Student Housing at BYU

Regardless of what you pay or where you live, students at Brigham Young University never seem to be satisfied with their housing.

“Every time I have to go home I inwardly tremble,” said Mark Hammer, a sophomore majoring in communications from Redmond, WA. “It doesn’t even feel like home – it feels more like a prison.”

Hammer, who has lived two years on campus, said that the housing regulations are too strict and create a housing monopoly – leading to poor management and facilities.

Student housing is a problem for most BYU students, many complaining about unnecessarily high prices for the conditions they live in.

“They charge us $60 for internet per month, and most of the time it doesn’t even work,” said Alex Beazer, a sophomore majoring in biology from Kirkland, WA.

Aside from Internet, Beazer said that the hot water rarely works and that he has found ants in his kitchen.

“It’s like I’m living in a third-world country,” Beazer said.

His roommates reported their apartment flooding last month as well. The toilet of the apartment above them overflowed for two hours before management responded, leaving Beazer’s apartment with two inches of water.

“We called them [the management] after we noticed it, but because we didn’t have access to the room above us, it just kept flooding,” Hammer said.

According to Michael Murdoch, a sophomore majoring in finance from Grace, Idaho, the first thing he looks for in an apartment is the condition of the furnishings, such as the couches and refrigerator.

“If I find a good couch I know it’s a good apartment, because that means that the previous owners took good care of it,” Murdoch said. He acknowledges that it is rare for college apartments outside of Provo to provide a furnished apartment.

“Even though we all complain about our apartments, the fact is that we will never be satisfied,” Murdoch said. “I could be living in an apartment for free and would probably still complain about the parking.” 

MOA Exhibit

Garbage bags have more purpose than merely storing trash.

In the Brigham Young University’s Museum of Art exhibition featuring Dan Steinhilber, common household items are taking a new role, including a piece made entirely of melted-together trash bags inflated by a fan.

Other consumer goods include duck sauce packets, lawn chairs, dry cleaner hangers, light bulbs, empty bottles of soda, and Styrofoam packing peanuts.

What is exceptional about the exhibit is that nothing is as it seems. Only at a close distance do you realize the stain glass mirror you are looking at is merely duck sauce packs stapled to an enormous board. Reaching out and touching it is almost necessary.

According to the Museum of Art’s website, Steinhilber’s works are intended to help the viewer rethink how they view mass-produced consumer items.

One of the most popular exhibits is the Styrofoam packing peanuts. Entering a large room, there is nothing more than a pile of the peanuts in the corner and some obtrusive fans placed about. The packing peanuts then come to life as the fans come on and alter in intensity.

Steinhilber’s work has been showcased in seven other galleries over the past four years, according to his website. It will be on view at BYU through June 6, 2009.

Be aware after viewing the exhibit, as you may never want to use trash bags for garbage anymore.

Sound Reporting

Everyone wants the chance to tell a reporter ‘no comment’ at least one time in his or her life. For Dianna Douglas, a sound reporter for the National Public Radio, she helps people have this once-in-a-lifetime experience as part of her daily routine.

Sound reporting is a unique field. According to Douglas, “people’s connection with the radio is much different that that of other media because it’s like someone’s whispering to you.”

People develop a more personal relationship with sound reporting as they form images in their mind as they listen. For a sound reporter you must make it descriptive and create visual images through sound, says Douglas.

She describes one time of having a tough time narrating the changing of the guards (as there is little sound), and there happened to be a blind man with his son attending. She was able to record every action the son recounted to his father, which helped the listeners to visualize the event.

Sound reporting competes with other types of media, and oftentimes you have to find a story more compatible to sound media. “If you arrive at a story with 100 reporters already there, find a different story,” Douglas said.

Douglas describes arriving on the scene of the evacuations after Hurricane Katrina and the sea of reporters all trying to get the same interviews. “We had to find a different story,” Douglas said. She decided to go to the command center and found an even bigger story.

According to Douglas, nobody was picking up the bodybags around the evacuated homes, which many viewed as disrespectful. This led to an emotional story that was heard around the world.

“Storytelling on the radio is intimate. People fall in love with you,” Douglas said.

Hinckley Building News Article

Gordon B. Hinckley’s oak tree has been used for more than just the Conference Center podium.

The banisters in the Gordon B. Hinckley Alumni and Visitor’s Center are adorned with the wood from the former president’s yard. “We have used every scrap of his tree,” said Sherry Peck, a weekly volunteer at the Visitor Center.

Housing more than just the famous oak tree, the Alumni and Visitors Center holds the Olympic torch that passed through Provo during the 2002 Olympics, the BYU Engineering and Technology Racecar that raced in 2006, and numerous personal items of President Hinckley.

But with all of these invaluable items, the Hinckley Building is one of the least visited buildings on campus, according to its tour guide. Not only is this because of student’s lack of knowledge, but also because students aren’t always welcome.

The 83,000 square-foot center is less than three years old, which may attribute to his lack of popularity.

“I’m not entirely sure what it’s used for,” said Steven Decker, a sophomore majoring in psychology from Gallup, N.M. Decker, like many students, has visited the building but never used its services.

“It was nice. I like it because it’s the only building on campus with a fireplace in it,” Decker said.

In addition to the fireplace, the Hinckley Center features all wood floors with specially-made rugs from India that took over a year to hand-sew, according to tour guide Sherry Peck.

According to the receptionist Janet Christenson, the most common question she receives is “can I have my wedding reception here?” Equipped with a gazebo overlooking the campus and a grand piano, the administration does not allow receptions, as it is strictly a visitor’s and alumni center.

The Gordon B. Hinckley building is also one of the only buildings on the BYU campus not used for Sunday worship.

“We allow individuals to come in and study, but usually turn away groups,” said Peck.

Perhaps students are kept away from President Hinckley’s oak tree because of the building’s $35 million pricetag.

my new adventure

so this is my newest adventure. i'm starting this for a class, and i guess we'll see how i like it.