The Bengal at Idaho State University
14 September 2021 • Page 4
LIFE
Chloe Reid | Life Editor Contact: bglife@isu.edu
Students Conquer Cadet Field Lesley Brey Editor-in-Chief If you happened to drive by Cadet Field last Friday, you may have noticed something strange. On Friday, Sept 10 the Student Activities Board (SAB) hosted a mo-
bile Ninja-Nation obstacle course for the very first time. Based on the success of the popular TV competition, American Ninja Warrior, companies throughout the country have sprung up promoting the sport of obstacle course running. Beyond the main
event, there were also freshly grilled hot dogs, cold water and cola, lawn games, mini-escape rooms and t-shirt tie-dying stations. “It’s just amazing, honestly, especially after last year. We didn’t have an event like this, we didn’t have a lot of [the]
Photo Courtesy of Brandon Oram | Photo Editor
events that we’re [now] having. You can tell, everybody is just super excited to be outside and together,” said sophomore student ambassador Katie Mink. Although the afternoon was a bit overcast and breezy, that didn’t stop many students from coming to explore the event. During the time that I was there, there were at least 100 students on the field, many mingling or enjoying the free food. While free chips and pop might be a draw for many a broke college student, clearly the major draw was the opportunity to test their mettle against the obstacle course itself. Starting off with a series of uneven side-step boards, runners then had to launch off of a wobbly trampoline, scale a rope wall, run across a rotating balance beam, navigate spinning platforms and tough-out the free moving monkey bars before finally taking a shot at free climbing the 10 foot wall or perhaps even its more imposing twin, the 12 foot warped wall. “The object is to never give up. These obstacles were designed for all ages, five to ninety-five. Our job is to encourage success in everybody,” said course operator Micheal Grove. Indeed, because the course was free to explore, not only students, but children as well joined the line to test out their parkour skills. The emphasis on endurance was not lost on the crowd, with many (myself included) running the course multiple times. Even if they didn’t have a chance to run the course themselves, many spectators gathered to enjoy watching others making attempts. Some approached the course with bravado, only to become quickly tangled up in the netting, while others seemed to sail through the obstacles despite wearing jeans and beanies. Regardless of their success or failure, every runner I observed left the course smiling. “[My favorite event] has been the warrior course, it’s been fun to watch. I’ve seen quite a few people get up the warp wall, so that’s been cool,” said Mink. “My favorite thing has been watching the people on the ninja course, just tackling the wall and having fun with it. Seeing people have fun means we did our jobs,” said SAB Bengal Pride officer Sierra Gibbons. “We were looking for something big that [hadn’t been] done before, so we found a ninja-nation course, a mobile one. [We wanted] people to have some fun and compete.” With COVID-19 concerns ever present, the SAB has had to find a balance between offering up the unique experiences college is supposed to offer, while simultaneously trying to prevent transmission and infection. Many of the year’s past and upcoming events have had to take place outdoors so as to limit students congregating in close proximity. However, that has not prevented the SAB from putting together several sorely missed events. With “Conquer Cadet” a clear success, the SAB already has its sights set on the next big target. “Homecoming is a week away, it starts the 20th of September, and it’s going to be a week full of fun events. We have a barbeque, there’s bingo, the bonfire, we have a cowboy carnival which is something we haven’t done before, there will be a mechanical bull, there will be something every single day for students to do,” said Gibbons. If anything, “Conquer Cadet” was a microcosm of the issues facing students this year. While the pandemic continues to rage, how do we balance between staying safe, having fun and recovering from more than 12 months of isolation and loss? How do we keep moving forward despite the growing, or at times overwhelming, challenges ahead? “You can’t start unless you begin, you have to try, you have to go for it, and it just takes that one first step, the side-steps,” said Grove.
Downard, continued from cover According to the statement, Idaho Legislation passed the act known as the “Idaho Unborn Infants Dignity Act, Idaho Code 39-9306” which states that public institutions can not use infant remains or embryonic stem cells for research or study purposes. ISU determined that the act likely applied to the university and transferred the fetuses to Downard to be cremated. “In April 2017, Downard Funeral Home picked up the collection containing 61 fetuses, the majority of which were donated to ISU prior to 1981,” according to the statement. Unfortunately, these events have negatively affected the families of loved
ones. Eva Bode and Tom Henderson are a married couple from Virginia. Bode’s sister, Charlotte Ann Mygrant, was one of the six identified bodies in the funeral home. Mygrant passed away after suffering a severe heart attack on August 17th. When Mygrant passed away at the Portneuf Medical Center the staff contacted Bode and asked where she wanted the body transferred to. At this time she was still in Virginia and asked what would be a good funeral home since she knew nothing about the area. The hospital recommended Downard and Bode agreed to have her sister transferred there. According to East Idaho News,
“Bode spoke with Lance Peck, the owner of Downard, the day her sister passed away. She says he assured her everything would be taken care of, and Mygrant’s wishes to be cremated would be fulfilled.” After multiple conversations between Bode and Peck, the owner of Downard Funeral Home, Bode made one last phone call to Peck on September 1 the two-week anniversary of her sister’s death. Peck was driving and Bode said to call her back as soon as he was back in the office. After this Bode looked up the funeral home to find the office number and saw what was happening. On September 3rd police executed the search warrant and Bode
received a call later that day positively identifying that her sister was one of the 12 bodies found. “This is stuff you only see on TV. I was very upset because Lance made me feel like he was really genuine, caring and really taking care of this,” Bode says. “To find this out on the internet was unbelievable,” said Bode according to East Idaho News. In the end, the family stated that they just wanted Peck to lose his license and be criminally charged. No charges have been filed yet and this case is an ongoing investigation.