This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
University of Utah alumni no longer can buy passes to use the gym, swimming pools and other recreational facilities on campus, a move that stunned the alumni association.
John Ashton, association executive director, said he was unaware of the new policy until he was contacted by an alum who tried to buy a pass and was turned down.
Ashton called U. officials, who confirmed it. He says it is unclear how long the policy will be in place. Nine of the 11 other Pac-12 schools sell recreation memberships to their alumni, he said.
U. spokeswoman Valoree Dowell said the change came about because recreational services are being moved into the new Student Life Center, which will open in January.
Because student fees help pay for the center, officials want to ensure those students have quality access to the facility. It is not certain how crowded it will be, so no new memberships will be sold to alumni. She said the policy will be re-evaluated after this school year. Alumni with existing memberships will be able to retain those.
Ironically, alumni trying to buy new memberships found out that they are barred during homecoming week.
—
A new honor for Lee • The day Sen. Mike Lee blasted the U.S. Supreme Court for declining to hear appeals on judicial rulings against same-sex-marriage bans — and complained that "unelected judges" shouldn't decide marriage rules for states — he received a rather dubious honor.Lee, along with four other senators and 14 House members, was inducted into the Human Rights Campaign's "Hall of Shame."
"Although Congress is beginning to catch up with the American people in supporting [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] equality, Senator Lee's record stands in stark contrast to the views of the majority of Americans," David Stacy, HRC's government-affairs director, said in a news release.
"Senator Lee has gone out of his way to oppose steps toward equal protection under the law or to protect LGBT Americans from violence, discrimination and harassment," the release said. "He proactively works to undermine existing legal protections and promote anti-LGBT discrimination."
This is the "inaugural class" of the Hall of Shame, said the HRC, the nation's largest LGBT civil-rights organization.
Other Senate Hall of Shame members are Republicans Ted Cruz of Texas, Michael Enzi of Wyoming, James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Jeff Sessions of Alabama. The House Hall of Shame members are Republicans Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Andy Harris of Maryland, Tim Huelskamp of Kansas, Jim Jordan of Ohio, Walter Jones of North Carolina, Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania, Steve King of Iowa, Doug LaMalfa of California, Randy Neugebauer of Texas, Steve Pearce of New Mexico, Tim Walberg of Minnesota, Randy Weber of Texas and Democrat Mike McIntyre of North Carolina.
—
Spreading the (Mia) Love • We have written about Republican congressional candidate Mia Love's fundraising solicitations to prominent Democrats in Utah, as well as to those on GOP mailing lists, and we've quoted her campaign as saying she welcomes supporters from all groups, regardless of party ties.
But her big-tent policy is expanding beyond normal boundaries.
Utah Democratic Party Chairman Peter Corroon's mother, who lives in Connecticut, couldn't vote for Love — even if she wanted to. Yet she received a letter from the Republican candidate assuring her that Love will go back to Congress and represent the interests of "constitutional conservatives like you."
And because she lives in Connecticut, Corroon's mom might not know that, under Utah's peculiar system, Love won her party's nod because she received 78 percent of the delegate vote at the state Republican convention.
"You see," the candidate wrote, "the downside of my decisive primary win is that it's left our campaign account well under budget as our nationally watched general election U.S. House race begins."So, of course, Love needs all the financial support she can get from "constitutional conservatives" like Corroon's mother.
And she included a Mia Love bumper sticker the Connecticut resident can put on her car.