Utah News

What began as an interest in poetry in her accelerated English class at Logan High School has evolved for Markaye Hassan into a love not only for poetry, but for the poets themselves.

Her passion is evident when she talks about the process of falling in love with poetry during the course of her class: "We spent a lot of time annotating poems where we would go through and really notice how every single word is so important and all of the different ways you could really apply it to yourself. It is so deep. Every word is so important."

A new museum collection at Zion National Park chronicles the contributions of the men of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Pictures, writings, and special objects in the collection provide opportunities for visitors to gain first-hand knowledge of the work and lives of the men of the CCC.

During their 9 years working in Zion, they built and improved many of the park's trails, created parking areas, fought fires, eradicated invasive plants, help build campgrounds, built park buildings, and reduced flooding on the Virgin River.

Natural gas development is about to increase significantly in Utah. On Tuesday, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar approved a major drilling project the Obama Administration says will create thousands of jobs while protecting the environment.

“The world today should simply stand back and say 'Wow, how did they do this?’"

Dressed in a cowboy hat and jeans, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar signed the Greater Natural Buttes Project Record of Decision. The major energy project being developed by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation is set to create more than 3,600 new wells over then next decade and support more than 4,000 jobs.

May 5 - 12 is Archeology Week in Utah. Lori Hunsaker, Deputy State Preservation Officer, explains why archeology is something to celebrate here in Utah:

"In Utah we enjoy some of the best archeology in the world and it isn't all limited to Salt Lake. It's all over the state...We want people to embrace and appreciate the rich and diverse pre-history and history that we have in Utah."

Huntsaker says it's easy to find a personal connection to the ancient people of Utah.

"You see it in the rock art.  You see families depicted in the rock art in 9 Mile Canyon. You see hunting scenes: people embroiled in day-to-day labors to get food."

A Brigham Young University Professor is taking on a new role. Last week, Governor Gary Herbert appointed Lance Larsen to serve as Utah’s new Poet Laureate. Larsen will act as the leading public advocate for the literary arts in Utah.

Larsen didn’t develop a love for poetry and the arts until later in life when he took a creative writing class. It was then Lance Larsen began writing poetry, and is now awaiting the publication of his fourth collection of poems.

“I am not a genre snob. There are some poets who look down there nose at anyone who writes in prose. I also write memoir and personal essay. I love fiction, I haven’t written much of it, but I teach a course in the short story. I think the poet laureate can be an advocate for all the literary arts.”

The U.S Army is looking to improve some of their materials and they’re asking scientists at the University of Utah to help. A little over a year ago, the United States Army put out a request for proposals. They have a “weight” problem and need some help in fixing it.

“A soldier carries say something like 30 pounds of batteries in the field ..that’s a lot. If we can reduce that, that would make a big difference to how the soldier can move around for example.”

That’s where Martin Berzins comes in. He’s a professor of computing at the University of Utah and will be working with the 4 post-doc researchers and 8 graduate students who are assisting in the research:

A new study employing the cooperation of BYU and Utah State University researchers and state biologists proposes to answer the question just how many mule deer fawns each year are lost to coyotes.

The study will begin in June and take place on Monroe Mountain in Central Utah. Doe mule deer will be captured and fitted with radio collars and vaginal implant transmitters that will be ejected when they give birth. The transmitter will alert biologists of the time and general location of the herd's newest additions. Biologists will then attempt to fit the fawns with expandable radio collars in order to monitor how many survive the critical first 6 months of life.

Coyotes will also be fitted with collars to show researchers their location in relation to the baby deer.

Saturday afternoon marked the 125th graduation ceremony and a milestone for nearly 4,500 students at Utah State University. Among students receiving bachelor's degrees is 98-year-old American Studies student, Twila Boston.

Twila grew up on a farm in Fremont and Loa, Utah, and left for nursing school in 1932 on her 19th birthday. She worked for many years as a nurse. When she returned to higher education recently, she joked it seemed the right thing to do:

"What else is there to do at my age except eat and read and sleep?"