Author: Lee Lovell

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.

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…

The last three years, Anderson said, have been focused on gathering.


“Consider the Manwaring Center. The largest space is for gather. Then we’re going to be linking it to the library, another place to gathering,” Andersen said.


Andersen said that much of the gospel is about gathering and that it is an essential part of the restoration of the gospel.


Elder David A. Bednar illustrated this point in a devotional address given at BYU-I shortly following the groundbreaking ceremony for the new auditorium in 2006.


“The spirit, purposes and blessings of gathering also occur in smaller but equally important ways on this set apart and special campus,” said Bednar. “This spirit of gathering brings assurance, encouragement and a sense of purpose greater than self. At BYU–Idaho you gather to worship the Father in the name of the Son, to build up the Church and the university, to find defense and protection, and to receive counsel and instruction,” Bednar said.


The school Board of Trustees, composed of different church leaders, is closely involved in project planning.


“Miracles have happened as we have been planning [for the growth],” Andersen said.


The past 10 years have been filled with growth and change and plans are underway to keep it going for the next 10 years.


Future projects include possible changes to the John W. Hart Building, the David O. McKay Library, and the Oscar A. Kirkham Building.


Possible changes to the men’s dorms are also being discussed.


“One of the biggest changes might be the Pathway programs,” said Andersen. “While currently a pilot, the program’s goal is to provide educational opportunities to young adults regardless of where they live.”


The program will be an online learning initiative based out of institute programs across the world.


“It will change the face of CES,” Andersen said.

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. 
   

  “When we toured many different universities, we found that most charge over $100 a semester just for the use of the building,” Garner said.
     Some students have mixed opinions about the change. 
     “I think they should add the cost in to our tuition. I know some of my friends who have said they aren’t going to come to the Hart anymore to exercise,” said Sierra Hazard, a freshman studying exercise physiology.
     In spite of the extra expenditure, there are some who understand the reasons for the cost.
     “I would say that it is legit if it is truly associated with those rising costs. I guess it would make for a smarter use of those tithing funds,” said Lloyd Lee, a senior studying exercise science.
     Rental cost for students will be a $15 fee per semester. 
     Costs for faculty will be $20 per semester or $50 per year. 
     Any patron, including guests, who wish to use the facilities for a day will    be charged $6.  
     There will be no increase in semester-long locker rental fees.  
     Daily use of lockers will be provided at no charge.
     The University Store will also start providing a discount of 15 percent on approved clothing.  
     This discount will only be available through the add/drop period at the beginning of a semester. 
     The Activities Department and the University Store is working on expanding the approved clothing options available to students. 
     This will include moisture management wear, as well as hoodies, long-sleeved t-shirts, zip-up jackets and sweat pants. 
     Garner said that they are working with distributors on getting these available as soon as possible but are unsure when that will be.

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!

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.

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.

    So yeah, not that many people follow but I have changed the service that I use to post my blog. The reason that I did this is because I found that blogger allows me quite a bit of flexibility in terms of the design of the site. So hopefully this will be better for the future. J

    Now here is the problem with falling behind on anything that you should be writing in, catching back up is the pits. So I will tell you about my adventure with Star Trek with past weekend.

    Friday night my roommate Lynden and I went to Papa Murphy’s and got two of their massive stuffed pizzas. After that we wandered over to the Red Box that was in the Wal-Mart (of note, this red box was blue). Lynden and Stephen both recommended “Star Trek.” So that is what we rented.

    Well, given that it is late, I will get to the best part. Russ, our other roommate was out for the evening for a jog. When he got home, he accidentally tipped over a glass of water on to Lynden’s laptop. Luckily it just got the bottom of the laptop so he dried it off, put a towel under it and then put it back in the same place.

    A couple of minutes later I put a glass of water there myself. A couple of minutes after that, I split on his laptop too. Haha, the poor guy had the worst luck. I blame Spok.

    Anyway, it is 11 p.m. and I need to be up early in the morning for a physical that I need to do to give plasma. Should be fun but way early. Have a great night!