Westminster team on way to national competition

10/14/2007
The Salt Lake Tribune

Westminster College's flight team last week took second place at the Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (SAFECON). As a result it will advance to the national competition in April.

In addition, the Salt Lake City team won the competition's Wally Funk Flight Safety Award.

SAFECON was held at Rangely Airport in Colorado, and included teams from Colorado Northwestern Community College, Aims Community College, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Rocky Mountain College, United States Air Force Academy, Utah State University and Westminster. The teams competed in a variety of flying and ground events such as short-field approach and landings, flight planning, computer accuracy, navigation, and safety and aircraft recognition.

"What's great about these competitions is that you not only practice to do well in the individual events, but you are also practicing in preparation for your future career," said Mark West, flight team captain.

The Westminster team is made up of flight students and instructors who devote many of their Saturdays to practicing for the National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) competitions.

Utah State University's total research awards increased to $132.7 million this past year, up $9 million from the previous year, for an increase of 7.8 percent.

In addition to the research awards, the Logan-based university was awarded $18.5 million for student fellowships and financial aid in the past year, bringing the total for all awards to $151.2 million.

USU's research funding came from several public and private sources, the university said in a statement. Of the $132.7 million, 64.5 percent came from federal sources; 19.6 percent from private sources; 14.3 percent from state sources; and 1.6 percent from local sources.

The U.S. Department of Defense and NASA provided much of the federal funding, a total of nearly $46 million.

Kay Franz, an associate professor of nutrition in the Brigham Young University Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science, has been elected president of the American College of Nutrition.

The college was established in 1959 to promote scientific endeavor in the field of nutritional sciences.

Franz earned her master's degree in food and nutrition from BYU and her bachelor's and doctoral degrees in nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley. She has taught at BYU since 1968.