Access Utah

University of Utah doctoral students and twin sisters, Lindsay and Lexie Kite, run a non-profit organization called Beauty Redefined which offers sticky notes supporters can paste on mirrors in restrooms and dressing rooms with messages like: “Your reflection does not define your worth.” Now they’re taking on Sports Illustrated, urging people to paste the sticky notes on the annual swimsuit issue. The Kite sisters say that our ideas about beauty need to be redefined. We’ll talk with them in the first half of Access Utah on Thursday.

On previous episodes of Access Utah, we’ve tapped into grassroots frustration directed at government for perceived lack of effective action on Air Pollution. Many of you are asking: why isn’t more being done? Wednesday on the program we’ll give you the chance to express your concerns directly to legislators and government officials. We’ll ask our guests and you: what should government do to improve Air Quality?

Tuesday on Access Utah we’ll attempt to narrow the political divide, hoping to model behavior we’d like to see in elected officials in our increasingly polarized society. We’ll follow up on a program we did a few months ago with politicians and commentators. This time we’re appealing directly to you. We’ll ask you to explore the weaknesses of your political beliefs, as well as the strengths of the other side. How we can listen to and understand each other more in our political discourse, and how do we get out of our silos and join with each other in solving our problems? Leading the discussion will be Cache Valley residents Jonathan and Loralee Choate. They have to reach across the aisle at home: he leans libertarian and she’s more liberal. We’ll also hear from our politically-plugged-in Access Utah producers, USU students Dani Hayes and Adison Pace.

On today's Access Utah, Sheri Quinn talks to New York Times technology reporter Matt Richtell about his new novel,"The Cloud." In his book, Ricktell weaves today's cutting edge technology into a suspenseful story about the addictive power of technology that keeps you gripped to the last page. In the second half, Science Questions explores the effects of climate change from new climate data and how changes in national energy plans can benefit the economy.

When mountain lions began appearing in Boulder Colorado, residents cheered the news. But as the lions feasted on pets and began to endanger humans, political battles began—until tragedy brought town together. David Baron’s "The Beast in the Garden" is (according to goodreads.com) “a book about the future of our nation, where suburban sprawl and wildlife-protection laws are pushing people and wild animals into uncomfortable, sometimes deadly proximity."

Conan Grames is a Utah native, lawyer, and lobbyist, who has held top positions in the pharmaceutical industry. He is a former general counsel for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) the trade organization that represents the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. Grames says he “was always proud to be part of the pharmaceutical industry in its efforts to save lives.” Others point out problems they see with Big Pharma: excessive lobbying power, inadequate distribution of life-saving drugs, and promotion of a medical culture too dependent on drugs instead of preventive medicine. We’ll talk about these issues as well as relief efforts in Japan. When the earthquake and tsunami hit in 2011, Conan Grames was working as area director of public affairs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He became heavily involved in coordinating relief efforts.

HB 77, sponsored by Rep. Kraig Powell R-Heber City, was defeated in committee last week. The bill would have defined climate change as a human-caused phenomenon. We’ll debate climate change on Tuesday’s Access Utah. We invite to to continue the discussion via email at [email protected], on Twitter @utahpublicradio and at www.upr.org.

Air quality is today's topic on the program. We'll be taking a grassroots angle on the anger and protest regarding this issue. Utah has been known for having the worst air in the nation, and many Utahns are taking matters into their own hands.

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.