Category Archives: Organizations

Behind the curtain: Women in the U’s Theatre Department discuss underrepresentation

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Story by SOPHIA RONEY

After months of tireless work and endless rehearsals, the stage is finally set. A clamoring audience shuffles into their seats and anxiously waits for the lavish curtains to reveal a new world. Behind the curtains, a cast and crew swiftly apply finishing touches to the opening scene. The lights dim and so does the audiences’ chatter. For a moment, the theater is still until music awakes the stage. The performance begins. Everyone holds their breath.

In theater production, various elements take part in creating the world viewed on stage. Women are among the many who assist in the triumph of a production. From the University of Utah Theatre Department, Sarah Shippobotham, Brenda L. Van der Wiel and Savannah Hayes provide insight on how a successful performance is achieved and the importance of women in theater.

Sarah Shippobotham is an actor-training professor at the U. She is associated with the Pioneer Theatre Company at the Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre and is a voice and dialect coach. She has also trained as an actor at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama located in Cardiff, Wales. In an email exchange after a Zoom interview, Shippobotham revealed why women’s representation is significant in theater. She said, “What we are dealing with right now is an underrepresentation of women in theatre while we also deal with the historical underrepresentation of others.”

Sarah Shippobotham has worked as a voice and dialect coach on productions such as “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” and “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.” Photo by Melinda Pfundstein.

She added, “Women make up a huge part of society, so it is important that their stories are told – just as it is important that IBPOC (Indigenous, Black, People of Colour) stories are told too.”

Shippobotham has worked on projects with the playwright Jaclyn Backhaus, such as, “Men on Boats,” to aid in more representation. “Men on Boats” focuses on the discovery of the Grand Canyon and Colorado River with all the male characters portrayed by female and nonbinary actors.

Through a Zoom interview, she explained how actor training contributes to a successful theater production. “For me, when people are trained to be actors, they’re trained that acting is an actual skill.” Shippobotham said the voice and body of an actor convey a story that the audience can witness because theater is about telling a story. Without actor training as a core part in theater production, she said a play may not be as impactful for an audience.

In addition to actor training, costume design holds immense importance to the success of a theater production in creating a world in which a story is told. Brenda L. Van der Wiel is an associate professor and the head of the Performing Arts Design Program at the U. She designs for the theater department frequently and designs every year for the Pioneer Theatre Company. Van der Wiel has also designed for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Some of her own favorite work has been presented at the festival.

Brenda L. Van der Wiel said she admires the work of Robert Cuzuolla, who is a costume designer for ballet and opera. Photo courtesy of Van der Wiel. 

In a Zoom interview, Van der Wiel explained why costume design is an impactful part of theater and how a show is interpreted through costume design. “Every little detail is something that can aid in storytelling, even if it … isn’t something the audience can see, it might be something the actor can internalize [and help] them inhabit the character fully,” she said. Van der Wiel said “even something as simple as a wedding ring” is a decision one must make through the eyes of a character. Costume design in theater assists the audience in identifying a character’s personality. “Theater is all about collaboration,” Van der Wiel said. Constant collaboration is key to executing a director’s vision. In a production, she said, “I think it is amazing when all the elements come together.”

When all the departments come together in collaboration, stage management is an influential part that guides the operations of a theatrical performance. Savannah Hayes is a first-year student at the U. In addition to her studies, she is learning about stage management. Hayes managed theater productions throughout her junior and senior years of high school. She also decided to be a part of a show choir crew and was later offered the position as an assistant stage manager.

Savannah Hayes said her family introduced her to theater. She has been fond of the art form ever since. Photo courtesy of Savannah Hayes. 

Hayes suggested that stage management plays a crucial role in theater. “There just wouldn’t be as much communication,” she said in a Zoom interview. “We help rehearsals and then we run the show too [such as] telling when the lights to go [on].”

To her, stage managers are the “big communicators” who run the production meetings, make sure everyone pitches in their thoughts, and are “everyone’s friend.” Hayes said if anyone needs a Band-Aid or even a pencil, a stage manager would provide what is needed.

In a follow-up email interview, Hayes explained why women’s representation is important in theater. “We can kind of see things a little bit differently than men so we can suggest things they might not think of,” she said. “We can also help inspire young children”

The final scene concludes and the curtains close while a roaring audience applauds the collaborative efforts of the cast and crew. Everyone rejoices in the culmination of the show. For a successful theater production, a variety of people and departments work together to fulfill a director’s vision. Representation of IBPOC and women are historically underrepresented in theater. Savannah Hayes said, “We’re equally as big of a part in theatre as men no matter the area.”

Keeping the art of darkroom photography alive in a digital world

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Story and photos by MAKENA KLINGE

The smell of chemicals, the sound of running water. The serenity emitting from the dim glow of the small light fixture hanging from the ceiling, coating the room in an amber ambiance. Mind and body follow a rhythm, movements become melody as the outside world dissolves into the darkness of the surrounding four walls. Magic becomes material as an image appears on the liquid-submerged paper, making ripples as it sways beneath the surface.

The darkroom at Photo Collective Studios is available for public renting.

Photography is a centuries-old art form that continues to affect and contribute to how we view the world we live in. The concept of photography has been around since the early 1800s and is constantly developing and evolving into what we know it to be today and what we will know it to be in the future.

Darkroom photography was the original – and only – form of photography available in the world until somewhat recently. Only within the last few decades has digital photography taken over, and almost completely pushed film photography out of the picture.

Rinsing the chemicals off of a developed photo in the darkroom at the University of Utah.

However, there are still artists and community members who appreciate film photography and acknowledge its history as an art form. Here in Salt Lake City, Dave Azul Brewer co-owns Photo Collective Studios. The experienced photographer started that business in 2011.

In 2016, he and his business partner Jessica Jude bought the Clubhouse on South Temple. The Ladies Literary Club had owned that building for 100 years and wanted to find a new owner who would keep it open to the public for art and expression. Brewer and Jude remodeled the building and made it wheelchair accessible with a historic grant that they won in the spring of 2021.

Photo Collective Studios was operating at its original location and the Clubhouse until 2019, when Brewer relocated that business to the Clubhouse. Brewer explained that they are separate businesses. The Clubhouse functions as more of an event space and the studio is a place for photographers to work out of.

  • View of the ballroom and stage from the upstairs balcony at the Clubhouse.
  • Old-fashioned barber room upstairs above the stage.

“There’s no other building like it in Salt Lake City,” Brewer said. Some of its main attractions include: a stage overlooking a ballroom floor, a front patio, a backstage barber shop and bride’s lounge used for hair and makeup, and a balcony upstairs that serves as a part of the photo studio. The building also includes the only functioning public dark room in the city, down in the basement.

The studio offers public access to professional photography equipment, backdrops, and lighting at an hourly rate. The studio even offers film developing classes that take place every Monday for those interested in learning how to work in the darkroom. It’s also open to those who are familiar with the art and just need a space to develop photos.

“My goal is to create an experience where people feel comfortable and encouraged to create on their own,” Brewer said. Photo Collective Studios not only offers the only public darkroom in the city – aside from the one at the University of Utah – but also provides a much-needed space for artists to pursue their creative goals.

Brewer said his favorite thing about Photo Collective Studios is “connecting with various photographers from various backgrounds and skill sets and recognizing that we can all learn something from each other.”

Brewer said it’s “more important now than ever to keep darkroom photography alive because it is such a timeless art form and with the introduction of digital photography it has quickly become almost obsolete.” He explained that in his career he went from knowing film photography as the standard to digital becoming the standard, “almost overnight.”

Yet the processes used in digital photography stem directly from techniques that are used in the darkroom. There are buttons in Photoshop that have been transferred over from steps of developing film. That alone shows just how important darkroom photography is, even in the digital world we live in.

Edward Bateman has been a professor of various photography classes – Art History of Photography and Digital Imaging for Visual Artists to name a few – at the University of Utah since 2008. He is very passionate about photography and how it impacts our world.

Prints hanging to dry in the darkroom at the University of Utah.

“Chemical has the ability for surprises to happen, things that you’d never imagine, things you couldn’t predict, it can be really exciting,” Bateman said.

Even though Bateman would say that he prefers digital photography – because that’s what he is known for – he likes darkroom photography because “it’s meditative, things go at its own speed, things have its own pace.”

Regarding the appeals of film photography, Bateman also said, “People like the tactile, the tangible quality of actually interacting with something as more and more things become virtual.”

John Moffitt, the president of the Photo Club at the U shares a similar view on photography.  

“I genuinely enjoy both digital and darkroom photography. I use both for different things. I honestly couldn’t imagine photography without a darkroom and a computer,” Moffitt said in an email interview.

Moffitt is a senior at the U and is studying operations and supply chain management and photography. He became the president of the club in the summer of 2021 and says that the purpose of the club is to provide a community on campus for students who are interested in photography.

“There is nothing that will transform the way a photographer sees and works faster than a darkroom. Working in a darkroom used to be the ‘norm’ and I think photographers were better off because of it. Even for photographers that don’t plan on using film indefinitely, working in a darkroom for even just a few months can be a transformative process,” Moffitt said

Despite the impact that the art of the past – film photography – has had on the art of the present – digital photography – it’s undeniable that darkroom photography has fallen into the shadows of the art world.

As Brewer said, “There are enough film lovers and film enthusiasts that recognize its uniqueness that I believe as creatives, as artists, we have enough desire to keep it alive.”

Photo rinsing in the water bath.
Completed prints by students on a drying rack outside of the darkroom at the U.
Negative print by Edward Bateman.
Canvas prints by students hanging on the wall of the Art building at the U.
David Brewer’s camera collection in the Clubhouse darkroom.
Tool used to focus an image in the darkroom.
David Brewer focusing an image for development in the darkroom.
David Brewer.
Photo of a performance by the Ladies Literary Club at the Clubhouse.
The Clubhouse motto, printed on a wall in the foyer.
Perspective from the top of the stairs leading to the photo studio space.
Photo of some members of the Ladies Literary Club, taken from the viewpoint of the previous photo.

University of Utah esports

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Story by JONATHAN LITTLE

When it comes to collegiate sports, most individuals often envision football, basketball, or soccer.

These sports have been around for many years and sit comfortably at the top of American popularity. And in terms of financial success, most universities earn a considerable amount from these sports. At the University of Utah, most revenue is seen from these three sports.

Although these sports seem to dominate the athletic world, a new one is slowly making itself known. This game is known as esports.

Esports is defined as a multiplayer video game played competitively for spectators, typically by professional gamers. Esports has started exploding in popularity in recent years as competitive gaming is getting more attention.

While it seems that professional gaming could not have much money in it, recent tournaments have proven how much of a presence esports really is. According to Esports Charts, in 2019 a tournament titled “The International 2019” featured the video game “Dota 2” with a staggering prize pool of $34.3 million.

Furthermore, previous esports events have gotten more live viewers than the NBA finals, which is a testament to the popularity of competitive gaming.

This kind of success is seen worldwide with hundreds of different video games being played. Esports is also seeing attention in schools across the U.S. with major universities such as Ohio State, Boise State, UC-Boulder, University of Utah and many more adopting esports teams.

The University of Utah unveiled its roster for the first varsity esports team in 2017. Photo courtesy of David Titensor.

The Utah Entertainment Arts and Engineering program created the first varsity-level esports program from any school in a Power Five athletic conference.

Utah’s esports program has been growing rapidly in popularity, adopting popular video games Rocket League, Hearthstone, League of Legends, and Overwatch. The university also plans to add more games to its competitive portfolio in the near future.

Senior Ryan Murphy is a member of the Hearthstone club team at the U. Utah esports divides teams into varsity, junior varsity, and club levels for all games.

The University of Utah Overwatch varsity team practices for its upcoming game against Boise State University. Photo courtesy of Norris Howard.

“It’s so awesome to be a part of something like this,” senior Ryan Murphy said. “I always played video games growing up and it has been such a great experience getting the chance to play for my school.”

The division of teams allows players to decide how competitively they want to play.

“It’s nice to be able to join the club team and have a chance to work my way up to a higher level,” Rocket League club player Casey Sturtevant said over Zoom. “This way I can be as competitive as I want and don’t necessarily have to dedicate a lot of time to it.”

With major support from the Entertainment Arts and Engineering program, Utah esports has given students the chance to play the games they love on a collegiate and club level.

Sturtevant explains he did not play sports growing up, and the inclusive environment the esports program has provided for students finally gave him the sense of belonging to a team that he has never had.

Not only does the esports program have a great environment for students, it also gives out thousands of dollars in scholarship money for certain students joining the team when they enter college.

Utah’s newest esports logo.

League of Legends player Nick Riggio said the scholarship program for esports at the U is great and provides many players the opportunity to play the games they love and pursue a higher education.

Riggio has been a member of the League of Legends club team since he was a junior. He said it has been one of the most fun experiences in his college career.

“I honestly believe that professional esports will be as popular as professional football and soccer one day,” Riggio said in a Zoom interview. “So many kids growing up today play video games, and the competitive platform for gaming keeps growing with no end in sight.”

The importance of student organizations at the University of Utah

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Story by LUKE MAGEL

It was during a backpacking expedition that the University of Utah student, Emma Taylor, noticed how large the gender gap is in outdoor activities. The men moved quicker than the women in the group did. Therefore, the long-legged men navigated and led the group.

After resolving the issue within the group, Taylor and her friends discussed how to foster a safe and inclusive environment for women in the outdoors.

“So it’s kind of like on this trip and we’re thinking, how do we do this, how do we do this, and then the idea for a club came up,” Taylor said in a Zoom interview.

The Women’s Outdoor Leadership Initiative is one of over 550 Recognized Student Organizations at the University of Utah. Student organizations provide opportunities for students that they would otherwise have to find off-campus. The university contributes to the symbiotic relationship between it and the student organizations by providing resources and advising.

The Women’s Outdoor Leadership Initiative was established in August 2021, making it one of the newest student organizations at the university. The organization already has about 70 members. The primary goal of the initiative is to provide women with skills and confidence in the outdoors.

“The hope is that they can take that with them, be more independent, and then get more of their friends out there so we slowly start to kind of change that gender gap within the outdoor industry,” said Taylor, who is the president of the club.

To accomplish its goal, the organization hosts a monthly course on an outdoor skill and a monthly community bonding meeting. The courses have covered the set of ethics put forth by the Leave No Trace organization, wilderness medicine certification, and backcountry navigation.

A Women’s Outdoor Leadership Initiative community bonding event. Photo courtesy of Emma Taylor.

As winter approaches, the organization is planning an avalanche certification course, ski trips, and volunteer opportunities at the National Ability Center.

The outdoor setting of the club provides students with learning opportunities outside of the classroom. “You’re constantly just kind of having to manage risk, manage your group, manage all these different settings around you,” Taylor said.

The club is classified as a Registered Student Organization. This means that the organization is not affiliated with a department at the university. RSOs are the most autonomous classification.

Student organizations can also be classified as affiliated or sponsored. Affiliated clubs are still separate from the university; however, they are tied to a department and have access to some university resources and an advisor.

Sponsored student organizations are part of a department and must follow its rules. This classification also receives an advisor and the most support from the university.

The University of Utah Beekeepers Association is a Sponsored Student Organization. The club is sponsored by the Bennion Center, the university’s community engagement center.

The U’s Beekeepers Association was started about 10 years ago and boasts hundreds of members. Amalia Friess has been president for two years and was an active member for two years before assuming that role.

The organization has nine honeybee hives in continuously changing locations on campus. The hives are inspected by the organization at least monthly. The inspections can be attended by anyone.

A beekeeper tending to a university hive. Photo courtesy of Amalia Friess.

Friess said taking care of the bees was like having pets. “These are live animals that you’re working with.”

Educational presentations are given to the club by the members themselves. They also give presentations to elementary schools, Boy Scouts, and others. The talks focus on the importance of honeybees and native pollinators.

“If the pollinators are gone, that means that our plants are going to be gone. And that’s the foundation of our whole ecosystem,” Friess said in a Zoom interview.

The beekeepers harvest honey and wax from their hives once a year. The wax, which is made into candles and lip balm, is then given away to those who participate in events or sold along with the honey.

Friess estimates that 40% of the organization’s funds come from honey, wax product, and merchandise sales. The rest of the funds come from the Associated Students of the University of Utah, a perk of being a Sponsored Student Organization.

The Beekeepers Association provides students with an easy way to start beekeeping, an otherwise difficult field to join. The university also benefits from the community engagement.

The student organizations coordinator, Josh Olszewski. He oversees all clubs at the U. Photo courtesy of Josh Olszewski.

“From research, we know that students who get involved tend to have higher GPAs, they tend to feel a stronger sense of belonging on campus, and students who feel like they belong on campus tend to stay,” said Josh Olszewski, the student organizations coordinator for the university.

The broad selection of clubs is an incentive for prospective students to enroll at the U.

Olszewski said having student organizations helps students find community, support groups, and opportunities to build skills outside of the classroom. Students benefit from clubs regardless of the focus of the entity.

Student organizations have raised awareness for immigration laws, mental health, and COVID-19, Olszewski said in a Zoom interview. “These are student-led initiatives that I think raise awareness to the broader community and to the institution as a whole.”

From competition to camaraderie: the rise of women’s ski groups in the Wasatch Mountains

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Story by ROSE SHIMBERG

Am I fast enough? Am I good enough?

Newcomers to Womb Tang are often hesitant at first. It’s intimidating to approach a group of women, gathered for a skiing or biking session, talking and laughing and hyping each other up.

Asking the question takes a considerable effort, a deep breath in. A familiar insecurity is suppressed for just a moment.

Can I ride with you?

Nicole Weaver is familiar with those questions. She used to feel the same way. It’s one of the reasons she became an ambassador for Womb Tang in the first place.

Expert, intermediate, still struggling to get your boots on. Everyone is welcome at Womb Tang.

Womb Tang members, from left, Grace Gustaferro, Sylvia Kinosian, and Nicole Weaver enjoying a snowy day at Solitude Resort. Photo courtesy of Nicole Weaver.

“That’s the whole point,” Weaver said.

Womb Tang isn’t just for Utahns. The organization, dedicated to connecting female skiers, started as a school project among friends in Alberta, Canada, and now has members all over the world.

It’s just one of several groups bringing women together in the growing ski community in the Wasatch Mountains of northeastern Utah. More and more women are riding together and fighting back against an industry that’s deeply rooted in misogyny and has historically pitted one woman against the other.

To Weaver, that’s the beauty of Womb Tang.

“We’re not trying to be the best girl in the group or in competition with one another,” she said.

Weaver grew up skiing in the Midwest before she moved to Utah. When she first arrived, she struggled to find where she belonged as an intermediate skier.

At the helm of Womb Tang Wasatch, she’s created a space where women at any level can feel welcome.

Nicole Weaver ski touring. Her friend Nikayla Cooper’s dog, Roo, keeps her company. Photo courtesy of Nicole Weaver.

“No matter what you’re working on, whatever it is, we’re here to cheer you on and help you in whatever you want to achieve,” she said.

But Womb Tang isn’t the only group of its kind in the area.

Alta Lady Shred started in 2017. And its founder, Sarah McMath, is just as excited about it as ever.

McMath has found that skiing with women is all about energy. As a bubbly, outgoing person, her goal is to use her energy to uplift others. This can be challenging in a sport that has historically been linked to competition.

“When it comes to skiing with women, there’s a positivity that we can bring to this sport that has this negative energy sometimes. It’s like this weird negative, combative space,” McMath said in a Zoom interview.

McMath, in a self-described one-third-life crisis, packed her bags and moved across the country from Kentucky to Utah.

She told her friends she’d be gone for six weeks. It’s been six years and she’s not going anywhere.

After getting a job at Alta Ski Area, McMath began to run the social media for the resort. Her first thought (“selfishly”) was that she wanted to get more women skiing together.

She decided on a weekly time and started posting about Lady Shred meet-ups. Initially, she dragged her friends along. But the numbers just kept climbing.

Clare Chapman, on the hunt for female skiing partners, was one of those attendees. She quickly befriended McMath and took a role in helping her run the program. 

“It would be a lot of local girls joining and then we’d have women who were like, ‘I’m sick of skiing with my husband’ or ‘I’m from out of town and my kids are in ski school and I just don’t know what to do,’” Chapman said.

Sedona King, far left, Sarah McMath, Clare Chapman, and Mary Noyes decked out in cheetah print at Alta Lady Shred. Photo courtesy of Sarah McMath.

Chapman is also the founder of The Salt Lake Sisterhood, an Instagram platform connecting and uplifting women around Utah. The project took off at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which pulled people from the slopes and plopped them in front of their phones.

Chapman hoped to use the platform to connect with others in a virtual space and keep alive the spirit of camaraderie found through Lady Shred.

McMath, who describes herself as The Salt Lake Sisterhood’s biggest cheerleader, found that the page reached a wide audience amid the pandemic, making more people aware of Lady Shred and the multitude of female skiers in the community.

“We were able to stand on the Sisterhood last year and make a little more noise because we had to use that as our Lady Shred platform,” she said.

Chapman’s path to Alta and Lady Shred was a bit different.

A gymnast for many years, she was used to being competitive around other women. When it came to skiing, she was the only woman in her group. It took a monumental life change to begin to look at things differently.

“I went through this breakup and we had like, almost all mutual friends and they’re almost all guys. And I felt so intimidated by women and I wanted to change that,” she said.

Not limited to skiing alone, Chapman shares posts and stories from women in the community about many different things: other sports, art, self-expression. With friends offering to help, Chapman has organized events of all kinds. Fitness classes. A writing group. An earring-making workshop.

Seeing everyone’s unique talent inspires her. She said her aim is to inspire others as well, even if they never get the chance to meet in person.

“What I’ve focused on is just creating an empowering space within social media because it can be so negative and stressful but so addicting at the same time,” she said. “So if you’re on it I want there to be something good.”

The three women agree that they have seen things improve for women in the skiing community. Just a few years ago, all-female groups were a rare sighting on the mountain. Change is coming — and groups like Womb Tang, Lady Shred, and The Salt Lake Sisterhood are the catalysts.

“I think this kind of support between women has really grown,” Chapman said. “Women are acknowledging that they rip and they can also shred with women. They don’t have to ski with the guys.”

Music is more than what we hear, it’s an inspiration

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Story by ALMA BEAN

Across the country, many music programs are for nonprofit and are surviving from community support and one’s love for music. Music can be discovered by listening on the radio or platforms such as Spotify or iTunes, or even out in public.

Many individuals use music other than performance, whether it be for leisure, study methods, or to fill the void of silence. For these individuals, music is an inspiration in their lives.

Diana Galeano, former music educator and former assistant director of A Capella Academy and current member of Blacklight and Soundoff, made it very clear that music has played a crucial role in her life.

Diana Galeano, second from the right, posing with members of Blacklight. Photo courtesy of Diana Galeano.

Galeano knew she had a “love for music” by the time she was in the fourth grade. As she progressed through middle school and high school, Galeano changed her musical focus from instrumental to vocal when she auditioned for her high school choir. While Galeano elaborated on her passion for music during a Zoom interview, she said her family provided emotional and moral support when she committed to Florida State University for vocal performance. After her first year at FSU, Galeano changed her degree emphasis to music education.

This change to music education came from the embrace that she felt not only from her family, but also from her mentor, Marcia Porter. Galeano was able to land a teaching job at Atlantic Coast High School in Jacksonville, Florida, after graduation. With fresh eyes into the real world of teaching, Galeano felt working at Atlantic Coast was great for her style “as someone who gives direction, not just musical [and] breaks things down.”

As Galeano described her teaching experience, a smile developed when she described an unexpected opportunity. After her brief time at Atlantic Coast, Galeano pursued other teaching opportunities such as working for Somerville Public Schools in Somerville, Massachusetts.

Though her stint at Somerville was brief, working with a group of students from kindergarten through eighth grade brought her joy. Her experience at Somerville made Galeano a firm believer that music should be introduced to children as soon as possible and be “used unintentionally.” She then elaborated that subconsciously people will use music from rocking their baby to teaching their children in a rhythmic format.

Julian Bryson, director of choral studies at Jacksonville University, relates to learning music unintentionally.

As a child, Bryson said he found his passion for music through church. He wanted to be able to touch the foot pedals of the piano. His parents made him a deal that he would be allowed to take piano lessons once he was able to reach the pedals.

Julian Bryson, raising his hands before conducting. Photo courtesy of Julian Bryson.

Even with the support of his mother to pursue music, Bryson said through Zoom that he almost quit music altogether because he felt bored. His interest was reignited when he saw Gloria Estefan performing “Conga” during a televised pageant. The piano solo near the end of the song was the spark that he needed. To this day, Bryson said he still hasn’t learned to play that solo.

Once Bryson pursued higher education, he chose to study pre-law at the University of Tennessee. His decision wasn’t based on credentials or professors, it was based on the culture of the university. Being a fan of the university’s football team was a big influence in his decision as well. Bryson said he changed his major to music after taking lessons from one of the piano professors on campus. Bryson then made his degree emphasis in music composition.

Two of Bryson’s mentors, Jefferson Johnson of the University of Kentucky, and Angela Batey of the University of Tennessee, both preach servant leadership. A piece of advice about servant leadership that stuck with Bryson was when he returned to Kentucky and was told by Jefferson, “It’s not about you, it’s about what we accomplish.”

Whether music influences come from a community or an individual, there is always a team behind the music that has grasped the listener’s attention. Though a single name may be listed for a song, there’s a group behind the scenes. This group is doing things including recording, mixing, promoting, and finding a studio to showcase the talent of the individual. Both Galeano and Bryson found their calling in music through group efforts.

This mentality is shared with Sherry Blevins as well. Blevins, a composer and supervisor of student teachers for Appalachian State University, said her love for music started at a young age. Her passion developed when she began her involvement with choirs. Since her passion developed in children’s choir, she said she loved working with those groups. “Music is not just a job,” Blevins said in a Zoom interview, “it’s healing.”

Sherry Blevins has over 40 music compositions to her name. Photo courtesy of Sherry Blevins.

A choir can be seen as a safe space and with this sense of community, individuals can be comfortable and open in these spaces. Developing this passion for music at a young age, these children can create emotional connections. Also, the children can work toward the success of a team rather than an individual. This is made apparent in Blevins’ award-winning composition “A Tapestry of Music” with examples of unisons and harmonies throughout the piece. Having the unisons creating a sense of unity among the choir then contrast of harmonies among different voice parts.

Though Blevins composes music for a living, music played a crucial part in her life when she suffered a brain stem stroke at the age of 26. The stroke left Blevins with a limited vocal range and limited motor function on the left side of her body. After just receiving a new teaching position before the stroke, Blevins said her employer was kind enough to keep her employed. With this newfound opportunity, Blevins gave herself a goal to persevere through the adversity. Teaching music to her students allowed her to show that the stroke would not define her. Instead, she said she wanted to be defined by how she would overcome this next chapter in her life.

Each of us has different motives and goals as we progress through life. Music can be seen as a life changing aspect in one’s life. Whether music is seen as a filler or inspirational, that is up to the beholder.

Julian Bryson, who changed his major from pre-law to music composition, tells his general music course students, “Music gives us the opportunity to practice without the risk of dying.”

UMFA’s directors talk about the institution’s educational philosophy

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Story and photos by SOPHIA JEON

Art museums in general not only perform the basic functions of collecting, exhibiting, researching, and preserving artworks, but also open them up to the public through active educational programs, thus playing an important role as a cultural institution.

As art education in modern society has become an essential component to develop human sensibility and thinking ability, the communication of artistic language within the society is ultimately reaching the educational goal pursued by the museums.

“Walking the Unknown Path” by University of Utah professor Beth Krensky, describing the current pandemic.

Several staff members with the Utah Museum of Fine Arts confidently spoke about the educational outreach they have done to help UMFA become a beneficial leader in shaping the place of artistic communication in the local society.

According to the website, UMFA’s mission is “to inspire critical dialogue and illuminate the role of art in our lives.”

To fulfill the mission, staff have conducted a variety of educational activities for members of different age groups. Annie Burbidge Ream, the co-director of K-12 and family programs, first introduced the institution’s historical programs for the younger generation.

“Two of our longest running programs here at the museum in K-12 and family programs are ‘pARTners’ and ‘Third Saturday,’” Ream said.

pARTners is a program for all fourth-grade students in the Salt Lake County and Salt Lake City school districts. They visit the museum twice a year and participate in a variety of integrated art works.

Despite the pandemic, UMFA has continued the program as a virtual tour, and this is the 38th year to run it.

Third Saturday is a family-based program held on the third Saturday of each month, where everyone can enter the museum for free, browse the galleries and participate in different projects. “It’s meant to be for not just kids making art but the whole family and whatever you see as a family whether it’s your friends or others,” Ream said.

“Our goal is for students to know that they are creative,” Ream said. “It’s important for people to know their creativity as a life skill. We also hope that our programs make students be good critical thinkers so that they can look at the work of art and ask questions.”

Because UMFA is not only the state’s fine arts museum, but is also an institution affiliated with and located on the University of Utah campus, it offers a variety of educational projects to engage with the students and faculty at the U.

Ashley Farmer, the co-director of adult and university programs, described a visual art project she is working on with medical and nursing students at the U. “It is a program where students in small groups look at the same piece of art for about 20 minutes or more for just one painting,” Farmer said in a Zoom interview. “That is for encouraging slow and close looking when they read medical imagery like diagnostic images, EKGs, X-rays, and such.”

In many fields, the visual arts play an important role in conducting research and work. Among them, this program, which tries to relate the medical professions’ process of analyzing the visual evidence to the arts, is a unique way of artistic communication.

UMFA has also focused on different wellness programs that apply the visual arts to everyday life. “We have a yoga program partnering with PEAK Health and Fitness on our campus. … The instructor Jendar Marie Morales incorporates art into a practice and discussion about yoga, which is amazing to connect yoga practice to art images,” Farmer said.

Another wellness program is the mindfulness class by Charlotte Bell, the author and instructor of meditation. “She uses art images as a method of contemplation and conversation, which connect mindfulness practice to art,” Farmer said.

This is the entrance to “Space Maker,” which features art by faculty members.

Art is also linked to music. Mindy Wilson, the director of marketing and communications, said about UMFA’s Sight & Sound that “it’s always been about bringing live music into the galleries to enhance the viewer’s experience on looking at art. … The idea is not that you sit, listen, and watch the musicians, but you walk around to look at the art while you are listening to the music.”

Among the exhibitions currently ongoing at the UMFA is “Space Maker,” a show of works by faculty artists from the Department of Art and Art History at the U. “That’s a wonderful example of our creative shows that recognize the specific talent of the artists who teach on our campus,” Wilson said in a Zoom interview.

This is the UMFA’s Great Hall, which is now exhibiting “2020: Here on Out.”

“2020: From Here on Out” is another ongoing exhibition, featuring murals by artists responding to the global pandemic and racial injustice. “Murals are so good in conveying messages. That’s been really important especially over the past year and a half,” Wilson said.

Virginia Catherall, the curator of education, family programs, visitor experience, and community outreach, expressed her anticipation for the upcoming project called UMFA in the Wild, which will start again in person in the summer of 2022.

“It’s a really fun community program to link nature in art. … I collaborate with state parks in the area and do art with people who are in there. We draw, watercolor, or print anything around us. … Giving the idea of how nature and art intertwined, you can get inspiration from nature to create art,” Catherall said in a Zoom interview.

“There will be an exhibit called ‘Confluence’ that explores water and all the different perspectives of water,” Catherall said. “We work with the natural history museum on campus to give scientific environmental perspective to that project. We also work with a professor on campus who is recording and documenting indigenous lands, waterways, and mountains.”

This is part of the exhibition “Confluence.”

The UMFA’s way of educational communication, which introduces the value of art integrated with various fields to the public in an intimate way, makes it grow into a successful institution.

UMFA hopes to connect with more people in the community and bring them to the museum.

“Our hope is that someone comes into the museum as a small child. I hope that they keep coming. Maybe the small children will grow up as students at the U, those who are in arts creative fields, or their families. We hope that by working with lots of different ages, we can get them into the museum,” Ream said.

Wilson, who handles communication for UMFA, said, “Bringing people in is also about hearing from them what they want. It is important to be more aware of what our visitors want and to be more open to shaping ourselves to fit into it.”

Even the pandemic cannot stop their enthusiasm as educators.

“Seeing something in person is really important. However, we can’t sacrifice people’s opportunities to learn just because we can’t get them into the museum,” Catherall said. “Being able to do this online or virtually has freed us from that constraint of only doing things in person.”

The impact of COVID-19 on animal shelters in Salt Lake County

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Story by SORINA TRAUNTVEIN

“When push comes to shove, if there’s a major emergency, the community is willing to step up, especially here in Salt Lake,” Guinnevere Shuster said.

But what do you do with homeless animals in a pandemic?

Shuster is the associate director of marketing and communications at the Utah Humane Society located at 4242 S. 300 West in Murray, Utah. In an interview over Zoom, she described its experience during the pandemic.

“We put a call out for foster families to just come take all of our animals, and we had a great response to that,” Shuster said. “We were able to place many of our animals into foster homes.”

According to Shelter Animal Counts, there was a downtrend of adoptions in Utah during March and April 2020, followed by a large spike during the subsequent months. Shuster was able to explain this.

After fostering, many families “did end up keeping the dogs or the cats and a big part of that was, you know, it gave them an opportunity to kind of foster to adopt,” Shuster said. “They got to know the animal.”

Temma Martin, the public relations specialist at Best Friends Animal Society Utah, located at 2005 S. 1100 East in Salt Lake City, shared its experience placing animals in foster homes as well.

“In 2020, through Dec. 24, nearly 5,000 animals were placed in foster homes, and 3,050 were adopted, compared to 2,740 foster placements and 2,514 adoptions in 2019,” Martin said in an email interview.

There was not a large amount of surrenders during the pandemic, which may come as a surprise. This was in part due to the Utah Humane Society’s Pet Retention Program and Best Friends Animal Society Utah’s donations.

The outdoor clinic check-in at the Utah Humane Society in Murray, Utah. Photo by Sorina Trauntvein.

The Utah Humane Society asked those considering surrender to consider other options. Its program offered “resources to keep the pet, whether that be food or some basic vet care,” Shuster explained.

Both the Utah Humane Society and Best Friends Animal Society Utah offer adoption clinics, spay and neuter and a pet food pantry. These programs promote pet retention and helped Salt Lake County citizens during the pandemic.

Best Friends Animal Society Utah requested donations during March 2020 in order to keep up with the high demand for animal necessities.

“We receive a lot of our animals through transfer programs from other organizations. Some of them are local, some of them are in rural parts of Utah. And then we also receive animals from states that are just overburdened with their homeless pet population problem,” Shuster said.

Transfers from other shelters had been temporarily suspended during part of 2020, which meant “it was a little tough for some people to find, you know, the animals they wanted to adopt during the pandemic,” Shuster said.

Abby Buttars with their cat, Henry; he loves cuddling and reminding people to wear their masks. Photo courtesy of Abby Buttars.

Abby Buttars adopted their cat, Henry, from the Utah Humane Society in June 2020. The process had changed, but shelters were still doing everything in their power to put the right pets with the right people.

“I decided to just look on the humane society website and I saw his picture and had to have him,” Buttars said in an interview over Instagram. “So they had me do a phone interview to kinda see if I would be a responsible owner, and then they had me do a Zoom with him and his foster family. Then they set me up with a time for me to come pick him up!”

Appointment-based adoptions were an early change after March 2020, and they’re still in effect now. If you’re interested in adoption, you can make an appointment for Best Friends Animal Society Utah here or Utah Humane Society here.

“Making appointments for certain things has really worked out for the better for our staff and the flow of the animals as they come in through our shelter,” Shuster said.

During quarantine, many people adopted pets because they were home more often and needed to combat loneliness.

The check-in table at the Utah Humane Society, requesting visitors to wear a mask and sanitize their hands before interacting with any animals. Photo by Sorina Trauntvein.

“He definitely changed my life for the better. He’s helped me feel less alone during the pandemic,” Buttars said.

Adoption and fostering went somewhat smoothly during the pandemic, but it was not shelters’ only concerns.

The majority of publicly available purchases were donated to the shelters, such as food, bowls and beds. Necessary items for the clinics were in short supply, such as personal protective equipment (PPE), medication and pet-specialized first aid supplies.

“Especially we saw this in our clinic, where PPE, and that kind of stuff was all going to the hospitals, making sure that our hospitals had enough to take care of their human population, which is just as important,” Shuster said. “So we did have to slow some of our services that we offer to the community, which in our clinic is spay and neuter and vaccinations.”

Those services are running again now, but the supply chain shortage was difficult at the beginning. Utah Humane Society expects that to continue in the foreseeable future.

“There’s also things that we don’t receive as donations, like drugs that we use in our clinic. And we’ve seen supply shortages on those too, in some of these drugs. While there’s other options that we can use, there’s a big cost difference between some of them,” Shuster explained.

As coronavirus continues to wind down, there are still needs that can be filled by those living in Salt Lake County.

“Individuals can help by choosing to adopt pets from shelters or rescue groups,” said Martin, with Best Friends Animal Society Utah. “Other important ways to help are by fostering, choosing to spay/neuter pets, donating, volunteering and spreading the word about animal welfare needs.

Dreamscapes is the first sustainable art exhibition in Salt Lake City

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Story and images by LORNA GAGE

The “Moonman” by Jake Butjier guards the entrance of the exhibit and hints at a larger story created by RJ Walker and Fish Burton.

Immersive art has been sweeping the nation, as illustrated by the 2021 award-winning spaces Area 15 in Las Vegas and Prismajic in Denver. Within Salt Lake City, Dreamscapes serves as no better example.

Under the Utah Arts Alliance (UAA), Dreamscapes is Utah’s first permanent environmentally sustainable art exhibition.

After moving locations and rebuilding, Dreamscapes reopened its doors on Feb. 6, 2021, at the Gateway, 111 S. Rio Grande St. It is an immersive art attraction that utilizes a blend of physical and digital art, creating a unique experience for the observer as they wander through the labyrinth.

Suzanne Raia, the manager of Dreamscapes, described the exhibition as an opportunity for artists who were used to working in two-dimensional mediums to pull their work off the canvas. She said the goal was to create something that people could walk through, experience, and transport themselves in.

Greg Smith kisses the fish in the “Sunken Temple of Atlantis” by Ashley Brown (lead artist), Chelsea Harbert, Darren Gonzol, Tara Mlyenek, and Natalie Bird.

As visitors weave through the network of curiosities, mushrooms and reimagined woodland creatures, they are transported to the ultimate dreamland.

“I am of the mentality that everyone is an artist,” Raia said. “We all have opportunities to create new experiences, from the clothes we put on our back, to the words that come out of our mouth.”

Raia was connected to Dreamscapes through UAA. She said UAA is a nonprofit arts organization that has been around for 15 years. Its mission is to foster the arts in all forms to create an aware, empowered and connected community.

Dreamscapes was initially supposed to be a three-month pop-up in 2017. Raia jokingly said that it was constructed out of cardboard, hopes and dreams. But she said the installation was such a great model and attracted so many people to the Gateway, that Dreamscapes was able to establish a permanent presence and rebuild in 2021.  

Raia said while developing the concept of Dreamscapes, UAA reached out to its network. One of its biggest donors is the Salt Palace Convention Center. Its green initiative coordinator, Nick Zaccheo, saw the considerable waste generated by numerous temporary arts installations. Raia explained that Zaccheo collaborated with the UAA to create a green art exhibit.

Raia said this exhibition has met its sustainability goals by creating a niche way in which it creates art; it accepts as many donations and usable materials as possible.

Not only that, but Raia said the space is able to utilize projection mapping and digital art to make physical pieces come alive. This is a process in which multiple projectors reflect on a surface to enhance an art experience using light and movement over previously static objects.

Lorna Gage investigates a flower to see “Fairy Houses” by Derek Green.

As Ashley Brown, an assistant manager and creative lead at Dreamscapes, watched patrons filter in and out of the exhibit, she said, “I hope they see the way we take everyday items and turn them into something new. It doesn’t cost a million dollars to make cool art.”

Since 2017, Dreamscapes has been dedicated to diverting material away from the landfill for the purpose of creating new installations. In that time, it has helped the Salt Palace Convention Center divert over 50,000 pounds of event materials from going to a landfill.

It has also been able to reduce its carbon footprint by almost 180,000 pounds of carbon dioxide — which is equivalent to 200,000 car miles coming off Salt Lake City roads.

“We’re trying to save the world through art,” Brown said. “That’s really important to us. Hopefully they get that feeling when they’re leaving.”

While being the first environmentally sustainable art exhibition in Utah, Dreamscapes is constantly changing and creating new, interactive experiences for the observer. Bo Dean, a builder at Dreamscapes and member of UAA, said, “We have an ongoing joke that the space is never really finished.”

Dean added that in the process of reusing and upcycling materials, it’s important to free up areas in the exhibit for new artists.

A couch waits for guests in the “Flower Room,” decorated by Katia Racine (lead artist), Andrea Racine, Cami Chatterton, and Kezia Nakagawa.

This wouldn’t be possible without volunteers.

Kaycee Lane is the volunteer coordinator at Dreamscapes. Anyone can get involved through the Dreamscapes website.

Raia said many of the artists started out as volunteers and have created a collaborative atmosphere that inspires creativity.

Furthermore, volunteering leads to other opportunities, connections, and experiences. Raia said Dreamscapes volunteers get the unique opportunity to see and practice the ins and outs of production. This includes stage managing, working with performers, stocking greenrooms, painting, and working with an extensive range of materials. 

Volunteers were especially important in November, when people helped pack Dreamscapes to rebuild in a new location in 2022.

Dreamscapes began the process of packing on Nov. 14. Dreamscapes will be moving to an undecided location in 2022 and still needs help unpacking, reimagining and rebuilding the installation after the new year.

Brown, the assistant manager, said the future of Dreamscapes is to reconstruct the installation in a space that allows it to incorporate more immersive elements, to create a bigger network of artists and to work in tandem with the community. Brown invites the public to discover the secrets of the labyrinth as either a patron or as a volunteer. She said, “It’s a running joke that at the center of the dream universe is a candy covered core.”

Salt Lake City is determined to take charge of curbing homelessness: Who is putting in the work?

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Story and photos by PAIGE NELSON

As the weather warms up, tents are beginning to line the downtown streets of Salt Lake City.

Tents lining streets, garbage in flower beds, needles scattered across public parks. This is the picture that is painted in most individuals’ minds when thinking about homeless people. 

Stripping down any perception of a human living in these conditions, all the public sees is unshaven men sleeping on sidewalks and drug addicts pushing stolen shopping carts full of personal belongings. 

While this stigma surrounds low income Utahns, there is work happening behind the scenes actively trying to help individuals get off the streets and back into the community. 

Kat Kahn, director of development at The Road Home, has had ample experience helping the homeless population of Salt Lake City. 

“Our No. one goal is to move people out of emergency shelter and into housing as quick as possible,” Kahn said in a Zoom interview. “The majority of the people we serve stay under six months.”

The Road Home is one of the oldest homeless centers in Salt Lake City, established in 1923. It has grown to having three emergency shelters across the Salt Lake area, not including overflow shelters used during the winter. 

The Road Home stresses housing first. Each emergency shelter is tailored to the individual in need, and there are three options to choose from:

The Men’s Resource Center in South Salt Lake is located at 3380 S. 1000 West and houses 300 single men. 

In Midvale, another shelter is located at 529 W. 9th Ave.,where 300 beds are provided for families. 

Finally, the Gail Miller Resource Center is located at 242 W. Paramount Ave.and is a 200-bed split shelter for both men and women.

The public perception of the homeless community is one of the most challenging factors that Kahn deals with on a daily basis. Upward of 100 children facing homelessness at a time may have to jump through extra hoops to not feel the embarrassment that comes from lack of housing. School buses in Salt Lake City pick up the children at the shelters first on their way to school, and drop them off last so that their peers don’t see their living conditions. 

The Road Home helps families and individuals pay their first months’ rent so that they can get their feet under them and start providing for themselves again. Kahn explained, however, that for about 13% of homeless people that won’t work. Those who face disabilities, have substance abuse disorders, or who are chronically homeless might not make it out of the shelters in that six-month period. 

Homeless shelters in Salt Lake City work with each other, as well as apartment companies, food banks, and mental health facilities to create a healthy environment for those who come to seek help.

Volunteers of America, Utah, is a nonprofit that works with homeless shelters in the area, including The Road Home.

Andrew Johnston, chief strategy leader at Volunteers of America, said in a Zoom interview, “We’ve been doing street outreach for a number of years … there are a lot of folks who are outside all year round who don’t have housing, and we are just offering basic needs and services to them … and trying to get them housing.”

These basic needs are things like getting homeless people IDs so that they can get medical help and subsidized housing. Volunteers of America also helps people get into detox centers and off substances they might be abusing.

While lots of work is happening out in the city, there is another, smaller, community that is making great strides in helping people experiencing homelessness as well.

The basement of the student union at the University of Utah is in the process of building a new basic needs office to help students facing financial hardship and homelessness.

The University of Utah, home to 25,000 undergraduates, works daily to help find affordable housing for its students. The Student Affairs Division acts as an umbrella to multiple departments and centers on campus, including those focused on student diversity and inclusion.

Kimberly Hall, an associate director of development for Student Development and Inclusion, explained in a Zoom interview that the U helps students facing food scarcity and financial problems, and experiencing homelessness. 

“We want to take that concept and ideally help students learn to negotiate the university system as well as community resources to address their needs,” Hall said.

Student Affairs is creating a new office in the student union basement. It will be located next to the Feed U Pantry with the goal that more students will start to utilize the resources that they are paying for.  

The renovated area will be child friendly for parenting students, and will contain a financial wellness office to help with issues ranging from rent assistance to domestic violence situations. Because of its close proximity to the Feed U Pantry, students will also have access to food if they don’t have the money to cover that extra expense.

All across Salt Lake Valley the community is getting involved and making a difference in curbing homelessness.

Kat Kahn, director of development at the Road Home, is one of those individuals who is working hard every day to help people experiencing homelessness. Kahn believes that, “Anyone that wants to be housed should be able to be housed without it being really problematic.”

Maintaining the connection and sustaining the spirit on University of Utah Greek row in the midst of a global pandemic 

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Story by EMMA SELLERS

Dealing with COVID-19 has been no easy feat for institutions and organizations across the globe this past year, and each has experienced hectic changes, including college Greek life. University of Utah’s Greek life is doing its best to smoothly transition to the world of virtual living and social distancing. Though this “new normal” is not ideal, keeping the community alive and strong is a priority for all sororities and fraternities across campus. 

This year has been unlike any that the Office of Fraternity & Sorority Life has encountered before, and many challenges have arisen. The greatest being that all events are required to be virtual, and a large aspect of Greek life is having a connected community. It is hard to create a close-knit community when people never get an opportunity to see one another face to face. 

This challenge has been especially hard on freshmen. Any previous year attending the University of Utah and going through the recruitment process guarantees meeting new people and making new friends. Whereas this year, when the opportunity to hang out with the people in your fraternity or sorority is limited, it is much more difficult to bond. 

Alpha Phi President Katya Benedict enjoys a socially distanced 
and masked bid day event in September 2020. Photo courtesy of Katya Benedict.

Alpha Phi President Katya Benedict said in a Zoom interview that the Panhellenic Council was “worried about the number of women who would attend recruitment this year.” They believed that it would be a very scarce group of women. Yet, this year went better than they could have expected, and more women signed up for recruitment than in any past year at 550 compared to the usual 400.  

Yet, many questioned if joining Greek life and paying the dues was worth it this year, when in-person events were very limited. Matt Economos, the freshman vice president of programming for Sigma Phi Epsilon, said his decision to rush this year was worth it because he now has “a solid group of mentors and a support system to rely on.” 

Recruitment was fully virtual for both fraternities and sororities, according to the University of Utah Greek life homepage. Only very small and limited groups of people can meet together, and events need to be approved by the Panhellenic & Interfraternity Council offices. Although the houses of each chapter are not owned by the university, the members are still required to follow the rules of all students as if they were living in university-owned housing.

Though most events are required to be virtual, certain smaller events are allowed to be in person with many safety guidelines being established. Economos conducts small and safe events, such as pairing together older members with new members in masks and socially distanced. He wants each event to present an environment all parties feel safe in. Also, outdoor activities such as snowboarding and hikes can allow for active members to still engage with one another and remain healthy. 

Matt Economos stands with other members of the Sigma Phi Epsilon executive board as they participate in a philanthropy event. Photo courtesy of Matt Economos.

A big part of Greek life is the concept of traditions. Traditions that have been passed down for decades through each chapter. Benedict, the Alpha Phi president, expressed the difficulty this year because “many of the events are ritual based, so when members cannot be personally involved it feels less special.” 

Despite this difficulty, the executive boards of each chapter are putting in their best effort to keep all members engaged and excited. Benedict believes that “individually the community has stayed strong within each chapter,” but as a greater Greek community she feels they have lost strength. This year everyone was more focused on themselves and figuring out their own plans, rather than supporting all chapters’ endeavors. She believes next year the community as a whole will regain the strength they once possessed. 

Tracey Mai, Panhellenic vice president of membership, says her main responsibility is to “foster and build relationships between chapters and a good environment all around.” She said it is easier to hold certain events virtually, such as the alumni panel, because more people can attend. Yet, the greater challenge is encouraging active members to attend events virtually. 

A main reason that virtual events this year had a low attendance was due to communication and marketing. Mai said in a Zoom interview that she is “learning how important marketing is and taking that into account next year.” Oftentimes members don’t know what is going on until it is too late. 

Benedict said if she could go back and change anything about the past few months, she would “open a greater stream of communication between active members and executive members.” She believes every participant of Greek life deserves to know all the information regarding COVID-19 and be a part of the process of safety measures at every step of the way. 

One of the many images that is posted to encourage Greek life members to practice healthy COVID-19 precautions and safety measures. Photo courtesy of UofUsororities Instagram.

The Instagram pages of the different sororities and fraternities are one of the main forms of marketing that each chapter uses. Not only do they post about upcoming virtual events, they also are very informative about COVID-19 procedures. They each encourage wearing masks and social distancing, and even have “challenges” different weeks where members show on their Instagram page how they are being proactive in staying healthy with COVID-19 precautions. This might entail wearing masks along with wearing chapter letters and taking a photograph. 

Just as this virus has been extremely unpredictable these past months, so has planning for next year. Greek life executive boards have no idea what next fall will hold yet, but they are hoping for the chance to have more in-person events. Regardless, they plan to follow all city and state guidelines. If in-person activities are not possible though, they feel more prepared to better function next semester after having experienced this previous year. 

Greek life has experienced a year like no other, but has pushed through better than anyone had expected. Mai said the main goal continues to be “keeping up morale and safety within the community.”

Youth sports and a global pandemic

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Story by JACK DALTON

Sportsmanship, Perseverance, Optimism, Respect and Teamwork (S.P.O.R.T.) are the core values of the local Park City, Utah, nonprofit, Youth Sports Alliance (YSA).

Founded shortly after the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, YSA aims to get more kids in the Park City area involved in winter sports. YSA does this two ways, first by providing after-school programs to students in first through ninth grade in the Park City area. And secondly by providing direct scholarship funding through the YSA Stein Eriksen “Dare to Dream” Scholarship Fund to higher-level dedicated athletes (generally high school students), who simply cannot cover their own cost of tuition, training, or travel. 

Today, after-school programs remain at the core of what it does. Beginning in first grade, students can explore nearly 30 summer and winter sports on early release school days.

That program is YSA’s Get Out and Play program. According to the website, Get Out and Play introduces kids to as many sports and skills as possible. They can try everything from alpine skiing and snowboarding to speed skating or mountain biking and everything in between. They can also learn things such as basic camping skills. This program is offered up through fifth grade and is open to all elementary school students. 

Gracie Barre Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu has been added to the lineup of programs for April’s Get Out & Play and ACTiV8 Fridays. This six-week class is held at the studio. Photo courtesy of Heather Sims, YSA’s program director.

Once students hit middle school they can continue their Get Out and Play experience through ACTiV8. ACTiV8 was developed in direct collaboration with middle school students. According to the website, it provides unique experiences to develop eight of what YSA calls “lifestyle qualities”: Accountability, Confidence, Equality, Inspiration, Kindness, Leadership, Respect, and Versatility. ACTiV8 is available to students in sixth through ninth grade.  

The Stein Erikson “Dare to Dream” scholarship is the last big piece of YSA’s community involvement. According to the website, the fund is a need-based scholarship, provided to deserving athletes in any of YSA’s seven partner programs such as Park City Ski & Snowboard or Wasatch Freestyle. 

On an annual basis, YSA gives out thousands of scholarship dollars to hardworking young athletes in the community who would be unable to compete without funding support. Since 2014 this scholarship fund has brought in right around $2 million for athletes, according to YSA.

Just like every individual, every business, every corporation, COVID-19 hit nonprofits hard. YSA was no exception. The initial lockdown began in Utah on March 13, 2020. At that point, YSA was quickly forced to cancel and refund all of its after-school spring programs and it immediately started its COVID response planning, which YSA Executive Director Emily Fisher said “was just totally reactionary.” 

It also pretty quickly became apparent that most of the key annual events were not going to happen. Jans Winter Welcome, for example, YSA’s biggest annual fundraising event scheduled for fall 2020 was quickly canceled months in advance.

Of course, YSA was eventually able to get the Get Out and Play, and ACTiV8 programs going again sometime in mid-summer, with time and with new COVID safe protocols. And since then, Fisher said in a Zoom interview, those programs have been a massive success at getting kids back outside and active. Seeing their friends, getting in a healthy activity, and building a healthy lifestyle.

Raising scholarship dollars and hosting fundraising events proved to be a slightly bigger challenge, according to many within the organization.

This pandemic year has also resulted in more permanent changes for the organization. And while they were able to host their annual golf tournament over the summer, Jans Winter Welcome became a campaign of direct asks over nearly six months rather than a one-night gala. This campaign turned out to be highly successful for YSA as it raised more than $250,000 according to chief fundraising officer Jana Dalton.

So, what led to this successful campaign in an unpredictable, everchanging pandemic year? 

Unlike many other nonprofits or charities, YSA did not seemingly serve an immediate purpose in a pandemic year. It was seemingly, somewhat non-essential. There are plenty of nonprofits that helped with immediate relief, but YSA and organizations like it are the more unsung heroes of this past year. 

Thor Kallerud, a longtime donor/board member and new board president, said, “Most critically obviously is helping make sure people have food on the table and are healthy.” And in that sense, he said in a Zoom interview, “YSA is kind of the second tier behind essential nonprofits, serving a value to students in the community, by getting them outside, keeping them active, and helping them forget and hopefully improving mental health.” 

YSA has survived this pandemic year thanks in large part to the community around it. Thanks to loyal donors and generous sponsors YSA has a great reputation within Park City. And when it comes to the success of the organization, the proof is in the pudding. Over the last two decades, YSA has contributed heavily to the success of local winter sport/Olympic legends in the community such as Ted Ligety, Sage Kotsenburg, Billy Demong, and Steve Holcomb.

Local legend Ted Ligety with current PCSS athletes at Park City Mountain. And feel free to follow YSA on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. Photo courtesy of Heather Sims, YSA’s program director.

As YSA continues to grow and continues to support the youth of Park City after fighting through the past pandemic year and as it continues to instill each of its core values in amateur skiers and future Olympians alike, longtime donor and new board member Tom Litle said, “With YSA, there is an opportunity to just do more of the good stuff.” 

 

Community during COVID: How University of Utah student groups are staying connected

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Story by MIRANDA LAMB

Students at the University of Utah, much like the rest of the world, were sent home in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic forced classes and extracurriculars online. In the fall of 2020, students were partially brought back to campus with classes offered in a hybrid-style. This largely consisted of online teaching, and classes that were able to meet in person had spaced-out seating and mandated masks.

A return to in-person academics was made a priority, but the lack of in-person community was a persisting challenge. Campus organizations, which rely on student engagement, have worked hard to stay connected to undergraduates during the past year.

The Panhellenic community, made up of seven sororities, has found success in not only staying connected, but also in growing its community. The Panhellenic President Erin Doyle said in a Zoom interview that rather than decreasing their sisterhood events or weekly chapter meetings, sororities have worked hard to adapt these events to be online.

In August 2020, Panhellenic hosted its yearly recruitment completely virtually (although they were able to have a partially in-person bid day). Despite this unprecedented challenge, it had more women register than in 2019, and several houses saw the largest member classes that they had seen in years.

Part of Delta Gamma’s fall 2020 new member class at their bid day, wrapping up a fully-virtual recruitment. Photo courtesy of Anna Henderson.

In February 2021, several sororities participated in a successful spring recruitment. Notably, Doyle said Delta Gamma was able to welcome a spring member class of 15 women, the first spring member class that it’s had since 2015.

Members of the community miss being in person. However, Doyle said that through social media the “supportive aura of the community has been making everyone feeling more connected.” Doyle also praised the houses for their creativity. Rather than just meeting up in the park for a picnic, women have hosted virtual Jeopardy games and Zoom “speed dating” events for new members of the house to meet everyone.

The LGBT Resource Center is another resource that is “making sure there are still opportunities to be in community,” said Shelby Hearn, the coordinator of education and outreach, in a Zoom interview. Its members had to think more creatively. Similar to the Panhellenic community, one of its biggest challenges has been the loss of its in-person offices and its student lounge.

Hearn said that pre-pandemic, “my door was open and students could come through. I definitely saw a lot more casual conversations — they see a picture of a cat on my desk, and talk about that, then eventually are talking about a coming-out strategy.”

The center has responded to this challenge by offering drop-in hours, Zoom appointments, and a virtual student lounge hosted via Discord. Discord will likely continue as a resource post-pandemic, Hearn said. “It remains really relevant to our students. They can dip their toe into the community while still remaining anonymous.”

Discord also allows students to find a more a relevant community. “Students can sign up for more specific channels, i.e., queer students of color, or a channel just for grad students,” Hearn said.

Although the center has seen a decrease in participation in its one-time events like its movie screenings and panel events, it has still seen consistent participation in some of its other events like its “fab Friday” hangouts (now over Zoom). It has also seen an increase in its one-on-one scheduled meetings along with the successes from the Discord channel.

Another community that has seen successful connection despite the pandemic is the Bennion Center.  BobbiJo Kanter, the associate director of student programs, said in a Zoom interview that several of its programs have had more student involvement than they did pre-pandemic.

A wall in the student union building (where the Bennion Center is located) dedicated to the Public Service Professor Award given by the center. Photo by Miranda Lamb.

The service corner located in the new freshman residence hall, Kahlert Village, has been heavily used by students. She said in an email interview that “students (and anyone from the campus community) have the opportunity to participate in projects that do not require any previous training or a significant time commitment.”

Bryce Williams, the student programs manager at the Bennion Center, said in an email interview that students have taken advantage of “ʻgrab and go’ opportunities” while still being safe. He said that they will “participate in some of our projects while watching a movie in their residence hall rooms or while they’re in a virtual class to keep their hands busy.”

Kanter said in a Zoom interview the center has also involved more students with its Alternative Breaks programs. These used to be offered at various locations across the world. However, due to travel restrictions, it has shifted to “hyper-local breaks” taking place in Salt Lake City. These are offered at no cost, which has allowed them to be accessible to more students. Kanter said this option may remain post-pandemic.

Despite its current success, getting up and moving after the initial shutdown was a challenge for the Bennion Center. Kanter said at first, “everything stopped, there were groups of students who were ready to help, but didn’t know how to.”

The Bennion Center emphasizes serving its community partners, focusing on listening to and serving their needs. Kanter said for those partners, “their priority has to be their community and their staff, so those people take priority then volunteers come after that.” It took some adjustments on both the part of the Bennion Center and its partners to navigate how to allow volunteers to help in the way they want to, but also in a way that is safe for and serves those in need.

The center has had to shift the way that it hosts its larger service projects as well. For example, the Legacy of Lowell service project typically brings in 800 to 1,000 people. However, this year participation was capped closer to 200 people, with volunteers broken into groups of 10 at each site.

Kanter said because of the smaller sizes, “we don’t get that same sense of community. People were still interested, we reached capacity. There is a demand, but for safety, we have to keep things smaller.”

Beyond just pandemic-related changes, Kanter said that the murder of George Floyd and the surrounding protests in May 2020 “mobilized students to show up — whether physically or mentally and internally,” and brought attention to “some of our systemic issues.” She said “this year had brought people together around activism. I’m not really sure we saw that with our students before.”

To serve this increased interest in activism, Kanter said in interviews that every two weeks, the Bennion Center has been virtually hosting monthly “community conversations” with other on-campus partners, namely the American Indian Resource Center, the Black Cultural Center and the Peace and Conflict Studies program in the College of Humanities. They are focusing on dialogues about “about what is happening and what they can do to change it.” She said these talks have been received well by the campus community.

Dean McGovern, the executive director of the Bennion Center, said in an email interview that “the topics vary and sessions have attracted more than 825 faculty, students, staff, and community members over the course of the dialogue series.”

Despite the changes and challenges from the pandemic, these communities were able to stay connected. The creativity and resilience of their members even resulted in solutions that will continue to serve students when in-person life continues. As Kanter said, “This year gave us an opportunity.”

How COVID-19 has impacted Utah’s live music industry

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Story by SKY NELSON

You’re in a crowded room, bopping your head to the beat of the music as you weave your way through other dancing, sweaty bodies. Maybe you have a drink in your hand, and you are on your way to your friend’s table. Everyone around you is laughing and talking over the music, but all you care about is one of your favorite songs blasting through the speakers, being played live right in front of you.

You’re at a concert and you feel amazing as the energy around you surges through your veins. You feel the drums in your feet and the bass in your chest. You finally see your group of friends and make your way over to them, smiling as you exclaim, “What a fun night!”

George Kelly, founder of Keys on Main, during a live performance. Photo by Rita Mangum.

Except, you probably haven’t been to a concert in months. You are more likely to be in your pajamas right now, reading this from the comfort of your couch.

Since March 2020, the live music industry in Utah, as well as across the globe, has been struggling. Unlike other industries that keep the economy going, the live music industry’s hardships are unique because the product it’s selling isn’t a tangible thing, but rather an experience.

“Live performance puts an emphasis on people coming together and enjoying something that is spontaneous and is an experience and an event,” said Jordan Saucier, a Utah musician. He was speaking by Skype while he was driving to Elko, Nevada, with a colleague to do a paying gig.

Saucier is the definition of a working musician, meaning all of his income comes from performing live with his array of different bands he participates in, working in studio recording sessions, and teaching private guitar lessons.

Despite having a bachelor’s degree in commercial music from Snow College and a master’s in music technology from Southern Utah University, Saucier said his income took a hit “big time” when everything shut down March 14, 2020.

In 2019, Saucier was playing three to seven gigs a week, every week, totaling 135 performances. One of his groups — No Limits, a party band — traveled all around the country for paying gigs. He said the money he made from those live performances accounted for about two-thirds of his income that year.

Now, Saucier only performs locally once or twice a week, which is much better than how he was doing last spring. Because of the pandemic, all his gigs scheduled throughout 2020 got cancelled, and he didn’t get booked anywhere for over 10 weeks. Teaching guitar lessons brought in some money for him, but a lot of his students quit lessons during the first stages of the lockdown.

In one month, he lost an estimated $5,000 and calculated a loss of about $30,000 for the remainder of 2020. Saucier said he realized he needed to “diversify” his income in order to stay on his feet as a working musician. He was able to start his own business called Casino Entertainment Group in which he produces, manages, and books bands for casinos.

Keys on Main, a dueling piano bar franchise founded by local musician George Kelly, has seen hardships as well. Kelly’s two locations in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, have been completely shut down for a year. The Keys on Main in California was forced out of business in the spring of 2020.

Thanks to government assistance and the fact that Utah has been “looser” regarding COVID-19, as Kelly said, Keys on Main in Salt Lake City, 242 S. Main St., was able to re-open in May 2020. Due to the new capacity restrictions, sales went down about 30 percent, and the company had to hire more staff because it had lost 23 employees while Keys on Main was closed.

The Salt Lake City Keys on Main has reopened to patrons for live performances on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Photo by Rita Mangum.

The local dueling piano bar managed to stay afloat throughout the summer and into fall, but on Nov. 9, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert issued a mandate banning alcohol sales after 10 p.m. Keys on Main was able to get through those four weeks of the alcohol ban, but sales were down 50 percent, Kelly said.

This decline in sales isn’t just tough for the business, but for its musicians as well. One of Kelly’s friends, David Holloway, is in a popular Mardi Gras jazz band that played for high-paying, huge events before the pandemic. For Mardi Gras this year, the band performed in Salt Lake City’s Keys on Main for free because the musicians were itching to perform on stage and had no other gigs lined up, Kelly explained.

Of course, it’s not all about money. It’s about the music!

Excellence in The Community is a nonprofit organization that has been showcasing Utah musicians since 2005. “We’re trying to help Utah musicians, and we believe that by helping Utah musicians have better performance opportunities and more performance opportunities, and by having these concerts be offered to the public at no charge, we’re helping Utah communities,” said Jeff Whiteley, founder of Excellence in The Community and a musician himself. “The potential contribution of these fabulous musicians of all genres has generally been overlooked, so that’s where we come in.”

On a recent Friday night, Whiteley was at the Gallivan Center, 239 S. Main St., Salt Lake City, setting up for a livestream concert featuring the Xiné String Quartet. The performers and volunteering staff had their temperatures taken when they entered the building and then they filled out forms about COVID-19 symptoms. It showed the organization’s dedication to safety and health as it worked to put on a quality livestream performance.

A behind-the-scenes photo of Excellence in The Community producing a livestream featuring the Xiné String Quartet. Photo by Sky Nelson.

According to Whiteley, the organization has produced over 910 shows in total since it was founded in 2005. The Gallivan Center is the headquarters of Excellence in The Community and has hosted most of its concerts since 2006.

Before COVID-19, the nonprofit put on big band dance events every Tuesday night, where everyone could go to have a music and dance-filled night with their loved ones. Better yet, the local musicians got more exposure, a top-tier stage to perform on, and a regular paid gig to look forward to.

Excellence in The Community’s big band dance event. Photo by Lex Anderson, official photographer for Excellence in The Community.

Since March 2020, Excellence in The Community has had to adjust in order to continue helping local musicians. That support is needed even more now than it was before. Instead of cancelling concerts, Whiteley said the organization has doubled its shows and has put all efforts into producing livestream concerts.

The nonprofit produces a livestream concert every Wednesday and Saturday night, showcasing some of Utah’s best musicians in a variety of genres. Despite a huge loss of funding in spring 2020, the livestreams have proved to be a success. Since that March, the organization has reached over 7 million views in total, according to the website.

“Music is a spiritual experience. Music is a recharging experience,” Whiteley said. That’s why the volunteering staff with Excellence in The Community do what they do. Livestreams are a great way to keep local musicians in business during this pandemic, but they are not equal to live performances.

As musician Jordan Saucier said about live performances, “The musicians are reacting to each other, reacting to the audience, and the energy exchange between all these people is a unique thing at each event.”

An inside look at the University of Utah’s baseball program

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Story by DANNY BAEZA

Photos by BRAD LAPP

Everyone knows that being a student-athlete is extremely difficult. But, does anyone ever think to ask, “What goes into the day-to-day process of being a Division I baseball player?”

The University of Utah has an outstanding athletic department with nationally ranked teams such as football and gymnastics. However, other sports such as baseball seem to go unnoticed.

One such example is Utah baseball — another outstanding program belonging to the Pac-12 conference in the NCAA.

So, what does go into getting the ball moving on a day-to-day basis, and what does it take to be a baseball player?

“In the fall, it usually starts with a lift in the morning around 7 am. Then, I get some breakfast to refuel after the lift. Next up is class from 10 a.m. to1 pm. From class, I head over to practice which usually starts at 1:30 p.m. Once we finish up there at around 5 p.m., I head up to get some dinner, then head home to get done with all my homework and hopefully in bed by 11 p.m.,” says Justin Kelly, a redshirt junior on the pitching staff.

Justin Kelly gets set to deliver to home plate.

Kelly is the Friday night starter for the Utes, considered by many to be the leader of not only the pitching staff, but also the team itself.

When it comes to what it takes mentally, Christoper Rowan Jr., a redshirt junior on the team says, “It takes a mature mental approach because baseball is a game of failure and if you get down on yourself you can continue to spiral downward.”

Rowan enters his fourth year with the team listed as a catcher/utility player.

Concerning the academic aspect of being a student-athlete, Kelly notes, “If you can put forth the energy to be successful on the field, you’ve got to be putting that same energy in the classroom.”

First-year athletes are expected to complete two hours of study hall a week. Along with the study hall, players are given tutors when needed and are counseled by the athletic academic advisor.

Behind the scenes, Logan Nehls manages all the logistics of getting a Division I baseball program rolling. Recently, he was awarded the position of director of operations for the program after working as an equipment manager within the Utah Athletic Department.

“I’m responsible for a lot of the logistics of the program, whether it’s coordinating meals, buses, or travel accommodations,” Nehls says.

Nehls has had his hands full. As the season gets underway, he not only has to focus on how to travel, feed, and house 35 people, but also do it while juggling COVID-19 precautions.

Athletics come with a toll, especially in a sport as mechanical as baseball. Justin Kelly suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his freshman year, forcing him to sit out for 22 months. “I had never been through any sort of injury before, let alone something as serious as Tommy John Surgery. I leaned heavily on my teammates, friends, family, and training staff to keep my head in a good place while I was getting back to good health,” Kelly says. Tommy John Surgery being the process of repairing a torn ulnar collateral ligament in the elbow.

Christopher Rowan Jr. throws down to second.

Rowan, on the other hand, has had to go under the knife twice to repair an injured shoulder. “The second surgery crushed my spirit,” Rowan says. “I lost my love for the game for a while and if it wasn’t for my little brother pushing me and being there for me when I needed him I would have given up.”

Baseball is a game of failure. A player with a .300 batting average fails 7 out of 10 times, yet he is still considered an all-star. Managing those seven failures thus additionally makes baseball a mental game.

Rowan admits, “It’s inspiring to see little kids who want to be just like you. Kids who look up to you because you have made it this far.” That is what motivates him to keep pushing forward.

For Justin Kelly, his family motivates him. “I want to get to the point where my family is financially taken care of and I can say I’ve gotten to the point where I belong where I should be.”

Remembering to focus on what motivates them is what helps these athletes continue on, and to push through the demanding lifestyle of a student-athlete.

Not only is college baseball a difficult business, but it is another social outlet for these young men.

“I’ve created relationships that will last the rest of my life here. Some I may even consider family, that’s how close we have become,” Rowan says.

When it comes to relationships with coaches, Justin Kelly says, “I consider them sort of father figures where if I’m having any life issues or problems, I know they will take the time to listen to me and help me out the best they can.”

Kelly has advise for the next generation of ballplayers. “Don’t be discouraged when things don’t go your way, just put your head down and get back to work.”

Rowan says, “I would say that if you dream it you can achieve it. But, dreaming is only part of what needs to be done.”

Division I baseball is a difficult lifestyle, but when it comes down to it, it is nothing but young men playing a game they love.

Project Homeless Connect: COVID-19 changed its plans, but not its commitment

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Story and photos by JANE KREMER

Oct. 9: This would have been the day where service providers, volunteers, and the majority of those experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake County would meet at the Salt Palace for services to be rendered and received. But, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the plans.  

Project Homeless Connect, a nonprofit organization run by its committee and volunteers, holds a service event for those experiencing homelessness in Salt Lake County annually in the fall. 

According to the organization, among the most popular services provided by this event are medical, dental, vision, and haircuts. In 2019, 125 service providers and 900 volunteers aided over 1,000 people currently experiencing homelessness, with over 3,000 services provided. 

Project Homeless Connect’s fall 2019 service event at the Salt Palace in downtown Salt Lake City.

Mike Akerlow, executive director for Project Homeless Connect in Salt Lake City, started the organization here in 2017 after attending a panel discussing homelessness and PHC in other cities across the U.S. 

Akerlow, who worked for the mayor of Salt Lake City at the time, gained traction for PHC through resources and press coverage from the mayor and support from the community. 

The Salt Lake City Library and a Veterans Administration program, Project Stand Down, had held events similar to those previously conducted by PHC. As Akerlow assembled a team for PHC, he incorporated those programs into the event. 

After running the Salt Lake organization for three years, Akerlow said the organization has been able to improve each year by making its steering committee stronger and refining services provided to people experiencing homelessness. 

“Every year we look at how do we make this the best experience for everyone coming,” Akerlow said during a phone interview. “I think the point of it is to make sure people [experiencing homelessness] are getting connected to the right things.”

In 2020, however, Project Homeless Connect has had to change its events due to the health and safety restrictions of COVID-19. 

Originally, PHC planned to hold events every Friday in October at different homeless resource centers where service providers and volunteers would meet to aid the population. Then, with the surge in cases of COVID-19 in late September, the events fell through.

“Once cases started going up, some of our service providers also got a little bit nervous, so they decided to pull out,” Akerlow said. “And it made sense, we didn’t want to expose people who are experiencing homelessness.”

One of the biggest challenges for the committee this year was reducing the number of 900 committed volunteers down to 20 volunteers due to health and safety restrictions.

Volunteers, from left, Nate Kremer, Robyn Kremer, and Mandy Allen collect donations from community members at a donation drive in October 2020.

“People in our community want to help. I think there’s a lot of people out there who don’t have organizations that they already go to or belong to, and they’re looking for ways that are more meaningful than the traditional service opportunities,” Akerlow said. “And Project Homeless Connect provides that for a lot of people.”

Rethinking how PHC will continue to serve in 2020 and 2021 has been challenging with new information daily surrounding COVID-19. Committee member Natalie Clawson, one of the logistics coordinators for PHC, said the centers that the team planned to visit went the whole summer without a positive COVID-19 test result. 

But as the rise in numbers of COVID-19 in Salt Lake City became more prevalent, PHC had to postpone bringing the services to the centers. 

“The executive directors at all the centers totally understood why we needed to postpone the events,” Clawson said during a phone interview. 

Clawson, who’s been a part of PHC since the first year as a volunteer, said her job description this year is far different than a normal year. 

“At first it was very scary,” Clawson said. “But then as you dig into it, you’re like, you know what this is an opportunity to create and to get everything on its head and rethink what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.” 

Reinvention, as Nicole Handy, the other logistics coordinator for PHC, said, is what this year is all about. 

“As we know, nothing is easy about 2020,” Handy said in a phone interview.  

Handy said the committee knew it wanted to keep the same values and goals while delivering the services this population needs. 

“There is something really rewarding of going in and organizing this event that overall has a really positive outcome,” Handy said. “We are excited when we are able to get back into the centers to really bring some of those high priority [services] in.”

The Project Homeless Connect team held donation drives throughout October, accepting donations such as clothing, hygiene items, and pet care products. It also had a donation link on its website, and had an Amazon wish list that members of the community donated to. 

Bags of donations waiting to be distributed to homeless resource centers across Salt Lake County.

For spring of 2021, PHC plans to return to the original idea of visiting the homeless resource centers weekly to provide services, meals, and donations. Members of the community can learn more about volunteer opportunities for PHC in 2021 and sign up through the website.

The committee for Project Homeless Connect, according to its website, has committed to the idea that “COVID-19 has changed the plan but not our commitment to serving our homeless friends.” 

As Mike Akerlow, executive director for PHC in Salt Lake County, said about the first year, “We did it, somehow we did it.” Little did he know, the very same thing could be said about Project Homeless Connect in 2020 and 2021. 

Nonprofit organization, Holding Out Help, saving lives and providing hope

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By BRYNNA MAXWELL

Holding Out Help (HOH) is an organization that has made it its mission to save girls and women from the dangers of polygamous communities. Through a small staff and dedicated volunteer support, HOH provides the care and resources needed for victims to be able to live on their own and become independent.

Cindy Metcalf, director of development and marketing as well as project manager at HOH, said, “We want to make sure they’re safe. We want to make sure they’re mentally stable, that they are getting the best care possible.” A safe environment full of love and protection is new to the women who have escaped polygamous situations. 

A client is participating in a craft session. Photo courtesy of Holding Out Help.

“Polygamy has the greatest sexual abuse statistic in the state,” Metcalf said. “It has a sex abuse rate of 75%.” Metcalf tells of cases where fathers, uncles, and brothers have abused the girls in the family from as young as 4 years old. Boys are sent away to work camps because of their “sinful behavior” where they are physically abused through beatings. 

According to Metcalf and other sources, the abuse does not stop there. When a child misbehaves, they are withheld proper necessities such as food and water and medical care. Child labor is also commonly found where young children are forced to work long hours. They are often required to operate heavy machinery and work in mines without proper protection. 

Metcalf said she has been helping these people since Holding Out Help started. “The girls are like little moms … you typically see a 9 year-old girl being forced to take care of three little ones (children).”

An escapee from a polygamous community who asked to remain anonymous said in a video interview, “The rest of the world will never be able to understand what it is like to be in a place like that.” Holding back tears she described what life was like in three words, “It was prison.”

Holding Out Help offers a safe space for women and children to be their true selves. Photo courtesy of Holding Out Help.

All this abuse is difficult to overcome but Holding Out Help has been a stepping stone for the healing process. The organization not only provides shelter for the women who have escaped, but it also offers resources to help them get back on their feet. These include necessities like clothing, healthcare, and food. Case managers provide counseling, help them get enrolled in school, and coach them to set goals.

The source who escaped polygamy said she smiled when she first walked into HOH. “I realized this was the first moment since we came out that things might be OK,” she said.

Intern Emma Harter has worked for HOH for three years. Photo courtesy of Harter.

Intern Emma Harter has a soft spot for stories like these and the women who come through the organization’s doors. She is now passionately working at Holding Out Help after hearing about it through her high school where she met some of the clients.

“There were multiple people taking classes at my school who had come out of polygamy,” Harter said. “One in particular shared with me her life story and I just had a huge heart for her and being able to see her grow.”

Now, Harter is entering her third year with the nonprofit organization and is changing people’s lives left and right. She is a case manager, specifically over the new residential complex center that was built in 2020.

Her job is simple, meet with clients — women who have escaped polygamy — and help them figure out what they want to do in life. 

“I help establish what their goals are, initially. What they want to see growth in, where they want to move forward in life,” Harter said.

Cindy Metcalf, pictured on the left in the back row, and Emma Harter, in the middle of the back row, smiling for a staff photo. Photo courtesy of Harter. Below, a client selects some new items from a recent school supply drive and a child holds a new backpack. Photo courtesy of Holding Out Help.

These goals range from physical fitness and academics to having successful careers. She then helps them through HOH to take small steps toward achieving those goals. 

Holding Out Help has made such a difference that it is becoming more and more popular among victims seeking refuge. So much so that HOH has needed to nearly double the amount of staff members in 2020.

Because of the rapid growth, the organization’s resources are strained. “We are constantly in need of host homes, mentors, partners, and any other resources,” Harter said. “Especially with COVID, we have experienced more need than ever.”

Cindy Metcalf, the director of development and marketing, said the biggest needs right now are donations. These could be but are not limited to food, clothing, and cash donations. 

Host homes are also always needed. Most girls and women need a family to take them in short term to help them get back on their feet and smoothly transition into society. 

Other ways to get involved are through volunteering or becoming a mentor to one or more of the victims. 

Metcalf said Holding out Help’s goal right now is to be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Volunteering could be a tremendous help to that. 

There are many ways to sign up and join the Holding out Help community. Its website is a great tool to not only register as a volunteer or to donate, but also to learn more about the organization and its mission.

Harter said, “If you could offer any sort of service, reach out.”

How three Salt Lake City women are fighting modern day gender inequalities with their social media platform, Fluence

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Story by KATYA BENEDICT

A Salt Lake City-based company is combating gender inequalities with empowering social media posts. Nicole Wawro, Alba Fonseca, and Sinclaire Pierce are the three women behind the social media platform known as Fluence. 

In a technologically driven world, Fluence is discovering innovative approaches for practical solutions geared toward women.

The idea of women being at a disadvantage in society is a concept that many consider to be antiquated. But for Wawro, Fonseca, and Pierce, this was one of their founding principles — to educate and advocate for women who always felt as though they were falling behind, but couldn’t figure out why. So, after sitting down together and coming to the same realization, they decided to start a company designed specifically for women. 

Nicole Wawro sits in the Fluence podcast studio. Photo courtesy of Fluence.

The three shared similar experiences of gender-based workplace discrimination. This was a huge factor in what drove them into their research. “They fired all the women in my firm who were eligible to take maternity leave because they didn’t want to pay it out,” Wawro said in a FaceTime interview. This was what ignited her desire to stand up for women in the workplace. 

Fonseca shared instances in which she would bring up good ideas that were instantly dismissed. In later meetings a man would bring up the same idea and it would be labeled as “genius” and “perfect.” 

Pierce had always struggled with being interrupted, and it wasn’t until their research was conducted that she realized maybe there was a gender piece to it. “I always thought people interrupted because they were mean, not because the person talking was a woman,” Pierce said in a FaceTime interview. 

These new realizations led to a shared understanding — that until they made people recognize there is a problem, they couldn’t begin to solve it.

The company experienced immediate growth, quickly gaining the attention of thousands of people. “Part of it was timing, and part of it was strategic,” Pierce said. “We saw an opportunity with TikTok and we jumped on it.” They attribute a large majority of the growth to the fact that the stories they were sharing resonated with so many women, and TikTok was becoming an incredibly popular app for young women.

Fluence’s TikTok account has more than 308,000 followers.

The inequalities women face tend to remain swept under the rug, and for Fluence this seemed controversial. The entire purpose of the brand is to achieve more influence and affluence for women, which is why these inequalities are publicly recognized. “We believe that when women have more influence the world becomes a better place,” Wawro said.

Upon obtaining more recognition, Fluence received an overwhelming amount of responses from women who didn’t even understand that these were real issues. And since they didn’t understand they were real issues, they didn’t understand there were real solutions. 

Emma Watson, the actor and feminist advocate, said in her 2014 speech to the United Nations that what many young women fail to realize is that they are living in a society that for hundreds of years has been working against them.

This ideology has become a huge focal point for Fluence. “A lot of people don’t even know where to find information. Being a platform that challenges a perspective to see things differently is something so powerful,” Fonseca said.

The company produces content across Instagram, TikTok, and even music streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. A recent video addressed a hand signal used to signify domestic violence in the home.

A main goal of the company is to create refreshing and accessible content that can reach a diverse group of people. Its success is based upon how many people Fluence is able to reach in terms of followers and views.

“Our audience is global — the U.S., Canada, Germany, the UK, Australia,” Pierce said when asked about its demographic. It strives to appeal and market itself toward young women. “If you can catch a 13-year-old before she experiences these horrible things … before she decides, ‘I’m not going into STEM’ — that’s so powerful,” Pierce said.

Fluence targets high school women, educating them on topics such as building confidence and fighting the stigma. From lower left: Katya Benedict, Isela Ayala, Jackie Helbert, and Karen Bruce.

Ultimately, the goal for this company is to change the world, and these three founders believe it has the power to do so. When women are lifted, when women become more active in their homes, communities, and businesses, the result is better for everyone, Pierce said. 

Alba Fonseca wears the Women’s Empowerment Pullover, which features the names Harriet Tubman, Maya Angelou, Serena Williams, and Aretha Franklin. Photo courtesy of Fluence.

Fluence understands that to reach a global market, it has to keep in mind how differently women live in different parts of the globe. But the first step begins with education in order to help women feel more independent, valuable, and capable, no matter their situation.

“I want to empower women to do something about these issues. I want to enable them with very specific tools and resources and practical solutions to then make changes,” Pierce said. Fluence is a community, and the more people it is able to reach, the stronger this community can become. 

Alba Fonseca, left, and Sinclaire Pierce working behind the scenes for a TikTok video. Photo courtesy of Nicole Wawro.

The company does not define itself as the stereotypical feminists people most often picture. The image the owners want to portray does not include feelings of anger or distaste, but rather optimism. The brand intends to be fun, sarcastic, and lighthearted but based on high quality information.

“This company helps people feel validated and understood,” Fonseca said. Fluence centers around being a positive light for women everywhere, no matter what inequalities they might have experienced. So whether it be an informative Instagram story based on well-detailed research, or a goofy TikTok video mocking sexism in the workplace, Fluence is changing the lives of women everywhere.

Bears Ears under threat of destruction after drastic reduction in size

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Story and gallery by TANNER FAUST

After President Trump cut the size of Bears Ears National Monument by nearly 1 million acres, activists feared that was the beginning of the end for protected land in Utah. The monument’s size has been reduced from 1.35 million acres to 200,000 acres.

“This reduction in size poses a great threat to the native population and artifacts in the area. These are sacred lands and should not be tampered with,” said Ashley Soltysiak, the director of the Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club, in a phone interview.

The monument contains many ancient artifacts that the Native American population holds sacred. Moon House is one such artifact. It is a cliff dwelling that has been with the native population for nearly 1,000 years. The reduction to the monument put Moon House and other ancient artifacts at risk.

When President Obama expanded the land of Bears Ears in 2016, he did so with the ancient artifacts in mind. An official press release from the White House stated, “The area’s cultural importance to Native American tribes continues to this day. As they have for generations, these tribes and their members come here for ceremonies and to visit sacred sites.” 

Soltysiak said, “It feels as though this was an attempt by the Trump administration to undo as much of the former president’s work as possible.” The reduction favors economic interests over the interests of ancient artifacts and sites. 

The Utah Chapter of the Sierra Club also runs campaigns aimed at protecting these ancient artifacts. One, “keep public lands in public hands,” is directed toward stopping the increasing cuts to Utah’s public lands. The campaign runs on the basis of keeping our American history safe. 

The new bill, created by President Trump, signed also by Utah Congressman John Curtis, and Utah representatives Rob Bishop, Chris Stewart and Mia Love, would reduce the size of the monument by 85%. It would create a new monument at the same time out of the remaining land. 

The new monument, named Shash Jáa National Monument, would be created out of the remaining land in Bears Ears. The bill would open the land to three new opportunities. 

Mining, geothermic leasing, and the sale of Bears Ears would be allowed by the Utah legislature. The economic expansion of this land would allow for more industrial activities to be carried out in the national monument.

Mining sites across the world have all seen similar beginnings. Sites like Tanami mine, located in Tanami, Australia, were created on land that was once protected by the government. The Tanami mine has since led to numerous environmental problems, such as cave-ins that threaten the lives of the native population working at the mine.

Another similar event happened in the Four Corners National Park. The land was taken away from the National Park to create more power plants to supply the area with power. 

Like the Bears Ears National Monument, the Four Corners National Park was opened up to industrial activity. The Natural Resources Defense Council says this was in an attempt to solve the energy demands of the area. As the Four Corners area grew, its demands for energy became overwhelming.

This affected the native population of Navajo people. The largest effect was on local residents like Daniel Tso, a Navajo activist. Tso said, “The plants were giving off dangerous chemicals all the time. While we lived around it we were all breathing in those chemicals every day,” he said in a phone interview.

Native people all over the world have experienced a similar phenomenon. Government land grabs not only threaten the environment but the people living in the area as well. The Yanacocha mine in Lima, Peru, has an abundance of native protestors outside of its perimeter. They struggle to find the footing to overpower these industrial titans and take claim to their ancient land.

In many places around the world, industrial activities are the epicenter for conflict. Another example is the Tarkwa mine in Ghana, Africa. In 2018 the mine saw a hostile takeover as the native population violently fought to take the land back.

The controversy in Bears Ears has environmental groups worried. Like many places around the world, Bears Ears is under threat of losing important land and artifacts. The area means so much to native populations who have a rich history and priceless relics.

The white is the original size of Bears Ears National Monument when it was created in 2016. The black shows what will be left of it after the reductions. The lost land accounts for 1.1 million acres.
This is a cyanide processing plant in Peru. It is used to extract gold ore from rocks. This is part of a mine that spans over 500 square miles on land that was once protected.
Local activists in Salt Lake City protesting the city council’s lack of action on climate change. Bears Ears National Monument is one such case where the government chose economics over environment.
This image shows a reclamation spot in the Yanacocha mine in Peru. The striations in the mountain are from artificial rebuilding. The simple black tarp is to help prevent chemicals from leeching into the groundwater.
Tanami mine in Australia started as a small underground mine. It quickly evolved into one of the largest open pit mines in the country.
The state capitol in Salt Lake City where the house bill was signed to reduce Bears Ears National Monument by nearly 85%.
At the Tarkwa mine in Ghana, plants must be genetically modified to allow them the ability to grow in soil saturated with copper. Nurseries such as the one shown here are used to create the first generation of plants.
This reclaimed land in Peru can be seen in the mountain in the distance. The blue color is a special tarp the mine puts over the mountain to help vegetation grow in the harsh chemical conditions.

 

 

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Students in the University of Utah’s Greek life 

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 Story and photos by TAYLOR SCOTT

Many people have it engrained in their mind that Greek life creates a distraction from academics. However, the Greek system at the University of Utah provides an opportunity for students to become more involved in academics and the community. Since 1909, students involved in Greek life have proven to achieve better grades and earn positions as leaders among campus organizations and clubs.

The first Greek chapter was created shortly after the University of Utah was founded in 1909. Since then, there have been 11 fraternity chapters and seven sorority chapters established on campus. Throughout past years, some people have viewed Greek life as a way for students to become distracted from academics.

While this may be the case for some students, the U’s Greek chapters have proven otherwise.

The Greek system is one of the smaller Greek organizations in the country holding 1,600 active members. With that being said, students are able to join an immediate community of students in the early stages of their college career.

Ryan Miller, assistant director of Fraternity and Sorority Life, said, “While Utah has around 30,000 students, you are joining an organization of approximately 1600 – so it brings the large campus to a more intimate space.”

Students are able to connect with the sorority and fraternity chapters to choose their top house. All the chapters on campus have their own common areas of study for students to build relationships with scholars of the same interest.

Statistics have proven that students are more successful when they are a part of such groups. “You have a more direct group watching over you, similar to athletics. Instead of having a coach watch over you, you now have your peers watching you and guiding you through the proper steps,” said Walker Nasser, president of the Interfraternity Council at the U.

Enrolling into a Division 1 university with around 25,000 students can be overwhelming for students coming directly out of high school. Students are able to build relationships both academically and socially by enrolling in Greek life. Ronnie Kaye, from Sigma Phi Epsilon, said, “Joining a house is the best thing I could have ever done. I was able to meet a ton of students who share the same interests in academics and outside of school.”

With the help of your fraternity/sorority, students are able to sync up with friends of the same major and share resources with one another. “Grades do typically go up; the average Greek GPA is 3.7 which is just above the campus average,” Nasser said.

The Greek system on campus provides many different outlets for students to become involved with the community. According to Miller, “Most of the time the Associated Students of the University of Utah president and vice president are Greek as well as student alumni boards, the Mighty Utah Student Section, and Latter-day Saint Student Association.”

Each of the 18 groups at the U have their own nonprofit organization they support every year. Students work together as a community to raise funds for their chapter’s philanthropy.

“I would look at everyone’s philanthropy as great. Beta, for example, does a lot of work with the Rape Recovery Center,” Nasser said. “Phi Delt does a lot of work with Alzheimer’s and all of their projects, Sig Chi is the leading chapter for the Huntsman Cancer Institute.”

Each chapter is able to make students aware of issues in the community and allow students from all over campus to help make a change.

Greek students are given many resources guiding them to potential job opportunities throughout the world. Students currently enrolled at the U have access to a plethora of different scholarship opportunities and connections for those eager to enter the business world. “A lot of the alums stay around the Salt Lake Valley, so if you are looking for jobs most likely there will be some connection to the fraternity and sorority community,” Miller said.

Not only does the U provide current Greek students with these benefits, there are also many alumni associations that can extend your connections worldwide after college. The creation of clubs and academic resources throughout the Fraternity and Sorority chapters has allowed students to become involved within the university and gain the resources to be successful. The relationships that are built with your brothers and sisters will continue on after college allowing you access to an endless amount of connections.

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How being involved in college can help shape one’s leadership journey and future outlooks 

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Story and photos by GWEN TRAPP

With over 600 student organizations at the University of Utah, there’s something for everyone to become a part of.

From the Union Programing Council (UPC) to the Prose and Poetry Writing club, involvement on campus allows students to find their own sense of community within the hustle and bustle of college life.

Not only does being involved make the U feel smaller, but it also can help students to discover the passions and future outlooks that they didn’t know they had.

“FAB (Freshman Ambassador Board) was my favorite leadership experience to this day by far,” said Austin Matsuura, the executive director of UPC. “I always wanted to have that leadership journey, to teach people certain skills to succeed.”

Matsuura was the director of FAB within UPC his junior year of college. He worked closely with a group of around 40 first-year students, teaching them the essential skills to become campus leaders. By mentoring first-year students and inspiring them to achieve, Matsuura was able to discover his passion and future goals.

“I found that organizing in a business setting is something that I really enjoy,” he said. “It’s where I belong.” By becoming involved within UPC, Matsuura ended up changing his major from kinesiology to business management. Instead of becoming a physician’s assistant, he now plans to one day become a small-business owner.

“Being involved on campus completely changed my outlook of what I’m good at and what I like to do,” Matsuura said.

From working with first-year students to finding one’s true passion and goals, it’s important to note that not all leadership journeys are exactly the same.

Current Student Body President Anna Barnes plays a crucial role in ensuring that student voices are heard through the Associated Students of the University of Utah (ASUU). She and her team promote involvement, advocacy and student wellness via the different types of positive programming and outreach. With this being said, there are many benefits to being involved.

But there can also be unexpected challenges in one’s leadership journey.

“One [challenge] that really stands out is when we got news that a University of Utah student, Mackenzie Lueck, was murdered,” Barnes said. Even though this tragedy took place off campus, she struggled with knowing exactly how to console students. “I remember having to prepare a statement at her vigil to read,” she said with emotion. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever experienced.”

Despite the challenges Barnes has recently had to face, she has found that her leadership position has helped her to see what she wants to pursue in the future. “Before coming into this, I had a pretty good idea for what I wanted to do, but I didn’t realize I had a real desire to focus on policy and the legislative process.”

Barnes plans to continue to go into law, but from finding new passions in ASUU this year, she hopes to become involved specifically with policy as a potential future leader in a think tank.

Luckily, the benefits of being involved don’t stop there. Through volunteerism at the Bennion Center as both an undergraduate and graduate student, Bryce Williams, a U alumnus, shows that being involved can lead students to their future professions.

“This January will mark my fifth year working here,” Williams said.

Williams attended the U as a first-year student in 2005, where he began his leadership journey with the Bennion Center. He got involved with it through the Salt Lake Peer Court program that was originally affiliated with the Bennion Center at the time.

Williams was highly involved on campus throughout his undergraduate career. From ASUU to becoming a residential advisor, he ended up staying a total of six years as an undergraduate before making the decision to go to the U’s graduate school.

Throughout his graduate career, Williams continued to stay involved with the Bennion Center by becoming an Alternative Break staff partner. He mentored students who planned community experiences for U students to participate in during school breaks.

After a year and a half into his career and volunteering as a staff partner with Alternative Breaks, Williams met with Dean McGovern, the executive director of the Bennion Center. He offered Williams its newest position as the student program manager.

In this role, Williams is responsible for supporting and advising programs and the student leaders who run them.

“I do think it helped to have been a part of the Bennion Center because they [McGovern] were specifically looking for someone who was a former student leader and an alumnus from the Bennion Center,” he said.

Williams still works as the student program manager today, but plans to continue working and growing in higher education as well as getting involved with other student leadership opportunities.

Wanting to get involved on campus? From becoming the student body president to working for the Bennion Center, there are multiple organizations at the U that can help you get started on your own leadership journey.

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The Writing Center at the University of Utah

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Story and photos by HAILEY DANIELSON

Photo by Hailey Danielson 2019 | One of the Writing Center offices.
Photo by Hailey Danielson 2019 | The office of Anne McMurtrey.
Photo by Hailey Danielson 2019 | Screen grab of the Writing Center’s undergraduate services website.
Photo by Hailey Danielson 2019 | Screen grab of the Writing Center’s mission statement.
Photo by Hailey Danielson 2019 | Desks in the Writing Center.
Photo by Hailey Danielson 2019 | The Writing Center main lobby.
Photo by Hailey Danielson 2019 | Inspirational poster in the Writing Center.
Photo by Hailey Danielson 2019 | The Writing Center schedule.

The world is filled with words. Every second of every day is filled with reading, writing, and speaking. But writing is one of the most complicated and demanding assignments at a college or university. Writing, especially college writing, requires a certain skill set. Each class, each professor, each assignment has different formats, rules, and guidelines. It can be tricky for students to meet all the criteria for all sorts of writing, not only adequately but skillfully. 

Many students need help with their writing, no matter their major or area of study. Students often work through these problems alone, because many have no idea the resources that schools like the University of Utah have to offer.

Photo by Hailey Danielson 2019 | Screen grab of the results for the University Writing Center.

Tucked on the second floor of the Marriot Library, across from the Protospace office, and just above the Gould Auditorium, is the Writing Center. In the 2018-19 school year, 7,200 appointments were made at the Writing Center, and 95% of the students who visited were satisfied or highly satisfied with their experience at the Writing Center. But if it’s so helpful, why did only 7,200 people visit out of the 24,743 undergraduates enrolled in the University? That’s only 29% of the student body.

Audrey Guo, a sophomore at the university, believes that the Writing Center’s unpopularity is due to the fact that “most people don’t know it even exists.” She said that the Writing Center on campus just slips the students’ minds.

But is that the only reason why the Writing Center is visited by just a fraction of students? Mary Muench, a second-year math major at the U, explained that she had heard of the Writing Center on one of her very first tours of the campus, but admits, “I don’t know enough about it. And I don’t even know how to make an appointment.”

Muench was intimidated by the Writing Center as a freshman, sharing how scared she was as a first-year student talking to new people, so she never went.

If current students believe that there isn’t enough information out there, what can the Writing Center do about it? Abbey Christensen, a tutor and student coordinator at the Writing Center, said there’s no consistent form of communication that all students receive, which makes advertising for the Writing Center difficult. 

Photo by Hailey Danielson 2019 | Front desk of the University Writing Center.

Currently, the Writing Center has posters in the writing and rhetoric departments, but Christensen admits those posters only reach a certain population. But she explained that some of the best ways that the Center is promoted are through word of mouth. When a student comes into the Writing Center to get some guidance and has a beneficial experience, the student will tell their friends about the Writing Center, and then their friends will visit. Christensen said these conversations are the best type of promotion for the Center.

Anne McMurtrey, the director of the Writing Center, agreed with much of what Christensen said, but also added that the Center is on the orientation tours. And she does her best to represent the University Writing Center in classroom visits and tabling events. She said the Center even uses social media, news stories, and podcasts to spread the word.

So the word is being spread, perhaps slowly, by word of mouth, or through orientation tours or social media. But even if people are catching wind of these promotions, and are aware that the U has a Writing Center, what do they think the Writing Center does?

Guo believes the Center “allows students who want some improvement on papers or other written things to get the advice that they need.”

But when asked, Muench answered, “I don’t even know.” She said that maybe she would visit the Center to work on a resume, but is unsure if the tutors can even help with that sort of thing.

To clarify, McMurtrey said, “The Writing Center can help with so many things! Our tutors can help writers brainstorm ideas, understand their assignments’ needs, focus their arguments, support their points using proper evidence, organize their ideas, and polish their final drafts.” She added that the Center can also help students with procrastination and self-confidence as well.

Christensen said that “it would be helpful to have more students realize that we have a diverse range of tutor experiences and we’re not just English people,” and tutors can assist all students from across disciplines.

McMurtrey believes that students don’t visit the Center because some “may think they are better writers than our tutors. Some might be embarrassed to share their writing out of fear that it isn’t very good. Some may have crazy schedules, and they simply can’t make it in.”

McMurtrey said, “The UWC welcomes all currently-enrolled University of Utah students and offers free, one-to-one consultations in person and online.”

Both McMurtrey and Christensen strongly advocate for the Writing Center. They believe that everyone should come in for any written work they need help with and hope that students are aware of how the Writing Center can assist them. 

Photo by Hailey Danielson 2019 | Screen grab of the Writing Center About Us Page

Christensen wants students to know that it “doesn’t matter what you’re bringing to the table in terms of writing level or ability.” The Writing Center can help with all of it, and it’s a free service. She explained how people don’t realize how relaxed the Writing Center is, and maybe if students could recognize that, they might find the Center a lot more inviting. Knowing about the relaxed environment would help many students, like Mary Muench, who found the Writing Center scary and intimidating when she was a freshman at the University of Utah.

McMurtrey described the Writing Center as “the best place on campus, hands down!” She is proud of the fact that the Center attracts good people who just want to help others succeed. 

“The Writing Center’s energy is positive and diverse, with tutors and students from a variety of disciplinary, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds,” McMurtrey said.

To add to the warm, positive, and inviting air of the Writing Center, she added excitedly, “I often bring in baked goods!” 

At the end of the interview, Mary Muench was asked if she would ever see herself visiting the Writing Center in the future. “Personally, probably not,” she said. “But it’s possible.”

It’s possible.

And it’s that possibility that makes McMurtrey excited: “I just want to encourage students to give us a try. Our tutors are highly trained and nonjudgmental.”

It’s On Us and rape culture on college campuses

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Story by ALLISON COREY

After eight years of gathering data regarding sexual violence on college campuses, the Obama administration implemented It’s On Us. The organization has now reached nearly 1,000 universities and strives to rectify the country’s rape culture.

When It’s On Us came to the University of Utah, it was run by the student government. In July 2018, Christina Bargelt, 22, became acting president of It’s On Us. “I’m a survivor, and my goal is really just to help fix the things that are fixable,” Bargelt said in a phone interview. “I deserve better and so do other survivors.” Using this objective to fuel her, Bargelt has already made strides to prevent and help victims of sexual violence.

After her third and most brutal assault involving a member of the U’s Greek community, Bargelt said that it was time for her to make a change. An investigation that took longer to occur than she was initially told yielded a heartbreaking result: insufficient evidence. She then pursued a hearing that, yet again, took place almost three months late and had reached the same consensus. Bargelt took every necessary plan of action: she got a rape kit done, hired a lawyer, and had multiple other women testify on her behalf.

Despite her best efforts, Bargelt was defeated by the system. She joined part of the 33 percent of people who become suicidal within a month of their assault, and that feeling heightened when she knew that no legal action could be taken. Bargelt then decided to turn the most traumatic experience of her life into a positive one for others. “It made me lose faith and hope in this institution,” Bargelt said. “I could either wallow in self pity and hate this university, or I could take these things and grow from them so I could improve the lives of other survivors.”

Bargelt has completely transformed It’s On Us at the U. She has worked tirelessly to create relations with university administrators and many resources for victims of sexual violence. She said she forged good relationships with many of the people who helped her aftermath her assault. The Office of Equal Opportunity & Affirmative Action, the Women’s Resource Center, and other organizations have since paired up with It’s On Us. The most helpful resources for Bargelt after the assault, Victim/Survivor advocates, are now the organization’s main allies. She said, “I would not be the advocate I am today without them,” because they are an objective source that provides survivors with options. She has helped the OEO create a more transparent system, and personally speaks to roughly five new survivors each week.

Another issue with rape culture on college campuses is the discrepancy between male and female survivors. Men are often taught not to rape, and are rarely informed on resources or steps to take if they themselves are the victim. Bargelt has specifically gone to every sorority and fraternity in the U’s Greek system, and has given the exact same information about It’s On Us and rape recovery regardless of her audience’s genders. She said one of her goals as president is to destigmatize the notions surrounding male survivors.

In her mission to keep everyone, especially those involved in Greek life, informed, Bargelt gave presentations at each fraternity’s house. Ty Monroe, 19, was an avid listener when she visited his fraternity. Monroe left the Phi Delta Theta house that night with a whole new perspective. He said, “She really touched base on the fact that assaults are not specific to either males or females, it happens to both.” For some men, Bargelt’s presentations encouraged survivors to come forward. For many others, such as Monroe, the presentations offered a new viewpoint and increased acceptance for male survivors.

It is true that not as many men have experienced sexual violence as women, but that does not mean men are any less deserving of advocates. Many men are not believed or recognized once they come forward after an assault on them, and our country’s rape culture often perpetuates these notions and ostracizes male survivors.

Paul Eicker, 20, is a sophomore at the U who was raped by a girl during the fall of 2018. He said he did not press charges or seek investigation into his perpetrator because he immediately thought he would be looked down upon, called a liar, and lose support of friends and family. The fear of coming forward after an act of sexual violence is present in many survivors, but more so in men. “It took me about a month before I told anyone,” Eicker said. “People told me that I was making a big deal about nothing, and that men can’t be raped.” The reactions he got solidified his initial decision to take no further actions.

As the president of It’s On Us, Bargelt is adamant about being completely transparent in telling her story. Sexual assaults and rapes happen often on college campuses, and many people don’t know how big of a problem it is because it is rarely talked about. Bargelt is very open about her personal experience because hearing a story from another survivor frequently inspires others to come forward. Bargelt said that “part of the empowering part of being a survivor is now you have the agency to do something about it. You have the chance to give power back to yourself and you get to decide what your healing journey will be.”

In less than a year, Bargelt transformed the U into the nation’s most successful It’s On Us organization. She has laid out a 10-year plan, so even after she graduates from the U this May her legacy will live on. “I am very aggressive and do not give up on people or projects that I believe in,” she said, and she has confidence that whoever takes her place in July will maintain the positive trajectory of It’s On Us.

Intermountain Healthcare announces groundbreaking policy that removes pharmaceutical representatives and medication samples from Utah practices and hospitals

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Story and photos by BERKLEE HAMMOND

Effective May 1, 2019, Intermountain Healthcare has prohibited industry-based pharmaceutical representatives and medication samples from entering practices and hospitals throughout Utah. 

Intermountain believes this new change will increase patient safety, refine adherence to clinical guidelines, improve prescription patterns, decrease cost of medicines and eliminate operational complexity and burden.

According to a statement by Dr. Mark Briesacher, senior vice president of Intermountain Medical Group and Medical Staff, this change has been made to fulfill Intermountain Healthcare’s vision of being “a model health system by providing extraordinary care and superior service at an affordable cost.” 

Pharmaceutical representatives received a document titled “Removal of Pharmaceutical Representatives and Medication Samples from Intermountain Clinics” issued by Intermountain Healthcare. The document explains why samples and pharmaceutical reps are no longer permitted. It also states that patients are commonly given verbal instructions about appropriate use of medication samples and side effects.

This can lead to product labeling and written patient instructions that are often inadequate. These new regulations will decrease the chance for medication errors and improve patient safety.

Intermountain plans to improve adherence to clinical guidelines by removing pharmaceutical representative visits, samples, and marketing. According to a statement released to pharmaceutical companies, Intermountain would do away with professional and social pressures and would allow physicians to make unbiased decisions on behalf of their patients. 

This document explains how these steps will improve prescription patterns for patient care. Eighty-three percent of prescription promotion is done by physicians who have been educated on drugs from pharmaceutical representative visits. 

According to a 2014 study of 150,000 physicians over a 24-month period showed the detailing impacts selective, brand-specific demand and influenced prescribers. 

Intermountain Healthcare cited numerous studies that have shown physicians were three times more likely to prescribe a generic product when samples were removed from clinics.

The Medical Group Service Line’s statement indicates the changes at Intermountain will eliminate operational complexity and burden. Storage, distribution and security of medications is challenging to manage and increases the expense on care teams.

HOW WILL THIS AFFECT THE PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY?

The reason behind this decision came after leading healthcare organizations like the National Institutes of Healthand the Institute for Safe Medication Practicesrecommended against utilizing pharmaceutical representatives and samples because this has a negative impact on patient safety, care quality, and costs. 

Crystal Goodrich, a local district manager of a pharmaceutical company, explained the small steps that eventually led to the new regulations.

First, she said the changes started when Big Pharma companies agreed to discontinue distributing any type of promotional materials such as sticky notes and pens to any healthcare entity. Goodrich said, “Some rules made sense.” 

Intermountain was among the other healthcare agencies that did not want their physicians being influenced by promotional materials. 

The Big Pharma agreement, including Intermountain, later prohibited physicians from going out to dinner or to special events with representatives. Goodrich remembers, “This was when the pushback from physicians started across the industry.”

According to Goodrich, Intermountain then took restrictions to another level.  Intermountain only allowed one appointed representative from each of the pharmaceutical companies statewide to have access to any and all of Intermountain’s approximately 5,000 physicians. 

Rebecca Nixon was assigned to Intermountain Healthcare exclusively as a representative 10 years ago. Nixon only visits Intermountain’s practices and clinics.

Nixon explained the adjustment from visiting clinics from all Utah healthcare entities to going exclusively to Intermountain. She shared frustration in the lack of competition in Utah with Intermountain and lack of authority from Intermountain Healthcare physicians. 

Nixon said, “The doctors are employed by Intermountain Healthcare, they are not in charge or able to make these decisions themselves.”

She said these new policies from Intermountain Healthcare will affect her job tremendously. She is now going to be reassigned to another position due to the regulations set by Intermountain Healthcare.

As of May 1, 2019, there is a new level of restriction. If a representative enters a clinic, Intermountain Healthcare urges physicians and administrative staff to not accept any medication samples, coupons, literature, vouchers or other forms of drug marketing.

Both Nixon and Goodrich stated that physicians at Intermountain Healthcare have pushed back with these new regulations. Due to the pushback, Intermountain Healthcare has now made an exception to lifesaving medications like inhalers, blood thinners and several other medications from drug representatives.  

Intermountain Healthcare physicians will now get their education from pharmacists instead of trained pharmaceutical representatives. “This certainly concerns us,” Goodrich said. Pharmacies make more revenue from generic brands than name brands. This raises concern for patient care.

“A big concern is knowing physicians at Intermountain valued our knowledge and they can’t get it anymore,” Goodrich said. Pharmaceutical representatives spend weeks, months and years becoming trained on the medication they represent. They get trained through in-person trainings, online training and continual training by district and regional representatives that monitor the accuracy of the information distributed.

This training will now be the responsibility of each physician. They will need to take the time to educate themselves on hundreds, even thousands, of medications to provide accurate and informed education to each patient. 

According to Intermountain Healthcare’s website, this not-for-profit system has more than 5,000 physicians who are affiliated with Intermountain, including about 1,400 employed physicians in the Intermountain Medical Group who provide care to patients at more than 185 clinics and offices as well as 23 hospitals.

  • Dr. Todd Schauers with Jordan Family Health is learning about medication from a pharmaceutical representative using tools and material provided by pharmaceutical companies. 
  • Intermountain Healthcare is a not-for-profit system consisting of 23 hospitals, 180 clinics and a Medical Group with more than 1,600 physicians. 
  • Jordan Family Health is part of the Mountainstar network. It is not part of the Intermountain Healthcare family and is still welcoming pharmaceutical representatives and medication. Other networks accepting samples and representatives include: IASIS, Steward, Revere Health and University of Utah Healthcare.
  • Pharmaceutical representatives are able to meet with physicians briefly or through scheduled appointments to educate doctors on information about various medications. 
  • The sample closet is a valuable resource for physicians and patients. This allows the patients to sample a drug before they have to pay for their medication. Intermountain will be discontinuing its use of samples obtained through pharmaceutical companies.
  • Taylorsville Intermountain Clinic pharmacy is one of many owned by Intermountain Healthcare. Physicians will now be prescribing medication that can be picked up from these pharmacies across the Valley.

Millennials are complaining about low pay but favor perks over high compensation

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Story and gallery by SAIGE HAWKINS

  • Three Disney college program participants celebrate the halfway mark of their internship at a mid-program celebration.
  • Backcountry raffle winners and leadership shoot off confetti cannons to commemorate the end of a successful fourth quarter.
  • A flyer for Backcountry’s annual employee Halloween costume contest.
  • Two Disneyland cast members celebrate the park’s 63rd anniversary at a cast photo area.
  • A Backcountry warehouse employee wins a raffle drawing at a quarterly perk event.
  • A Backcountry warehouse employee wins the grand prize raffle drawing at a quarterly perk event.

The cost of living continues to rise and millennials are continuing to struggle to afford it. A common gripe for the cause of this is that they are not being paid appropriately. But is that really at the root of the cause? Experts in their field have noted that in order to keep up with hiring demand, flashy perks and events have become a necessity in order to maintain top talent millennials at a company.

“Most of the people we hire for our corporate office are under 40 and are more initially attracted to little perks that make their day-to-day in the office more tolerable, rather than their income.” says Erika Park, the manager of perks and benefits for Backcountry, an online outdoor retail company based out of Park City, Utah.

This is a position human resources professionals have heard more than once, and yet 18-35-year-olds are often complaining about their compensation. The most repeated comment left in Backcountry’s exit interviews was that departing employees weren’t paid enough. It is also the most common reason employees not at the corporate level were leaving Backcountry. One comment stated, “The free food and fun events are nice, but at the end of the day my paycheck didn’t reflect the work I’d put in.”

This isn’t a problem unique to Backcountry, as the cast member culture at Disneyland reflects the same thing. In Spring and Summer 2018 multiple demonstrations were held across the street from the world-famous theme park by cast members demanding a higher wage. These protests led to union representatives getting involved and beginning negotiations with the company’s leadership team for a higher hourly pay rate.

Tessa Zalfen, a Disneyland cast member for over a year, said, “No we don’t get paid that much. Most of it has to do with how many hours we get scheduled since it’s based on seniority but I don’t work here for the money. We get discounts, free admission, guest passes, and honestly I just love it here so much I don’t really mind it.” This exemplifies what the millennial generation is demonstrating, a willingness to work more for less if they’re doing something they enjoy even if it’s just the company and their values.

The next generation is displaying a sense of importance for similar values over higher pay. They are happy to be working for a company they admire so the other things don’t matter as much. This values-based employment added with the perks catered to them creates an excellent combination for compensation. If the employees already pay business to a company and will continue to do so, discounting those experiences for them allows them to feel compensated, spend more at the company, and in turn create a win-win scenario.

Corporate perks aren’t just something important to the employee life cycle. They also help draw applicants in and sell them on one job over another. “We’re very fortunate here because we offer so much in regards to activities, discounts, and the great events Erika plans. It makes my job easier because the sales pitch is already laid out for me most times,” said Donna Barker, the senior corporate recruiter for Backcountry.

Even though most of the companies that are able to offer this don’t pay as much as smaller companies, they still combine these perks with name recognition on a resume to make their company desired. “It is definitely a bigger draw for younger people just starting their careers to be somewhere recognizable,” said Park, Backcountry’s manager for perks and benefits.

Park added, “They’re more likely to take something now with less pay that will catapult them to their next opportunity than something that pays well and won’t guarantee advancement later on.”

This sentiment is echoed through Zalfen, the Disneyland cast member, who said, “I plan to stay here awhile because I want to work my way up one day and work for ABC. It’s easier to do that if I’m already here.” A foot in the door method definitely seems to be a direction the millennial generation is being steered into. Zalfen added, “From what I’ve been told, it looks better on a resume to have growth and different positions at one place than to have experience without growth at several different places.”

Corporate perks and growth potential have quickly grown to be one of the biggest factors when looking for a job in today’s market and companies don’t have a reason to change. Why spend more to pay someone for a job when they’re willing to work for less as long as you put a sparkly bow on it? Barker, the senior recruiter, added, “We might not pay as much as smaller warehouses but we don’t need to because people want to work for us before they even hear how much it pays. We attract a very niche crowd and they’ll stay if we help maintain their lifestyle, even if it isn’t through a pay check.”