Newly founded Social Media Club of Cache Valley.
Social Media Club of Cache Valley (SMCCV) is a newly founded club seeking new members interested in anything to do with social media, including Twitter, Facebook, and any other social media websites.
Logan, Utah, Jan. 27, 2010. The Social Media Club of Cache Valley is a newly founded club seeking anyone interested in sharing discussion about the use and application of social media.
The Social Media Club of Cache Valley (SMCCV) is a new branch of an international organization (Social Media Club) located in Cache Valley, Utah. The meetings are for sharing and discussing ideas about the use and application of social media websites.
The club started in the Cache valley during the summer of 2009, with Preston Parker elected as president, and 6 others as the officials in the organization. The club meets every second Tuesday of the month, and discusses social media over dinner.
More information on the SMCCV can be found on facebook (http://www.facebook.com/smccv), Twitter (@smcofcv) or on the clubs (website http://www.smcv.com).
Adam Ward
Adam.ward@aggiemail.usu.edu
(801)245-9747
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Where did United go wrong?
In the spring of 2008, Dave Carroll and his band “Sons of Maxwell” were flying on United Airlines from through the Chicago O’Hare airport on their way to Nebraska, when a woman behind him looked out the window and observed that the baggage handlers were throwing a guitar case around the tarmac. Carroll and his band looked on in horror, as they knew the guitars being thrown around were bound to be theirs.
When Carroll arrived in Nebraska, his fears were confirmed, and his $3,500 dollar Taylor guitar was broken. He immediately tried to talk to three United employees to try to file a claim, but none of them were any help, as they just passed the buck. When Carroll arrived home he filed a claim with Air Canada (an affiliate of United Airlines), and they accepted the claim, but told him that he had to take it up with United, because they were the ones who handled his bags.
After nearly a year of fighting with United over settling a payment for his guitar, they finally denied Carroll a $1,200 waiver to cover the cost of the repairs to his guitar. Carroll stated that he was past being angry, but he was going to write three songs about the experience, and put them on YouTube. United still denied payment to him, so Carroll went through with his promise, and posted a video on YouTube.
The video Carroll put out was viewed over 150,000 times in the first week of being on the internet. Within a few months, the video had jumped up to over 4,000,000 views. The damage this cost United is undeniable, but there have also been critics who directly correlate the 150,000 views in the first week, with a $180 million dollar drop in the stocks of United. Some critics claim that the video single handedly lost the airline the $180 million; however there are many other critics who point out that this was during a large crash for all airline companies, and United was taking a fall just like every other airline.
But did Carroll have a massive effect on the reputation of United airlines? I believe that he did. 4,000,000 views on the first video, and another 800,000 on the second video is no laughing matter. I believe that this damaged United’s reputation, even if it was only for a short time. Carroll’s video’s were appropriate in my mind, as he waited patiently with United for almost a year to get a settlement, and then warned them that he was going to put these videos up. I don’t believe that he was trying to be slanderous to United’s name either, and that he was simply telling his story.
United Airlines did a horrible job with public relations. While the employees were doing their job, and just following the companies rules for handling claims, they did a bad job from the time that Carroll approached the three employees right after his flight, to when they denied him the flight waiver for the final time. No matter how you look at it, United could have done a much better with maintaining good relations between them and their customers. Particularly Dave Carroll. If they really did lose $180 million over the music video, this would mean that they could have paid for over 52,000 replacement guitars.
The company did back peddle and offer to pay him after about a week of the video being out; however Carroll declined, stating that they had their chance and are now more than welcome to donate the money to a charity of their choice, under his name. United then donated $3,000 to the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz for music education for kids; however the damage to their name had already been done, and this damage control went almost unnoticed.
The “United Breaks Guitars” song by Dave Carroll was extremely popular, and extremely detrimental on United’s reputation. These types of public relations blunders are easily avoidable by companies, and if United has just given Carroll the $1,200 in flight waivers that Carroll asked for, it could have saved United’s name from more defamation, and a lot of money.
Adam
When Carroll arrived in Nebraska, his fears were confirmed, and his $3,500 dollar Taylor guitar was broken. He immediately tried to talk to three United employees to try to file a claim, but none of them were any help, as they just passed the buck. When Carroll arrived home he filed a claim with Air Canada (an affiliate of United Airlines), and they accepted the claim, but told him that he had to take it up with United, because they were the ones who handled his bags.
After nearly a year of fighting with United over settling a payment for his guitar, they finally denied Carroll a $1,200 waiver to cover the cost of the repairs to his guitar. Carroll stated that he was past being angry, but he was going to write three songs about the experience, and put them on YouTube. United still denied payment to him, so Carroll went through with his promise, and posted a video on YouTube.
The video Carroll put out was viewed over 150,000 times in the first week of being on the internet. Within a few months, the video had jumped up to over 4,000,000 views. The damage this cost United is undeniable, but there have also been critics who directly correlate the 150,000 views in the first week, with a $180 million dollar drop in the stocks of United. Some critics claim that the video single handedly lost the airline the $180 million; however there are many other critics who point out that this was during a large crash for all airline companies, and United was taking a fall just like every other airline.
But did Carroll have a massive effect on the reputation of United airlines? I believe that he did. 4,000,000 views on the first video, and another 800,000 on the second video is no laughing matter. I believe that this damaged United’s reputation, even if it was only for a short time. Carroll’s video’s were appropriate in my mind, as he waited patiently with United for almost a year to get a settlement, and then warned them that he was going to put these videos up. I don’t believe that he was trying to be slanderous to United’s name either, and that he was simply telling his story.
United Airlines did a horrible job with public relations. While the employees were doing their job, and just following the companies rules for handling claims, they did a bad job from the time that Carroll approached the three employees right after his flight, to when they denied him the flight waiver for the final time. No matter how you look at it, United could have done a much better with maintaining good relations between them and their customers. Particularly Dave Carroll. If they really did lose $180 million over the music video, this would mean that they could have paid for over 52,000 replacement guitars.
The company did back peddle and offer to pay him after about a week of the video being out; however Carroll declined, stating that they had their chance and are now more than welcome to donate the money to a charity of their choice, under his name. United then donated $3,000 to the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz for music education for kids; however the damage to their name had already been done, and this damage control went almost unnoticed.
The “United Breaks Guitars” song by Dave Carroll was extremely popular, and extremely detrimental on United’s reputation. These types of public relations blunders are easily avoidable by companies, and if United has just given Carroll the $1,200 in flight waivers that Carroll asked for, it could have saved United’s name from more defamation, and a lot of money.
Adam
Thursday, January 14, 2010
What is public relations? - a letter to my cousin
Hey Beck,
I heard you were interested in knowing what public relations is, and what a public relations professional does. Public relations is the act of managing relations between a person or company, and the public. They do this by building a large network of business relationships, communicating effectively with everyone, and by making the person or company they work for look as good as possible.
One of the most important parts of working in public relations is to build a great relationship with a large network of people, including media, customers, investors, community leaders, activist groups, government agencies, and many others. It is very important that you build these relationships, because it enables you to work in a much more efficient way. By building all these lasting relationships, it is much easier for you to arrange press conferences, meetings with people in government, or even a meeting with investors to try to better your company. Maintaining good working relationships is very important for anyone involved in public relations.
Another one of the most important parts of working in public relations is communication. Simply put, public relations requires you to be able to communicate with anyone in any way; including writing, public speaking, group leadership, event planning, and social media networks. If a public relations professional can't communicate, they can't be successful at their job. It requires a good grasp of the language, as well as the ability to write efficiently.
A third important part of working in public relations is to make the company or person your working for look as good as possible. This can include "crisis" relations, where you try to make the company look good after something went wrong, or just making them look better by getting news stories published highlighting how good of a job the company is doing. Public relations professionals will do many things to make the company or person look as good as possible. It is essentially the core part of the job. It is extremely important, and without people in public relations to make the company or person look as good as possible, many more companies would have bad reputations today than they currently do.
Public relations is a fun and exciting career to be in right now. There are many parts to it and a lot of things that a public relations professional can do in their job, but as long as they have the ability to create a network of great business relationships, can communicate effectively, and can make their employer look as good as possible, they are sure to succeed in the career.
Sincerely,
Adam
I heard you were interested in knowing what public relations is, and what a public relations professional does. Public relations is the act of managing relations between a person or company, and the public. They do this by building a large network of business relationships, communicating effectively with everyone, and by making the person or company they work for look as good as possible.
One of the most important parts of working in public relations is to build a great relationship with a large network of people, including media, customers, investors, community leaders, activist groups, government agencies, and many others. It is very important that you build these relationships, because it enables you to work in a much more efficient way. By building all these lasting relationships, it is much easier for you to arrange press conferences, meetings with people in government, or even a meeting with investors to try to better your company. Maintaining good working relationships is very important for anyone involved in public relations.
Another one of the most important parts of working in public relations is communication. Simply put, public relations requires you to be able to communicate with anyone in any way; including writing, public speaking, group leadership, event planning, and social media networks. If a public relations professional can't communicate, they can't be successful at their job. It requires a good grasp of the language, as well as the ability to write efficiently.
A third important part of working in public relations is to make the company or person your working for look as good as possible. This can include "crisis" relations, where you try to make the company look good after something went wrong, or just making them look better by getting news stories published highlighting how good of a job the company is doing. Public relations professionals will do many things to make the company or person look as good as possible. It is essentially the core part of the job. It is extremely important, and without people in public relations to make the company or person look as good as possible, many more companies would have bad reputations today than they currently do.
Public relations is a fun and exciting career to be in right now. There are many parts to it and a lot of things that a public relations professional can do in their job, but as long as they have the ability to create a network of great business relationships, can communicate effectively, and can make their employer look as good as possible, they are sure to succeed in the career.
Sincerely,
Adam
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Speech by Harry Gutman
As seen in the October 22nd, 2009 USU Statesman
Adam Ward
Staff Writer
“We are on an unsustainable fiscal path, and we must take steps to fix it when the time is appropriate,” said Harry “Hank” Gutman Wednesday at the Intermountain Accounting Seminar sponsored by the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. The necessary steps, Gutman said, may inevitably involve raising taxes.
As the chief of staff for the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation from 1991-93, Gutman was the primary nonpartisan adviser to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees concerning the technical, economic and revenue aspects of tax legislation. Gutman also served as Deputy Tax Legislative Counsel in the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy.
Currently, Gutman heads the Federal Tax Legislative and Regulatory Services (LRS) group at Washington National Tax and is the director of the KPMG Tax Governance Institute (TGI). Under Gutman’s leadership, the LRS practice gives clients immediate notification about breaking developments in tax legislation or federal tax regulations, among other things.
Gutman began by reviewing the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act,” better known as the stimulus package that Congress and President Barack Obama passed earlier this year. Gutman pointed out that the $787 billion stimulus had to be paid for somehow and that bills such as the stimulus package will only add to the nation’s deficit, which is now at $1.4 trillion compared to $450 billion a year ago, according to The Budget and Economic Outlook from August of 2009.
The massive deficit causes huge problems for the United States economy, Gutman said. While the deficit is only 10 percent of the United States' gross domestic product (GDP), that number is still greater than all of the world’s GDP combined, with the exception of six countries. Gutman feels that American has dug a fiscal hole that it will not be able to get out of unless there are big changes.
Gutman said the only ways to get out of the hole are cutting back on spending or gaining a new revenue source. However, because of the way Congress works, he doubts any cutting will happen with the budget, so the only way to get out of the hole is to increase revenues, probably in the form of new taxes. Gutman knows that it isn’t what anybody wants but it is what must happen if the U.S. economy is going to get out of the fiscal hole that it’s in.
Gutman also warned that the timing of raising taxes is just as important as actually raising the taxes to get America out of the fiscal hole. There is a big scare about entitlement programs running out of money, such as Social Security or Medicare, Gutman said. However, Gutman said they won’t be a problem for 10 years, and nothing should be done to reform them until the economy is more stable and it is actually pertinent to reform the programs. Adding taxes now would hurt the recovering economy much more than it would help these programs, he said.
Gutman used a graph published by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, an international organization composed of 30 countries, about how much of the percentages of GDP goes to taxes. Gutman said the United States was down near the bottom – along with countries such as Mexico and South Korea – being taxed only a small amount. On the other hand, many citizens in European countries, such as Germany and Italy, are taxed nearly half their income.
There are many countries that are taxed much more yet still have a higher standard of living than the U.S. Gutman used the statistics to show that despite the public opinion that everyone is overtaxed, it is possible and could be beneficial to be taxed more. What’s more, Gutman said, is that higher taxes may be the only way to avert the next fiscal disaster the United States is likely to face as it recovers from the last one.
-adam.ward@aggiemail.usu.edu
Adam Ward
Staff Writer
“We are on an unsustainable fiscal path, and we must take steps to fix it when the time is appropriate,” said Harry “Hank” Gutman Wednesday at the Intermountain Accounting Seminar sponsored by the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. The necessary steps, Gutman said, may inevitably involve raising taxes.
As the chief of staff for the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation from 1991-93, Gutman was the primary nonpartisan adviser to the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees concerning the technical, economic and revenue aspects of tax legislation. Gutman also served as Deputy Tax Legislative Counsel in the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy.
Currently, Gutman heads the Federal Tax Legislative and Regulatory Services (LRS) group at Washington National Tax and is the director of the KPMG Tax Governance Institute (TGI). Under Gutman’s leadership, the LRS practice gives clients immediate notification about breaking developments in tax legislation or federal tax regulations, among other things.
Gutman began by reviewing the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act,” better known as the stimulus package that Congress and President Barack Obama passed earlier this year. Gutman pointed out that the $787 billion stimulus had to be paid for somehow and that bills such as the stimulus package will only add to the nation’s deficit, which is now at $1.4 trillion compared to $450 billion a year ago, according to The Budget and Economic Outlook from August of 2009.
The massive deficit causes huge problems for the United States economy, Gutman said. While the deficit is only 10 percent of the United States' gross domestic product (GDP), that number is still greater than all of the world’s GDP combined, with the exception of six countries. Gutman feels that American has dug a fiscal hole that it will not be able to get out of unless there are big changes.
Gutman said the only ways to get out of the hole are cutting back on spending or gaining a new revenue source. However, because of the way Congress works, he doubts any cutting will happen with the budget, so the only way to get out of the hole is to increase revenues, probably in the form of new taxes. Gutman knows that it isn’t what anybody wants but it is what must happen if the U.S. economy is going to get out of the fiscal hole that it’s in.
Gutman also warned that the timing of raising taxes is just as important as actually raising the taxes to get America out of the fiscal hole. There is a big scare about entitlement programs running out of money, such as Social Security or Medicare, Gutman said. However, Gutman said they won’t be a problem for 10 years, and nothing should be done to reform them until the economy is more stable and it is actually pertinent to reform the programs. Adding taxes now would hurt the recovering economy much more than it would help these programs, he said.
Gutman used a graph published by the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development, an international organization composed of 30 countries, about how much of the percentages of GDP goes to taxes. Gutman said the United States was down near the bottom – along with countries such as Mexico and South Korea – being taxed only a small amount. On the other hand, many citizens in European countries, such as Germany and Italy, are taxed nearly half their income.
There are many countries that are taxed much more yet still have a higher standard of living than the U.S. Gutman used the statistics to show that despite the public opinion that everyone is overtaxed, it is possible and could be beneficial to be taxed more. What’s more, Gutman said, is that higher taxes may be the only way to avert the next fiscal disaster the United States is likely to face as it recovers from the last one.
-adam.ward@aggiemail.usu.edu
Project "Replay"
As seen in the March 27th, 2009 USU Statesman.
By Adam Ward
staff writer
Donated instruments give children chance to learn
Utah Public Radio (UPR) is hosting a campaign to collect playable musical instruments for children in communities around the state. Project Replay has been underway since March 15, and will continue through April 15, said Cathy Ives, general manager of UPR.
The purpose of Replay is simple: to give children the opportunity to own their own instrument, she said.
“The need for music in schools is always great, but with the budget cuts lately, this drive is extremely appreciated by educators this year,” Ives said.
The ultimate goal of Replay is to collect $100,000 in instruments for the Utah children. Ives said all donations are tax-deductible, and all instruments donated go to the school district of the community where the people who donate them live.
Ives started Project Replay in New Hampshire back in 1995. She worked there until 2000 before moving to Utah. Ives has done Project Replay in Cache Valley for the past two years, and collected $61,000 worth of instruments last year.
There are some heart-warming stories about donations from last year, Ives said. One of Ives’ favorites was when a Washington, D.C., public radio employee caught wind of the project and sent a high-quality flute. The other of Ives’ favorites was from an elderly gentleman whose wife had recently passed away. When he read about Project Replay, he felt it was a sign for him to donate his wife’s beloved flute that she’d had for more than 40 years, Ives said.
Ives has had conversations with Fred Child, host of “Performance Today,” the largest classical radio program in the country, and said Child liked the idea. Child plans on giving his support to this program, and encouraging every state to take part.
Along with Child, other prominent people in classical music are supporting this project, such as Nick Spitzer, Keith Lockhart, Michael Ballam, Blair Larsen, Fiona Ritchie and Peter Van de Graaff.
Teri Lewis, the executive director of the Cache education foundation, said last year’s drive was very beneficial to local students.
“Due to the success of last year’s project, many students in the valley were able to and excited to be able to utilize and participate in a worthwhile program,” Lewis said.
For more information on how to donate or if a donation is eligible for a tax reduction, those interested should call the nearest school district, Lewis said. They will appraise the instruments value if the donator wants to use it as a tax deduction. However, if the instrument is valued at more than $500, a professional appraiser is needed, she said.
Lewis said she urges people to donate.
“Everyone who has an instrument, they aren’t meant to sit in a closet, so look around and see what you have and be generous and donate to the districts that are in need,” Lewis said.
–adam.ward@aggiemail.usu.edu
By Adam Ward
staff writer
Donated instruments give children chance to learn
Utah Public Radio (UPR) is hosting a campaign to collect playable musical instruments for children in communities around the state. Project Replay has been underway since March 15, and will continue through April 15, said Cathy Ives, general manager of UPR.
The purpose of Replay is simple: to give children the opportunity to own their own instrument, she said.
“The need for music in schools is always great, but with the budget cuts lately, this drive is extremely appreciated by educators this year,” Ives said.
The ultimate goal of Replay is to collect $100,000 in instruments for the Utah children. Ives said all donations are tax-deductible, and all instruments donated go to the school district of the community where the people who donate them live.
Ives started Project Replay in New Hampshire back in 1995. She worked there until 2000 before moving to Utah. Ives has done Project Replay in Cache Valley for the past two years, and collected $61,000 worth of instruments last year.
There are some heart-warming stories about donations from last year, Ives said. One of Ives’ favorites was when a Washington, D.C., public radio employee caught wind of the project and sent a high-quality flute. The other of Ives’ favorites was from an elderly gentleman whose wife had recently passed away. When he read about Project Replay, he felt it was a sign for him to donate his wife’s beloved flute that she’d had for more than 40 years, Ives said.
Ives has had conversations with Fred Child, host of “Performance Today,” the largest classical radio program in the country, and said Child liked the idea. Child plans on giving his support to this program, and encouraging every state to take part.
Along with Child, other prominent people in classical music are supporting this project, such as Nick Spitzer, Keith Lockhart, Michael Ballam, Blair Larsen, Fiona Ritchie and Peter Van de Graaff.
Teri Lewis, the executive director of the Cache education foundation, said last year’s drive was very beneficial to local students.
“Due to the success of last year’s project, many students in the valley were able to and excited to be able to utilize and participate in a worthwhile program,” Lewis said.
For more information on how to donate or if a donation is eligible for a tax reduction, those interested should call the nearest school district, Lewis said. They will appraise the instruments value if the donator wants to use it as a tax deduction. However, if the instrument is valued at more than $500, a professional appraiser is needed, she said.
Lewis said she urges people to donate.
“Everyone who has an instrument, they aren’t meant to sit in a closet, so look around and see what you have and be generous and donate to the districts that are in need,” Lewis said.
–adam.ward@aggiemail.usu.edu
Societal Collapse
As seen in the March 17th, 2009 USU Statesman.
Adam Ward
Staff Writer
Natural resources key to society’s survival, USU professor says
A Utah State University professor challenges assertions by past and contemporary historians that societal collapse is caused by invasions, epidemics, environmental disasters and the like. Societies are doomed, Joseph Tainter said, when they become too complex to sustain themselves with the natural resources that they are supplied with.
As a society faces problems, it must rise to find ways to solve them, he said. Over time, societies can become so complex that they can no longer sustain themselves and that is when they fail, Tainter said. It has been shown with the Mayan, Roman and many other empires throughout history, he said.
In “USU Researcher Offers View on Collapse of Civilizations,” author Mary-Ann Muffoletto said Tainter uses Sept. 11 as an example of how the after-effects of that day caused the government to form the Department of Homeland Security, and how resources were poured into the department to develop more sophisticated defensive technologies. On top of this, she said Congress authorized the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, all of which take an incredible amount of resources.
Tainter developed this society theory as he was working for the forest service. He said he already had the ideas for it, but the theory came together when he read about the optimal foraging theory, which asks when animals stop foraging due to marginal return. Just as with animals, societies of the past have reached a point of diminishing returns and collapsed, he said.
Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions to this problem, he said. Energy is key to society, he said, and whether the present society can make a transition to offer alternative energy sources is crucial. Tainter said he believes America needs oil at $60 a barrel to look for alternative energy. When gas was extremely high-priced it was good motivation for looking for alternative energy.
Tainter has helped publish many books including his key book “The Collapse of Complex Societies” in which he said he delves into the idea that energy is the basis of everything and when energy isn’t sufficient enough, societies will collapse.
Tainter, historian and anthropologist, is head of the department of environment and society within USU’s College of Natural Resources. Tainter said he was in the forest service for 28 years, studying long-term human and environmental interaction in Albuquerque, N. M.
Tainter was featured in the French publication “Les Cahiers de Science et Vie,” where his work was cited among other great societal researchers of the past and present. While many of the ideas differ, Tainter said energy seems to always take part in why societies collapse.
Tainters’ voice was heard among contemporaries Jared Diamond and Chris Scarre, along with voices from the past such as historians Edward Gibbon, Arnold Toynbee and Oswald Spengler. Each of these people are seen as the best on the topic, Tainter said.
As well as being featured in magazines and books, Tainter has been featured in two large documentary films. The most recent, “Blind Spot” with Adolfo Doring, featured 18 scientists and writers studying the consequences of fossil fuel dependence, Tainter said.
Tainter was also featured in Leonardo DiCaprio’s video “The Eleventh Hour,” which is about the changing environment and how humans can adapt, he said.
The movie premiers were an experience, Tainter said. For both the filming of the documentaries and the openings of them, he said producers gave him the “Hollywood treatment, flying me in, picking me up in a limo, and putting me in a very nice hotel.” Tainter said he is glad he got the experience.
Tainter said he retired from the forest service in 2005. After retiring, he taught at the University of New Mexico for two and a half years before moving to USU two years ago. While no classes are taught on the fall of societies, he said he does teach a seminar yearly.
Tainter suggests reading his first book “The Collapse of Complex Societies” to find more information on this topic.
–adam.ward@aggiemail.usu.edu
Adam Ward
Staff Writer
Natural resources key to society’s survival, USU professor says
A Utah State University professor challenges assertions by past and contemporary historians that societal collapse is caused by invasions, epidemics, environmental disasters and the like. Societies are doomed, Joseph Tainter said, when they become too complex to sustain themselves with the natural resources that they are supplied with.
As a society faces problems, it must rise to find ways to solve them, he said. Over time, societies can become so complex that they can no longer sustain themselves and that is when they fail, Tainter said. It has been shown with the Mayan, Roman and many other empires throughout history, he said.
In “USU Researcher Offers View on Collapse of Civilizations,” author Mary-Ann Muffoletto said Tainter uses Sept. 11 as an example of how the after-effects of that day caused the government to form the Department of Homeland Security, and how resources were poured into the department to develop more sophisticated defensive technologies. On top of this, she said Congress authorized the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, all of which take an incredible amount of resources.
Tainter developed this society theory as he was working for the forest service. He said he already had the ideas for it, but the theory came together when he read about the optimal foraging theory, which asks when animals stop foraging due to marginal return. Just as with animals, societies of the past have reached a point of diminishing returns and collapsed, he said.
Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions to this problem, he said. Energy is key to society, he said, and whether the present society can make a transition to offer alternative energy sources is crucial. Tainter said he believes America needs oil at $60 a barrel to look for alternative energy. When gas was extremely high-priced it was good motivation for looking for alternative energy.
Tainter has helped publish many books including his key book “The Collapse of Complex Societies” in which he said he delves into the idea that energy is the basis of everything and when energy isn’t sufficient enough, societies will collapse.
Tainter, historian and anthropologist, is head of the department of environment and society within USU’s College of Natural Resources. Tainter said he was in the forest service for 28 years, studying long-term human and environmental interaction in Albuquerque, N. M.
Tainter was featured in the French publication “Les Cahiers de Science et Vie,” where his work was cited among other great societal researchers of the past and present. While many of the ideas differ, Tainter said energy seems to always take part in why societies collapse.
Tainters’ voice was heard among contemporaries Jared Diamond and Chris Scarre, along with voices from the past such as historians Edward Gibbon, Arnold Toynbee and Oswald Spengler. Each of these people are seen as the best on the topic, Tainter said.
As well as being featured in magazines and books, Tainter has been featured in two large documentary films. The most recent, “Blind Spot” with Adolfo Doring, featured 18 scientists and writers studying the consequences of fossil fuel dependence, Tainter said.
Tainter was also featured in Leonardo DiCaprio’s video “The Eleventh Hour,” which is about the changing environment and how humans can adapt, he said.
The movie premiers were an experience, Tainter said. For both the filming of the documentaries and the openings of them, he said producers gave him the “Hollywood treatment, flying me in, picking me up in a limo, and putting me in a very nice hotel.” Tainter said he is glad he got the experience.
Tainter said he retired from the forest service in 2005. After retiring, he taught at the University of New Mexico for two and a half years before moving to USU two years ago. While no classes are taught on the fall of societies, he said he does teach a seminar yearly.
Tainter suggests reading his first book “The Collapse of Complex Societies” to find more information on this topic.
–adam.ward@aggiemail.usu.edu
Why we crave Junkfood.
As appeared in the March 1st, 2009 USU Statesman.
By Adam Ward
staff writer
Science explains junk food cravings
As obesity in America reaches epidemic proportions, researchers are keying in on the reasons for ever-expanding waistlines and attraction to junk food. Their findings can be startling. A craving for a Twinkie may be tweaking a brain the same way illegal drugs do.
Why humans crave junk food, and how those cravings are creating problems was the topic of the most recent Science Unwrapped lecture at USU. Tim Gilbertson and campus Wellness Director Caroline Shugart outlined the problem and gave some suggestions for avoiding junk food addiction
Gilbertson said there are chemical reasons why humans are naturally attracted to junk food. His research found humans definitely do taste fat and enjoy the taste, but he could not initially understand why fat is craved over fruits or other healthier foods.
Gilbertson said he has since found humans crave fat because as a person eats more fat, their brain becomes desensitized. This creates a vicious cycle, he said. The more fat a person eats, the more the brain desires it.
Eating fatty foods is also pleasurable. The same receptors in the brain that affect drug users, making them constantly want drugs, are stimulated when a person eats fatty foods, he said.
Gilbertson said more than 300,000 premature deaths in the U.S. each year are related to obesity. Obesity rates have soared between 1985 and 2007, with some states now having one of every three people being overweight or obese.
Gilbertson said genetic and metabolic disorders counted for only a small portion of the increase. Socioeconomic factors are a slightly larger cause of the increase; however, they are a growing factor because it is cheaper to buy foods that are unhealthy. The largest cause of increasing obesity is personal choice, he said. Choosing a lifestyle that is sedentary and has a bad diet is the leading factor in obesity, he said.
Gilbertson said he suggests educating young people regarding the effects of poor lifestyle habits can have a positive effect on preventing obesity.
Pharmaceutical companies have a great interest in making a magic pill that will melt fat, he said. However, there is still no pill that can help a person lose weight and keep it off. Gilbertson said there are hopes that in the near future there will be a way to do it.
Caroline Shugart presented information showing that if a white child was born in the 2000s, they have a 30 percent chance of developing diabetes because of obesity. Black children have a 40 percent chance and Hispanic children have a 50 percent chance, she said.
Shugart has been working to make it easier for USU students and faculty to make healthy choices. The Be Well menu at Utah State offers healthy foods at a discounted price. After the presentation, the catering services department provided healthy food for everyone to sample.
Stephanie Gregory, sophomore in dietetics, said she “liked how Gilbertson talked about the fat receptors. I love the food, and the public coming out and mingling.”
Christian Hopkins, sophomore in international business, said he also enjoyed the lecture.
“It was an excellent reminder of the necessity of remembering benefits of nutritional awareness,” he said. “My favorite was the presentation. It was something that we can relate to – it hit home because it is a common problem. And it’s something we have to deal with.
Science Unwrapped is a series of presentations that the College of Science is sponsoring monthly. More information can be found at www.usu.edu/unwrapped.
–adam.ward@aggiemail.usu.edu
By Adam Ward
staff writer
Science explains junk food cravings
As obesity in America reaches epidemic proportions, researchers are keying in on the reasons for ever-expanding waistlines and attraction to junk food. Their findings can be startling. A craving for a Twinkie may be tweaking a brain the same way illegal drugs do.
Why humans crave junk food, and how those cravings are creating problems was the topic of the most recent Science Unwrapped lecture at USU. Tim Gilbertson and campus Wellness Director Caroline Shugart outlined the problem and gave some suggestions for avoiding junk food addiction
Gilbertson said there are chemical reasons why humans are naturally attracted to junk food. His research found humans definitely do taste fat and enjoy the taste, but he could not initially understand why fat is craved over fruits or other healthier foods.
Gilbertson said he has since found humans crave fat because as a person eats more fat, their brain becomes desensitized. This creates a vicious cycle, he said. The more fat a person eats, the more the brain desires it.
Eating fatty foods is also pleasurable. The same receptors in the brain that affect drug users, making them constantly want drugs, are stimulated when a person eats fatty foods, he said.
Gilbertson said more than 300,000 premature deaths in the U.S. each year are related to obesity. Obesity rates have soared between 1985 and 2007, with some states now having one of every three people being overweight or obese.
Gilbertson said genetic and metabolic disorders counted for only a small portion of the increase. Socioeconomic factors are a slightly larger cause of the increase; however, they are a growing factor because it is cheaper to buy foods that are unhealthy. The largest cause of increasing obesity is personal choice, he said. Choosing a lifestyle that is sedentary and has a bad diet is the leading factor in obesity, he said.
Gilbertson said he suggests educating young people regarding the effects of poor lifestyle habits can have a positive effect on preventing obesity.
Pharmaceutical companies have a great interest in making a magic pill that will melt fat, he said. However, there is still no pill that can help a person lose weight and keep it off. Gilbertson said there are hopes that in the near future there will be a way to do it.
Caroline Shugart presented information showing that if a white child was born in the 2000s, they have a 30 percent chance of developing diabetes because of obesity. Black children have a 40 percent chance and Hispanic children have a 50 percent chance, she said.
Shugart has been working to make it easier for USU students and faculty to make healthy choices. The Be Well menu at Utah State offers healthy foods at a discounted price. After the presentation, the catering services department provided healthy food for everyone to sample.
Stephanie Gregory, sophomore in dietetics, said she “liked how Gilbertson talked about the fat receptors. I love the food, and the public coming out and mingling.”
Christian Hopkins, sophomore in international business, said he also enjoyed the lecture.
“It was an excellent reminder of the necessity of remembering benefits of nutritional awareness,” he said. “My favorite was the presentation. It was something that we can relate to – it hit home because it is a common problem. And it’s something we have to deal with.
Science Unwrapped is a series of presentations that the College of Science is sponsoring monthly. More information can be found at www.usu.edu/unwrapped.
–adam.ward@aggiemail.usu.edu
Monday, January 11, 2010
Welcome to the blog!
Here you will find all my writings I do. Everything from newspaper articles, to letters and poems I find interesting. Enjoy!
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