Utah News

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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?"

A Wall Street Journal article published today introduces an issue Southern Utahns have dealt with for 40 years to a national audience. The article documents the trouble some Utahns have experienced ever since the Utah prairie dog landed on the endangered species list.

Engineering students from colleges and universities throughout the West gathered in Tooele over the weekend to compete in the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge, using models they've designed and built themselves.

These races are probably the quietest ever to take place at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, but the crowd is no less enthusiastic. Jonathan Sanders from Missouri University of Science and Technology won Saturday's drag race. His ride, Chronos, looks a bit like a black kidney bean with a bicycle wheel:

Friday May 4, Southern Utah University conducts its 113th annual commencement. Every graduating class, of course, has its valedictorian, the SUU class of 2012 is no exception, but its valedictorian is…  exceptional in every sense of the word.

Gwen Knight graduates with a degree in psychology, having maintained a 4.0 grade point average throughout her academic career at SUU. And that while working fulltime as directing case coordinator with the Utah court-appointed special advocate program and juggling her duties as a mother of 11 and grandmother of 22.