Over a billion people worldwide walk up to 4 miles every day just to collect water. And even then it’s usually not from clean water sources. The 5th Annual Hach Walk for Water Saturday, May 5th on the CSU campus is trying to help change that by raising funds to build water treatment systems for […]

It came as a surprise, to me, to hear that child marriage is still a problem in western civilization. It surprised me even further to learn that it was all legal and the people who engage in it do so with the law on their side. Generally, the legal age of marriage in America is 18. However, every state has exceptions and allows under-aged marriages to occur regardless of age. These exceptions include parental consent, pregnancy and judicial consent. This has resulted in nearly half of the states in the country to have no minimum age for marriage.

I would hope most of us find that disturbing. The fact that we live in an America where a 12-year-old can marry a 40-year-old because a judge said it was cool by him should put off most people who see an issue with child marriage. The fact of the matter is that there is a system in place allowing adults to wed children, and it’s very easy to manipulate.

27 states do have some sort of minimum age requirement for their exceptions. They all range from 13 to 17 and prevent any marriage from taking place before then no matter the circumstance. It’s a step in the right direction and is leagues ahead of the 23 states that allow you to marry whoever you want regardless of age if you meet an exception. However, even with age restrictions in place the bending of rules allows fully grown adults to take advantage of children who will go into the situation and begin their lives as a spouse before they can experience life as an independent adult.

These exceptions to the 18-year-old minimum age only allow the adults who wish to marry these children a way to access them, even if through illegal means. One of the most popular exceptions is pregnancy. If a 40-year-old manages to get a 14-year-old pregnant, they can get married. This, despite statutory rape being illegal in America, if used to secure marriage, suddenly seems to make smooth things over within the justice system.

That’s why this year, in Florida, there is a proposed bill that allows marriage to occur at 17, but the difference in age between spouses can’t exceed two years. This way if childhood marriage is to happen, it happens to someone no younger than 19. We should strive to push for common sense and less exploitative marriage laws in America that protect children and ensure they can live lives that are not chained down by a marriage they were locked into before they could even pass their driver’s test.

The post Swanson: Child Marriage in America appeared first on Daily Utah Chronicle.

UCLA students and experts said a new bill that would limit when police officers are allowed to use deadly force is a good first step in reducing police shootings.

Law enforcement officers can use lethal force when they deem it reasonable. However, Assembly Bill 931, introduced by California State Assemblymember Shirley Weber last week, only allows law enforcement to do so when necessary. The bill follows the death of Stephon Clark, an unarmed African-American man who was fatally shot by Sacramento police officers in March.

Lizzie Buchen, a legislative advocate for the American Civil Liberties Union who is actively working on the bill, said under this new definition, law officers would only be able to use lethal weapons when there are no alternatives, such as de-escalation techniques.

“If there are other things they could have done, then deadly force is not necessary,” she said.

Buchen said legal experts and the Unites States Department of Justice under former President Barack Obama recommended the proposal in the bill as a solution to the high number of deaths caused by police personnel during Obama’s term as president.

“(The bill) did not come out from thin air,” Buchen said. “These are best practices recognized by top leaders in policing – it has been in the works for a long time.”

UCPD Lt. Kevin Kilgore said because the bill is not available in writing for public viewing yet, he is unable to comment on how it would affect policing within UCLA and the Westwood area. A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman declined to comment.

Mark Kaplan, a professor of social welfare at UCLA, said although the proposed bill would be a first step in addressing the high number of fatal shootings, he thinks there are other underlying issues that need to be examined, such as the prevalence of guns and racial bias.

“Cops are hypervigilant (because of the) widespread availability of guns and perception (that) they’re facing the risk of time,” Kaplan said. “There may be racial issues involved, too.”

Kaplan said available data shows the high number of deaths caused by law enforcement personnel is a problem exclusive to the U.S., since the rate in the U.S. is 10 times more than in Germany and three times more than in Canada.

“There are over 500 individuals who are at least reported to be shot or killed by police, but the number might be twice as high as that,” he said. “(Many) of these incidents go unreported.”

Kaplan added the U.S. has a high number of deaths caused by gun violence, compared to countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan.

“Societies might be as violent, but (other countries) don’t resort to (lethal forces),” Kaplan said. “What are they doing that we are not doing?”

Kosi Ogbuli, a second-year neuroscience and political science student and the vice chair of the Afrikan Student Union, said he supports the idea behind the bill because he thinks the current regulation governing when police officers can use lethal force is vague.

“The premise is sound in that not every situation demands an officer to be armed,” he said. “Reality has shown, and in recent events, that obviously officers being armed doesn’t necessarily correlate to their ability to do their job.”

Buchen said she hopes the bill will create safer communities by changing the legal standard and imposing stricter regulations on the use of deadly force.

“We are hoping to reduce the number of people killed by police every year,” Buchen said. “The bottom line is we’re trying to make communities safer.”

If legislators vote to pass the bill and the governor signs it, the new law would take effect Jan. 1.

49ers Baseball before the game. Photo by Chris Crews

Charlotte (16-16) snapped their six-game losing streak tonight against Charleston Southern (11-24) with a huge walk off winning 3-2.

It was a very competitive contest between the two teams, however Charlotte had some bad moments throughout the contest committing five errors.

Charlotte started off the game with a bang with Reece Hampton hitting the only home run of the contest in the bottom of the first. Harris Yett walked his first at-bat and advanced to second due to a wild pitch. Zack Smith followed up with a single to center field bringing in Yett making it 2-0.

Charleston responded in the third when Josh Litchfield hit a single and eventually scored due to multiple errors by Charlotte’s defense.

After a three inning drought, Charleston scored another run in the top of the seventh by back-to-back singles from Josh Asbill and Jack Delongchamps. Litchfield then scored Asbill tying the game 2-2 after the frame. Charlotte failed to respond in the bottom of the seventh.

The eighth inning set the stage of the ending with both teams playing tight defense and great pitching from both sides. Neither team managed to bring in a run bringing in the ninth inning with great angst. A great defensive play by third basemen Jackson Mims along the third base line started off the top of the ninth with a spark. Charlotte again shutout the frame with better plays on defense giving them one last chance in regulation to get the win.

All season long, the 49ers high-powered offense has helped them run up the score on their opponents. Now they needed to close the deal after this closely contested game. Hampton was first up at the plate to start off the frame. Hitting a single to right field kept the 49ers alive. Mims followed with his single to center advancing Hampton to second. Yett placed the nail in Charleston’s coffin with his deep shot walk-off to right center scoring Hampton for the win ending the night with the 3-2 victory.

Yett and Hampton were the heroes for the night with both players hitting twice throughout the contest. Charlotte utilized five pitchers during the contest. Philip Perry (1-3) got his first win of the season while Carson Pinkney, Colby Bruce and Matt Horkey had multiple inning stints combining for a .176 average and allowing only one run on six hits.

“I’m proud of our guys, ” 49ers coach Loren Hibbs said. “We had some really good at-bats there in the last inning and hats off to our pitching staff. They did a really, really good job tonight. We didn’t play very good defense and weren’t very good offensively, but or pitching staff picked us up tonight.”

The 49ers head on the road this weekend in the Conference USA to face the 25th ranked Louisiana Tech. Game one starts Friday April 13th at 7 p.m.

The Emory eSports “Overwatch” team, “The Bench,” started the opening day of the Tespa Spring Series strong on April 8 with a clean 2-0 slate. In compliance with the rules of the game, Emory did not drop a single map against teams from both Sheridan College (Wyo.) and Stevens Institute of Technology (N.J.). Each team squared off in a best-of-three series.

Senior team captain Peter “HEAT” Steinberg said that the team’s versatility and balanced skill levels could have contributed to their success.

“What’s interesting about the current team is that we’re well rounded,” Steinberg said. “Last year, we had two players who were a much higher SR [(skill rating)] than the rest of the team. But the team this year is around similar SR, so we don’t have to focus on keeping only two players alive.”

The first match of the day against Sheridan started on a control map, Oasis. Emory quickly established its dominance in the first round. Riding on their momentum, the team cinched the map in a decisive victory in the second round. Though Sheridan took control of the map after occasionally winning team fights, Emory ultimately finished on top.

Emory saw similar results on the next map, Hanamura, an assault map which the team opened on defense. Sheridan gained two points by running a quad tank composition, but Emory bounced back, switching to the attacking side and running their own solid quad tank composition. Sheridan captured only one point in the following round, while Emory won two additional points, ending the map with a score of 4-3 to seal the win.

To prepare for a match, Steinberg says the team researches other players’ profiles to gain a sense of the playing field and to predict their opponents’ moves.

“We played against two teams that had a lot of tank players, a lot of support players but very few [offense] characters,” Steinberg said. “But because they were forced to play off of what they normally do, we were able to sort of bully them and cause their team to fall apart.”

Emory’s second opponent of the day, Stevens, also failed to take a map from Emory. In the same vein as Oasis, the control map, Illios, ended with a win for Emory after two rounds, leading to the final map of the day, Horizon Lunar Colony, a two capture point map.

“Traditionally, maps that have been most defense-oriented, the ones considered to be two capture point, have been very tough in the past, but we are actively working on getting better at those,” Steinberg said.

Stevens was unable to bounce back after its loss on the previous map, and Emory notched another win, ending their run for the day without losing a single map.

Junior Sreesh “Valor” Sridhar called Stevens’ playing style “well rounded” but not as coordinated and focused as that of the Eagles. Callouts from designated shot callers allowed Emory to focus on specific targets, prioritizing high value members of the enemy team while ignoring players who did not pose an immediate threat.

“I think that was another thing that they could have done a bit better … protecting their supports, peeling for them,” Sridhar said. “I would just blink into the middle of their team and kill the Mercy. And with that, once you lose the backbone of your team, you kind of just get rolled and there’s nothing much you can do about that.”

Currently ranked 22 out of 286 teams on the leaderboard, Emory is preparing for week two of the Spring Series, which starts on April 15.

The post Emory Esports Sweeps Spring Series Opening appeared first on The Emory Wheel.

The breeze blew through oak tree branches and birds chirped in the midday sun, as the words of poets echoed against the outside walls of the Harry Ransom Center. Some people listened with their eyes closed, hands clasped and heads bowed as if in prayer.

“Poetry provides a way to experience your life in a different way,” English graduate student Annie Bares said. “It makes you think about things you might not have otherwise thought about at work or in general day-to-day life.”

The Harry Ransom Center celebrated the works of the poets of UT faculty with Wednesday’s Poetry on the Plaza event, where English associate professors Roger Reeves and Lisa Olstein read poetry to a group of about 30 people outside of the building in honor of National Poetry Month.

According to their official website, the Academy of American Poets was inspired by the successful celebrations of Black History Month in February and Women’s History Month in March, and decided in 1996 to dedicate the month of April to the celebration of poets and their work.

Olstein read poems that captured feelings and experiences from the past, like the collections in the Harry Ransom Center. She said words are like haunted houses that contain history.

Olstein said the month of April sparks discussion about poetry, opening doorways into the world of poetry and giving a chance for people to walk through. She said she wishes every month was National Poetry Month.

“I’ve always had the bug for language,” Olstein said. “I find it mesmerizing, soothing and stimulating. I turn to writing and reading literature to discover things, and to have new experiences and have my mind transformed by what other people think.”

Reeves said writing poetry is comparable to running because these activities allow him to cope with negative realities around him, such as race relations.

“It’s a way of you testifying and speaking back to the world that would sometimes have you believe that the day is ugly, or that you’re not beautiful,” Reeves said. “For me, writing poetry is a way to look in disapproval at what’s happening around me.”

Reeves said people who are confused by poetry should treat poems as an experience, such as listening to wordless music like classical or jazz.

“A poem doesn’t tell you how to arrive at everything like a manual or a cookbook,” Reeves said. “I think people should embrace their confusion. Clarity, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.”

Are you considering joining our team? As a member of the Avid4 Adventure staff, you’ll spend your days doing the outdoor activities you love—climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, backpacking—all while inspiring a new generation of intrepid adventurers and outdoors enthusiasts. It’s crazy fun, blissfully tiring and endlessly rewarding—no wonder our staffers tell us it’s the best […]

The University Senate unanimously voted to change departmental honors on campus at its meeting on Wednesday following recommendations from the Honors Task Force report last June.

Changes include eliminating departmental honors that are based solely on GPA and creating a regularly maintained document outlining all honors opportunities at the university that will be posted on the registrar’s website.

These changes will be in effect by fall 2019. Seniors graduating this spring will not be affected by this change.

The changes to the GPA-based honors come after inequalities between different departments’ honors. For example, a sociology major at UO needs a 3.4 cumulative GPA, where a biology major needs a 3.3 GPA in upper division credits and an intensive research thesis to receive honors.

Departmental honors are separate from university-wide honors. The Senate also voted to standardize the GPA for earning university-wide honors to be consistent across all quarters of an academic year.

These changes will be in effect by fall 2019 and the academic council will continue working to make more changes to be in effect as the policies are clarified, according to Senate president Chris Sinclair.

Follow Hannah Kanik on Twitter: @hannah_kanik

The post University Senate vote to remove departmental honors based solely on GPA appeared first on Emerald Media.

Are you considering joining our team?

As a member of the Avid4 Adventure staff, you’ll spend your days doing the outdoor activities you love—climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, backpacking—all while inspiring a new generation of intrepid adventurers and outdoors enthusiasts. It’s crazy fun, blissfully tiring and endlessly rewarding—no wonder our staffers tell us it’s the best summer camp job they’ve ever had.

Here are a few of our favorite reasons to work for Avid4 Adventure this summer:

1. AWARDED “BEST PLACE TO WORK” BY OUTSIDE MAGAZINE

Each year, Outside Magazine recognizes the top 100 companies in the United States that help their employees strike the ideal balance between work and play. Avid4 Adventure was recognized as one of the Top 100 Best Places to Work in 2017. According to Outside, “Some companies go beyond kegerators and ping-pong—from unlimited vacation time to powder days, these are the places that know how to treat their employees.” Avid4 Adventure was ranked #3 for our perks, which include an annual paid month-long sabbatical to travel, in addition to an annual all-expense-paid trip to Moab to hike, bike, and climb in the desert (see more perks below).

2. SERIOUSLY AWESOME PERKS

We want our staff members to be able to live and breathe the outdoor lifestyle they teach. That’s why we offer competitive pay, which increases as you spend more time with us and earn more certifications, and a whole batch of awesome perks designed to support staying active all year long. We believe that this is more than just a summer camp job; it’s about developing outdoor professionals and stewards. Here are just a few perks that along with that…

• Pro Deals!

• As a part of the Outdoor Education industry, our staff are eligible for major discounts on outdoor gear after 30 days of employment with several top companies like Outdoor Research, Diamondback, Smartwool, Big Agnes, Kelty, Scarpa, La Sportiva, Yakima, Chacos, Smith, Yeti, etc.

• Free access to Avid4 gear!

• We pride ourselves on using high quality gear for our camps. We provide all staff with access to use our gear during non-camp hours.

• Reimbursements!

• Public Transportation – all staff are eligible for public transportation fare reimbursement to and from work.

• Up to $50/year on race registrations for any races that involve our core sports – biking, climbing or paddling.

• Volunteer hours!

• If you have a non-profit you love that supports our mission and you volunteer for more than 5 hours in a year, we will donate $25 the organization.

• Professional Development!

• Live Smart(er) is a way of life here. Throughout the year, we offer multiple professional development opportunities for our staff to gain more knowledge in our core sports and business-related topics through field training days, webinars and optional meetups after camp.

Returning Staff are eligible for even more perks… including:

• Adventure Grant

• Each year, Avid4 Adventure awards an Adventure Grant to one returning staff member by providing an opportunity of a lifetime: one roundtrip ticket anywhere in the world plus an additional $500 stipend for their dream adventure! Last year our winner, Katie Riley, chose to travel to New Zealand to hike, bike, paddle and ride horses through it’s National Parks.

• Ethan Gillett Scholarship Fund

• In 2016, we began a scholarship fund after losing one of our dear staff members that truly embodied the Avid4 Adventure mission. The fund honors his passion for the outdoors and continuous education. Each season, we award one of our returning staff with the tuition for an AMGA SPI certification course and one returning staff with tuition for a Wilderness First Responder course.

• Specialized training certification reimbursement

• Avid will reimburse returning staff $100/year on certifications for advanced climbing, paddling, biking or Leave No Trace.

Ready to apply already?

3. FANTASTIC TRAINING AND SUPPORT

It is not a requirement that you are expert in all of our sports, but we are looking for a solid foundation in several of them and experience in the backcountry. Our pre-camp staff training (and yes, training is PAID!) covers many of the skills you will teach throughout the summer. Topics will include:

• Youth development strategies

• Risk management

• Learning age group characteristics

• Team building

• Facilitation skills

• Leadership techniques

• Adventure sports teaching

• Backcountry skills and much more!

Of course, staff training is also about bonding and having FUN, and becoming oriented to one of our incredible camp locations you’ll call home for the summer. Throughout the summer, team development continues through regular meetings to discuss areas for program improvement and strategies to ensure campers grow and have the most intentional learning experience at camp as possible.

4. UNBELIEVABLE COMMUNITY AND CULTURE

Joining our staff means joining a community of insatiable outdoor adventurers. All year long, our team’s communication channels are buzzing with plans and invitations for climbing expeditions, camping trips, day hikes, bike races, happy hours and all kinds of other cool stuff—all from like-minded outdoors addicts, ready for their next adventure. Here are the Core Values the Avid4 Adventure Team lives by:

• Live Fun

• We believe that being outdoors creates joy. We support kids and teens, their families and our peers to adventure exuberantly out in the world.

• Live Environmentally Connected

• We create environmental stewards. We walk our talk by minimizing the environmental impact of our programs, teaching Leave No Trace principles and environmental consciousness.

• Live Truth

• First we listen. We notice other people’s uniqueness, goodness and successes and speak of them. We express gratitude. We have meaningful conversations.

• Live Smart(er)

• We are committed to training and development. We track and advance campers’ skills and support our staff to develop technical outdoor and business expertise.

• Live Gratitude

• In times of success and through times of challenge, we remain grateful.  We say “Thank you!” for things both large & small. We try to value all areas of our lives and bring a sense of gratitude to all aspects of work and play.

• Live Empowered

• First we ask, “What would you do?” We are confidence builders. We trust others to make good decisions, give them opportunities to lead and encourage positive risk taking.

• Live Balanced

• We bridge the passion we have for work with the passion we have for the outdoors, community, family and ourselves, deliberately allocating meaningful time for each.

• Live Community

• We create connections. We work, play and volunteer together, inspiring growth through shared adventure.

We bring adventure to both campers and staff alike. You could even say we’re Avid4 it. We treat our staff like family, and we’d love for you to be a part of it. Check out our California summer camp jobs, and see if it’s a great fit for you!

WHAT OUR STAFF HAVE TO SAY ABOUT WORKING FOR AVID4 ADVENTURE:

• “At the end of the day when it’s all said and done, everyone is there for to serve the kids. It doesn’t matter what position you are your end goal will always be making kids smile and giving them the best summer experience possible.”

• “I like how Avid4 builds a community within each camp and geographic area. The emphasis on work/life balance means that staff are empowered to work hard at camp and then go play with their friends (fellow staffers) afterward. From equipment sharing to happy hour to Director of Fun activities, Avid4 supports the best kind of relationship building, which fosters the love of outdoor education and adventure that staff come in with – it is nurtured rather than exploited, and that makes Avid a truly wonderful place to work!”

• “I got to instill in kids something that I had to discover on my own at a much later age. I get to pass on my passion for the outdoors to youth at such an early stage in their life, which is an extremely exciting aspect of working for Avid4 Adventure. Also the skills clinics we’re a sweet opportunity for me to develop my skills.”

• “I absolutely love that Avid4 Adventure has core values that the company actually tries to uphold throughout the year. They aren’t just written down, but you really live them throughout the summer.”

• “I really appreciated getting paid extra for camp because of my certifications. That made it feel that Avid4 valued me. I also appreciated getting to borrow gear for weekend use, I definitely took advantage of that. Also the reward of seeing kids ride bikes for the first time. I never got tired of seeing parents freak out over their kids pedaling a bike!”

• “The best aspect of working for Avid4 Adventure was the community and family I developed within Avid. It was difficult moving to an area where I did not know anyone, but Avid quickly helped me feel comfortable and at home with new friends.”

Your best job ever is just a few clicks away. Use the drop down menus below to search positions by team and location or scroll down for our full list of openings. Click on any job title to see a detailed description, including information about how to apply. Interested in multiple positions/locations? You only need to fill out one application and we can chat about all jobs! Click here to learn more.

Brian Savino/Contributing Writer

Sun In My Belly is famed for its brunch options, with savory selections ranging from meatloaf to pimento cheese omelettes and traditional choices like biscuits and grits. But on April 5, 6, 12 and 13, the brunch spot has partnered with Japanese street food pop-up Ok Yaki, which aims to introduce authentic Japanese food to Atlanta, for a refreshing new taste.

Telltale Japanese banners hung outside Sun In My Belly and served as a guide for my friend and me when we arrived. Inside, the chef’s table — where they cook the Japanese cuisine in plain sight —  sat prominently in the front of the squeaky clean restaurant. Blue-tinted lighting complemented the cool tones of the neatly aligned abstract modern art. Classic songs, including  “Here, There And Everywhere” by The Beatles and “Death Of A Clown” by The Kinks, played softly on the speakers. Plain wooden chairs and tables lined the floor and because of the restaurant’s simplicity, nothing distracted diners from the Ok Yaki chef’s table; restaurant-goers could stare, mesmerized, as Japanese cookery ensued.

The menu was simple, consisting of four entrees, including yakisoba (stir-fried noodles topped with protein and vegetables, including cabbage and onion) and sides, including hiyashi kyuuri (a Japanese dashi pickle). After a short question and answer session with our waitress, we were ready to order.

My friend and I opted for teppanyaki (small pieces of melted cheese mixed with various vegetables) and the okonomiyaki combo: a Japanese pancake nestled atop thin noodles with cabbage, Japanese barbecue sauce, seaweed flakes, a choice of protein and other tasty ingredients. The teppanyaki appeared to exhibit ideal cheese-to-vegetable proportion. However, I found myself chewing the cheese a while after I’d swallowed the vegetables, which diminished the combination of flavors — melted cheese, cabbage and soybean oil — that should have been present.

The okonomiyaki, on the other hand, was near perfection despite its simple appearance. When I took a bite, I experienced flavor combinations I never could have imagined. The vegetables balanced the sweetness of the Japanese barbecue sauce, and the noodles melted in my mouth. The chunks of steak were small enough to eat with the dish’s other ingredients but packed big flavor. Everything blended together seamlessly. The portion was more than enough to fill both my friend and me.

Prices were more than fair; main dishes cost $7 for a small size and $12 for a large, while side dishes ranged from $3 to $7. Additionally, customers could order combo dishes at $17 for two people. We also received fantastic service; our waitress answered all of our questions and guided us through the beverage menu, indicating personal and crowd favorites including the bamboo fizz: a sweet, alcoholic beverage.

Ok Yaki’s phenomenal Japanese cuisine paired with Sun In My Belly’s cozy setting and fantastic service made for a night to remember. It is rare to find a pairing that works so seamlessly, but this one certainly hit the mark.

4.5/5 stars

The post Ok Yaki Fries Up Japanese Street Food appeared first on The Emory Wheel.