The coalition hopes to lead student organizations to prevent sexual violence on campus and stand up for survivors.

Almost 20 years ago, Salt Lake City hosted its most important sports event: the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. During the games, I was not even a year old, but I’ve heard stories from my family that make Salt Lake sound like a completely new place. My grandma always quips, “When was the last time you saw a beer garden on Main Street?”

The Olympics also left many physical landmarks such as the Utah Olympic Park, Olympic Oval and the cauldron at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Now, Salt Lake City has been selected again by the U.S. Olympic Committee for a bid. If granted, Salt Lake City would host the games in either 2030 or 2034.

Due to the success of 2002, the pre-existing infrastructure and the benefit the games give to Olympic popularity, the International Olympic Committee should choose Salt Lake City as a site for future games.

The 2002 Winter Olympics are looked back on in a positive light, but it had its fair share of setbacks. Stories of unethical conduct including bribes and payoffs cast a shadow on Salt Lake’s efforts to host the 2002 Olympic games. In the wake of this near-disaster, multiple Salt Lake Organizing Committee (SLOC) and International Olympic Committee (IOC) staff were forced to resign from their positions. However, Sen. Mitt Romney took over and the old antics were out the door.

Before, the SLOC was facing nearly $400 million in budget deficits. After Sen. Romney entered the budget was reformed through enhanced sponsorship attainment and conservative spending. The 2002 Olympics ended with a profit topping $100 million. Despite worries surrounding the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and further attacks on the games, Salt Lake is widely viewed as one of the most successful Winter Olympics of all time. Overcoming unexpected obstacles and holding stable finances, Salt Lake impressed the world. The success of 2002 cannot and should not be overlooked when considering future host cities.

Olympic game infrastructure is expensive. With 15 sports showcased in the winter games, it is critical for the host city to have the facilities to support such events over the two-week period. Costs of infrastructure often reach tens of billions of dollars for Olympic hosts, and often dampen a host’s ability to turn a profit. In Salt Lake, that’s not a problem.

The infrastructure built in 2002 was built to last around 20 years, so it would need some renovations. But, these renovations would likely cost around $40 million, a price tag far lower than that of its potential competitors.

The price would be worth it for the locals too. Each year, thousands of Utahns make use of the Olympic facilities. A modern renovation would only increase their consumer base.

With the self-proclaimed “greatest snow on earth” and the facilities to support it, a Salt Lake Winter Olympics in 2030 or 2034 would be much easier to organize. Some may argue that Vancouver should receive the bid for this very reason. Having hosted the Winter Games in 2010, Vancouver’s facilities would cost even less to renovate. However, Salt Lake had much more success from a financial standpoint in 2002, meaning it could likely absorb the cost better.

Throughout the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, I found myself watching far fewer events. Not because I was uninterested in the athletes or turned off by the politics, but because the broadcasts were so late. This sentiment was the same for many Americans. In the last U.S.-hosted Summer Olympics, nearly 40 million Americans watched the opening ceremonies. Tokyo 2020 didn’t even reach half of that.

Part of the reasoning can be chalked up to the declining interest in the Olympics over recent years, but the time difference cannot be ignored. By putting the Olympics in Salt Lake City, a very profitable U.S. market is able to watch any event at a reasonable time. Obviously, not every Olympic game needs to be held in the States, but holding a few in the next two decades could go a long way to increase interest in the games and lend viewers to future foreign games.

Granting Salt Lake City another Olympic game should be a no-brainer for the IOC. Its previous success in hosting the games indicates that not only would they have a great chance to get out of the games debt-free, but would also sustain great economic benefit.

The reason for this is based in part on the existing infrastructure in Salt Lake. Not to mention, U.S.-based games generally do well, and more games in America might help boost the falling viewership numbers.

The memories created in a city through hosting the Olympics are unparalleled. With a potential Winter Olympics in Salt Lake in 2030 or 2034, a new generation of Utahns should have a chance to create more.

jackson.brown@dailyutahchronicle.com

@JacksonsTakes

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Nearly a month after striking for two days in mid-July, Keck Medicine of USC nurses regathered to draw attention to understaffing and patient safety concerns Monday ahead of contract negotiations with Keck Aug. 17 and 18.

As students moved into campus and families took pictures in front of Tommy Trojan ahead of welcome week, nurses on the University Park Campus stopped parents and students to hand out fliers that read “Put a stop to USC’s greed” and “Put patients first,” citing their difficult working conditions, USC’s “mishandling” of the George Tyndall accusations and the tuition increases despite online courses over the past two school years.

At the same time, nurses at UPC delivered a letter to President Carol Folt requesting a meeting about patient safety concerns while nurses on the Health Sciences Campus delivered a similar letter to Keck Medicine’s Senior Vice President for Health Affairs Dr. Steven Shapiro. Nurses who did not attend the in-person events sent emails to Folt and Shapiro at 10 a.m.

The letter delivered to Folt and Shapiro emphasized Keck’s declining hospital rankings in U.S. News, high employee turnover, low morale, understaffing and caring for sick patients.

Michael Simonton, a nurse who works in the ICU at Keck, said in an interview with the Daily Trojan that the action was motivated by a lack of progress since the strike. 

“Since we went on strike, staffing has been just as poor,” Simonton said. “There hasn’t been a week since the strike where I haven’t missed a break, or where I haven’t missed a lunch because we don’t have the appropriate level of staffing.” 

Since mid-July, nurses have criticized Keck Medicine’s over reliance on contract nurses — nurses who work at hospitals for short periods of time — in order to follow California law that requires one nurse for every two patients. 

Joe Keluke, a nurse who has worked at Keck in the abdominal transplant ICU for six and a half years, said that contract nurses often receive “a day” of training, while permanent nurses “had years of training.”

“We want more of a commitment from the hospital to hire more USC nurses — not temporary nurses — that are getting maybe a day of training for a heart or liver transplant,” Keluke said.

In a statement to the Daily Trojan, Keck Medicine said they are “hopeful” for new contract negotiations, emphasized an “A” hospital safety grade and denied being understaffed. 

“Keck Medical Center of USC is recognized locally and nationally for its patient safety, which includes high levels of staffing that meet and often exceed nurse-to patient-ratio requirements,” the statement said.

 Keluke, who collected more than 200 Assignment Despite Objection forms — forms in which nurses may use to “object to an unsafe, or potentially unsafe, patient care assignment”— left the forms with Folt’s secretary when he dropped off the demand letter. Nurses are often put into situations where, if they don’t work long hours, patients will not have adequate care, Keluke said.

“We have nurses that are almost forced, or they’re pressured, to stay 18 hours caring for the sickest patients in our hospital,” Keluke said. “While they’re not forced to work 18 hours, they feel that they have to stay because, if they don’t, there’s not going to be another nurse for that patient.”

Mandy Poppin, who has worked as a nurse at Keck for 10 years where they perform heart and lung transplants and monitor heart devices, said understaffing has decreased the quality of care for patients, “especially [those on] our heart devices.”

“We all know that patients are human beings in the bed[s] … And they benefit by having an appropriately trained nurse looking out after them, caring for them and being their advocate. That’s our role,” Poppin said. 

Rudy Weller, who has worked in the Keck Hospital cardiothoracic unit for 25 years, said nurses are pushing the hospital to require 10 hours in between shifts to ensure better patient care. 

“Nurses are not getting the proper rest periods. They’re on call for long hours. Sometimes they go beyond 20 hours, and they [have] to come back the following day,” Weller said. “Surgery is a serious matter, so we want to make sure that our nurses are alert when they come back to work.”

If Keck refuses to address their demands “nurses of USC are probably going to give notice that we’re going to go on strike again,” Simonton said.

The problem, Weller said, comes down to an unwillingness to adequately staff the hospital.

 “We’re understaffed every single day,” he said. “And that’s the problem we’re having because during negotiations the hospital has refused to commit to hire more nurses, which is the root of the problem.”

The post Keck Medicine of USC nurses continue action against work conditions appeared first on Daily Trojan.

‘Our work makes the UC work’: UC releases annual wage report for 2020

Lisi Ludwig/File

UC-AFT rally in which members advocate for fair wages for lecturers and university essential workers.

As part of its commitment to public accountability, the UC system released its annual report on systemwide employee compensation for the 2020 calendar year.

Based on the report, UC Berkeley ranked sixth among all 10 UC campuses for wage distribution, with total gross earnings and benefits for UC Berkeley faculty at $1.4 billion and $274 million respectively.

“UC faculty salaries have improved in recent years, yet they continue to lag behind the comparison benchmark UC uses to assess the competitiveness of its faculty salaries,” the report’s summary reads.

Consistent with previous years, the highest-paid UC employees based on 2020 gross income were athletic coaches and health science faculty. At UC Berkeley, the three highest-paid faculty by this metric in 2020 consisted of football coach Justin Wilcox, basketball coach Mark Fox and former basketball coach Wyking Jones.

On the other hand, many UC faculty members continue to struggle making ends meet, according to Caroline Luce, chair of the communications committee for UC-AFT, a union representing nontenured teaching faculty across the UC system.

“In six of the nine counties where UC campuses are located, the starting salary for a full-time lecturer at UC actually puts us below the HUD low-income threshold,” Luce said. “When you’re struggling to survive materially, it’s very difficult to give your teaching the attention that it deserves.”

The median salary for UC lecturers in 2019 was $19,067 — an “unsustainably low amount of money” in light of the high cost of living in California, Luce added.

UC administrative faculty and skilled trade workers — represented by the union Teamsters Local 2010 — suffered wage cuts of 8.2% in 2020, according to Teamsters Local 2010 spokesperson Aimee Baror. However, managers’ compensation continued on an upward trajectory, growing by 5.3%, Baror noted.

“Our work makes the UC work,” Baror said in an email. “The 2020 UC earnings information reinforces the critical need for UC to pay its hardworking staff fairly instead of continuing to funnel more money into bloated management pay.”

As the fall semester approaches, UC-AFT plans to increase awareness about its campaigns through informational pickets and student outreach initiatives in hopes of pressuring UC President Michael Drake into negotiations, Luce added.

Similarly, Baror noted that Teamsters Local 2010 is preparing to enter negotiations with UC in October, demanding fair pay for its essential workers.

“We just want fair compensation that reflects our contribution to the campuses we serve,” Luce said. “We want real raises that keep pace with inflation and that keep pace with the incredibly high cost of living in the state of California so that we can be part of the campus communities where we’re located.”

Contact Rachel Raps at rraps@dailycal.org, and follow her on Twitter at @rachelraps_dc.

The Daily Californian

Junior defensive lineman Logan Hall has turned the heads of his coaches and teammates over the offseason and is expected to play a major role for the UH defense in 2021. | Couertesy of UH athletics

Those close to Logan Hall describe the 6-foot-6-inch defensive lineman as a man of few words.

Off the field, Hall likes to keep a low profile, spending his free time playing video games like Apex Legends and Fortnite and enjoying being a new dog owner to a husky akita mix.

While Hall is a quiet and easy-going person off the field, he is a completely different animal on the field, being described as a “beast” and “monster” by several of his teammates.

During spring ball, head coach Dana Holgorsen and defensive line coach Brian Early were asked if any player stood to them and they both said Hall had turned the most heads and taken the biggest jump of anyone in the program.

Throughout the spring, Hall wreaked havoc, blowing up play after play. 

Hall credits this improvement to focusing on how to recognize specific offensive alignments before the snap, which he never noticed in his first three seasons as a Cougar.

“I don’t think I’ve ever felt so in rhythm with myself and the D-line,” Hall said. “Noticing where the back is. Being conscious of where the center is going to slide. All those things pre-snap allowed me to play a little faster and I don’t think I had recognized those before.”

Over the summer, Hall continued working on improving his craft and building muscle, putting on 15 pounds over the offseason to help him be able to do things he wants to up front.

After seeing Hall’s growth over the offseason, senior defensive lineman David Anenih simply expects Hall to do something special each and every snap, saying that Hall blowing up a play has become a normal and an everyday thing in practice.

“I’ve just seen the growth that (Hall’s) taken as a man, a player,” Anenih said. “He’s way higher than he used to be before. I’m proud of him.”

What stands out the most about Hall to his coaches is his versatility. Hall has the size and speed to line up anywhere on the defensive line and his coaches expect him to create chaos up front regardless of where he’s lined up.

“(Hall’s) unique in the fact that he can play every position on the defensive line,” UH defensive coordinator Belk said. “That’s very unusual for a guy with his length and size to be able to play every position on the D-line and be effective. He’s very disruptive. He can become a matchup issue inside and then he has speed and power on the outside.”

Hall may not say much but he doesn’t need to according to Belk because his play speaks for itself and is far louder than what any amount of words could say.

From what has been on display over the offseason and the first few weeks of fall camp, everyone within the UH football program is confident that Hall will be a force to be reckoned with in the 2021 season.

They fully expect Hall to not only emerge as a star on the Cougars’ defense but be one of the top defensive linemen in the country.

“(Hall’s) development has been very impressive more because he never says a word, he just outworks people,” Belk said. “I’m just excited to see him turn it loose.”

sports@thedailycougar.com

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“Logan Hall’s emerging as a star of UH defense” was originally posted on The Cougar

Statesboro campus bus routes were updated for the fall semester bringing back the Gold Route and getting rid of the Sweetheart Shuttle.

The new Gold Route will stop at the Russell Union/Dining Commons and continue to the Forest Drive Building bus stop. Then will continue to the Engineering Building bus stop and back to Paulson Stadium.

The Blue Route circles from Paulson Stadium, The RAC, The College of Education, and back to the RAC and Paulson Stadium. 

The Sweetheart Shuttle Route will not be operating this year.

Masks are still required while on buses, and capacity is limited.

For more information, visit Parking & Transportation on the Georgia Southern website.

The post GS updates bus routes appeared first on The George-Anne Media Group.

College teaches students about how to succeed in the classroom and in their future careers. It sometimes fails to give students important life skills that they need to succeed outside of those environments.

One of those skills is health literacy or the ability to locate, understand and use health information to make decisions.

The COVID-19 pandemic brought to light the importance of understanding one’s health information, but COVID-19 is not the only reason why it’s important for one to be health literate.

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“It is important for students to be literate in health information so that they can advocate for their own health and wellbeing. Advocating for yourself will lead to better health outcomes and better health care,” says Dr. Gemma Skuraton, the Director of Student Wellness and Health Promotion.

“No one will take care of your health more than you. So, being literate about how to do that well for yourself, your family, and your community is a winning move,” says Dr. Jeffrey Jones, Associate Professor of Health Policy and Community Health.

To improve their health literacy, students should enhance their knowledge of biology, chemistry, and health that they learned in high school, middle school, and elementary school.

For students who would like to expand their knowledge in these areas, Georgia Southern offers courses and programs in microbiology, environmental health, public health, nutrition, and more. These programs offer further understanding of how people interact with pathogens and environments.

“Beyond the university, it is always wise to ask your healthcare provider to explain conditions or issues you may have,” Jones says. “Don’t be afraid to ask your physician, nurse, pharmacist, etc. questions.”

“Do not walk away from an appointment or meeting with a healthcare professional confused or with more questions,” Skuraton says.

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“Students can improve their health literacy by asking questions, understanding their own medical history, being honest about it, and researching medical and health information from reputable sources,” Skuraton says.

Some of these reputable sources include US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Mayo Clinic, The Lancet, peer-reviewed studies on Google Scholar, credible medical journals such as Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) or the New England Journal of Medicine.

Students should also ask questions about the methodology of the studies they read, according to Jones.

“It is important for students to speak clearly and confidently and ask questions when something is not clear. It is not disrespectful to ask for clarification, more information, or for a better understanding of something. If you would like to know more about a medical procedure, a test, a test result, a diagnosis, or a treatment plan, you should ask,” Skuraton says.

Healthcare providers expect questions about treatment options and unfamiliar terms.

“If you have concerns or doubts, explain that you have some hesitancy and ask if there is information your provider can point you towards to address your doubts. Your providers have probably had to educate themselves too and can share where and what they learned,” says Jones.

Skuraton gives a few examples of how to address concerns and ask questions of healthcare providers:

1. Where can I find more information about___?
2. When I was researching this, I found another treatment option. What are your thoughts on this treatment option?
3. I am sorry, I don’t understand, can you break it down for me please?

“Be polite and keep in mind that your provider is trying to help you and has many years of education and often field experience. As the internet meme famously says, your Google search does not equate to their medical degrees,” says Jones.

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Peer-reviewed scientific studies and conspiracy theories can all be found online. Opinionated people rig the search algorithms, so the less reputable sources appear first. Many people get their news from friends with similar views on social media.

“It is far too easy for us all to find online information that matches what we want to believe,” says Jones.

Improving your health literacy can be a daunting task, but your health outcomes will improve if you accept it and start improving your health literacy with these three steps:

1. Conducting research with reputable sources to help you form your questions
2. Coming to doctor’s appointments prepared with your list of informed questions and the necessary paperwork such as insurance information, medication lists, and medical history
3. Understanding you always have an option for a second or third opinion will help you be more health literate in your interactions with healthcare providers.

The post Crash Course in Health Literacy appeared first on The George-Anne Media Group.

As classes come back in person, the University Center for the Arts continues to provide opportunities for anyone, on campus or off, to enjoy a variety of artworks. The UCA, located just across College Avenue from The Oval and Colorado State University’s Health and Medical Center, is one of the few locations on campus with […]

This past weekend, the Utah Fairgrounds hosted Craft Lake City’s DIY Festival. With gracious sponsor support from Harmons, the festival spanned three days with, “over 250 local artisans, DIY engineers, vintage vendors, and craft food creators … and approximately 20,000 attendees,” according to the Craft Lake City website.

The Festival was a massive success, according to Rachel Kozlowski, an artist at the festival — this year was the biggest the event had ever been, as the interest in DIY and local art only seems to grow each year. 

Additionally, the festival took place during Pacific Islander Heritage Month so the organizers decided to highlight the work of local artists in the Pacific Islander community with cultural stations and performances all day Saturday.

Pacific Islander Heritage Month

The Pacific Islander community in Utah is strong and has been growing since the mid-1800s. Utah is lucky enough to have one of the largest populations of Pacific Islanders in the United States, and their contributions culturally, artistically and economically to the Salt Lake Valley and the state as a whole have shaped Utah’s history.

This powerful heritage was highlighted at the DIY festival, with stunning performances by local Pacific Islander artists along with traditional food and art stations. Pasifika Enriching Arts of Utah, or PIK2AR, is a local non-profit organization that played a key role in the centering of Pacific Islander culture at the festival.

Arts and the Community

Nisi La’a, artist and case manager at PIK2AR, said that the work they are doing centers on empowering and building up the Pacific Islander community from within, in part by fostering creativity and the arts. 

“Mental health isn’t something that’s talked about a lot in our community, and we’re trying to change that.”

La’a works closely with individuals in her community, teaching leadership skills and helping people develop healthy coping mechanisms for processing their emotions.

Nisi is the owner of MANA Manifest Jewelry and sold handmade journals at the festival that she hopes will help those around her develop the habit of writing out how they’re feeling as a way to better understand themselves and unpack how they’re feeling.

Another artist participating in the festival was Tane Falevai, who was born and raised on a small island in Tonga. Falevai is putting in the work in his community to teach the skills that he has mastered to a younger generation, who he hopes will continue his work.

Falevai is a multi-faceted artist best known for his traditional Polynesian sculptures and wood carvings. One of the only masters of traditional Polynesian-style wood carving in the world, he hopes to make the art more inviting to young people and more accessible.

Growing up in Tonga, Falevai connected with the environment where he sourced his materials for sculpting and learned all the styles of design throughout Polynesia. He continued to hone his skills working at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie, Hawaii.

His goal is to share a piece of Polynesian culture with everyone who is a patron of his art.

With tens of thousands of attendees, the DIY festival was the perfect place for La’a, Falevai and many others in the Pacific Islander community to showcase their beautiful culture and traditional arts.

p.gardner@dailyutahchronicle.com

@paigegardner102

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FYE’s newest Community Read meant for reading, not fire kindling

The first year experience committee was tasked with finding a Community Read that discusses equality and inclusion following the 2019 book burning. Georgia Southern’s newest batch of students will read Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime.

 “[Born a Crime will] give excellent starting points for real conversations,” Dustin Anderson, interim associate provost for student success, said. 

The book has been critically acclaimed since its publication, receiving two awards from the NAACP in 2017.

Anderson said he is excited for students to read Noah’s autobiography. Anderson described his writing as “very strong and human.” His book covers topics that many students are likely to relate to, varying from immigration, family matters and being split between communities.

In recent years the GS’ community read has caught some attention after a group of students burned their copies outside of Eagle Village and got national attention in 2019.

“What happened was that it was absurd,” Anderson said. “The incident itself as well as the wide press coverage affected many students, especially students of color.” 

Anderson went on to say that they haven’t changed the topics of discussion, but more the environment in which these topics are brought up. Georgia Southern’s values are one of the first things discussed in first-year seminar classes openly discussed in a way that helps students of varying backgrounds learn and say what they need.

Discourse has become more intentional in FYE and more empathetic and caring to students of all backgrounds. Anderson said there is still work to be done, but that improvements have been made since 2019.

The post Picking a new Common Read appeared first on The George-Anne Media Group.