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To the uninitiated, copyright law can seem like a confusing, perhaps overwhelming minefield of potential lawsuits and other problems just waiting to happen. It can be intimidating to see scary FBI warnings before watching a movie on DVD (if anyone still even does that) or to read cryptic copyright notices claiming “All Rights Reserved.” Even for those who deal with copyright issues regularly, the legal landscape can be quite complex and nuanced, making it difficult to predict outcomes in advance for certain unanswered questions.

“I don’t usually drink Coke,” one student said to another. “Walking around BYU with a Coke makes me feel rebellious.”

When I was in third grade, it was the greatest desire of my heart to win the 100-yard dash in my school’s annual field day. I worked hard for that race. I was so happy when I crossed the finish line in first place. After finishing, I noticed that my principal was handing out “everybody is a winner” ribbons to every participant. You can imagine my anger as I realized that I was not being recognized for all of my hard work. In reality, not everybody is a winner, and it is time that children were taught such.

The iPhone can be labeled as one of the easiest smartphones to use. Is the world choosing this device over thousands of other phones because they truly love its capabilities and functions? Or are they choosing the iPhone because it’s the iPhone?

As a transfer student from LDS Business College, my first impression of the Salt Lake Center was that the classrooms were quite empty compared to LDS Business College. This is why I believe the university should offer more classes at the Salt Lake Center to use the resources efficiently.

An unearthly silence has fallen over campuses across the nation. The only sounds heard are the steps of students who are engrossed with what has become another appendage. Has tragedy struck? A new policy enforced? No, it is merely an obsession with smart phones. Communication has deteriorated into face-to-screen, resulting in auto correct becoming an important third party.

In a world where tweets and Facebook are just at our fingertips, it can be easy to get so caught up in our text messages and emails that sometimes the person sitting across from us seems to not even exist.

Recent events have caused me to ponder deeply the beard ban at this great university. Oddly enough, I found answers to this universal enigma from the hit movie 'Batman Begins.'

Many who once marched against the war on Iraq and detest U.S. domination have made a change in their attitude on American airstrikes in Iraq and Syria. Why? The Islamic State. Americans have been appalled by the awful killings of James Foley and Steven Sotloff, two American hostages held by the Islamic State. The justness of vengeance against their killers is something everyone agrees on. The terror-engulfing methods of ISIS make it easy to arbitrarily approach the vaporization of the Islamic extremist group; airstrikes can destroy bodies, but they can’t destroy political antagonisms. Nor would a renewed occupation solve the problem.

Envision yourself in the turn lane in the middle of the road. There are two lanes of traffic on either side, both headed in a definite direction. And there you are, trying to get somewhere, but you are stuck and quickly growing frustrated.

Regarding the article entitled 'Filing taxes: Ten things every college student should know'

A few weeks ago I was walking by a boy and a man (yes one 20+ year old boy, one 20+ year old man; age plays no role here, and you will soon find out why) and briefly eavesdropped on their conversation. I haven't stopped thinking about it since. In the short time we walked together, this is what I heard:

In the athletic scene, Title IX has increased opportunities for female athletes to play collegiate sports. Because of this policy, money allocations for collegiate sports must be equal for both genders.This is fantastic for women and a great positive influence, but it limits opportunities for male athletes who don’t play the popular collegiate sport—football. For example, rugby athletes at Brigham Young University are not financially supported by the university. Because BYU took men’s soccer off the list, BYU today has 10 women’s sports compared to the nine men’s sports that are financially supported by BYU. That means that there is identical funding, but an unequal number of sports available. This also means that there is an open spot for a men’s sport to receive funds from BYU. If BYU desires to stay equal in opportunities for both males and females, they should start by adding rugby to the list of athletic programs financially supported by BYU.

A couple who I am acquainted with recently got engaged, and a video of the proposal was uploaded to Facebook. It was blurry, it was far away, and you couldn't hear a single thing except for the heavy breathing and stifled fits of happy laughter from the person behind the camera. The existence of this video prompted me to dwell on the irony of our excess use of technology: we've come to believe we must record everything in our lives with these tools, but do we really need to? Is our obsession with preserving moments and images interfering with truly experiencing life ourselves? And how much of our drive to document is for nostalgia's sake and how much of it comes from our desire to share it online to see how much attention it gets?

The last two games of the NFL play-offs were held this weekend, and the tactlessness of some of the players was astonishing. Richard Sherman's emotional rant, Michael Crabtree’s refusal to shake hands and Wes Welker’s takeout of Aqib Talib were all classless acts that shame professional football. I'm from Colorado, and most of my friends are Broncos fans, though I know people who like each of the four teams. It shocked me how quick Broncos fans were to criticize the Seahawks' Sherman while defending the illegal play of their own wide receiver, Welker. Only two out of hundreds of posts about the topic on Facebook from Broncos fans admitted that Welker had ignored the ball and gone right for Talib, an illegal play per Rule 8, Section 5, Article 2.

Why do we still associate our country with freedom? The freedom to say what we want, to do what we want, to buy what we want, within the limits of the law, should be entirely up to us. We the people should not have to put up with government infringement, especially when it comes to choosing which health care plan to purchase. We the people should not be limited because of their faulty system.