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Brady Maynesstaff writer

b.maynes@eaglemail.ceu.edu

When someone picks up a fantasy book and plans on read-ing it, they always ask themselves one question. Will this book have any originality? Those who don’t read fantasy books may not realize how saturated the genre can get. Luckily with Mistborn that is not a problem. Sure there is a hero and magic is somehow involved, but most similarities to other fantasy books end there.

The author, Brandon Sander-son, has several lead characters and the main protagonist is female. This in itself is pretty rare. Male writers almost always have a male hero with a female supporting him.

To add to this, the reader does not meet the main character, Vin, until the third chapter. Each chapter begins with what appears to be the journal entries of a long forgotten hero. They aren’t long and they seem out of place when the reader firsts reads them. The first words after the mysterious journal entry are “ASH FELL FROM THE SKY.”

Immediately the reader has dozens of thoughts going through their mind. Did something blow up? Maybe something is burning. The reader soon discovers that ash has fallen from the sky during the day for one thousand years. It is part of the people of the Final Empire’s every day life.

At night the mists come out. The lower class people, called the skaa, fear the mists. They are very superstitious and are wary of anyone who does not fear the mists as they do.

Vin is a street urchin. She is part of a thieving crew. She doesn’t really have a choice be-cause everyone else on the crew

are grown men who would beat her if she tried to leave. Vin is lucky. That is why she is part of the thieving crew in the first place. She brings the heists they plan good luck. If she wasn’t lucky she would have been killed a long time ago.

A man named Kelsier, who is supposedly the best crew leader around, finds and recruits Vin. He is an Allomancer and a mistborn. A mistborn is someone who can “burn” certain metals and in return gain advantages and strengths. “Burning”, or using certain metals such as tin, copper and pewter, are what allows Kelsier to be such a great thief.

People called Allomancers can burn one metal and thus gaining one advantage, but only mistborns can burn all of the Allomantic met-als. Kelsier discovers that Vin is also a mistborn and wants to help her. Vin is extremely cautious; she has never met anyone she can trust.

Throughout the book, Vin learns to trust Kelsier and his friends. Kelsier is planning a heist like no other. He wants to overthrow the Final Empire’s emperor, the Lord Ruler.

The Lord Ruler has lived for a thousand years, and does not seem to be getting any older. Not only does the Lord Ruler treat the skaa like slaves, and allow the noblemen to do what they want, he also killed Kelsier’s wife. He has a huge stash of ultra rare metals that is worth a fortune.

Kelsier and his crew usually only do jobs for monetary gain. This time it is different. Free the skaa, get revenge and then get rich.

Mistborn truly is original; with a twist at the end that will leave the reader almost too stunned to keep reading. People question who they really are. Some find themselves and some lose themselves.

Can thieves become more than thieves? Can Vin let go of her untrusting past and embrace a future of power and belonging? Will Kelsier and his crew be able to overthrow the Lord Ruler and who will die in the process? This is a definite read for anyone who loves fantasy and for those who don’t usually read it, they are in for a pleasant surprise.

LIFESTYLESSeptember 6, 2012page 4

Gallery East features student work

The “USU Region-al Campus Art Exhibi-tion” will be displayed from Sept. 4 – Oct. 4, at Gallery East, located in the SAC Building of USU Eastern’s Price campus. The exhibit

features student artwork from Brigham City, Eastern and Eastern San Juan USU campuses.

“Since the regional campuses and distance educa-tion programs’ of USU are increasing, I thought it would be great to showcase the work being created in art classes offered at these campuses,” said Tyler Vance, former adjunct instructor for the USU art department, who taught painting and drawing at both the Logan and Brigham City campuses.

Vance, organizer of the exhibit, collected work from instructors at all regional campuses offering courses in visual art.

The exhibition will feature student work reflecting the variety of projects and class levels available across the USU regional campuses. The student work, which includes both two-dimensional and three-dimensional work, comes from non-major basic classes to major

advanced classes. “This is the first time work from three different

USU regional campuses has come together for a single show, which I’d love to make a yearly tradition,” said Vance. Several noteworthy pieces by students at USU Eastern are included in the exhibit.

“As always,” says Gallery East director, Noel Carmack, “the work of USU Eastern’s art students shows favorably among the college art students in the state.”

The “USU Regional Campus Art Exhibition” is a traveling exhibition that started in Logan and has travelled across USU regional campuses located in Brigham City, Tooele and Moab.

The “USU Regional Campus Art Exhibition” will be open to the public September 4 – October 4 at Gallery East on USU Eastern’s Price campus. An opening reception will be held Friday, Sep-tember 7, from 7-9 p.m. in Gallery East. The gallery is free and open to the public during the academic year.

Gallery East’s fall 2012 hours are Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., closed Fridays, weekends, and holidays. If you have any questions, contact Carmack at 435-613-5241 or by e-mail at noel.car-mack@usu.edu.

Art work from Price, Blanding and Brigham City campuses, represented in first exhibit

of the year

The first exhibit of the year features artists from USU’s distance education campuses. The work will be displayed from Sept. 4 until Oct. 4 at Gallery East on the USU Eastern Campus.

photos courtesy USU Eastern Art Department

Not enough women in Utah are graduating from college. Utah women are particularly underrepresented in business and STEM (sci-ence, technology, engineering and math) degree programs, which carry the highest earnings potential in today’s economy.

The Utah Women and Education Initiative (UWEI), which launches its website at www.utahwomenandeducation.org will be led by Di-rector, Mary Ann Holladay and Senior Advisor, Dr. Susan R. Madsen. It is an outgrowth of the Utah Women’s College Task Force (UWCTF) convened by Governor Gary Herbert in 2011. It was founded to make accommodations that would lead to an increased number of women attending college and completing post-secondary degrees in Utah.

In 2012, the Utah Legislature appropriated $100,000 in funding for the Utah State Board of Regents to implement the task force recom-mendations, which included establishing the Utah Women and Education Initiative.

Housed at the offices of the Commissioner of Higher Education, the charge of UWEI is to implement the 10 key recommendations that came out of the UWCTF. The recommendations include: promoting post-secondary education for

women in Utah, creating a “college-going” cul-ture for women in Utah, creating women-focused mentoring programs, retaining current female students enrolled at Utah institutions of higher education, and creating flexible attendance and credit options for students who balance education, family and work. The complete list of recommendations can be found at www.utahwomenandeducation.org

According to Dr. Susan R. Madsen, who is the Orin R. Woodbury Professor of Leader-ship and Ethics in the Woodbury School of Business at Utah Valley University, “a col-lege education is more than a gateway to an affluent lifestyle. Earning a college degree has implications far beyond the workplace. The non-tangible benefits of receiving a college degree are equivalent to the monetary ones, and they extend from individuals to families and communities.”

Among other benefits, Dr. Madsen cites research that shows the following advantages for college-educated women: a healthier life-style, increased life satisfaction, better lifelong learning skills, better decision-making skills, increased civic and community engagement, and heightened self-esteem.

The Utah Women and Education Initiative will coordinate with other efforts at the Board of Regents, the Governor’s Office, and the Utah State Office of Education to achieve the state’s “big goal” that by 2020, 66% of Utahns aged 25-64 have a postsecondary degree or certificate.

This goal, which has been adopted by the Governor’s Education Excellence Commis-sion, is essential for the state’s workforce to compete in the current knowledge-based and global economy, and for individuals and fami-lies to reach their highest potential. In order to meet this goal, Utah must increase retention and completion rates in higher education for men and women alike.

More information about the Utah Women and Education Initiative can be found on their website at www.utahwomenandeducation.org, including research briefs, videos, podcasts, and resources for educators, families, and community organizations. UWEI receives oversight from the five organizing partners of the initiative: the Utah Governor’s Office, the Utah System of Higher Education, the Utah State Office of Education, Prosperity 2020, and the United Way of Salt Lake.

Launch of Utah Women and Education Initiative

Goal is to increase the number of women in Utah receiving higher education degrees and certificates

Book Review: Mistborn

Introducing Eastern Library staffLori Brassaw,

Sherill Shaw, Aimee Lauristen, Denise Reid

library staff

The USU Eastern Library staff welcomes all students, faculty and staff back to the campus for the academic year. The start of each aca-demic year creates unexplored learn-ing opportunities for new students to the campus as well as a fresh start and further learning opportunities for returning students.

To that end, the library strives to provide resources for learning that support the curriculum taught at USU Eastern and along the way provide numerous other resources that support life-long learning.

The full-time library staff include Lori Brassaw, director; Sherill Shaw, cataloger/systems; Aimee Lauritsen, public services manager and Denise Reid, reserve book room/technical services.

Student supervisors include Sung-Jay Park, Geoffrey Vogel and Hollie Grange while the student workers include Kailey Allen, Yongsoo Kim, Arsene Mugisha, Anna Olsen and Elise Vogel.

The staff invites all students, faculty and staff to explore the USU Eastern Library to find how they can assist you in your educational experience.

Please drop by for a visit to the library or check out the virtual East-ern Library at price.lib.usu.edu/ and don’t forget to follow the library on Facebook and Twitter.

photos courtesy USU Eastern Library staff

Original take on awesomeness

Full-time library staff include (L-R) Sherrill Shaw, Aimee Lauritsen, Lori Brassaw and Denise Reid.

Student employees include (L-R) Geoffrey Vogel, Yongsoo Kim, Elise Vogel, Arsene Mugisha, Sungjae Park, Hollie Grange, Anna Olsen and Kailey Allen.

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