X94/USU Operation Happy Family

USU has teamed up with X94 this year in what is called Operation Happy Family. Chances are that you have heard about it over the radio! In the past, Charlie and X94 have taken it upon themselves to bring Christmas to several families each every year! Certain people will call into the radio station to nominate specific families that have specific needs. The families nominated then go through a screening process to make sure they are a valid candidate and that they will get the things they need.




We have done well in getting the word out this year! Nearly 44 families were nominated this year and we are inline to getting enough donations to provide for all 44 families!

I want to take a moment and tell you a little about the crew down at Channel X94! Brad Litton and I had the honor of sitting in the room with them as they were going through the" family screening process." When I saw how this process was done, I almost wept. It wasn't long before I could tell that they took this thing seriously. We sat in there, watching Charlie and the girls intensely read and study the description of each family that was nominated. While a few tears were shed, we finally came up with two piles.

On one said was the "yes" pile where in we put all the families we thought were the best candidates. On the other side was the "maybe" pile. There were so many families nominated this year that the donations received only covered the "yes" pile. When we were finished distributing the families, the "yes" pile was only slightly larger than the "maybe" pile! This brought great concern to Charlie. He moved into the thinking position, in hopes to receive some kind of inspiration. After a couple minutes, he had a bright idea! "Lets get more donations!" For the next 10 minutes, we put our heads together and came up with a plan to try and get enough donations to cover all the families in the "maybe" pile. To say the least, it was an amazing experience, and I realized how much Charlie and the crew really love the people in the Uintah Basin!


We hope everyone can join in serving the people in our community, especially during this holiday season! If you are interested in taking on a family for christmas or helping us distribute presents to these families, just contact us via facebook at our USUgroup or via email at www.usuuintahbasin@gmail.com!

Halloween is OVER

I wish I had all the pictures that were taken at the Halloween Party- I guess that calls for another blog post in the very near future. I mean we had ghosts flying around, spiders crawling everywhere, it was creepy. Even more, after we got the table setup and organized nicely, Freddy Cruger decided to crash the party and left a bloody mess for us to clean up. Brad Litton and I were pretty fortunate to have our wives help with the decor. Check out these pictures... they are quite creative, maybe even demented, lol!





























Maybe I am bias, but it seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves at the party. Everyone was moving their bodies to the music! There was plenty of candy to go around the whole town of Vernal! It was a great time.

The night before the party, Hero's Hero, Troquar, and New Tragedy ROCKED it like its HOT! Hero's Hero opened the night up with some nice acoustic sounds and I must say- that vocalist has got some vocals! Troquar surprised us with a new look! They came out on the stage in costumes, the lead singer and guitarist as Joker! They played some of their originals, but placed some Halloween hits in the mix. The crowd went wild when they sang Ghostbusters- it was pretty rad! Finally, New Tragedy! From the moment they set foot on stage, they lit that place up! The crowd was jumping up and down, a few mosh pits broke out! They freakin rocked the house! They will be opening up for "Monty Are I"(tours with Hawthorne Heights) in the near future so stay tuned!

Here are some pictures of the show...

Story Continued...

Read the last post before reading this one!


"Did I just waste a whole 4 months of my life...spending half the time at the beach and the other half learning which pick-up lines worked and which ones did not?" I kept asking myself this question over and over again as I reflected on my life. I knew I had to be more effective with my time if I was going to be successful my own way. I was 22 years old and the only thing I owned at the time was a couple hundred dollars in my savings account and maybe the front bumper of my car.

My hope was to make enough money that I could put a good chunk of it towards a business venture or investment. This is what I was banking on for when I got back from the California adventure. I checked my bank account and quickly realized that my entrepreneur dreams would remain how they are... in my dreams!


Although very disappointed and discouraged, something inside of me told me that I had a lot more learning to do. Right about that time, a friend told me to read a book titled "Rich Dad Poor Dad." When I first read the cover, I was a little skeptical! I mean I was not the type to judge anyone if they were rich or poor, and I wasn't about to be made-fun of for only having a couple hundred dollars to my name! I was so frustrated at how hard it is to make a buck in this world, and to hear from an author that makes millions by describing what kind of person you are by how much money you make... ridiculously annoying! After I had my mental meltdown, he explained to me that this book had changed his whole perception on life and money, and how they mesh together.

I began reading the book. To my utter surprise, as I read the introduction of the author Robert Kiyosaki, I became a fan very quickly! This guy had such a strong personality that I was hooked from the opening paragraph. He talked about how we should be able to enjoy our lives. He talked about vacations. He talked about spending time with friends and family as a huge priority. He talked about the difference between spending money, saving money, and investing it. He talked about principles that can make anyone financially free! The more I read his fascinating work, the more courage and ambition I felt within myself, and the more desire I had to share this with anyone and everyone I knew! I thought about the great impact this could have on someone's life if they had learned it at a younger age.

After I finished the book, I knew I was on the right track! All that experience of talking to and interacting with people in California was all for my good. It was time to refocus and analyze my life. To be continued...

Read last post before you read this one...


So there I was with all this energy and ambition, and I didn't know quite what to do with it. At the time I was working at a surveying company, spending most of my days out in the oil patch and up in the mountains, riding around on a four wheeler, digging holes, and hitting sticks into the ground. Although swinging a hammer didn't require much use of my brain, my head was spinning with ideas. I knew I had always wanted to be an inventor or a business owner, I just had never thought about what it takes to be one. I was always thinking of new products and new inventions that I could introduce to the market, but I didn't know the first thing about patenting my product, marketing and advertising my product, and for that matter even MAKING my product.

I decided to go get some experience in the selling department, as I was invited by a close friend to do summer sells in California. When I got down there, we were so excited to make the big bucks that we started knocking on doors before we even unpacked our bags. I quickly learned why successful salesman make so much money... because very few can actually do this job successfully. Despite all the "NO's" I got while on my mission, I still hated the word "no" and I believe that word has put more fear into people's souls than any other word... including "hell." After a couple months I decided that I liked playing football and boogy boarding on the cool Huntington Beach, rather than walking up and down the road in the blazing-California heat fruitlessly knocking on doors. By the end of the summer I found out the reason why I was supposed to come to California. My close friend found his wife there!

I admit I had a bad attitude about the whole thing, but later on I realized that this was an important part in my life! I will continue with the story next time. Meanwhile check out the activities we have planned for Halloween weekend!

Sitdown Everyone! It's Story Time! Make sure the person behind you can't see your underwear...

I guess since this is a student blog, I will tell you my story from a current student's perspective. It is not that interesting so if you want to grab a bag of chips and a soda, you just might be able to get through it! There is no way I will finish it today so make sure you check back again (and bring another bag of chips).

As I returned home from my mission, I was feeling really good and ambitious as most returned missionaries do; maybe it was because I could start kissing girls again, I don't know! Despite the specific reasoning behind why I was so pumped up at the time, I was ready to take on the world! Wishing and hoping to be successful was an understatement for what I had running in my mind.

Growing up, I learned some pretty valuable lessons. In kindergarten, I learned not to steal toys from my classmates. In 3rd grade, I learned that girls were cute (greatest lesson of all, lol). As I graduated elementary school I could add, subtract, divide, and multiply integers. When I got my first locker, I got a good taste of what it feels like to have my "own space." I continued on to Junior High and onto High School... learning about and studying mathematics, english, science, having friends, having enemies, religion, culture... the opposite sex, haha. What a rollercoaster of a ride! As we are basically forced to make decisions and interact with others, etc, we become very good at observing, comparing others to ourselves, and picking up on things that happen over and over again, or patterns. In the midst of all that craziness, something really stuck out to me. In a little bit, I want to show you something I picked up on, and that is the direct correlation between someone who is knowledgeable and someone who is successful.

I didn't know where to harness this energy. I was taught my whole life that going to school was the best way to be successful, but something stubborn inside of me convinced me that "I will do it my own way! I have bigger plans than just going to school!"

To be continued...it get's better I promise!

Is USU Uintah Basin a good place to attend school?

These last couple weeks have been pretty crazy for most of us: students trying to avoid the purges, desperately waiting for their scholarship money to set in. Other students are worried about their required class getting filled up, leaving no more "seats" available! Some students are hoping that their boss will give them some time-off for their new college schedule! And more typically, most of us are still wondering what major we want to pursue. Whatever the case is, it's not easy for anyone but in many ways, we fortunate to be living here in the Uintah Basin!

Hands down, we have the best college administrative office in Utah! If you have not met the "girls" in the office, you have already missed out. And I don't mean when you signed up for classes- I'm talking about going in there to say "hi" with a plate of cookies. After a good-hard day of studying and stressing, at the end of the day I usually make my way in there just to blow off a little steam; it is very therapeutic and I recommend it. Dean Holley and the rest of the boys usually hideout, but if you see them in the hall, don't forget to ask them for some ice cream. They are so willing to give! I am lucky to be in the Uintah Basin.


Cafe Rio is COMING! Despite the economic down turn, the movers and shakers in the Uintah Basin are STILL MOVING and they are STILL SHAKING! We have seen more commercial construction occur in the last year than we have seen in the last 5 years. Cafe Rio has been a favorite ever since the first doors opened on University Parkway in Provo, UT and then eventually making it's way up the Wasatch Front. I will be able to enjoy my personal favorite (...and I know I am not alone): the Pork Barbecoa, Enchilada Style Burrito, and I can enjoy that right here at the long-waited Cafe Rio in the city of Vernal! Yes, I am glad to be in the Uintah Basin.


Finally, if you get a chance, you should go up and check out the new UBATC/USU building. At 86,000 square feet, what an amazing structure it is! All the hype around here tells me that this building is just a glimpse of what is to come. Currently, the Bingham building is under construction and roomer has it that we will be attending classes their the 2010 Fall Semester. I am excited to be in the Uintah Basin.

Our A's are on fire!

Welcome to my blog! Actually it would be selfish of me to say this was my own. I would rather call this the "Utah State, representing the unique and amazing, Uintah Basin" blog! My name is Brian Greene and I am acting as the Student Body President for the 2009-10 school year. All that means is that I get to hang out with my fellow students, go to alot of parties, find out what you want and deliver, and decide what prizes to give away at our events... The Wii, Xbox 360, ipods, mountain bikes, "the list goes on and on."

If you haven't already, you will quickly realize that this is the hotspot for all the "cool stuff" happening around here in the Uintah Basin at USU. If you have attended any of our events in the past, you know that we don't take this stuff lightly. We give away thousands of dollars of prizes at our events and offer tasty complimentary food around every corner. If you see Bob in the hall, don't be bashful- he loves giving away free ice cream! He has never turned me down and you make sure you tell him that.

It is so important that you stay connected with us. You can find us on facebook if you click here!, and make sure you subscribe to our feed in the right column of this blog. If you stay "with us" on these things, you will not miss out on any of the big things that are going to be taking place. If you haven't noticed, we have some pretty hardcore rockbands right here in Vernal City. When I say hardcore, I don't mean they will blast your ears out of socket- I mean they take their job seriously and will rock your freakin socks off! We are going to bringing in some bigger names to Vernal and let these locals show them how talented they really are. Also, we have some of the best DJ's in the West that are ready to put on some flavor that you can move your body to.