The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

The University of Utah's Independent Student Voice

The Daily Utah Chronicle

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Write for Us
Want your voice to be heard? Submit a letter to the editor, send us an op-ed pitch or check out our open positions for the chance to be published by the Daily Utah Chronicle.
@TheChrony
Print Issues

Mission: Escape Dorm Room

By James West

Voila! You are now reading the first publication of a new weekly column. It’s brand-new, so feel free to imagine something like a new-car smell coming off the page.

This is a nice column-a place to escape the scandals of the front page or the squabble of liberals versus conservatives.

This is a warm fuzzy pocket of the newspaper meant to comfort and bring you joy.

This is the column you’ve all been waiting for.

I call it Escape: Dorm Room.

What you are reading now is something of a mission statement for the future column, its purpose being to give all you students an idea of something fun to do on the weekend.

When I say fun, I mean the things that are as far away and as different from going to see a museum as possible.

Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy going to a museum every now and then, but I’m confident in your ability to find out about them with out my help. This column should be viewed as your weekend’s creative tour guide to the Salt Lake City area and beyond.

My job is to find out about cool places and things to do, and then to tell you about them.

The things you will find here are the cafes with attitude and the hikes and vistas that will rejuvenate your mind.

I have to admit that I have a bias-I am an outdoorsman through and through.

Thus, there will always be mention of a hike to do or a chute to ski, but there will also be plenty of out-of-the-ordinary places to go see that require little or no physical activity.

Another recurring theme you will see here is my love of free things.

See, we have something in common already. Being just another poor college student, I’m making an obvious effort to write about things that won’t break your or my little piggy bank.

There’s almost always a free concert or event going on somewhere between here and Park City.

Whether you have only an hour at your disposal (it sucks to be you if you’re that busy, but I’m sure you’re out there), or you have an entire weekend to fill up, my aim is to have an activity idea for all situations.

Places like Moab, Escalante and City of Rocks are all within reasonable driving distance, and are some of the most beautiful places you could ever go.

Just up the Cottonwoods there is an entire world of geography separate from the valley or the salt flats.

Hikes, excursions and cool stuff-you get the concept of the column by now. Here’s a little information about myself.

My influences are guys like Dave Berry and other humor columnists.

If I see a herd of wild llamas frolicking in the high country, you’ll be sure to read about it the next week.

Remember, I’m like your filter. I’m here to take the chlorine taste out of Salt Lake City and give you what I think you might want.

Because of this, I invite you to write me, mock me or slap me with any bad ideas you might think are good enough to print. Until next time, this is your humble tour guide, signing off.

[email protected]

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