On Thursday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a few significant changes to rules at its university campuses. These changes came ahead of the upcoming school year.
The Church Educational System Honor Code was already consistent across the church-owned campuses but the new changes indicate that dress and grooming standards are now unified as well. This means that shorts are allowed on all campuses, including BYU-Idaho.
There were also alterations made to the ecclesiastical endorsement interviews between students and their religious leaders each year.
The updated Honor Code says that students should abstain from marijuana, which was previously not specifically listed. The new guidelines will be implemented next week across BYU, BYU-Hawaii, BYU-Idaho and Ensign College.
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Arches National Park made an announcement on Thursday that a bat found outside its visitor center tested positive for rabies.
Officials reported that those in the park have seen other unusual bat behavior, including one bite. The rabid bat was found at the visitor center last Friday.
Visitors to the park are being warned to avoid bats since any small contact is considered to be potential exposure.
According to officials, less than 1% of bats in nature have rabies but those that act strangely or contact humans are up to 10 times more likely to have the disease.
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On Thursday, Gov. Spencer Cox joined the state’s centenarians and their families at a luncheon as part of an annual tradition that dates back to 1987.
Utah has 145 centenarians, as of June, although not all could attend the event this week. This number includes a few who will turn 100 in the near future.
The club’s oldest members are 112-year-old Ted Wells and 111-year-old Alice Bennett. Cox addressed the group at the luncheon and spoke of the life experience collected by the group of Utahns and highlighted those who served in World War II.
The governor said he looks forward to the event every year and referred to the group as “Utah’s most exclusive club”.
