Perfect Monday

Often time's people think that Mondays have to be the worst day of the week. I beg to differ.

Today was one of those perfect days for me. The weather was perfect. Warm and a light breeze. I don't know why I am why am writing about this but today was one of those days that was remarkable.

It was one of those wear you just walk slow and enjoy the great weather and because you have no reason to walk fast. Anyway, I love it and wish everyday could be like this.

Scroll: Expansion promotes student gathering

Note: Every week I have an article published in the Scroll, a newspaper on the BYU-Idaho campus. The following is one of those articles.

In the 10 years since the announcement that Ricks College would become a four-year university, many changes have been made to the physical appearance of the campus. The campus has grown to accommodate the increasing number of students.

When the announcement was made, plans were put into place to help accommodate the projected growth of the university. Over 30 renovation or construction projects have been completed on campus to help fulfill those plans.

“When you look at it 10 years ago, we had a total enrollment of six to eight thousand; now we are approaching 15 thousand,” said Charles Andersen, BYU-Idaho university resources vice-president.

The most notable changes have been the addition of the Thomas E. Ricks Building and the Gordon B. Hinckley Building. The most recent changes have been the Hyrum Manwaring Student Center expansion and the new auditorium.

“I think the changes are good because they help create a better learning environment,” said Amy Esplin, a junior studying English. “It really helps me focus more on my studies.”

Andersen said that most of the construction from 2001 to 2007 was focused on expanding classroom sizes and accommodating the larger student population.

Catch more after the break...

Scroll: Three new degrees to be offered in the fall

Note: Every week I have an article published in the Scroll, a newspaper on the BYU-Idaho campus.  The following is one of those articles.

Starting fall semester, BYU-Idaho will be offering three new degrees in humanities and welding fabrication.

Two of the new majors will be in the Mechanical Engineering Department and the third will be in the Humanities and Philosophy Department.

“It’s a really good liberal arts education preparation for grad school,” said Vaughn Stephenson, Humanities Department chair in regard to the new humanities major.

The humanities major will offer three areas of emphasis: intellectual heritage, law and life-long learning.

“We have a significant number of people who say that they would like a good well-round[ed] college degree and this finally allows us to offer something like that. I’m really excited about that,” said Stephenson.


Catch more after the break...

Scroll: Hart to Start Charging for Clothing Rentals

Note: Every week I have an article published in the Scroll, a newspaper on the BYU-Idaho campus.  The following is one of those articles.

Starting this fall semester, John W. Hart Building patrons will be charged for clothing rentals, according to a university announcement made last week. 

The new fees are designed, in part, to help alleviate the rising costs of providing laundering for clothes. 

"The rise in cost is attributed to many things: rising student wages, energy costs, soap cost and more,” said Justin Garner, the activities director.

“There’s one thing we want to be very clear with the change: this is not a building fee,” Garner said. “This is explicitly to help cover the cost of laundering clothes.” 

There will continue to be no charge for use of the facilities.

Garner also said that while the school does not charge for the use of the building, the majority of other universities do. 
   

Read on after the break...

Imma back everybody!

So over the next couple of days I am going to post some of the articles that I have written for the campus newspaper.  I am hoping to get this blog kickstarted.  How you enjoy!

Friend - noun

So what does it mean to be a friend? That is the question that I have been wondering for a while. Since I have been at school this has been on my mind. In fact, I am going to look up what a friend is in the dictionary.


Friend [frend] –noun
1. a person attached to another by feelings of affection orpersonal regard.

2. a person who gives assistance; patron; supporter: 

So one could reasonably say that this is a two person affair supplemented by active contribution of both parties. Simply put, both people need to put effort into a friendship to make it successful. Does anyone mind to tell me to make that magic happen?

A Whirlwind of a Week

So this past week has been my least favorite in a long while. Why you might ask? My car.

The adventure actually start this past Saturday. On Saturday I went to the temple and when I came back out, my car wouldn't start. It was really strange given that no light were on when I got in the car and also the engine would crank. So I went inside the temple and had one of the engineers come out with a jumping kit to see if that would work. When we get to my car, I get in to show him what the problem is. Luckily, the car started again and I didn't think another thing about. In fact, that whole weekend went by without another problem. I passed the whole thing off as a fluke.

Monday morning comes around. I wake up early to do my initial appointment at the plasma donation place. After getting there and finding out that I needed to come back later that day. So a bit disgruntled I get back in my car. And it doesn't start.

Now at this point I think the problem is going to be the same so I wait for about 20 minutes and it doesn't start again. After another half hour of unsuccessful hoping, I call the University car jumping service. That proves to be unsuccessful. So about 45 minutes after that, I call my cousin that owns a shop here in town to come take a look at it. Once he gets there I jump in the car to show him what is going wrong, and… it starts.

Later that afternoon I go back to the plasma place and finally donate plasma. I get back in my car and it doesn't work. So 2.5 hours and a push-start later, I am not having any luck. So I write "Broken Down" on a piece of paper, stripped the car of anything with value, and left it in the parking lot.

The next day I was able to get it over to my cousin's shop and do some diagnoses. The problem? The starter is busted. The result: a lot of wasted time and $93 out of my pocket. It has been a bummer of a week so far but other than that, life has been great. Heck, I am had a great week with my studies.

Moral of the story… I can't really think of one. It's been a test of character for sure.