BY ROB ROGERS
rob@newsroom.byu.edu
Red and blue isn't the only difference.
Students at the University of Utah have a few more local options to pepper up their night-life as well.
'It was more fun,' said BYU junior and ex-University of Utah student Emily Lewis.
Lewis, a Media Arts major from Salt Lake City, is starting her first semester at BYU.
'The parties are a lot different. Every one here feels like they have to be doing something, some kind of activity or something. At the U, every one just kind of hangs out,' said BYU junior and Accounting major Jenny Cannon.
Cannon, also an ex-Utah student, has been at BYU for two semesters.
'But it seems like there's usually something to do,' Cannon said of Provo. 'If not, we'd go up to Salt Lake.'
Both Lewis and Cannon noted that students at BYU seemed to go more out of their way to get to know people.
'The U is more just an extension of high school. Your high school friends are there and that's who you hang out with,' Lewis said.
'Some groups don't branch out much, but down here they're really friendly and go out of their way,' she said.
As for things to make and do, Salt Lake City has hundreds of restaurants, art galleries and clubs within walking distance, said Utah senior Shawn Parker Bailey.
Better known University of Utah social centers, like the Pie Pizzeria, tend to be lower on the hip hang-out food chain simply because it is better known.
'The Pie has good eats, but it's kind of a lame place to hang out,' Bailey said.
'The rude awakening at the U is realizing there is no campus community,' he said. 'It's a commuter school.'
Because of the commuting nature of the school, some University of Utah students still do get-togethers at their parent's house, or congregate at their same high school hang-outs.
Lewis and Cannon belonged to a sorority and lived in their sorority house. They usually got together there to hang-out on the weekends.
However, from D.B. Cooper's to DV8, Salt Lake has its fair share of hot spots.
Tower Theater, Salt Lake's only year-round independent film venue, is another local hangout.
'The thing about Salt Lake,' Bailey said, 'is that if the place doesn't cater to a broad audience, it caters to a very, very narrow audience.'
There doesn't seem to be a lot of in-betweens, Bailey said.
The Salt Lake Roasting Co. is a favored spot for and o is the whole 9th and 9th area.
With only one dance club and one major venue for live music, Provo doesn't carry the same nightlife weight.
However, with a small underground folk and acoustic music scene, Provo and Utah County in general, offers something Salt Lake City doesn't -- small, intimate in-house concerts.
'They offer really good folk concerts at the U,' said concertgoer Brent Everett. But, he noted, the Timpanogos Intimate Concert Series has tried hard to keep concerts small and, well, intimate.
However, north in Salt Lake City, in between all the coffee houses and progressive music and craft shops, most University of Utah students seem to have found their niche. 'There are lots of places where you can go and be pretentious,' Bailey said.
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