Access Utah

Utah author Betsy Schow writes: “I was fat. Huge. Ginormous. Not because of the number embroidered on the tag of my jeans, but because it consumed a large part of my thoughts and day. It very nearly destroyed my marriage. So much of my life revolved around gaining weight, losing weight … Obesity is an epidemic, but so is this unquenchable drive to be better, thinner, than the woman standing next to us. Even if that woman is just me, looking back from the mirror.”

In today’s program we discuss The Cloud, Mobile Computing, security issues and the problems and opportunities of our increasingly interconnected digital world. We’ll preview the Information Technology Conference sponsored by the Utah State University Huntsman School of Business Partners in Business. The conference held Wednesday on USU campus and focuses on Mobile and Cloud Computing, Big Data, and Network Security. We’ll talk with Steven John, Strategic Chief Information Officer for Workday, and Kimberley Jones, Founder and CEO of Verite.

The Boy Scouts of America will soon vote on a proposal which would reverse its policy against participation in the program by openly gay leaders and scouts. The new policy would allow the sponsors of specific troops to make the decision. The Great Salt Lake Council is urging the national BSA organization not to reverse its policy and to continue the discussion. We discuss the issue on Wednesday’s Access Utah with a mother of 2 Eagle Scouts, Doree Burt; USU student and Eagle Scout, Kelton Wells, and scouter, Robert Starling.

On Monday's program we discuss avalanches in Utah. We hear the story of with two avalanche survivors. Elisabeth Malloy Adam Morrey were recently out in the Mill Creek Canyon area where they were hit by a 700-foot avalanche. Malloy was completely buried where Morrey was only partially. He was able to extricate himself and rescue Malloy. They talk about how they managed to survived. We also talk about safety, preparation and "what to do if" with Toby Weed of the Utah Avalanche Center.

On Access Utah we explore ghosts, hauntings and love. Author and NPR executive producer Eric Nuzum faced his own fears. In his book, “Giving Up the Ghost: A Story About Friendship 80’s Rock a Lost Scrap of Paper and What it Means to be Haunted” Nuzum talks of his history being haunted and how he found peace in facing the supernatural.

Joining us from Seattle, The Interfaith Amigos consists of Pastor Don Mackenzie, Rabbi Ted Falcon and Imam Jamal Rahman. Known for their wisdom and humor while talking about religion, these men have worked together to try and make sense of the confusion that often accompanies interfaith dialog. They are the authors of two books "Getting to the Heart of Interfaith" and "Religion Gone Astray: What We Found at the Heart of Interfaith." During the program, we'll be focusing on the second book.

Helen Whitney is an award-winning documentary filmmaker, known for telling the stories of religion and people. Her films have aired on PBS, HBO, ABC and NBC. She has been filmmaking for 42 years. She will be giving a series of lectures on the campus of Utah State University during the week of Jan. 28 - Jan. 31. The lectures will be held at 7:30 p.m. each night in the Performance Hall. She will be discussing many of her films including The Mormons and Forgiveness; A Time to Love and a Time to Hate.

Broadcasting from the Utah State Capitol, it is the first day of the legislature open. Joining us on the first half of the program is Governor Gary Herbert. He discusses various topics that are on the agenda for this year’s legislature including budget priorities, healthcare reform, ethics reform, the Outdoor Recreation Plan, immigration and gun control. On the second half, state senators Ralph Okerlund and Gene Davis join us to continue the discussion of what to expect for this years legislature.

He’s a multi-Grammy winning musician and composer and is the only person who has won the National Fiddle Championship, National Guitar Flatpicking Championship and the World Mandolin Championship. Mark O’Connor is a celebrated violinist and fiddler player, with styles ranging from classical to American folk. He joins us on Access Utah to talk about his talent, his history and his determination. He’ll be performing at the Caine College of the Arts Grand Gala at Utah State University Friday, Jan. 25. For more information, click here.

One spring morning in 1914 members of the United Mine Workers of America clashed with guards employed by the Rockefeller family and state militia in Colorado. When the dust settled, 19 men, women and children from the miners' families lay dead. The strikers had killed at least 30 men and destroyed 6 mines and laid waste to two company towns. We revisit a discussion with Thomas Andrews, author of his book "Killing for Coal" and recounts this 1914 massacre and the great coal field war. He situates it not only in labor history but in the environment. As fossil fuels and especially coal shaped the west, and continue to do so.

Coyotes are the most abundant predator in America. Today we talk about the controversial K9 and it’s perseverance in the West and question the force of human kind and nature.

Our guest for the hour on Wednesday is Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings, who will be in Salt Lake City on January 30, for an appearance at The King’s English Bookshop. He’s out with a new book: "Because I Said So: The truth behind the myths, tales, and warnings every generation passes down to its kids." Many of these myths and warnings are culture-specific. We’ll talk about the Korean “Fan Death” tale, which Jennings first encountered growing up in Seoul. Ken Jennings also grew up as map nerd, and we’ll talk about his previous book: Maphead, in which he travels the nation meeting others of his tribe--map librarians, publishers, "roadgeeks," pint-sized National Geographic Bee prodigies, and the computer geniuses behind Google Maps and other geo-technologies. Jennings says that technology and geographic illiteracy are increasingly insulating us from the lay of the land around us, and we are going to need mapheads more than ever.

Tom Williams’ guest for the hour on Thursday is journalist Ioan Grillo, who has written about Mexican narcotraffickers for the past decade, even interviewing members of the cartels and their death squads. He says that “El Narco is not a gang; it is a movement and an industry drawing in hundreds of thousands from bullet-ridden barrios to marijuana-growing mountains.” Grillo believes these cartels “have transformed into a criminal insurgency that threatens the nation’s democracy and spirals into the United States.”

In 2008, a group of armed Hindu extremists attacked and burned a village of Christians in Odisha state in India, seeking to forcefully reintegrate the villagers into the caste system left behind by their Christian beliefs. The survivors fled into the jungle to escape. National Geographic photojournalist Lynn Johnson and human rights advocate Jen Saffron have organized the Koraput Survivors Project and will give a lecture entitled “Building Bridges: When Journalism and Advocacy Meet” as a part of the Morris Media and Society Lecture series on Wednesday at USU.

Our air quality problem is visible above the inversion line and is physically noticeable when passing below. Utah’s air at times has been rated the worst in the nation. Our questions are: What can be done? What should be done? What can regular citizens do? What should the government do? During the first half of the show, Bo Call, manager of the Air Monitoring Center for Utah Division of Air Quality and Gerry Carpenter, a representative for Utah Transit Authority will join us. During the second half we discuss possible solutions with Stephanie Tomlin, program director for Aggie Blue Bikes and the USU Student Sustainability Office; Cherise Udell, founder of Utah Moms for Clean Air; and Jean Lown, Utah State University Professor of Family Consumer Human Development.

In the first half of the program we discuss the controversy over the name Dixie State College. Some say the name Dixie holds negative connotations of slavery and the Confederacy. Others say that the southern Utah area has always been known as Dixie, and that the name hearkens back to the settling of the area by Mormon Pioneers. We talk with former president of Dixie State College, Doug Alder and UPR Southern Utah correspondent Chris Holmes.

Steven Rinella, author of "Meat Eater—Adventures from the Life of an American Hunter," says that hunting is intimately connected with our humanity and that assuming responsibility for the meat that we eat, rather than entrusting it to proxy executioners, processors, packagers, and distributors is one of the most respectful and exhilarating things a meat eater can do. In his book, Rinella examines such themes as the vanishing frontier, the ethics of killing, and the loss of Americans’ connection with the way their food makes its way to their tables. We’ll talk about these topics with Stephen Rinella and hear some of his hunting stories as well some of the history of hunting in America on Tuesday’s AU.

You got that great new gadget for the holidays, perhaps it's already broken or you need a lot of advice on how to work it. We're going to give you some help on the first half of the program. Jonathan Choate with SD7 Technologies, our computer expert is in with some advice. Whatever technology problem you have. We'll also be talking cool new gadgets with Jonathan, including a new wearable video camera, and how best to store your media, including photos, in the cloud or out of it.

On today's Access Utah we celebrate the holidays with music and poetry. Utah State University music professor Mike Christiansen, plays the guitar live in our studio. University of Utah theater professor Tim Slover, author of the book and radio series, "The Christmas Chronicles: The Legend of Santa Claus," reads excerpts of poetry.

Writer Ceiridwen Terrill writes about how, at a particularly sad and frightening time in her life, a wolf dog was the kind of companion she was searching for. In her book, "Part Wild: Caught Between the Worlds of Wolves and Dogs," she talks about an animal who's heart is divided between the woman she loves, and the desire to roam free. In the end, Terrill realized she must confront the reality of taming a half-wild animal.