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Friday, November 28, 2014

Hunger Games pre-showing raises $2,000 for food pantry

by Aubrie Waldron

A group of Utah State students organized and held a fundraiser on Nov. 19 at the University Stadium theater where a private pre-showing of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part I was played. All proceeds from the event, which was organized as a final project for a management class, went toward the Cache Community Food Pantry.

According to Max Benson, a member of the group that organized the event, 376 of the 402 theater seats were filled, and about $2,000 was raised for the pantry.

“We wanted to not only raise money,” Benson said, “but bring the community and the food pantry together.”

Before the movie began, food pantry director Matt Whitaker stood at the front of the theater and addressed the audience about how “hunger is no game.”

All attendees that brought canned foods to the movie were entered into a raffle.

Management 3110: Managing Organizations and People, which is taught by David Herrmann, overviews the role of management and introduces leadership theory and practice. All students in the class are required to work in groups to organize a fundraiser. If their project raises at least $1,000 for a charity of their choice, they receive an automatic A on the final and do not have to take the written exam.

Victoria Awada, another member of the Hunger Games project, said that their fundraiser wasn’t just a fun event or school project. For her and the group, it was helping a good cause that needed donations at this important time of year.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Business etiquette workshop teaches students the essentials

By Aubrie Waldron

The Jon M. Hunstman School of Business held a business etiquette workshop on Nov. 18 to help Utah State students be prepared to present themselves professionally and make desirable first impressions.

According to undergraduate advisor Barbara Baird, who organized the event, there were 12 main topics discussed during the workshop. Students were taught about appropriate dress and grooming specifying that men should be clean shaven or have trimmed facial hair, and women should wear fresh makeup, minimal jewelry and 1.5 to 2 inch heels.

Other topics included meeting etiquette emphasizing confirming attendance and arriving on time, and proper written communication ethics including stating the purpose of writing and being specific.

Telephone etiquette was another topic where instruction was given about developing an appropriate greeting and never placing someone on hold for more than a few seconds. Associated with that was a discussion about voicemail etiquette about how to leave professional messages and managing a mailbox.

Cell phone do’s and don’ts, e-mail etiquette and first impressions on social media were all covered.

Some of the tips about first impressions were to arrive 10 minutes early to meetings, use first and last names for introductions, and address others by their title and last name unless told otherwise. The final subjects covered were conversing and networking, and dining etiquette.

Austin Hanny, a Jon M. Huntsman School of Business ambassador, said events like the business etiquette workshop offered have given him “a significant advantage” when interviewing for jobs.

“Resources like this,” Hanny said, “provides students with the knowledge, ethics, and hands-on experience necessary to compete in today’s workforce.”

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Two colleges collaborate for ART + ENG Week

by Aubrie Waldron

Last week, the Caine College of the Arts coordinated with the College of Engineering for Utah State’s first ART + ENG Week. Different activities and events took place each day to help engineering and art students meet and learn the similarities between the two fields of study.

“We wanted a greater collaboration between the art museum and engineering,” said Adriane Dalton, assistant curator at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art. “One of our main goals for the week was to get engineering students into the museum.”

There was a private opening at the museum for engineering students on Nov. 17. More than 100 students attended, and according to Dalton it was an “absolute overall success.”

“Many of the exhibits in the museum have relevance to engineering,” Dalton said. “We want the students to know that this is a resource available to them.”

Other things that took place during the week were a lecture by ASU art professor Dan Collins, common hour lecture about Kenneth Snelson and a social hour for art and engineering students.

“In my opinion, engineering can be beautiful, and art can be functional,” said Claire Christiansen, an art student studying interior design. “The two go hand in hand. ART + ENG Week helped to bridge the gap between the two very different majors.”

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Art and engineering departments team up for first-time social

by Aubrie Waldron

For the first time, the Society of Women Engineers sponsored a social on Wednesday for all art and engineering students in the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art on Utah State's campus.

According to Adriane Dalton, assistant curator at the museum, the purpose of the social was to allow art and engineering students gain more understanding about the two majors and how they are connected.

When students entered the social they were given a different colored sticker and question card according to which major they belonged to. The cards had questions such as, "What do artists do?" or "What classes to engineers have to take?"

"I think that activity was very beneficial in getting the students to mingle and talk about the differences, but also find out the similarities, within their majors," said Claire Christiansen, an art student.

Dalton said she was pleased with the attendance at the social. She estimated about 25 students came. She said door prizes and a documentary about American sculptor Ruth Asawa were also parts of the event.

Christiansen said she was happy with how the event turned out, and was glad that she chose to attend.

"For me, as an interior design major," Christiansen said, "I love talking to engineers because I'll be working with engineers someday. There are so many connections to be found within art and engineering but most people wouldn't correlate the two."

Monday, November 24, 2014

USU physicist demonstrates the magic of thermodynamics

by Aubrie Waldron

Friday evening, Utah State University physicist James Coburn led a "The Heat is On: Exploring Thermodynamics" themed physics demo show in the Eccles Science Learning Center.

During the show, Coburn used ice to boil water, crushed a 55-gallon drum with cold water, and demonstrated how steam engines, hot air balloons and lava lamps work.

"Physics is the study of how everything in the universe works," Coburn said, "and I have always been interested in finding out how things work."

Although the demo show has turned into an annual event, according to Coburn none of the demonstrations are repeated from year to year. Each year Coburn chooses a different physics topic and does demonstrations on that theme.

Coburn said the show was for "curious people of all ages." Adding that science and even math, which he said is "the language of science," are things that everyone can enjoy.

Joe Day, a Utah State student who saw Coburn's demos said that the things that physics can do are amazing.

"It's crazy to think about how it all works," Day said. "Physics is fun." 

Friday, November 21, 2014

ART + ENG week speaker honors Kenneth Snelson

by Aubrie Waldron

On Wednesday, Adriane Dalton, assistant curator at the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art on Utah State's campus, gave a speech about Kenneth Snelson, an engineer and artist, in honor of ART + ENG week.

"From an early age Snelson had a love for making," Dalton said. "As a child he believed he could create anything he could imagine."

According to Dalton's research, Snelson started his higher education studying business. Throughout several semesters he changed his major from business to english literature to architecture and although originally "he never considered art as a future" he graduated in painting.

Dalton focused mainly on Snelson's most famous engineer-influenced sculptures which are referred to as "tensegrity" although Snelson prefers the term "floating compression." The sculptures consist of rigid pipes that appear to be floating and are held together by flexible cables. They received their name because of the tension and structural integrity that are required to keep them in tact. 

These structures have been exhibited in over 25 galleries around the world.

"I think it's a cool idea to incorporate art into engineering," said David Sommer, an engineering major who attended the speech. "There's lots of potential that could stem from Snelson's ideas."

Thursday, November 20, 2014

570 thank you notes collected at Veteran's Day service project

by Aubrie Waldron

On Thursday, as part of Utah State's College of Education and Human Services week, the CEHS council held a Veteran's Day service project where students and faculty wrote thank you notes to local veterans. Tables were set up at the Quad, Merrill-Cazier library, Taggart Student Center and education buildings.

One of the college's objectives, as written in its mission statement, is "to increase the effectiveness of services for individuals, families, communities, schools, and organizations." This service project aided in fulfilling that goal as 570 thank you notes were collected, according to public relations specialist JoLynne Lyon.

Shelby Clayson, Education and Human Services senator, said that the CEHS council members worked with the ROTC in able to distribute the notes to local veterans "in hopes to help support our community directly."

A USU professor, Ryan Whitby had his class take a few minutes to write a note before he began lecture.

"If nothing else it was successful because it made people think about it," Whitby said. "Some of the students decided that rather than just writing a generic note, they took what they wrote home to give it to a veteran that they knew."

Clayson believes that the project largely affected the goals that she and the other council members had for the week.

"As a whole, our college goal is to serve the people, whether that be at Utah State or in the community," Clayson said. "We want to help serve in any way that we can, and that was the least we could do for the amazing sacrifices that the veterans in the country and in Cache Valley have made."