Witches Walk for Breast Cancer

By Mark Rosa

American Heritage Center visitors sported their best witch costumes and came together today for the first ever Witches Walk at the center in Wellsville. The event was held in conjunction with the center’s Fall Harvest Festival and its mission was to raise awareness about breast cancer and provide service for those suffering from the disease.

“We’ve been really excited about this one because we’ve added a service project to it,” said Rebecca Getz, the head coordinator of the Witches Walk. “Everyone knows someone who’s been effected by cancer in some ways, this is how you can help,” Getz said.

According to Getz, the center received donations of personal comfort items from local businesses such as pillows, pajamas and chocolates. Witch Walk attendees helped to compile these goods into gift baskets, or comfort kits, to be sent to women fighting breast cancer.

Sarah Gunnell, a main Witches Walk event organizer said between 100 and 150 people were involved in the events’ main attraction, the walk around the heritage center and service project volunteers were able to put over 1,500 comfort kits.

“We had so many people come together to do the comfort kits I was really pleased at how many people showed up,” Gunnell said.

Aggies promote sustainability and win National Bike Challenge

By Mark Rosa

On Tuesday, Aggie Blue Bikes and the Student Sustainability Office hosted the Open Streets Festival on Aggie Boulevard to promote a sustainable healthy lifestyle by opening up the street to active transportation. At the event it was announced that Utah State University had won the 2015 National Bike Challenge for the college league.

“USU won against universities such as University of Wisconsin, University of Nebraska, BYU and Colorado State, which is an impressive feat,” said Alexi Lamm, the USU sustainability coordinator.

According to Lamm, the USU team won the challenge by biking more miles over more days than any other university in the country. About 220 USU cyclists rode more than 76,000 miles between May and September, burning more than 4,000,000 calories and saving 28,000 lbs of carbon dioxide.

“Our competitive advantage as a university is the number of Aggies on bicycles,” Lamm said. “That is an indicator we’re moving in the right direction. People are getting on bicycles, even if it’s just to ride one mile.”

The Open Streets Festival coincided with the Logan City Council public hearing to vote on Logan City Resolution 15-52, also known as the Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan update. Immediately following the festival program organizers and volunteers biked together to city hall to participate in the vote.

Aggie Blue Bikes program coordinator Stephanie Tomlin said the resolution, which passed unanimously, will prioritize walking and cycling infrastructure and USU will undoubtedly see an increase in cyclist and pedestrian travel.

“This has huge implications for biking and walking in Logan,” Tomlin said. “It will continue to legitimize cycling and walking as a form of transportation and cycling as a sport.”

Aggie Blue Bikes and the Sustainability Office strive to facilitate a campus environment in which active transportation such as walking or cycling would be the chosen form of travel. These groups also encourage using environmentally friendly forms of motorized transportation when active transportation is not possible.

“We’re trying to show people all the options for using a street. Sometimes that’s going to be carpooling or taking a bus, bicycling, skateboarding or walking,” Lamm said. “We’re kind of trying to celebrate what a street can be for everybody.”

-mdl

To stop sexual assault, male students to be asked for their ‘man cards’

By Mark Rosa

During the months of October and November men on Utah State University’s campus may be approached by someone asking them to whip out their “man card.”

But it’s not harassment — it’s a campaign by the university’s Sexual Abuse and Anti-Violence Information Office, also known as SAAVI, to spread awareness about a span of time, from the start of school through Thanksgiving, when the percentage of rapes on college campuses goes up.

This time period has become known as “the red zone.”

The man card campaign centers around a pledge made by men to never commit or stay silent about an act of sexual abuse, and was kicked off at SAAVI’s red zone activity on Sept. 22. The main event of the activity was the signing of the pledge written across a banner. Men who signed the pledge received their very own “man card” so that they would always be reminded of the pledge they made.

“It’s to get more of a masculine side of it that it’s not just a women’s problem,” said Kurt Kowal, a SAAVI intern.

Kowal said during the red zone, he and others will be walking around campus asking men if they have their “man card.” If the man can present his card, he’ll win a prize. This is to encourage men to keep their cards on them and keep the dialogue about sexual abuse fresh, so it doesn’t retreat into taboo status again.

Kowal believes the best way to help solve the problem is to inform the student population, establish clear communication and define boundaries.

With the semester, and the red zone, in full swing, USU’s SAAVI office wants all students on high alert. Another SAAVI intern, Teisha Greer, said most causes of the red zone effect stem from the inexperience and naiveté of young students in new and unfamiliar situations.

“Students are unaware… they’re experiencing, learning about themselves, testing their boundaries, and it unfortunately can cause unsafe situations,” Greer said.

Greer stressed education and awareness in order to avoid dangerous situations — and the duty people have to stand up for others if they witness an act of abuse.

“People who remain silent when they see things going on could intervene and help,” Greer said. “If we can speak up and step in whenever we can — that’s a big part of it.”

– mdl/ks