Cutting excuses

Rushing from class to class, delving into study groups and squeezing in a workout are part of the average college student's daily life.

While at the end of the day students may come home flustered and down, people like Kyle Maynard make the average person's daily struggles seem insignificant, yet he makes no excuses.

Maynard was born a quadruple amputee. On March 24, which was Maynard's 25th birthday, he spoke to a group of students who filled the Grande Ballroom to two-thirds its capacity.

“As long as you don’t fear any challenge, you can accomplish anything,” Maynard said.

Maynard has appeared in several television interviews, including one with Oprah, who referred to him as “one of the most inspiring men you will ever hear about.”

It took Maynard several years to realize he was different than the other kids around him, as his parents tried to maintain a normal childhood for him. It was with their help and the help of his grandmother that Maynard was pushed away from making excuses and quitting.

When Maynard would go shopping with his grandmother, people would often stare, but she taught Maynard to reach out to them and help them to not be afraid.

“Once people hear your voice and they see your face, then nothing else will matter, the rest will fade away and they will see you,” Maynard’s grandmother said to him as a child.

Maynard continues to this day to reach out and inspire those around him.

“I may have this seemingly obvious disability, but it’s not going to affect my relationship with others, because it doesn’t affect my life,” Maynard said. “We all have a disability or obstacle to overcome.”

Not allowing adversity to hold him back, Maynard became involved in football at the age of 11. When he was in sixth grade he began weight lifting. He also began wrestling.

During his first year of wrestling he lost 35 out of 35 matches.

Maynard described that experience as one of the most challenging experiences of his life. He wanted God to take the fear out of him.

“That prayer was answered,” Maynard said. “I made eye contact with my opponent and I realized he was just as scared as I was, and that took the fear out of me.”

Maynard won that match.

As he got older, his dream was to become a mixed martial arts fighter, so Maynard began training hard, but was met with opposition from all sides.

All across the Internet, people expressed doubt and hate.

“People said I was going to be picked up and punted out of the cage,” Maynard said. “People said that I was doing it as a freak show, that I was just doing it as an attention seeker. ... People said that I was going to be bloody and unconscious in 15 seconds. There was someone who literally said, ‘Why don’t I get a chainsaw and cut off my arms and legs so I can get some attention too’.”

In 2007, Maynard was set to fight; however, three weeks before the match, things fell through when the athletic commission denied him his opportunity to fight.

“There will always be people telling you can’t do something,” Maynard said. “We make our own realities based on what we choose to do in our hearts.”

After losing his chance to fight and having so many around him doubt, Maynard was crushed. He said he even quit training for a time, though still traveling the country speaking.

“A depressed motivational speaker doesn’t really work out too well,” Maynard said.

One day while in the airport, Maynard met and spoke with two soldiers who had suffered severe burns during their time in Iraq. They expressed their gratitude for Maynard and their joy at the inspiration he was to so many people.

This got Maynard to wake up.

He began training again and in April of 2009 he stepped in the cage and became the first quadruple amputee to participate in a mixed martial arts fight.

Maynard encouraged students to use their ability to inspire those around them andto give them hope. He also suggested that students not allow obstacles and excuses hold them back.

“You choose what you are capable of,” Maynard said.

While some may view Maynard as disabled, he seeks out challenges to overcome in order to become stronger.

“[There are people] that will never experience a moment that’s new. There is something they love so much, but they are too afraid to try it. That has to be one of the worst disabilities imaginable,” Maynard said. “It is far more disabling than me not having arms and legs. I want you to not be someone who criticizes other people ... but to do something worth criticizing. I challenge you.”

Meet Chris Loumeau

A ten-year-old boy, a pile of sawdust in the front yard and a four-wheeler. The result: two scars on Chris Loumeau's leg where the four-wheeler melted his skin to the bone.

After polls closed two weeks ago, that ten-year-old boy, now grown up, became the new student body president of this university.

Loumeau, from Coeur d'alene, Idaho, began his scholastic career at BYU-Idaho.

"I came down to Provo for a girl and transferred to BYU," Loumeau said.

A good friend of Loumeau's, Dave Smith, who is currently the student regent with the Board of Utah Higher Education and an alum of UVU, frequently told Loumeau what a great school this is and urged him to attend.

"I kept checking it out, and getting more and more impressed," Loumeau said. "I eventually decided he was right, that I needed to come here. So I transfered from BYU and it's the best thing I've ever done."

Loumeau said he was impressed with the opportunities here at UVU, the autonomy of the students and he felt that students had a voice here.

"All my family either went to or are going to BYU. I'm the only one who didn't and when I decided go to UVU, it freaked them out – they thought I was making a mistake," Loumeau said. "Now they are really happy that I did."

He started at UVU in the fall of 2009. As soon he enrolled here, he became involved in student government as the senator of the School of Business for the 2009-2010 academic year. During the 2010-2011 academic year, Loumeau has and is currently serving as the vice president of academics.

Loumeau is double majoring in business management and community health, with aspirations of getting his masters in health administrations and going into hospital administration.

As the second oldest of four kids, Loumeau has seen his share of struggles. For a time, his father was unemployed, which was a difficult challenge for his family. There was a time when Loumeau himself helped his parents out with money.

Out of the four kids in his family, Loumeau is the only one not married, though he was engaged before; however, she called it off two weeks before the wedding.

"That was rough," Loumeau said. "Luckily, I was on the senate at the time and I had a lot of great friends, who were a great help and very supportive."

Along with other challenges, Loumeau said he has had to struggle to overcome his pride.

"I've been blessed with lots of opportunities in my life and it's easy to get full of yourself," Loumeau said. "I think staying grounded has been really hard, but as long as people are open and honest with me and I can take criticism, I can stay grounded."

Over the next year, Loumeau hopes to do just that: stay grounded as student body president.

"I want us to be known for being very real with students, very open with students and that we want to serve them," Loumeau said. "We are not here to glorify ourselves, we're not here to put a feather in our caps or pad our resumes, it's really because we love the school and we really want it to shine and to work with students."

A sense of apathy in candidate forum

by Andrea Whatcott

News Editor

At this school, there are over 30,000 students and on March 1, during the student government elections candidate forum, less than .1 percent of the students came to hear what their future leaders had to say.

Among planning events and coordinating guest speakers, the Executive Council is also the recommending body for the partitioning of student fees. While the Council does not have the absolute final say when it comes to the dispersing of the $12 million in student fees, they do offer the first recommendations in a chain, where final approval is made by the Board of Regents.

The would-be debate turned into Q-and-A, due to the fact that the running team, Team Innovate, had no opponents.

UVU Chief Justice Nefi Acosta led the candidate forum, providing the incumbents with the opportunity for an opening statement and introductions.

Chris Loumeau was running for student body president with Sam Hadlock up for the position of executive vice president, David Millet running for vice president of academics and Joe Jurisic aspiring to vice president of student life.

"I am excited to work with this team; we've chosen the name Innovate because we, as a university and an organization, are in a unique situation," Hadlock said. "We really have to be innovative in our solutions and the way we approach the issues on the table."

After brief introductions, an overview of the team's platform was presented, which included increasing attendance at speaker events, building school spirit through athletics and a push for students to learn the school's fight song, improving the campus's image through branding and adapting student life to a podcast.

Audience members then had the opportunity to turn in questions to be asked of Team Innovate. One question asked was regarding what made Team Innovate the best team for the job, regardless of the fact that they were the only team running.

"We know how to fight for the students through years of experience," Loumeau said regarding what qualified them for the job.

When asked what sets UVU apart from other universities, Jurisic said, "I can grow a beard and wear shorts here."

According to Hadlock, what sets UVU apart is our unique demographic and unique state. While the university status is new, the school has a history, as it has been around for about 70 years.

"It feels fresh here," Hadlock said. "People are coming here, there's a good energy here and it's a great opportunity and time, where we are in a place where growth can be facilitated so much."

Loumeau stated that it is the trust and power of the students that sets UVU apart.

"So much is run by the students, be it activities, be it with speakers or service events," Loumeau said. "It's been really amazing to see the trust that student government has; that's really unique to us."

On the academic side of things, according to Millet, it is the class sizes and quality of the education received that sets UVU apart.

When asked about the low turnout and the general lack of caring from students, Loumeau said that events overall had seen an increase in attendance. Millet, however, said the Council would work towards taking their passion and putting that into the students by being in the halls and passing out flyers.

According to Hadlock, the way to decrease apathy and make the university more active is by "being real."

"We're all feeling a sense of apathy today," Hadlock said. "As I've stood in the halls this week ... and as I've taken the time to sit and connect with the people I was talking to, things started changing, as I've been real with them and facilitated this market to discuss issues with the students. It starts with us, it starts with Joe, Chris, David and myself to facilitate a rapport, a connection with people and listening and being real."

Outside looking in

Sometimes I feel like a kid standing outside of a candy shop...

... I gaze inside at all the beautiful jars filled to the top with delectable treats. I see a child ask the clerk for a particular candy. The kind clerk opens a beautiful paper bag and drops a heaping scoop of candy into the bag and, smiling, hands the child their prize.

The little child runs gleefully to an empty seats and plops themself down on an red cushioned chair.

With their chubby, perfect, cherub fingers, they slowly, carefully, open the bag. They pull out two pieces of the round, red cinnamon candy and toss them into their mouth.

A grin begins to grow and stretches from ear to ear as the flavor seeps into every crevice of their perfectly shaped mouth.

Another child deposits themself next to the first child.

The two glance quickly at each other, or rather at each other's bags. Now, there is a brief moment in which the children have a decision to make, before they must move on.

But, as this is a beautiful candy shop, with warm colored lamp lights, and an old fireplace burning cheerfully in the corner, with shop keepers who are jovial and children running about giggling and laughing, it is obvious the decision they make.

The two exchange samples of their precious treats and the joy fills their faces as they taste a new, exciting, delicious flavor.

Another child joins the fun, and the sharing of treats continues, and like wildfire, spreads throughout the entire shop.

The shop, like the candy jars, is filled to the brim with faultless, charmingly exquisite children ...

... I am standing outside,

in the cold,

watching.

And there doesn't seem to be a door to enter the shop.

~

My neighborhood and the people that surround me are the candy shop,

with perfection drowning every ounce of their existence.

I can see all the fun they are having, all the beauty they are enjoying, all the deliciousness they are partaking of, but I cannot seem to find the door to this world.

Yet, if I did find the door, upon opening it, would I discover a dusty old shed, covered in cob webs? And imperfection?

Is the reflection on the glass distorting the image I see?

When I walk around in my neighborhood, I peer into my neighbors windows as I pass by their homes. I cannot help to perceive the glowing warmth that radiates from their dinner table conversation.

What did they do right in their lives to make such a perfect life for themselves? And what did I do so wrong to thwart a similar perfection?

And even as I say it, I believe that their lives are as miserable as my own, perhaps more, because they feel the need to put on show, to pretend, to be something other than what they are.

I am not perfect.

I do not believe I ever will be.

I have flaws.

Many of them.

But right now,

I don't feel the need to convince you that I'm perfect.

And that makes me happy.

I am perfectly content to gaze at the beautiful image of children dancing about a room filled with candy and joy,

because out here in the cold,

I am making a snowman.

So

nah, nah, naaah, nah, nah, naaah.

You're looking at the new News Editor

At the beginning of May I was appointed the new News Editor of the UVU Review. So far this summer we've put out two issues. Below are two out of the four articles I've had published in the last month.

It's been fun being the editor and working with the writers. It's also been a lot of work. But I am really excited for this upcoming year.

I'll do much better at posting my articles here. But just in case I don't, you can always check out www.uvureview.com, our online newspaper.

Utah Women and Education Project

by Andrea Lindgren

The Utah Women and Education Project has just completed its first year of research, which is intended to help gain a better understanding of why there has been a recent decline in the enrollment in and completion of post secondary education by women in Utah. Their first year also coincided with the release of their second of four briefs describing their research and findings, thus far.

"A big part of our research is, collecting data from young women who have chosen not to get a college education or have gone to college for only a couple semesters then dropped out," said Dr. Susan Madsen, UVU associate professor of management, heading up this project.

From 1940 until the year 2000, women in Utah were above the national average when it came to educational attainment. However, in 1993 they began to see a decline and in 2001 Utah fell below the national average.

"No one knows exactly at this point why there was a decline, one guess is that [the young women] and their parents don't have a broader understanding of the value of higher education," Madsen said.

The project is also looking at the different struggles and barriers that women might encounter when completing their education, and they also are looking at the different resources schools have to offer.

"Many people don't realize that a math lab would be considered a resource, but if someone can't pass their math class they may drop out," said Nicolle Johson, UVU student and assistant to Dr. Madsen for this project.

Another problem is that the women who are attaining degrees aren't pursuing ones that will lead to higher paying jobs, a higher quality of life and better economy for Utah. Utah's post secondary institutions are seeing lower numbers of enrollment in the STEM, science, technology, engineering and math, and management fields. However, when it comes to health related fields, Utah keeps decent pace with the national average.

"With their eduction, [women] can be a bigger influence in their communities and churches." Madsen said. "One class, just one class at a time, can do so much for a woman."

The project's research will continue for another year and the third brief is expected to come out this fall, and they are hoping to have more answers as to why this Utah is facing this dilemma. To view the first and second brief in their entirety visit: http://www.uvu.edu/wep/.

A year of incredible growth- President Holland Celebrates his first year at UVU

A year of incredible growth

by Andrea Lindgren

A little over one year ago, President Holland arrived during our transitional time between state college and becoming a fully developed university.

Through strong leadership and a constant eye on the mission set before him, of creating a serious, engaged, yet inclusive institution, he has built a strong university, even while wading through troubling economic times.

"The biggest challenge, which is a good challenge, is wrestling with the decision about what we are going to do with all the growth, as we are striving to be serious and become a better and better university. There's a companion challenge to that, which is the state of our resources. We came out much better than I thought we would, but it's a constant worry, how to get the necessary resources to be able to handle this many students," Holland said.

Though institutions all over the state, including UVU have faced massive budget cuts over the year, Holland has been able to do some amazing things here. One notable, and obviously significant accomplishment has been that of securing the funds to build the much needed new science building.

"What I love about it is that now, in addition to having the events center and the baseball diamond as the front face of campus, you also have the library and the science building that gives this wonderful academic feel to UVU," Holland said.

One feat that may go unnoticed by many, although very important, is the change in policy, when it comes to recruiting, hiring and training faculty.

"Universities are by and large human organization assets, you've got to hire, train and promote the right people to live up to that mission and the work we've done on the policy lays a good foundation. It's one of those things that would be easy to miss, it's not as grand as a new science building, in terms of recognizing a contribution, but it will have more lasting ramifications for the kind of place that UVU becomes over the years in its effort to become a serious university," Holland said.

Holland has gone to great lengths recently to attain some great new faculty members as a shuffle in his presidential cabinet, and the needs of the university have required administrative changes to fill the position vacancies and accommodate the growth of the university.

The reshaping done this past year and during the recent months are being done to help facilitate the needs of the community and state, as well as to help build a stronger, better university as it moves forward and continues to grow.

"We are poised with a stellar team that is aligned with our mission and a reasonable sense of responsibility that will really take us forward in the coming year," Holland said.