble finding students.”

Most of the buildings featured in the historic homes tours are in the historic district in Logan. The six homes are almost all about 100 years old. Additionally, McCowin said there is usually a “bonus” building thrown in the mix.

“In the past few years we’ve shown homes in Cache Valley as far north as Lewiston and as far south as Paradise, and also west to Wellsville,” she said.

As part of a gallery walk being held by artists in the community, the historical society will show several historic homes on Dec. 11. They will donate $1,000 of their proceeds to the American West Heritage Center, but a portion of the funds they raise will go toward the scholarships for student researchers at USU.

USU named most impressive historic campus — but is it?

When a website named Utah State University the most impressive historic college campus in the United States, the story caught the attention of USU students and began circulating on social media. But by the site's own standards, Utah State may not actually be qualified for the honor.

College Values Online, the website, has compiled more than a dozen lists of colleges — lists like, "30 Best Value Agricultural Colleges 2015" and "Top 10 Cheapest Online Master's Degrees 2015." For "20 Most Impressive Historic College Campuses in the U.S.," the school's campus had to have at least three historic buildings, landmarks or historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places. This was in addition to other criteria, like climate, mountain views and architectural style.

While USU still has three buildings on the registry, one of them was demolished more than two years ago.

Lund Hall — or the women's residence hall — was built in 1936-37 as part of the New Deal program in Utah. According to the statement of historical significance for Lund Hall, the three-story dormitory was built "in such a manner that sunshine is available in every girl's room." In 1985, it was added to the National Historic Registry, but it was demolished to make room for Huntsman Hall in 2013.

Paul Lusignan is a reviewer for the National Parks Service for 12 states, including Utah. He said not realizing Lund Hall had been demolished might have been an easy mistake for College Values Online to make.

"Until someone is notified here that the property needs to be removed, it still turns up in our database," Lusignan said. "Three properties are still considered listed. No one started the full process to unlist the registered building."

Currently, Lund Hall, Old Main and the Family Life building are registered. Lusignan said there's no requirement for the university to remove properties from the registry, although it occasionally causes confusion.

Since federal funding did not go into renovating or updating the building, Lund Hall's historic status could not prevent the university from demolishing it.

"The school is free to demolish it according to federal law, at least," Lusignan said. "In almost no circumstance does it absolutely prevent demolition. In the end, if the agency decides to, then they can do that."

Lund Hall, originally a women's resident hall, was
demolished in 2013.

The Family Life building was added to the National Historic
Registry on April 1, 1985.

Old Main was added to the National Historic
Registry on Feb. 23, 1972.

Norman Jones, a professor who has worked with the university since 1979, thinks Utah State has an impressive history despite the error by College Values Online.

"I think that we've got many eras of architecture," Jones said. "With the registry, you kind of do that yourself. So I suspect with the amount of buildings we have, it could be on the list if they just looked around. Ray B. West should be there too — it's the same era as Family Life."

In order to be considered for the National Register of Historic Places, a building needs to be at least 50 years old, retain its architectural integrity, and be significant nationally, statewide or locally. Most of the buildings around the quad, including the David B. Haight Alumni House and the public relations office, were built at the same time as Old Main and still retain the style of that era.

"If you think about how campus grew, the historic core is there, and they haven't messed it up. It still feels like it has a center, with the quad and student center," Jones said. "It has a historic center. If you look at the famous historic campuses, they all have that.

Utah State placed ahead of 19 other universities, including Yale and Princeton, on the list. Jones said there is pressure for old universities to lose their "center" as they grow. He referred to an incident in 1984 when Old Main caught fire and suffered water damage.

"They could've just knocked it down," he said. "But instead they put the money into rebuilding it and maintaining it historically. As the needs of campus change, you have to make some decisions. We've made some good decisions."

Local speaker to present on history of Cache Valley arts

Wendy Hassan, the director at Cache Valley Center for the Arts, will be speaking to the Cache Valley Historical Society about the history of the performing arts in Cache Valley, which — she explains — is extensive.

Hassan began researching the topic in 2008, when she worked for the Utah Arts Council.

“It was really inspiring to me to see that Cache Valley was such a rich landscape of the performing arts with historic offerings,” she said. “We’re sitting on generations of investment in performing arts — decades of it.”

Hassan has given speeches on the history of Cache Valley performing arts many times before. She was one of nine speakers scheduled to present to the Cache Valley Historical Society from September to June. Scott Bushman, the president of the society, said during the meetings in the summer, the group throws out a bunch of ideas for topics they’d like to hear more about, and Bushman invites experts on those topics to speak.

“All the topics are on local history,” he said. “We cover just about everything you could ever imagine.”

This year, topics include women and poetry, the history of Cache Valley skiing and inventions of 19th century Utah women.

Bushman said he has heard Hassan speak before and he is looking forward to her presentation.

“We have a surprisingly rich history in performing arts, back since it was first settled,” he said. “All the wealthiest people here were patrons of the arts.”

As part of Hassan’s role as director of the center for the arts, she invites performers to come to Cache Valley. This, Hassan said, is not very difficult. Performers are often eager to visit the valley and perform in unique venues.

When Hassan was grateful for the opportunity to come to Cache Valley. It has three musical performance groups, one performing arts center, a ballet studio, modern dance — in short, a uniquely well-rounded performing arts community, Hassan said.

“All the history — that’s really what inspires me,” she said.

Photo gallery in library shows history of Logan and USU

An art exhibit on former Utah State University professor Harry Reuben Reynolds is on display in the Merrill-Cazier Library.

Chris Terry began curating shows of work by former faculty members at USU five years ago. Terry, himself a professor at the university, regularly puts together exhibits for the Tippetts Gallery in the Chase Fine Arts Center, but this display is in the library during the center’s renovation. Most of the photos he uses come from special collections archives division of the library.

The exhibit includes several dozen paintings and photographs by Reynolds, many of which feature Old Main and scenes around Cache Valley. Terry said Reynolds was inspired by the local landscape and he believes displaying this art helps preserve history in several ways.

“The images show what Cache Valley and the campus looked like many years ago, but they also remind us of significant faculty members who built the programs that still exist today,” Terry said.

Reynolds first came to the university as an art instructor in 1923. He was an advocate for the arts in Utah and he taught several courses, but he was best known as a pioneer in photography.

“Harry Reynolds goes way back before my time at USU, but I’ve always been impressed with his photographs,” Terry said.

Reynolds was one of the first people to produce quality photomicrographs, or photographs of microscopic objects, and he was invited to display his work around the country.

Katie Weaver, a staff worker at the library, sits across from the exhibit most days.

“I think it’s cool to have people see what the school was like in the past, and so we can see how far we’ve come,” she said.

The exhibit will be on display until Jan. 22, when a closing reception will be held at 3:30 p.m. with a talk presented by professor emeritus Craig Law.

Hatch's Cabin to maintain registry for historic landmark

Hatch’s Camp — also known as St. Ann’s Retreat and the Nunnery — was acquired by Matt Nielsen in fall of 2015, and he plans on maintaining its status on the National Register of Historic Places.

In order to do that, certain criteria must be met, but Lieutenant Brian Locke with the Cache County Sheriff’s Office thinks it may be a challenge for Nielsen. Young adults in the community often ventured up to the camp for thrills, especially in the summer months, Locke said.

“It’s because of all the stories people keep telling of the place — you know, the local legends,” Locke said.

Local legends include stories of pregnant nuns and dead babies, but the only story some have been able to confirm is that in 1997, dozens of teens were held hostage by several shotgun-wielding watchmen in the empty swimming pool at the camp.

“Vandalism was the biggest problem we were dealing with up there,” Locke said. “People would go in the buildings and break things and mess things up.”

Many of the cabins’ walls have writing etched in them. Broken glass is strewn about the floors of some of the buildings. Some of the walls have gaping holes in them. While it will take some effort to fix the buildings up, there are some benefits to keeping it on the National Register of Historic Places. For instance, if the property is listed on the registry, that qualifies the owner to receive tax credits for the investment and work they put into the property. Preservation specialist Chris Hansen from the Utah State Historical Society said there is some flexibility with this.

“You’re not required to restore it back to what it was, but you can retain its historic features,” Hansen said. “If they’re too damaged to restore, you can repair them. If they’re too damaged to repair, then you can replace it with an in-kind replacement, meaning it matches the look and feel of the property.”

As Nielsen works to restore and repair the property, Locke said he hopes the trespassing and vandalism die down, but it’s Nielsen’s job to report any issues he has.

“I would hope that people would just respect the new owners and not go in the buildings,” he said.

IT improves registration process, despite new challenges

It was registration week at Utah State University, and database administrator Ryan Merrill sat in front of two computer screens in his office. Two other IT administrators — Eric Allen and Duane Black — were adjacent to him, each with two screens in front of them, as well.

“We figure the more screens you have, the more productive you are,” Black said, and the trio laughed.

They had five or six windows open each in order to monitor all components of the registration system — “watching for red flags,” Merrill said. The three of them sat in this office in the Science Engineering Research Building until 1 a.m. on the nights of registration — sometimes later. They arrived at 7 p.m. each night — an hour before registration begins — but preparation for registration starts months in advance.

About 1,800 more students enrolled this semester than in the spring, which created a new challenge for the group.

“With increased enrollment, that generally translates to increased load throughout the week of registration,” Merrill said. “And so we work to create a robust computing environment that can handle the load.”

USU IT’s main focus in preparing for registration is load testing — making sure Banner XE, the new, modern interface, can handle having thousands of students using it at once. In March, registration times changed so they were staggered throughout the night according to the number of credits students have earned. This way, fewer students are on the site at once.

Since the university started using Banner XE in the spring, IT has encountered fewer problems. While it often staffs the service desk on registration nights, service desk manager Steve Funk said he didn’t see a need for it this semester. Merrill and his coworkers, however, are on duty during registration.

“In previous registration cycles, we’ve been here to deal with issues as they’ve arisen,” Merrill said. “Luckily, this registration cycle, we really have just watched and we haven’t really done too much. But we’re here in case something does go wrong.”

Drew Derbidge, who works in computer desktop support, was also the on-call technician during most of registration. He said registration has not been unusually busy for him, partly because he typically addresses IT issues with faculty and staff members.

Funk said the feedback he has received from students has been positive, and they seem to appreciate the new features, including the ability to plan a schedule ahead of time.

“With the older registration system, we were continuously encountering issues during priority registration,” Merrill said. “The new release of the software handles the load much, much better.”

In addition to monitoring the systems in Banner XE, Funk and Merrill said they pay close attention to social media. By watching USU Twitter accounts and USU-related hashtags, they can see what issues students are having and address them immediately.

“It’s a good way for us to keep our finger on the pulse,” Merrill said.

He said he likes to hear students’ feedback — the good and the bad.

“We’re hearing it as students are discussing this, which allows us to be more proactive rather than reactive,” Funk said.

For USU IT, registration is “a party,” Allen said. Its goal is to register as many students as quickly and easily as possible, so they all closely watch their respective areas of Banner.

“Any one of them could hiccup at any point time, and we want to know what’s going on and which one is having a problem so we can fix it the fastest,” he said.

Allen said the IT teams will start preparing for spring registration at the beginning of December.
“We’re always thinking about and working on registration,” he said.

Three time's the charm: Planning commission to hear request for permit

For the third time since August 2014, the Cache County Planning Commission will hear a request from John and Caryn Mullin for a conditional use permit for a dog kennel business.

If approved in the Dec. 3 meeting, Wild Bunch Kennels — which would house 42 pugs — would be located on 1.14 acres of property at 5670 North Highway 23, Cache Junction. The property is in a cluster of homes, and the Mullins would build the kennel across from their home. While concerns last year primarily stemmed from the welfare of the animals, the commission is now expressing concern about potential odor and noise issues. The area is zoned for agriculture.

“It’s mainly the noise. The odor really isn’t a problem,” said Joseph Chambers, the Mullins' attorney. “The county has no objective standard on how to measure the noise."

If there is a noise violation, it is the applicant’s burden to address the issue. Sound on the property cannot exceed 75 decibels from 30 feet away. Chambers said it would cost the Mullins thousands of dollars to conduct a sound test. While law enforcement officials are not equipped with sound meters for noise complaints, the county can borrow one from the Bear River Health Department or Logan City.

“I’m certainly not a scientist on sound,” said Rob Smith, a member of the commission. “Other areas have certainly dealt with noise issues. I’m sure there are scientific methods established to deal with noise.”

The Wild Bunch Kennel would only house pugs, which are known for their small barks. The Mullins have been in the business of pug breeding for eight years at their current home in Casper, Wyoming, and they have never had an issue with noise before. In last year’s August meeting, John Mullin said the building would be fully insulated.

The path to bringing their business to Cache County has been a difficult one. In September of 2014, the Mullins were denied a conditional use permit by the Planning Commission. It was then appealed and sent to the Board of Adjustments, which overturned the commission’s decision and sent it back.

“Basically, the planning commission just made conclusions without finding the facts, and they denied it again,” Chambers said.

It wasn’t until the Mullins got the state ombudsman involved that the commission was ordered to review the request again.

“It sort of chastises the planning commission,” Chamber said.

While county ordinances change year to year, the planning commission’s suggestions to the Mullins must be according to the ordinance in place at the time of the initial request.

Officers vote to sell student tickets to public

Utah State University Student Association officers voted Tuesday night to release 500 student tickets to the general public for this weekend’s football game.

The tickets, which will sell for $38 apiece, were given to the Utah State Athletics Department. This is in addition to the 500 tickets released to the department last week when athletic director John Hartwell presented to the executive council on Oct. 6. So far, only 45 of those tickets have been sold.

“It’s not a whole lot, and I don’t anticipate them selling too many more, either,” said student involvement director Linda Zimmerman.

The Aggies will take on Boise State over fall break, when many students leave town. Hartwell said historically, student attendance during fall break and Thanksgiving games has been low. As of Tuesday evening, 2,650 student tickets were distributed.

Although the executive council’s vote was unanimous, there was some concern at the initial meeting with Hartwell last week. Tickets in the student section are funded by student fees – students are required pay $135.14 each semester for the privilege of attending all athletic events.

But this game is special. Boise State is ranked in the Mountain West conference.

“We’d rather have a full stadium cheering on our Aggies than see us with empty bleachers,” said athletics vice president Thomas Rogers. “If this wasn’t over fall break, I don’t think we’d be giving away tickets at all.”

Hartwell said athletics would never ask for more than 1,000 student tickets. Usually, 6,500 seats are reserved for students — most of what remains of the 25,513-seat stadium goes to the public. Rogers said the majority of public tickets are sold out for this weekend.

“They’re pretty pricey tickets, for sure,” Rogers said. “I can’t say exactly dollar-for-dollar amount where it is going.”

If the athletics department sells the additional tickets now available to it, that would make a $38,000 difference.

“The revenue that they really gain from using any of our seats, probably is slim,” Zimmerman said.

With the funds, Zimmerman said athletics may host some sort of event for students. She explained that athletics and USUSA have a close working relationship, and the entities work together to meet common goals.

"It’s tough to give away student tickets. It’s not something I enjoy," Rogers said. "I’m hoping if we beat Boise our fans will start sprouting out of nowhere and will come to everything."

Officials talk growing concern of campus crime

Campus officials at Utah State University are reporting a steady increase of crime every year — especially sexual assault, and particularly at the beginning of the school year.

Since 2011, liquor arrests, burglary, drug arrests, stalking and incidents of dating violence and sex offenses have all increased in frequency — liquor law violations have increased the most, at 25 in 2011 and 56 in 2014.

The average number of crimes committed per month on campus is 22. During the first few months of the school year, the average jumps to 38. Campus Police Chief Steve Mecham said it takes a while for students to learn they need to take precautions.

“The university is generally a safe community, but there's still crime that happens,” he said. “So I think that maybe the students don't stop to think about that, and so they're a little bit careless about where they lay their property, or they leave their apartments open.”

According to the university’s Annual Campus Security and Fire Safety Report, students are at highest risk of sexual assault from early August through Thanksgiving break. This period, called the Red Zone, sees an increase of crimes of many natures.

Sexual Assault and Anti-Violence Information, or SAAVI, coordinator Jenny Erazo has been with the university for three years. At the beginning of the school year, Erazo hires five interns to help sexual assault victims.

“Since I’ve been here, each year the number of students that have come in has increased over the first of the semester,” she said, referring to the Red Zone. “I was talking to a county attorney, and she was noting an increase in cases.”

Victims have several avenues for reporting sexual assaults on campus, including through SAAVI, the Department of Student Services or the Counseling Center.

“We know that there are more that occur that are not reported,” Mecham said. “They don't have to report it to the police. Our concern is that victims of sexual assault get the help that they need — help them get through it.”

Sexual assaults account for less than one percent of crimes reported to the campus police. Only three incidents were reported to the USU Campus Police last school year. In two instances, the victims “refused to cooperate.” In the third, the case was cleared.

“That means that we investigated it, we know he did it, we know it happened — but we're not going to prosecute,” Mecham said. Almost always, the victim will be the one to press charges. In many cases, they opt not to — criminal trials are public and can be traumatizing to victims.

Although the term “Red Zone” only embodies sexual assaults, all campus crimes spike at the beginning of the school year, particularly liquor law violations and theft. Combined, they account for 46 percent of campus crimes in 2014. Criminal mischief and ordinance violations follow at 9 percent each. Controlled substance violations are next at 6 percent.

“We take very low tolerance to alcohol violations, and so if we have an alcohol violation, it almost always ends up in an arrest or a citation,” Mecham said. “And so that gets the knowledge out there that, 'Hey, if I get caught, it's gonna cost me a lot of money.'”

Representatives for campus police meet with resident assistants, housing directors and students enrolled in the Connections course to talk about the beginning-of-the-year potential of becoming the victim of a crime. Mecham added that he strives to have more officers on duty during the first few weeks of school.

Executive director for Housing and Residence Life Steven Jenson said he and his staff want students to be aware of potential dangers. Additionally, he has taken measures to make on-campus housing more secure.

“Recently — a year ago — we started locking all the external doors 24/7 so that only people that are supposed to be in the buildings can access it,” he said.

Jenson sits on the Behavior Intervention Team, or BIT. Organized by student services, BIT is a team of professionals designed to assess, refer and interview students of concern. The Residence Hall Association takes safety very seriously, Jenson said.

Mecham, Jenson and Erazo agreed they want students to be aware of the dangers on campus, and the first few months of the school year are a time to be cautious and educated.

“We get a bunch of students who are away from home for the first time, and so they're spreading their wings — sowing their wild oats, so to speak,” Mecham said.

Investigation of Big Blue impersonator continues

The Cache County Sheriff’s Office is investigating reports that a man has been impersonating Big Blue and allegedly scamming community members. Police now believe they have identified the suspect, whose real name is Christian Scott Fairbanks.

Fairbanks claims to be a student, but that fact has not been verified yet. Associate vice president for student services Eric Olsen said if he is a student, Utah State University will examine whether to press charges.

“The student code indicates you are to follow state and federal laws, so if you’re charged with a crime, you’ve broken the student code,” Olsen said. “We would look at that and determine if there’s action that needs to be taken and go from there.”

Operating under the pseudonym Chris King, Fairbanks wore the famed Big Blue jersey as he went door-to-door in Nibley and Providence last week, often introducing himself as Big Blue. Spirit squad coach Nicole Troumbley was perplexed as to how he was able to get the jersey. She expressed concern that he was abusing the image of Big Blue, which is owned by the university.

Fairbanks offered to repaint residents’ curb numbers for $25, but gave varying accounts as to what the money was for – sometimes he said it was for the Big Blue Scholarship fund, sometimes for the cheer squad, other times even the Utah State University Robotics Club. The man identifying himself as King told Heidi Hickman that it was for an after-school reading program.

“I mean, at least give them the same story,” said Hickman, a Nibley resident. “He got fidgety once you started to ask him more questions, and then he was like, ‘Okay, see you.’”

Fairbanks claimed he was raising money for the Royal Academy for Music and the Dramatic Arts, or RAMDA, an after-school program he directs in Hyde Park. He also said the funds were for Afterschool Alliance, a free after-school program for children.

A man claimed to be representing Fairbanks, but who declined to give his name, defended the work that was done.

“The funds that are being raised – they’re offering a service. That service is being provided. And we have over 52 names of people who have confirmed that the services that was offered was provided to them,” he said. “It’s been a great fundraiser.”

According to the man claiming to be Fairbanks' representative, Fairbanks plans on pressing charges of libel against the Utah Statesman for publishing an article, although the article did not identify Fairbanks.

It is unclear what charges will be pressed, but several people – including Hickman – have reported fraud to the Cache County Sheriff’s Office.

'Unusual' IT error affects multiple pages

Several pages on the Utah State University server were down this weekend as a result of an unusual error. The main index page was dead, affecting at least the counseling, student services and access center pages.

IT system administrator Blake Rich said www.usu.edu has a front-end load balancer through which pages from different areas are served. The issue came as a result of a failure between the load balancer and one of the back-end servers, and the pages would not configure correctly.

The URL would change from page to page, but the error
was consistent. This error is from usu.edu/accesscenter.

“We have extensive monitoring for a variety of failure modes to try to ensure a solid web presence,” Rich said. “This particular issue was a strange one, which didn’t trigger any of our alerts.”

The IT Service Desk has a variety of alerts, from basic alerts if the web server stops responding to metrics that help see how the server is performing. Usually, if a system stops responding, a network monitor will check every minute and alert IT administrators via email or text. Additionally, Rich said sometimes students will call the service desk, but that did not happen this weekend either.

The failure this weekend was the first time that this particular problem has been seen, and it was related to the new load balancer software put in place when the new USU template was launched in July. The template is a framework in which to manage web content. The university server supports three different templates, but many departments are switching over to the newest version.

Student involvement director Linda Zimmerman was one of the first to notice the error Monday morning.

“A student called and made us aware that our website was down, and we called John Reynolds, who does our back-end on our website,” Zimmerman said. “In the meantime, the same student contacted me and let me know the whole system was down. Within two hours, it was up and running again.”

At the same time, student services system administrator Brent Colledge noticed something was off, as well.

“First thing in the morning, I was getting on to do a webpage update,” Colledge said. When he was checking his changes, he received an error code. “I started digging around and found it was on multiple pages, multiple sites… it was unusual.”

Other than the URL, the error was consistent — the same orange-yellow box appeared on the screen at all the different pages. Colledge said it was new, but not remarkable. This was the first error he had seen since the new template was uploaded to the university server.

“It’s been really stable, I think – at least from what I’ve seen,” Colledge said. He hasn’t put any of the student services sites on the new template yet, but will do so this year.

Rich said the IT Service Desk is adding more checks to trigger alerts in case this problem happens again. He encourages anyone who sees an issue that persists more than five or 10 minutes to call the service desk at (435)797-HELP.

“We’re still evaluating what would be the best way to add metric and monitors to ensure that this doesn’t happen in the future,” Rich said.

Grease from Hub blocks septic lines, causes odor

A combination of factors are clogging the Taggart Student Center septic tanks and causing an odor to permeate the first floor.

According to TSC night manager Jeff Brann, the ovens from the Hub expel grease into the septic lines. Normally, this would not be a problem, but because the TSC is so old, the grease forms plugs in the well-worn pipes.

Brann explains that the top of the tank is usually caked with fat.

“Everything’s not flowing the way it ought to,” Brann said. “If it sits there long enough without moving, it starts to smell funky.”

Brann said “butthole” is an accurate description of the smell.

“We complain all the time about it,” he said, referring to the custodial staff. “It’s more noticeable later on in the night. We’ve filed multiple work orders for it.”

When the Hub starts to shut down around 9 p.m., there is less water flushing through the pipes, which allows blockages to grow. Brann said Hub customer service manager Anthony Linton is working with the TSC maintenance to find a solution.

“We’re kind of hitting it from a couple different ways, but it’s not going very quick,” he said.

Both the Hub staff and management declined to comment, only saying in an email that, “The Hub has no control over any of the systems in the TSC. Whatever was causing the smell was a TSC issue, and they are the ones that controlled the smell and also the ventilation system. There is nothing our employees can do about it because it was something that had to do with the building, not The Hub.”

Somehow, the Hub manages to maintain its patronage during the septic tank issues. Freshman Robert Pymm said that normally, the Hub smells like “garlic, cheese and hard work.” He studies in the Hub about every other day, but has not been around in the evening to experience the smell.

Brann is seen opening the trap door to the grease-trap vats.

The grease-trap vats are in the same room as several air ducts, which sends air to the hallways on the bottom floor of the TSC. Julie Richins is a staff assistant in the student services office, which sits on the second floor, across from the stairs leading down to the Hub.

“The smell was only on the first floor,” Richins said. “You couldn’t smell it on the second floor, but as you would go down into the first floor, you could smell an awful smell. It was nasty.”

As a short-term solution, TSC maintenance workers will occasionally flush the pipes with water to clear the blockage.

USUSA officers share results of summer collaboration

Utah State University Student Association officers are ready to share the product of four months of collaboration after a controversial election held in April.

The last-minute special election — which garnered the participation of just 236 students —  added the position of Student Alumni Association president to the USUSA Executive Council. Despite a petition from students for a re-vote, USUSA President Trevor Sean Olsen has moved forward with the merger, meeting "a few times" with SAA President Oakman Kennedy over the summer to discuss logistics.

“The bulk of the meetings up to this point were to see who’s advising them, where the budget’s going to be and how to work with the two traditions directors,” he said. “It’s mostly just planning meetings.”

Kennedy said the culture of SAA and USUSA are different, in that SAA directors are not elected and are united by common interests. Some directors in particular were concerned about getting along with programming officers in USUSA, as they both deal with traditions.

"There were fears, but at the end of the day, it's the right move to make," Kennedy said. "I don't think either group is losing."

The funding for the SAA president’s scholarship will continue to come from University Advancement, and beginning next year, the SAA president will receive equal compensation to other USUSA officers. Additionally, the Division of Student Services recently hired development officer Mike Bowen, who – under the direction of student services director James Morales – will be advising Kennedy. Funds for the position will be housed with Bowen.

"There's definitely growing pains," Kennedy said. "Especially with getting charters established for the new position."

Olsen agreed that while there are still kinks to work out, they have an advantage after having the summer to collaborate.

"I think during school, when you've got classes to worry about and work, we couldn't have done what we were able to do, really," Kennedy added.

In addition to the some of the officers meeting over the summer, their advisers – with their new responsibilities – were able to meet and coordinate. In previous interviews, Olsen and Kennedy emphasized that it was important the change happen when it did, despite the low voter turnout.

Some students were concerned about the special election being held during finals week, which likely contributed to the low voter turnout. Just 1.5 percent of the student body voted in the election — nowhere near the 23 percent that voted during the last student election cycle. 63 percent voted in favor of the change, with 37 percent against. Seth Merrill, a senior at the time of the election, authored the petition for a re-vote.

"I felt like USUSA was constantly saying throughout the elections that they valued student voices and wanted everyone to be heard, but when people were bringing this to their attention, they weren't actually listening," he said.

Merrill wasn't impressed with the way the election was carried out, specifically that all the amendments were voted on as one. Olsen, however, wasn't concerned.

“I feel confident that it was the right decision, and I think if the numbers were larger, the percentages would still be the same,” Olsen said. “If there are students who don’t feel they got to voice their opinion on the matter, I’m more than happy to talk with them and see what steps we can take to help them feel comfortable about the decision.”

Aggies fall to Utes in rivalry match-up

The USU Women’s volleyball squad lost to the University of Utah 3-1 on Tuesday, Sept. 1.

This match marks the fourth year in a row the Aggies have fallen to the Utes, their longest-running rivals. The teams met for the 70th time in front of packed bleachers on the Kirby Court in the Wayne Estes Center.

The Utes trailed during the entire first set, but managed to keep up and end the set at 20-25. The Aggies had several close blocks and looked composed compared to the Utes, who were overly aggressive in their passing and serving. On several occasions, the Aggies gently dropped the ball into the gaps in the Utes’ defense.

The Utes stepped up during the second set, leading the Aggies to a score of 23-25.

“They finally lined up in the right spots, started getting some stuff going with the blocks,” said USU head coach Grayson Dubose. “We kept hitting them low, low. We needed to go high, high. It’s tough for us to simulate that in practice, because we don’t have anybody that big.”

Dubose said the Utes “always seem to have gargantuan women.” Indeed, only three USU starters were above 6-foot, while the five of Utah's six starters measured up.

The Aggies couldn’t seem to get under the ball in the third set, which ended 16-25 in favor of Utah. The real breakdown came when hitter Erica Moscoso got caught under a teammate, injuring her own ankle. She walked off and was replaced by freshman Kassidy Johnson.

In the fourth set, the teams started fairly balanced. At 11-15, the Aggies called for a time-out. With the sets at 1-2, this was the last chance for Aggies to make a comeback.

“Great teams don’t make that many errors, and they did that,” said outside hitter Kaylie Kamalu. “It’s just the little things that made a big difference in the game.”

The Aggies came back with power after the time-out, but it wasn’t enough to bounce back. The fourth and final set ended at 19-24, Utah.

USU sided out at .59 percent, marginally missing their goal of .60 percent.

“I think we’re heading in the right direction,” Dubose said. “We’re getting more competitive and minimizing errors.”

The Aggies played three games last weekend and have three more this coming weekend. Dubose said he is trying to get the team as much match experience as possible.

“We’re figuring it out with trial by fire,” he said.