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Show Take Note: 5 Monday, March 27,2006 Free Aggie Ice Cream today! 11:30 a.m. Ice cream will be available in the Education, Lillywhite, and the Family Life building 797-1769 features@statesman.usu.edu Getting to know your columnist Once in a blue moon, I don't actually do anything so embarrassing I feel I need to share in my column. In these extremely rare cases, I like to take a moment to answer a few of the many questions readers have e-mailed me in the last few months — except the ones with a lot of swearing. I put those on my refrigerator. Q: Gee you're tall, do you play basketball? A: Wow, how original. I don't go around asking short people if they are jockeys. Of course I like basketball, Garret Wheeler nowCdur-y ing March Madness. It would be a real waste of height if I were an avid chess player - or jockey. Chew on At 6 feet 8 inches, I'm this still waiting for Stew Morrill's invitation to be on the USU team. Q: What is your favorite breakfast cereal? A: Obviously, Marshmallow Mateys and Frosted Mini Spooners are the most fun to use in everyday speech, but my absolute favorite has to be Crispix. • Q: You keep mentioning that you are used to a much milder climate on the East coast. How do you cope with the snow and severe winter weather experi'enced here in Logan? A: Now that's a loaded question! As a Virginian in Utah, I Can stand winter weather for roughly 12.6 seconds at a time, making the long hike to campus somewhat of a dilemma. So I've devised a three-step plan for those fair-weather folks who made the uneducated decision to live in Cache Valley. Step 1: Never go outside. Ever. A house on fire is still more temperate than those dratted canyon winds. In this age of technology, [here are no pressing reasons to go outside. It does help to have an overly-eager roommate. Step 2: Assuming you can't follow the first step or have an unusual masochistic desire to freeze to death, make sure you have a coat. Don't settle for a mere sweatshirt or windbreaker like the locals wear. Have it be so cumbersomely warm that small children mistake you for the surreptitious Yeti that roams Old Main Hill. Step 3: If all else fails, move immediately. I realize that, ironically, this means that you will have to go outside. Won't it sure be worth it, though, when you send all your Eskimo-clad friends digital photos of your deep, dark tan you "unintentionally" developed while doing homework on the beaches of Waikiki? Q: Do you have any unique or hidden talents no one knows about? A: Unbeknownst to most everyone, my left thumb is doublejointed. This lucky anomaly makes evasions in thumb wars quite easy. It also allows me to gross out really squeamish people. I love it. Q: Would you like to comment in your next column on the Logan Wal-Mart controversy? A: No. Q: What is the dumbest joke you have heard recently? A: What does a fish say when it funs .into a wall? Damn! i Q: Can you relate any stories of fchildhood stupidity in your own Jife? j A: I can, and I will! An incident occurred at age 3, when I thought ] was Superman. At least now J know for sure I am. But back jhen, as a little tyke, I thought I vvas invincible and decided to punch through a window. This pizarre action was followed by mass amounts of blood and a highly rational scream for my i OLUMNIST see page 6 Lecturer breaks down novels-facts and fiction Story by Emma Tippetts • Assistant Features Editor F orty million people worldwide read the book, 12 million in North America alone. Published in 2003, the book has sold over 36 million copies in 44 different languages. "The Da Vinci Code", a fictional novel by Dan Brown has remained on the New York Times Best Sellers list for 155 weeks and in that time has challenged over 2,000 years of history. Since it's release, "The Da Vinci Code" has been the topic of numerous debates, dozens of news and television special reports and articles by religious scholars and multiple books written either concurring with, or dissenting from the fictional novel. Mark Tate, a professor at the Salt Lake Theological Seminary, spoke to USU students Thursday night in the Business Building and said the reason for this controversy is found among the first few pages of the book, where Brown explicitly states the novel is fiction, although based on historically accurate facts. Tate has worked as a professor at the seminary for 15 years specializing in the history of Christianity and the interpretations of that history. Tate said it is because this novel claims to be based on fact that such a controversy has sparked as a result. "It undeniably deserves its superb ratings as a best-selling novel," Tate said. However, Tate posed the question as to why Brown felt the need to add the controversial statement that his fictional novel is based on fact. Tate said perhaps he did this to "add intrigue" and create a desire to read it, but Tate said the book obviously needed no enhancement and that statement is in dispute by many contemporary scholars. Being one of those scholars, Tate said he based his paper on analyzing the factual basis of the claims of the society of the Priori of Sion, the major theme of the marriage of Jesus, the analysis of Hollywood uses of historical fact and determining what is fact and what is true about "The Da Vinci Code." Dan Brown states the Priori of Sion is an ancient society which has held the secret of Jesus' marriage to Mary Magdalene for thousands of years. Tate says there is no actual historical evidence that any part of that is true. He said in 1996, the British Broadcasting Company went to "great lengths" to prove the inaccuracies. "There is absolutely no historical significance to substantiate these claims," Tate said, quoting Paul Mayor, professor of Ancient History at Western Michigan State University. Tate said both Christian and nonChristian scholars agree on the inaccuracies of the references to the Priori of Sion. Wikipedia, an online encyclopedia, states that, "Most of the evidence presented in support of claims pertaining to its historical existence, let alone significance, has not been considered authentic or persuasive by established historians, academics and universities." Tate said there is evidence of societies similar to the priori existing, but the evidence suggests the society exists in three different forms, in three different time periods; the first record of which was created in 1956, but no group provides any real evidence as to their historical purposes. "[The information in Brown's book] is at least a historical stretch and at most,, a com> D A VINCI see page 7 "Some of it is a manipulation of fact, some of it is a creation of imagination, all of it is fiction." -Mark Tate, professor |