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December 16, 2013 • Issue no. 32 Volume 27
Boise, Idaho
First issue free
Odd Christmas traditions Katie Meikle Staff Writer
Boise State freshmen Evan Long-Quian and Breanna Burke put their heads together and thought a minute. “Weirdest holiday tradition?” Long-Quian asked incredulously, as if to verify the question. But Burke jumped right in. “In my family we don’t celebrate Christmas on Christmas, ever,” Burke said. “We celebrate Christmas in the beginning of January, because my mom works on Christmas.” Long-Quian’s family, on the other hand, celebrates Christmas on the normal date, but in a special way.
“We all wake up at exactly 6 am on Christmas morning, every Christmas. It's like telepathy,” Long-Quian said. “We eat the exact same thing for breakfast every year. It’s a ham, cheese, and hash-brown casserole and it’s delicious.” The idea of a typical American Christmas may bring to mind images of star-topped evergreens, shiny gift-wrap, and a jolly old gift-dispensing man with a beard and a belly (like a bowl full of jelly). Every family celebrates Christmas in their own special way, and many of these traditions may come across as strange to other people. Similarly, different countries observe this
festive season in ways which seem odd from an American point of view. Here are six of the most unusual Christmas traditions from around the world: In Spain, nativity scenes often feature a “caganer." Español-speakers can translate this as – that’s right – “the defecator", or one who discharges bodily waste. Why was there a designated defecator present at the birth of baby Jesus, you may wonder? According to legend, the “caganer” is featured in nativity scenes to ensure a fortunate harvest for farmers. In a similar vein, one Catalan Christmas tradition involves a piñata of sorts, in the form of
a hollow log. This log is given a special name: Caga Tio, or the pooping log. Every evening from Dec. 8 until Christmas Eve, family members place little treats inside the log. On Christmas, Caga Tio is thrown into the fireplace and beaten until he poops out goodies for little boys and girls to enjoy. Christmas in Japan revolves around the saintly Colonel Sanders rather than Saint Nick. It is a widespread Japanese custom to enjoy Christmas dinner at a local KFC, which accepts reservations for this purpose. It is recommended to phone several months in advance, especially if you and your family expect to sit in a booth.
cludes hiding a pickles h a p e d Chr istmas o r nam ent – the last ornament to adorn the tree – deep within the branches. The first person to find the pickle camouflaged in the foliage on Christmas Day receives a bonus gift. In Ethiopia, a highspirited and often very violent ball-and-stick game called ganna is played on Christmas. You probably did not know that was how the biblical shepherds first celebrated the birth of Jesus.
Italy may have Halloween and Christmas confused. In Italy, an old witch, warts and all, takes over Santa Claus’s gift-giving duties, taking up a broomstick in place of the good oldfashioned sleigh. You may have heard of this one: one German or German-American Christmas tradition in-
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Boise State’s eight year head coach Chris Petersen made the move to Seattle, Wash. to coach the Washington Huskies in the Pac-12 on Dec 6, 2013. Just one week later, Boise State introduced their new head coach for the future, Bryan Harsin. “I think I can make an argument that this is one of the most daunting assigments of any Division I football program in the country, to find a new coach,” said Boise State President Bob Kustra. Harsin, who was the offensive coordinator under Petersen for four seasons at Boise State, returned to The Blue after two seasons as the offensive coordinator at the University of Texas and one
season as the head coach at Arkansas State University. “When I left, it was one of the hardest things me and my family ever had to do,” Harsin said. “I had a conversation with Dr. Kustra about how the primary motivation for me leaving was to go out and develop myself as coach, develop myself as a person, to hopefully someday have a chance to come back here as a head coach.” Harsin has his roots in Boise. He played quarterback at Capitol High in Boise. Following high school, he played quarterback at Boise State from 1995-1999. He then served as a graduate assistant and was an assistant coach at Boise State from 2001-2010. Harsin left Arkansas State after just one season; the third year in a row Arkansas
State has had a one-anddone coach. Harsin couldn’t say no to Boise State when they came calling however, and Harsin jumped at the opportunity. “When this job opened up, I had a tough decision to make,” Harsin said. “At Arkansas State they have been through some coaches that have been there one-anddone and by no means did I think that was going to happen or by no means was that the intention.” Several candidates were at the forefront of the race to become the next coach at Boise State, two were interviewed in-house, while four others were interviewed outside the program, Harsin being one of those outside candidates. Coming from the Chris Petersen web of coaching
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Harsin addresses Broncos
Bryan Harsin addressed the media for the first time as head coach. however, Boise State Athletic Director Mark Coyle knew Harsin was the man for the job after his interview. “I wanted to find some-
Church Institute debates liberty vs security Cassandra Sullivan Ryan Thorne David Adler, director of the Boise State Andrus Center for Public Policy, noted that although the National Security Agency (NSA) failed to send a requested speaker to the 2013 Frank Church Conference on Public Affairs, he welcomed their presence through supposed secret surveillance. Gaining several laughs from the audience, this comment highlighted the topic of the conference: Watching the Watchers: Security vs. Liberty. Over 600 high school stu-
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dents, along with community members and Boise State students and faculty, were in attendance at the conference on Tuesday morning in the Simplot Ballroom. The morning opened with a panel discussion that consisted of four distinguished individuals who have experience in the public and private sector with national security issues. During the discussion, Roger Newman, former adjunct professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism, highlighted the difficult questions we face while protecting personal liberties. “How to untangle privacy
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and surveillance? Survey after survey has shown that American people are not sure. That is scary—we don’t know what we want,” Newman said. Boise high school students impressed the crowd by posing challenging questions to the panel. Justin Nesbitt, a senior at Meridian High School, appreciated time out of the classroom to attend the morning panel. “This was a really great experience, not only did we get to see a different perspective from the industries and from the congress, but also from journalists. It is different from the textbooks,” said Nesbitt.
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After the panel discussion concluded, participants then attended a luncheon where Newman gave the address. Gary V. Wenske, executive director of the Frank Church Institute and planner of the event, commented on Newman’s address. “I knew he would raise some issues and create controversy, and I think he did it,”Wenske said. The next evening, ticket holders filed into a crowded Jordan Ballroom. “What I want to do tonight is talk about what was once a great tradition in the state and could be again, and that is progressivism,” said keynote speaker Jonathan
body who was an innovative football leader and coach, I wanted to find someone who was an incredible recruiter, and I wanted to find somebody
with a commitment to compliance,” Coyle said. “And I am confident that we have found the best coach for Boise State football.”
Alter in his address Thursday night. Alter outlined the history of progressivism from Lincoln to Obama and noted that the resurgent progressive movement currently relies on the success of the Affordable Care Act. “The shameful era in American history where if you got sick or your child got sick you had to sell your home or declare personal bankruptcy, that shameful era is now in the past,” Alter said. “That’s an amazing progressive accomplishment. Criticizing the conservative far right, Alter explained his opinion saying those who complain about federal government intrusion in their lives are at the same time benefiting greatly from
that involvement. “I’m sorry to insult Idaho in this way, but when you get so much more from the government than you pay in taxes— like a state like Idaho does— and then you complain about the government being in your business, you start to wonder a little bit if people have really thought through their social contract,” Alter said. Touching on the recent NSA spying revelations, Alter noted how previous justification for wartime surveillance generally extended to the end of a conflict. “The problem with terrorism is it is a war unlike any other war and a war without end. At the end of those other wars, we got our rights back,” Alter said.
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