The Utah State Historical Society invites submission of paper and session proposals for its 2004 annual meeting, to be held in Salt Lake City on Thursday and Friday, September 23 and 24, 2004.  Proposals on any Utah-related topic will be considered. Papers and sessions may deal with prehistory, history, historic preservation, archives and collections, oral history, folklore, and related topics.

In addition to traditional scholarly papers, we also invite creative proposals incorporating the arts, various media, and interdisciplinary studies.  Send a one- or two-page proposal to Kent Powell, Utah State Historical Society, 300 Rio Grande, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101, no later than April 30, 2004.  Please include a brief description of the paper or presentation and research base as well as a brief biographical profile of the presenter.  Proposals can also be e-mailed to kpowell@utamailto:kpowell@utah.gov.

8:32:01 AM    

With the Olympic Cauldron burning brightly and surrounded by more than 400 youth athletes from Moscow and Utah, Gov. Olene Walker tonight took part in the Opening Ceremonies of the Moscow-Utah Youth Games, addressing the athletes and others in attendance.

"The experiences you have and the relationships you foster here will have a lasting effect on your lives," Walker said. "These games have the potential to teach us that we are each part of a larger society than that described simply by our citizenship. All people, whether from Russia, the United States or any other country of the world, share a common bond: humanity."

EPA Administrator and former Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt also addressed the athletes and attendees. As part of his remarks, he officially declared the Games open.

The highlight of the ceremonies came when Olympic Gold Medalist Rulon Gardner re-lit the Olympic Cauldron. Olympic Gold Medalist and Youth Games Ambassador Nikki Stone lead Team Utah into Cauldron Park at Rice-Eccles Stadium where the ceremonies were held.

Noting the significance of the venue, Walker said, "Starting now, may we catch the spirit of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, which still lingers in this stadium."

Prior to the opening ceremonies, Walker welcomed the Russian delegation and presented Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov with a signed declaration signifying the opening of the Games.

Athletic competition will begin Sunday and continue through Feb. 7.  Athletes will compete in events such as alpine and cross country skiing, curling, figure skating

(demonstration only), freestyle skiing, hockey, ski jumping, speed skating, tennis and volleyball.  Closing Ceremonies will be held in Cauldron Park on Feb. 7.

For a complete schedule, competition results and ticket information, visit www.utahsportscommission.com.

8:28:53 AM    

PRICE — A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the individual or individuals responsible for poaching a buck deer on the Hiawatha Road on Tuesday, January 27.

There is some concern that one or more individuals have been seeking to take advantage of the death of our Emery County conservation officer, which has left both Emery and southern Carbon County without the protection of a game warden.

Sergeant Carl Gramlich is leading the investigation. Anyone having information is urged to call him at (435) 636-0277. Callers may remain anonymous, but are encouraged to provide enough detail to help officers determine the validity of the information.

7:31:51 AM    

The United States Federal Trade Commission and 36 additional agencies in 26 countries today announced “Operation Secure Your Server,” an international effort to reduce the flow of unsolicited commercial e-mail by urging organizations to close “open relays” and “open proxies.” As part of the initiative, the participating agencies have identified tens of thousands of owners or operators of potentially open relay or open proxy servers around the world, and the agencies are sending letters urging the owners and operators to protect themselves from becoming unwitting sources of spam.

Open relays and open proxies are servers that allow any computer in the world to “bounce” or route e-mail through servers of other organizations, thereby disguising the real origin of the e-mail. Spammers often abuse these servers to flood the Internet with unwanted e-mail. Their abuses not only overload servers, but also could damage an unwitting business’ reputation if it appears that the business sent the spam.

“Operation Secure Your Server” provides businesses with simple, inexpensive ways to protect their computer systems from misuse. The FTC suggests that businesses consider these questions to determine whether their proxy servers are vulnerable:

• Does your proxy allow connections from untrusted networks such as the Internet?
• Are you using the most current version of your proxy software and hardware?
• Have you applied the latest available patches or upgrades?
• Are you using proper access controls for your server?
• Is someone regularly checking for unauthorized uses of your proxy server?
• Do you have and monitor an “abuse@<;yourdomain>” e-mail account where people can report abuses of your proxy server?

“International cooperation is going to play an important role in combating spam, as this project clearly demonstrates,” said Howard Beales, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. Moreover, “government cannot solve the spam problem on its own; everyone with an Internet connection must do their part to make sure that they are part of the solution and not part of the problem.”

The FTC has created a Web page, www.ftc.gov/secureyourserver, that contains information for businesses on how to protect themselves from becoming unwitting distributors of spam. In addition to the agencies’ letter, which is available in 21 languages, the site contains business education and links to other resources.

The FTC and agencies in Albania, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, Hungary, Jamaica, Japan, Lithuania, Norway, Panama, Peru, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom are sponsoring this initiative.

This year’s “Operation Secure Your Server” follows on the heels of last year’s campaign against open relays, when the FTC and participating national and international agencies identified businesses with potential open relays, urged them to close the relays, and sent information on how to do so.

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint, or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1 877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

7:29:10 AM