Access Utah

How do men and women shape history? Do human values have a role in the writing of history? At a time when the so-called New Mormon history appears to be running its course, it may be time to rethink our approaches. So says Ronald W. Walker, professional historian and BYU Professor of History, Emeritus.

The new Mormon Environmental Stewardship Alliance (MESA) says that “it is no longer sufficient to merely protest ‘supply side’ assaults on the environment such as coal-fired power plants, fracking, tar sands & oil shale, etc. … The other half of the problem is the demand for dirty energy. MESA, along with many of Utah’s faith communities and universities, is organizing the “Live More with Less” Conference to be held in the Utah Valley University Science Auditorium on October 3, from 1:30 to 6:30 pm. to “challenge society’s assumption that ‘prosperity’ relies upon an economy based on endless growth and consumption."

On Tuesday’s AU we’ll look at the problem of homelessness through the eyes of Florida middle school teacher (and Navy veteran) Tom Rebman. He recently spent a month living as though he were homeless to raise awareness for a food bank and to inspire the kids he worked with. He told the Deseret News that this experience was the hardest thing he’s ever done and that he couldn’t have predicted the extent of the realities of living on the street, including sleepless nights, hunger and constant fear.

On the last day of summer in 2006, a Utah college student named Reggie Shaw killed two rocket scientists while texting and driving in Cache Valley. In his new book, “A Deadly Wandering: A Tale of Tragedy and Redemption in the Age of Attention” Pulitzer prize winning New York Times reporter, Matt Richtel, follows Shaw through the tragedy, his denial of its cause, the police investigation, the state’s groundbreaking prosecution (at the time there was little precedent to guide the court), and ultimately Shaw’s improbable admission of guilt, and his redemption.

At age eleven, Kenan Trebincevic was a happy, karate-loving kid living with his family in the quiet Eastern European town of Brcko. Then, in the spring of 1992, war broke out and his friends, neighbors and teammates all turned on him. Pero - Kenan's beloved karate coach - showed up at his door with an AK-47 - screaming: "You have one hour to leave or be killed!" His only crime: he was Muslim.

Anthony Doerr is author of the New York Times bestseller “All the Light We Cannot See,” about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

More than 300,000 people marched through the streets of New York City on Sunday in what organizers called the largest climate-change demonstration in history (USA Today.)

We tend to talk about Air Quality in the winter when inversions are trapping us in especially bad air. But this is a serious ongoing problem. So, on Monday’s AU, we’ll ask: What does the latest research tell us about our air pollution problem? And what are our current plans to ameliorate the problem?

Former Cache Valley resident, Ann Norman, is Chairman of the Board for Shine On Sierra Leone, a non-profit organization which builds and rebuilds schools in Sierra Leone. She has been appointed to the Presidential Task Force there, and is involved in the education campaign for people in rural areas in Sierra Leone to combat Ebola.

First the Utah State University Ecology Center is hosting a seminar series this year. The first speaker is ecologist Jeremy Fox from the University of Calgary, Canada. Fox addresses fundamental questions in population, community, and evolutionary ecology. He will present his final talk tonight at 6 titled: Causes and Consequence of Spatially Synchronized Population Dynamics. That it is at 6pm at the Ecology Center on the USU campus.

Doug Peacock served in Vietnam as a Green Beret medic, and came home an emotional and spiritual wreck. After the war, he crawled into the mountains and found that solitude in wilderness was exactly what he needed to confront the demons of Vietnam. And he credits grizzly bears with restoring his soul.

During his lifetime, George Frideric Handel’s music reached from court to theater, echoed in cathedrals, and filled crowded taverns, but the man himself is a bit of a mystery.

Pulitzer-prize-winning historian Doris Kearns Goodwin returns to AU on Friday. She is author of several books including “The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism,“ “No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt - The Home Front in World War II” and “Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.”

Seventy percent of the country uses Facebook each month—50 percent of Americans under 35 check it first thing every morning. By 2015, people will have tweeted more words than in every book ever printed. A third of all marriages in the United States now begin online—meaning one in three children in the class of 2032 will have been facilitated by an algorithm. Social media has become essential to the fabric of our society. We know that companies and the government are using our data, sometimes in ways we’re uncomfortable with.

Two Utah sisters are pushing back against a Carl’s Jr. advertising campaign they say objectifies women. The ads feature bikini-clad women eating the fast-food chain’s burgers in a seductive manner. Lindsay and Lexie Kite hold doctorate degrees from the University of Utah and run a nonprofit called Beauty Redefined, focusing on issues surrounding women’s body image and media influence. Their social media campaign uses the hashtags: “#CutTheCarls” and “#MoreThanMeat” They are asking consumers to boycott Carl’s Jr. in order to involve the company in conversation about sexual objectification in advertising. Carl’s Jr. has said the ads, which began in 2005, are aimed at catching the attention of young, hungry boys (ages 18 - 35). The company said it respects the contribution of women to society.

On September 12, 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed legislation creating Canyonlands National Park: “...in order to preserve an area...possessing superlative scenic, scientific, and archeologic features for the inspiration, benefit and use of the public…”

Vikram Chandra says that even though “computing has transformed our lives...the processes and cultures which produce software remain largely opaque, alien, unknown. He says “whenever I tell one of my fellow authors that I supported myself through the writing of my first novel by working as a programmer and a computer consultant, I evoke a response that mixes bemusement, bafflement, and a touch of awe, as if I’d just said that I could levitate...Many programmers, on the other hand regard themselves as artists.”

Eboo Patel founded the Interfaith Youth Core to counter the growing problem of religious intolerance and violence at home and abroad. IFYC trains students to bridge the faith-divide through interfaith cooperation. Patel says that “interfaith interactions can be a bomb of destruction, a barrier of division, a bubble of isolation, or a bridge of cooperation.” He says that he’s inspired to build a bridge of cooperation by his faith as a Muslim, his Indian heritage, and his American citizenship.

The grid is everywhere, sending power to the light switch on the wall and water to the faucet in the kitchen. But is it essential? Must we depend on it and the corporate and government infrastructure behind it? My guest on Monday’s AU is Nick Rosen, who has traveled the United States, spending time with all kinds of individuals and families striving to live their lives free from dependence on municipal power and amenities, and free from dependence on the government and its far-reaching tentacles.

Frankenstein brings to mind Boris Karloff’s character in the 1931 film, or monster masks worn for Halloween. The book, however, surprises those who think they know the story. It’s a thought-provoking tale examining education, knowledge, and society. Goodreads says “Frankenstein, an instant bestseller and an important ancestor of both the horror and science fiction genres, not only tells a terrifying story, but also raises profound, disturbing questions about the very nature of life and the place of humankind within the cosmos: What does it mean to be human? What responsibilities do we have to each other? How far can we go in tampering with Nature? In our age, filled with news of organ donation, genetic engineering, and bio-terrorism, these questions are more relevant than ever.”