This is your daily news rundown for Thursday, May 21. In this edition:
- Gov. Cox has declared a state of emergency for Utah's drought
- Utah students are protesting the use of AI at graduation ceremonies
Utah is officially under a state of emergency for drought. What does that mean?
Gov. Spencer Cox declared a state of emergency for drought on Thursday.
The announcement wasn’t a surprise, as this year’s warm, dry winter has caused the entire state to be under some level of drought for almost two months, and over half in extreme drought.
However, the timing of ordering a state of emergency matters, as they only last 30 days unless extended by state lawmakers.
During that time, a state drought response committee will review the situation and recommend next steps to tackle it.
State agencies will be required to follow the Utah Division of Water Resources’ weekly guide for outdoor watering, and residents are asked to reduce outdoor water use and waste as well.
Utah high schoolers are protesting the use of AI at their graduations
Students at three Davis County high schools are petitioning against the use of AI at graduation ceremonies this week.
The system Tassel has been used by schools in Utah and across the country to automate reading graduates’ names.
However, some students have opposed its use, citing issues with names getting skipped or especially Latino students having their names mispronounced.
At Northridge and Layton High School, students successfully protested against using Tassel with online petitions.
However, though another petition at Davis High School got almost 1,000 signatures, the school decided to move forward with its plan for graduation on Friday.
