The BYU-I Scroll Article: Video game features disabled student’s image

This is so cool!!! I called The Scroll after reading it, and asked for them to forward the article to me. I wish they'd included his picture, but I'll try to work on that later... For now, just read it, and comment what you think, please!
Claire


Video game features disabled student’s image
Have you ever contemptuously thought to yourself that those playing sports video games should go play a “real” sport?
“To most people it’s a video game, to me it’s a dream come true,” said Hans Smith, a junior studying communication, of the upcoming release of MLB 10 The Show, which will feature his image as a player in the game.
Smith’s dream is to become a radio baseball commentator. Smith also has cerebral palsy, which confines him to a wheelchair and affects his hands and arms, making physical participation in sporting activities all but impossible.
“Your disability is what you have, not who you are,” Smith said. “Your mind determines your reality. Now I can be me. Now I can be a baseball player.”
Smith has loved baseball since early childhood and remembers when his two older brothers explained the games to him as they would listen together on the radio. “We were one of five families [in the country] who didn’t have cable TV,” Smith said.
Later, when his parents bought him a Sega Genesis so he could play baseball video games, Smith surprised his family by beating his two brothers. Owing to his physical disability, Smith’s parents had doubted his ability to use the video game controller. “I absolutely killed ‘em,” Smith said. This started Smith’s career of “virtual baseball.”
Not all baseball games, however, are alike to Smith. In the fall of 2007, when Smith saw a commercial for MLB 08 The Show, he knew it was better than what he had been playing.
“This game was unbelievable,” Smith said. Along with excellent graphics and a first-person play mode, “… you had to read coaches’ signs … [and know] when to be in position for a double feature.”
The new game more fully recreated the feeling of being an actual baseball player. Smith was sold, and he got rid of his Xbox in order to be able to purchase and play the new game on the PlayStation 3. Little did he know that his decision to buy this game would lead to him being a “part of the action” in more ways than he expected.
“I decided to play a whole 162 game series,” Smith said. “About the middle of the season I realized I would be extremely ungrateful if I didn’t thank [the makers of the game].”
“I wanted to write Sony … to tell them how much I appreciated their game,” Smith said. “[When I wrote to them] I said…you have given me an opportunity to do something that I would do in real life, but I can’t because of something that is out of my control.”
The senior director of the MLB game franchise for Sony called Smith in response to his letter. He told Smith how grateful they were for Smith’s expression of gratitude. “[He said] ‘we would like to make your dream of being a baseball player even more a reality,’” Smith said.
Thus followed a trip to the studio in San Diego, where Smith had his head scanned with a 360 degree camera and his voice recorded.
Sony even agreed that his player, which bears his name, will continue in the game every year until the franchise ends. This means that how Smith performs in his virtual MLB season this year will affect the statistics of Hans Smith the baseball player in next year’s game, just as with real Major League players. “This is like my rookie year,” Smith said.
Even as he begins his baseball career, Smith is tries to avoid placing too much emphasis on himself. “I think what [this article] does more than [telling] my glamorous story is showing the power of gratitude,” Smith said. “It’s the power of saying thanks.”
Smith is also thankful to God for blessings he has received. “Several times I have actually prayed to Heavenly Father and told Him how thankful I am that I can play baseball,” Smith said.
When he begins his season sometime after the game is released on March 2, Smith says he plans on entering the draft. His player is a catcher. He will then play the season, never compromising the reality of the experience or his 13 credit homework load by playing more than one game per day.
At least one pre-season game will give friends and potential fans the opportunity to see their player up close and in person. The Reading Center, where Smith works part time, plans to have a party for him when the game comes out, said Department Faculty Julie Engstrom. There will be a big-screen baseball field to boot, and Smith is looking forward to some spectators. “One thing I can’t simulate in a baseball game,” Smith said, “is the crowd.”

Check out this link!! Our awesome friends...

http://www.standard.net/topics/features/2010/03/17/ogden-girls-find-way-give-back

Inspiring Quotes for the Month:

I have really enjoyed reading the Church News, The BYUI Scroll, and MormonTimes lately. While maybe not the most political or scholarly publications, I feel a bit more uplifted and educated when I take the time to read them. Here's a few things that really touched me:

The Scroll February 23, 2010 Video Game Features Disabled Student's Image.
I'm trying to find a digital copy of this, but it was SO cool! I hate to summarize it, you just have to read it.

LDS Bobsledder Chris Fogt: "I try to carry myself a little differently. I don't want to make (the church), the Army, myself or my family look bad-ever."
Wow, if we all lived that way, imagine the difference in the world!
For those that watched the bobsledding, I guess there were a lot of accidents. His dad said before the race: "Most parents are praying for medals, We're praying for the safely of the athletes...We have a little anxiety because of this track...but I'm sure the good Lord will bless these young men." They did crash, and didn't get to finish the competition, but he said, choking back emotion after taking the brunt of the crash for the team to protect them, "I'm still safe."

John Powell, a brain tumor survivor and Vietnam Veteran is an athlete as well, and had this to say, "I ask my Heavenly Father to come with me and have as much fun as I do in competition. This has helped me to excel in any competition I am in. It is not about the medal for me. If I win one, that is great because it will not matter what color. It is all about carrying myself in competition to be honorable as a church member and to let my Heavenly Father have as much fun as I do. It was during the priesthood session of general conference in 1988 when President Thomas S. Monson ...said that every member should have the chance to play in sports. I have held onto this for all these years because no matter what my ability is I can compete in any sport."

And finally, totally off subject, but cracked me up for days, "In the famous words of John Wayne, "Life is tough, but it's tougher when you're stupid."" Let us all remember that.

Tidwell's Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake w/Claire's Raspberry Sauce

This is the cake that I made myself to celebrate my birthday, it's amazing, if I do say so myself...

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter, cubed
• 1/2 cup Crisco or oil
  
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
  
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
  
• 
  ICING:
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk
• 4 tablespoons baking cocoa
• 3-3/4 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

• In a large saucepan, bring butter, Crisco, water and cocoa just to a boil. Immediately remove from the heat. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda; add to cocoa mixture. Stir in the buttermilk, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
• Pour into a greased 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 16-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
• In a saucepan, melt butter; add milk and cocoa. Bring to a boil.
• Remove from the heat. Whisk in confectioners' sugar and vanilla until smooth. Pour over warm cake. Cool completely on a wire rack. Yield: 15 servings.

Raspberry Sauce

Ingredients-

Psst: might need to decrease the water and increase the cornstarch

• 2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
• 1-3/4 cups plus 1 tablespoon water, divided
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Directions

• In a saucepan, combine the raspberries, 1-3/4 cups water and sugar. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes.
• Mash raspberry mixture and strain through a fine sieve into a 2-cup measuring cup; discard seeds. Add water if needed to make 2 cups puree. Return to the saucepan.
• Combine cornstarch and remaining water until smooth; gradually stir into raspberry mixture. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir 1 minute longer. Remove from the heat; cool. Store in the refrigerator. Yield: 2 cups.

Piper's Room Makeover

So we had a lot of fun changing Piper's room over to a big girl's room. Since we had to move the furniture out to get her new carpet, we only moved back in what we really wanted. We traded some baby items for more grown up ones, and she was very generous and shared a lot of her toys and too small clothes with friends. We sold her toddler bed to a nice newly divorced lady off of craig's list, she needed it for her DOG. And no, I'm not kidding. But she offered a nice bundle of cash, so after a minute's hesitation, I agreed. Piper giggled and giggled at that! I framed the "little miss muffet" original print from Scott Gustafson, we bought 6 years ago, and we love it! I also purchased a bookshelf to fit all of her favorite books...and it was still too small. We love to read!! Her Grandma Higley gifted her a beautiful new bedding set a few years ago, we were so excited to be able to use it!! It is reminiscent of the special blanket she made for me more than a few years ago...a beautiful blonde ballerina with a blue fluffy tutu.
She loves the ballerinas, and is SO big in her special soft bedding. It came with special little ballerina dresses and towels, and she carried them around for a week before she'd let me hang them. She also provided the baskets that organize her socks and hats, and the lovely blankets that we use. Grandpa Fogelquist helped make her dresser "girly" for her, and she's holding the speed boat that Grandpa Tidwell made for her and Monte. And all of our grandparents keep helping us fill up that bookcase and cultivate the love of reading that she has. We're so thrilled at the new, sometimes tidy room, and all the love that has gone into making it just perfect!

Trip to Utah! And Idaho!