Local greek community hopeful for the future of the national community.

Fraternities and sororities have been under much scrutiny from surrounding communities, university officials, and media. However, members of the greek system say the good they do outweighs to few instances of bad behavior.

Negative aspects include rape accusations and racial discrimination have been top headlines in the news in recent times.

In a BuzzFeed article written on Aug. 24 of 2015, Javier Moreno, discussed the trouble of University of Virgina’s Old Dominion University’s Sigma Nu chapter, which has been temporarily suspended. The chapter was suspended because members displayed large banners with sexually suggestive behaviors. These banners included sayings such as “Rowdy and fun, hope your baby girl is ready for a good time,” “Freshman daughter drop off,” and “Go ahead and drop off mom, too.”

The national office of Sigma Nu has since sent this chapter a notice that it was being suspended, “pending the outcome of an investigation.”

Other recent negative news involving greek life is hazing. At the University of Utah there is a zero tolerance policy. One student, Chun Hsein Deng who went by Michael, suffered a brain injury while being hazed and was taken to a hospital an hour later. In a BuzzFeed article on Sept. 14, 2015 written by Claudia Koerner, it states, “Police told reporters Deng was blindfolded and carrying a backpack weighing 30 pounds as a line of fraternity brother tackled him and threw him to the ground.”

Deng’s family is now suing against the fraternity for wrongful death. Deng family believes that even though the fraternity’s national office does not permit hazing, the family believes the fraternity knew the hazing ritual was being practiced in multiple locations.

Ambra Jackson, the Panhellenic Council president at the University of Utah, is strongly opposed to hazing.

“Hazing essentially demotes the value of our sisterhood and brotherhood. It also contradicts many of the values our organizations were founded on,” Jackson said. “Research has showed that there are numerous harmful effects on individuals as well.”

Financial concerns are also a negative aspect of fraternity and sorority life. McCall Davis, a former Delta Gamma member, had personal challenges with the financial components. “I dropped for a few reasons. I wasn’t close to a lot of girls, so that also made it financial because I wasn’t investing my time in the side events, like formals or date nights, so money became a problem.”

Lexie Maschoff, the president of Delta Gamma, commented on the reason why women or men drop from their organizations — if primarily they don’t enjoy being apart of their organization or if it is because of other reasons. Maschoff said, “Honestly people don’t usually drop because they don’t like it or it that is the reason they don’t tell me that. They’ll usually just say that they have financial reasons.”

Overall, the main reason as to why women and men drop from their organization is because of the financial issues.

On the contrary, being a part of fraternity and sorority life is gaining a large amount of networking opportunities. Matty Collett, an active member of Delta Gamma, said, “Being a part of Delta Gamma was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Not only have I found amazing friends, but I’ve also made amazing networking opportunities with new jobs and internships.”

Being a part of fraternity and sorority life also means that you are required participate and complete a certain number of hours. Ambra Jackson commented on community service saying,

“During the fall and winter, chapters will offer to rake leaves or shovel snow for their neighbors,” Jackson said. “Of course it is difficult to live next to college housing, essentially, but greeks are doing a better job of being more respectful of the area.”

In an informal survey of fraternity and sorority members, members were asked the following questions:

  • Do you use your personal income to pay for your college tuition?
  • How are your dues paid?
  • Does your organization require service hours?
  • How many service hours do you complete each semester?
  • What outside organizations are you apart of on campus?

The 100 responses to this survey gave these results:

  • 33% said that they use their own personal income to pay for college tuition.
  • 47% said that they use their own personal income to pay for their organization’s dues.
  • 93% said that their organization requires service hours and they complete those hours.
  • 38% said that they complete over 15+ community service hours per semester.
  • Outside organization involvement on campus includes:
    • Student government
    • U of U Cheer Team
    • Air Force ROTC
    • Entrepreneur Club
    • One Love
    • Ethics Club
    • Business Scholars
    • ASUU
    • Honors College
    • Intramurals
    • ONE
    • Global Business Brigades
    • Bioengineering USAC

 

“I think the greek system at the University of Utah needs to continue to educate our members on the importance of diversity and conclusion,” Jackson said. “These conversations have been occurring in our community and I am excited to see how we continue to progress.”

Breaking the Football Mold

Story by Allexis Gonzalez

McKay Nelson, a lanky 16 year old, has been playing for the Riverton High School football team for the last three years. This stalky teenager, however, isn’t your quintessential football player. Mitch Nelson, McKay’ Nelson’s older brother, said that McKay Nelson is breaking the stereotypical football mold because, “He actually cares about his grades and he is never satisfied with the effort he gives, which makes him stay humble and makes him work like a beast not only in the gym, but in the classroom and even at home.”

McKay says that his driving force behind playing linebacker on defense for Riverton is for the pure love of the sport. “High school football is a lot of hard work and dedication that teaches you important lessons with a lot of fun along the way,” McKay Nelson said. Coach Brent Hawkins said that unlike a lot of the other players on the team, McKay Nelson goes the extra mile. He never has to worry about the 3.9-GPA student keeping his grades up.

McKay’s time on the team, however, hasn’t been all easy. The 16-year-old started playing junior varsity as a freshman and had a tough time breaking into varsity. It wasn’t until this season that McKay made the cut for varsity and the teenager says even still he was side lined to the junior varsity games for all but one of the season’s games.

According to the NCAA, of the nearly 8 million students who participate in high school sports, only 460,000 will compete at NCAA school and even fewer make it to be pro athletes. McKay Nelson is fully aware of these statistics and said that, “Football has never been my end goal. It’s just been a way to do something I enjoy while I’m in high school.”

“He really is quite a good little football player, but I’ll be honest, he’s not going to college with this or anything like that with his field-skills alone. He is one of those kids who use football as a life coach to teach him to be disciplined and brave and to do hard things and to balance or control emotion and anger –that’s what football is for him,” Mitch Nelson said.

McKay says that he plans on taking the life skills he’s learning from participating on Riverton’s football team and put them toward his future college studies and his plans to serve a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints after high school.

Alexis Smith

MY STORIES:

Officer Sean Bennett, Salt Lake Police Department

Local greek community hopeful for the future of the national community.

Eliza Larsen: The Dean’s List and All-American athlete.

MY BLOG:

When we were assigned our profile paper on Emily Andrews, it was a rough start. I sat down to begin writing but all I could do was stare blankly at my notes I had taken. I could not figure out where to start or what I wanted to talk about. I also began to question whether my notes were even good enough to write a decent story!

With so many different topics written down — rumored abortion techniques, the recent video scandal of Planned Parenthood, Andrews’ personal life and journey — I wanted to narrow it down to one broad topic. After some time, I finally passed my insecurities about my notes and discovered what I wanted to write about. My biggest dilemma was most definitely figuring out where to begin. I decided I was going to write about Andrews’ personal life and journey to where she was that day. After all, it was a profile-type story we were writing!

Through my outline process, I began to pull topics that were a part of her personal life and journey. I then categorized them by what they corresponded to (i.e. childhood, high school, extracurricular activities, college experience, Planned Parenthood experience, interning, etc.). This outlining process really got my thoughts engaged and it was very easy to write from there.

ABOUT ME:

My name is Lexi Smith. I am currently a second year student at the University of Utah studying Communication, with minors in Arts Technology and International Studies.

When I’m not doing schoolwork or sleeping, I love to read, write and hang out with friends. My parents call me a busybody because I’m so busy. I’m rarely ever home. Yet, ironically, I am a huge introvert and homebody.

My aspirations for the future are to work for a large online- or print-based social media and news company (Cosmopolitan, BuzzFeed, etc.).

Utah Highway Patrol Suffers Huge Loss in Numbers

Story by Allexis Gonzalez
Keeping Utah highways safe from speeders and drunk and distracted drivers alike has long been the responsibility of the Utah Highway Patrol task force. But according to Officer Steve Martin, a Utah Highway Patrolman of 20 years, the number of applicants and sworn full-time officers has been consistently dropping for the last few years.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ most recent report, Utah’s number of full-time sworn personnel is down 11.7 percent — the largest reported decrease in the nation. Officer Peppers, a relatively new trooper, says that joining and remaining at UHP hasn’t been easy.

What’s keeping sworn troopers from staying and potential applicants from ever swearing in? According to Martin, being a cop has never been easy, that much hasn’t changed. Martin states that one of the issues that face UHP officers is that, “There just aren’t too many jobs that a cop can take when they decide to retire.” Mix in the negative publicity police officers have been facing lately and all the policy changes in retirement benefits the UHP has gone through in the past nine years and the job is harder than ever before.

One of the big changes in benefits policy that UHP has undergone is the length of service and percentage officers can takeaway at retirement. Back in the late 90s, when Martin first entered the UHP police force, there was a standard 20-year service to retirement and 55 percent take-home of earned benefits. Nowadays, according to Martin, there’s a 25 years of service minimum before retirement and only a 33 percent take-home of earned benefits.

These aren’t the only changes UHP has undergone, however. The department has also undergone major policy changes in sick leave and health care benefits.

“Back in the day, you used to be able to stay in the force longer. Prior to 2006, every 8 hours of sick leave was a month worth of health coverage paid for when you retired. Officers used to never take sick days so they could build up enough medical insurance post retirement to carry them over into Medicaid,” Martin said. However, in 2006, sick leave policy changed and those extra racked-up sick days were put toward a 401(k). But, according to Martin, just last year, this too was taken away and, “Now sick leave doesn’t mean anything, so officers will just take the day off even for just a mild cold, which means less troopers and manpower on the road.”

Gone are the days when officers had incentive to stay in the force and retire because they were good and ready to enter retirement. These days, many officers, like Martin, leave the force disenchanted and not because they’re ready to enter the restful days of retirement but to find work elsewhere. When Martin first entered the UHP, in 1995, there were about a 1,000 applicants interviewing for the job, whereas now they’re lucky to get even 70 applicants.

With the job of UHP officers more challenging than in days past, low morale due to loss of benefits, and less public approval, the future for Utah Highway Patrol and the safety of our highways, from Martin’s perspective, isn’t looking as great as it once had. “UHP is now even offering troopers a $500 bonus to bring in a friend or family member who gets hired on, but I wouldn’t even recommend it to anybody,” Martin said. “It’s kind of dangerous and the police are more hated than ever before.”

Officer Sean Bennett, Salt Lake City Police Department

Officer Sean Bennett spent most of his quiet Tuesday evening shift patrolling the streets of the Rose Park and Glendale neighborhoods of Salt Lake City, Utah. From hang up 9-1-1 phone calls to house visits, it was an average night for Bennett. However, that wasn’t the case after 8 p.m. when two important 911 phone calls came through, and his evening went from quiet to exciting.

The two stops involve a hang up 911 phone call and a motel owner who wanted a schizophrenic resident to be removed from his property.

“This is a pretty normal night,” Bennett said.

Bennett said he is a newly appointed officer or Pioneer precinct of the Salt Lake City Police Department with only a year as an official as of September 2014.

“You have to go through the academy, which is 6 months long and then 13 weeks of FTO [Field Training Officer],” he said of the training required to be an officer.

He said he though the training was well done for the most part. However, the one thing he would change about the training would be the scenarios the officers in training were put in.

“Just have the type of scenarios that smell like cat piss, have homeless and drunk people, then we would be all set and ready to go,” he said.

Continuing to drive through the streets of the Rose Park and Glendale neighborhoods, Bennett responded to a hang up 911 phone call at a grocery store’s parking lot.

“Most of the hang up 911 calls are on accident, but when we call back and no one answers, that’s when we get suspicious and have to respond.”

At the stoplight just across the street from the parking lot, Bennett notices a male and female crossing the street with a rather infuriated female following them close behind on the telephone. The male and female are holding hands, and then the male gave Bennett a threatening look.

“Did you see that look? It was most likely them who called. We can’t do much about it now except double check the parking lot,” he concluded, proceeding to the grocery store’s parking lot only to find nothing suspicious.

The next call Bennett decided to respond to was a phone call from the Salt Lake City Inn Motel in Salt Lake City. The owner was complaining about a schizophrenic woman that he wanted out of his motel immediately. Within five minutes, Bennett arrived at the scene with Officer Billy. Billy informed Bennett with what has been happening. Billy said that this schizophrenic woman was claiming that her son had been dragged into her bathroom, been electrocuted in the bathtub, had been thrown in to the back of a police car which drove to Magna, Utah to where he is now being crushed in a dump.

“We’ve been dealing with her all night,” said Officer Billy.

A man came up the metal stairs and said, “Please just get her out of my motel. She has been causing too much disturbance.”

Bennett and Billy step aside to have a conversation. They return and conclude that since she has been misleading and inaccurate with her stories all evening and considering her medical history, they are going to Pink Sheet her and send her to the University Neuropsychiatric Institute. According to the Salt Lake City Police Department website, the definition of Pink Sheet is, “An Emergency Application for Involuntary Commitment Without Certification from completed peace officer or Mental Health Officer requesting temporary commitment of a person.” After Officer Bennett and Officer Billy made a few phone calls, an ambulance arrived soon after to take the suspect to UNI.

By the end of the night, Bennett was disappointed nothing exciting happened. He concluded the night saying, “Maybe tomorrow something exciting will happen.”

Benefits of shopping local

By Sarah Mecham

 

There are only 52 more shopping days until Christmas.

These days represent the biggest consumer retail spending of the year. The National Retail Federation expects November and December sales to rise 3.7% to $630.5 billion dollars. The average consumer is expected to spend more than $800 dollars on holiday shopping this season.

Consumers have many choices when spending their shopping dollars: shopping online, national chains or at local shops. According to American Independent Business Alliance shopping at locally owned and operated businesses, local communities benefit in three ways: economically, socially, and environmentally.

Local First Utah released a report from Civic Economics of a statewide study in 2014 which showed locally owned retailers in Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Wayne County return 55.3 percent of their revenue back to the local economy. In comparison, national chain retailers only return 13.6 percent back to local economies. That means every dollar spent at a local business returns more than four times more to the local economy than a dollar spent at a national chain retailer.

Sonnie Swindle, local business owner of Bloomingsales, said the number one benefit to buying and shopping locally is keeping tax dollars in the local community. The more thriving small businesses created in our community, the larger the tax base it has to use for public services.

“I hire local people to support my business. I pay local contractors, printers, marketing and technology professionals, accountants, and caterers,” Swindle said. “This helps contribute to the livelihood of many careers in the community.”

This “local multiplier effect,” according to the American Independent Business Alliance, recirculates money into the local economy and is a key tool to creating more local jobs.

Cait Boyer, a Salt Lake Resident, shops local for her food. She loves the Downtown Alliance Farmer’s Market held Saturdays during the summer months at Pioneer Park and purchases her produce from local farms. Her passion for supporting local agriculture is motivated economically.

“Government subsidizes large corporate farms, and the little ma and pop farms are completely on their own,” Boyer said. “These farmers work so hard to run their business with little to no help and they rely 100% on local consumers to support them.”

Boyer also recognizes the social impact of shopping local.

“I particularly love shopping at the farmer’s markets where I get the chance to meet the farmers or growers,” She said. “I love to hear their stories and what their job entails. It makes the process of buying and cooking food more meaningful, when I know where my money is going and who directly will be benefited.”

Melissa Reed, while shopping at Katie Waltman Jewelry, said she only shops local.

“I love walking into a store where they know my name and talk to me about my purchases,” Reed Said. “There is a real community feeling that I cannot get at the mall.”

Many small businesses make their shopping experiences social. For example many local boutiques are hosting holiday open houses offering entertainment, refreshments, and a party-like atmosphere that brings people together to shop.

In 2010, American Express created a social campaign to encourage their cardholders to shop at small businesses on Thanksgiving weekend. For the past five years, “Shop Small Saturday,” held on the Saturday after Thanksgiving has grown to more than 88 million participants in 2014. Last year consumers spent more than $14.3 billion at local business. This social movement gets consumers involved in shopping local.

Shopping local is good for the environment too. It reduces the carbon footprint on our planet by diminishing the distance of transporting goods into our community.

“Most food at the grocery store has traveled over 2,000 miles,” said Adrienne Tuerpe, Director of Utah’s Eat Local Week.

It takes a significantly less amount of gas to bring apples from a Payson farm to a grocery store than importing apples from Mexico.

From a community standpoint shopping local makes sense. But is it economically beneficial to the consumer? In other words, will the consumer get the best prices by shopping local or by shopping chain stores? According to Stacy Mitchell with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, big retailers are known as “category killers.” These businesses do not need to compete with other business because they tend to be the only store in town.

“Typically, a chain store will enter a new market sporting deep discounts. Many chains employ loss leaders to attract customers. Wal-Mart has been known to sell gallons of milk for 25 cents or to price entire departments below its own acquisition costs. This sets up a battle that local merchants cannot win. If they don’t match the chain’s prices, they risk losing customers. If they do match the chain’s prices, they will lose money on every sale. While a chain can afford to operate a new outlet at a loss indefinitely, it’s only a matter of time before the local business will be forced to close,” said Mitchell in her speech.

With local competition eliminated the chain stores then raise their prices. In Elizabeth Humstone and Thomas Muller’s study, “Impact of Wal-Mart on Northwestern Vermont” Wal-Mart prices varied 25 percent. The study showed that prices rise in markets where national retailers face little competition. Local businesses keep prices at competitive levels for both national chains and local shops.

Boyer added, “Shopping seasonally when it comes to produce is often times more affordable because you aren’t paying a middle man or for the expense of shipping foods half way across the world.”

In the same report from Civic Economics released by Local First Utah, shifting just 10 percent of purchases from national chains to locally owned shops and restaurants would keep $1.3 billion in the Utah economy.

Consumers who want to shop local can look for produce with “Utah’s Own” labels or participate in Shop Small Saturday on Nov. 28, 2015. For a list of local retailers, restaurants, services visit http://localfirst.org/buy-local/find-a-business.

 

 

 

Going Beyond Test Scores

Story By MICHELLE JAMES

The Student Assessment of Growth and Excellence (SAGE) tests students’ proficiency in various areas and affects both students and teachers in schools throughout Utah, while they prepare for the test and as they process the test’s data.

The test assesses students’ knowledge in three areas; language arts, mathematics and science. Reports released from the data of the test show each grade at each school’s proficiency level.

In August, the Utah State Office of Education (USOE) released SAGE test scores from tests taken in 2014.

The data released tells teachers how proficient their students were in the different subjects, and shows what they need to work on.

Rose Park Elementary, in Salt Lake City school district, is a Title I school that had proficiency ratings of 25 percent in language arts, 34 percent in mathematics and 20 percent in science, according to data from USOE data gateway.

“For many reasons, SAGE scores do not always reflect what kids know or can do,” said Nicole Warren, the principle at Rose Park. She has been principle at Rose Park for five years. Warren said how factors like the students’ attitudes, anxiety and focus all can affect scores.

Thulasi Seshan worked with Rose Park as part of a University of Utah Honors class and during an internship last year. She has worked with classes from third to sixth grade.

“SAGE test scores don’t collect behavioral data or personal history,” said Seshan.

She said how these are the things that affect students’ ability to take the test, and their educational success. The test doesn’t show the context that it was taken in.

“So SAGE testing attempts to isolate the test from the context, but ultimately, you can’t succeed at that, and even if or when you do, your results immediately become meaningless,” said Seshan.

The test affects not only students, but also the teachers.

“It’s a stressful time of year,” said Warren. She said teachers get excited and watch for scores, waiting to see growth and proficiency levels.

At Rose Park, there is also the factor that 53.6 percent of the students are English language learners according to USOE data. Warren explained how English learners have various levels of proficiency with the language, and usually speaking and listening develop faster than reading and writing skills. She said this can lead people to think students have a better understanding of complex vocabulary than they do.

For limited English proficiency students in the school there was a 6.9 percent proficiency rate according to SAGE data from USOE, and for the whole state this rate is 8 percent.

Warren said they help prepare these students by giving them experience with the type of questions beforehand and reinforcing vocabulary used in the test. Some parts of the test are also read out loud.

While the test provides vocabulary challenges for English learner students, the SAGE test brought changes for other students. Utah changed from CRT to SAGE testing in 2013.

“SAGE increases rigor and expectations in all grades,” said Warren.

Students will need time to adjust to the new care standards that come with these new tests. Warren said, for example, kindergarten students will go through school with these new standards and when they get to higher grades will have been learning at that rigor for many years, unlike other students.

Warren said SAGE addresses science and social studies through language arts standards, and focuses on informational and analytic writing.

“The purpose of the new standards is to better prepare students to be college- and career-ready,” Warren said.

In a news release from USOE about 2014’s SAGE test score, Brad Smith, state superintendent of public instruction, said, “Our task now is to keep moving in the right direction until all Utah students are proficient in core subjects.”

Although the SAGE test is new, some people are already considering ending it.

In a Public Education Subcommittee hearing, Draper Senator Howard Stephenson said, “There will be legislation this year to create a task force to look at doing away with the SAGE test entirely.”

The programs that are a part of Rose Park work to help with student success, and in turn, SAGE test scores. Rose Park Elementary has Rose Park Academy, which Warren said is “unique in the district.” It’s an after-school program where the school can make its own budget. The program has around 150 students enrolled, and the students can choose their classes based on what they’re interested in.

Warren said the program is a safe place the students can stay after school with a staff that cares for them.

“It is like a family in many ways,” she said.

Another program is a grandparent program the school has where grandparents come into classrooms and help provide a “consistent adult” for the kids.

Other services the school has for its students are a mental health therapist, a health clinic for both students and members of the community and a full-time counselor. These resources help students miss less school.

Warren said how the school is also working on becoming a trauma-sensitive school to handle behavioral problems and learning concerns. Trauma-sensitive environments can help change negative behavior and help keep a student engaged in learning, she said.

Beyond the test scores are students and schools with many factors in their lives. The education of students goes beyond test score results, and involves many people and steps.

Seshan explained the moment when she can finally help a student make a connection.

“It’s magical,” she said.

DACAS Dreamer’s share how the controversial policy has impacted their lives

Story by Allexis Gonzalez

With the 2016 Presidential Election in its beginning stages, beneficiaries of DACA question whether the standing of the policy is dependent on the victory of a candidate partial to their plight.

According to the American Immigration Council, since its injunction in 2012, the number of applicants for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals has been growing and the scope of its influence has broadened. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that of these growing numbers about 17,000 DACA beneficiaries are located here in Utah.

For DACA recipients, sometimes referred to as Dreamers, the outcome of the election could potentially mean an expansion of the current policy to include a pathway to citizenship or mean the policy being repealed all together.

With so much hanging in the balance for these Dreamers, many are finally finding their voices and coming forward with personal stories of where their lives were before DACA and how the policy has so positively and deeply impacted their lives. Three such of these Dreamers, here in Utah, shared their stories.

Mari Gomez, a 25-year-old DACA beneficiary, opens up about where her life was prior to receiving DACA and where she is now.

“For the longest time, I actually didn’t know what my legal standing was. I knew it wasn’t totally right, but my parents had never given me details about what that meant,” Gomez said. “It wasn’t till my senior year in high school, when I wanted to start applying for academic scholarships for college and federal financial aid that I found out where I really stood legally.”

After having worked for four years toward scholarships she was banking on to get her through college, Gomez realized that not only had her work been for naught, she might not even be able to apply to any colleges because of her lack of a Social Security number.

Gomez says she didn’t get the “fun” senior year most 17-year-olds look forward to because she was weighed down with the sobering reality that her future and goals as she had pictured them might never happen. As the deadlines for college applications approached, Gomez made a last-minute decision to send her applications in without providing a Social Security number.

“It was a scary decision but I knew I had to at least try,” Gomez recalled.

The risk paid off. She was accepted into Utah State University but she was now faced with the reality that she had no way to get a job to pay for school, much less make the move from Salt Lake City to Logan and begin living on her own.

That summer, Gomez found a job as a nanny in Logan that would allow her to support herself and partially pay for tuition.

“I got lucky finding a job that technically pays under the table without being suspicious or looked-down on. But I still wasn’t making enough to pay for a year’s worth of schooling,” Gomez said. “I’d go Fall Semester and take Spring Semester off so I could pay for [the next] Fall Semester.”

Gomez says that it was discouraging not being able to keep up with her peers and embarrassing having to think up excuses to explain away her absence from Spring Semester, but she was determined to make it to graduation — even if with a degree she still didn’t have the means to work legally.

After four years of on-and-off schooling, and watching her classmates reach that graduation podium while she slowly chugged along, Gomez celebrated along with others like her at the passing of DACA.

“I can’t even describe how I felt that day, but overjoyed comes to mind. I felt light as a feather. Like my whole future had suddenly opened up for me,” Gomez said.

Now, three years later, Gomez obtained a degree in Special Education and is currently working as a special education teacher at a local school in Sandy.

Amalia Rodriguez, another local Dreamer, tells of her experience of losing her mother, who was still in Nicaragua, before DACA passed.

“She was my everything,” Rodriguez said. “When she passed away in 2008, my heart was broken, but what made it worse was that I hadn’t been able to be there to say goodbye, and I couldn’t be there to pay my final respects. It was like a hole had been ripped in my heart, and I had no way to ease the pain. No one should have to miss the passing of their mom.”

Rodriguez believes that had DACA made it through just a couple of years earlier, she might have been able to get special permission to see her mother one last time, but she’s grateful the policy finally became a reality regardless. Currently, Rodriguez is pursuing a degree in business at Brigham Young University.
“She always wanted me to be a successful business woman in this country, and I’m honoring her memory by going after that dream with dedication and passion,” Rodriguez said.

Romina Pastorini, a 26-year-old Uruguay native, says that DACA has completely changed her life. Prior to its passing, Pastorini spent her teen years working under the table at any of the jobs she could get. She applied and was accepted to LDS Business College without providing a Social Security number but was struggling to make ends meet and eventually had to put school on hold.

Pastorini relates that the most difficult part of her situation was not being able to control her own destiny, or have the same opportunities as the peers she had grown up with.

“I always felt different. I knew my worth didn’t come from my legal standing, but it was still something that weighed on my shoulders,” Pastorini said. “I couldn’t relate to or truly fit in with my peers because of my constant worry that I wouldn’t be able to move forward in my education or employment. My biggest fear was that I would become stagnant because of my legal situation.”

When DACA passed, Pastorini was in shock. She had gotten used to her situation and learned to be atpeace with the cards life had dealt her, but when the policy passed, old dreams suddenly seemed plausible again.

“Right when I got DACA, I applied for a legitimate job and started back at school. Without government assistance, school is expensive. I couldn’t have done it without having a solid job, and I couldn’t have a solid job without legal standing,” she said.

Currently, Pastorini is pursuing a degree in psychology at Utah Valley University with the hopes of entering the social work field upon graduation.

Not everyone sees DACA as an all-encompassing positive policy, however.
Margaret West of Provo says that while she thinks Dreamers are “good kids” she still thinks there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things, “even if you didn’t make the choice yourself.” According to Margaret, there’s no need to expand DACA to include a pathway to citizenship and if whoever takes the presidential seat at the end of the elections, decides to repeal the policy it wouldn’t be unfair or problematic.

With the future of DACA hanging in the balance Gomez, Rodriguez, and Pastorini all shared the common hope that the public, and the future presidential candidates, will see the good the policy has brought about.

“DACA has made opportunity an option,” says Pastorini. “I know I might not get everything I hope for, but the chance to have the opportunity to try is everything. That’s what DACA is for me — opportunity. And isn’t this the land of opportunity?”

He shoots, he scores

Elizabeth Nielson

He shoots, he scores; the crowd goes wild after the University of Utah Men’s soccer team takes first place in the Aztec Cup in San Diego, California.

Playing for the University of Utah men’s soccer team, Andoni Shortsleeve said, “Out of the three years I’ve played college for the University of Utah, the Aztec Cup held in San Diego, California was by far the best win I have ever been a part of.”

Through the entire tournament, the University of Utah men’s soccer team played three games, winning two out of three. The Aztec Cup tournament was held on Sept. 25-27, 2014 and cost about $485 with a minimum of three games lasting 80 minutes each game. Out of 40 teams and four divisions, the University of Utah men’s soccer team took first place in their division in the West Region.

“It is hard to mentally prepare yourself against teams that aren’t from Utah. Local Utah teams, I feel l know them enough now to know how competitive of a team they are,” Alex Jensen said.
Every men’s soccer season at the University of Utah begins in June and ends in October. Through sacrifices and practice, the University of Utah men’s soccer athletes enjoy the competiveness and joy that soccer brings.

“It’s hard not having Anthony home at night until late because of practice, but it’s all worth it. Soccer makes him happy and that makes me happy,” said his wife, Gabby Gonzalez, also a student at the U.
The University of Utah men’s soccer team shares a passion for soccer and makes lifetime memories while doing it.

“I learned how to manage time and made friends that I never would have if I wasn’t a soccer athlete at the University of Utah,” Jensen said. From tournaments, on- and off-season games, to team dinners, the University of Utah men’s soccer team enjoys its soccer community. The University of Utah men’s soccer team is filled with people from all over the country.
The University of Utah men’s soccer 2015 spring tryouts are held Tuesday, March 31 from 6:45 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the McCarthey track and field and also on Thursday, April 2 at 6:45 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the McCarthey track and field. For more information check out their University of Utah men’s soccer page on Facebook.

Student Athlete Profile- Anthony Gonzalez

By: Gabriella Gonzalez

Anthony Gonzalez may be a soccer player, but it is because it’s in his blood. He spent 3 years in Santiago, Chile playing for a club team during High School.

University of Utah student Anthony Gonzalez is a student athlete, part-time employee, husband and full-time student who is studying business.

Anthony Gonzalez has been a player for the U of U Men’s soccer club for the past three years.

He said he finds it challenging being a student and an athlete because you have to balance family, school and soccer.

“Soccer is fun, but I know that it’s not the most important thing in life,” Gonzalez said,

Gonzalez has been playing soccer for most of his life. He is 25 years old, but he has been playing soccer for 19 years.

“My favorite part of the game is that it takes me back to my childhood,” he said.

Julie Gonzalez, Anthony’s mother and loyal game attendee, dedicates so much time to watching her son play soccer.

“I love to watch Anthony enjoy himself and have fun while playing soccer,” Julie Gonzalez said. “Anthony has so much finesse and is pretty to watch.”

Julie Gonzalez has watched Anthony Gonzalez play soccer all his life. She has noticed how he has changed as a player.

“Anthony has changed overtime by being more confident and comfortable,
she said. “He has always been skillful and had leadership qualities.”

The New York Times article, “It’s Not an Adventure, It’s a Job,” by Bill Pennington, had a quote from Tim Poydenis that said, “most of us are nonrevenue-sport sport athletes who have to do our own fund-raising just to pay for basics like sweat pants and batting gloves. We miss all these classes, which obviously doesn’t help is or make our professors happy. We give up almost all of our free time.”

Anthony Gonzalez can relate to this quote because he says that it is hard balancing life sometimes when you have sports taking up a lot of your time.

Coach of the U of U Men’s soccer team, Nelson Gonzalez, is proud of his team for making this sacrifice of time to play the sport.

Nelson Gonzalez has coached the team for two years, and he has coached other soccer teams for 20 years and he played soccer for 15.

Nelson Gonzalez said one of his favorite things about coaching the U team is the “association with good young men and the pleasure of seeing the team play like I want them to.”

Nelson Gonzalez is also Anthony Gonzalez’s father. He has watched his son play soccer for 19 years. Nelson Gonzalez said that he is proud of his son’s passing skills.

“Anthony always takes care of the ball and his accuracy is very high. Anthony makes simple and not so simple effective passes,” Nelson Gonzalez said “But one of his weaknesses would be is pure speed. He is not the fastest of players, but could be if he worked at it.”

Anthony Gonzalez says the hard work pays off.

“Even though it’s hard to balance soccer, family, and work,” he said, “it is all worth it in the end because it brings me happiness.”

 

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