Free Republic

In the fall of 2008, the University of Texas enrolled 10,335 minority students, not including Asian-Americans. As far as Abigail Fisher was concerned, that was one too many. Fisher had made good grades in high school - a 3.59 average on a 4.0 scale - posted a score of 1180 on the SAT test and finished as number 82 in a graduating class of 674 at Stephen F. Austin High School in Sugar Land. She figured that was good enough. Then came those dreadful words: "We regret to inform you ..." Fisher was heartbroken. Her dad went to Texas, and...

There’s no butts about it. A University of Tennessee student who allegedly binged on alcohol by “butt chugging” denied that he was hospitalized for the dangerous activity, claiming he’d never do such a thing because it would violate “God’s law.” In a rambling written statement, 20-year-old Alexander (Xander) Broughton said, “I am a Christian who would never desecrate my body in that manner.” “That manner” would be consuming alcohol through a rubber tube inserted into his rectum. Broughton, of Memphis, was taken to a Knoxville hospital Sept. 22 with a blood-alcohol level at a life-threatening .40, according to reports. The...

KAYSVILLE — A suspected gunman has died from gunshot wounds after a shooting that left another man in critical condition. Just before 2:30 p.m. Friday, a gunman at Francis Peak Apartments, located at 600 West Mutton Hollow Road in Kaysville, shot 51-year-old maintenance manager Steve Bailey multiple times, "emptying the clip" and critically wounding him. Witnesses report that Bailey witnessed a domestic dispute between a man and woman in a common area of the apartment complex and tried to intervene when the man shot Bailey at close range. Police report that an armed witness shot at the gunman, but it...

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Carrying a holstered gun or toting a rifle would not be grounds for a disorderly conduct or other criminal charges under a proposed law Utah legislators are again considering. Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, introduced his latest version of the bill to the Judiciary Interim Committee on Wednesday but said he still needs to make some changes so it "reads a little bit better." "Last year, there was a lot of wrangling over wording," he said. The House passed Ray's bill during the 2012 Legislature, but it died in the Senate. Since then, Ray said he...

Gun-friendly Utah is surprisingly queasy when it comes to the kinds of paper targets shooters are allowed to use on state-owned ranges. Well, one state agency is, anyway. Now a Beehive State legislator wants to know why. “’The range belongs to the people,’ Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Eagle Mountain, said. ‘We need to make sure that people are not restricted in their use because of an overstep of authority.’” Or an overabundance of political correctness . . . It is not against state law for human form targets to be used inside the gun-friendly Beehive State, but Utah’s Division of Wildlife...

AUSTIN — The University of Texas at Austin is being evacuated due to a threat on campus. The emergency alert issued to students and staff says: "Evacuation due to threats on campus. Immediately evacuate ALL buildings and get as far away as possible. More information to come."Click here for a link to the alert on the UT Austin website.

Woe to any scientist with an interest in objectively researching and reporting on “LGBT”-related issues. If your findings fail the left’s socio-political “butterflies-and-rainbows” litmus test, the “progressive” establishment will try to destroy you – guaranteed. Thus, on these matters, honest scientific inquiry will require courage. Kansas State University, July 2010: Family Studies professor Dr. Walter Schumm releases the most comprehensive study to date on the effects of homosexual “parenting.” Published in the Journal of Biosocial Science, the study determined, among other things: Children raised in “gay” households are up to 12 times more likely to self-identify as “gay”; Of those...

SANDY, Utah (AP) — Salt Lake County's top prosecutor says a 35-year-old man who shot and killed an intruder at a Sandy apartment was justified in using deadly force. Priest Jemelle Mitchell is being cleared in shooting of 41-year-old Brendon Saunders at the Windmill Cove Apartments on June 30.

AUSTIN, TX, August 30, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Texas university has determined that “no formal investigation is warranted” against a professor who published a rigorous study this summer finding that children of heterosexual parents fare better in many respects than children of homosexual parents. The University of Texas at Austin announced this week it would not pursue allegations against associate sociology professor Mark Regnerus an article published in the journal Social Science Research in July. The announcement came in response to LGBT activist and blog author Scott Rosensweig, who had accused Regnerus of crafting a study “designed so as to...

SALT LAKE CITY — Some have raised the question of whether college students who are here illegally could go to law school, and eventually become lawyers, or even judges. Some states are looking into whether the requirements should be changed to become a lawyer, to allow more students who are here without documentation to start the process.

WEST VALLEY CITY — A West Valley man was charged Tuesday with kidnapping and sexually assaulting his 14-year-old neighbor. The girl told police she heard a noise at her door on June 23 and went outside to investigate. There, she discovered her neighbor, Antonio Jose Perez, 28. She tried to go back inside her apartment when Perez grabbed her, according to charges filed in 3rd District Court. Perez tried to take the teen to his nearby apartment and groped and sexually assaulted her as she tried to break free from him, the charges state.

Authorities in Utah have suggested that recreational shooters have caused at least 19 fires in the Beehive State so far this year – a notion that has caused quite a discussion on a popular Northwest hiking forum – and the real fire season hasn’t even started. Coincidentally, this assertion comes within days of a fire ignited near Belfair by a couple of shooters who somehow managed to hit, with an alleged ricochet, a cargo container filled with fireworks, as reported by Seattle’s KOMO, the ABC affiliate. One can suppose that it just might be possible for a bullet glancing off...

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Matheson said Tuesday he intends to vote in favor of holding U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt of Congress regarding a government operation gone wrong. Utahns expect and deserve transparency and accountability from government officials, especially when a tragedy such as the death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent occurs, he said. The tragedy, he said, is compounded when both sides play politics instead of releasing the facts. "Sadly, it seems that it will take holding the attorney general in contempt to communicate that evasiveness is unacceptable," Matheson said. In an operation known as “Fast...

Of all the amendments to the Constitution, I used to think the Second Amendment was my least favorite. It just did nothing for me. Quite obviously, I very much enjoy my freedom of speech, and of the press. Though there are some Sunday mornings I curse the 21st Amendment, I'm generally content with a nice glass of wine. And of course, number 19, allowing those of us with a uterus to vote, I find of particular importance. But the Second Amendment, the one ensuring us the right to bear arms, I was never entirely sold on. Mostly this is because...

An 18-year-old walked away with what appears to be non-life-threatening injuries after he was hit by a bus near the University of Texas at Austin. KXAN in Austin reports that Cyril Yannick “Nick” Engmann, 18, of Rockwall, was joining other students in “Foam Sword Friday,” an end-of-the-semester tradition, when he ran onto the street just as a bus was driving by. Shocked onlookers, who, like Engmann, were waving foam swords, watched as he was knocked several feet in front of the bus. He then walked away from the crash, but was taken to a nearby hospital to be checked out....

“It's not as bifurcated as male and female, again it will depend on how you define gender inclusive or gender neutral communities, so again we're too early in the process to say what it's going to look like or how we will define it,” said Hemlata Jhaveri, director of Residence Law at UT. According to Jhaveri, the discussion to allow men and women to co-habitate in the same campus dorm rooms began early this spring when a campus group called STANDOUT, advocates for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender student rights, approached the Residence Hall Association with the request.

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Kiet Thanh Ly is accused of a stabbing spree at a downtown Salt Lake City supermarket. The stabbing happened at the 400 South 600 East Smith's location April 26 at about 5:30 p.m. where the stabbings sent customers running for safety. Police say Ly, who is 33-years-old, bought the knife at the store then stabbed two men in the parking lot and tried to stab others. Police say Ly did not know his victims. The hero of the hour is a man with a concealed weapons permit. He held Ly at gunpoint until...

Guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens can be used to save lives. On Thursday, April 26, 2012, we got more proof. An attacker bought the knife inside a local market in Salt Lake City, UT, then stabbed one man in the side of the head and another person in the stomach. The attack took place in the market parking lot. A bystander with a concealed carry permit witnessed the attack and stepped in to keep it from escalating. The bystander was suspicious of what might be going on, and when he saw the stabbing, he just drew his pistol...

Amid the crowded field of House candidates across the country in 2012, expect to hear a lot about Mia Love, a Republican who is an African American and a Mormon and who on Saturday defeated a handful of rivals to clinch the party nomination in the campaign for Utah's fourth congressional district. Love is preparing to face incumbent Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson. Victory in November would make her the first black Republican congresswoman in history. A Brooklyn-born Mormon convert, Love is a marathon-running mother of three and the daughter of Haitian immigrants who came to the United States with $10...

Black Mormon Conservative Mia Love won the GOP’s 4th Congressional District nomination Mia Love pulled a major upset, winning the Republican Party nomination in Utah’s 4th Congressional District, advancing to face U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson in November. Love won 70.4 percent of the vote from the delegates while former state lawmaker Carl Wimmer captured 29.6 percent. From Love4Utah website: In November 2011, Mia Love filed to run for Utah’s newly formed 4th Congressional District based on her demonstrated leadership on conservative principles. She credits her parents with providing the foundation for her ideals. After many years of living in the...