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Show Wednesday, November 15, 2006 A5 Sanpete Messenger/Gunnison Valley Edition Snow’s Tunnels of Terror huge hit for students, community By Ben Fox Staff writer A Rose by Any Other Name In “Romeo and Juliet,” Juliet says, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” That’s easy for her to say. Her mother didn’t name her Ima Hogg, Candy Cane, or Merry Butts. Juliet might have sung a different tune from the balcony if her last name was Passwater and Romeo’s was Horsepucky. I’m not kidding; those are real names. Okay, I’ll admit it; I made up Horsepucky. The other names, however, belong to living, breathing people ... or maybe dead ones who used to breathe. Although my first name is Cynthia, I always went by Cindy. Back when students learned to write using a six-inch diameter, yellow pencil clutched between their chubby fingers, “Cindy” merely required digging in the fingernails and writing five letters. As time went on, I was certain my name was cute and easily spelled. My dream world was shattered after I got married and a letter arrived addressed to Rose Beck. Rose Beck? There weren’t any other Becks in town, much less a Rose blooming nearby. My husband, Russ, thought it was so funny he called me that for years. You can imagine my son’s confusion when he’d find a package under the Christmas tree addressed to Rose. Over time, mail began arriving with other variations that made more sense but were just as crazy. Not too long ago, an envelope arrived addressed to Sin Beck. I hid it before Russ could show it to everyone at church. The worst goof was on a jacket. Before switching to my imminently useful major of entomology, I took medical technology courses. At one point, class members decided it would be fun to have personalized, matching jackets. Money was in short supply for our family, and we had this weird compulsion about having food on the table at regular intervals. Fortunately, a check arrived for my birthday that was just enough to cover the cost. I agonized for days over requesting my first name or my full name on the jacket. After finally deciding on my full name (which would hold up in a court of law in case the jacket ever got stolen), I anxiously awaited its arrival. The big day came and we opened the box in class. The class president read the proud owners’ names as he handed out the jackets. When he came to the last one, he called out, “Cinky Beck.” It took a minute before I realized that was my jacket, and I groaned as I took it in hand. Twenty-five dollars worth of birthday money down the drain. At home that night we conferred, trying to figure out what to do about it. Since the jacket was personalized, it wasn’t returnable. Was there any way to fix the goof? We considered putting tape over it, cutting the name out entirely, or throwing it away. Finally, Russ hit on a solution. “If you take one of those sewing ripper thingies, you could pull out the first name and just leave the last name.” My son, Dave, looked at it closely and said with the wisdom of an 8-year-old, “Or you could pull out the ‘C’ and we could call you Inky.” I wasn’t about to follow his suggestion, but I was glad he said it—I needed the laugh. Within minutes the seam ripper did its work, and for 20 years after I wore a jacket with ‘C (space, space, space, space, space) Beck’ on it. It seemed Cinky was the most goofed it could ever get. However, just to insure there was no mistake, when I submitted an article to a publisher last week I wrote the byline as C.L. Beck. Unfortunately, I signed the email as Cindy. On the day of publication, I went to their website. Dang! The byline read “Cidny Beck.” I laughed and shook my head in resignation. It was a simple typo and even I’d made it in the past. But now it dawned on me that some people might read the “c” as a “k” sound. In which case, my name would be pronounced “Kidney.” Ouch, Kidney—the ultimate insult. I can tolerate being a Rose by any other name, but a Kidney? I don’t think so. If I have to choose, I’ll go with my son’s suggestion—there’s no doubt I’d be much better off as an Inky. Theater Listings Video/DVD Rentals Movie Deals Do You Like Movies? EPHRAIM—Ghosts, goblins and at least one demon wielding a chainsaw chased 2,000 people through the Snow College Tunnels of Terror during the spook alley’s two-day debut two weeks ago. The On-Campus Housing Activities Committee hosted the activity. “We had more people show up than we knew what to do with,” said Activity Committee Co-chair James Theland. “But we were glad to see the community support. We had a lot of students, but nearly half of the crowd was Sanpete families who came from as far as Gunnison and Fairview.” Officer Bob Wright, chief of campus security, was the only one who had predicted the overwhelming turnout for the tunnels. “I knew we were going to have a huge crowd when I read about the Tunnels of Terror on the front page of the Messenger last week,” Wright said. “This is the best and most successful Snow College activity I have seen during my time here.” The average wait time to enter the tunnels was 90 minutes. The line extended from the east side of the Lucy Phillips Library (which was decorated to look like a cemetery) to a point west of the faculty parking lot. Despite chilly temperatures, spirits were high as the Snow College drill team, the Badgerettes, danced around the cardboard headstones to Michael Jackson’s pop hit, “Thriller.” Tunnel staff turned away a line of more than 200 people the first night due to a Snow College policy that states all activities must end by 11 p.m. on weeknights. On the second night, the tun- L OCALIZE T HE W ORLD W IDE WEB BannerAd Network Are you advertising in markets that are doing you no good? Contact your local newspaper to find out how you can advertise on the world wide web and reach the local communities that your business needs. 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 Mechanical Size of a BannerAd 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 (468 pixels by 60 pixels) 12345678901234567890123456789012123456789012 nel staff closed the line at 10:20 p.m. with nearly 400 waiting people. Everyone in line Tuesday before the cutoff got to go through the tunnels. It was nearly 12:30 a.m. before the last tunnel tourists made it out. Both students and community members said the tunnels were worth the wait. “I thought it was really scary. It wasn’t as scary as Frightmares (at Lagoon), but at Snow College for $3, I thought it was great,” said Ephraim City Councilwoman Penny Kittlesrud. Snow College Provost Brad Winn and his Scout troop braved their way through the tunnels. “We had a great time! The tunnels were terrific. On-Campus Housing really did a great job,” Winn said. He said generally, his Scouts were brave, but even they got a bit scared during their time in the tunnels. Snow College sophomore Andrew Black said he was pleasantly surprised at how well the tunnels were run. “I was expecting a fun time, but I had no idea that the tunnels would be such a professional production,” Black said. The Tunnels of Terror were originally intended to be a small project to encourage a bond among dorm residents and to promote On-Campus Housing to students and community. The tunnels were divided into six sections, one for each of the six dorms to decorate and haunt. “Dorm residents made the whole thing possible. We had more than 100 students from the dorms dressed as ghosts and zombies down in those tunnels for hours,” Theland said. Based on this year’s success, Bob Oliver, director of the physical plant, plans to make the activity an annual event. While he wants On-Campus Housing to head up the activity, he is considering allowing other groups to set up booths and games outside the tunnels to entertain people waiting in line. Another improvement next year could be hot chocolate and chili vendors in the lineup area. Oliver has also mentioned extending the hours of operation to help keep wait times down. It’s a hard time of year for unwanted pets By Tanya Y. Spencer Education Editor EPHRAIM—Fall might be the time for trees to lose their leaves, but according to Jamee Wheelwright of Wag-N-Train Dog Rescue, it is also the season in which people want to lose their pets. “We are swamped with calls from people wanting to get rid of their dogs. It happens every year at this time,” Wheelwright says. Wag-N-Train’s primary source for obtaining dogs is from the pound, hence the “rescue” part of their name. The organization rarely takes a dog from a private individual because it doesn’t have the space. If it does rescue a dog from private parties, it will only do so after the owners have attempted to place the dog on their own. Wheelwright offers the following list of suggestions for placing an unwanted pet: • Place an ad in your local newspaper. • Put ads on the Tradeo program of KMTI. It is free. Call 835-7301 or fax to 835-2250. • Use ksl.com classifieds. It is free and has a large audience. Submit a good picture. Be sure to list as much information as you can about the dog, including height from the floor to the top of its shoulder, and weight. Is it good with kids? Cats? Other dogs? Housetrained? Crate trained? Good on a leash? Does it have any training to commands? Does it do any tricks or other cute things? Also, when you talk to people mention any bad habits he might have as well. You want people to be able to make an informed decision so your pet will end up in the best home. • Post flyers in your town. Websites www.petbond.com or www.bestfriends.com/flyermaker have flyer-making programs. Again, be sure to include a good picture and a lot of information. Post the flyer in quick stops, post offices, grocery stores—any place that gets a lot of traffic. • Go to www.craigslist.com and click on Utah on the righthand side. Choose a city and make a posting. It’s free, and while it’s a new site, more listings are added every day, and it could reach quite a wide audience. Some people are willing to travel to adopt a dog. • List your pet on www.petfinder.com classifieds. It also has a large audience. Wheelwright also suggests asking an adoption fee for your pet. She says, “Bad things can happen to animals who are offered for free.” Another important factor in placing your pet is whether or not it has been spayed or neutered. Animals that have been fixed have a much higher adoption rate than those that have not. Wheelwright cautions dog owners who want to place a pet because of behavior problems to “consider taking your dog to an obedience class because you’d be surprised at how easily many problems can be fixed with a little time and attention.” Wheelwright says, “We have been inundated with calls from people asking us to take their dogs. We wish we could help everyone. However, we don’t have a physical facility. All of our rescue dogs are in foster homes, and we reserve those primarily for pound dogs. I hope people will follow these tips to place their dogs on their own.” Spring City (Continued from A4) To find out what’s PLAYING & COMING SOON visit http://SanpeteMovies.com BEN FOX / MESSENGER PHOTO Some people waited as long as two hours to enter into the Snow College Tunnels of Terror. Nearly 2000 people made their way through the screams and strobe lights entering the underground at the library, and exiting from the Noyes Building. Mayor Eldon Barnes said the city had received applications for the position but needed to institute a way to train the new officer, according to their insurance carrier. Spring City’s GRAMA ordinance has not been revised to conform to the Utah GRAMA ordinance since 1998, so the council sought input before updating it. The only question from the public on this ordinance concerned the fees for copies and research to provide documents requested by the public. Lawrence Gardner, the planning commission chairperson, gave a general explanation of the subdivision ordinance. One citizen asked how big a piece of property was required before a development is termed a “subdivision.” The ordinance states that when a piece of property is being split it is considered a subdivision, Dahl said later. The smallest lot size allowed is 1.06 acres. Other discussion topics included the city grid, and citizens had questions about the designation of specific city roads. Casino Star Theatre 78 S. MAIN, GUNNISON 528-STAR CASINOSTARTHEATRE.ORG Premier of Work and Glory III Starts Weds., Nov. 22 Shows at 7 p.m. Rated PG13 Nov. 17-21 Rated PG 7:00 p.m. Weekdays Two showings Friday & Saturday 7 pm and 9 pm After Santa Claus arrives to bring in the holiday season … enjoy a matinee at 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 24. All seats are $3.50 |