News briefs

Campus news:

INTERESTED IN ROCKET SCIENCE? – On Nov. 13, the UVU College of Science and Health will present a lecture on rocket propulsion at noon to 12:50 p.m. in LI 120. Michael Jacobs, of ATK Launch Systems, will be talking about the Ares I rocket program. Ares I is the fleet of rockets being developed by NASA to replace the Space Shuttle fleet. ATK and Michael Jacobs are playing a critical role in the design of the Ares I launch system. Come learn about this new space program and Utah’s role in its development.

UVU to Honor Skip Daynes at Premiere School of the Arts Concert – UVU’s School of the Arts will present its premiere concert entitled “Tutus, Triptychs, Timpani and Two-Minute Soliloquies: Presenting the School of the Arts,” featuring performances and exhibitions from across the artistic spectrum. The concert will be held Friday, Nov. 7 and Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7:30 p.m. in the Ragan Theater located in the Sorenson Student Center.
The concert will feature performances from the Dance, Music and Theatrical Arts departments as well as works from the Department of Art & Visual Communications. At the Nov. 7 performance, Debenham will present Skip Daynes with the Fran Kennedy Friends of the Arts Award.
Daynes is the fourth generation owner and president of Daynes Music, the oldest music company west of the Mississippi, and one of the oldest continuously family-run businesses in America. Daynes will be honored for his support of the arts in Utah and particularly at UVU, where he serves on the Advisory Board of the School of the Arts. Daynes was instrumental in bringing a gift of four Steinway pianos to UVU’s Department of Music this summer.
Tickets for the event are $5 with a UVU ID and $7 without. For tickets and information contact Campus Connection at (801) 863-8797.

National news:

TWO STUDENTS DEAD AT CAMPUS SHOOTING IN ARKANSAS – At the University of Central Arkansas campus, two students were left dead and a third person wounded after a shooting. Students Ryan Henderson, 18, and Chavares Block, 19, were pronounced dead while Martrevis Norman of Blytheville was shot in the leg. Police are questioning suspects and said they are not students and are all males from the central Arkansas area. Police said it appears to be a random act, and that there is no apparent motive for the shooting yet. Classes were cancelled on the 12,500-student campus. Faculty and students received emergency calls and e-mails through an automated system that was put in after the Virginia Tech shooting. This is the second shooting at an Arkansas college this year.

FEDERAL AGENTS BREAK UP PLOT TO ASSASSINATE OBAMA – Two neo-Nazi skinheads were planning to assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Their plans also included shooting and decapitating 102 black people. According to court records, the two men were planning to target a predominantly African American high school in a murder spree in Tennessee. Federal authorities successfully stopped this plot and have Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn. and Paul Schlesselman, 18, of West Helena, Ark., in custody without bail.

EIGHT-YEAR-OLD BOY ACCIDENTLY KILLED IN GUN SHOW – In Westfield, Mass., an 8-year-old boy died after accidentally shooting himself in the head with an Uzi submachine gun. The boy, Christopher Bizilj, was at a gun fair and under the supervision of a certified instructor when he lost control of the gun. Police said he was accompanied by his father in the ambulance, but it’s unclear whether his father was with him during the accident. Although this is being considered a self-inflicted, accidental shooting, police are still investigating the circumstances.

World news:

COLOMBIA — A 62-year-old lawmaker from Colombia found freedom after being held captive for eight years in the jungle by leftist rebels. Oscar Tulio Lizcano was able to escape with the help of his jailer, a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who fled with him. Lizcano was a hostage since August of 2000. The jailer going by the alias “Isaza” was promised by Colombia’s president a cash reward and asylum in France with his girlfriend. FARC still holds at least 20 politicians, police officers and soldiers — some have been held for more than a decade.

MEXICO — The world’s heaviest man, Manuel Uribe, 43, tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend Claudia Solis, 38, in northern Mexico. More than 400 guests attended the wedding. The couple met four years ago and have been dating for the past two years. Uribe hasn’t left his bed in six years and had to be transported by a flatbed truck to his wedding. In 2006, he weighed 1,230 pounds, but has since lost 550 pounds. He stuck with his diet at the festivities, staying away from the five-tier wedding cake. Doctors were present to watch him closely. Footage from the wedding will be featured in an upcoming Discovery Channel documentary about Uribe.

GREECE — Officials announced that a 6,000-year-old set of household gear was found in the buried ruins of a prehistoric farmhouse in northern Greece. The discovered items include a crockery and two wood-fired ovens. “This is a very rare case where the remains have stayed undisturbed by farming or other external intervention for about 6,000 years,” the ministry statement said. “The household goods are in excellent condition.” The remains of the 624-square-foot prehistoric building were first discovered when workers were putting in water pipes earlier this year. Archaeologists excavated the site last spring and found a large number of clay items used for cooking and eating, stone tools, mills for grinding cereals and two ovens.