Utah News

In September, the National Science Foundation released a sobering report on research funding for public universities. Nearly every state in the nation faces declines in per-student research funding, and Utah is no exception.

UPR’s Ryan Cunningham spoke with Provost Raymond Coward of Utah State University to hear how his university is dealing with this nation-wide trend.

We turn the focus now to you, listeners and voters. Maybe you want to share who you voted for and why? What issue were you focused on this election season? Maybe you ran for office or worked for a candidate? Did your experience last night make you more or less hopeful about the democratic process?

Should active military members be exempt from paying property taxes while they serve?  Utah voters will answer that question when they head to the polls on Tuesday.

When Democratic Senator Luz Robles began working to get Constitutional Amendment B on the ballot, she says it was about giving back to those in the military who defend the country.

If the turnout for early voting is any indication, the overall voter turnout for the 2012 Utah general election could be high. Mark Thomas, Director of Elections in the Utah Lieutenant Governor’s Office, says he anticipates about 40% of people who intend to vote did so early.

"The numbers that have been reported in from the county clerks show 378,000 have voted either by mail or at the early voting locations so far. This number could certainly increase in the days after Election Day as they count more of those absentee ballots that came in before Election Day."

Women's issues have played a large part in the 2012 campaigns, with many "zingers" coming from candidates surrounding these issues. Romney's "Binders full of women" quickly became an Internet sensation. But women are more than political pawns, they are the largest voting bloc in the country and have the potential to sway the election. How will they vote and why? UPR's Storee Powell talks with Professor Tim Chambless of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah to put women voter trends into context.