A few degrees cooler

The Logan Canyon winds blasting across the Utah State University campus in the middle of January may take your breath away, but those same winds in the summer restore it. It's cooler here, the pace is slower and there are always plenty of things to do.

For students who want to get a jump start on the fall, the university offers four sessions that equal one semester. Session one begins May 14 and ends June 8. Session two begins June 11 and ends July 8. Session three begins June 11 and ends Aug 3. Session four starts July 9 and ends Aug 3.

USU hosts numerous summer camps that range from Youth Council to 4-H Adventure Camps. Offerings also involve many sports camps, including a basketball camp by famed USU coach Stew Morrill, a gymnastics camp and a volleyball camp for girls.

Enriching our community are the 600-plus "Summer Citizens" USU welcomes to its campus each year. These visitors come mainly from Arizona and stay from about May 14 to Aug 20. They participate in many university activities and even take courses such as Introduction to the American Legal System. To help them stay fit, they have access to campus recreation where they may rent outdoor equipment or make use of a running track, badminton, volleyball, tennis and racquetball courts.

Summer Citizens, students and community members are also treated to free Alumni Band summer concerts - a tradition now 45 years strong. The concerts are performed on the USU Quad and in the Kent Concert Hall at 7 p.m. June 17 and 24th (Kent Concert Hall); July 1, 15 and 29th on the Quad, in the shadow of Old Main.

Logan Canyon delivers more than wind, it provides a wide variety of outdoor recreational opportunities. The canyon's pristine qualities are heralded in a just-released book written by USU communications professor Mike Sweeney and published by National Geographic.

"If not the West's last unspoiled place, Logan Canyon - with its alpine wildflowers, limestone cliffs, rushing trout streams, and myriad other signatures of nature upon unsullied canvas - remains something to be treasured and preserved," he wrote.

Welcome to our backyard.

The surrounding area, including ski resorts, lakes, rivers and mountains, makes Utah State one of the finest recreational environments in the nation. Just four hours north of Logan Canyon is Teton and Yellowstone national parks.

Whether hiking or kayaking in Logan Canyon or exploring the geysers of Yellowstone, there is no shortage of recreational opportunities in some of the great unspoiled places of America.

Many of these activities were highlighted in a recent edition of Salt Lake Magazine in an article "25 things we love about Northern Utah." USU occupies four of those prized spots. They include a stop for Aggie Ice Cream, "sweet, creamy, rich and an absolute obligation to partake of for parents visiting students at USU."

The No. 2 spot, after the turquoise waters of Bear Lake at Logan Canyon's north rim, is USU's The Old Lyric Repertory Company in downtown Logan "staging four plays in manic rotation each summer." The magazine noted that this rigorous schedule "has earned the company its hard-working reputation and you can bet that among the farces, dramas, and the musical comedies there will be something to entice you for at least one curtain call."

Coming in at No. 5 on the list is Michael Ballam, USU opera and voice professor. He is artistic director over the Utah Festival Opera that draws 28,000 visitors every summer. The festival runs from July 11 to Aug 11.

Rounding off the list is basketball coach Morrill who "has built a solid program at USU and made the Dee Glen Spectrum one of the most feared arenas in the Intermountain West for visiting teams. Rock on Stew!"