By Parker Smith

Choosing sides is never easy; music lovers in Provo often find themselves torn between a love of folk music and indie rock, and picking a favorite can seem impossible.

To help bridge the gap between these two diverse styles of music, Velour Live Music Gallery is hosting its annual Cowboys and Indies concert event this weekend.

This will be the fourth year the event has taken place and will include local folk bands like The Devil Whale and Moses playing with local indie rock bands like Imagine Dragons and Shark Speed.

Joe Christensen, guitarist for Shark Speed, played in the concert last year and said he’s excited to be invited to play again.

“You get kind of a mixed genre show which I’ve always enjoyed,” he said. “It would be hard for somebody to go and not like something about each band.”

With the majority of Utah ski resorts scheduled to open this weekend, operators are beginning their white-powder fortunes with man-made snow.

While many students are eager to get their boots strapped on, some are waiting for resorts to have mountains covered in natural snow as opposed to artificial snow. But is there really a difference?

“I’ve only skied down man-made snow like once,” said Nate Munson, a chemical engineering major from Boise, Idaho. “It wasn’t as smooth.” Nate added his favorite ski resort is Sun Valley in Idaho.

“Usually the only time I can tell a difference is when the man-made snow is very first coming out of the machines, it is a little more icy,” said Deidre Edmunds, a leisure services management major from Twin Falls, Idaho. “Real snow is more powdery.”

By KELLI KING

As we all know from either reading any newspaper in Utah (including the Daily Universe) or just hear-say, the LDS Church has come out with an official statement regarding rights for homosexuals to have housing and employment. This statement was given by Public Affairs managing director for the LDS church, Michael Otterson during a public hearing regarding Salt Lake City’s developing non-discrimination ordinance.

Otterson said,

Every 16 minutes, someone in the U.S. dies by suicide, and every 17 minutes, someone is left to make sense of it, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

The AFSP will be broadcasting a National Survivors of Suicide Day program this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in room 3224 of the Wilkinson Student Center.  If the event draws enough participants, the AFSP will organize a local chapter to provide much needed resources to Utah residents.

“Having lost my brother Scott to suicide in July of 2006, I am painfully aware that nothing I do can ever bring him back,” said coordinator Ashley Crist, a senior in the School of Family Life.

“However, if my efforts can help reduce subsequent suffering for even one person or one family, my loss will not be in vain.”

Crist volunteered for two years with the AFSP in Florida before returning to BYU to continue her studies.

By AMANDA VERZELLO

A possible meteor flew over the West last night, lighting up the night sky and causing alarm among Utah residents, including some BYU students.

The meteor, likely a left-over from Tuesday night’s Leonid meteor shower, exploded at exactly 12:07 am.

“It was amazing,” said Amy Nelson, a senior from Provo, majoring in studio arts, “I was excited but also a bit terrified.”

Nelson and her friend Clark Burnett were parked by Will’s Pit Stop on University Avenue when she saw Mt. Timpanogos become illuminated, then the entire sky light up.

“The whole mountain was just completely white,” Nelson said. “The snow was glistening brilliantly.”

Burnett said he initially thought the light was coming from a car’s headlights, but then “suddenly it was like it was day.”

Sky dive. Go to Europe. Bungee jump. Climb Mt. Everest. Be in two places at once.

Most people have a list of 50 things they want to do before they die and this fall many BYU students are fulfilling their once-in-a-lifetime dreams.

“It was the most daring, thrilling and scariest experience I have had,” said Ashley Garret, a psychology junior from El Dorado Hills, Calif., of her first sky-diving jump.

“The fact that I was actually going to do it didn’t occur until the plane took off; that’s when my heart started pounding like a mad-woman. All I could think was ‘this is actually happening!’”

Garrett is among many BYU students who have taken advantage of thrilling recreational opportunities in Utah.

As students anxiously await the BYU vs. U of U football game, they can prove their school spirit in a charity food drive.

BYU and the University of Utah will compete for the 15th year in a food drive to benefit local families in need for the holiday season. The food drive, in cooperation with Community Action Services and United Way, will help provide meals for families in need.

“Yes, it’s a competition and it does feel good to win, but we look at it as an opportunity to come together in a friendly competition to make a difference,” said Kevin Earl, student alumni VP of communications.

The competition is judged in two parts: pounds of food donated and monetary donations. Last year, the U of U won for pounds donated, while BYU beat them with money donated. This year, BYU has two goals, Earl said. One is to raise 140 pounds worth of canned goods and the second is to collect $50,000 in monetary donations.