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Utah Business

A recent Utah law banning most flags in public schools and government buildings has drawn considerable attention across the nation. How do Utahns feel about it?

According to the latest Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll, 62% said they approved, 28% said they disapproved and 9% said they didn’t know when asked whether they supported or opposed the law.

The new law limits the flags that can be publicly displayed in schools and on government property to a narrow list. Country, state, military and a few other flags can still be displayed. The rainbow — or pride — flag associated with the LGBTQ movement is effectively banned.

“The results are clear,” House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, told the Deseret News in a statement. “A strong majority of Utahns agree that symbols displayed in classrooms and government buildings should represent unity, respect for our nation and state, and a focus on education — not political or ideological distractions."

Meanwhile, critics of the bill worry about the effect of removing pride flags from some classrooms.

“What matters most are, especially in classrooms, the policies and practices and school rules that ensure that every child feels welcome,” Equality Utah policy director Marina Lowe told the Deseret News. “The reason the (pride) flag started getting hung in the first place was because there were particular populations that were feeling marginalized and unwelcome.”

Read more from Brigham Tomco about how Utahns have responded to the new law.

BYU Ph.D. student’s international student visa revoked over apparent fishing license violation

Jason Swensen writes:

A Brigham Young University Ph.D. candidate from Japan has had his international student visa revoked — perhaps because of a fishing violation from years ago.

Outside of a couple of speeding tickets, Suguru Onda — a husband and father of five — has had only one legal hiccup during his six years of study in the United States. He was reportedly cited for harvesting more fish than his fishing license allowed during a 2019 outing with his Latter-day Saint church group.

The fishing charge was later dismissed, according to Adam Crayk, Onda’s attorney.

Still, earlier this month Onda, who is a year away from earning his BYU doctorate in computer science, received notice that his student visa was being revoked.

He is counted among the two dozen or more international students attending Utah colleges and universities who have had their visa revoked in recent weeks — and have been directed to leave the country without delay.

Read more about Onda’s visa revocation notice and the legal options that he hopes will keep him and his family in the U.S.

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