While aging currently coincides with a myriad of chronic health conditions — thanks to Dr. David Sinclair’s lab at Harvard—age may soon really be just a number.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently announced a complete list of federal grants that “will address infrastructure barriers that limit mobility, access, or economic development for communities across the country.” From the “Reconnecting Communities Program,” Virginia received a total of $2.95 million in grant-based funding that will be awarded between the cities of Richmond and Norfolk. The state’s capital will secure $250,000 less than Norfolk.

One of forty-five such cities to be selected by the program, Norfolk will receive $1.6 million to specifically address a “spaghetti bowl” of fourteen lanes, ramps, and interchanges on a stretch of I-264. Norfolk’s award is predicated on planning solutions rather than applying capital to the process of construction and demolition. 

The U.S. Department of Transportation stated that “I-264’s retroactive placement in downtown Norfolk cut off Black neighborhoods, public housing communities, and anchor institutions from downtown opportunities that include job centers, educational hubs, transportation resources, and cultural institutions. The legacy impacts of [the highway] are still felt today in the form of high unemployment, high poverty levels, and low educational attainment.”

Norfolk’s grant coincides with a Feb. 16 executive order “directing agencies to

advance racial equity and support for underserved communities, including through federal actions that strengthen urban equitable development and expand economic opportunity in rural communities.” 

Richmond’s funding will be used to plan the “Reconnect Jackson Ward” project that will redirect a freeway that cuts through a historically black neighborhood listed in the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. 

All funding for the listed awards comes from President Biden’s recently passed “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” which originated in 2021 Congress sessions as the “INVEST in America Act.” Introduced as a nearly $550 Million addendum to the Congressional Budget, the “BIL” now encompasses about $1 trillion that’ll be spent over the next eight years. 

Norfolk listed “traffic studies, surveys, an Interchange Access Report, a feasibility analysis, preliminary design and engineering, a permitting analysis, and cost estimation” as the grant’s primary usages. 

The local government ensures that any decisions made will be “informed by community engagement.” 

The Boston University women’s Basketball team lost 66-61 against Holy Cross in the Patriot League final on March 12.

Think back to your days in elementary school. Do you remember when your teacher would ask students to pick up trash off the floor? I remember it being a competition: who could find the biggest piece of trash? Who could pick up the most pieces? Who could find the weirdest thing?

Grade-school teachers work to instill a sense of responsibility in their students. From helping tidy classrooms to writing thank you notes to janitors, our generation grew up respecting the cleaning crew and helping keep our schools clean.

But as we’ve grown up, something has since shifted.

“As you get older … saying thank you to your janitor is not really enforced by the people around you,” said Anthony Crop, a part-time janitor and full-time student at the University of Utah. Having worked in both elementary and higher education as a janitor, he experienced the shift from thankful little kids to thankless adults.

Crop’s janitorial job provides him with the finances he needs to get through school. Crop is studying Spanish and is considering becoming a Spanish teacher. However, when other students find out he is currently working as a janitor, their questions become intrusive: “Is being a janitor what you want to do for the rest of your life?”

These invasive questions, coupled with disrespect based solely on his position as a janitor, make Crop an unsung campus hero.

“Being a janitor anywhere … if you get zero feedback, that means you’re doing your job really well,” Crop said. “Your goal is to go unnoticed. … If people say something, it’s because something’s messy, or a job isn’t getting done.”

Unsurprisingly, it’s hard to go every day without recognition and thanks for your hard work. As a result, Crop, as well as other janitors, have had to create joy for themselves. While Crop admitted he may have been the “cool janitor” at the elementary school he worked at, he spent more time talking about his own elementary school’s cool janitor, Mr. Mendoza. Crop’s cool janitor wore a cowboy hat every day, blasted his music through the halls after school and never, ever failed to give passerby a fist-bump.

Now, working on a campus with thousands of college students, Crop’s work is the same, but his experience is completely different.

The U’s campus hosts thousands of students every day. It’s no surprise that it gets dirty and messy, as it takes time and effort to keep the campus clean and safe. Crop and the others who maintain our campus are often ignored and disrespected.

An example: nail-biters. As Crop does his rounds, he finds little piles of chewed-up fingernails throughout his shifts. While he theorizes that these piles of fingernails stem from student anxieties, it’s no excuse to leave them lying around. I’m not bashing your nervous habits, but if you’re going through that much trouble to make a pile of your fingernails, perhaps placing them in the garbage can is time better spent.

Another example: Kahlert Village. This housing complex is home to property damage, vandalism and first-year students. This destruction of property is intentional, immature and disrespectful to those working to keep campus housing safe. Treat the places we are privileged to use (and the people who clean and maintain them) with the same respect that you would treat the home of someone you love.

People like Crop — people who work hard to keep campus clean and safe for students and staff to use — do the work no one else wants to do, and they do it all without recognition for their efforts.

The next time you scatter crumbs from your morning bagel, clean them up. The next time you spill your coffee, inform a janitor. But most importantly, the next time you see someone cleaning your classroom building, dorm, library or wherever it may be, say thank you.

Don’t perpetuate the culture of disrespecting janitors. It’s time to do more, clean up after yourself and say thank you.

m.vanwagenen@dailyutahchronicle.com

@maddievanwag

Last time the Gophers and Michigan State played, the Spartans converted the first nine out of 10 shots on-goal, leading the Gophers 2-1 in the second period before allowing 5 unanswered goals. The Big Ten Semi Final match on Saturday was quite similar.

Returning from a well-earned bye week, one would’ve expected a sleepy start from the Gophers. On the NCAA tournament bubble and fighting for their season’s livelihood, one would’ve predicted a spirited start from the Spartans. That’s exactly how this game began.

Michigan State was initially gifted a rare “elbowing” powerplay as Logan Cooley’s arm made contact with Jagger Joshua’s mouth. The Spartans capitalized on that buffer by taking the first lead of the game. Jeremy Davidson rang home a one-timer from the left crease.

Michigan State outraced Minnesota for the better part of the opening period. They jumped out to 11-3 shots on goal advantage, peppering Gophers goalie Justen Close. It wasn’t until Minnesota’s first powerplay, off of a blatant trip on Rhett Pitlick, when the team and crowd erupted.

Jaxon Nelson, who previously almost netted a shot in front of the Spartans goal off a great feed from Bryce Brodzinski, was successful the second time around in the same location. Matthew Knies found him in a wide-open position during Minnesota’s first powerplay opportunity.

From there on, the Gophers never looked back and finally got their in-game caffeine from the re-energized crowd. With two minutes remaining, fourth-liner John Mittelstadt slotted in his third goal of the year, and Michigan State lost all of its initial momenta heading into the first intermission.

“That was probably our best [stretch of the game],” said head coach Bob Motzko. “That last part of that first period … there were about three or four plays where we started using our speed to get things going, and we fed off that.”

The gas pedal was still in full throttle from the Gophers in the second period. Aaron Huglen, who has quietly been one of the biggest glue guys on offense this season for Minnesota, slapped in a rebound from Cal Thomas to extend the Maroon and Gold’s lead to 3-1 over Sparty. Sieve chants cued for Dylan St. Cyr, who has had major issues in-net versus Minnesota this year.

Halfway through the second period, Minnesota tied the Spartans with 17 shots apiece, a far cry from their sluggish start.

In the final period, Cooley pulled a goal out of his magic hat of absurd shots. In late November, he completed “The Michigan” lacrosse-style shot against Arizona State. Saturday, he missed a shot on-goal high on the glass, but the puck banked off the boards and bounced off the back of St. Cyr’s pads into the goal.

Cooley continued to spartan-kick Michigan State’s season off the NCAA tournament bubble cliff with four minutes remaining by corralling a puck all alone in their zone and sliding through an empty netter. Minnesota would win 5-1 with Close masterfully saving 29 of 30 Spartan shots on net.

With the No. 2 seed Michigan Wolverines blasting the No. 3 seed Ohio State Buckeyes 7-3 in Ann Arbor, the stage is set for a rematch of the 2022 Big Ten Tournament Championship. The game will be televised on the Big Ten Network next Saturday at 7 p.m. Central Standard Time. The Gophers are 3-1 this season against the Wolverines.

“Just up and down the lineup — they’ve got skill everywhere,” Gophers defenseman Mike Koster. “They got D that can get up and in the rush too, so obviously it’s a very exciting hockey game when we play them.”

Saturday marked defenseman Ryan Chesley’s first hockey game since Chesley injured his wrist against Wisconsin a month ago.

“Kinda crazy — I don’t think he missed a beat,” said Motzko on Chesley’s play. “He’s just a whale of a competitor.”

Forward Garrett Pinoniemi also saw in-game ice time. The last time he laced up the skates was against Penn State on Feb. 18, a week after suffering an upper-body injury in practice.

“I love playing with Pino,” said Mittelstadt, Pinoniemi’s linemate. “He’s so smart and plays the game so well. We just have great chemistry playing together all year.”

During that same week of practice, star defenseman Jackson LaCombe also went down with an injury to his lower body. Motzko said postgame the Hobey Baker nominee was a close decision to sit against Michigan State and will likely return next week.

The growth of the manosphere has prompted concern across the globe. The manosphere is an online community that promotes traditional masculinity, along with misogyny and violence against women. As a result, we often frame conversations about masculine online spaces to emphasize their danger to women. However, these growing communities, which target mostly young men, also illuminate a crisis among them.

Young men seek community and purpose but struggle to find it. This leaves them vulnerable to manosphere creators shilling pyramid schemes, life coaching and bad podcasts. The extreme misogynists behind the manosphere are not the root of the problem: a lack of community is. In the Salt Lake area, Jacob Mader has created a space for young men to build a healthy community through his project, the Unsupported-Support Group.

A Crisis for Young Men

Young men face unique struggles in today’s economic landscape. Men feel pushed to the sidelines of the economy due to a number of changes, from an influx of women in the workforce to a reduction in male-dominated fields, according to an NPR article about the book “Of Boys and Men.” In some cases, their role as family providers has become less necessary as women have become more economically independent.

Looking past the economy, many young men also encounter social hurdles. Men are socialized to avoid talking about their feelings, which can lead to a lack of emotional intimacy with those close to them. Some young men face problems in dating as well, as singles today prioritize emotional vulnerability in relationships, something men are still socialized against. This all contributes to feelings of loneliness, with men reporting greater loneliness than women and less emotional support from friends.

These challenges stem from changing expectations around gender. Despite gender roles shifting in recent decades, our culture still enforces traditional expectations of men and women. Society still teaches men to be strong, stoic providers, but the pathways to and need for that have been largely erased. This leaves them feeling isolated and left behind.

That isolation sets the foundation for manosphere creators to form male communities centered around misogyny. Nonetheless, even when young men don’t engage with the manosphere, the isolation they experience still causes harm.

Loneliness correlates to increased rates of suicidal ideation and suicide. In Utah, we know the effect suicide can have on our communities. Suicide was the leading cause of death among 10-17 and 18-24 year-old Utahns in 2020. What’s more, from 2019 to 2021, men had a higher suicide rate than women in every age group.

Men are struggling in our country and our state. Creating healthy communities for young men is critically important. Mader’s Unsupported-Support Group offers not only a space but also a blueprint for how to build community among those feeling isolated.

Grassroots Community Building

On the the Instagram for the Unsupported-Support Group, Mader explained he felt compelled to make a space for young men after experiencing personal loss and acting as a sounding board for people in his own life. The project started simple, with a plan to offer a space for young men to meet and talk. Even looking at the Instagram page, you can see some of this simplicity. There isn’t branding, official logos or organizational backing. There’s just an offer to create community for young men who need it. Mader explained that this is somewhat intentional. He hopes that in reaching out to other young men with “authenticity and vulnerability,” they’ll feel open to giving those things as well.

Mader also explained why he wanted to create a space for young men specifically. He referenced how men feel pressured to be “stoic and handle things” while simultaneously acting as someone to “lean on,” but they often don’t have spaces to open up and talk. He wants men to have a community to talk and share feelings so they can bear the burdens in their lives.

Mader’s model for building community resonated with me, even though it wasn’t built for women, because its grassroots style could be emulated by anyone feeling lost. I’ve felt isolated in my own life, and I know many people my age feel the same. Gen-Z has been dubbed “the loneliest generation” because more than half of us report regularly feeling lonely. Mader told me “I don’t own support groups,” and he doesn’t. Those of us feeling lost or isolated should build or seek out communities where we can engage with people in real life and find emotional fulfillment. We all deserve spaces where we feel supported. Sometimes it just requires taking the leap to do it.

k.cushman@dailyutahchronicle.com

@cushman_kcellen

The markets woke to inclement weather Friday as a deluge of investor pullbacks signaled the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and the biggest bank breakdown since the Great Recession of 2008. 

SVB was a key lender to early-stage businesses, partnering with nearly half of all United States venture capital-based startups. Multi-billion-dollar companies such as Roku, Roblox and Circle have described uncertainty in their ability to recover their cash from the bank, and online megastore Etsy has warned sellers it will not be able to process payments.

For Cindy Yang, a sophomore majoring in business, economics and religion, the news came as a surprise because she had interviewed to join the bank just last week. 

“I had the interview with them last Friday,” Yang said. “and I read the news today — in exactly a week [we’re] seeing the fall of SVB. I just thought it was such a coincidence.”

SVB shares plunged more than 60% Thursday in the biggest one-day drop on record before its activities were shuttered by regulators at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Some $175 billion in customer accounts were taken over by the regulators, who will try to return money to the bank’s customers. While the FDIC insures a maximum of $250,000 for each of the bank’s customers, regulatory filings from December 2022 indicate that more than 95% of the bank’s deposits were uninsured, triggering calls for government intervention.

The firm was scrambling to raise money to reduce the $1.8 billion loss it incurred from assets it sold which had been negatively affected by the Federal Reserve’s consistent interest rate hikes that have characterized an inflationary economy since March 2022.

When inflation was relatively lower, SVB maximized the low interest rate environment such that venture capitalists’ deposits into the bank quadrupled between 2017 and 2021, as California’s technology industry boomed. To build on these deposits, the bank made large-scale investments into mortgage bonds and treasuries, but did so at their peak price. As venture capital fundraising dried up in 2022, SVB’s clients ran down their deposits, but it was unable to pay them back.

Rodney Ramcharan, professor of finance at the Marshall School of Business, said the crux of SVB’s issues was “a lack of diversification.”

“The Fed, a year ago, began to telegraph that it would be raising interest rates. Any reasonable risk manager understood that bond prices were going to be falling in the next year [and] interest rates going up,” Ramcharan said.

The collapse of the California-based bank sent shockwaves through the banking industry domestically and internationally. U.S. banks have lost over $100 billion in stock market value as the events of the last two business days have transpired, with European banks losing a further $50 billion in value. 

Ramcharan harked back to the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s, wherein the financial sector suffered a meltdown surrounding smaller banks, and the “S&L sector was completely decimated.” Many banks “with exposure to the tech sector are going to experience some problems,” Ramcharan said.

SVB’s tribulations coincided with the abrupt shutdown of Silvergate, one of the largest banks that dealt in cryptocurrency. With industry heads such as Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen fostering confidence in the resilience of banking but still monitoring the crisis “very carefully,” only time will tell how deeply incorporated the industry is to SVB’s dealings, said Romain Ranciere, professor of economics and chair of the economics department.

“Typically, what the Fed does is some stress testing,” Ranciere said. “It takes some time, you have to find the right scenario. In two or three weeks, there will be a clear idea.”

Across the U.S. banking system, there exists a total of $18 trillion in commercial bank deposits, of which it is estimated just $10 trillion are insured. Despite this creating some concerns that there will be a run on banks by uninsured depositors, something that might exacerbate SVB’s issues and turn it into a systemic one, Ramcharan said that he believes the SVB fallout to be a “localized event.”

“I don’t think that, as of [Friday] morning, there has been a massive line of people trying to get their funds out of these big banks [such as Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase],” Ramcharan said. “I think even during the financial crisis, it was not the case that these very big banks faced an exodus of funds.”

The deposits are solid as long as people trust you. … One thing that SVB said: ‘Don’t panic.’ If you start saying, ‘Don’t panic,’ I think that’s the best way to trigger a panic.

Romain Ranciere, professor of economics and chair of the economics department

Ranciere also said he believed large scale bank panics were a far-off prospect, citing changes in the makeup of the banking industry since the Great Recession, when financial institutions such as Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers hit trouble. To date, the fall of Washington Mutual in 2008 remains the only bank failure whose size dwarfs that of SVB.

“Now, it’s a bit of a different model. There is no model of merchant banks that have no deposits and finance their entire balance sheet on the short term money market, so I think this type of vulnerability doesn’t exist anymore,” Ranciere said.

However, big-name investors — such as PayPal’s founding Chief Operations Officer David Sacks and billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman — have been urging the government to act to protect mid-size banks since SVB’s collapse. They are among many citing concerns that its failure could reduce confidence in banks with under $250 billion deposits, which are not subject to regular stress tests or other federal safety measures passed after 2008. 

“It’s possible that, come Monday morning, we find out there are big linkages that nobody understood, and then that’s chaos — but I don’t know what the likelihood of that is,” Ramcharan said.

Ranciere said that if concerns regarding the banking industry were to materialize, the Fed would “step in and will probably provide some emergency funding to the banks the same way they did in 2008, to substitute basically fed funding to market funding.”

First Republic Bank and Western Alliance were among lenders that sought to calm investors Friday about the steady strength of their liquidity and deposits as their share prices lost between 15% to 35%. 

“The deposits are solid as long as people trust you,” Ranciere said. “One thing that SVB said: ‘Don’t panic.’ If you start saying, ‘Don’t panic,’ I think that’s the best way to trigger a panic.”

SVB’s collapse has potential implications on the direction the Fed takes in steering the economy through monetary policy. The agency’s policy of increasing interest rates to tackle inflation have been creating higher costs of business and have had a drag on the stock market. 

Prior to Thursday, traders in the futures market predicted a 70% chance that the Fed would take a more hawkish stance and double its interest rate hike to 50 basis points on March 22. However, they reversed this prediction and placed about a 60% probability on a 25 basis point rise instead. Abraham Solovy, former vice president of the Economics Association and a senior majoring in political economy, said it would be difficult for the Fed to justify “a 50 basis point increase when the government might have to bail out a bank.”

“This might be the silver lining to this whole thing,” Solovy said.

The post FINANCE: Students, experts discuss historic Silicon Valley Bank failure appeared first on Daily Trojan.

Are your stickers past their prime? Are they no longer sticking to surfaces as well as they used to? If so, don’t worry – we have a solution! This blog post will discuss how to make stickers sticky again. We will provide tips and tricks to help your stickers regain their former glory!

How To Make Stickers Sticky Again?

1. Use a hairdryer to warm up the adhesive on your sticker: Set it on its lowest setting and hold it about 10 inches away from the sticker for around 30 seconds. This should be enough time to soften the adhesive and make it more malleable.
2. Wash any dirt or residue from the sticker’s surface: Soap and water should do the trick. Ensuring your sticker’s surface is clean will help ensure it sticks better when you apply it again.
3. Apply a layer of clear nail polish to the back of the sticker: This will help to re-seal any adhesive that may have worn off your sticker. Allow the nail polish to dry before applying the sticker again, which will help ensure a strong bond
4. Place a piece of wax paper over the surface where you are applying the sticker: This helps protect any paint or finish on the surface from being affected by the adhesive.
5. Apply pressure to the sticker to ensure it sticks: Once you have applied it, press firmly on the edges and center for about 15 seconds. This will help ensure that your sticker holds tight.
6. Let the sticker sit on the surface for at least 24 hours: This will give your sticker plenty of time to create a strong bond with the surface and help ensure that your sticker won’t peel off easily.
7. Give your sticker a quick spray of hairspray: This will help lock in the adhesive and ensure your sticker stays put!

These tips should help you resurrect your sticker collection and ensure they stick around for much longer.

Steps To Make Stickers Sticky Again – From Cleaning Surfaces To Diy Solutions.

Step 1: Clean the surface of your sticker carefully with a damp cloth.

Step 2: Apply a thin layer of adhesive to the back of the sticker, which will help it stick better.

Step 3: Place a piece of wax paper between the sticker and whatever you are sticking it to. This helps protect any paint or finish on the surface from being affected by the adhesive.

Step 4: Use a hairdryer to warm up the sticker’s adhesive and soften it. This helps create a stronger bond between the sticker and the surface you are applying it to.

Step 5: Press firmly on all sides of your sticker for about 15 seconds, then let it sit for at least 24 hours. This will help ensure that your sticker holds on tight.

Step 6: Give your sticker a quick spray of hairspray, as this helps lock in the adhesive and prevent peeling.

Tips On How To Store And Protect Your Stickers From Becoming Un-Sticky

• No matter how expensive or durable your stickers are, they can still become un-sticky. To help prevent this together, it’s essential to store and protect them adequately.
• If you’re planning on using your sticker again, make sure to remove it gently from its surface. Try not to stretch the sticker or leave it in the sun for long periods. These two things can cause your stickers to lose their stickiness.
• Once you’ve removed your sticker, store it in a cool, dry place. Don’t keep them near any heat source or direct sunlight, which will damage the adhesive. For further protection, you might also consider putting them in an airtight container or bag.
• If your stickers have already lost their stickiness and need to be used again, there are a few things you can do to revive them. One option is to use a glue stick or tape adhesive on the back of the sticker before reapplying it. You can also use a light coat of spray adhesive or add a dab of liquid glue to bring back the stickiness.
• Remember, proper storage and protection of your stickers are the best way to keep them sticky. With the proper care, you can ensure that your stickers stay in top condition for as long as possible.

Alternatives For Making The Best Use Of Old, Un-Sticky Stickers

are available, but sometimes you just want to make them sticky again! Fortunately, there are several ways that you can help restore their stickiness. Here are tips to make stickers sticky again:

• Moistening the adhesive. Rubbing a damp cloth or sponge over the back of your stickers can help revive their stickiness.
• You are adding glue or tape. If moisture alone isn’t enough, you may need to add some extra adhesives to get your stickers sticky again. Try using white or clear glue or tape to do the job.
• It is refining the backing material. If your stickers have been stuck on surfaces that contain dust, dirt, or other particles, this can make them less sticky over time. To regain stickiness, gently scrape off any debris on the back of your stickers with a knife or similarly sharp tool and then wipe the surface clean.
• You are inspecting the temperature. Temperature can affect how well a sticker adheres to a surface. If you’re having trouble getting your stickers to stay in place, try warming them up before applying them; this will help make them more flexible and easier to stick on surfaces. Conversely, if your stickers are peeling up, try cooling them down.

These simple tips can help make old, un-sticky stickers sticky again so that you can proudly display your favorite designs in any area you choose!

Final Words

Sticker stickiness can be restored by moistening the adhesive, adding glue or tape, refining the backing material, and inspecting the temperature. With these tips in mind, you can make sure your stickers remain sticky for a long time to come!

FAQ’s

Q. Does heat make stickers stick better?

Heat can make stickers more flexible and easier to stick on surfaces. Conversely, if your stickers are peeling up, try cooling them down.

Q. How long do stickers stay sticky?

It depends on how well they were applied and how much exposure they have had to dust, dirt, and other particles that can reduce the stickiness of your stickers over time. Regular maintenance, such as cleaning and evaluating their condition, can help extend their stickiness for a longer period.

Q. What material do stickers stick best to?

Stickers typically work best on smooth, non-porous surfaces like glass, plastic, metal, and painted walls. However, they can also adhere to materials like wood and fabric if the adhesive backing is strong enough. It’s important to test how well a sticker sticks before applying it to ensure it adheres properly.

The post How To Make Stickers Sticky Again: Resurrect Your Sticker Collection With These Clever Tricks appeared first on Marquette Tribune.

The board of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics have finally announced their mascots for the upcoming games, and needless to say, people’s initial reaction could be summed up in one word — “quoi?” At a first glance, these googly-eyed characters, lovingly named “The Phryges,” appear to be some sort of sea animals or maybe little mythical creatures created for the Olympics. After a quick skimming of the Paris 2024 official website, however, it turns out that the Phryges are actually based on the Phrygian cap worn by French revolutionaries and even Marianne, the French national symbol of freedom.

The History

On the Paris 2024 Olympics website, there are blurbs about the Phrygian cap’s history and why it was chosen to be the official mascot for both the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The caps have been seen both in artistic renditions of the construction of the Notre-Dame cathedral in 1163, as well as photos of French athletes participating in the Olympic games in 1924. Between the cap’s use in stamps, statues and even national school curriculums, it’s clear that this mascot has deep ties to France’s culture and, despite its outwardly cartoon-y appearance, it garners a lot of respect from the French population.

How It Compares

There is a common theme throughout the mascots of past Olympics, and most of them seem to be national or highly symbolic animals. In 1980, the Moscow Olympics had a brown bear, the Soviet Union’s national symbol, as their mascot. In 2000, the Sydney Olympics had three mascots: Olly the Kookaburra, Syd the Platypus and Millie the Echidna. All three mascots held significance not only to the host country but also to the games and the honor associated with them. The 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City also had three mascots, all of which were animals indigenous to Utah with names related to important resources found across our state. Powder the snowshoe hare represented Utah’s booming skiing economy, Copper the coyote represented the copper mines in South Jordan and Coal the American black bear represented the coal mines in Southern Utah.

In terms of non-animal mascots, these are fewer and far-between compared to the animals, but the Phryges are definitely not the first. The 2004 Athens Olympics featured two children, Athena and Phevos, as their mascots that were reminiscent of ancient Greek dolls, and the 2006 Turin Olympics personified a snowball and an ice cube to represent “softness, friendship and elegance” as well as “enthusiasm and joy,” respectively.

As much as I wish I could say that the Phryges are the strangest Olympic mascots I’ve seen, the 2012 London Olympics takes the cake. Their mascots, named Wenlock and Mandeville after the villages Much Wenlock and Stoke Mandeville, are drops of steel with cameras as eyes that represent the Industrial Revolution in the UK.

Final Thoughts

It’s incredibly refreshing to see a mascot that includes a prosthetic leg to represent those with disabilities participating in the Paralympic Games. A brief scroll through the International Paralympic Committee’s website reveals that while many of the mascots change design slightly for the Paralympic Games, the Phryge might be the first ever Paralympic mascot with a visible disability. That kind of representation may seem insignificant, but it feels odd that it’s never been done before. At the end of the day, the Phryges are fairly well-designed and will make excellent marketable plushies while also carrying a lot of history for the host country.

audrey.hall@dailyutahchronicle.com

@audrey_h_chrony

After a 1-for-5 shooting performance on Friday, UH freshman forward Jarace Walker responded with 13 points and eight rebounds in the Cougars’ rout of Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon at Dickies Arena. | Sean Thomas/sean.htxphoto

FORT WORTH — Top-ranked Houston advanced to its fifth consecutive American Athletic Conference Tournament championship game, defeating Cincinnati 68-49 on Saturday, but it came at a cost.

With 6:57 left in the first half, Marcus Sasser strained his groin after he slipped trying to make a move with the ball in his hands. Dickies Arena went completely silent as Sasser, the AAC’s Player of the Year, remained on the floor in obvious pain for a few minutes before walking off the court under his own power.

Sasser did not return to the game but did rejoin his teammates on the UH bench in the second half.

Sasser, who scored 30 points in UH’s win over East Carolina in Friday’s quarterfinal game, finished with four points in 10 minutes in the win over Cincinnati.

After the game, UH head coach Kelvin Sampson said Sasser was still being evaluated.

While Sasser’s status for Sunday is up in the air, Sampson said he would lean towards holding the 6-foot-2-inch guard out of the conference championship game.

“I would probably err on the side of holding out because of how important next week is,” Sampson said. “The most important thing is Marcus, not winning. That will always be the case with me. His health going forward is the most important thing here.”

The Cougars (31-2) will try to win their third consecutive conference tournament title on Sunday at 2:15 p.m., facing  No. 2 seed Memphis.

Sampson challenged his team coming into Saturday.

Though UH came out on top over East Carolina in Friday’s quarterfinal game, the 67-year-old head coach was not pleased with his team’s lackadaisical effort.

It was also a difficult day personally for Sampson, who revealed on Saturday that he coached Friday’s game just hours after finding out his twin sister Karen had passed away.

The Cougars answered their head coach’s call, coming out of the gates with high-intensity energy and effort, something that has become a patented characteristic of a Sampson-coached team.

“We did what we do,” Sampson said. “We were very disciplined on defense. We rebounded well, got the ball where it needed to go.”

J’Wan Roberts and Jarace Walker, who combined to go 1-of-11 shooting the day prior, led the charge.

Roberts cleaned up things on the offensive glass, turning the Cougars’ first two misses on Saturday into second-chance layups to open the game. 

After being held scoreless against East Carolina, Roberts finished with a game-high 16 points against the Bearcats. Roberts also pulled down eight boards.

“I’m not going to sit here and say I played good last game (against ECU),” Roberts said. “I could have done way better and I took that personal.”

Walker followed in Roberts’ footsteps, scoring nine of his 13 points in the first half to help UH build a 16-point lead.

Walker credited his bounce-back performance to having a defensive and rebounding-focused mindset entering Saturday’s game.

“I feel like that’s how basketball is supposed to be played,” Walker said. “Just getting the dirty work done early and just flowing the game from there.”

Despite Sasser going down, UH continued to expand its lead, getting it all the way up to 25 points late in the second half.

“It really shows how good our team is,” Roberts said. “A lot of people stepped up and that’s expected.”

Jamal Shead was his usual self, despite not having Sasser with him in the backcourt for most of the game. The UH point guard tied Roberts with a game-high 16 points while also dishing out nine assists.

“His playmaking just makes the game so easy for us,” Walker said when asked about Shead. “He puts us in the right spots. He gets us the ball where we want it, when we want it. He’s the perfect point guard.”

With the victory, UH picked up its AAC Tournament record 14th win.

The Cougars have now won 13 games in a row and 22 of their last 23.

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“No. 1 UH routs Cincinnati, advances to fifth straight AAC Tournament championship game” was originally posted on The Cougar