10 years ago…
A benefit concert was planned for UW student Cody Sisco and LCCC student Mike Matheson, who were involved in a rollover car accident that resulted in Sisco’s death and a week-long hospital stay for Matheson. ● As part of a criminal justice course, students corresponded (under pseudonyms) with imprisoned serial killers to explore and challenge stereotypes about them. The students received responses varying from atonement to bragging from several well-known serial killers, including Manson family member Charles “Tex” Watson and prolific New York killer Joel Rifkin. ● Students celebrated Diwali, a major Indian and Nepalese festival where lights signify the victory of good over evil in every person, with classical Indian dance performances. ● UW’s international studies program hosted a discussion on the United States’ relationship with China, calling it “the most important relationship we have with any other nation.”
20 years ago…
BI’s letter to the editor column overflowed with responses from around the U.S. about Matthew Shepard’s death, LGBTQ rights in Wyoming and the political implications of the hate crime. ● UW information services were taxed by inquiries from national media. ● ASUW planned a campus memorial for Shepard. ● The author of the controversial children’s book “Heather Has Two Mommies” spoke on campus as part of Gay Awareness Week activities.
50 years ago…
Rumor had it a chapter of the “New Left” group Students for a Democratic Society, a “mass radical and anti-imperialist student movement” that advocated for the U.S.’s immediate withdrawal from Vietnam, would be forming on campus. ● A follower of the internationally known guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi planned a transcendental meditation seminar in Casper. ● Homecoming court hopefuls (the female ones) posed for photographs. ● The Relate ‘68 series of student “Bitch Ins” began on campus as an open forum for discussion and debate. ● The university polled students on their opinion of widely reviled changes to Student Health services and costs.
