ABC Footage. President Barack Obama during an exclusive ABC News interview in which he expressed his support for same sex equality in terms of same sex marriage.

President Barack Obama officially announced his support of same sex marriage in a press conference last Wednesday in an exclusive interview with ABC News.  In the interview the president stated that his views are “evolving” and further said that,  “at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, the president supported gay marriage in 1996 when he first ran for senator of Illinois and then reversed his stance in 2004, justifying his changing view by saying in a 2008 interview “for me as a Christian it’s also a sacred union. God’s in the mix.”

The president’s view has recently come full circle with an endorsement of same sex marriage and support of repelling the Defense of Marriage Act that limits marriage to heterosexual couples, in time for the 2012 presidential elections, where gay marriage and the economy are predicted to be wedge issues among suburban independent voters.

Opposing Obama’s recent statement, Republican front-runner nominee, Mitt Romney, maintains his political platform against same sex marriages.

“Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman,” Romney said during a speech at Liberty University, last Saturday. Romney said he supports the Defense of Marriage Act and believes that the constitution should limit the definition of marriage to heterosexual couples.

Both candidates will fight for suburban Americans’ votes during their election campaigns. Swing states, such as Colorado, show a split over the issue of marriage equality. The Colorado congress recently blocked a bill supporting the legalization of civil unions, but is expected to further debate the issue during a special session. In a recent poll performed by the Pew Research Center 48 percent of suburban Americans support same sex marriage with 41 percent opposed and 36 percent of rural Americans are in favor with 53 percent opposed. The November elections will show if same sex marriage is the hot button campaign topic that the candidates are making it out to be, or if other issues, such as the economy, will show precedence.

Photo: Alumni Association. After seeing the changes that campus has undergone since her student days, Fumie Iwata Yahiro (middle) finished her tour at the Alumni House where she was surprised by University of Wyoming athletics mascot Pistol Pete (left) and UW President Tom Buchanan. Iwata Yahiro received a "67 Year Anniversary" certificate from the Alumni Office as part of her visit.

Almost seven decades after receiving her bachelor’s degree in home economics, one University of Wyoming alumna made her way back to campus to tour, buy souvenirs and receive a surprise visit by the school mascot, Pistol Pete, and UW President Tom Buchanan.

Born and raised in central California, 88-year-old Fumie Iwata Yahiro did not start her education at the university completely by choice.

“[Back then], all the Japanese were evacuated to the 10 different internment camps. So we went from California to Colorado,” Iwata Yahiro said.

She said that the relocation was especially hard on her parents, who had to abandon their farm.

“All the parents lost their business or farm. They lost everything because they had to leave everything. But we were fortunate that we had a neighbor…and they took care of everything on our farm. We had 20 acres and when we came back, everything was perfect,” she said.

Being chosen to attend the university as a Japanese student was a privilege for Iwata Yahiro.

“Now from us Japanese students, only 50 would be accepted to [attend university classes],” she said.

Life was very different then as compared to now, she said.

“In those days the men — all the boys — went into service, so mostly women were here on campus,” she said.

On her tour, she noticed how much campus had changed.

“[There were] no trees on Prexy’s Pasture, so you could just walk across and [there were] only a few buildings,” she said.

After living first at Merica Hall and then Hoyt Hall, when both buildings still functioned as dormitories, Iwata Yahiro started working for the then director of the Student Union and his family. In exchange for her room and board at the family’s house, she would help with daily routines, she said.

“In the home, I didn’t have to cook. I had to set the table and clean up the dishes. They had two boys named Robert and Martin,” she said. “My own two boys now are named Martin and Robert.”

Iwata Yahiro managed to receive her degree in only two years and eight months, which enabled her to leave with her family, after they were released after three years in the internment camp, she said.

Back in California, her parents received back their farm, while other families had lost everything they had owned.

“Everybody else just lost everything. We were so lucky,” she said.

She began working as a dietician in a hospital, then became a registered lab technician and eventually worked for Hughes Aviation in Los Angeles.

While she said she was sad that the home economics department does not exist anymore, Iwata Yahiro said she was happy to see her old campus again.

My stress level maintained a steady, after finals, high as I moved out of the dorms and into a house, found a job, went to a kendo test and tournament, saw former Pink Floyd vocalist Rodger Waters perform “The Wall,” and now I am back for round two: I am taking a summer class.

During the spring semester, my classes ran from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and now my class runs in the same time frame in the chilly Engineering building analyzing different perspectives of feminism.

What is different about my summer class is that unlike some of the classes I took in the spring, I love my summer class and perhaps want to be there a bit too much. As an English major and self identified third wave feminist, Introduction to Women’s Studies feels like a mix between debates I’ve had with my friends and a book club.

Taking a math class over the summer would likely make me cry but a class where we get to talk about different perspectives on a reading and then write a paper is something I love.

But what is it that makes summer class feel so different from the rest?

In the summer session you take classes because you want to be there, not because your advisor stuck you in it. Everyone has read the assignments or at least is able to discuss them and everyone is open-minded.

Coming straight off my freshman classes, where discussions sometimes felt like they operated on the notion of attack the person not the issue, I was shocked at the maturity level of this class. Some of the material covers intense personal issues but everyone is able to discuss them without lashing out or hurting feelings.

On the first day of class, a student didn’t agree with a point that was made by another. He told the professor in a level voice that he didn’t agree and then went on to explain why. The two agreed to disagree.

I was amazed at the maturity level the student showed when expressing his unpopular opinion on a highly controversial topic. I then realized that I would have handled the situation much differently. I would have gotten quite and awkward, not much different than my normal class demure, or lashed out with a Shakespeare quote, almost any thing but responding calmly.

My freshman year is over and now I face the reality that it is time to act like an adult.

In the dorms you can get away acting like an overgrown high school kid, the resident assistants act like older siblings and Washakie makes food magically appear on clean dishes. Now in my own house I have to act like an adult as I mow the lawn, budget for food, unload the dishwasher and clean the bathroom.

I turn 20 in less than a month and even if less than a year ago I was a naïve high school senior, I need to realize that my adolescence is drawing to a close.

It is not a bad thing to say good-bye to that part of my life, but in class I realized it is a transition that I have not completely made.

During this course between making new friends, writing papers at a break neck pace and discussing the essentials of feminism I will be undergoing a transformation into adulthood.

The NBA’s regular season is usually 82 games, played from late October until the end of April. This season, after the labor disputes, only 72 games were played starting on Christmas day and running until the end of April. With the league electing to take away just ten games and only two months, many teams played an astonishing amount of back-to-back games and even the occasional three days in a row games.

The condensed schedule led to less resting time and more wear-and-tear on bodies. Now, after round one of the playoffs is done, you can see the play of the players dissipating rapidly. Obviously the big stories of the playoffs thus far are the injuries Derrick Rose, Blake Griffin and Chris Paul suffered.

There has to be some consideration that the lack of training camp, lack of rest and the cramming of all those games into a short period could have led to the deterioration of these athletes’ knees. Chris Bosh did not play in game two for the Heat against the Pacers on Tuesday night.  Andrew Bynum, who has the motivation (and attitude) of a two-year-old, looks absolutely drained. Bynum is not the only athlete that just looks exhausted. Round one should have seen an upset Lakers team, but star Danilo Gallinari of the Denver Nuggets looked like a marathon runner in mile 25 and was unable to lead his team to victory.

However, I will argue that many players may not have held their own during the lockout. It is obvious who took their training seriously during that time and who did not. Carmelo Anthony came into the season fat and out of shape. The Celtics and the Spurs, the two oldest teams in the league by a long shot, look fantastic right now. There is a reason that Anthony and Amare Stoudemaire will never make it past the first round of the playoffs.

I have nothing but respect for players that train their behinds off. I am pulling for the Spurs and Celtics to meet in the championship. Though they may not have Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, players that work harder than anyone else in the league, the Celtics and Spurs have the hardest working teams collectively. It is clear that veteran Ray Allen of the Celtics and Tim Duncan of the Spurs refused to let their teams stay stagnant during the break. As my great college coach quoted just the other day, “during [the off-season], players and coaches both will either continue to work and make huge leaps or become stagnant and lazy. Be the former.”

In my opinion, this is exactly why the Celtics and the Spurs will be the two teams to endure the rigorous season and be the ones to advance to the NBA championship.

Davis Bonner reads through one of the last issues of the Branding Iron while he was an editor for the newspaper. Photo: David Demic

At the age of 15, Dave Bonner started working as a sportswriter at the Powell Tribune, a local Powell newspaper. By the time he was a high school senior, Dave Bonner was a member of the “10,000 Inches Club,” an honor reserved for those who had written more than 10,000 inches of news articles.
In 1963, the recent UW graduate became the publisher and part-owner of the Powell Tribune. He invested 1.5 percent into the newspaper, which cost him $1,500, and then bought the paper outright in 1964, he said.
This month, Dave Bonner’s grandson and current Branding Iron Features Editor Davis Bonner, will be the most recent UW graduate of the Bonner family, continuing a family legacy of both being UW graduates and editors at the Branding Iron newspaper.
Dave Bonner attended UW from 1958 until 1962 and worked on the Branding Iron staff the entire time. He started working at the Branding Iron because journalism students used to be required to take a freshman course, which required writing weekly articles for the newspaper, he said.
The editor during Dave Bonner’s freshman year would put up assignments on a bulletin board and then publicly critique the students’ articles. Dave Bonner said the critiques were “caustic” and “object of horror” for students.
After becoming the sports editor for a couple years, Dave Bonner entered the position of editor-in-chief during the university’s 75th anniversary.
The controversial issues during his time may seem familiar to current students, including parking issues and battling student senate over allowing federal aid for students, he said. At the time, Dave Bonner was against providing federal aid to students, feeling that it would give the government more power in the university, he said.
About 25 years later, Dave Bonner’s son, Brad Bonner, followed in his father’s footsteps and became the sports editor and then editor-in-chief.
Brad Bonner recalled that in the 1980s, writers had to handwrite their stories and then submit them for the task of laying the paper out by hand, at a time before the task had been computerized.
In order to cover one particularly rare UW football game, Brad Bonner got to travel to Australia. However, there was no way of quickly sending stories back to Wyoming, forcing him to write his stories and then wake up around 5 a.m. in Australia to dictate the stories over the phone to a BI staff member on campus, he said.
One year, Brad Bonner was sitting in the office, when the building started shaking and the windows rattling. He said it took him a minute to figure out what was happening, but then realized it was something quite rare for Wyoming, an earthquake.
After graduating, Brad Bonner worked for former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson, before realizing he needed a higher income job and safer place for his wife and newborn son, Davis Bonner. So, he returned to UW to attend law school.
Dave Bonner echoed his son’s sentiment. “We are not a well-paid profession,” he said. But, he added, “We work hard for community, state and nation.”
Davis Bonner began working for the Branding Iron in 2010. Instead of taking the same route as his father and grandfather, Davis Bonner worked as the features editor for the newspaper.
Davis Bonner said working at the Branding Iron provided several opportunities to discover more about the Laramie community, the chance to interview UW President Tom Buchanan or find stories such as the one he wrote about a local eyeglass shop specializing in vintage frames.
Both Brad Bonner and his son agree that Dave Bonner is the most serious and professional journalist among the three generations.
Dave Bonner recently sold the Powell Tribune to his children, but remains the publisher for the paper.
As for the future of the newspaper business, Dave Bonner said that he “cannot conceive of the day that people don’t look forward to a newspaper on their doorstep.”
And perhaps 25 years from now a fourth-generation Bonner may be an editor for the BI.

After officers were able to sort out participants, 19-year-old Deandre H. Stephens was stopped and identified as also participant in the fight. Stephens was found to have a $30,000 bond for a Bench Warrant for Delivery of a Controlled Substance, and arrested, according to the statement.

Citations for the other participants included assault and battery as well as under age consumption.

Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver is a felony and Stephens could face up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.

If readers have more information, witness accounts or any other useful leads, please inform the Branding Iron either via bi@uwyo.edu or send us a message on Facebook account. Further updates will be added to the story as information comes in.

Founding members Dee Tyler, guitarist and vocals, and Alysia Kraft, singer and guitarist, had already played a few acoustic shows together. So, when the call came, the two hurried to put a band together.

“We got such a positive reaction and had so much fun that night that we realized we had to do keep doing it,” Tyler said.

The Patti Fiasco perform in the Union Ballroom Wednesday night to an estimated crowd of 250-300 people. (Photos:Seneca Riggins)

Almost four years later, the band has gone through a few lineup changes. Now, Niles Mischke plays bass, Sean Francis plays drums and Ansel plays electric Dobro.

Tyler said the band members all hail from Wyoming originally. The state is like a small town, so everyone knows each other in the music scene, he said.

“We all grew up with vast geographic distances between us, but we were all part of the same small community,” Tyler said.

Patti Fiasco has several shows planned for this summer. They will play with Mosey West for the band’s CD release party May 11 at Hodi’s Half Note in Fort Collins. After that, the band will play May 18 at Oskar Blues in Lyons, Colo.

The band has a self-titled full-length album available, named best alt-country album by The Colorado Sound in 2011. They also have an EP for sale called “No Bridges.” Both albums are available digitally on iTunes.

Tyler said the band plans to return to the studio in September to record a new full-length album.

“I won’t give too many details but I can tell you that this next album will have our best material yet,” Tyler said.

The group likes playing in hometown Laramie, because as Tyler said, the shows “never disappoint.”

Touring also plays a large role in the band’s endeavors. They recently did their first extended tour through New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma. So far, Austin is one of the band’s favorite places to play, Tyler said.

Instead of conforming to any traditional genres, Patti Fiasco describes its sound in a unique way.

“We are rootsy but edgy, indie but country,” Tyler said. “I’ve heard us described as a rock band that isn’t afraid of a two-beat. A friend described us the other day as ‘Amerockana.’”

The band’s musical tastes differ from member to member, but Tom Petty, Brandi Carlile and Johnny Cash are a few favorites, Tyler said.

For more information and a complete show schedule for Patti Fiasco, visit www.pattifiasco.com.

He is just a bit more eloquent than, say, Jay-Z’s “99 Problems.”

And, if White’s “divorce party” from Karen Elson was a cover-up for his true feelings, then his new album, “Blunderbuss,” is his admission of problems.

White released his first solo album Tuesday and, as with everything he does, a feeding frenzy began. Is the album too country? Is it too White Stripes? Is it even good?

Well, if the lyrics from “Love Interruption” are a clue, then the album is simply therapy for White.

“I want love to roll me over slowly, stick a knife inside me and twist it all around,” White sings. “I want love to murder my own mother and take her off to somewhere like hell or up above.”

Now, White has always been a little off-kilter when it comes to relationships. After all, this is the man who was able to fool the press into thinking his ex-wife, Meg White, was his sister. Then, when the truth revealed itself, White played it off as if it was no big deal.

Musically, “Blunderbuss” is exactly what one might expect from White. Some songs have the pop-sense of The Raconteurs, while others have the garage feel of The White Stripes and the heavier aspects of the Dead Weather. Nothing is too surprising here.

Where the album takes a turn from standard White material is in the lyrics. Never before has White seemed so willing to reveal his true feelings about love and relationships. Aside from the severe imagery in “Love Interruption,” a majority of the album’s songs are about the harsher side of love.

At first, the lyrics seem a bit uncalled for. After all, White has not exactly lived a hard life. Growing up in Detroit, White had a difficult time making ends meet for a bit, but since the White Stripes’ success, it would seem the man does not have much to complain about.

However, after a few listens, White’s brazen “it-is-what-it-is” attitude comes as a refreshing change from his usual lyrical fare. He is definitely not hiding anything here.

The album finds White in his prime, both as a songwriter, and as a man finally revealing himself to the world. Gone is the red-and-white clothing and in its place is just a man. A talented and creative man, but a man nonetheless.

With that in mind, there are some very constructive and easy ways to start preparing for those tests.

Academictips.org offers two main components that will help insure the studying counts: Memory and repetition.

Memory, according to academictips.org, is split into the short-term memory and long term memory.

If paying attention, things learned will be committed to short term memory. Only after processing and adapting the information correctly will it be stored in long-term memory.

The goal of learning is to get information into the long-term memory where it is more or less permanent.

One of the easiest ways to process and adapt that information is through repetition.

Before starting the process of repetition, academictips.org says everyone should find out what his or her learning type is. The two more tradition-learning types are auditory and visual, and a more new version is haptic.

Visual learners should study through transcribing their own notes again while drawing graphs and charts as often as possible.

Auditory learners should study through discussion with others and, if others are not available, read material and notes out loud.

Haptic learners are those who have trouble sitting still while learning. Academiatips.org describes haptic learners as those who “must have music or a television playing in the background and are almost constantly finding themselves distracted.”

Despite the perceived set backs, haptics should just adapt to their learning style, according to academiatips.org. Make studying a more physical effort by pacing around the room, reading on an exercise bike or simply chewing gum,

Whichever works best, it’s time to start taking these studying habits into consideration.

Collegeatlas.org brings three easy tips to the table, and they are pre-test preparation, relieving test anxiety and time management.

Start your test day off by eating food rich in protein. According to Collegeatlas.org, protein is a very reliable source of energy when one has to concentrate. Steer clear of caffeine as it usually causes crashes.

Show up early to the test, and make sure to be prepared with paper, blue books, pens or pencils. After arriving, take the few minutes before the test to review the important points of the test ahead.

Lastly, make sure to use the bathroom before the test begins. Professors are not too keen on students leaving in the middle of the test.

As far as relieving stress before the test, preparation is the key to calming those nerves. Past that, deep breathing exercises and stretching both help in relieving tension.

Once the time has started and the race to the finish has begun, time management is a test-takers worst enemy.

In order to manage that time well, make sure to keep checking the clock for how much you have left, according to collegeatlas.org.

Review the whole test before beginning, and take the time to assess which sections will take longer than others.

Finally, do not let a single multiple-choice question get in the way of the rest of the test. Answer the known questions first and save the time at the end for the more challenging ones.

“Students often answer confusing questions correct when they have time to analyze and eliminate incorrect answer choices,” according to collegeatlas.org.

If looking for more help in test preparation, search for either collageatlas.org or academictips.org.