NEWS DECEMBER 9, 2013 AJ PARKING MELISSA HENRIE/UVU REVIEW A crowded purple parking lot (left) and an almost empty yellow overflow parking lot (right). from Al ridiculous because of the cost," said senior Chantelle Ivie. Currently, parking in the new structure costs $2 per hour or $12 per day, but parking after 5:00 p.m. is free. Students can also buy a year pass for $750. Starting in January, the parking structure will go to $1 per hour, but will be a paid lot from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. "People that pay for the parking permits are those that pay for the services that parking provides," said Michaelis. "We are not funded any other way. In fact, we are one of the few institutions along the Wasatch Front that has any kind of free parking whatsoever." For the fiscal year 2012, Parking Services had revenues of $1,178,628.94, which came mostly from purchased permits and tickets. Expenses, which totaled $1,108,183.96, come mostly from maintenance, salaries and benefits for workers. No tuition or any other school money goes to parking, so students who buy parking permits are contributing to the revenue. According to Michaelis, the best solution for those students who are frustrated about the parking issues in the free lot is to buy a parking permit. For now, construction workers will continue to park in the purple parking lot. Sharing the gift of compassion UVU freshman Patrick Beatty combines his passion for performing with the holiday spirit during his performances at the Seville senior living center By KresLynn Knouse Assistant News Editor @KresLynn During the holiday season, many of us feel the need to give back to the community as we celebrate good fortune with family and friends. Freshman Patrick Beatty wanted to engineer a project that would provide comfort and cheer to people who need it most while using his talent for performing. "One of my biggest fears is being alone," Beatty said. "When I thought of the residents at the Seville senior living center, I knew they would appreciate having someone be there for them. I wanted the residents to have the opportunity to celebrate the season with music, entertainment and company just like everyone else." Last week Beatty piloted his winter concert series for residents of the Seville senior living center in Orem. On December 3, Beatty entertained residents with a concert featuring a blend of Christmas music and audience-picked song recommendations. As he sang and played guitar on-stage, residents were asked to write down their opinions of the performance and how he could improve. "I got a lot of constructive criticism, like 'don't make so many different faces.' Everyone I spoke with enjoyed the performance but they said the music was too current for them. I'm appreciative of the critique, I'll just play more Sinatra and Andy Williams next time," Beatty said. Beatty was inspired to do service by his grandparents, who asked not to have gifts of financial value for Christmas. Instead, they challenged their family members to do charitable acts whenever they could throughout the month of December. In return, Beatty and his family would return over the holidays and tell their grandparents stories of how their acts of service impacted their lives. In his free time, aside from being a full-time behavioral science student, Beatty enjoys being a performer. Although his preferred genre of music is indie-pop, he challenged himself to convert to classics for his service project. His first set list included covers of songs by artists Frank Sinatra, She & Him, and the Jackson 5 among others. In order to track his progress and document his "present" for his grandparents, Beatty created tistheseasonformusic .blog spot . corn. He hopes the website will also inspire others to attend the performances and strive to find opportunities for service and good will. "You could tell the residents at the facility were happy to be there and see someone perform for them," said Natalie Thontrit, a UVU junior who assisted Beatty during the first performance. "It's great to be a part of something like this, especially during the holiday season. Spending time with others is one of the most important aspects of the holidays." Beatty is hoping to expand his service project by gaining more help and planning more performances. Anyone interested in joining Beatty through performing, baking treats, or playing games with the residents is encouraged to email him at pwbeatty@gmail.com . Drone technology finally delivers Amazon's futuristic drone delivery service aims to bring tiny packages to your door in 30 minutes or less By Ashton Herrmann Reporter @AshtonHerrmann Amazon announces plans to use drones for delivering packages. Because of their increasingly frequent use in military operations, unmanned aerial vehicles (i.e. drones) carry a heavy stigma. There's something unnerving about the thought that at any moment an invisible robot might rain death upon you from above. However, rather than indulging robot Armageddon fantasies, could drones be engineered to serve humanity and improve everyday life? The Octocopters of Amazon's Prime Air service, announced December 1st, are intended to do just that. Since it was founded in 1994, Amazon.com has evolved beyond the company's humble beginnings as "Earth's biggest book store" to the world's most ubiquitous online retailer. The Internet superstore now has separate websites in over a dozen countries and sells everything from groceries to consumer electronics. According to Alexa Internet, Inc. (a subsidiary of Amazon.com), Amazon is the 8th most visited website on the Internet today. Aiming to be "Earth's most customer-centric company," Amazon has built a legendary reputation upon its customer service and its speed of delivery. Shoppers who pay an annual fee gain access to free two-day shipping on all orders, but the company seems to believe that two days simply isn't fast enough. Imagine a future where only 30 minutes after submitting an order for a sweet new iPad Air it is delivered right to your door by a flying robot. It sounds like science fiction, but Amazon assures us that it's not. Amazon Prime Air will be ready to enter commercial operations as soon as the necessary FAA regulations are in place and more testing and development is done. Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos even speculates that "one day, spotting Prime Air drones in the sky will be as normal as seeing mail trucks on the road today." A video posted on Amazon's official YouTube channel demonstrates just how Amazon Prime Air might work. In the video, a warehouse worker loads an ordered package into a yellow plastic container emblazoned with the familiar Amazon logo. The container is then placed onto a conveyer belt, directing it to a device which attaches the order to the octocopter- barely larger than a remote-controlled helicopter. The drone is then shown placing its payload gently outside the customer's doorstep before it floats away. Internet skeptics are already labeling the service impractical at best and dangerous at worst, with many concerned about the security of their future deliveries—what's to stop someone from shooting one of these things out of the sky? The Octocopter also has a small carrying capacity at a maximum of five pounds. Others are concerned about the presumed danger that drones, even unarmed ones, inherently pose to people. Amazon assures its critics that "safety will be the top priority, and the vehicles will be built with multiple redundancies and designed to commercial aviation standards." We'll have to wait until Amazon cuts through the bureaucratic red tape to see if any of the raised concerns ring true. Amazon Prime Air representatives are hoping to launch the service as early as 2015. Pricing for Prime Air has yet to be announced. PHOTO COURTESY OF DARRYL MORAN DEAD SEA from AI looking for opportunities for our students to engage in their discipline and with the community, so this kind of serves both purposes," said David Yells, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Science. The opportunities for students to get involved are still available, Yells said, and many of the opportunities are still being developed across different programs, like Religious Studies and Peace & Justice Studies. Internships are also available, which is a remarkable chance for any history majors interested in museum curation. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, I mean, this is a big exhibit" said Yells. "Just being around the exhibit is really cool, and then learning about the logistics that are involved in moving these materials...it's pretty impressive for our students." Because of the unexpected and rapid change to the nature of the partnership, much of the curriculum is still being developed, leaving the university and The Leonardo to "roll with the punches" and adapt to the changing needs of both parties. The exhibit itself is being billed as "the largest and most comprehensive collection of ancient artifacts from Israel ever organized." It features over 600 objects from the Holy Land, including a twoton stone from Jerusalem's Western Wall. The artifacts are presented in a timeline as patrons walk through the exhibit, creating historical context and adding significance to the Dead Sea Scrolls and their discovery. "This exhibit, in many ways, is the largest undertaking we as a museum have ever taken on—both in terms of scope and impact, hopefully, on this community," said Alexandra Hesse, the executive director of The Leonardo. "It's the largest collection artifacts ever to leave the land of Israel as one body," The scrolls—which Hesse explained have never been shown before, nor will they be shown again in other venues— stand as a centerpiece for the exhibit and capstone a historical journey that examines the beginnings of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. "The Dead Sea Scrolls give the whole story of the beginning of monotheism in Judaism, the influence on Christian monotheism, and, later on, Islam—that's what's so important about this exhibition, because it's not a beautiful exhibition," said Dr. Uzi Dahari, deputy director of the Israel Antiquities Authority. "We could arrange an exhibition of beautiful archeological items that have been found in Israel, but they don't tell a story, and we wanted to tell a story—not to show only beautiful items." The exhibit aims to put the scrolls into context and lend credibility to why they are regarded as one of the most significant archeological finds of the last century. Beyond just the story though, Dahari explained that he wants the exhibit to raise questions and create an attitude of reflection for those who attend. The scrolls themselves were discovered in caves along the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in 1947 and were unearthed over the next decade with the excavation ending in 1956. They contain the oldest known copies of the Hebrew Bible. The scroll fragments shown at the Leonardo's exhibit include verses from the biblical books of Genesis, Psalms, Exodus and Isaiah, among others. The exhibit will be in Salt Lake City until April 27, 2014, when it will then move on to its next host city. Information regarding the volunteer and other opportunities is available through the College of Humanities and Social Science.