Multimedia

By Amy Rymer  ¦   Laughter yoga started in India in 1995 and combines exercises with a little bit of stretching and deep breathing. You do not need to feel happy, have a sense of humor or need a reason to laugh. Sarah Samson has started a laughter club in Columbia and uses the phrase "Fake it 'til you make it." The exercises, such as making a milkshake and electric shock handshake, generate fake laughter that often turns genuine.

By Kristee Sherry, Kelsi Stoltenow  ¦   The first significant snow of the year blanketed Columbia on Thursday, creating a winter wonderland complete with snowmen and traffic snarls.

By RYAN GIBBONS/Missourian  ¦   With temperatures in the high 20s, snow began falling midday on Thursday in Columbia. The National Weather Service forecasts less than one inch more accumulation through the evening.

By RYAN GIBBONS / Missourian  ¦   With temperatures in the high 20s, snow began falling mid-day on Thursday in Columbia. Columbia can expect wintry precipitation through Thursday night, according to the National Weather Service.

Alphonso L. Fagala

By SHEILA JOHNSON/Missourian  ¦   Howard Meehan talks about his public art design during the City Hall Renovation and Expansion Public Review Open House at the Daniel Boone Building on Dec. 6. Meehan has designed a sculpture and outdoor garden area for the upcoming renovation. Describing his proposed design, he said, "Flanking both sides of the piece are going to be found art objects from the old building being torn down. I wanted to create something that would juxtapose the old world against the new."

By SHEILA JOHNSON/Missourian  ¦   Steve Spellman, left, and Fourth Ward city councilman Jerry Wade look at proposed designs during the City Hall Renovation and Expansion Public Review Open House at the Daniel Boone Building on Dec. 6.

By Contributed by Howard Meehan  ¦   One of the proposed designs for the renovation of City Hall drawn by artist Howard Meehan. Meehan, an accomplished sculptor from Santa Fe, N.M., was selected by the city’s Standing Committee on Public Art and Commission on Cultural Affairs for the project after a national search for artists. He is tasked with developing artwork for the City Hall’s Percent for Art project, which is part of the City Hall’s overall construction. Meehan described the centerpiece of his concept as a “30-foot tall stainless steel triangulated sculpture with a 4-foot diameter hole in the top center” that would be erected on the ground of the plaza.

By Contributed by Howard Meehan  ¦   A sketch of a proposed design for the remodeling of City Hall. A city report on the project also states that the Daniel Boone Building will be renovated for modern use while “maintaining important architectural features.”

By AMANDA LUCIER  ¦   Students in Mrs. Twenter's fourth-grade class, Joe and Inhan, collect the recycling at Lee Elementary School. "It's one of the jobs," said Joe. Lee Elementary is working toward becoming an "eco-school" and recycling is a part of each classroom.

By AMANDA LUCIER  ¦   To increase students' awareness of the environment around them, teachers winter their house plants on the second floor of Lee Hills Elementary, using them as a lesson in climate and plant ecology. The plants contribute to a quiet atmosphere for a reading lesson between second-grader Trisha and classroom "Grandma" Dorothy Grimes.

By TYSON ANDERSON  ¦   David Wilson, co-founder of the Ragtag Cinema, stands in what will soon be the 9th St. Video section of the new establishment at 10 Hitt St. The new building will house the Ragtag, 9th St. Video and Uprise Bakery.

By RYAN GIBBONS/Missourian  ¦   Junior Bryon Carlisle and the rest of the Missouri swimmers are taking the program to nearly unprecedented heights.

By RYAN GLADSTONE/Missourian  ¦   MU starting power forward Marissa Scott, upper left, says she’s trying “reverse psychology on myself” to help become more aggressive with the ball.

By Joy Mayer  ¦   In 2007, Dean Fitzgerald talked about having grown Christmas trees on his farm south of Columbia for 20 years.

By Ryan Gibbons  ¦   Hazel Sherd, left, and Ofelia Smith pack and label a bag full of donated gifts as check-in coordinator Lena Kiessling, right, marks the family's gifts off the delivery list at the Voluntary Action Center's Christmas program Tuesday. The program has set up operations at Trinity Presbyterian Church on West Rollins Street and expects to provide gifts to 1,213 different families this year.