Saturday, January 31, 2009

Another headline fail...

Headlines are supposed to inform the reader and help him or her decide if they should continue reading. Therefore, as one guide to writing headlines advises, the copy editor should
"Be specific. The headline should tell the reader the important news."
In other words, the above headline fails. And, I should note, if your headline can be placed in any newspaper anywhere in the U.S. on any Friday of the year, it's not a very good headline.

Yeah for diversity!!!

Apparently the dance department is going to "showcase diversity." Judging by the photo, there will be all kinds of diverse white females. Compare the above picture to the first image that come up under diversity on Google:

You see, the BYU Dance picture is more diverse because they're in different poses. The second picture, on the other hand, shows all of the people in the same pose, thus exhibiting a lack of diversity.

Now they're mixing rap and hip hop!

You know a band is creative when they can mix styles as different as hip hop and rap. So you can see the vast difference between these two, here's a quote from the Wikipedia entry on hip hop:
Hip hop music, also referred to as rap music...
The band, the Kid You Knauts, can be listened to here. I'd let you know if they are any good, but since it's a myspace page, BYU has it blocked and I can't see or hear it. But if they're creative enough to mix rap and hip hop I'm sure it's a mind-blowing experience.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Utah County has some big butts... plus, someone is stealing businesses!

Today the Daily Universe made it easy on me- they put two funny articles right next to each other! The first article's headline, "The bonus to having a big backside," is interesting enough. The article talks about a Harvard study that found that the type of fat found in the hips and buttocks can help protect against Type-2 diabetes. Nothing too funny there, but then the article ends with this gem:
Utah County had one of the lowest rates of diabetes in 2005 with 4.6 percent, compared to the national average of 7.8 percent, according to the Center for Disease Control.
So, apparently Utah County residents have big butts. (Cue Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back.")
Then, right below this article was the great headline "Man arrested for the thefts of 20 businesses." Apparently people have been coming into work and finding their businesses gone...

Why was this letter even written? The election was a couple of months ago!

Here's one of today's letters to the editor:

No landslide

My apologies to the author of the Jan. 23 letter "Temper-tantrum," denouncing the Jan. 21 "Reflections on hype" viewpoint, but I felt the viewpoint was spot on. Certainly the media did not elect Obama, but they certainly did encourage the hype around the man. The media presented Obama, the icon, with scores of devoted followers with very high expectations. He was presented, in essence, as America's new messiah, ushering in a new utopian epoch regardless of political and international realities. I have very high regard for his demeanor and philosophy, but I never bought into the overly optimistic, "Barack is the answer" hype. He's a politician, a president, a human. Nothing more. And to clarify, the only "overwhelming victory" was the electoral vote-the popular vote was 52.9% to 45.7%-decisive, but not a landslide.

ANDREW GLEAVES
Monroe, N.C.

Now, I may agree that the popular vote wasn't a landslide, but I'm just wondering why this letter to the editor was written a couple of months too late...

Friday, January 23, 2009

BYU Opportunity Week Loves Kanye?

Not really a fail, but I guess I was amused by BYU's "Opportunity Week" posters being a copy of Kanye West's Graduation cover. Or maybe the people who made this poster and Kanye share an appreciation for the art of Takashi Murakami...


It seems the BYU poster leaves off the Parental Advisory sticker and gold chains.

Friday, January 9, 2009

If you do ANYTHING different, the authorities will be notified.


One of the joys of BYU Police Beat is seeing how many people call the cops over "suspicious" characters that turn out to students or legitimate visitors that happen to be different in some way. In this week's relatively boring Police Beat, we are reminded of one of the facts of BYU life- if you do ANYTHING different, the authorities will be contacted:
Dec. 29: A male student was reported suspiciously looking into cars in a campus parking lot. Police discovered that the student was actually looking into his own car, looking for his backpack.
Sure, I feel it's important to call the police if something is suspicious, but how many times do the cops have to get called out just to find out someone is looking into or going through their own car?!

Image courtesy of everyone's favorite fake news site, The Onion.