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Tuesday, October 31, 2017
HalloweeN
Beware of the boos
Safety precautions for Halloween holiday Savannah Cardon, Mary Phipps Argonaut
With October comes fall, pumpkins and changing leaves, and, as the air begins to cool and Halloween approaches, there is also potential for danger. At the University of Idaho, students are encouraged to take extra safety precautions on Halloween as it relates to walking around campus at night and alcohol consumption. Corporal Casey Green of the Moscow Police Department (MPD) said making smart choices, taking appropriate actions and watching out for one another are a few key elements to staying safe during the holiday. “We always advocate for reasonable and moderate alcohol consumption, you know, just trying to be safe about things and making good choices,” Green said. “Of course, we don’t condone any underage drinking or anything like that because it is still an infraction in the state of Idaho.” In regard to watching out for one another, Green said it is important to assist someone when they need it or call for help if necessary. “Medical amnesty still applies to Moscow and to the people that are participating in those types of events,” Green said. “Call for help if you need help.” As for trick-or-treating and walking around campus, Green recommends acting in a safe and appropriate manner whenever possible. “Don’t hide in bushes and jump out at people,” Green said. “Don’t commit
other acts of vandalism or things like that so that you don’t draw attention to yourself and be respectful of other people’s property.” With campus security making their rounds and police officers patrolling the streets, students have access to security and help if needed. In addition to this, Vandal Health Education provides workshops where peer health educators teach students about safe drinking and the dangers of alcohol poisoning.
Vandal Health Education dedicates part of their website to alcohol safety. According to the website, some safer drinking strategies include utilizing a designated driver, eating before or during drinking, sticking to one type of alcohol or abstaining from alcohol altogether. Along with safer drinking strategies, the website provides information on ways to identify alcohol poisoning, knowing a standard drink and estimating a person’s blood alcohol content. According to UI’s
ADMINISTRATION
Centralizing advising Provost office issues memo outlining new advising procedures Elizabeth Marshall Argonaut
Public Safety and Security website, the security team patrols campus 24/7 and works in collaboration with Moscow Police, Fire and Paramedics. Moscow Police Officer Jay Waters said there are not generally more incidents on Halloween in Moscow. Campus is always an extra concern for the
MPD, and extra patrols are provided during Halloween on campus, he said. “(To stay safe) people can wear flash lights and more reflective clothing,” Waters said. “Drivers can pay extra attention.” Savannah Cardon and Mary Phipps can be reached at arg-news@uidaho.edu
Emergency contacts:
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Emergency help: 911 Moscow Police: 208-882-2677 Campus Security: 208-885-7054 24-hour crisis hotline: 208-885-6716 Gritman Hospital: 208-882-4511
At the Faculty Senate meeting Oct. 24, University of Idaho Provost John Wiencek gave an apology to those affected by the memo released the day before regarding the new plan to centralize advising at UI. “I want to take ownership of the things I could have done better,” Wiencek said. “For offending people and for upsetting them, or heightening their anxiety, for leading to a lot of confusion — I apologize.” Wiencek said that even though the rollout of the plan was not handled in the best way possible, the plan laid out in the memo is still solid and will be beneficial to the university in creating unity and increasing retention rates. Wiencek pointed to the fast-paced rollout for what caused confusion and anxiety for some staff and faculty members. Wiencek said that some associate deans felt as if they were not included enough in the development of the new plan. The memo announced there will be a new plan for the training and management of UI professional recruitment and retention staff. This group includes academic advisors. The memo said the majority of advisors and other staff affected by this change would stay in their current positions. According to the memo, the realignment of staff outlined in the memo is expected to be completed by Dec. 1 2017. SEE ADVISING, PAGE 5
RESEARCH
Waits’ award doesn’t go to waste Nishant Mohan Argonaut
Lisette Waits has tracked jaguars and ocelots in Belise, tigers in Nepal and bears, foxes, wolves and other animals in the states. She’s also won an award for her work — the Jean’ne M. Shreeve NSF EPSCoR Research Excellence Award. Idaho EPSCoR, the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, presented Waits with the award earlier this month to recognize her work in molecular ecology developing tools to study genetic diversity, population size and the movement and habits of individual animals. Waits said the traditional method of tracking animal populations — physical capture and recapture — is intrusive and that she and her team track animals non-intrusively. To do this, Waits works with what she calls “low-quality DNA samples.” She said these include saliva, hair, bone and fecal matter. “Our research group is one of the
leading groups to get DNA from fecal matter,” Waits said. Low-quality DNA samples decay rapidly, contain little DNA or often have components that actively interfere with the collection of DNA, she said. Waits, in University of Idaho’s Laboratory for Ecological, Evolutionary and Conservation Genetics, employs methods to salvage small amounts of DNA such as the polymerase chain reaction, used to duplicate a small amount of DNA into an amount great enough to be analyzed. Waits and her team have applied these methods to the reintroduction of endangered species. They began monitoring grey wolves in Idaho in 2007. Since their reintroduction, they have spread to Washington, Oregon and California, Waits said. She said her lab is helping to monitor populations in those states, as well as Idaho. SEE Award, PAGE 5
UI ecologist receives award for animal research
Diamond Koloski | Argonaut
CNR Professor Lisette Waits and senior Elyce Gosselin collect DNA from bear hair samples Wednesday afternoon in the CNR lab. IN THIS ISSUE
Roller Derby makes its rise on the Palouse. sports, 6 News, 1
Sports, 6
Arts, 11
Opinion, 13
Stay safe this Halloween. Read Our View.
Get scared with these ultimate Halloween movies.
Opinion, 13 University of Idaho
ARts, 11 Volume 119, Issue no. 11
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