Callie Crawford

The average woman spends approximately 30 years of her life trying to avoid pregnancy. For decades women have used birth control methods and medical procedures to accomplish this.

Sexually active woman are faced with the decision on what birth control method is the most suitable for them, and often face a tough decision when dealing with an unplanned pregnancy.

“Roughly 60 percent of all unplanned pregnancies are because of failed contraceptives,” said Alison Gaulden, vice president of public affairs at Planned Parenthood.

Planned Parenthood not only offers services providing birth control to patients, but also helps in the referral process when a woman has chosen adoption or abortion.

“We first give the woman a pregnancy test, if the test comes back positive we then go through a series of questions,” Gaulden said. “This is what it means to be a parent. Are you financially sound? Are you in a stable relationship? Do you have the emotional maturity to give up who are and where you are trying to go to focus on your child?”

The time and choices leading up to a woman’s decision to give up her child can be very hard, but studies have shown that after the abortion procedure is finished most women feel a sense of relief.

“I got an abortion because I still felt like a child myself,” said Caroline Walker, a student at the University of Nevada, Reno. “How would I be a good mother, I knew I wouldn’t be able to provide the life my child deserved.”

90 percent of abortion procedures are done in the first 8 weeks of pregnancy, but the procedure can be done up to 23 weeks in Nevada. Planned Parenthood does not provide the medical procedure themselves, but gives referrals to clinics that do.

When a woman decides that adoption is the best choice for them, Planned Parenthood provides information and help finding adoption agencies. They also provide support through the journey to help find the right family for the child they are carrying.

“Our main goal at Planned Parenthood is to help women make the proactive decision on what’s best for themselves and child’s life,” Gaulden said.

Names in this article have been changed for privacy reasons. (Caroline Walker)

With the popularity of organic produce on the rise, many family farmers have had to adjust the way they operate in order to compete in the new industry.

Organic food is classified as produce that has not been treated with chemical fertilizer or pesticides. In order to get a product nationally organically certified it must go through 2 review stages, and also an inspection.

“The biggest challenge has been learning how to gain a successful yield when using a completely new and different method,” said Marshall Staunton, A Klamath Basin farmer.

In order to produce a successful organic crop, it requires much more personal labor. The cost to grow is relatively 10-15% more than when producing commercially.

“We are use to following this set of universal rules when growing commercially, when switching to organic we are forced to come up with new ideas and ways to get a successful crop,” Staunton said.

Although in recent years organic production on family farms has been on the rise, large suppliers have found that the cost to produce organic products is not in high enough demand yet.

I.P. Callison & Sons is one of the world’s largest suppliers of mint oil and flavors. They are organic certified but have yet to start selling organic products to their buyers.

“The demand would have to go up in order for us to start buying organic mint oil, organic mint is much more expensive to grow,” said Jim Norwood, A sales representative at I.P. Callison & Sons.

Norwood predicts that with the popularity of organic products rising I.P. Callison & Sons organic certification will lead to supplying buyers with organic oil within the next 10 years.

“Once companies like I.P. Callison & Sons start purchasing organic oils, we will be ready to take on the new market, it has a huge future,” Staunton said.

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How do you plan on standing out this spring among your fellow University of Nevada student body? Sharon York, Personal Stylist at Macy’s Reno shared Wednesday the secrets for you ladies to stay fashionable and chic on campus this spring.

The key to being stylish this spring is bringing out the white items in your closet. White and neutrals are the main colors to focus on this season, York said.

The spring season allows you to be the most playful with your outfits. From happy colorful prints, to high waste pants paired with a ruffled cardigan.

“You need to mix your whites and neutrals with a color that will make the outfit pop, bright pink and bright orange are perfect for this,” York said.

New York’s Fashion Week showed that bright pinks, lace, and feminine prints are going to be extremely popular this spring among designers like Michael Kors, Ralph Lauren, and Calvin Klein.

When shopping for trendy shoes for spring neutral colors will be the best “look for an off-white heel, platforms are also coming back this season,” York said.

On the runway at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week we saw a lot of off-one-shoulder dresses, mostly in silk and colorful prints. This spring is all about bringing back the feminine look.

“The most important thing to have in your closet is fun colorful flowery prints, you can mix and match those with everything,” York said.

All you need is a few pieces that will make you dazzle your way through spring. Add a couple gold bangles to your wrist to complete your perfect spring look, York said.

“Throw on a white cropped textured jacket, and some wide leg pants, and you are on your way to fashion perfection,” York said.

Two Journalists from Azerbaijan-Baku visited the University of Nevada Reno Tuesday, in hopes of discovering ways to improve media in Azerbaijan.

Gulu Maharramli is a journalist, as well as a professor in Azerbaijan. Ainur Ganbarova is involved in the private sector of journalism, she is also a journalism professor at the Baku School of Journalism.

Both journalists stressed how citizens of Azerbaijan are suppressed of their countries news.  Not only is 95 percent of the media owned by the government, but freedom of speech is also extremely limited in all parts of Azerbaijan.

“We know more news about other countries than our own,” Maharramli said.

Journalists in Azerbaijan risk their lives to get the truth. Ganbarova is especially at risk everyday being involved in the private sector. She investigates stories in order to get the truth out to the citizens of her country, even if that means risking her well-being.

“You have to love this profession; you love it, or leave it,” Ganbarova said. “I risk my life to get the truth.”

Maharramli, and Ganbarova would love to see their country gain a more democratic system “a country more like yours,” Maharramli said. After resent protests in Egypt, both journalists believe Azerbaijan could be one of the next countries to try and upturn the government.

“To transform Azerbaijan into a more democratic nation it would require a lot of military force,” Maharramli said.

When returning back to their country from America, both journalists hope to have obtained new understandings of western media. Once returning to Azerbaijan they hope to be able to educate their students on new ways of American Media.

“Unlike others I’m much more optimistic of our future,” Ganbarova said.

Hey everyone, my name is Callie Crawford! I recently moved to Reno from San Francisco where I attended San Francisco State University. I grew up in a very small town in northern California, Tulelake. So far, I love student life and all the University of Nevada has had to offer. I am 20 years old, and a pre-journalism major, as of now. I plan on majoring in Advertising, with a minor in Business Management. My dream job would be working in the fashion world of advertising. I would love to create ads for new fashion lines, makeup lines, or fashion shows.

In my free time I love to ski, wakeboard, paint, get together with friends, shop, and travel. Traveling is one of my favorite things,  I would love to have the opportunity to get a job that allows me to travel the world. I am a huge fan of all types of music. My favorites include indie, hip-hop/rap, alternative, dub-step, and house music. When I have time I love to cook, my specialty is lemon chicken! My family is a huge part of my life. They mean everything to me. I have one little brother, his name is Max, I would definitely consider him my best friend. I would say I am a very driven individual, and strive to succeed in life. I can’t wait for what the future has to hold, and very excited to get started at the Reynolds School of Journalism.

From 1890 until it closed in 1980, the Stewart Indian School in Carson City was the only off-reservation boarding school in Nevada for Native American children. Children from Nevada and throughout the West were forced to attend the institution through secondary school age. Students came from many tribes including the Nevada-based Washoe and Paiute tribes, as well as Hopi, Apache, Pima, Mohave, Walapai, Ute, and others.

Group of boys in 1894

In 1888 the Nevada Legislature passed a bill that authorized the sale of bonds to purchase land for an Indian boarding school. Once purchased, the land was conveyed to the Bureau of Indian Affairs who established the boarding school to train and educate Indian children with the ultimate goal of assimilation.

The campus began with a Victorian-style wood framed dormitory and school house. As enrollment increased, new buildings included shops for training, a hospital, and a recreation room. A Virginia and Truckee Railroad stop was established by 1906 to deliver supplies and facilitate transporting students to and from the school. By 1919, 400 students attended the school.

Classes included reading, writing, and arithmetic but focused on vocational training in various trades, agriculture, and the service industry. Classes offered for boys included ranching and farming, mechanics, woodworking, painting, and carpentry. Students learned stone masonry from their teachers, including Hopi stone masons, and helped to construct more than 60 native stone buildings on the campus.

Stewart girls attended classes in baking, cooking, sewing, laundry, and practical nursing. Much of the school’s basic needs were supplied by students’ products or fulfilled by their newly acquired skills. Vocational training remained the school’s principal focus until a shift to academics occurred in the late 1960’s.

The Stewart Indian School was initially intended to assimilate the young people into mainstream American culture. Policies prohibiting speaking native languages and practicing native customs anguished both students and their parents. The Federal policy toward American Indians radically changed with the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, after which self-determination and self-government were supported.

1905. Organized sports began at Stewart Indian School in 1896. Teams competed under the school mascot ­ the Braves. The football team became Nevada State Champions in 1916. In the late 1920s Stewart became a member of the state interscholastic athletic league.  In 1937 a new stone gymnasium was built. Team sports such as baseball and football provided friendly interchange between schools and communities.

In later years, the Bureau of Indian Affairs encouraged schools such as Stewart to let students speak their native languages and to promote classes in native cultures. Today, the State of Nevada Indian Commission annually hosts the Stewart Father’s Day Powwow, which presents traditional competition dancing, Stewart School alumni recognition, arts and crafts, special events and exhibits. Photograph courtesy Nevada State Museum.

Frederick Snyder, who served as the school superintendent from 1919 to 1934, began the practice of using colored native stone (quarried along the Carson River) for campus buildings; much of the masonry used in the vernacular-style buildings is the work of student apprentices working under Hopi stonemasons. The majority of the surviving buildings were built between 1922 and the beginning of World War II.

Text and audio courtesy State of Nevada Indian Commission

Photographs courtesy Nevada State Museum

Video by Howard Goldbaum

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