USA Today and Deseret Morning News get trial run on campus

UVSC news junkies have been enjoying their free copies of the New York Times for over two years now, and now USA Today and the Deseret Morning News will join the battle for students' attention.

Starting this Monday and for the next four weeks (though we have also heard it might be six weeks) students will be able to pick up free copies of both papers. Students will be surveyed and the school will decide if it wants to foot the bill on a regular basis.

Not everyone is thrilled about USA Today's colorful coverage...one dean equated it to Marvel Comics. But serious news watchers will be happy to know that the Times will still be around.

One administrator said he is hoping that the costs of all these publications (perhaps even the Wall Street journal for business students) will be added to the school's general budget. Right now the subscription fee is rolled into student fees.

Now all we need is a better recycling system for all these newspapers.

UVSC Athletics latest attempt at manufacturing tradition

No doubt students returning to classes tomorrow will be assailed by the numerous hawkers, haranguers, and pitchmen that roam the halls. And once again UVSC Athletics will cry out a desperate plea for attention. And this time there total lack of relevance on the commuter campus will be called "The Unknown Zone".

Now we are not too sure why fans would want to be part of "The Unknown Zone", but what really causes us to scratch our heads is the fact that they will now have to pay for the privilege to root, root, root for the home team.

Fishing for fans (College Times, August 20 2007)

That's right, instead of students not showing up to a free game they will now pay 20 bucks for an all sports pass, and then not show up.

This is hardly the first time that Athletic Director Mike Jacobsen and his crew of flunkies have tried desperately to stay relevant at a school that just doesn't seem to care at all about athletics. It seems every year since the big move to Division I provisional status, the department comes up with some new scheme to pack the McKay. But despite pizza give-aways, free admission with student ID, and the exciting play of Ronnie Price, attendance was better when playing at the junior college level.

But this latest example of ill-conceived public relations may not be completely Athletics fault. For the past 5 years Student Government has shoveled tons student fee dollars onto the sinking ship that is UVSC Athletics. They have invested millions in Athletics, and with time running out on the provisional clock, they now are doing all they can to bail them out.

Will it work? Will students pay for something they never took advantage of when it was free? When will student government and the administration realize that the school might be best served when Athletics goes the way of the Dodo?