University Neighborhood Partnership brings together university and west-side resources

Posted on October 20, 2011 by comm5775

Story and photo by SHELLY GUILLORY

Sarah Munro sat in a small community center in downtown Palermo, a city in southern Italy, after spending15 months conducting doctoral research with women who are active in the dangerous anti-Mafia movement. The director of the community center asked Munro to present her research regarding what she learned about the history and economic and social issues.

But Munro had one thought: I do not have anything to offer you that you don’t already know.

Speaking at the community center in 2000, surrounded by the director and the women who utilized the programs the center offered, Munro said she realized she missed an opportunity to use research in a way that was useful for the people she followed, interviewed and studied.

“As a researcher I had gone in there as researchers are trained to do, with my own questions, where it would have been an opportunity if I thought about it differently, to ask them what their questions were,” she said.

After finishing her doctoral work, Munro came to the University of Utah in 2002 with her husband, but knew she didn’t want to be a full-time academic. She heard about The West Side Initiative — a project that looked at how the U could become more engaged in west-side neighborhoods, which were ethnically diverse, socially and economically marginalized in Salt Lake City and underrepresented in student enrollment at the U.

The University Neighborhood Partnership  evolved in 2003 after Irene Fisher, who led the West Side Initiative, conducted more than 300 interviews with residents, leaders, organization officials, city officials and university faculty and administrators. Fisher, director of UNP until 2006, found that residents wanted to increase opportunities for youth through education, create initiatives to expand and support community leadership, and strengthen health, housing, employment, business, safety and environmental capacities.

The University Neighborhood Partners, located on 900 W. and 1060 South, brings together university and west-side resources.

Munro was responsible for developing UNP’s approach, which she said in an email provides a broader national conversation about truly collaborative community-based research and what defines that.

UNP acts as a mediator and bridge to the U and west-side nonprofits, resident groups and city governments and focuses its work in seven west-side neighborhoods, including Rose Park, Glendale, Poplar Grove, Westpointe and Jordan Meadows.

“The idea is not that the university goes out and does something in the neighborhood,” said Munro, now UNP’s associate director. “It’s not community service. It’s not doing it for them. It’s setting up collaborations where we find people, who are working on those issues in the neighborhood, and the university, who can bring together their teaching, research and community-based work, so we are learning from each other.”

Munro said UNP has more than 34 partnerships. Forty-three departments, including linguistics, engineering, and social work, and 40 community organizations, such as the U’s Lowell Bennion Community Service Center, are also involved. They all focus on and identify issues, including access to healthcare, language barriers, transportation and literacy, that challenge west-side residents to obtain the economic and educational opportunities that residents in other communities have.

Though UNP doesn’t directly do the work, the program has helped create partnerships that foster youth programs, life skill classes, resident committees, English classes, healthcare clinics and youth programs.

The UNP-Hartland Partnership Center is one example of a partnership that provides services that help overcome an issue, including lack of sufficient healthcare, which impedes access to higher education.

According to its website, The UNP-Hartland Partnership Center  is a project that implements programs to help residents living in the Seasons of Pebble Creek apartments, located on 1616 South, near Redwood Road, and those in the surrounding west-side communities. In addition to English-as-a-second language classes, financial classes and youth programs, the center offers health education.

Center Coordinator Kimberly Schmit said in a phone interview that UNP-Hartland Partnership Center is a not a clinic with direct medical services.

“They have a health-education referral program,” she said. “The partner is the College of Nursing at the U; the faculty and students do the work.”

One concrete example of research that helps west-side residents is a study done by researchers from the College of Social Work at the U, who focused on the mental health of children with refugee backgrounds. The researchers interviewed 22 service providers, including Valley Mental Health, Catholic Community Services and the Utah Health and Human Rights Project, as well as 21 youth with refugee backgrounds, who had been in the U.S. for at least a year.

Data from the interviews yielded a curriculum with lesson plans that focus on seven topics, such as social skills, emotional health, school rules, laws and safety, and family roles.

“This is where it becomes community building,” Schmit said. “They were getting their questions answered through her research. [The researchers] partnered with them, did the research and then gave them back her findings. That is where it is a little different [from other research]. We are looking for the partnership with the residents. The residents are the leaders.”

UNP’s Munro said research conducted by students at the center and in other UNP partnerships is not just for publication, but also helps the community strengthen itself.

“I see a big role for research,” she said. “But the way I want to see it done in the world is in really close connection with the people you are researching and letting the questions emerge from that.”

Filed under: Health & Fitness, Organizations | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

Brooke Mangum

Posted on October 20, 2011 by comm5775

MY STORIES:

MY BLOG:

I was born and raised in Salt Lake City. One would think that after spending 22 years of my life here, I would have a thorough knowledge of the community. This west-side beat opened my eyes to an area of Salt Lake City that I have never had an opportunity to discover. I learned that Salt Lake City is much more diverse than I originally thought, but also I learned that although we may come from different backgrounds a common ground can always be found. Covering this beat gave me a new perspective on the city that I call home, as well as newfound friends within my community.

The largest obstacle that I had to overcome was that of objectivity. I found it very difficult to remain objective while writing my stories. I wanted to root for the nonprofits that I was covering, and celebrate what they are doing for the community. Covering this beat gave me a new appreciation for individuals who work for and run nonprofits. Nonprofits are such an important part of the community. The individuals who operate them do so with little personal gain, but if you ask them they believe they are the luckiest people in the world. The people in my beat inspired me, and made me want to be a better person. They give so selflessly of themselves for their community. I just hope that in some small way my writings illustrated the wonderful things that these people are doing.

ABOUT ME:

I remember watching the news as a little girl and thinking, “I want to do that”, and here I am years later still chasing that dream. I am currently a senior at the University of Utah studying Mass Communications and journalism. I hope to one day be a news correspondent broadcasting on a news station or TV network. Preferably in the sports or entertainment department, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Filed under: Blogs & Bios, Student-Journalists | Leave a comment »

University Neighborhood Partners, Bad Dog Arts collaborate for Salt Lake City’s west side

Posted on October 20, 2011 by comm5775

Story and photo by BROOKE MANGUM

The University Neighborhood Partners (UNP) and Bad Dog Arts are collaborating to provide underprivileged youth on Salt Lake City’s west side opportunities to learn, discover and express themselves through art.

UNP is a program at the University of Utah that forms partnerships with organizations like Bad Dog Arts to create a greater sense of community between the U and west-side neighborhoods. It serves as a liaison between the U and west-side nonprofit organizations, resident groups and city governments.

“The reason for the focus on the west-side neighborhoods was because those neighborhoods were historically marginalized within Salt Lake City socially and economically and were incredibly under-represented at the U in terms of where students came from,” said Sarah Munro, UNP associate director.

UNP has been in this building since 2003.

Originally called the West Side Initiative, UNP developed about 10 years ago in response to feedback gathered during 300 interviews with area residents. Currently, UNP has 34 partnerships with 43 departments at the U that each focus on identified issues within the community such as race, ethnicity, religion, political views and geography.

“All of the UNP partners contribute to the community in different ways depending on their area of expertise,” said April Daugherty, program coordinator at Bad Dog Arts during an email interview. “Since our focus is in the arts, our role is to bring art into the community. Our role with UNP fulfills our mission to inspire youth from diverse cultures and offer art experiences to populations who would otherwise not have the opportunity.”

Bad Dog Arts has partnered with UNP for three years. It is located at 824 S. 400 West in Salt Lake City. Bad Dog Arts is a nonprofit organization that aims to inspire “at-risk and underserved” youth ages 5 through 18 to experience the power and freedom to imagine, dare, learn and challenge themselves through art. The hope is that  youth will develop self-confidence and be able to use these skills throughout their lives.

“It is a form of expression that has no boundaries, transcending language barriers,” said Victoria Lyons, Bad Dog Arts co-founder and director, in an email interview. “Bad Dog programs instill confidence and pride and give children a safe space to discover their innate creativity, artistic ability, purpose, and potential.”

Through the partnership of Bad Dog Arts and UNP, art classes are offered on a weekly basis at UNP’s Hartland Partnership Center. The center, located at 1060 S. 900 West, is often used as a place for campus-community partnership activities to take place.

During the fall and winter of 2011 and the spring of 2012, Bad Dogs Arts will be working with UNP on a mural art project that will be displayed at the Hartland Partnership Center.

“This project will be a collaborative effort of all the residents and staff of Hartland, involving children, teens and adults,” Daugherty said. “The theme of the project is ‘Community.’ Art brings people together and on this scale can really function as a tool for building community.”

Through activities and programs like this, UNP and its partners hope to bring together the U and west-side resources and create a community environment of learning that is mutually beneficial.

“Learning is reciprocal,” said Sarah Munro, UNP associate director. “There is important knowledge in a lot of different places and different forms. It is critical for people to learn to recognize that in others.”

Filed under: Arts, Entertainment, Culture, Education, Organizations | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

Switch to Under Armour brings budget increase, controversy to women’s basketball team

Posted on April 28, 2011 by comm5775

Story by JANITA BADON

Nike has been around the University of Utah women’s basketball team for more than 25 years. Nike guaranteed the team comfortable travel gear, shoes that fit perfectly and thin jerseys to make the players run faster. All  of that sounds good, but would you rather have quality or quantity?

The women’s basketball team is trading to Under Armour, along with the rest of the school. When talking about quality over quantity, the women’s basketball team budget grew from the $50,000 that Nike gave yearly to the $140,000 that Under Armour is putting on the table.

Nike gave the team home and away jerseys, practice uniforms, two pairs of basketball shoes, travel shoes and a pair of running shoes. Under Armour not only doubled that, but they’re also giving the womens basketball team pink jerseys for the national “Pink Game” that supports breast cancer.

Last year, the Lady Utes played Texas Christian University in a nationally televised game. The game just so happened to be the “Pink Game,” on the Utes home floor. The Utes took the court in pink shoe laces – all Nike game them. But the Lady Frogs wore pink shoes, pink jerseys and pink laces. Nike couldn’t give the Lady Utes pink jerseys because the football team is Under Armour and it would have cost $25,000, just for those jerseys.

With Nike not giving the Lady Utes what their opponents were getting, the coaches thought it was simply time for a change.

Although the coaches think it’s a great idea to switch from Nike to Under Armour, not all the players share their excitement. Rita Sitvi a sophomore guard for the women’s basketball team isn’t too fond of this decision and is actually considering switching schools.

“I love Nike, simple as that,” Sitvi said, “I had offers from other schools that were sponsored by Adidas but I turned them down for that reason.”

Most wouldn’t think switching sponsors would create this many problems, but it is the talk of the locker room around campus. But since the coaches call the shots, they don’t think it’s necessary to discuss with players. Anthony Levrets, coach of the women’s basketball team, thinks this was a great decision.

“I think switching to Under Armour was a huge decision, which I made with a smile on my face,” Levrets said. “I think our girls deserve way more than what Nike was supplying us, and Under Armour isn’t not only enough, but they’re spoiling our girls this year. I say spoiling because what they get from Under Armour compared to Nike is double, almost triple the amount”

Comparing and contrasting the numbers and the quality of the product, he only worries about the shoes. With Nike being around for as long as they have been, they have a good resume for the basketball shoes they produce. Under Armour just began to make basketball shoes in 2010.

“My one and only worry about Under Armour is how comfortable the shoes are going to be for the players,” Levrets said. “With them being so new to basketball shoes, that thought, makes me want quality over quantity.”

The players on the team have mixed emotions and are really just worried about how comfortable they’ll be on the floor. But it’s not all frowns on every player on the women’s basketball team; some are really happy about the change. Michelle Plouffe a freshmen small forward for the Utes, is excited.

“I have never been the one that’s into what I wear on the basketball court; I more concentrated on how I play,” Plouffee said. “Most people are caught up in the swoosh symbol, when that’s not what’s putting the ball in the basket.”

Filed under: Education, Sports & Recreation, Utah's Economy | Leave a comment »

Salt Lake City homeless population has country-wide roots

Posted on April 22, 2011 by comm5775

Watch a video about Salt Lake City’s homeless population.

Story and multimedia by PARKER LEE

You do not have to look for very long to find people living on the streets or begging for money in downtown Salt Lake City. Whether it be in front of Wal-Mart, Temple Square or elsewhere, homeless people will be present.

Some of them have a few things in common. Most obviously, they do not have homes. They can’t find work. In many cases, they have family.

There are also characteristics of each homeless person that make them unique, such as age and gender. The methods they use to survive without a job or shelter vary from person to person.

But where these people are from might be the most intriguing aspect of their lives. Many homeless people in Salt Lake are not native to Salt Lake City, or even Utah. Yet they are all “living” here for one reason or another.

Cathy is a homeless, middle-aged, woman who lives and begs in Salt Lake, specifically near the Wal-Mart on 1300 South and 500 West. She does not call Utah home. Cathy is an Arizona native.

“I came here from Arizona with my boyfriend,” Cathy said. “My grandkids, I have two of them, they are still in the southern part of Arizona.”

Cathy misses the warm weather of Arizona. “It is tough here when it rains or snows,” she said. “It never snows in Arizona where I’m from, and it hardly ever rains.”

Fellow Arizonian panhandler Samantha also finds the Utah climate to be a bit harsh at times. “It is hard to be comfortable living outside when the ground is wet,” Samantha said.

Samantha has a difficult time panhandling, so she goes to Temple Square where there is a high volume of foot traffic. But she has a particularly challenging time acquiring food- because she is diabetic. That makes asking for food almost too hard, so she simply asks for money.

Samantha’s situation is complicated even more by the fact that she has two kids.

Another easy-to-spot local homeless person living downtown is a woman who refers to herself only as Ms. Burnet. With her brightly colored beanie with ear flaps and coat to match, it is hard to miss her walking up and down State Street. She is also not originally from Utah.

“I came here from Ohio several years ago,” Ms. Burnet said. “I don’t remember exactly when I got here.”

“Tall Tom” is another homeless individual in the Salt Lake area. He can be seen at or around Spring Mobile Ballpark. He has a long, shaggy, brown beard dusted by streaks of gray. Tom wears a baseball hat and stands well over six feet tall, earning him his nickname.

Tom is in Utah from the great state of Colorado. He is here by himself and has less contact with his family than the other three. He said it is quite possible that they don’t even know he is in Utah.

“They are spread all over,” Tom said. “But we haven’t talked for years. I would be shocked if they knew I wasn’t in Colorado.”

Tom has been here for two or three years and has not had a home the whole time he has been here. He says it is hard to find work here, which makes finding shelter hard.

All four of these homeless people are from out-of-state. But the reasons for coming here are different for each.

For Cathy, the lack of employment in Arizona was the driving force. “Me and my boyfriend couldn’t find any jobs down there,” she said. “We thought it might be better up here.”

Samantha and her kids are not necessarily here by choice. “We were up here just temporarily,” she said. “But then we couldn’t get enough money to go back to Arizona.” So her family is stuck here in the Beehive State, at least that is what caused them to stay in the first place.

Ms. Burnet, who is here by way of Ohio, did not give a reason as to why she decided to come to Utah specifically.

“No reason, I just wanted to leave Ohio,” Ms. Burnet said. “I felt like I needed to leave my hometown and get away. This is just where I ended up.”

As for our friend Tall Tom, he has bounced around quite a bit. He calls claims Colorado as being where he is from, but that is because he stayed there longer than any other place. Utah is where he landed this time.

There does not appear to be any correlation from the four transients as to why they came here. As it turns out, they did not come to Utah because of any one reason. But perhaps their staying in Utah has a common thread.

Tall Tom has found the people to be fairly understanding of his situation.

“Well, people do sometimes give me work,” Tom said. “And I do not make a ton of money begging, but I get at least enough to scratch by most of the time.”

For Ms. Burnet, her interaction with the people of downtown Salt Lake has played a role in keeping her here.

“I do have to beg for money, but I don’t mind it,” Ms. Burnet said. “I get to meet a lot of interesting people. And nobody is too mean.”

Samantha did not come to live here by choice, but she has stayed here by choice. She is able to obtain at least some necessities for her and her children.

“It is not easy and I wish there was another way,” she said. “But it isn’t the worst place to do this I guess. Some of the people who walk by give me change and money.”

Cathy and her boyfriend have remained in Utah, away from her grandkids. They had hoped things in Utah would be better than in Arizona. And they have been, though maybe not by much.

“He (her boyfriend) is able to find day jobs sometimes,” Cathy said. “And when I’ve been out here with my sign, people have been really generous.”

Cathy also said they occasionally get some help for shelter.

“The motel over here is letting us stay for a couple nights,” she said. “We can’t stay for very long, but it’s nice we get a few nights inside.”

There are undoubtedly many factors at play that keep the homeless in Utah. But our homeless foursome has identified the generosity they’ve been given by passersby as the main culprit. An environment has been created where the residents here can have compassion on their fellow men.

This attitude towards the homeless has given Cathy hope and positivity.

“We will get the help we need,” she said. “We just have to stay positive and keep trying and we’ll be fine.”

Filed under: Profiles, Utah's Economy | Leave a comment »

University of Utah students brace for tuition hikes

Posted on April 21, 2011 by comm5775

Watch a multimedia slideshow about increasing tuition costs as the University of Utah.

Story and multimedia by SCOTT WISEMAN

The price of a college education is at a record high, causing troubles for students across the nation. While financial aid, scholarships and student loans are available to create some relief, many students are scraping together their last pennies to meet the required costs to attend college.

University of Utah students met financial struggles last year as the cost of attending school was at an all-time high. The same students will face yet another challenge as tuition will rise 7.8 percent starting in the summer semester of 2011, university officials announced earlier this month.

The increase determines that the average in-state undergraduate student taking 15 credit hours will expect to see an increase of $247 per semester. A 15 credit load for an out-of-state undergraduate will increase by $783 per semester.

“I really do not know how I’m going to come up with the extra money,” said Gunnar Lamb, an undecided freshman. “Being an out-of-state student is really starting to catch up with me financially.”

The tuition increase for next year is less than last year’s increase, which hit students for 9.5 percent.

“Of course, we do understand that in a tough economy, this is hard for students,” said David Pershing, senior vice president of academic affairs. “This is why we tried really hard to find a balance between maintaining the quality of the university and the tuition increase.”

Tuition at the U is divided into two different tiers. Tier one is the budget decided upon by the Board of Regents, while tier two is decided on by the University of Utah. The overall 7.8 percent increase is comprised of a 5 percent increase in tier one, and a 2.8 percent increase in tier two. The Board of Regents in St. George approved the final adjustments to the increases on March 27.

The Board of Regents originally approved a 7 percent reduction in state funding, but lowered that amount to 2.5 percent early last month, according to higheredutah.org. The tuition increase would have raised an additional 5 percent if the original reduction had been approved. The students have been asked to pay the amount out of pocket that the federal government decides to cut each year.

“State support for our colleges and universities has been steadily declining over recent years,” said Board of Regents chair David Jordan in an interview with higheredutah.org. “We need to reverse that trend so that all of our institutions remain affordable, particularly at the community college level. We can’t continue to cover increasing costs with tuition hikes.”

Students are turning to additional sources of funding such as grants, scholarships and loans to help make up the difference in prices.

“Although my tuition has been paid through scholarships, for friends who do have to pay out of pocket, that is a pretty high increase which would make a significance difference,” said Carla Gonzalez, a senior in behavioral science.

Currently, the U is funding is comprised of 47 percent tuition and 53 percent state funding, Pershing said. An increase in tuition will help bring a higher percentage of private funding to the U.

Tier two funding, the additional budget determined by the University of Utah, has been broken down by use. A majority— 56 percent— of tier two funding will be used to restore funding to academic departments, 18 percent given to student services, 13 percent for academic support and 13 percent given to other support areas such as utilities.

The overall increase in tuition has 32 percent of budget going to faculty retention, 29 percent for academic departments and 19 percent to staff health insurance. Only 5 percent of the overall increase will go to benefit academic support.

“Students clearly don’t look forward to the increases in tuition and fees, but most students seem to understand that we try to keep increases as small as we could,” Pershing said. “The U is a very cost effective place to attend school based on its quality.”

In the 2010 school year, the university’s resident undergraduate tuition and fees totaled $6,274. This is significantly lower when compared to the national average of $7,605. When compared to other public universities of similar rapport, the University of Utah fared well. Select schools such as Pennsylvania State University and the University of Illinois cost almost three times as much as Utah.

Chase Jardine, president of the Associated Students of the University of Utah and a senior in economics and chemistry, said that while he believes that the increases may bring hardships to college students, they were necessary to prevent department closures and faculty layoffs.

“Of course the increase is unfortunate, but I was very impressed with the administration’s dedication to see it as low as possible,” Jardine said. “The 7.8 percent is as low as we possibly could increase given the economic severities we have.”

Pershing highlighted the fact that the University of Utah only can offer approximately $17,000 worth of core funding per student. Other top schools, such as the University of North Carolina provide almost $30,000 of core funding per each student. He stressed that in order for Utah to compete with the top schools in the nation, more core funding is needed.

Dominic Ford, a junior in geography said he doesn’t like tuition increases, but sometimes they are necessary. Increased funding for academic departments will be an improvement, Ford said.

“It’s better than last year’s increase,” Ford said. “I don’t know if I’m okay with it, but with budget cuts everywhere, there’s not much that we can do about it.”

Student fees are also increasing at 7.8 percent. Some of the increases will be represented by a $17 increase in a building fund and a $5 increase in the fine arts budget for an in-state undergraduate taking 15 credit hours. The only area with a cut budget is the utility fee, which is dropping $3 per semester.

“If the fees are going to impact the student in a better way, then I guess it is okay, but the part I don’t agree with is the increased health insurance for the faculty,” Gonzalez said. “If they want better insurance, they should pay for it out of pocket, not out of mine.“

These increases in budgets have already had impact on the university’s campus, as the Associated Students of the University of Utah announced this week that it will be able to increase its amount of funding for the next school year.

“I do not attend any on campus events hosted by ASUU, and I would like to see those budgets cut before I pay more tuition,” Lamb said. “The academic integrity of this school is the most important value, and tuition increases are only justifiable to improve academics.”

Cheston Newhall, a junior in business said while tuition increasing will be negative to many students on campus, he believes that increased funding will help to improve the quality of the university.

“They’ve got to do what they’ve got to do,” Newhall said. “Although it is unfortunate that we will all be paying more money as students, but at least we’re going to get something back out of it.”

Along with the increase in funding to help maintain key staff and faculty members, Newhall said that an increased budget to help with on campus events is important.

“Going out to events sponsored by ASUU on campus is a great way to get connected to the university,” Newhall said. “I feel as if the U would not be as strong of a community if the events budgets were cut.”

According to Pershing, in 2008, a high school graduate had mean earnings of $40,000 per year, while those who had their bachelor’s degree earned a mean of $70,000 per year. Even though the price of obtaining a bachelors degree is rising dramatically, students say those mean salaries show it is worth the initial sacrifice.

“All in all, the tuition increase is unfortunate, but ultimately necessary,” Gonzalez said. “I will continue to stick it out and get my degree as planned.”

Filed under: Education, Politics, Utah's Economy | Leave a comment »

Hair today isn’t necessarily gone tomorrow for Utah women

Posted on April 21, 2011 by comm5775

Watch a multimedia slideshow about women’s beauty habits in a down economy.

Story and multimedia by WHITNEY BUTTERS

Split ends, drab color and shapelessness. Bangs that once framed the face now long enough to obstruct vision. Hair so unruly that even a helmet of hairspray could not keep the temperamental tresses in place.

This is more than just a bad hair day — it’s a sign that it’s time to visit the salon again.

“When your hair isn’t going right, nothing seems to be going right,” said Lila Latu, a customer at the Mane Station Salon in North Salt Lake.

This perceived need for hair maintenance keeps the multi-billion dollar beauty industry going as women continue to spend money on their appearance at varying degrees despite the downturn in the economy.

“Getting hair done is still a necessity,” said Memorie Morrision, assistant salon director and grand salon stylist at Landis Lifestyle Salon in the Marmalade district of Salt Lake City. “It’s not something people go without. It is a reflection of how you see yourself.”

Undying dedication to keeping up appearances allows the beauty industry to flourish while other sectors of the business world flounder.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics states barbers, cosmetologists and other personal appearance workers held approximately 821,900 jobs in the United States in 2008. That number is expected to grow by 20 percent before 2018 due to a growing population and increasing demand for hair service, which is faster than the average growth rate over all occupations.

Landis Lifestyle Salon added to the increasing job opportunities when it opened its doors in Sugar House in 2005. It recently expanded into its second location in Marmalade in September 2010. Morrison said the salon has already surpassed the owner’s expectations and continues to grow “slowly but surely.”

The industry continues to grow despite the fact that many customers are trying different tactics for saving money on hair care. Some try their hands at cosmetology by cutting their own hair at home but often end up turning to the help of professionals in the end.

“I fixed more haircuts in January of 2009 than I ever have,” said Misty Jones, manager of the Winegars Marketplace Great Clips in Bountiful. “I remember once when I fixed five in one day.”

Many cut back by simplifying their hair treatments instead of trying the do-it-yourself approach. Latu decided to keep her hair her natural color so she didn’t have to worry about the cost of upkeep. “I’m just getting a trim today,” she said. “I can’t afford to get it colored.”

Others try to spread the cost over several months by waiting longer in between haircuts. Misty Jones said women who used to get their hair cut every 3-4 months now wait 5-6 months.

Tara Jefferson, a customer at the Marmalade Landis Lifestyle Salon used to make an appointment every six weeks to get her hair cut. She says she now examines her finances each month, often resorting to putting it off until the funds are available. “Even if it’s looking bad, I guess I’ll just have to be extra creative (that) month,” she said. “It does depend on my budget and how badly I need my hair cut.”

While getting hair cut may be seen as an essential, Misty Jones and Morrison both said hair products are one of the first things someone will cut when trying to save money.

“Before the downturn in the economy, it was easy to sell $50 in products to one person,” Misty Jones said. “Now we give someone a recommendation and they automatically ask if they could get it cheaper somewhere else.”

Even specialty stores are experiencing some of the same drop in hair product sales.

“My boss says that it used to be quite a bit busier a couple of years ago, and it’s just slowly declined,” Madison LeMelle, an employee at Classy Chassis beauty supply store in Bountiful, said. “We still get people in, but it’s definitely not as much as we used to.”

Although sales may be down compared to years past, women still seek quality when it comes to hair products. “We use professional brands in here, and it really does make a difference,” LeMelle said. “With the economy, even though it’s bad, people still want to use the best stuff they can.”

Stylists are sensitive to their clients’ financial situations and try to help them prioritize on the essential products. Many consult with their clients and explain the purpose of each product recommendation to achieving the overall desired look. “It’s our job to really hone in on what a person needs,” Morrison said. “They don’t want to pay for a style and not have the same results from home, so products are still important.”

Jefferson’s stylist recommended she purchase enhancer and conditioner from Landis’s Aveda products collection, but she had to further narrow down the options because of tight funds.

“I just got the conditioner, just because I am so strapped financially,” she said. “Next time when I’m rich and famous I’ll get both.”

There are still women who cling to their hair routine sacrifice in other aspects of life in order to maintain it.

Helen Jones used to take her mother to the beauty parlor once a week to get her hair done. “If she missed a week, I knew she must have been sick because she never missed her trip to the salon,” she said.

She has picked up her mother’s tradition and visits her cosmetologist at the Mane Station weekly to get her hair styled. “I would not give up my weekly hair appointment for anything,” she said.

When many women are cutting back on color treatments, Helen Jones holds fast to her habits. “It can get expensive to color it, but it’s worth it no matter what the sacrifice is,” she said.

Regardless of whether a woman chooses to save on hair costs, every cut, color, trim, style and shampoo seems to carry inherent value.

“It’s part of a women’s nature to let people rely on us,” Misty Jones said. “Beauty is a service industry, and it’s our job to make people feel good. It’s an opportunity for women to let someone else do something for them.”

This opportunity to do something for themselves is what Morrison believes drives many women to fill the salon chairs at Landis Lifestyle Salon.

“We try to put value into what we do, and women who come here are willing to pay for the certainty that they will get what they want,” she said. “Our customers know they will get a stylist that will give them time and focus on them.”

More than “me” time, a trip to the salon brings a new sense of self. Morrison said she sees the “mirror face” on a daily basis as she watches a woman’s countenance change when she sees her new hair and a revised version of herself.

Possibly the biggest drive for women to continue to sacrifice money on beauty is the perception it portrays and the transformation of attitude.

“I feel good, and it affects the way people treat you, and that’s why I’m willing to spend what I can spend,” Jefferson said. “Because when you look good, you feel good about yourself. Beauty starts on the inside, but you have to extend that to the outside.”

Filed under: Business, Utah's Economy | Leave a comment »

Economy creates unique challenge for undocumented immigrant’s

Posted on April 21, 2011 by comm5775

Watch a multimedia video about undocumented immigrant’s struggles with the economy.

Story and multimedia by FLOR OLIVIO

The immigration debate often gets heated. In an effort to humanize the politics of immigration we see storytelling that some have classified as melodrama.

“I think it’s a very important part of the story, but I don’t think the opposition cares about that part, and why bother talking about something that is not going to get results,” says history teacher, Jodi Lopez.

We regularly find the faces of the people who this debate is really about buried in piles of statistics and dramatic stories. The turmoil between state and federal action is very clear even at a personal level.

The figures and facts both nationally and locally show a picture of an undocumented immigrant who among struggles, perseveres through American values.

Undocumented immigrants in the U.S. not only exist but they are here in the thousands.

Their contributions come in the billions. Regardless of immigration policy these people have the same basic necessities.

“A third of the children of unauthorized immigrants and a fifth of adult unauthorized immigrants lives in poverty,” according to the Pew Hispanic Center, “this is nearly double the poverty rate for children of U.S.-born parents (18%) or for U.S.-born adults (10%).”

Taking into account that undocumented children and families do not qualify for basic needs assistance like food stamps (SNAP), or traditional medical care (Medicaid), according to the Utah Department of Workforce Services, community resources and family help become essential for undocumented families.

The Pew Hispanic Center found that “most unauthorized immigrant adults reside with immediate family members- spouses or children.” “Almost half (47 percent) of undocumented immigrant homes are composed of couples with children,” a considerably different picture from households of US-born residents (21 percent) or legal immigrants (35 percent).

The stories that remain untold are of families helping each other and their sacrifices through unceasing work that gets these new American families through the days, weeks and months.

“I sell everything that I can.” said Milvia, an undocumented immigrant woman who migrated to the US from Colombia. “I sell nutrition products. I clean offices at night, I earn about seven hundred a month doing that, and even with all this we could not afford to pay rent, and everything else the kids need. My husband had to travel out of the state to find work and has been working there since October of last year, with no hope to return.” Milviaʼs full name is excluded because of her current immigration status.

The facts that undocumented workers pay property, state, food and federal taxes as well as Medicare and Social Security pay-ins that they can never apply for or benefit from are also frequently left out.

A study published in April 2011 by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, a nonprofit, non-partisan research organization that works on federal, state, and local tax policy issues, found that in 2010, “unauthorized immigrants paid $11.2 billion in state and local taxes. Which included $1.2 billion in personal income taxes, $1.6 billion in property, and $8.4 billion in sales taxes.” The states receiving the most tax revenue were California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois. Utah received, 105 million in total revenue from undocumented immigrant taxes.

Regardless of their hard work, immigrant familiesʼ income is notably less than nonimmigrant families, and so immigrant children live in families with lower levels of income.

In a report by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan economic and social policy research organization, nationally “the median hourly wages for all wage and salary earners in immigrant families were lower than the median wages for native families,” $14 versus $18.

“The current Utah economy affects these undocumented children directly,” says Elisa Bridge, a coordinator and family support worker for the Salt Lake School District, “jobs are not in abundance, and if you are undocumented itʼs harder to get a job.”

She explained the on-going situation with two parents working outside the home, two or three jobs at a time to be able to support families and provide their children with very basic necessities.

Students suffer when their basic necessities are not met, “This can affect their learning,” said Bridge,” when Iʼm talking about basic needs Iʼm talking about food, clothing or families struggling with bed bugs,” which is a big problem for undocumented families we come in contact with right now. It comes down to “a lot of people just living in horrible situations.”

These are very negative effects but hope seems to be abundant for the undocumented.

“There are students that see their parents struggling, so that might motivate them to fight harder to become something in life and obtain and education,” says Bridge.

Even with this motivation, these same students currently have no hope to actually go on to receive a higher education or to be able to work legally.

Legislation like the “DREAM Act” is geared to close some of these gaps for undocumented children who want to pursue a higher education or serve in the military and successfully navigate through American society.

Some programs that currently help undocumented youth are kept under the shadows in the same places these children reside. Northwest Middle School has an after school program where children receive homework help. The school also provides a dinner option for any student that decides to participate and because school districts do not inquire about immigration status these programs are sometimes the only way some of these students can get a good dinner.

In reality it is hard to document a group of people who live in constant fear of having their livelihood destroyed. It becomes just one more daily struggle.

Regardless unauthorized immigrants continue making it through the values that most Americans identify with hard work, honesty, family and the pursuit of happiness, these undocumented people continue living, surviving and in most cases creating a community of perseverance and hope.

Filed under: Immigrants & Refugees, Organizations, Politics, Utah's Economy | Leave a comment »

Musicians in Utah are finding alternative ways to have their music heard

Posted on April 21, 2011 by comm5775

Watch a multimedia video about a local record label.

Story and multimedia by HELEN COX

For musicians wanting to be heard, it’s all about who they know and how creative and resourceful they can get. Despite the current recession, bands are finding alternative ways to record and release their music.

Getting a good record deal has never been easy, and these days it’s even harder. While several record labels and distributors do exist, a legitimate contract that will pay for recording and pressing is more difficult to attain than some may realize. The money is simply not there. But several locals have been looking for and finding new ways to get their music out to the public on a low budget.

Gavin Hoffman, drummer of INVDRS and IX Zealot – and an employee of Raunch Records and SLUG Magazine – has been playing music in Salt Lake City for 18 years. He has noticed bands are more likely to find a label to pay for the release of their albums if they know someone or if they tour.

Neither of Hoffman’s bands tour. In order to get their music out, they must do it themselves by networking within the music world and paying out of pocket. It’s a sacrifice, but even in a recession he explains there is a positive aspect. People still want to hear new music.

“If we shell out the dough and the time to record, press, and send our stuff to people, someone will eventually hear it,” Hoffman said.

Even with good networking and reasonable prices, this is not inexpensive. Hoffman’s sludge punk band, INVDRS, spent about $1,300 to record, mix and master their full-length album. The record was co-released by Relapse Records. His blackened hardcore doom band, IX Zealot, spent close to $700 to record, mix, master and press their three-song demo.

“We don’t ever expect to make that money back. It’s a total investment, simply to record and get our music out to people,” Hoffman said. “Neither of my bands – in fact, no band I’ve ever been in – has ever done anything to make money. We play and record simply because that’s what we like to do.”

Local black doom metal band, Gravecode Nebula, has decided to save some money and record on their own. They brought a PC with recording software into their practice space and have spent the last several months experimenting with rehearsal recordings. They are also saving foam padding from a shipping room at a band member’s workplace in order to make sound-proofing material – padding that would otherwise be sitting in a landfill.

“With the advent of new technology and the modern PC, we see that getting a professional sound with a home recording is now easier than ever,” guitarist Eric Elde said. “Other than saving a lot of money, I think the main benefit of this is that you can take your time to perfect and enrich your music to the vision you have for whatever you want to do.”

With a label that will fund the pressing and release of Gravecode Nebula’s debut album, the band is confident that recording their guitar, bass, keyboard and vocal tracks in their own studio is ideal. Due to drums being more troublesome to record – it is difficult without proper equipment – they plan to pitch in a few hundred dollars for their drummer to be recorded in a professional studio.

While many bands have found reasonable ways to record, distribution is an even greater issue musicians face. Without decent promotion and distribution, the music may never be heard.

“After recording and pressing, we have to get the album out to the masses,” said Hoffman. “Local support is good. Sell the album at shows and get it into local shops like the Heavy Metal Shop and Raunch Records. You have to get it out into the universe. The best way I’ve found is to send as many copies as possible to local, national, and international magazines for review. Even a negative review will generate some amount of interest.”

While some bands like to stick with more traditional approaches to promotion, social media has also become a very popular and accessible outlet. With an increasing number of websites that allow musicians to upload and share their music for free, it is easier for bands to be heard. Some labels are taking these ideas to a new level.

This year Backscatter Media and its sub-label, Dungeon Recordings, launched a new website with a unique idea. Two digital compilation albums are available on the site, with the option to stream or download the music for free. Many local favorites are included on these compilations, and the labels feel this is a great way to help Salt Lake City bands get exposure.

“We were already affiliated with a bunch of different artists who we were helping out, just kind of selling their stuff on our website,” Kevin Cazier of Dungeon Recordings said. “None of these bands really had any distribution, they didn’t really have any websites built for themselves.”

Cazier believes traditional methods of promotion and distribution are still very effective, but the Internet has something to offer that is difficult to provide otherwise – free music for the public and free exposure for musicians.

“In the past we had done compilation CDs, and it kind of gave us the idea to do this,” said Cazier. “We took that idea one step further. We thought a free download would be excellent – one compilation to represent Backscatter and another to represent Dungeon. Generally when people are listening to music they don’t have as much of an open mind if they have to pay for it. It helps the bands and it helps our label.”

Skyler Sheen, a self-described artistic terrorist who runs Wee Gee Wee Gee Records, a sub-label of Touch of Horror, believes all sound should be free and utilizes his home studio and social media more than most.

“If you have a painting, you can’t really charge somebody to look at it,” Sheen said. “Music and audio – sound – should be 100 percent free. I think most people believe this or they wouldn’t be stealing, or whatever, music all the time.”

Sheen believes money should only be made from the more artistic aspects of music, and social media should be taken advantage of as free distribution. He sees live performances and creating fun, personal and interesting ways to release and promote physical albums and merchandise as the only acceptable ways of making money in the music biz.

“I don’t know why somebody would want to be signed to a record label anyway,” Sheen said. “Create your own label or create your own thing. That’s why the corporate music industry is in trouble, is because a lot of people are going and doing that.”

It is apparent that the recession has given local artists a reason to appreciate their independence, get away from outdated norms and come up with new ideas. These are qualities that could be beneficial in the long run, even though they are likely to give the music industry a run for their money.

“I think, if anything, the recession has taught musicians to value what they have, to look toward the future and find new and exciting ways to capture their music,” said Elde. “Any way to save a buck in this economic climate is beneficial.”

Filed under: Arts, Entertainment, Culture, Utah's Economy | Leave a comment »

U’s Sill Center pushes sustainable building efforts

Posted on April 21, 2011 by comm5775

Watch a multimedia video about the University of Utah’s Sill Center and their sustainability efforts.

Story and multimedia by JENNA LEVETAN

Construction all over campus causes students to pay a $17 fee in their tuition every semester. But one older building is adding new and innovative methods to save money and also energy.

The Sterling Sill Center is where the office of undergraduate studies is located and is a leader in housing sustainable projects on campus. It has solar panels on top of the building, organic gardens in front and the most recent project is in their backyard and is called an ice ball.

The ice ball is an experiment that could be a breakthrough in air conditioning.  The experiment is happening 40 feet underground behind the building. Professor Kent Udell spearheaded the idea of the ice ball with students from the department of mechanical engineering. An ice ball is a method of taking the cold winter air and saving it underground.

There are 19 pipes sticking out of the ground behind the building called thermosyphines. The pipes are what bring the cold air down underground.

“The basic concept is that we are trying to TIVO the seasons.  We are trying to store the winter cold that we are experiencing right now, take advantage of it in summer and get free air conditioning,” Udell said.

A special coolant fluid similar to Freon is put into the pipes that have both the liquid and vapor phase. The liquid is in the bottom of the pipes and the vapor is on top.

“What happens in the winter is that when the temperature outside drops below the temperature underground, that liquid in the bottom starts to boil.  As it boils the vapors come up, go to the condenser, condense, and the liquid runs back down. Then comes summer and we reverse it,” Udell said.

When the cold liquid comes back into the ground, it freezes the soil around the pipes, forming what people are calling an ice ball. The cold liquid will be pumped into the air conditioner and will be used to cool the building as the ice ball melts. The ice ball will grow to be about 35 feet in diameter.

Sill Center employees are hoping to use the energy gained by their solar panels to pump the liquid into the air conditioner making the ice ball truly environmentally friendly by using no electricity at all. St. Andrew personally asked Udell to use the backyard of the Sill Center for the ice ball.

“If this works it has immense potential for saving lots and lots of money and preventing a lot of pollution. And if it works hopefully we can expand the idea and not only change the way this building gets its air conditioning, but the world,” said St. Andrew.

Building the ice ball has cost just over $20,000, but Udell believes that the cost of installing the ice ball will be paid back in three years with all the money the school will save in air conditioning bills and it should last for decades.

The installation is now complete and Udell hopes it to be operational by summer 2011. If the ice ball turns out to be successful, Udell will work on a similar but separate project to keep the warm summer air stored to help them heat the building during the winter.

Another green project the Sill Center houses are the solar panels that were installed in December 2009. There are 30 plates of solar panels on the roof with three rows of 10. It only cost the university about $17,000 out of pocket to buy and install them after they got a grant from Rocky Mountain Power.

“We got a grant through Rocky Mountain Power for $30,000,” said Mark St. Andrew, assistant dean of undergraduate studies. “It is going to take us nearly 50 years to pay off these panels in the amount of energy that they are going to produce.”

Though the goal of solar panels are to save energy, the ones at the Sill Center produce much less then some may think.

According to the data from the Rocky Mountain energy manager, last year the panels only produced three percent of what the building uses in a year. The university will be in debt to the panels for so long because of the large out of pocket expense for the panels and the small dent of energy they actually produce.

The panels are only guaranteed to last for 30 years, meaning the university may be paying for them for nearly 20 years after they are gone. The employees at the Sill Center are aware that there are some conservative fiscal people who think they were a waste of money, but they stand by their decision of getting them because even without a return on investment the panels get people talking about alternative sources of energy.

The organic garden is a project funded by the Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund. When Alex Parvas, founder of gardens, asked the Sill Center if she could grow the gardens in front of the building there they were more then pleased to say yes.

“The gardens are perfect at the Sill Center,” said Parvas. “Once they get fully in bloom it is going to be really pretty and hopefully a conversation starter since the building is so central on campus.”

The Sill Center and garden coordinators have also set up a patio area along side the building so students and faculty can have a spot on campus to picnic around the gardens.

The Sill Center will continue to look for innovative ways to improve sustainability on campus and remains optimistic about the future.

“There is no overall plan or master plan that we have hatched,” St. Andrew said. “It is just stuff that makes sense to do.”

Filed under: Education, Environment, Science & Technology, Utah's Economy | Leave a comment »

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