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Show Xanadu encore Men's basketball team gets first Big Sky win ... page 6 among events in performing arts' spring 2012 lineup ...page 4 AT A GLANCE EDITORIAL ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT SPORTS CLASSIFIEDS 2 3 4 6 7 VOL 82 ISSUE 51 MONDAY, JANUARY2, 2012 WWW.WSUSIGNPOST.COM SignP 0 St WEBER STATE UNIVERSITY Coach returns to alma mater Former athlete reached pinnacle of college coaching in Big-10 SOURCE: WSU ATHLETICS By Nathan Davis sports editor I The Signpost SOURCE. WSU ATHLETICS Garbed in a WSU jersey, John L. Smith poses for a photo in the late '60s. The first time John L. Smith came to Weber State University in the late '60s, it was to play football. He said that when he first came to the school, he felt as if he had Data lost in server crash finally made it. "A few short years ago," Smith said, "a farm boy from Iona, Idaho, drove down here and got out of his car and walked around and looked at this stadium and thought, `You know what? I've made it to the big time." Smith, who was named the ninth head football coach in WSU history, said that, while a lot has changed since he first came to WSU, he had similar feelings to the first time he came to Ogden in 1968. "Since then, I've coached where Knute Rockne has, and Bear Bryant," Smith said. "I've been to the Horseshoe (Ohio State University) and to the Big House (the University of Michigan) . . . but I came up here around daylight and drove around seeing the new facilities and got the same sense that I've hit the big time. I'm back, and happy to be here, and thankful." Throughout high school, Smith excelled at athletics. When he graduated from high school in 1967, he had lettered in three different sports: football, basketball and track. Smith then came to Ogden, where he played on the WSU See Smith page 5 SOURCE: KYLE DRAPER John L. Smith walks the sidelines as head coach of Michigian State University. 110 hours played for a world record Epiphany scrambles to identify entries By Laurie Reiner news reporter I The Signpost The staff of Epiphany is asking for students who submitted a piece of work on or after Nov. 21 to resubmit their information. Due to a server crash, Epiphany lost some of their information. Epiphany is a literary journal for nontraditional students. The submissions include short fiction, flash fiction, nonfiction and poetry. After they are turned in, each submission is judged through a rubric, and the highest-scoring selected for Epiphany. The upcoming issue also includes a "multicultural and diversity" section that was open to all students. It was specifically designed for students who want to share their unique cultural background or have a diverse way of living. All of the submissions were due on Dec. 2, and only the ones that were turned in on or after Nov. 21 were lost. "It gave us all a headache," said Beth Carver, the assistant managing editor. "We are still trying to figure out what was wrong; we don't know why it happened. On Nov. 21, the system no longer was forwarding submissions . ." On Dec. 2, someone mentioned in class that the page was down, which is when the staff realized they weren't receiving the submission e-mails from the students. "On Dec. 10, the documents got to us, but the information was gone," Carver said. The staff was able to recover the submissions themselves, but the information for the writers was lost. The names of the authors were submitted separately from the pieces of work themselves, therefore only the information was lost. The Epiphany staff must now match the submissions with the people who wrote them. To fix this problem, a notice was See Crash page 5 PHOTOS BY BRYAN BUTTERFIELD I THE SIGNPOST Dallas Saxton, service vice president at Weber State University, participates in the record-breaking basketball game at the Clearfield Aquatic Center and Gym. The game, which lasted around 110 hours, helped raise money for the Fallen Heroes Scholarship Foundation. WSU student plays in longest-ever game for scholarship foundation By Stephanie Simonson managing editor I The Signpost Dallas Saxton, service vice president at Weber State University, recently found another way to serve. Last week, he played in a basketball game that lasted five days, helping the Fallen Heroes Scholarship Foundation set a new world record. The foundation is designed to benefit the family members of soldiers, police officers and firefighters who have been killed in the line of duty. The basketball game generated revenue for the foundation through donations from sponsors, players and attendants. "We wanted to do something a little bit different that people will remember, so we decided to set out and break the world record," said Kurt Spencer, executive director of the foundation. The game ran continuously from 9 a.m. on Monday to around 10 p.m. on Friday of last week, and was held at the Clearfield Aquatic Center and Gym. The 24 volunteer players, aged 16 and up, were not allowed to leave the facility for the duration of the game. Players could take breaks to eat or sleep in the hallway behind the gym after every two and a half hours of play. "Honestly, it's been a daunting challenge," said Saxton, a junior in special education at WSU. "You know, the hardest thing for me was getting over the mental challenge. Physically, I knew what I was kind of getting myself into. I mean, my body aches, I pulled a calf muscle, but the thing of it is is that was something that was, I guess, expected in some form or another. But the mental part I had to get used to and adapt to." Saxton said the support from family and friends helped him overcome the mental and emotional challenges of being so tied to the game, and that he thought the game and its cause were well worth it. "Obviously, first of all, I love the game of basketball; I mean, I probably wouldn't do it if it was any other sport. I also, obviously, saw an opportunity to make history in breaking the world record for the world's longest game of basketball played. And most importantly, I thought it was right up my alley . . . I had no say or pull in forming this, but one thing I do know is how I liked that it coincided with my position up at Weber State, in being a service vice president." Brad Jorgensen, Spencer's brotherin-law and a volunteer at the event, said the game took its toll on multiple players, but that they held up well overall. "So far, we've had some blisters, some sore feet, you know, some sore See Game page 5 |