By: Krista Mitchell

Cosplayers are sometimes well known, but that popularity can take a rather long time to grow.

With such a niche field, you would have to be crazy to build your job on it, but then I came across a group of three guys, Tim Winn, Boston McConnaughey and Zeb Jackson, and one girl, Renny Grames, that did just that about four years ago in 2012

The company in question is named Freakin’ Rad.

https://www.youtube.com/user/freakinrad

The name is quite valid, as these four put together YouTube videos and commercials where they create everything from the props and armor to the editing and special effects themselves.

This group did not start out simply doing this however, as they all had their own jobs beforehand. Tim was a call center employee, which was a large shift. Renny and Boston had a somewhat easier shift being freelancers, but Zeb had the biggest being a restaurant manager. This shift in jobs did not happen all at once though.

They started their company about four years ago, but decided to truly delve in and make Freakin Rad their only job for most about a year ago when Zeb started on.

Working in this field, they go through periods of “Feast or famine,” as Tim put it, as their project costs range from a few thousand dollars to 100k.

These projects do take a lot of time and effort as Tim states “making videos that are high quality can take a ton of planning sometimes favors and money and a lot of hard work as of right now we general spend about month on each video but can take longer depending on the visual effects and costumes needed.”

These months may seem long and arduous sometimes, as working on one costume can drain, and looking at the progression of simply one cosplay, made for a competition, Tim started work on a Reinhardt, from the game Overwatch, armor back in July, looking from the first Instagram post he made, to October, when they took it to the Twitch Cosplay Contest out in San Diego. 

Tim is their major cosplay and armor creator as stated, “he’s been making costumes for years and he brings a realness to the videos that really improves the look and feel and quality of our videos.”

All of their hard work has definitely paid off. The quality of their videos is fantastic, and their YouTube channel reflects their nice start with over 66,000 subscribers on their main channel and over 2,000 followers on their Facebook page.

https://www.youtube.com/user/freakinrad

Their most popular video, Halo vs Predator, made about four years ago back in 2012 reflects this again, with over seven million views, and while it definitely has had its fair share of time to accumulate views, their most popular new video Uncharted 4 Game play in REAL LIFE, is not looking too shabby either, with over 385,000 views to its name.

https://www.youtube.com/user/freakinrad

All these views help them create more content in the way of getting more people to their channel, but they do look to the viewers to help support them as they state on the Patreon page, which can be found in the description of many of their YouTube videos or by simply looking up Freakin Rad on Patreon, “Our imaginations have no bounds as we put together these shorts and we need help with costumes, film shoots, hardware, software, and many other expenses that come up.”

The expenses that come up can be quite large, as stated previously the expenses can range from a few thousand dollars, which can seem manageable to 100K, which can seem absurd.

The absurdity is realistic though, as by looking through even simply Etsy, a site that heralds homemade goods, you can find props ranging in price from $9.99 to $220 and you can tell the difference as you get a higher quality with the more expensive mask.

This difference in quality is something that they focus on as Freakin Rad prides themselves on making the highest quality of videos available, which can make or break you within this industry, as with the accessibility of the equipment needed for higher quality videos becoming easier and easier, it can be difficult to keep ahead within this market.

It is hard to deny though, that Freakin Rad has some amazing videos, as with the good comments, even on their YouTube videos, which we all know can be incredibly mean, Freakin Rad is worth checking out if you are even just a little bit nerdy

By Bryan Crockett

It all started because he had defaulted on his taxes.

Jim Ruelle started his own company GPS Golf as Built Design, when he was 28. Ruelle attended North Dakota University where he double major in, landscape architecture and environmental design.

When Ruelle moved out to Salt Lake he had started working for another company doing golf architecture. While working for this company, the boss came up to him half way through the year and said essentially, “here is your 10-99 form, I am a little behind with money and I haven’t paid your portion of the federal and state taxes.” Ruelle finished the project he was working on and parted ways. Ruelle decided he was going to be an independent contractor and GPS Golf as Built Design was created by “default”

GPS Golf is a sole proprietorship; Ruelle has created it and maintained his company by himself. GPS Golf is a consultant company for golf course design and maintenance. Once hired Ruelle subs out his work to get the job done. Once GPS Golf is hired, their primary job is to create a master plan for the golf course. Creating conceptual maps, grading plans, drainage plans, hydraulic pumps, and it’s all maintained and planned with trimble GPS.

In an 18-hole golf course, GPS golf plans out how many sprinklers and gallons of water they will need. On average a golf course has about 2,100 sprinklers. During the middle of the summer at peek temperatures to get a half-inch of water on the grass it pumps about 3,000 lbs. of water a minute.

Ruelle travels all over for his company, locally, nationally, and globally. He has worked in 38 states, including California, Montana, and Florida, and 20 countries including New Zealand London, Kuwait and many more. Ruelles’s office is out of his home and truck, and he travels all the time. He spends approximately 120 nights a year away from his family and 40 day trips to different parts of the states.

Ruelle has worked on some of the biggest names in golf and some of best golf course in the world. While on the job he has run into high profile golfers such as, Bernhard Langer, Jack Nicklaus, Fred Couples, Johnny Miller, Arnold Palmer, and many more. He has been invited and attended the Masters golf tournament and has had many opportunities to play golf on private high-end golf courses. His favorite golf course he has ever been on was Spyglass Hill, in California.

What makes the best golf course? Is it the grass? The level of difficulty? Ruelle said its “location, location, location.” For golf you usually need good weather but he also adds that “a golf course that doesn’t disrupt the nature of the land is always your best golf course” When Ruelle is planning his design for a golf course, he plans accordingly to not take out trees, move hills, and not to add un-necessary things.

“The world of golf design is very competitive” Ruelle says. When you are bidding for a job or if someone reaches out to you for a job, he recommends, not discussing that plan with another company, or anyone, until you have a signed contract, and the job is yours. Other companies are very cut throat, he explained that companies will hear about a job opening and go in and underbid the work or will do the job in half the time then others, and he said “that’s great but when someone hires me they know I don’t cut corners and they get high quality work for what they pay for”

Ruelle always loved the game of golf. He knew he was never good enough to play professionally so why not design them instead. I asked Ruelle what steps he would encourage students that wanted to go in that field? Ruelle said, “He wouldn’t,” He told me how hard of a job it is and how you travel way too much. “There is so much work that goes into a design of a golf course that you don’t realize it’s easier to just do something else and play the game you love.” Ruelle would rather work a 9-5 desk job get paid every two weeks and have the weekends off to go play golf.

Ruelle encourages everyone to follow his or her dreams and create your dream job. Ruelle would never change what career he went into but he does say he wishes his choice was less work and not so time consuming. He said “it’s the 50/50 rule its nice to be your own boss but its also nice to leave at 5 o’clock and let your boss worry about the rest.” Ruelle said, “what ever you go into though give it your all, be self driven, be a hard worker, and the reward will follow.”

By Julianne Morris

As America progressively becomes more and more materialistic with each year, millions of consumers flock to big department stores to quench their thirst for the newest trends in fashion. Many people would say that you can get everything you need from these big stores but 11 years ago a woman named Courtney Gibbs decided to leave Nordstrom and follow her dreams by starting her own local company called Urban Blues.

Urban Blues started out as a boutique that only carried top-notch denim. A plan was devised to sell off priced goods. Gibbs found all the premium denim, which was the hottest thing on the market at the time and brought it in at half price and named her store Urban Blues. They carried all the labels of the day: AG, True Religion, Seven for all mankind, Paige, Rock and Republic, Hudson, and more. The mission at the outset was to see if Urban Blues could sell 10 pairs of denim on the opening day. No one even knew they were there. On that first day, they ended up selling 50 pairs of denim. Gibbs says, “Within I think one year we sold 1 million dollars at retail.”

The first year that Urban Blues was open was 2005. In 2007, the financial crisis happened and that became a huge challenge for Urban Blues.  “However, here we are in 2016 and we weathered the storm and we’re still in business,” says Gibbs. When the market crashed, there were a lot of companies that went out of business. Nordstrom came in and bought off all of the priced goods and there went the Urban Blues supply chain, which really challenged them and scared them into going out of business. Gibbs had some experience and fortunately she was able to stay and buy what the customer still wanted. So now Urban Blues doesn’t offer premium denim at a price. Urban Blues is now a regular priced business. They sell junior and young contemporary clothing. Gibbs says, “I think we’re still price conscious but we’re not a discounter anymore.”

So what attributes to success in a local business? Gibbs says experience. “I mean I am lucky that I worked for Nordstrom for so many years. Maybe fortitude. Stick-to-itiveness.” Gibbs feels like she has had some good luck going into this business. She has had really good people working for her and she has worked really hard to achieve her dream. She sometimes has days where she wonders if she made the right decision in owning her own business. Gibbs says it is such a profitable business so it would be too hard to shut it down when it is doing so well. “I mean really coming through that financial deal. So many boutiques go out of business. And to be open 11 years. That’s something,” Gibbs explains.

Gibbs has many goals for Urban Blues. Her near-term goal is to open many more stores and especially open one in the downtown area. “I’d like to maybe work on our image, change our image a bit. But I think we have a lot of name recognition so I think that is a lot. That helps us,” says Gibbs. Urban Blues would also be interested in pivoting a tad and to Gibbs, it seems to be working. They pivoted slowly and they are seeing double-digit increases this year. Gibbs explains, “The customer isn’t resisting what we’re doing and so I think we might be on the right track.”

Urban Blues stands out by giving “Old school customer service”. Gibbs is trying to teach all of her employees how to be stylists and how to give customer service rather than just working as a clerk. Gibbs says, “You’re really out there trying to help someone find their own identity and express it through clothing and we think that that is an art form here.” Gibbs believes that if each person can erase the mentality that they are just a clerk and give that old school customer service that she was raised on it would make Urban Blues a special and unique place to shop. Gibbs feels that when she goes to other stores they ignore customers. Even now at Nordstrom , which is where she was trained. Gibbs doesn’t think it is the same from when she worked there and that is why she is setting out to be different. Gibbs leaves her remarks with, “I think that what we do makes it an experience and that’s what we want to do. We want to immerse the customer in the experience so that’s what we’re doing and I think it makes a difference.”

By Hailey Kirkwood

Have you ever gone to several stores in search of a specific cookie cutter or cake pan and just could not find what you were looking for? Orson H. Gygi’s has that covered. Are you looking for unique, innovative ideas to add to your cooking and baking arsenal? Gygi’s practically invented everything that has to do with that. Heather Smith, a manager at Gygi’s and also the daughter of Orson Gygi’s grandson Brad McDonald, explained how the company “loves starting and sharing family traditions and love to hear everyone else’s.”

Recently I experienced a dilemma of my own, scavenging around the City of Salt Lake looking for a specific Halloween themed cookie cutter. Being the season, I thought it would be easy to find what I was looking for. The next thing I know I am walking into the fourth store, slowly losing hope until I remember that Gygi’s has a giant wall that is dedicated to cookie cutters. What was I thinking? It didn’t take me more than five minutes before I found what I was looking for. Problem solved.

It all started in 1945, when a salesman by the name of Orson H. Gygi succeeded in creating a restaurant and kitchen wholesale store. Manager Heather Smith continues to fill me in, describing how in the beginning they supplied the smaller restaurants along with local churches, schools, and weddings. In 1998, a fire broke out in the building which ultimately destroyed all of their inventory. As of today, Gygi’s has a building just off of 3500 south. The main part of the store is where you will find anything you could imagine when it comes to cooking and baking. It is almost like the Costco for chef’s, with high stacks of products toward the back. The other half of the building is dedicated to their kitchen designs that you can walk around and browse the different styles they offer. Despite that one unfortunate event, Smith described how it “made it a great opportunity for us to step back and see where we wanted to take the business. At the time home cooking was growing and becoming less of a chore and a fun- entertaining thing to do.”

Gygi’s has done exactly that and after the fire, it sparked the desire to create their own kitchen design innovations. “We knew we wanted to expand and help the home chefs to make their homes as professional as possible,” explained Smith, “And our saying has always been ‘Your one stop shop’ or even ‘All things Kitchen’ so we took that to heart and made all things possible.” Being a proud customer of Gygi’s myself I always found the kitchen design showroom fascinating, seeing all of the different styles that they have created to accommodate every home chef. Now besides seeing the “pretty kitchens”, I can also see the dedication and love of the business from the staff at Gygi’s.

The company has also established an online blog, which can be found on the Orson H. Gygi website. “We wanted people to learn about our products and our ideas for uses,” Smith said, “then apply them to their lives and create memories. So many of our memories are in the kitchen- we wanted to share them with everyone.” On the company website you can also sign up to receive Gygi’s newsletter to inform you about promotions, new products, and even recipes that are all sent through email.

So much is still in store for this company, and although Smith talks about how they are working on creating multiple Gygi stores across the city their goal right now is to keep expanding their presence online. “Being able to ship our things to customers around the country has been fun to see where they go. These big cities are buying their chocolate and supplies from us instead of local to them shops.” said Smith.

When asked what her favorite part about Gygi’s is, Smith explained how it is definitely the desire to help people. “We love to hear how people are using our products,” says Smith, “how people can take the same item and use if for multiple things— like a chocolate mold- people use them for chocolates, candies, soap bombs and even doggie treats. Who would have thought!?”

If you want the ultimate “All things Kitchen” experience or are in desperate need of a specific cookie cutter, Gygi’s is located at 3500 South 300 West in Salt Lake City, Utah. They are open Monday through Saturday from 9AM-6PM, and if you can’t make it to experience the store then you can visit online at http://www.gygi.com. For any questions or interests, you can call (801) 268-3316. There is not another company around that would be happier to take your call.

By Morgan VanderVeen

You don’t want to mess with this one.

It’s early morning, and Averie Vockel is raring to roll at the gym. The day’s workout won’t be simple. After all, MMA training is anything but. Bag drills, strength training, weight lifting, sparring and more will all be on the agenda.

On the way out the door, Vockel stuffs a heavy blue workout bag to the rim – protein powder for the muscles, rags for the sweat, a mouth guard for the hard hits, a traditional gi and belt, and… a box of tampons.

Averie Vockel, a 19 year old student at the University of Utah, says it’s not uncommon for people to assume that most Mixed Martial Arts fighters are male. Still, even when the girls are recognized, it’s hardly for the right reasons. A quick google search of the term “female MMA fighters” turns out some discouraging article titles as first-page results: “The 28 Hottest Women’s MMA Fighters” or “Top 10 Beautiful MMA Female Fighters” are just a few near the top of the list. While it’s clear that many individuals are under the impression that beauty and brawn cannot coexist, but the qualities ought to be sexualized when they do, this girl spends plenty of time dispelling the notion.

Vockel got involved in MMA two years ago, while watching her brothers take fighting lessons at a local gym. She developed a hunch that this activity wasn’t just for the boys. While she admits that her start was nothing short of rocky, she slowly began to fall in love with MMA, continuing to take private lessons and train multiple times a week. “Once I started, I couldn’t stop,” she says. “I think that is when my confidence went up and I felt really in control of both my mind and body.”

If you catch her out and about, you’ll see her with her glossy, dark hair curled and cut above her shoulders, lips puckered from a smack of hot pink lip gloss, feet slid into a pair of high heels, and half-mast eyes lined with jet black, winged eyeliner. “I do have the stereotypical ‘girly-girl’ style,” she explains. But take a step into the ring, and Vockel will show you that what you see isn’t always what you get. “It is incredibly difficult to gain credibility as a woman fighter and ignore the sexualization that men place upon your abilities,” she explains. Still, Vockel remains entirely disinterested in altering her personal aesthetic to cater to anyone’s desires, and does her makeup because she has a passion for the art.

Vockel explains that aside from the killer workouts and supportive community, fighting provides her with a sense of security. While she hopes she’ll never have to use the techniques she spends so much time perfecting, she acknowledges that “you never know what could happen” in terms of being attacked or assaulted. She concludes that “the ability to defend myself is really appealing.”

Unfortunately, Vockel says that there are still very few female fighters in the community, and this makes it difficult to find cage fighting opponents. Facing sexism within the activity is a daily occurrence, and Vockel notes that she encounters plenty of “indirect actions that [she] would attribute to the bias against women in the sport.” Sexist comments range from the classic “I’ll go easy on you” to “you can quit if you want,” but Vockel assured me that quitting just isn’t in her plans.

In a TIME article published in November of 2013, former Olympian judo competitor Ronda Rousey mentioned that she was hardly phased by sexually derogatory comments about her fighting, and just wanted to be written about, mentioning that she wants “everyone to talk as much as possible.” Vockel doesn’t quite feel the same. She explains, “I think females have to work a lot harder to ‘prove’ their credibility in the sport to ‘the guys’ and that has definitely been my experience.”

But that’s not her only challenge. When she’s not training or competing, Averie is nothing short of busy. Whether she’s working, traveling to competitions with the University of Utah’s debate team, or studying to maintain her nearly perfect GPA, she always puts her best foot forward. Finding time to train and fight isn’t always easy, but Vockel explains that she’s willing to make it work.

Vockel explains that the fighting community is a long way off from eradicating the sexism that is insidious to the experiences of athletic women, but she hopes that her participation inspires young girls to pursue their passions – all of them, no matter how different. Regardless of the conditions, Vockel will still be hard at work, showing everyone what it means to fight like a girl.

By: Victoria Workman

Imagine what it would be like to wake up in the morning and play to thousands of listeners state wide. This is the life of local radio artist and performer Jeremy Fleming, A.K.A ‘DJ Dizz.

It was at a time when Fleming was young and reckless that he discovered his passion for music. After purchasing a fake I.D., He decided to attend his first EDM show.  Fleming immediately noticed the difference in culture at these events and fell in love with it entirely.

“I was just amazed with how cool the whole thing was; with the energy he had, the way he got the crowd going, the music and everything with it,” Dizz explains. “That was kind of the first start of it.”

He started out playing free gigs at The Mint opening for other artists, just trying to get his foot in the door. It wasn’t until being offered a Saturday night residency that his career finally took off. Now Dizz can be heard Monday through Friday playing the ‘High Noon Mix’ for local radio station KUUU U92. He can also be seen playing at clubs like Sky, Elevate and Hukka every weekend night.

DJ Dizz’s unique style, which he describes as a party rocking vibe, got him voted favorite EDM artist by City Weekly’s online vote in 2014.

“There’s usually not very many chill moments. It’s a very in your face, kind of an aggressive style,” he comments. “My number one goal is just to have people dance, have people have a good time and just make memories.”

Dizz loves his job and explains that there are many perks to being a local DJ. He loves the fact that he gets to do what he wants, often spending time, as he says, “turning up” with bosses. He has had the opportunity of meeting and playing with major EDM artists of the day. The coolest artist he has met was Diplo last year in Vegas. U92 and Diplo’s record label arranged a meeting at the Encore beach to hang out before Diplo’s set at EDC. At the time, Diplo’s album Skrillex and Diplo Present Jack U was sky rocketing to number one on the world music charts.

Dizz is more than just a DJ, he is a father and boyfriend as well. A close friend of Fleming named Timmy revealed that at one point the DJ was married, and forced to choose between a family and his career. Though he is no longer with his ex-wife, he still spends significant amounts of time with his two children Aubrey (age 8) and Landon (age 5). The most difficult part of balancing his career and being a parent is the fact that they run on very different time schedules.  As a DJ you are generally expected to be up late, where as a father you are expected to rise when the sun does. Somehow he manages to juggle both responsibilities by having his kids during the week when they aren’t on track, and scheduling weekends to have them sleep over when he can.

Jokingly, Dizz says another downside to being a DJ is the hang overs. On a more serious note, he admits there are some moments he wishes he didn’t have to be present at events with people he does not usually associate with. Often times he has to just smile through it and kiss the babies. The main problem is that he does not get to do a lot of personal socializing since he works weekends, making it extremely difficult for him to see his friends very often. And when he finally does, it is generally at the night club he is currently spinning at. At some point clubs become more about working and begin to get kind of boring.

But the drawbacks seem small compared to the joy Dizz receives from his job. Performing gives him a natural high, not just on stage, but on the radio as well. He actually enjoys working for the station more than he does live at clubs. It is more than just free tickets and getting to meet artists that come to station. He loves knowing that every day he gets the chance of playing for over 300,000 listeners.

For all the aspiring DJ’s in the community, Dizz offers a few words of wisdom. He explains that he personally looks up to DJs, and kind of mocks their style before making it his own. He also divulges that the industry is a very tight knit community of DJs and you have to know how to network. It is a very political game.

“The sky is the limit, just never give up,” he concludes. “A lot of people get discouraged; playing in their bedrooms, handing out demos, trying to get people to book them. It just takes one gig to really make a start for yourself and make a career out of something that is a hobby currently.”

By Kangho Lee (Rupert)

There are many types of food trucks in Utah such as hotdog food trucks, dessert food trucks and hot wings food trucks. These food trucks can be found in the various places in Utah, and most seem to be running their businesses by only one vehicle. So I was surprised to see Cupbop’s food trucks spread all around the valley. I could see Cupbop food trucks wherever I go, so I started to investigate.

In turned out Cupbop is a thriving business which has total eight food trucks and four dine-in restaurants in Provo, Daybreak, Orem and Indonesia. Despite having brick-and-mortar locations, Cupbop appears to also have many more food trucks compared to other food trucks. I was very impressed about how famous Cupbop is since I have never seen any successful Korean cuisine business in the United States before. To investigate more information about Cupbop, I decided to go to their dine-in restaurant in Provo. It was very easy to realize the popularity of Cupbop in Provo because there were many customers to eat Cupbop even though it was late night. I decided to ask a question to one of the Cupbop customers.

“Excuse me sir, what makes you to come and eat Cupbop?”

“The sauce is great, and taste is great, so we come back every week” he answered.

I wondered if others were as hooked on it.

“Excuse me ma’am, what do you feel about Cupbop?” I asked a woman in the line.

“I am just happy to live in Utah where I can have Korean barbeque in a cup” she answered.

After I conducted some more spontaneous interviews while in line, I was rather hungry, so I ordered a Combo Mandoo and ate it as a dinner. It was so delicious compared to other Korean restaurants in Utah such as Myung-Ga.

After I was impressed from Cupbop tastes, I started to research a history of Cupbop food truck in Utah. Food truck was started in 2013 by three Korean international students in Utah, Junghun Song, Jongkun Kim and Jihyung Park. These founders of Cupbop wanted to spread Korean cuisine in the United States and they got an idea from Cupbop in Noryangjin (Seoul), Korea. Generally, most of Korean foods are called as slow food because it takes too much time to prepare a meal. Cupbop however, enables people to eat Korean food quickly since Cupbop in Noryangjin (Seoul), Korea was invented for students who wanted to eat large amount of food with less money and people who wanted to eat fancy food very quickly. Therefore, these Cupbop founders chose this item to sell in the United States to spread Korean cuisine quickly.

One day I had a chance to talk to one of founders of Cupbop, Junghun Song on the phone after I posted Cupbop food review on my blog. He contacted me through Facebook messenger to say thank you for my blog posting and he told me his number because he wanted to provide free Cupbop for me. So I called him to ask some question about his business.

“So why did you choose Cupbop from Noryangjin (Seoul), Korea to sell?” I asked

“You know, Cupbop in Noryangjin (Seoul), Korea is the best item to spread Korean cuisine to the United States. It is fast and easy to serve, delicious, and everyone likes it” he answered.

“I have eaten Cupbop in Korea several times and it was awesome. But, I thought that original Cupbop in Korea did not suit tastes of Americans, since it was too spicy and had strong scent. So what did you do to suit tastes of Americans?” I asked.

“We studied many times to suit American tastes and finally we found the secret recipe of Cupbop. Korean sticky rice goes to the bottom of Cupbop, crisp sliced lettuce goes above rice. These are the base of our Cupbop recipe. We chose to put crisp lettuce above rice because when Koreans eat meat and rice wrapped in lettuce.”

I think it was pretty nice idea to make people enjoy Korean cuisine because rice with lettuce gives very crisp and tasty texture while eating.

“Also we put Korean noodle called as ‘Jobchae’ above rice and lettuce for nutty taste, and chewy texture and put grilled pork, Bulgogi (Korean beef), and spicy chicken next to Jobchae. We made these three meats like home-cooked Korean meal, so it lets people experience Korean cuisine well through our Cupbop.” answered Junghun Song.

Since Cupbop founders just use Korean home-cooked food to prepare Cupbop, it sounds like there is no difference compared to the other Korean restaurants in the United States. But, once people taste it, they can find many differences in comparison such as food serving speed, Americanized taste, various sauce choices and unique ingredients.

By Andrew Lake

Whether evolving internally or propelling the medical world forward, Intermountain Healthcare is a company that’s accustomed to change. Originally owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Church decided in 1975 that owning hospitals was not a key part of its goals, so it separated the 15 hospitals it owned at the time to create an independent, non-profit, secular organization known as Intermountain Healthcare.

According to Jess Gomez, director of Media Relations for Intermountain and chief spokesperson for the Intermountain Central Region, the company has since grown to 22 hospitals—as far north as Pocatello, Idaho and as far south as St. George, Utah—employing over 33,000 people, and even offering its own health insurance.

Aside from its size, what sets Intermountain apart? “Several things,” says Gomez. “We’re not satisfied with being very good. We want to be the best.” One of the most important ways they accomplish this is through their use of evidence-based medicine: examining all possible treatments of each illness or injury and choosing the best one to be used throughout the organization. Gomez describes it as an entirely data-driven decision making process and says that, as a result, Intermountain as a whole is a data-driven organization.

After making a decision for how to treat any condition, however, that decision is by no means set in stone. Intermountain is continually learning, sharing, and collaborating Gomez says. It is open to adopting all new practices that prove themselves through the same process by which the original decision was made.

Another thing that sets Intermountain apart is its state of the art technology and information systems. All of the protocols for the company are integrated into their computers, so that as doctors and nurses input patient information, they will be prompted on further questions to ask and reminded of the proper treatment. However, clinicians are still able to override the system’s suggestions so that ultimately the doctor is making the decision he or she feels will produce the best results.

All of this strongly relates to Intermountain’s old mission, which was to provide the very best care. Several years ago, however, the mission statement was changed which resulted in several new developments for the company. The new mission is “helping people live the healthiest lives possible.” As Gomez describes it, “[The old mission] was looking at how to best help patients when they were in the hospital, when they needed care. Now, we help them to avoid needing the hospital.” This means providing information, resources, and programs for individuals with chronic illnesses, such as diabetes or arthritis, so that they can better manage their symptoms through lifestyle changes like diet and exercise. Intermountain also has programs focusing on broader safety issues, such as wearing a helmet when riding a bike, no matter your age.

Another program that falls under the new mission is LiVe Well: a program that Intermountain uses both externally with the public and internally with its employees to encourage small choices people can incorporate into daily life, like parking farther out in parking lots, taking 10,000 steps every day, drinking enough water, and reducing stress.

In addition to LiVe Well, Intermountain gets involved in local communities by hosting 5Ks and marathons, running classes to help people get started with various forms of physical activity, working with organizations such as the Arthritis Foundation, and even sponsoring local sports teams, such as Murray High Baseball.

Even with successful programs like these in place, no company is without its challenges. The primary challenge Intermountain faces now, according to Gomez, is the economics of healthcare. Not only is it an expensive field to begin with; the Affordable Care Act has added several considerations and challenges to hospitals and health insurance companies, both of which are a part of Intermountain Healthcare. One of these problems is that those who did not previously have health insurance have been sicker and more expensive to treat than the government predicted and provided funds for and the insurance companies have been left responsible for the additional costs. This has led some companies to opt out of the healthcare exchanges set up by the act and, while Intermountain does not plan on opting out, it is necessary for them to find a way to provide the additional funds they hadn’t planned for.

Despite these challenges, Intermountain’s future looks bright. The company is building a new hospital in Layton, and it has a new program called Connect Care which allows people to connect with physicians online to get remote consultation. It is also building a new “transformation center” at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, which will be a place of “constant innovation,” according to Gomez. The goal is to transform healthcare by bringing together scientists and researchers with healthcare leaders. If successful, Intermountain will prove itself as a valuable asset not only to Utah residents, but to the world at large.

By:Jacqueline Vargas

Welcome Week is the time clubs have the opportunity to attract students to be part of a group that they feel is right. At the University of Utah when fall semester begins and the incoming freshman come, many are interested in joining. Jessica Hannan is part of a group named Antioch and she is one of the leaders for the college ministry established on campus. This is the first year this group has come to our campus to get college students to join.

Antioch is new to the Salt Lake City area. Hannan tells me it all started in the 1980s in Waco, Texas. She says “A group of college students in Waco, Texas basically said there’s more of Jesus. We want it, we don’t want to be just religious people going through the motion if god is real we want all that he has so they basically started a church”. When they didn’t have a building they would have church “in a parking lot on a flatbed trailer for a year and college guys were like bringing their big pick-up trucks with their entire couches” she says. Now there are over 30 Antioch churches planted across the United States and it continues to grow.

There are many religious clubs around campus, so what makes this group stand out from the other groups? Jessica was not raised in a home where Jesus was a big part of their lives. She met Jesus when she was starting her masters and her little sister was a big influence on her decision joining the group. A story that her sister told her was that a friend’s car broke down one day and a group of college, Hannan says that “the bible says give to anyone that needs and they bought her a car and so it was shocking to me. I was like wow these are people who actually are doing the things that they preach.” This was something that amazed her because she had never seen a group of people that were so loving and caring. Her sister also fell into depression and she saw how her friends never left her side this made Jessica crave these type of people in her life.

The college ministry is taking a trip to Tijuana, Mexico this year for spring break. This is the first of many trips they will be having. When I asked her what these trips were about she was very excited to tell me everything about what has happened in previous trips. She says that “basically part of it is service oriented but most of it is going out and just encouraging people, praying for people who need prayer, praying for the sick, and sharing the gospel”. The spring break trips are called Awaken and some of her favorite memories come from .

When listening to her story, I had chills running down my spine. The trips a whole week long and on one of the nights they do dramas without speaking so everyone in the audience can understand. One of her friends was on the side of the stage praying to god to help them out and she says god still speaks to his children. Hannan’s friend felt like the lord said there was someone in the audience that was deaf and he wanted to restore their hearing. Hannan says “the woman’s friend signs to her like this is what he is saying come forward and so she comes forward and her hearing was restored and she starts weeping.” She wants the college ministry here to encounter god the same way she did.

Joining Antioch changed her life around not only did she meet amazing people that truly cared about her but she also now is a leader for the life group of the college ministry. Last year was the hardest time for her, she had just moved here and shortly after she found out her parents were going their separate ways. Her group stood by her and helped her get through such a rough time, she says even “when I was ugly and reserved and not all pretty with a little bow on top like they never let me go.”  For her being a leader for life group has been an amazing part of her experience here, she loves the college students she has met here. What she is looking forward to for this life group is that as time passes the group will eventually be led by college students. Right now she says it’s weird because the people leading the group are post grads. She can’t wait for “college students disciplining college students.”  For now, she is loving every minutes of this amazing experience.

The story of a successful photographer, musician, and blogger who is pursuing her dreams and influencing the world around her.

By Kailen Stucki

“I am a photographer, a musician, fashion obsessed, 6 foot tall adventurer.” This is how Tessa Barton described herself with an interview for Urban Outfitters. Barton is a small town Salt Lake City girl that has found a way to merge all of her favorite interests into an influencing lifestyle in New York City. Barton is still discovering herself but what she has found, it is with great excitement. “I dabble in many creative fields from fashion to fine art, photography to music. I have yet to define what I do but find that it all works under one umbrella as one energy and income.”

Growing up in Salt Lake, Barton was surrounded by artistic influences within her family. Her mom is her biggest creative muse in her life, due to the lives she has transformed and the world she has changed through her art and interior design. Barton fed off her roots; she hosted art classes for her neighborhood starting at the young age of 11. Barton found herself born with creative bones head to toe, especially when she was 16 and pursued her dreams at the fashion design program of Parsons in New York. Today, she resides in NY, chasing her dreams and collaborating with other artistic influences. “Moving has been one of the best things I have ever done. NY from the outside can seem chaotic with a massively intimidating culture of people who don’t have time for you, when in fact it is the exact opposite. I have been so surprised by how inviting it has felt.” Barton finds ways every day to incorporate her creativity and passion for the world around herself and others.

Photographer. With over 90,000 followers, Barton’s Instagram is an inspiring, artistic source for many. Expanding photography norms, Barton finds ways to create and recreate, always having a fresh idea in mind. From intimate Salt Lake City weddings to New York Fashion Week, Barton has done a wide range of work, growing herself and her images as a photographer. Tessa Barton’s photography is a way in which she sees the beauty of the world around her and a way to express herself.

Musician. Tessa eats, sleeps and breathes music. Her family band, Luna Lune, played shows all over Utah. Through this band, Barton found another form of expressing herself and her art by writing music, being a guitarist and singer in her band. She had opportunities to play in other local SLC bands and working on musical projects everyday. Barton and Mason Brewer, formed The Band Doe, her third project, and they are currently traveling around the states performing at gigs on the east and west. Barton shared, “Performing is probably one of my favorite things to do, I love connecting with people and sharing music.” With her inspiring friends and family, Barton has made a unique sound and loves sharing it with the world.

Fashion Blogger. Barton’s creative eye is expressed most commonly through her clothing. You can find Barton wearing a mass of jewelry, funky pants and boots with a trendy jacket on top. She is not a typical dresser; she tells a story with her clothing and always finds a way to make it artistic and unique. Her blog is filled with seasonal fashion advice from blue jeans to statement jackets. Along with other exciting beauty tips and tricks to her worldwide adventures, Barton never fails to keep readers intrigued and interested in her life. Recently, she did a backstage photo shoot for New York’s Fashion Week, snapping pictures of famous models such as Gigi Hadid. She continues to collaborate with other noteworthy artists such as Leanne Marshall, a famous dress designer. Barton fashions opportunities in her life and lives her dreams and passions everyday.

“Blocking out the people who don’t believe in you, who laugh at your dreams and think they sound silly. I think that is the hardest part of pursuing anything in the art industry is that people don’t believe you can be truly successful when in reality that is the mentality that will hold you back.” No matter how much doubt is thrown at her, Barton encourages us all to stay true to ourselves. She is a free spirit, creative soul and beautiful human. I admire the way she is able to make her life the way she wants it and loves every minute of it. In a Free People interview, Barton states, “I don’t know the last time I was bored ha, I just love life too much!” She finds a way to constantly be producing, expressing, sharing and creating the life she loves. As her social media profile suggests, her crazy life has brought inspiration to over 90,000 people and I am definitely one of them.

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By Jeffrey Fulton

Many life lessons often come by experience .Through the eyes of local politician Mike Winder, he explained how  his experiences have shaped his life. Winder was born in West Valley City  Utah, and grew up in a family business, Winder Dairy. It started in 1880 in the Salt Lake Valley, and it now extends to St, George and Logan; even as far out as Nevada and California. He said that during the expansion was when the dairy changed from being “an old fashioned milkman to an online grocer.” Whether it was a job at the milk plant in high school, or later becoming the vice president in marketing, it was all part of Winder’s personal growth. After graduating from college with an MBA from the University of Utah, he wanted to prove himself outside of the family business. “I wanted to carve my own niche beyond just the dairy,” Winder said.

Right after graduation, he found his niche. Winder was hired by West Valley City as their business development manager.  He enjoyed being involved with the city but after a sudden death in the family, he briefly left to help with the family business, and later returned. His love for city government continued to grow and he then decided to run for city council. He won and served for four years. After that term of service, he decided to run for mayor and won as well. His desire to carve a niche for himself was coming true. Winder loved his years serving the people in West Valley City.

This year, Winder has taken on a new challenge by running for the Utah House of Representatives. Through the course of his campaign, Mike Winder has had many opportunities to meet people in the West Valley community. In his interactions with them, many have expressed their frustrations with politicians at the federal level. “They want reasonable, and collaborative problem solvers,” he said. Winder’s desire to make a difference in the community is a huge motivator for his efforts on the political scene. He finds it very rewarding to be a part of making a difference.

It can be hard to make that difference for a lot of people, especially with many life commitments to balance. For Winder, he shared words of advice to aid those looking for balance. He explained that everyone has multi-faceted lives: work, school, family time, church, whatever it may be. By focusing on only one area of your life, the other things that are also important may not receive the attention that they need. Don’t be too consumed in one project. Be methodical, and chip away at the things on your lists of things to do. “It’s too easy to procrastinate and say, ‘Well, I’ll deal with that another day because I’m dealing with this today.’ The days click by fast. Each day you have to push each ball up the hill a little bit.” Even with Winder’s busy schedule supporting a family of six, being a member of the LDS church, and running for political office, this life-balance mentality has sustained him and kept his life on track.

When Winder does have his free time, he enjoys writing and has even written twelve published books. One thing he really enjoys is going on road trips and vacations with his family. “I like to play travel agent”, he said. He enjoys living those trips three times. First by planning the trip, again while experiencing it with his family, and then scrapbooking all of the memories at the end.

To the future politicians out there, Winder said to pursue public office for the right reasons. He noted that there are two types of people in the political business; those who want to be somebody, and those who want to do something. “If you’re running because you want to be somebody…you want the title, or the fancy office, that is the wrong reason to do it,” he said. “ I don’t say, ‘I want to be a state representative,’ I say, ‘I want to be a champion for education. I want to make a difference for our kids.’” Winder explained that by going in for the right reason, it helps you stay more motivated as an individual, and deal with the ups and downs of life better.

Winder has had his share of ups and downs of life, and he’s been able to deal with them by knowing two important lessons he’s learned: love people and enjoy the journey. Whether it’s preparing food or convenience for people, or even running for public office, Winder said, “If you don’t love the people, what are you doing it for?” Even experiencing his mother and brother pass away, he said he comes out okay  knowing that life is all a journey. This man is nothing short of hard work and dedication, and Mike Winder is a man defined by how he continues to roll with the punches.

By Shaelyn Barber

Safari trips are awe-inspiring. Animals abound and amazement takes hold. They are a life-changing experience.

While a safari usually has an impact for the few people who have been on such an adventure, one particular trip turned out to be a life changing experience for thousands of people.

When Judy Zone and her daughter Sara went on a safari in Kenya, they saw far more than just animals. Traveling with a Kenyan-owned safari company, they came into contact with not only the animals they had come so far to see but also the people along the way.

When Judy and her daughter saw the poverty in Kenya, they were shocked. They wanted to do something to help the situation. So, in 1999, Youthlinc was born.

Youthlinc is an organization dedicated to creating lifetime humanitarians. They work primarily with high school aged students. After completing an application and being accepted into the program, each student is required to perform 80 hours of community service before embarking on a two-week journey to one of seven international sites: Peru, Kenya, Cambodia, Thailand, Guatemala, Madagascar, or Nepal. This year, there will be 12 teams total. Students plan out projects for their trip in coordination with an in-country contact. Once overseas, projects include community gardening, English lessons, vocational instruction, and business classes.

Recently, Judy Zone began a new stage of life and retired from her position as executive director of the organization. She was formally replaced on May 21st of 2016 by a man named Justin Powell. Powell has been with Youthlinc since 2008, when he went on a trip to Thailand with the organization. He was drawn into the organization by his wife, who has been a participant in Youthlinc from its first trip. Since then, he and his wife have become progressively more involved. He says, “…we became, like, the people that had been on the most trips out of anyone, including Judy…” He went on his tenth international trip this summer.

“Frankly the reason I kept coming back for more and more Youthlinc was not because of the international experiences or that I got to see exotic places,” Powell says. “Really, what the joy was for me was working with the students and seeing the changes that come about.”

Youthlinc has experienced a lot of changes since its origin  and Powell has been a key figure in many of these. In the beginning of Youthlinc, he explains, there was a lack of structure and how many of the projects were not determined until after the teams had reached their in-country location. “Now there’s actually structures and committees,” Powell said.

One of the biggest changes he oversaw was the development of a key aspect of Youthlinc trips: cultural conversations. Cultural Conversations happen when a group of team members goes to visit a local family in their home in order to learn about each other’s lives and embrace both the differences and similarities. These came about when team members began to have conversations while working with locals. They talked and got to know more about each other, asking questions and exchanging information. Powell explains that “those were the most powerful experiences our team had” After this realization Youthlinc worked to implement the structured cultural conversations.

Moving forward, Powell says he has a lot of ideas to continue the ongoing improvement of Youthlinc as an organization. “I’m always looking for ways to improve everything we do,” he says.

One of his biggest incoming projects is the Global Community Leadership Program, which is focused on involving more college students in Youthlinc. “We’re maybe like, 65 to 35 percent high school versus college, maybe 70-30, but that’s not enough,” he says. “That’s not a lot of college students, there’s obviously something we’re missing out on with college students.” With the Global Community Leadership Program, college students would be able to earn college credit along with their international service trip. Each monthly meeting would consist of an academic class where students would be encouraged to critically think about some of the more complicated aspects of international service. These include asking whether or not their projects really help local citizens, if their efforts are worth the cost, and if they should even be involved in international service at all. “We really want them to understand what they’re engaging in so that they can be better citizens doing better actions to affect change here and abroad,” Powell says.

Youthlinc impacts countless lives, both abroad and at home. It gives locals in-country opportunities for development and improvement in their lives. Arguably, however, the impact on students is even more life-changing. “I really think it builds a lot of empathy for our students,” says Justin. This encourages students to continue in their quest to improve the world, fulfilling Youthlinc’s goal of creating lifetime humanitarians.

For more information, go to Youthlinc.org

By: Chris Oregon

Choosing what clothes to wear is something we all do on a daily basis. Some of us get ready for different occasions. This brings us to Jessica, manager for retail store Bastille.

Bastille is a high-end retail store with three locations; two located in Utah and one located in San Francisco. Bastille is a company that cares more about quality instead of quantity. Bastille may be smaller than other retailers but the impact they’re having in the fashion world in Utah is like no other.

Jessica’s coworkers always speak highly of her. That is just the type of person she is. She is straight-forward but she is always kind.

“Ever since I was a kid I always was interested in fashion,” Jessica says. She is one of those people who understand why we spend so much money on clothes. “I honestly don’t care what others think about the pricing of some of my stuff because I think I look good.”

“She is always smiling and she brightens up any room she walks into,” says one of her coworkers.

Working at Bastille gives Jess the opportunity to see how Utah is advancing in the fashion world. “People are starting to recognize these brands we carry and they know which brands are popular worldwide,” Jess says. “It’s so crazy seeing everyone from teenagers to middle-aged people wearing these clothes. All of this is good for us because we get to sell more and therefore we are able to get cooler stuff compared to other retailers,” she explains to me. “We like to give the people what they want.”

“If you were to go back, like, five years you would rarely see people buying high-end, expensive clothes like they do today. Nowadays you see people wearing a plain, black t-shirt that costs $85,” she says. “I get kids coming in here all the time asking when we are going to get new John Elliott stuff. That blows my mind because his stuff is really nice but simple. A t-shirt can run you $60 and a pair of his sweats are $185.”

“I love my job so much,” she says. “I get to help others look cool. I love the feeling I get when I help someone find what they’re looking for. Seeing them feel confident in new clothes makes me feel good.”

“Working here is so much better than other retail jobs I’ve had in the past,” says one of her coworkers. “Jess is just an awesome person to work with. We all feed off each other’s vibes and I feel like that helps our store in so many ways. We compete with other stores because of the stuff we carry but also with the workers we hire. You can’t get this type of help from very many stores.”

“I get to help choose what we carry in-store,” she says to me while explaining how they choose products. “I love that I get a say in what we carry. I love fashion and so do our customers so I get to choose what I like and what I think the customers will like. After all, it is always about the customer so we try to make them happy.” And that’s the kind of person Jess is. She genuinely cares about her customers. Jess wants to get to know her customers on a personal level. She cares more about the customer than making a sale and there aren’t very many places that give this type of service.

“Every day when I get ready I base it on how I’m feeling. I love clothes because it lets me express myself in ways that I can’t even explain. People will always notice your appearance so I like to make sure that I’m dressed well so I feel confident.” She tells me how she always loves to make a good first impression and one way she does that is by wearing the clothes she loves

“Fashion lets me be me. I can express myself however I want. Sometimes I feel like I can express myself better through my clothes,” says Jess. “I like to feel confident when I go anywhere and I get to do that with my clothes,” she says when explaining how fashions defines her. “Fashion lets me express myself in so many ways. It’s hard for me to describe myself and I think it’s the same with my clothes. One day I can be into dark clothes and have it fit baggy, and the next day I’m wearing brighter colors that are more fitted. You know what I’m saying?”

“So yeah, that’s how fashion defines me. It allows me to express myself. I get to feel confident and it allows for me to be me,” she says to me as we say our goodbyes.

Story by Kalyn Dewey

This kind of job in the hospital doesn’t require seeing blood and gore. It’s the perfect way to have a rewarding job that influences people as a life saver without having to deal with the typical hospital image. This is Kris Beldin’s job as a Corporate Manager in Public Relations for Alta View Hospital.

Kris Beldin is a graduate of Brigham Young University with a degree in Communications and an emphasis in Public Relations (PR). He finished school about ten years ago and has played many different roles in many different companies since. He started at a fairly simple job in the Draper region and has continued further in high tech, marketing consulting in the ARP lab, and then into different health care companies. Currently, he works 50 to 60 hours a week in the PR department for the Intermountain Healthcare region, which covers five different hospitals. These hospitals include the Intermountain Medical Center in Murray, Alta View hospital, TOSH, LDS Hospital and Riverton hospital.

We’re sitting in his office with a BYU flag adorning the wall. He laughs and nods his head often during our conversation. Multiple times throughout our interview, he says that this is the most rewarding job he has ever had. He also mentions that there are many people that you would never see, including him, that were a part of the invisible. He exclaimed how much he loves working with all these incredibly smart and talented people who you would never know were there.

Many people are unaware of what he even does as a PR manager for Alta View Hospital . In his specific area, he markets for the region. He communicates with clients and supporters both in and out of the hospital, and donates and contributes funds for running and bike races. He also donates to and advertises in schools, tech programs, and social programs. He is especially involved in internal and external communication and how to live the healthiest life as a community. He explains it like there are two separate ways in which he markets. The first is that the hospital wants to help the ones that are broken get fixed in the best and happiest way possible, and second, they want to help the community stay out of the hospital for as long as possible.

As previously mentioned, he has many projects that involve marketing as well. These activities include, but are not limited to, community races, social media, and schools. He is in charge of setting up, and helping with, any races and school programs they put on. Often times, he markets for them on Alta View’s personal Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages. Beldin also markets within the hospital to remind employees and patients to live the healthiest life possible.

He and his team recently made labels for animal crackers boxes and cans of chili that are available to employees at the hospital which encourages people to live healthier with the Intermountain Health Care logo on it. It’s these exact types of things that are creative and innovative which he says makes his job the most fun. He loves being able to creatively express himself in a way to better the community. More than once through the interview, Beldin looks me straight in the eye with a beaming smile and exclaims, “I’m passionate about what I do. I love what I do.”

How can someone work up to a position like Beldin’s? He suggests volunteering as much as possible with organizations that were associated with public relations. He mentions positions with The Red Cross, Make-a-Wish Foundation, and even the police force. He says to not be afraid of new experiences and to “never stop learning” even if it isn’t quite in the range of PR in which you want to be.

Alta View hospital takes at least one intern a semester in the PR department. They are always trying to help others feel the same reward and sense of love that they have for both the community and their job. Beldin mentions how much they love interns at the hospital because it is another way for him to help a life within the community. He also adds, with a laugh, that they usually only take BYU interns.

He gives two more pieces of advice that he says are most important. He explains that the two biggest skills in being a PR are to be flexible and to be a problem solver. Those are two things that you can’t learn in college, but that matter the most in this career, and most importantly, in life.

“Once you’re in healthcare, it’s about the satisfaction; the fulfillment it gives me,” says Beldin. “I can literally affect people’s lives every day. It’s about a personal commitment to doing good.”

John Jones on Cubby’s Chicago Beef

When I first met Cubby James, the 40 year old food truck entrepreneur I immediately knew he was a friendly guy. He reminded me of the many outdoor-loving people who live in Utah not to just look at the mountains. He was incredibly busy when I talked to him. To the website, Cubby’s is a “cute little sandwich and salad restaurant.” But from his success, his restaurant is anything but cute.

Cubby’s Chicago Beef has acquired a huge following for their consistent four and five star reviews and their amazing cheese fries in a “hipster” environment. You feel cool just by entering any Cubby’s restaurant, and as one critic said, “everything is so healthy!” Starting in the food truck industry, Cubby’s now has grown to busily managing five stores, but still finds time to go back to their food truck roots. He currently owns five stores in Utah; one on Thanksgiving way, in Lehi, another on Highland Drive, in Salt Lake City, his first ever on State Street in Provo, a more recent one in Taylorsville on 5400 South, and his last in Spanish Fork on 1000 North.

“Besides being a husband and a father, this is what I am… I’m 100% beef.” Cubby James encountered some hiccups along the way to starting his first business originally in Chicago. “Being an entrepreneur and a small business owner, you have to protect your business,” he recounted that once, “Chick Fil A had moved their construction fence closer to the stores so only about 20 parking spaces were open.” Sales were down 30% when he called the landlord and found out construction would last about a month. Cubby then called, threatening to buy 3 cars, Junkers, and put them against the wall to prevent them from moving into his parking stalls. He later said “Sometimes you do things you regret.” Cubby threatened on the phone to torch the wall and if they built it again he would torch their store. Of course Cubby wasn’t serious, so when the landowner of Chick Fil A called back questioning, “What did you say you would do if the fence was moved?” and Cubby texted “I said we should hang out sometime.”

Cubby said that there was a lot of stress involved in being an entrepreneur. One day you may think you have everything figured out and the next day something devastating happens, or you find out a hidden fee or that you need special permissions to do a certain thing in your business. “But if you’re passionate about something you have to go for it.”

Cubby talked about the importance of having someone to believe in you, and his wife filled that role. She always believed that he was able to be successful. He went through several jobs in the food industry working all over the country, trying to pursue his dream. His family always supported the belief that you can do anything. “I started Cubby’s because I got fired from every restaurant I worked at. And I decided the only way to keep the job is to start your own.” When Cubby told me that he worked in Chicago, I had the insights of a new entrepreneur constantly worried about his work, and having to deal with one of the most cutthroat business economies out there. It must not have been easy, and he must have learned a lot about failures and success along the way. But Cubby was a determined guy, who wasn’t willing to let the world tell him ‘no.’

A phrase that kept coming up in our interview was Cubby saying, “Just go for it.” Entrepreneurship seems to be, at least to Cubby, a career with a lot of risks and a lot of devotion. But like trying a new food or attempting a new sport, the awards were worth the risks. For example when Cubby was in Chicago, he introduced a salad to his menu, even though the salads weren’t a big thing. “If you believe in it, you have to go for it.”

Cubby commented on the entrepreneurial industry today is more successful when there is the prevalence of social media. Through social media, Cubby’s image of a cow, has been able to bounce around the Internet long enough to garner some attention and get a following. Cubby James seemed thinks that his business would not have been so successful without the presence of social media.

Being a patron at Cubby’s myself, I can tell you that his food worth every cent, and that you won’t meet a nicer guy than Cubby James. Since his success as an Entrepreneur, Cubby has since given presentations in Colleges like BYU, sharing how “Just going for it” is a key element for any Entrepreneur.

Story by Forest Smith

Birds are chirping and people are buzzing about the streets around McGillis elementary school as the sun shines down and reflects off its sparkling, freshly cleaned windows. I’m here to meet the man who cleaned them. Infinitely polite and always calculated David Dunn, father of seven and owner of 20/20 Window Cleaning explains how he got into the window cleaning business. It all began seven years ago when his father in law, a plumber, stopped by the house to visit Dunn’s wife. He had just come from a job and the house owner was looking to get her windows cleaned as soon as possible. After being laid off from two jobs in the financial services business within a year, Dunn said “Well, why not?”

Dunn buckled down, hopped on YouTube, and learned how to wash. He bought some supplies. Then he and his youngest son, Luke, who was 12 at the time and headed to his first window cleaning job ever. It took the father-son team three hours to complete the house and they got paid $110. David had been thinking about starting an entrepreneurial venture after his bad luck with his previous few jobs and there were plenty of mouths to feed at home. So he said “You know I think I’m gonna give this thing a crack”.

Initially he was wary, since he never had done manual labor prior it would be a change from the life of a salesman. As an exercise and sports science major, he says, “I never thought in a million years I would have a window cleaning business.” He persisted though and continuing to work with his son, left the cubicle and hasn’t looked back since. While cleaning someone’s home may seem like a dreadful task, Dunn has a long list of good things to say.

The best part of a job is when you get an instant reaction from your work, he says. Comments like “Wow, I can see again!” and “The windows look great!” make it all worth it. Dunn believes this goes for any kind of cleaning work and it’s amazing how you can truly brighten someone’s day by helping them improve their home. People are truly grateful for your work and it makes it enjoyable. Beyond that it’s fun and exciting to check out people’s homes, he adds. You get to see really nice properties and can get ideas on how to design your own home. You also get a peek into the life of the person’s house you are washing and it is very interesting to see what people have done with their lives, their style, culture, and beliefs. It makes it so at the end of every day you feel like you have learned something new and helped someone. Finally Dunn really enjoys being his own boss, instead of deadlines and profit margins you get to run on your own time and find a way to best suit yourself and your customers.

There’s a surprising amount variety that comes with window washing, and it is apparent in the wide array of window cleaning tools that he has at his disposal. There are so many things to do when you are washing windows, it makes for exciting work and there is no time to get bored. David uses the most recent advancements in window washing technology, such as water fed poles. Using deionized water as a squeegee these extendable poles range from five to fifty feet and allow you to clean second story windows without ever touching a ladder. This has allowed him to keep his team small but tackle very large jobs in a timely matter. This also maximizes profits by allowing him to fit more jobs in a day while still providing an amazing clean. After seven and a half years of experience it is clear to see that David has a system down and the results are great, but he is looking to expand.

“I never planned to do the work forever” he says. As a 48 year old window washing is becoming harder but his only complaint is a sore back or feeling extra tired. Dunn hopes to hire more workers and focus his efforts on sales, business and family. It hasn’t been easy to do, however. “I’m a little disappointed that it’s taken me this long,” he says. Dunn has high hopes though and doing very well with his two man team. He speaks highly of his time in college and how it made him a professional and allowed him to get to where he is now, even though he is not working in his field. “It’ll get there” he says optimistically. One of the nicest and most honest people I have ever met, David Dunn deserves all the luck in the world in his business venture.

By: Cicily Perschon

“We aim to WOW!” says Tami Mowen, owner and operator at Ruby Snap bakery. And they do. Mowen has a positive attitude and exciting personality that is part of what makes the company is so fun.

Ruby Snap is a bakery located on 770 South 300 West makes cookies with a 1940s theme, and each type of cookie has a woman’s name from that time period – Margo, Penelope, Suzie. The store resembles a boutique like shop, decorated like an airplane hangar with cement floors, and airplane nose décor. Nose décor in the 1940’s had many paintings of pin-up women. Ruby Snap was initially referred to as My Dough Girl for the female flyers who flew during the 1940s.

The goal of creating Ruby Snap was not to get rich Mowen explained, but to “get creativity out of my head into the public.” It is more of a “grown up hobby.” she said. Ruby Snap has successfully managed to establish its brand debt free. Tami cashed out a $10K IRA to start Ruby Snap. However advertising is difficult because most if not all the profits go back to capital equipment growth. Staying debt free takes time so they had to stay patient.

“Social media has been huge for us,” says Mowen. For a small business every post counts. Ruby Snap relies on the word of mouth: for the first 7 years of business there was no paid print advertising. Community involvement and donations are a way to promote. They also go to local farmers markets to spread the love of Ruby Snap. Many samples are given there, as well as in stores; they believe that giving samples gives you a guaranteed customer.

Ruby Snap has turned away Costco, QVC, Sprouts and Walmart as retailers for its cookies. Why? Mowen says to stay special and unique. She believes that she needs to trust her gut and so she has. Ruby Snap took 18 months to agree to Harmons and now they sell their freezer dough at Harmons neighborhood grocer. Tami says, “They are good mentors and provide a win/win scenario.”

Harmons has helped the bakery broaden their target audience because the take and bake option is more affordable. Typically their audience is the working professional that seeks quality over quantity.

Ruby Snap is working on becoming involved with many other high-end grocers nationwide such as Brolim’s in Idaho and Ajay’s in Arizona. However, they want their cookies to remain different and exciting.

Many people are dying to work with Ruby Snap. “Walt Disney World Florida loves our Lilly lemonhead cookie,” says owner Tami. They worked with Disney to find ways to make the frozen dough stay good during the journey to Florida. Ruby Snap then created the Lola cookie, which is a more sustainable lemon flavored cookie and can now be sold in Harmons as well as Walt Disney World.

To stay unique Mowen strived to make cookies with all fresh ingredients. She wanted Ruby Snap to be free of preservatives and different from your average cookie. Mowen then used fresh strawberries and peaches.

Hand crafted perfection is still a priority for Ruby Snap they make around 507 dozen cookies a day, which makes the hand processes very exhausting. The small company is striving to find a machine that will help create the magic. However they have discovered a Japanese machine that can accommodate to the way they make their special dough. This machine will create 507 dozen an hour verses a day. This machine is $100,000 so it is being saved for.

Ruby Snap has only been in business for 8 years. They are continuing to grow. Mowen has 9 children and loves family she puts her family first and wants her employees to do the same. Ruby Snap currently has 17 employees.

Tami is not all cookies she loves Bikram yoga, spoonfuls of peanut butter, modern furniture and boots. Mowen claims, “My only regret is not being a natural born graphic designer.”

Although Mowen is living the dream now and enjoying the joys of her creation it has not always been so easy. When Tami first started, Ruby Snap was known as My Dough Girls. Pillsbury believed it was too similar to their mascot the Doughboy. The new company chose to surrender and give up their name, then creating a new brand and calling it Ruby Snap maintaining the same1940s theme. Mowen believed that if she would have fought Pillsbury it would have not only taken a toll on her finances but also her family and progress. She wanted to make her dream reality “Being right doesn’t win the fight, succeeding and preserving wins the fight,” she says.

Ruby Snap has five core values: Genuine, Fresh, Destination, WOW and DIY. They are constantly striving for the “Disneyland experience.” Try the Penelope a peanut butter truffle dipped in chocolate perfection and it will defiantly be magical.

By Heilala Potesio

On the hillside straddling the border of West Valley City and unincorporated Kearns Township, residents will soon be able to enjoy a break away from work, chores, video games and television. The beautiful landscapes of the Oquirrh Mountains and the striking views of Kennecott’s tailings piles from the mines in Bingham and Barney’s canyons will encourage residents to engage in active recreation, and soon they’ll have a designated spot to do it: Lodestone Regional Park.

The future regional park will have lots of open grassy areas, playing fields and ball diamonds, pickle ball, tennis and basketball courts, separate playgrounds for little kids and bigger ones, pavilions and a perimeter walking path.

“The undergoing planning and construction of the regional park started since 2012 with the approval of salt lake county voters,” explained Mayor Ben McAdams in a conference.

The 62-acre park at 6170 W. 5990 South, is the first of three regional parks that was planned and is undergoing construction through a $47 million bond approved by Salt Lake County voters in 2012.

About $5 million from the bond has been devoted for the planning and construction of the Lodestone Regional Park, this development will help liven the Kearns township community. McAdams said, “It’s a great place for friends and neighbors to get together.”

Kearns Township has been growing with many settlements and homes being constructed near the new regional park. State Sen. Karen Mayne mentioned, “The planning of the park matches community desires. Look at the homes. Look at the growth. We need open space.”

The regional park will become a place for the common good, to bring people from the east and various locations in West Valley and in Kearns to enjoy one another’s company and play.

Since Kearns Township is a tight-knit community, the park will strengthen its community and provide an open space for many recreational activities. “My nephews enjoy playing football and lacrosse, this new park will be an open space for them to play with their teammates and friends,” said local resident Lelu Po’uha.

Developments for the Park

Utah is known for its beautiful mountains and landscapes, and many locals love to spend their time outdoors. Since 2012, voters have been more aware of this and they have noticed the importance of having their children play outside. Mayor Ben McAdams explained, “We live in a time when children are more acquainted with the internet and technology. We need to provide ways for children to be proactive!”

The development of Lodestone Park is to combat childhood obesity and promote recreational activity. The park is centered in an area by single family homes in an area that continues to grow. As families move into the area they will be familiar with the park and utilize it for their recreational needs.

“We have a growing need for this park and many members in our community will be benefit from it,” said Paula Larsen, Chair of Kearns Community Council. The council has played an important role as a voice for the Kearns Township community and working alongside government officials to help develop and implement the regional park.

The Kearns Community

Kearns is a very diverse community. It was the location for the former 2002 Winter Olympics, in which the township hosted some of the winter sports events. For many local residents, Kearns has been their home for many generations and a melting pot of various Hispanic, Pacific Islander, Asian and African cultures. As Paula Larsen said, “We are a prideful community! We come from different ethnicities and walks of life but we love our little town!”

The planning of the park has received positive reviews from local members in the community. “We have a successful little league football team and we have recently organized a lacrosse team,” said David Tongolei, local football coach.

“I am looking forward to this park to provide a new face of Kearns!” proclaimed Remi Eavenson, single mother and local resident.

“We need to liven up our little town! This regional park will attract more people from different places,” said Lelu Po’uha, local resident.

Lodestone Regional Park will become the new face of Kearns.

For more information:

Details of the park, master plan and planning: http://slco.org/recreation/planning/html/Lodestone.html

Article providing details on the bond projects: http://archive.sltrib.com/story.php?ref=/sltrib/news/56795055-78/county-lake-park-salt.html.csp

Parks and Recreations website and details on the master plan: http://slco.org/recreation/planning

By Sam Knuth

Along with nursing and (ahem) journalism, teaching is considered one of the noble professions. Years of intensive study that lead to long days of thankless, emotionally draining work and little pay. That pay is supposed to be made up for with the sense of satisfaction that comes from uplifting and progressing society by improving lives, training the next generation to be free thinkers, and speaking truth to power. The Utah State Board of Education has decided that one of the components that makes the profession of teaching noble is no longer required: the training.

On Friday, June 8, 2016, the Utah State Board of Education passed a new regulation regarding the requirements to become a teacher. This resolution establishes a new program called Alternative Pathways to Teaching (APT) to help address the teacher shortage. It is being billed as an attempt to remove the barriers between content experts and the field of education in order to address massive teacher shortage in the state. It allows for individuals with a subject-specific bachelor’s degree, such as computer science or history, to forgo getting education-specific schooling and jump right into the classroom. To make up for the lack of training at the collegiate level, the program assigns these new APT teachers a mentor for the duration of three-year training program.

A typical collegiate education program will have two main components: area content knowledge and pedagogy. A prospective teacher is expected not just to know the subject that they would like to teach, but to also be fluent in the best ways to transfer that knowledge to students. The education program will then typically involve an unpaid internship where they are put in charge of a classroom. This period of student teaching is meant to give students an opportunity to implement what they have learned in the classroom, hone their skills, and evaluate how they feel about getting into the profession.

As there is not an equal distribution of the teacher shortage across all subjects, this regulation is aimed at getting specific experts in the classroom. Utah is especially focused on recruiting STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) teachers.

Some, however, feel as though this regulation does not adequately address the root causes of the teacher shortage.

Jason Healy is a 30-year-old software engineer who earned his bachelor’s in Physics education at Utah Valley University, but did not purse teaching. While he is still passionate about education in his community, his starting salary as a software engineer is double that of a teacher. When asked about solving the teacher shortage, he said it comes down to money. “This is literally a problem that would be improved by throwing money at it.”

Healy’s opinions reflect a pessimistic view of the new regulation. As the turnover rate is already really high among people who have exposure to the thankless field of education, he explains, adding STEM professionals who could be making much more money in the private sector will only worsen the problem. He continues by explaining that by opening education to the larger market, conditions will worsen for teachers now having to compete for their jobs, and by extension Utah’s education system will only go downhill.

There are some who have a more optimistic outlook on the regulation. Chris Atkin, a 25-year-old English, teacher does not feel as though this new regulation will have much an effect. Atkin feels as though the system will still favor anyone with a teaching degree and have done their student teacher. Furthermore, Atkin said that the people who will go into education thanks to this regulation are people who would have gone into education anyways.

Both Atkin and Healy advise people considering going into education to be cautious and consider it carefully. Both seem to share the viewpoint that at the end of the day, it is going to be passion that gets a teacher through the arduous days.

The results of this new school board initiative remain to be seen. The new rules go into effect Aug. 7 for the 2016-2017 school year. This change was meant to address the fact that most teachers leave the field of education in their first five years. Hopefully we won’t have to wait that long to see if the change addresses the root of the problem.

University of Utah Sophomore student. Majoring in Communications and Psychology with a minor in Linguistics. My Intro to news writing communications class started me on this page to write what come to mind!

“Putting heads in the sand”

By: Dustyn Burt

As children in the dark when our minds would tell us there was a monster under the bed or in the closet, many of us would pretend it’s not there and eventually we would fall asleep believing the monster wasn’t there. This same metaphor could be said about the topic of sex education here in the United States. It is no surprise that sex is a very hush hush subject in America and could even be said more so in this state of Utah.

Condom demonstrations and consent lessons are nonexistent in lesson plans today. It takes two to have intercourse, not just a “yes” but a “hell yes”; without both consenting then that is rape. With so many more rape accusation and convictions most would think change and discussion on how to lead change in order to educate to keep rape from happening in the future. However, efforts are aimed at dismantling resource centers (Planned Parenthood) and telling students not to have sex but rather these have nothing to do with educating or preparing students.

Education systems used to talk about contraceptives such as birth control and condom use as well as giving the information on how to use the products to stay safe and healthy, in order for students to be prepared. Such as STIs (sexually transmitted infections), relationships and pregnancy as well as the options with pregnancy (abortions, adoptions and child care) are all good things to have a little background knowledge on.

There is a popular belief that if a child isn’t asking about sex and not exposed to the topic of sex they will not have sex. There is the unspoken thought among more conservative people that their kids wouldn’t have sex, or talk about sex. With that the minimal Sexual Education in the late 90s was explicitly telling students to abstain until marriage but still nothing about having a healthy sexual relationship with someone. There are more efforts put into scaring students and the public about sex rather that teach how to be healthily if one chooses to have sex.

This thought has been argued many times that teenagers and young adults are going to have sex if they want to or not despite if their parents agree or not. A 2010 national survey showed that more than 7 out of 10 teens hide what they do the internet from their parents.

Professionals in family psychology, sociology and resources such as Planned Parenthood that talking to their kids about sex is the best choice. This way teens aren’t turning to strangers on the internet, relying on the pornography industry as the basis to answer sex questions; even if awkward at least it is awkward with someone they trust.

The rise in pornography usage has been attributed to adolescent children looking up the sex questions they have online because their parents won’t talk to them and they don’t know who to ask at home or school. This is not shocking if we step back and look at it, that if a child can’t go to their parents in this era anyone turns to the internet to find the answers. What can start as a simple question that could be answered in a blog, the same question could pop up a link to porn videos, sexual photos or chat rooms.

Porn is like any other drug really and is addictive like any drug. Sex releases hormones that make us feel good; that’s why people have sex. It’s easy to see how an early to mid-teen going through puberty that already has huge amounts of hormones, can get addicted easily to something exciting.

When I asked a fellow millennial classmate and roommate of mine if he ever turned to the internet for sex questions. Parker Gibbons now 19 years old gave a slight chuckle at his response of “I googled how pregnancy works and how birth works when I was 12. I didn’t want a kid or to have sex I just wanted to know how the process worked”.

As I mentioned earlier it is just human nature to be curious and find answers. Which adds to concern with older generations because the younger generations are very good with technology. The best advice most professionals give is to be an open family by talking to each other judgement free and willing to listen to each other.

By Angel Cortes

The University of Utah draws a lot of international students and is a kind of the melting pot in the state of Utah. There are approximately 2,600 to 3,000 international students pursuing a degree at the U. According to Steven Burnett, International Student Advisor at the University of Utah, international students are welcome and are an essential part of the campus’s community.The University of Utah offers several programs to international students to help them to adjust academically such as, orientation and advising.

Cecilia Fernandez is an international student from Lima, Peru. She has been living in the United States for 15 years. Currently she is attending the University of Utah and working on her master’s degree in Health Promotions. Fernandez finds that the benefits of studying in the United States include greater opportunities for future employment and expansion of networking with individuals with the same career. She believes that to be bilingual helps people to have better chances of success in her employment field. She also finds that meeting people with diverse backgrounds has engaged her to have better experiences studying at the U.

Fernandez took advantage of the University’s resources to help her prepare for graduate studies, including deciding what field she wanted to study. She says the Marriott Library at the U has also been a great tool for research. One of the difficulties she faced coming to the educational system in the US. was the language barrier, “learning how to write in another language was a challenge, “she said. Another challenge that she found was the university’s expenses. She says that there are some scholarship for international students, but not enough.

Despite all the advantages and programs that the U offers to international students, they still face significant challenges since the first day that they arrive to the US. Burnett says, “It is [also] very challenging to go to the US. Embassy to get a student visa.” According to Burnett, many international students face cultural shocks when coming to the United States to pursue an education. Besides the language barrier and getting a student visa, international students need to follow guidelines to keep studying at the U.

Adapting to the US. educational system was not easy for Fernandez in the beginning. She mentions that studying and learning English was the first step. Studying to take and to pass the TEOFL was her priority and she devoted much time preparing for it. In contrast to taking classes in Peru, where the size of the classrooms was relatively small, Fernandez says that in the US, “The classroom were bigger in size and it was difficult to ask questions to the Professors.” She adds, “It was hard to feel part of a class because it was very big.” Fernandez also says that the classroom’s rules where stricter in Peru. She says, “In Peru you could not step out of the classroom.” In the United States she found more flexibility in classroom’s rules.

The University of Utah has a program for international students called International Student Ambassadors. Ambassador’s helps new international students to adjust to the life on campus and assist in orientations. Also giving support to these students with their first semester. According to Burnett ambassadors helps new international students to integrate here at the U. This promotes an environment of union between all the students that participates in this program. Burnett says, “Internationals students come to the U and later become ambassadors.” The U, in an effort to help international students integrate to the new and different environment, has created programs that gathers together these students and embrace them in one community.

For all the challenges that international students face in the US, the U provides programs and classes to help them out so that these students can integrate to the US. educational system. Fernandez enjoys working and studying at the U. In her experience working as a research assistant on campus Fernandez says, “They help me out to accommodate my class schedule with my work schedule.” Her goals are to finish a PhD and encourage Latino women to pursue an education. As an educational melting pot in the state of Utah, the U prepares international students to work and be successful like Cecilia Fernandez.

Resources for U of U International Students:

International Students and Scholar Services: The International Students and Scholar Services helps students and their families adjust to living in a new and different environment. http://internationalcenter.utah.edu/

International Students Ambassadors: This program engage globally –minded international students who are familiar with the Campus and Salt Lake City with incoming international students. http://internationalcenter.utah.edu/students/leadershipopportunities/ambassadors.php

International Students Resources: There are several resources that the U offers to international students to help them become acquainted with the community, meet local families, improve their English skills, and find a welcoming social environment. http://internationalcenter.utah.edu/students/life-at-the-u/resource

By: Samuel Barros

Quick facts on Trump’s mass deportation plan:

• Deporting 11 million immigrants would cost around $400 billion dollars.
• Trump’s mass deportation plan would separate 4.5 million children born in the U.S.
• Trump’s mass deportation plan would take 20 years to complete.

In the current presidential election, candidates have shown many different positions on the issue of immigration in the U.S. It seems like none of them has presented an immigration reform that would benefit both immigrants and Americans. In fact, what the republican nominee Donald Trump said he would do to undocumented immigration might be harmful to both immigrants and Americans.

Trump has a plan of deporting 11 million illegal immigrants. He has also made many negative statements on immigrants. According to the Newsday, on June 16, 2015, as Trump announced his run for the Republican nomination for President at the Trump Tower Atrium in Manhattan, he said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you. They’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.” Immigration to the Unites States is often the subject of significant public and political debate.

How many immigrants reside in the United States?

According to the Migration Policy Institute, the Unites States has more than 42.4 million immigrants, which represent 13.3 percent of the total population. Of the 42.4 million immigrants, 11 million are undocumented. Immigrants account for 17 percent of the total labor force in the country. In states like California, immigrants represent 58 percent of the agriculture work force. According to the Gallup’s 2015 Minority Rights and Relations Poll, 65.5 percent of Americans favor path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. Deporting 11 million people means losing 25 percent of all immigrants in the United States. It means losing people that are working and helping the economy grow. The point is that mass deportation would basically destroy the American economy.

What do people think about Trump’s mass deportation plan?

Garon Dayley is currently a real state investor who lives in Salt Lake City. Dayley has also worked many years in the construction industry in Utah and for many years he worked with undocumented immigrants here in the state. Even though he believes that most immigrants are hard working people that come to America looking for a better life, he believes that an immigration reform is needed, and Trump is the only candidate that will do something about it. He believes we need to control who comes into the country. “Some cultures bring bad habits to America and I don’t like that,” said Dayley. When asked about the mass deportation plan presented by Trump, Dayley said, “I don’t think he is going to do it the way he says, he is just going to make the rules of immigration more strict and he might deport some people, but not 11 million.’’ Dayley also mentioned that this mass deportation plan would probably tear many families apart, and that’s the negative side of Trump’s immigration plan.

Kyle Rehn is a senior at the University of Utah majoring in Economics. Renh thinks that mass deportation is a terrible idea. “Far too many immigrants play a critical role in our country, whether it is in their work, or helping support other jobs,” said Rehn. He also mentioned how immigrants bring a culture dynamic that enriches our country. “Whether it is new languages, food, or other cultural dynamics, we would be seriously missing on some great new things to learn from and grow,” said Rehn. It is unknown whether or not Trump will win the white house and deport 11 million immigrants, but some people believe that that all the negative statements that Trump has made about immigrants as well as his mass deportation plan have already created a strong anti-immigration feeling in the Unites States.

Mutsumi Yamasaki is an international student at the University of Utah, she is from Japan and she is majoring in communication. Yamasaki believes that even though the majority of people in the U.S are very nice and friendly to immigrants, she feels that there is an increasing hostile feeling towards immigrants in the U.S. “It is very sad that some people believe that all immigrants are a threat to the country,” said Yamasaki. Yamasaki agrees that some immigrants commit crime, but the majority of them, even them ones that come here illegally come motivated to work and benefit the American society.

Further information on Trump’s mass deportation plan:

https://www.donaldjtrump.com/positions/immigration-reform

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/us/politics/donald-trump-immigration.html?_r=0

http://www.newsweek.com/trumps-mass-deportation-plan-means-making-us-police-state-397250

http://www.newsweek.com/how-much-would-it-cost-deport-all-undocumented-immigrants-364316