FROM THE CHIEF: A grateful thanks to fall’s Newsmakers
When the semester began, I invited readers to take full advantage of The Utah Statesman. I urged you – students, faculty, community members, travelers waylaid by the storm – to read, write, and BE the news.
Because news is about people, whether you’re behind the pen, reading the page, or sitting naked on top of the bull statue admiring the beauty of the flashing lights. We truly, couldn’t do this without you.
So, giving credit where credit is due, I wanted to take some time before we separate for the holiday to thank this semester’s Newsmakers, without whom we would have nothing to write about.
Tom Atwood
Looking over this year’s crop of ASUSU officers we find few pot-stirrers. President Tyler Tolson, halfway through his second term in office and oozing charm out of his ears, appears comfortable in his position. Not to mention that following his nuptials earlier this year, his relevance among 50 percent of the USU population has diminished and the rest are just happy he’s not a threat anymore.
Elsewhere, Executive VP Brent Crosby skirted through the election process unopposed and aside from some obscure bills in the Executive Council hasn’t done much since. And I don’t think anyone feels advocated by Dan Ricks.
Then there was Tom. Last year when Mr. Atwood ran on a platform of bringing high-profile acts to campus we had no doubt he would win, and no doubt his subsequent actions in office would be divisive. Say what you will, for good or ill, about some of the Programming decisions this year but one thing is certain, Atwood shook things up.
Red Jumpsuit Apparatus might not be your favorite band and maybe you would rather gouge out your eyes than hear We The King’s “Check Yes Juliet” one more time, but it is nice to see someone beside Allred wielding the six-string on campus. What’s more, the RJA street concert was a bold move, one that may have carried with it a host of visibility issues and a few injuries, but boasted an enormous turnout and also prompted Logan City to hand USU the rights to 7th North
This year’s HOWL, if you got in, was met with mixed reviews and having a rock concert in the Fieldhouse turned out to be the acoustic equivalent of a house of mirrors. Atwood was only one of many involved, but took the time to issue a formal apology in the Statesman to line-stranded, would-be party-goers.
Then there was B.J. – when Atwood’s protege Skyler Parkhurst decided dropping two-thirds of our budget on a single less-than-well-received event that couldn’t fill the KCH was the kind of variety students need from their collegiate experience. After all the dust settled, though, the fact remained that Novak is one of the most recognizable names to grace Cache Valley in some time.
So Tom and friends, here’s to you. Everyone may not have agreed with the decisions you and your team made with our money this semester, but you delivered on your promises and we appreciate the attempt at something fresh.
Anthony “T.j.” Pratt Jr.
Utah State is known for a lot of things – engineering, agriculture, business, students who care as much about entertainment as education – but generally speaking, diversity is not one of them.
When along came T.j. It seems like every time I turned around this semester I saw Pratt on campus, at events, performing poetry, and then being crowned this year’s Mr. USU.
I love Mr. USU, but there is a certain expectation in my head as to the type of person who will win – I’ll give you a hint, it ain’t Mr. Agriculture. How awesome was it, then, to see Mr. Diversity take home almost every award they gave that night – the big one, people’s choice and formal wear – and do it to thundering, seemingly-unanimous applause. For his talent he sang the male and female parts of a duet, then exploded on stage dancing to “Single Ladies.” Mere weeks before, he was performing slam poetry on the PoBev stage and just after receiving his crown, he was at the Homecoming parade waving from the back of a float celebrating USU’s diversity.
Pratt, to me, represents the new face of USU. He’s a man of the arts, a performer, an entertainer, 100 percent individual and from my experience, an all-around good guy who earns your attention rather than demands it.
Diondre Borel
Those of us that have been here a while are used to our share of football-related disappointment. We begin each season with a this-is-the-year optimism that slowly disintegrates into stagnant anticipation for basketball season to begin. That said, when our boys took the field against Oklahoma in the annual come-and-get-stomped preseason game, the mood inside the TSC was electric – I mean, that fake field goal? What nerve! The next couple of weeks brought our doubts rushing back as we anxiously wondered what would happen when we met the borrowed blue of the South.
Despite the injuries, despite the losses, despite the fumbles, interceptions, blocked kicks and every other heartbreak, this season will be remembered for something else. It will be remembered for one game, 17 years in the making, and hundreds of students charging the newly-christened Merlin Olsen field to hoist our quarterback above our heads.
We were never going to win the WAC, and I think I speak for a lot of people when I say that if I had to choose one or the other, I’d take beating BYU over a better standing in a conference that for all intents and purposes is crumbling apart.
Even in our losses, it has been at times ecstasy watching Borel play. To see our quarterback scrambling back-field, dodging tackles for what seems like ages only to let loose a picturesque salvo for a touchdown is a beautiful thing. I can think of few players who demonstrate Borel’s level of patience and focus even as a blockade of enemy linemen come crashing down around him.
Diondre, Coach Anderson, and all the team and coaching staff, we love you. Thank you for an emotional season, your relentless dedication, and stomping the sauce out of BYU.
Benjamin Wood is the editor in chief of The Utah Statesman. He can be reached at statesmaneditor@aggiemail.usu.edu.