The coaching staff for Utah's softball team just got deeper, as the Utes added longtime volunteer Cody Thomson as a full-time assistant coach. Thomson has been working with the Utes since 2004 and has been working with all four members of the pitching staff since they arrived at the U.

The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, a nonprofit group that works to protect the individual rights of students, recently assigned a passing grade to the U's speech policies.

HRE staff found a drunken student passed out in a Sage Point residence hall building hallway at 2 a.m. Friday. The student, who was found alone and not identified, was taken to the U Hospital emergency room for treatment for over-intoxication, according to the U Police Department.

Utah was ranked No. 19 nationally in a preseason poll fromVolleyball Magazine. Head coach Beth Launiere was happy with the lofty ranking but wants to guard against becoming too caught up in preseason rankings.

Local businesses have struggled in a marketplace dominated by big-box chain stores where mass production and corporate advertisement often lure consumers, but local businesses are worth supporting to keep around.

Sunday marked the Utah Transit Authority's launch of a new bus route, Route 2, known as "2 to the U." It will travel from Salt Lake Central Station to the University Hospital every 15 minutes. UTA also increased the number of trips TRAX Route 703 takes from Sandy to the U from four a day to six, which went into effect Sunday.

As an unofficial kickoff to the annual "Bleed Red" campaign, ARUP Blood Services held a blood drive Aug. 17 at the Huntsman Cancer Institute to benefit various Salt Lake City hospitals.

After releasing the depth chart that put true freshman Jordan Wynn as the No. 1 quarterback, Whittingham narrowed his search for a starter down to two but has stressed that no decision has been made.

Summer is usually looked forward to with enthusiasm and excitement. That is, unless you're a Utah sports fan, when the drought of Utah athletics leaves us craving the return of school.

Utah finished the 2008 season as the conference runner-up in both the regular season and the tournament championship to BYU. The Utes compiled an 11-9-2 record, including a 5-2 effort in league play, with the losses coming to TCU and BYU.