#63720, BYU "Did You Know"s

[Cindy]

I was rather disappointed in the answers to this question, so I came up with my own list of interesting BYU facts that might be fun to include in a publication for freshmen (which, as I understood it, was what the reader wanted).

1. The Maeser Building was built on the site of an old cemetery.

2. Frank Abignale, the conman on whom the film Catch Me If You Can was based, claims in his autobiography that he taught a sociology course at BYU; however, this claim has not been verified.

3. Library security once called a student to tell him that, unbeknownst to him, he had a broken neck and shouldn't move until emergency services arrived. [Okay, so this isn't so much a BYU fact, but it's a crazy enough story that I wanted to mention it.]

4. In 1960, BYU tuition was only $130 per semester.

5. There was once an extensive collection of dinosaur bones stored underneath the football stadium, but they have since been removed.

6. BYU used to have a small nuclear reactor.

Anyone else have other BYU trivia they would include on the list?

[Katya]

7. The oldest item in the library is a beer recipe.

[Katya]

8. One of the best-known statues on campus (the "naked indian") is in violation of the Honor Code. (I suppose the statue of Karl. G. Maeser probably also counts, since he has a beard.)

[Dead Cat]

9. Two words: tunnel worms.

[NerdGirl]

10. (Maybe, assuming this is still true since I haven't done it in years.) You can stay in the law library all night long if you need to go somewhere to get away from your roommates or study with members of the opposite sex after midnight. You just have to get in before it closes and they don't kick you out.