Salt Lake City Area Research Articles

Use of LCZs with urban canopy modeling to evaluate urban growth effects on meteorological conditions in the Salt Lake Valley

Urban Canopy Models (UCMs) can be used to represent urban characteristics on a mesoscale without accounting for effects of individual buildings. A WRF-based single-layer urban canopy model (SLUCM) was validated for the greater Salt Lake City area (GSLA) using measurements from two weather stations for a one-week period during summer 2019. A baseline model based on current GSLA properties developed using the Noah land surface model, SLUCM, and refined urban classifications based on WUDAPT Local Climate Zones (LCZs) produced acceptable predictions and computational times. The baseline model was validated using measured meteorological data and clearly showed diurnal heating patterns. Three scenarios representing multi-decade growth were defined by modifying LCZs in different parts of the GSLA. Compared to baseline values, results showed increased urban density increased local nighttime temperatures 5–10 °C depending on the extent of growth, but did not affect daytime temperatures. This was due to changes in LCZ anthropogenic heating rates and sky view factors which were most noticeable during early nighttime hours, consistent with atmospheric heat island behavior. Predicted 2-m relative humidity and 10-m wind speeds changed minimally.

A Long-Term Comparison between the AethLabs MA350 and Aerosol Magee Scientific AE33 Black Carbon Monitors in the Greater Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area.

Black carbon (BC) or soot contains ultrafine combustion particles that are associated with a wide range of health impacts, leading to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. Both long-term and short-term health impacts of BC have been documented, with even low-level exposures to BC resulting in negative health outcomes for vulnerable groups. Two aethalometers-AethLabs MA350 and Aerosol Magee Scientific AE33-were co-located at a Utah Division of Air Quality site in Bountiful, Utah for just under a year. The aethalometer comparison showed a close relationship between instruments for IR BC, Blue BC, and fossil fuel source-specific BC estimates. The biomass source-specific BC estimates were markedly different between instruments at the minute and hour scale but became more similar and perhaps less-affected by high-leverage outliers at the daily time scale. The greater inter-device difference for biomass BC may have been confounded by very low biomass-specific BC concentrations during the study period. These findings at a mountainous, high-elevation, Greater Salt Lake City Area site support previous study results and broaden the body of evidence validating the performance of the MA350.

Startup Culture: MLMs, Mormons, and Entrepreneurship

Startup Culture: MLMs, Mormons, and Entrepreneurship

Energy Profiles of Nine Water Treatment Plants in the Salt Lake City Area of Utah and Implications for Planning, Design, and Operation

AbstractThis study examined primary data on the energy use (electricity and natural gas) of nine surface water treatment plants in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, and how their energy use relates ...

Sources of Formaldehyde in Bountiful, Utah

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency’s National Air Toxics Trends Stations Network has been measuring the concentration of hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) including formaldehyde (HCHO) since 2003. Bountiful, Utah (USA) has served as one of the urban monitoring sites since the network was established. Starting in 2013, the mean concentration of HCHO measured in Bountiful, Utah exceeded the non-cancer risk threshold and the 1 in 1 million cancer risk threshold. In addition, the measured concentrations were more than double those found at surrounding locations in Utah. A Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) analysis using PMF-EPA v5 was performed using historical data (2004–2017) to better understand the sources of formaldehyde in the region. The historical data set included samples that were collected every sixth day on a 24 h basis. Beginning in February 2019 an eight-week air sampling campaign was initiated to measure formaldehyde on a two-hour averaged basis. In addition, the measurements of O3, NO, NO2, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX) were also collected. Corresponding back-trajectory wind calculations for selected time periods were calculated to aid in the understanding of the effects of BTEX emission sources and formaldehyde formation. The results indicate that the principal formaldehyde sources are associated with biomass burning and the conversion of biogenic emissions into HCHO. Back-trajectory wind analysis of low (≤3 ppbv) and high (23.8–32.5 ppbv) HCHO cases show a clear dominance of high HCHO originating in trajectories that come from the southwest and pass over the area of the oil refineries and industrial sources in the north Salt Lake City area.

Preparing historically underrepresented trainees for biomedical cancer research careers at Huntsman Cancer Institute/University of Utah Health

ABSTRACT Given the well-documented inequities in health care outcomes by race, ethnicity, and gender, many health career pipeline programs have focused on supporting the development of a diverse and inclusive workforce. The State of Utah, is vast, but sparsely populated outside the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. More than 96% of our nearly 85,000 square miles is designated rural (<100 people/square mile) or frontier (<7 people/square mile). The Salt Lake City area is home to the Hunsman Cancer Institute, the only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in the region, also noted the limited diversity in the biomedical cancer research workforce. Our primary objective was to increase the number of underrepresented trainees who pursue higher education with the goal of a career in cancer research. PathMaker is a regional, competitive pipeline program that nurtures high school or undergraduate trainees from historically underrepresented backgrounds towards a career in cancer research. Our faculty and staff team collaboratively developed a cohort model curriculum that increased student awareness of research career options; provided academic and professional development, cultural and social support, evolutionary success strategies, active mentorship, and leadership skill development; and fostered an environment of continuous evaluation and improvement. Since pilot program initiation in May 2016, the PathMaker Research Program (PathMaker) has engaged a total of 44 underrepresented trainees in cancer research labs at Huntsman Cancer Institute, the majority still in college. Eleven trainees graduated college: five employed in STEM, one pursuing a PhD in STEM; two in medical school, and three are lost to follow-up. Alumni report high levels of satisfaction with PathMaker and will be followed and supported for academic success. PathMaker is a replicable model to increase diversity and inclusion in the biomedical cancer research workforce.

Contraceptive Counseling in the Zika Era: Primary Care Providers’ Perspective [07J

INTRODUCTION: The 2015 Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak emphasized the imperative for contraceptive counseling for at-risk populations such as Latinx women. This study assessed primary care providers’ knowledge, perception of risk, and approach to contraceptive counseling in response to ZIKV. METHODS: We performed a sequential mixed-methods, cross-sectional study with a survey and semi-structured interview. From 06/2018 to 08/2018 we recruited primary care providers from a federally qualified health organization in the Salt Lake City area that provides preventive care to non-pregnant Latinx women of reproductive age. The survey assessed demographics, contraceptive and ZIKV knowledge, and CDC ZIKV guideline adherence. The Health Belief Model informed our interview guide on contraceptive and ZIKV counseling. We performed descriptive analyses on survey data and analyzed qualitative data for dominant themes. RESULTS: Twenty-two of 40 (57%) providers participated. Twelve (55%) are family medicine physicians, seven are physician assistants (32%), and three are nurse practitioners (14%); 53% are women, and 96% identify as white. On contraceptive and ZIKV knowledge questions, providers averaged 69% and 81% correct respectively. Sixty-five percent reported CDC ZIKV guideline adherence. Qualitative themes include conditional ZIKV risk, neonatal-related severity of ZIKV, specific cues to action for counseling about ZIKV and contraception, and omission of the ZIKV risk to non-pregnant women who may become pregnant. CONCLUSION: Primary care providers perceive the risk of ZIKV; however, their knowledge, guideline adherence, and perception of risk do not translate into ZIKV-aware counseling. Our results demonstrate the need for action plans that ensure practice changes in response to emerging infectious diseases.

Lower Proportion of Hospitalizations among Non-Homebound Patients Who Received Home Care after Hospital Discharge for Acute Heart Failure Hospitalization

Introduction Frequent rehospitalizations among patients with heart failure (HF) result in patient burden and cost. Homebound patients with HF qualify for home care after hospital discharge. Whether non-homebound HF patients could also benefit from home care (HC) services through improved transition from hospital to home has not been tested. Hypothesis Home care nursing visits for non-homebound HF patients are likely to improve transition of care from the inpatient to home setting, and result in reduced rehospitalization. Methods We included patients who were discharged between November 2017 and October 2018 from University of Utah hospital, had primary or secondary diagnoses of HF, were ambulatory and ineligible for HC at hospital discharge, and lived within the Salt Lake City area. Patients were either referred for HC services upon hospital discharge or released to home with no intervention. HC services for these patients were provided free of charge. Patients who received the intervention had at least one HC visit by a nurse if they agreed to it while in the hospital. HC nurses followed a modified version of the Discharge Checklist from the American Heart Association's Rise Above Heart Failure materials. We removed questions that would have been addressed in the hospital, maintained those that targeted self-management and medication management and added questions specific to the home environment. This checklist was used by healthcare providers when assisting patients with their transition to home. HC visit nurses provided education as appropriate based on patients’ responses. We used descriptive statistics to compare readmission before or after 30 days by intervention status. Results There were 319 patients that met the eligibility criteria; 60.2% were male, 81.8% were white, and the average age was 62.1. Of the 319 eligible patients, a convenience sample of 70 patients were approached and referral was placed for HC. Of these, 61 patients received HC visits and 9 declined. Based on patient responses to the Checklist, key areas addressed during HC visits were medication management, self-care and adherence to heart failure behaviors. Seven of the 61 patients who received HC (11.5%) were readmitted at ≤30 days after discharge, compared to 55/258 (21.3%) who did not receive HC visits (p = 0.08). Conclusions In this ongoing quality improvement pilot study, we tested utility of HC visits to improve transitions of care after discharge for HF exacerbation in ambulatory patients. We identified specific teaching opportunities related to medication management, self-care and adherence to heart failure behaviors. We show that compared to patients who did not receive HC visits, a lower proportion of patients who received HC visits were readmitted at ≤30 days after discharge. Further testing of this strategy seems warranted.

CO2 and Carbon Emissions from Cities: Linkages to Air Quality, Socioeconomic Activity, and Stakeholders in the Salt Lake City Urban Area

AbstractUrban areas are responsible for a substantial proportion of anthropogenic carbon emissions around the world. As global populations increasingly reside in cities, the role of urban emissions in determining the future trajectory of carbon emissions is magnified. Consequently, a number of research efforts have been started in the United States and beyond, focusing on observing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and relating its variations to carbon emissions in cities. Because carbon emissions are intimately tied to socioeconomic activity through the combustion of fossil fuels, and many cities are actively adopting emission reduction plans, such urban carbon research efforts give rise to opportunities for stakeholder engagement and guidance on other environmental issues, such as air quality.This paper describes a research effort centered in the Salt Lake City, Utah, metropolitan region, which is the locus for one of the longest-running urban CO2 networks in the world. The Salt Lake City area provides a rich environment for studying anthropogenic emissions and for understanding the relationship between emissions and socioeconomic activity when the CO2 observations are enhanced with a) air quality observations, b) novel mobile observations from platforms on light-rail public transit trains and a news helicopter, c) dense meteorological observations, and d) modeling efforts that include atmospheric simulations and high-resolution emission inventories.Carbon dioxide and other atmospheric observations are presented, along with associated modeling work. Examples in which the work benefited from and contributed to the interests of multiple stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, air quality managers, municipal government, urban planners, industry, and the general public) are discussed.

Impacts of Large-Scale Stormwater Green Infrastructure Implementation and Climate Variability on Receiving Water Response in the Salt Lake City Area

This study evaluated impacts of Green Infrastructure (GI) as a stormwater management practice on return flows and the further Implications of climate variability. The goal was to create a model to explore the impacts that bioretention and Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) representing GI had using goldsim and Stormwater Management Modeling (SWMM) software. The software was used to represent impacts that climate variability individually and combined, may have on downstream stakeholders and receiving water systems in Salt Lake city, Utah, USA. Primary stakeholders included downstream water rights users, Farmington Bay waterfowl management area and the migratory birds that rely on Farmington Bay and the advocates that represent them. The steps to reach this goal were broken down incrementally to: (1) Characterize daily inflows to Farmington Bay, (2) Provide daily inflows from natural and urban runoff to the Jordan river, (3) Create a daily water balance model of Farmington Bay, (4) Demonstrate the model with and without stormwater GI and climate variability scenarios and (5) Determine trends of inflow to the Jordan River, duck clubs and Farmington Bay under various scenarios. The simulation results demonstrated that bioretention and RWH individually and combined had minimal impact on downstream water users, Jordan River flows and ultimately Farmington Bay water levels. Bioretention reduced the flow in the Jordan River minimally, with reductions primarily during peak flow. RWH actually kept more water in the natural system on average because less water was needed from the water treatment facilities when outdoor irrigation was supplemented with rainwater. The user reliability did not differ for any of the bioretention and RWH scenarios. The climate variability scenario had the greatest impact to Jordan River flows, Farmington Bay water levels and user reliability. When analyzed without GI implementation, the climate variability induced reduction in tributary flows and precipitation led to an average decrease of 11% in the Jordan River streamflow when compared to average baseline scenario over a 25 year simulation. The user reliability decreased by 5% and most importantly there was found to be an average of 36% decrease in the water levels in Farmington Bay. The resultant of the decrease in Farmington Bay water level is a loss of up to 61 square kilometers (15,000 acres) of open bay that would impact bird habitat, brine shrimp grounds, recreationalists, bird watchers, hunters and more. For this case study the implications of climate variability on the water system are much greater than implementing GI.

Securitisation and the mega‐event: an editorial introduction

I n August 2011 organisers of the London 2012 Olympics staged rehearsals for the Opening Ceremony due to commence exactly one year hence. Meanwhile, other parts of the city were experiencing rioting and looting on a scale not seen for 30 years. Whilst these two events were largely distinct, their simultaneous occurrence underscored an important point. For all the attention to the enclosure, artificial urbanism and contrived spaces that hosting sporting mega events create, they are accommodated in complex and often contested urban settings. Two years later, the links between the politics of the street and the sporting mega-event spectacle became cemented elsewhere. Echoing protests against Mexico City’s profligate Olympic spending at a time of austerity in 1968, June 2013 saw more than a million people take to the streets across 100 Brazilian cities. Although activist causes were manifold they unmistakably coalesced around the social and pecuniary impacts of Brazil’s staging of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. As mega-event spectacles, replete with promises of ‘regeneration’ and ‘legacy’, continue to encroach further into the urban realm, so different levels of action, activism, governance and policy necessarily become drawn together. For sporting mega-events, it is in the realm of security practice where the heat generated by internationally focused agendas abrading with local practices, processes and priorities is greatest. Here, the promise of stringent security guarantees is a precondition for hosts who operate under a constant risk of catastrophic reputational damage should they not be met. Of course, it is rare that, in such a broad sense, ‘security’ can ever be guaranteed and, for planners, its pursuit results in dwindling levels of acceptable risk. When applied to the complex, dynamic and unpredictable realm of the global city, the contemporary stage for sporting mega events, such promises are even harder to keep. The result is uneasy coalitions of international, national, regional and local security practice; a merger of civil, military and criminal justice techniques and technologies of social control; and a proliferation of security priorities. Yet whilst some of these measures may be exceptional for the cities that host them, they often represent very familiar elements of mega-event security programmes.

Could hypoxia increase the prevalence of thrombotic complications in polycythemia vera?

Thromboses represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality in polycythemia vera but the contributing mechanisms are not fully described. To evaluate whether environmental conditions such as altitude/hypoxia could impact thrombosis history, we retrospectively analyzed thrombosis history in 71 polycythemia vera patients living at an elevation of 5000 feet or more in the Salt Lake City (SLC) area and 166 polycythemia vera patients living near sea level in the Baltimore (BLM) area. The SLC cohort was older with a longer disease duration. No significant differences in type of anticoagulation therapy or prothrombotic factors were present between the two cohorts. After adjusting for age, sex and disease duration, SLC patients experienced an estimated 3.9-fold increase in the odds of a history of thrombosis compared with BLM patients (95% confidence interval 1.8-7.6; P=0.0004). A history of a cardiovascular event was present in 58% of the SLC patients compared with 27% of the BLM patients (P<0.0001). Before diagnosis, thrombosis occurred in 18 and 4% of the SLC and BLM groups, respectively (P=0.003). No correlation between the JAK2 allele burden and thrombosis was observed in this study. This retrospective study suggests that even moderate hypoxia associated with 5000 feet elevation should be considered as an independent prothrombotic risk factor. This observation needs to be confirmed by prospective studies.

WRF Simulations of the Urban Circulation in the Salt Lake City Area for CO2 Modeling

AbstractA recent National Research Council report highlighted the potential utility of atmospheric observations and models for detecting trends in concentrated emissions from localized regions, such as urban areas. The Salt Lake City (SLC), Utah, area was chosen for a pilot study to determine the feasibility of using ground-based sensors to identify trends in anthropogenic urban emissions over a range of time scales (from days to years). The Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) was combined with a Lagrangian particle dispersion model and an emission inventory to model carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations that can be compared with in situ measurements. An accurate representation of atmospheric transport requires a faithful modeling of the meteorological conditions. This study examines in detail the ability of different configurations of WRF to reproduce the observed local and mesoscale circulations, and the diurnal evolution of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) in the SLC area. Observations from the Vertical Transport and Mixing field experiment in 2000 were used to examine the sensitivity of WRF results to changes in the PBL parameterization and to the inclusion of an urban canopy model (UCM). Results show that for urban locations there is a clear benefit from parameterizing the urban canopy for simulation of the PBL and near-surface conditions, particularly for temperature evolution at night. Simulation of near-surface CO2 concentrations for a 2-week period in October 2006 showed that running WRF at high resolution (1.33 km) and with a UCM also improves the simulation of observed increases in CO2 during the early evening.

Perfluorochemicals and Endometriosis

Environmental chemicals may be associated with endometriosis. No published research has focused on the possible role of perfluorochemicals (PFCs) despite their widespread presence in human tissues. We formulated two samples. The first was an operative sample comprising 495 women aged 18-44 years scheduled for laparoscopy/laparotomy at one of 14 participating clinical sites in the Salt Lake City or San Francisco area, 2007-2009. The second was a population-based sample comprising 131 women matched to the operative sample on age and residence within a 50-mile radius of participating clinics. Interviews and anthropometric assessments were conducted at enrollment, along with blood collection for the analysis of nine PFCs, which were quantified using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Endometriosis was defined based on surgical visualization (in the operative sample) or magnetic resonance imaging (in the population sample). Using logistic regression, we estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each PFC (log-transformed), adjusting for age and body mass index, and then parity. Serum perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA; OR = 1.89 [95% CI = 1.17-3.06]) and perfluorononanoic acid (2.20 [1.02-4.75]) were associated with endometriosis in the operative sample; findings were moderately attenuated with parity adjustment (1.62 [0.99-2.66] and 1.99 [0.91-4.33], respectively). Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (1.86 [1.05-3.30]) and PFOA (2.58 [1.18-5.64]) increased the odds for moderate/severe endometriosis, although the odds were similarly attenuated with parity adjustment (OR = 1.50 and 1.86, respectively). Select PFCs were associated with an endometriosis diagnosis. These associations await corroboration.

The 52nd Annual Conference of the ACSP: Salt Lake City, Utah, 13-16 October 2011

The 52nd Annual Conference of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) took place from 13 to 16 October 2011 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The conference was hosted by the University of Utah, whose graduate programme in urban and regional planning was launched in 2003. Salt Lake City is an intermountain city, whose 2010 metropolitan population is slightly over one million persons. The city is well-known for being the world headquarters of the Mormon religion. The conference was attended by approximately 900 individuals, primarily including planning school faculty and graduate students as well as planning practitioners. It is the primary conference for planning academics in the US. Conference attendees were welcomed by Salt Lake City Mayor Ralph Becker, who also led a bicycle tour of the city. Mayor Becker is a practicing planner and avid enthusiast for making cities safe and manageable for bicycles. The structure of the 2011 conference1 The conference consisted of 16 tracks, covering the full range of urban planning research and practice. Within each track were panels consisting of three or four papers. Overall, there were 185 panels at the conference for a total of approximately 650 papers or presentations. The tracks with the largest number of panels were: 'Transportation and Infrastructure' (22); 'Housing and Community Development' (20); 'Environmental Planning and Resource Management' (19); 'International Development Planning' (19); 'Economic Development' (13); and 'Urban Design' (13). The smallest tracks were 'Analytical Methods and Computer Applications' (8); 'Gender and Diversity in Planning' (7); 'Land Use Policy and Governance' (9); 'Planning and Human Health and Safety' (8); 'Planning History' (7); 'Planning Process, Law, and Dispute Resolution' (7); and 'Planning Theory' (8). For 2011 there was also a new track - Track 16 (6) - which had as its theme 'Envision'. This was also the theme for the conference as a whole and was built around the pioneering visioning work of 'Envision Utah', whose founding chair, Robert Grow, delivered the plenary session talk attended by many of the conference delegates. Mr Grow described the process by which the Envision Utah organisation developed as a public/private partnership. Envision Utah is recognised as a successful effort to engage the public in developing a growth strategy for the Salt Lake City area that will enable its growth to continue while protecting quality of life and affordable housing. Taking offfrom the success and inspiration of Envision Utah, the conference planners used the Envision theme to remind planners and the public of planning's fundamental role in enabling society to imagine and plan for better futures. Papers that featured this theme were highlighted in the conference brochure. In addition, the Envision theme was used to define the Conference's newest track - Track 16. Track 16 was created to feature papers that exhibited cross-cutting themes and issues. It was launched in response to concern that the existing tracks tended to become 'silos'. In contrast, Track 16 welcomed cross-cutting approaches to planning, with attention to a variety of issues and specialisations. In its first year, Track 16 was capped at six panel sessions. The individual sessions in the track included two round table discussions: (1) 'Envisioning Planning Education in the Context of the University' and (2) 'The National Academy of Environmental Design: Traces and Trajectories'. …

Underevaluation of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Patients With Nonaccidental Falls

The incidence of adult patients with falls seeking medical assistance in the Salt Lake City area, Utah, is 28,000 per million adult inhabitants. We sought to evaluate the prevalence of cardiovascular risk assessment and cardiovascular abnormalities in patients presenting with nonaccidental falls at the University of Utah hospital and its affiliated clinics. We conducted a search of all patients in the University of Utah patient database as well as 9 affiliated primary care and family practice clinics in Utah who were evaluated for a "fall" during October 2009. We analyzed the records of 338 patients who had a fall within the previous 3 months. Nonaccidental falls were defined as falls unrelated to a contact incident or "slip or trip." Nonaccidental falls occurred in 81 (24%) patients, 39 of these being ≥65 years old. Cardiovascular risk assessment and specifically orthostatic testing were evaluated in 40% and 3% of the patients, respectively. In patients ≥65 years old, the prevalence of cardiovascular risk assessment, orthostatic testing, and carotid sinus massage were equally low at 56%, 5%, and 0%, respectively. Cardiovascular abnormalities were present in 17 (21%) patients, with 9 of them being referred for cardiac evaluation. Our results highlight the inconsistent assessment of potential cardiovascular risk factors in patients with nonaccidental falls, supporting the adoption of a standardized approach in these patients.

Mediated Modeling: Using Collaborative Processes to Integrate Scientist and Stakeholder Knowledge about Greenhouse Gas Emissions in an Urban Ecosystem

Technical experts often find they need to include critical information from local residents to address environmental issues. To access this information while simultaneously educating participants, we used a participatory process called mediated modeling. Mediated modeling provides a structured framework for enabling diverse stakeholders to use systems modeling to understand the multidimensional, dynamic, and interactive aspects of environmental problems. We invited scientists, decision makers, and stakeholders from the Salt Lake City area to participate in a series of workshops designed to create a relatively simple model of urban ecosystem processes operating in the Salt Lake Valley, UT. This article describes the mediated modeling process, including four activities used to help participants think systemically about the local airshed and enable them to identify key issues, concerns, and interrelationships between variables affecting emissions. Our analysis indicates that participants gained a greater understanding of complexity and system dynamics related to the urban airshed.

THE NEW MEXICO WHIPTAIL, CNEMIDOPHORUS NEOMEXICANUS (SQUAMATA: TEIIDAE), IN THE GREAT BASIN OF NORTH CENTRAL UTAH

Abstract We report the discovery of established populations of Cnemidophorus neomexicanus in the Salt Lake City area. These are the 1st records of this species in Utah and in the Great Basin and are far from all other known populations of the species. We conclude that C. neomexicanus was introduced in the Salt Lake City area, perhaps within the last 30 years.

Ion (review)

For the past thirty years, the Classical Greek Theatre Festival has been working its way through the entire cannon of extant Greek plays, performing at a number of venues throughout the Salt Lake City area and on tour to colleges throughout the Western states. For their thirtieth anniversary production, they returned to Euripides' Ion, in a new adaptation by David Lan. This production, directed by David Dynak, was a self-consciously postmodern attempt to make Greek theatre both accessible and engaging through a pastiche of contemporary music and dance, a set and costumes evoking pop culture, and an ironic and emotionally distanced acting style. While the provocative set and solid performance of B. Joe Rogan in the title role worked well to achieve the goal, the complexity of this thought-provoking play was undermined by a dancing, singing chorus, inappropriately mismatched costumes, and heightened acting that spilled over into farce.

Rheumatic Fever—A Half-Century Perspective

Rheumatic Fever—A Half-Century Perspective