10 Dumb Things You Don't Want to Do Your 1st Week at School

1. Get in a car accident. Not only did you just spend a couple thousand dollars on your tuition, books, and rent, you probably don't want to be paying for repairs on your car. Getting in a car accident is horrible for you and the 1/2 mile traffic jam you just created. Be smart and pay attention to where you are going.

Happy BYU Independence Day

     The same day Barack Obama declared the Iraq War over, the West Coast Conference declared Brigham Young University's independence - in football at least.

     Beginning in the 2011-12 season, BYU will leave the Mountain West Conference and compete in the West Coast Conference for all sports but football where it will compete indepdendently.

     "I support our administration’s decision," BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall said.  "Exposure does change perceptions of programs."

     Some Cougar fans however, weren't so pleased.

     "How in the world do you spin this as a good thing for BYU sports? I've got to be completely honest here. I just don't see how this is a good move for BYU," posted Peacekeeper on the website Cougarboard.  "I guess BYU will be ok for a while because they still sell a lot of tickets. I just wonder how long people are going to pay good money to see such a horrible basketball schedule (Gonzaga notwithstanding)."

     The Mountain West Conference released a statement following the announcement of BYU's departure.

     "Since its inception, the Mountain West Conference has worked strategically to grow and strengthen the league, to position itself at the highest level of intercollegiate athletics," it read.  "We look forward to the future with great excitement — particularly welcoming recent additions Boise State, Fresno State and Nevada into the Mountain West."

     They kind of left out any mention of the Cougars leaving...oh well.

     BYU is currently working on the 2011 schedule and is in talks with ESPN to televise games.  So far, BYU is already scheduled to play Oregon State, Texas, and MWC newcomer Boise State.  Mendenhall also expressed interested in competing with Notre Dame, another university that competes independently in football.

     The WCC includes Gonzaga, LMU, Pepperdine, University of Portland, St. Mary's College, the University of San Diego, the University of San Fransisco, and Santa Clara University.  The Conference does not include some sports BYU competes in such as track and swim and dive.  The University has yet to release information on where those teams will compete.

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.

BYU Hosts World Record Breaking Water Balloon Fight

     Brigham Young University broke the world record for largest water balloon fight this weekend when nearly 4,000 students met at the RB fields for the "Cougar Cooldown".

     The event broke the previous record set by the University of Kentucky in August 2009.  120,021 water balloons were used in the fight, and volunteers spent 48 hours filling them up.

     Students were divided into two teams.  One side sported blue and orange shirts while the other side wore pink and green shirts.  The blue and orange team was obviously the best team because blue is the color of the Cougars,  and any guy who chose to wear a bright pink shirt is obviously a tool.

     The event was not planned by BYUSA, so you can continue to hate them for doing nothing for you and spending lots of money on themselves, but BYUSA vice president Sterling May was among the volunteers filling up balloons, so you can't hate too much.

     The fight was actually put together by the Spring/Summer Department and the award-winning Ad Lab who hoped the event would be a fun way to encourage students to attend classes during the spring and summer terms.

     “[Students] don’t realize that Provo is a really fun place to spend spring and summer,” said Sara Martinez, the BYU Ad Lab project manager for the event to the Daily Universe. “They just leave because none of their friends are here, they don’t realize what happens during these four months.”

Enter To Learn...And Then Shut Up

     The best education I got this semester didn't come from textbooks and it wasn't in the classroom.  It actually came from watching the controversy surrounding BYUSA, Brigham Young University's student service organization, unfold.  It was a microcosm of what happens in the "real world".

     According to a budget document obtained by BYU's newspaper, the Daily Universe, BYUSA had spent hundreds of dollars on questionable purchases for themselves.  Their expenses ranged from several small payments at Jamba Juice to over $1,000 spent at Olive Garden.  There were trips to Cheesecake Factory, Red Robin, Tucano's, a go-karting track, an Alpine skiing resort, as well as laundry expenses.

     After these allegations arose, BYUSA volunteers and supporters put on their biggest and brightest smiles and began tossing out talking points, dodging questions, and hoping the controversy would go away.  Students were upset.  Activists organized.  Divine Comedy put out a humorous satirical video.

     In the real world, this kind of thing happens all the time as watchdog journalists and whistleblowers uncover unethical activities.  It usually results in people being fired, sued, sent to prison, or not getting re-elected though.  For everyone involved in "BYUSA-gate", none of those things will happen.  We'll all go on our way and get a quality education at a remarkable price.  In the larger scheme of things, BYUSA's misuse of student tuition dollars doesn't make that much of a difference.  There are much larger examples of questionable spending in the world.  Does that mean we should just shut up, move on, and forget about it like BYUSA and some within the administration want us to?  Absolutely not. 

     It is unethical for a student service organization with a budget made of student tuition dollars to spend money the way BYUSA has.  And others agree.

     "I do not think those expenses are ethical," said Sterling May, BYUSA's Vice President elect and brother of current President Elise May.

    I'm glad someone agrees with me.  Jon Kau, Associate Dean of Students doesn't.  In my conversation with him, he not only said that the questionable spending was ethical, but he said that I didn't know the whole story.  When I asked what the whole story was, he wouldn't tell me.

     With an attitude like that, this controversy will never completely go away.  BYUSA's reputation will remain damaged (although I'm pretty sure University Towing is still ranked higher in the "Things BYU Students Dislike Poll") and these allegations will continue.  The only way BYUSA can effectively deal with this controversy is to be up front and honest.  The Vice President elect is able to admit that the organization has had some unethical spending, why can't anyone else?  I guarantee that BYUSA’s spending isn't as horrible and corrupt as some people think it is, and by being transparent, the organization can show that.

Why The Holi Festival of Colors is Still Cool

     This Saturday was the annual Holi Festival of Colors held at the Hare Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah.  It celebrates the arrival of spring and involves hundreds of Mormon college students throwing up colored powder, taking far too many pictures, and posting them all on Facebook as soon as possible.

     This year, two separate celebrations were held to alleviate driving and parking problems.  Still, BYU students packed as many friends as they could into their car for the drive down because they only thing worse than parking and walking for twenty minutes is parking and walking for thirty minutes.  The less cars down there, the better.

     For most Mormon BYU students, the Festival of Colors is the closest they'll get to a Woodstock-like experience.  The place is packed, a band is playing, and people are moshing.  You then have to wait for far too long until it's actually time to "throw the colors".  Its worth the wait though.

BYUSA Spending Mocked In Faux Press Release

Brigham Young University's student service organization, BYUSA, has been accused of using student tuition dollars to serve themselves by eating out at places like Tucano's, Olive Garden, and Cheesecake Factory, as well as spending money to go skiing, go kart racing, and doing their dry cleaning.  BYU's Divine Comedy team lampooned the whole ordeal in a sketch that was so good that both sides thought the clip vindicated them.

BYU is like the Most Popular University in like the Country

     Who said you couldn't be stone cold sober and popular?  Brigham Young University has unseated Harvard as America's most popular university according to U.S. News & World Report.  What exactly does that mean?  Does Cougar football have the highest television ratings?  Does the BYU Bookstore sell more true blue gear than any other University?  Actually, most popular means that BYU has the highest percentage of applicants attend after they are accepted.  Not surprisingly, Ivy League schools rank high on the list.  U.S. News & World Report lists Harvard, Standford, Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Pennsylvania, Colombia, and Princeton in the top ten.