UVU Renames Event Center

Orem -- Utah Valley University's Mckay Event Center has been renamed following a donation from Utah Community Credit Union. The facility, one of the largest in Utah Valley seating 8,500, hosts sporting events, concerts, as well as dances not only for the UVU community but for all residents of Utah County. The event center will now be known as the UCCU Center.

The name change came about when the Credit Union paid 2.5 million dollars, dispersed over the next 10 years, for naming rights. Previously the rights were held by the Mckay family since 1995, who decided it was time that someone else supported the university.

Val Hale, UVU’s vice president for institutional advancement, said “This was an unselfish gesture by the McKay family. We probably would not have moved forward [with renaming the building] without the McKay family."

Spokesmen from the university said the funds donated to the school will be used for student
scholarships, the athletics program as well as other educational priorities. The donation comes at an important time for the university as the school is experiencing more enrollment as well as less state funding than in the past.

"I couldn't be more delighted with this announcement," UVU President Matthew Holland said. "I envision it to be a long and very productive association for these 10 years."

Former BYU Student Pleads Guilty to Kidnapping

     A former BYU student plead guilty this week to charges of kidnapping and obstruction of justice in connection with a girl he home taught.

     Stetson Hallam, 20, of Lehi, admitted to luring the 19-year-old girl to the basement of their apartment complex by telling her he had a present for her.  According to the Deseret News, the girl tried to "ellude" her home teacher, presumably feeling uncomfortable with him, but he waited outside her apartment until she came home.  When she arrived, Hallam told her he had set up a scavenger hunt for her in the basement laundry room. 

     When the two got to the basement, Hallam attacked the girl with a stun gun and tried to handcuff her when she fell.  The girl bit his finger, and Hallam then told her it was only an April Fool's Day joke.  He hid the stun gun and handcuffs from police, leading to the charge of obstruction of justice.

Cursed Is He That Putteth His Trust In A Former Beauty Queen

    Three Utah valley residents were charged last Thursday with three-first degree felonies including theft by receiving stolen property and money laundering says The Deseret News.  One of those individuals charged was crowned Miss Utah in 1991 and was my session director for Especially For Youth, a summer camp that seeks to strengthen the faith of young Latter-day Saints.

     I have strong opinions on EFY (as it is commonly abbreviated).  I loved attending it when I was growing up.  I'd spend a week on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, go to dances, make new friends, and inevitably cry at some point.  I thought that when I watched the tear-jerker of a movie about Jesus, I was feeling the Spirit.  I don't doubt that I did, but after growing up, serving a mission for two years, and having deep and lasting spiritual experiences, I realized that a lot of what I would feel those summer nights was pure emotion.

     I think EFY does a lot of good for young Mormons bombarded by temptation and sin, but I can't help but view it as a disposable testimony dispenser, a one week spiritual pep assembly that fails to have much of a lasting impact.  All my thoughts on the matter were amplified when I discovered that Liz Craig, 39, the aforementioned Miss Utah and EFY session director, was busted for allegedly stealing and reselling products from a multi-level marketing company online.

     I heard Sister Craig tell her story several times in my years attending EFY.  She was a tall, awkward youth with uncontrollable hair dyed green from swimming pool chlorine who blossomed into a beauty pageant contestant.  She was the living embodiment of the ugly duckling.  She won the swimsuit competition in Atlantic City for the 1992 Miss America pageant for heaven's sakes.  When she spoke, she also liked to talk about the scene in The Lion King where Mufasa spoke to Simba in the sky saying "Remember who you are," and liken it to our relationship to God.