UVSC College Times, 2002-02-07

              VOLUME 30 ISSUE 43 WHAT'S INSIDE Calendar-Page 2 Find out what is going on n ltafi County See our daily updated calendar at netXnews.net VALLEY WEATHER For complete and up to date weather go to our website at www.netxnews.net IT BUF.N PANO EN EL ARCA SE VENDE i I! ! m I !J,i .! ! I ! I ! M I . ! MA ; V I i n , ;i ! M AW x mm m it.,. . Coach Sam A shines in this ci; of a lifetime in rc;: renting UVSC as in Olympic torch bearer Page 10 This is the pi UVSC students out on positives! brings to the OIV expericne Page 7 in wmm P ulna road to Olympic gold For American figure skater Michael Weiss, the read not taken may Lead to Olympic Gold in Salt Lake City. t By Andrew Crowley OF THE NETXNEWS STAFF What defines athletic greatness? Some will say that it is the back up quarterback coming in for the injured starter to win the Super Bowl. Others will say that it is hitting the game winning shot or . IIVIIILI III! VV J ' I V J.' V. 1 w I I V. J ' team to the top. However, none of these moments associated with greatness can truly capture the meaning of being the best in the world. There is only one achievement that a person can reach i w here they can definitively say that they are the best in the world. The achievement, the Olympic gold medal. As the world descends on Salt Lake City for the 2002 Olympics, there are many great stories to be told of athletes coming from near and far and overcoming insurmountable odds to get here. One such athlete is U.S. figure skater Michael Weiss. The Humble, yet confident Weiss hales from Northern Virginia just outside of Washington D.C. where he has lived and trained his whole life. Weiss describes the opportunity that he has at these upcoming Olympics as the pinnacle of his career. "If I win the gold medal, it'll make it all worth it." For Weiss, the road to Salt Lake City has not been an easy one. In fact, there hasn't been much that Weiss has done in his life that would be deemed as easy. At an early age it was obvious Michael had tremendous athletic ability and at age 8 he began to fully explore that ability. His older sister was ... j a figure I skater and Weiss began going to the ice arena with her. As he began to learn the ins and outs of figure skating, coaches started taking notice. Noting that Weiss had many natural abilities as far as figure skating goes. Weiss wasn't even much of a fan of the sport, but because he was a quick study and a natural, he decided to move forward. And move forward he certainly did. Weiss has become one of the top figure skaters in the world and he is part of a group of those top figure skaters that continues to raise the bar for the other skaters. Weiss was the first to attempt a quadruple Lutz; the sports most difficult jump, in competition and the first to land a quadruple toe loop in a competition. It has been said by the experts in the figure skating world that if the United States has a chance to beat the Russians and capture gold, Weiss will do it. When asked why he thought that experts saw that way Weiss said, "Well, of the three skaters representing the U.S. at the Olympics, I'm the most balanced. ... -"Weiss continued on pg. 4 r As Utah prepares to welcome the world for two weeks, Michael Weiss will look to capture a Gold medal In figure skating. Graphic Illustration Chad Winks Netxnews Vote on today's poll question: "Will we be safe during the Olympics?" Vote at www.netxnews.net and see immediate poll results. Watch for the latest episodes of On Campus, UVXNEWS, and the UVSportzone Golden "Blur" inspires Wolverines By Danielle White Of the NetxNews Staff Salt Lake City may be welcoming the world, but UVSC welcomed what may be, undisputably, be the world's most celebrated and modest female athletic hero to kick of the Olympic hoopla Feb. 5. She is beauty, and she isgrace--in myriad facets Bonnie "Blur" Blair is Miss United States, of sorts. Epitomizing athletic prowess akin to that of Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias (three-time Olympic gold medalist for javelin in the Los Angeles Games in 1931), Blair's media-tickling humility and athletic stamina re- . defined the true essence of champion and brought dignity back to a tainted melodramatic 1994 Winter Games in Lillehammer. "Blair's friendliness shined through. Sure she was the best in the world having won three medals, two of which were gold, but it was her approachable smile that warmed your heart," Wade Hamiliton, a freshman, said. "She was the American Sweetheart. She was thegirl-next-door. I was in middle school when she won in 1994, but I remember it well." Amid the cat-scratch fever generated by Tonya Harding (who placed sixth) and Nancy Kerrigan (the silver medalist) six- ; i i U H ?i n i it H i! il fi l jj ij h H M U a v H irfiCHj H fi ! HUM t-'Vv. I Sieve Schaaclt Netxnews Five Time Gold Medalist Bonnie Blair spoke to UVSC Students on Feb. 5 2002 in the Activity Center. years ago, and even the recent hints of coldness between another pair of figure skatersMichelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen (first and second ranked U.S. Olympic 2002 team-mates, respectively), Blair's heroism as the fist female athlete to pick up five gold medals (and one bronze)in the same event (the most of any other woman in history) stirs such reverence and awe that such escapades of the other skating seem barely notable. "There were two awesome people who made the 1994 Games so memorable. Those two "Blair" continued on pg. 3 Net Spot Utah changes to appear more inviting THE HOTTEST SPOTS IN: NewxPolitics heck out www.cnn.com for all the latest news from around the globe. 'Entertainment: Looking for one of the 2 things to do in Utah? Check out www.moviephone.com for all the latest info on movies playing this weekend. Music Online: Go to www.audiogalaxy.com for all of your favorite music downloads. Student helps: Need some help from your school? Go to www.uvsc.edu and check out what the library has to offer. Sports: Check out www.cnnsi.com to get all the latest sports round ups from around the nation. 1 f 5 J i i I i V 1 " ' S Andrew Greea Netxnews The UTA Trax is Just one of Many New Looks to Utah. By Kelsey HaddOW having nightly events to cel- of the Netxnews staff ebrate, Ogden is trying to take the same route, and Salt Lake City will definitely be the place to hob nob with the athletes and other While Utah has been made famous for its JELL-O consumption and great ski resorts, the public has never looked at Utah as a place famous for it's trendy night spots, or other posh places to party the night away. But Utah's image is about to change with the arrival of the upcoming Olympics. Salt Lake City, Park City, Ogden and even Provo are trying to prove to the world that Utahn's know how to party! Many nightclubs are renaming themselves for the Olympics and setting up VIP rooms and selling tickets with smith-tix to make going to their club an Olympic event. Provo is dignitaries. In recent press kits sent out to international press agencies, Mayor Rocky Anderson is seen living it up in a local pub with the Utah Bikini team. Anderson wants to show the world that Utah is not just a Mormon city it, but a city full of diversity, with a population that is now only approximately fifty-percent Mormon. Trying to squelch the notion that missionaries will bombard anything moving with a Book of Mormon, The Church of "Image Change" continued on pg. 5 i iim.mA:Lmmm