Here’s a look at the news for Feb. 8.
LDS Church announces new worldwide higher education program
Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a new program on Tuesday called BYU Pathway Worldwide, which is an online higher education program to help unite online BYU and BYU-Idaho students, according to the Deseret News.
The program already has more students than any other BYU campus program, the Deseret News reported, with 37,000 students already signed up. A similar program, called BYU-Idaho Pathway, has been implemented at that school under Clark Gilbert, who will now head the new Pathway Worldwide school.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf announced the new program on Tuesday, calling it “a historic moment” for the LDS Church.
"This is a very special day for the Church Educational System and a day of hope and joy for many of our young people worldwide who are seeking to educate themselves and to prepare for a successful livelihood,” he said.
Read more about the program at the Deseret News.
Elizabeth Warren silenced at Senate hearing
Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren was silenced Tuesday night by Senate Republicans after reading letters from Martin Luther King Jr.’s deceased wife, Coretta King, BBC reported.
Warren read these letters to protest Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions’ appointment to attorney general. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said her words had broken Senate rules.
“She is now banned from speaking in the Senate until the end of Mr. Sessions' nomination process. The vote is expected on Wednesday,” according to BBC.
According to The Washington Post, McConnell had the power to do so thanks to Rule 19, which is a provision rarely used in the Senate. The rule says that senators may not “directly or indirectly, by any form of words impute to another senator or to other senators any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming a senator,” according to The Washington Post.
Other rules exist in the Senate that contradict Rule 19. One example includes Thomas Jefferson’s list of rules for a practicing Senate.
One rule, for example, reads:
“No one is to disturb another in his speech by hissing, coughing, spitting, speaking or whispering to another nor to stand up or interrupt him; nor to pass between the Speaker and the speaking member; nor to go across the chamber, or to walk up and down it, or to take books or papers from the [clerk’s] table, or write there.”
Trump travel ban faces questions
President Donald Trump’s proposed travel ban to limit refugees and visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries from coming into the United States faces questions this week from a trio of judges, according to the BBC.
The 9th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments Tuesday over the order, according to USA Today. Washington state and Minnesota argued against the ban, while the Justice Department supported it.
The judges asked whether or not Trump has the power to institute such a ban, or if he has enough evidence to link terrorist attacks to these Muslim-majority countries, BBC reported. The judges are also considering whether or not the ban is anti-Muslim.
The 9th U.S Circuit Court of Appeals will make a ruling this week. The case is expected to progress to the Supreme Court, regardless of that decision, according to BBC.
What does it mean to be a Sterling Scholar?
Winners of the Sterling Scholar awards spoke with the Deseret News this week about what the award means to them.
For the uninitiated, the Sterling Scholar award (which the Deseret News has helped hand out since 1962) is allocated to exceptional high school students.
The award includes funding for scholarships, thanks to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Foundation, according to the Deseret News.
But the award has brought more than just college funds to these students. Here are some former winners explaining to the Deseret News how the award affected them.
- Annie Henrie, won in 2004 for visual arts: “Sterling Scholar was really a life-changing experience for me. I had always wanted to be a professional artist, and the Sterling Scholar awards looked like a great opportunity to see if I could be qualified for this type of career, to see if I could ‘make it’ in a sense, and the scholarships available made it an exciting challenge. "Winning in the state finals for Sterling Scholar gave me an enormous amount of confidence in my abilities and hope for success in the art field.”
- Mitchell Talmadge won in 2016 for computer technology: “The prestigious nature of the award has helped me to earn scholarships I would not have been able to beforehand, allowing me to pay for my college education when I previously felt that I would not be able to. Carrying such a title has been a huge motivator for me. When times get tough in college, I remember all the work I put in to get here, and it gives me that boost I need to keep going.”
Read more about the award at the Deseret News.Talk about a smash hit
This frustrated tennis player hit the umpire in the face with the ball.
Total accident, right?
“Although Denis Shapovalov's frustration here is understandable, it turns out that if you hit a ball as hard as you can and it ends up hitting the umpire in the head, you will be disqualified,” according to Digg.