http://www.wsusignpost.com Weber State University • Ogden, Ut Thu, 02 May 2013 04:53:44 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/05/01/lillard-named-nba-rookie-of-the-year-34727 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/05/01/lillard-named-nba-rookie-of-the-year-34727#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 04:53:44 +0000 Marcus Jensen http://www.wsusignpost.com/?p=34727 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/05/01/lillard-named-nba-rookie-of-the-year-34727/feed 0 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/25/engineering-building-evacuated-white-powder-found-34721 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/25/engineering-building-evacuated-white-powder-found-34721#comments Thu, 25 Apr 2013 20:03:06 +0000 Raychel Johnson http://www.wsusignpost.com/?p=34721 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/25/engineering-building-evacuated-white-powder-found-34721/feed 0 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/18/simonson-says-thank-you-roger-ebert-33844 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/18/simonson-says-thank-you-roger-ebert-33844#comments Thu, 18 Apr 2013 22:10:06 +0000 Stephanie Simonson http://www.wsusignpost.com/?p=33844 just a film critic. As the Chicago Sun-Times said, he was "without question the nation's most prominent and influential film critic." He also wrote a few movies himself, won a Pulitzer and, of course, had his own TV show along with Gene Siskel. Would you say "who cares, he was just a writer" if Stephen King died (knock on wood, knock many times on wood)? Well, Ebert was not only a writer, but an exceptionally good one (as I hope all of you know, a Pulitzer is to writers what an Oscar is to actors). He just chose to write about film, which, in my opinion, is one of the most compelling things you can write about. His TV show was a little before my time, but I've been reading Ebert's reviews regularly for more than 10 years now. Way back in the days when my family was still thrilled with our dial-up Internet, I discovered I loved reading film reviews. I'd look up reviews for any movie I was even remotely curious about, whether I planned to see it or not; I love poring over reviews of movies I hate, mildly dislike or think look stupid just as much as reading about movies I love. Back in junior high and high school, when I had a little bit more time on my hands than I do now, I would tirelessly read every single review on the Movie Review Query Engine site for movies I was especially invested in. Very rarely do I see a movie without checking Rotten Tomatoes first — not that I always agree with the critics' general consensus, but there are worse ways to gauge how worth your money a movie is than by asking the opinion of hundreds of people who love and care about movies and know how to articulate their opinions about them.  Obviously, Ebert's reviews are always at the top of the queue, no matter what review site you use, so I've read Ebert's words on just about every movie of the last 10 years that I thought about long enough to want to look up the reviews. As Ebert was a big part of my inspiration to be a critic of some sort (being a film critic would be great, but I also consider being a columnist or an editor to fall under that category), I feel I owe it to him to be honest and say that, while he was one of my go-to critics, he did tend to gravitate toward the more whimsical and sentimental, which I found off-putting at times: For example, he loved the first two "Harry Potter" films and actually thought the later, more mature films were worse. However, when he wanted to insult a movie, he really knew how to do it. Take, for instance, his review of the notorious "Battlefield Earth": "'Battlefield Earth' is like taking a bus trip with someone who has needed a bath for a long time. It's not merely bad; it's unpleasant in a hostile way." Knowing how to praise something is admirable, but knowing how to truly insult something is an art. I could pick apart dozens of Ebert's reviews from memory if I had the time and space, but instead I'll wrap it up with the line you all came here to see: Thumbs up, Mr. Ebert.]]> http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/18/simonson-says-thank-you-roger-ebert-33844/feed 0 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/16/lucky-slice-is-just-what-ogden-needed-say-owners-34462 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/16/lucky-slice-is-just-what-ogden-needed-say-owners-34462#comments Wed, 17 Apr 2013 02:46:04 +0000 Thaina Olson http://www.wsusignpost.com/?p=34462
    Every ski town that Mike McDonald had ever been to had a local pizzeria, except for Ogden. That is one reason why he thought 25th Street was the perfect location to open The Lucky Slice Pizza with his partners, Nick VanArsdel and Will Shafer. McDonald ran a pizza place in Flagstaff, Ariz., for [...]]]>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHBIdJFlqO4     Every ski town that Mike McDonald had ever been to had a local pizzeria, except for Ogden. That is one reason why he thought 25th Street was the perfect location to open The Lucky Slice Pizza with his partners, Nick VanArsdel and Will Shafer. McDonald ran a pizza place in Flagstaff, Ariz., for five years before reading about Ogden in a skiing magazine. "All the cool ski towns I've ever been to always have a really rad pizzeria in the downtown area," McDonald said. "I was blown away that there wasn't a rad pizza place downtown that was open late." McDonald and VanArsdel moved to Utah in search of a location to open up a pizzeria. VanArsdel had recently graduated from business school, so he had the business expertise necessary, McDonald said. They eventually partnered up with Shafer, an Ogden native who went to culinary school in Oregon and is responsible for the development of some of The Lucky Slice's signature pizzas. On Feb. 24 of last year, the three business partners opened 25th Street Pizza, later changing the name to The Lucky Slice Pizza. Shafer said his culinary background inspires him to experiment with new tastes, colors and textures often. His creations often end up as monthly specials that are only available for a limited time. This month's special is a bright red pizza with a roasted beet and tarragon vinaigrette base, roasted artichoke hearts, red onions, and a blend of ricotta and goat cheese. The Lucky Slice caters to different dietary needs by featuring some vegan and gluten-free options. Shafer said the choice to cater to these needs was more of a business necessity than a culinary decision. "We had multiple requests for gluten-free, and it's just about giving the people what they want," Shafer said. "The vegetarians, the gluten-free, the vegans have got to eat somewhere." McDonald said several things make The Lucky Slice unique. All of the food is made fresh every day, he said. They also work toward having good ties with the community and Weber State University. "This is a funny college town in that it's not really a college town," McDonald said. "There isn't this gigantic campus population, so it's a bit different, but we try to reach out and be as involved with Weber State as we can." Shafer said that when he partnered up with McDonald and VanArsdel, he was excited, because he thought that any cool college town should have a cool place for students to spend time together. "This is just a hip spot, just a hometown pizzeria," Shafer said. "This is where you know the people at the counter, where you can joke around with the guy who's cooking your pizza. I want that easygoing attitude." Colton Carter, one of The Lucky Slice's employees, said the most enjoyable part about working there is the relationship between customers and employees. "A lot of local people come in," he said. "It's just a great atmosphere. There are a lot of great people, a lot of great customers." Shafer said he was also excited to be a part of Ogden's positive growth as a community. When he was growing up, the city was already taking on a new image, but when his parents were growing up, it wasn't anything like it is today. "I know a little bit about the history of Ogden, and in the past it was just straight-up a bad place to be," he said. "It's nice to see the positive upswing that Ogden has had in the past little while, and I'm glad to be part of that legacy." The Lucky Slice is also involved with the community by becoming involved with Ogden's outdoor sporting scene. It sponsors a snowboarding team that has won several competitions. Shafer and McDonald said they hope to become even more involved with Ogden's outdoor scene. "We want to be involved wherever we can be," Shafer said. "If you're having fun, we wanna be there."]]> http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/16/lucky-slice-is-just-what-ogden-needed-say-owners-34462/feed 0 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/16/wildcats-running-in-boston-marathon-ok-34489 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/16/wildcats-running-in-boston-marathon-ok-34489#comments Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:10:57 +0000 Cozette Jenkins http://www.wsusignpost.com/?p=34489
Craig Oberg stopped before he crossed the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon on Monday to take pictures with his wife, sister and mother. He then ran ahead, finished the race, and was walking to get his bag when he saw one bomb go off, then another. “I felt that concussion, and I could feel [...]]]>
Craig Oberg stopped before he crossed the finish line of the 117th Boston Marathon on Monday to take pictures with his wife, sister and mother. He then ran ahead, finished the race, and was walking to get his bag when he saw one bomb go off, then another. “I felt that concussion, and I could feel the force of it a little bit,” Oberg said. “This huge plume of smoke went up, and at first I couldn’t believe it . . . Then I was really worried, because my family was walking right down that part of the road.” Several minutes passed before the Weber State University NCAA representative and microbiology professor learned his family was all right from his friend, WSU athletic trainer Joel Bass. “I didn’t know what had happened to them, and all I could do was go down and get my stuff and my clothes in the drop bag,” Oberg said. “. . . Then I made my way over to the family tent thing, and Joel was there. He’d finished quite a bit ahead of me and had a text from my wife that they’d made it past that area.” Bass said he had called his wife as soon as he finished the race and she had been tracking Oberg’s progress online, and when he was getting close to the finish line, Bass began to walk back to it. After feeling the bombs go off, Bass said, he didn’t know if there would be another one, so while others around him stood paralyzed in shock, he ran and got inside a Radio Shack. “I started making phone calls because I knew the cell phones would have trouble, because everybody would be calling, so I called on their phone to see if (Craig’s wife) was OK,” Bass said. “From what I could see, it was really close to where they were standing.” Oberg said that when the bombs went off, volunteers from the medical tent poured out onto the streets and rushed toward the site with supplies and wheelchairs kept after the finish line. Bass said that if it hadn’t been for that medical tent and the volunteer team, even more lives probably would have been lost. “There were no roads available to get in for ambulances to respond to that,” he said. “All the roads were full in that whole area with either spectators or runners . . . They all had their supplies there, and they just ran out and responded to those guys right away, and I’m sure it saved a lot of lives.” Toby Nishikawa, a WSU nursing program graduate student, ran in the Boston Marathon and finished at 349. Nishikawa’s account of the explosions began after she finished the race. She said she was picking up her bags and was headed around the corner to meet up with her family when a member of the bomb squad told her to turn around. “A lady on the bomb squad actually said, ‘Turn around. There’s been two devices, they located two devices that have gone off, you need to turn around,’" she said. "And that’s when I was like, ‘Where’s my family and friends? Where’s my other friend that I was running with?'" Nishiwaka's phone was dead, and she could only make one phone call to her mom. “So we just immediately made one phone call to say, ‘Contact. We need to hook up. Where are you? Are you OK?’” Nishiwaka, who sustained serious injuries in a cycling accident in a collegiate national cycling championship nearly a year ago, has been training for the Boston Marathon since she qualified in 2011. The Signpost recently published an article on her accident and recovery. “For me, it was like, I had that accident, and I’ve gone through recovery and so excited for the marathon," Nishikawa said. "It was emotional for me to run down that finish line on Boylston. The finish line was very emotional. I was crying, and I was grateful for the people that are in my life, but now that this has happened, it just puts a new perspective on how precious this is. I just want to hug my kids that are at home, and this really just puts a new perspective on what is important.” Oberg said his family members were close enough to where the bomb went off that they saw injured people with limbs blown off. When they finally made it to the family tent, they all hugged. “There were a lot of people in the relative area crying,” Oberg said. “You could see a lot of traumatized runners . . . there were hundreds of us who were down the road that saw it.” Bass and Oberg both said they had noticed a high amount of military personnel around before the race began. “There was a small high school in Hopkinson, and we were laying there and looked up on the roof, and there were military guys, I don’t know what kind, and some of them were looking through binoculars, and they had rifles on top of that building,” Oberg said. “We were talking about how this would be quite a place to do something dastardly, because there were 25,000 people essentially on a football field, waiting in line for two hours to go to the bathroom. In retrospect, it could have been a truly devastating experience.” Bass said this incident was particularly horrible because after finishing a marathon, runners are exhausted and can barely hold it together with all the emotions they are feeling. “You’re just so fatigued and you’re really surviving off the joy of finishing,” he said. “Then something happens like that and you’re just so tired and stressed and it really knocks it out of you. Now you’re just thinking about scrambling.” Nishikawa said her friend Marty Smith, whom she runs and trains with, was supposed to start with the group 10 minutes after Nishikawa started. According to Nishikawa, Smith could have been right at the finish line during the explosions. The explosions and high emotions have put life into perspective, Nishikawa said. “To me, it was such a huge accomplishment, and I feel so grateful that I’m able to have my body back and run such a great marathon, because a 349 is a great time for me,” she said. “But in the big picture, what matters to me is my family and friends. Really, your loved ones are what matter. No marathon will ever compare to your family and the support that they give you.” The Boston Police Department has confirmed that there were three fatalities and that 176 people visited area hospitals. The department has also confirmed that an explosion or fire at the John F. Kennedy Library a couple of hours afterward is not related to the bombings. This story has been updated from its original version. ]]> http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/16/wildcats-running-in-boston-marathon-ok-34489/feed 1 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/16/fan-ya-lin-headed-to-juilliard-34691 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/16/fan-ya-lin-headed-to-juilliard-34691#comments Tue, 16 Apr 2013 22:27:53 +0000 Cozette Jenkins http://www.wsusignpost.com/?p=34691 http://www.wsusignpost.com/2013/04/16/fan-ya-lin-headed-to-juilliard-34691/feed 0