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(09/19/13 2:50am)
Auburn students are crossing borders and using their skills to make a difference for hundreds of families.
"Engineers Without Borders is a service outreach group with the College [of Engineering]," said Jourdan Beaumont, president of Engineers Without Borders. "It's a way for students to volunteer their time to help out the community somewhere in the world."
This year, they took a trip to Quesimpuco, Bolivia, located in the Andes Mountains.
Beaumont said their partnership focused on water security, and any type of project to help them secure more water for farming, eating, drinking, irrigation, hydroponics and showers.
The trip took place in August, and lasted 10 days.
"In previous years, [the team] installed a tank on the side of the mountain and what we've been doing with it is building an irrigation system off of it," said Carson Smith, junior in civil engineering. "It's a series of pipelines and sprinklers that they use during their dry season to secure their crop production."
Smith said they also had a hydroponics team working in the greenhouse, where they used recycled and fertilized water to grow plants.
To get to Quesimpuco, the group landed in La Paz, Bolivia, and drove 12 hours to the community.
Stephen Smart, senior in civil engineering, said they stayed in bunkhouses that had a kitchen and a meeting area. There were gates surrounding the houses.
"The gates are there because people are so excited about visitors when we're trying to have meetings, you'll have 100 little third graders running in," Beaumont said. "They'll be climbing on the windows watching you cook, everyone's super excited to see you."
Beaumont described the Bolivian people as friendly, with a welcoming culture.
"It's like you're just part of the family right away," Beaumont said.
While the people were welcoming, the difference in native languages was a challenge for the team.
"The language barrier made it difficult," Smith said. "Sometimes, they would have to use two different translators before they could understand each other."
However, the language barrier was part of the learning process.
"The idea is, that this group lets students become better engineers, become better business people, marketers, cross-cultural communications," Beaumont said. "Just a unique way to develop a lot of different skills."
Smith said his best memory from the trip was on the last day of work when they turned on the sprinkler system the group had been working on.
"I was with one of the community leaders, up by the tank, and he just started absolutely crying because he knew that the difference just from one sprinkler... the difference that that would make in the crop production and in the lives of all the people that live in that area," Smith said. "It was beautiful."
Engineers Without Borders is not exclusively for engineering students. Any student may become involved with the group and help in some way.
"There's a lot of students in the group who are really dedicated to doing something more with their time than just playing Nintendo and watching TV," Beaumont said. "That's inspiring that you want to be a part of that... it's really rewarding as an engineering student, and it's also really rewarding as a person helping other people."
Engineers Without Borders meets once a week, and invites guest speakers to talk about topics, such as sustainability and other topics relevant to the work they are doing, in Quesimpuco.
For more information, visit Eng.Auburn.edu/organizations/EWB.
(09/16/13 9:10pm)
In the most recent issue of The Plainsman (9/5/13) a graduate student writes how
she and her family and friends "were subject to harassment, taunting, and provocation by
fans in the student section for the AU-Washington State game. One of her party became
the object of "heinous masculinity baiting" and a woman referred to her "as a F----JEW."
At that, she and her party understandably left the game and she has now requested that
for future games she be seated in a place "free from sexist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic
language and behavior."
I am outraged by this behavior on the part of these fans, particularly when we
pride ourselves as the "Auburn family." Every person in our society deserves respect and
consideration and anti-Semitism has no place anywhere in today's world. Jewish students
who have over the years taken my courses in religious studies have always been reluctant
to identify themselves as Jewish (and rightfully so) for fear that other students would
attempt to convert them to Christianity.
No one becomes tolerant, open-minded, and respectful of differences automatically.
It comes both from one's values, experiences, and education. And that's why President
Philpott established the Religion Department about 40 years ago, so that students would
discover the beauty and truth found in the world's religions. However, the program in
religious studies may wither on the vine and die a certain death. When I retire at the
end of this academic year, my position will not be filled by a scholar trained in religious
studies. This past year the major in religious studies was terminated and now the minor
is in jeopardy, since there will be no one to shepherd the program. I find this development
to be quite sad and lamentable.
It all boils down to finances. As I understand it, AU is planning to eliminate such
programs as the Human Odyssey, the program in Sustainability Studies, and possibly the
Civilization and Technology programs, all of which are interdisciplinary in nature. What
we have here is the business model applied to higher education, or the corporatization
of the university. With a budget approaching a billion dollars, can we not spare the
program in religious studies and these other worthwhile programs that have expanded
our students' minds for decades? Is this not a case of being penny wise and pound foolish?
(09/12/13 3:39pm)
The Auburn of today is not the same University your parents attended.
"This is Auburn" aims to promote a bold new statement about the University as part of a national campaign to promote underrepresented strengths.
"The campaign is creating a consistent way to talk about all the wonderful assets Auburn has," said Camille Barkley, interim director of communications and marketing. "Previously, most departments created their own advertising and publications with each having a different theme and content. By joining the 'This is Auburn' campaign, units on campus are sending out a uniform message. In the end, it will result in better recognition of Auburn and greater understanding of our strengths."
Combining digital media with strategic marketing throughout Auburn and abroad, one of the main goals of the campaign is to make the statement that Auburn is an institution built on academic achievement and visionary leadership in a variety of fields.
While the Office of Communications and Marketing is responsible for much of the campaign's resources and messages, a long list of individual groups and offices joined the program to adapt the message in their own way, including Auburn Athletics, the Office of Student Affairs, the Office of the Provost and Auburn Admissions.
Barkley said the five-year plan's end goal is to refresh the Auburn image, even if it's not outdated, and announce to the world the new and improved Auburn University.
"The campaign is designed to have bolder messages and statements than we'd used in past advertising," Barkley said. "To attract and retain the best students and faculty, and to engage the most passionate alumni, we need to show the authentic qualities of Auburn and reflect the pride that our Auburn Family should have in the University's achievements."
The name of the campaign was originally penned by Auburn graduate Brock Hanson for a contest to create the best Auburn-made commercial for the University.
"I thought I would enter it because I had done video production stuff and I really liked doing that," Hanson said. "For that specific commercial, I just kind of came up with the idea of a bunch of different vignettes and students and just kind of mashing it all into one piece to show the best of Auburn. It just kind of made sense to name it "This is Auburn.""
"In addition to promoting several national ads, a second television commercial and weekly video features from the athletic department, "This is Auburn," highlights exceptional students and alumni for showing a vision and leadership that depicts the positive qualities of the University," Barkley said.
Past features highlighted Juli Goldstein, an Auburn alumnae who is now one of the head veterinary instructors at Florida Atlantic University, and Marian Royston, selected as one of only 12 Mitchell Scholars, studying sustainable rural development at Queen's University of Belfast in Northern Ireland.
"The Office of Student Affairs has already adapted some of their messaging to tie into the campaign," said Mike Clardy, director of University Communication Services. "We welcome student organizations to work with (us)" Clardy said. "We are asking students for their success stories for the campaign, particularly through stories we tell, advertising and student recruitment material."
(09/06/13 3:10pm)
It might seem odd that an institution with a proud tradition of throwing toilet paper would be distinguished for environmental friendliness, but Auburn University was recently praised for its solar panels.
Auburn was one of the 40 institutions included in the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education's 2012 Sustainability Review.
The partnership between Facilities Management and the Office of Sustainability, which produced solar panels for the stadium parking deck, were the subject of the profile.
"The panels offset the charging of the golf carts on the bottom floor," said Jennifer Morse, communication and outreach coordinator for the University Office of Sustainability.
There are 10 stations used to charge golf carts and vehicles used by University departments on the ground floor of the parking deck.
Morse said the solar panels do not provide electricity directly to the vehicles, but provide roughly the equivalent amount of energy used by the charging stations to Auburn's power grid.
Ray Kirby, electrical engineer in facilities management, said there are two sections of 3.3 kilowatt solar panels on the parking deck.
"That means during peak sunlight hours, about five hours per day, those panels can produce 6.6 KW of power," Kirby said.
In total, there are 24 solar panels on top of the parking deck.
Morse said the idea for the solar panels came during a brainstorming session for a highly visible project between the Office of Sustainability and facilities management.
"Something about the solar panels with Jordan-Hare in the background seemed like a great idea," Morse said. "It's a powerful image."
Morse said while the solar panels are a high-profile project, the Office of Sustainability is also involved with other on-campus projects.
"We have another demo project we're doing," Morse said. "We're doing a rain-gathering project over at the Dudley shop roof.
Morse said projects such as these, and overall efforts toward sustainability, resulted and will continue to result in Auburn receiving recognition from organizations such as the AASHE Sustainability Review.
AASHE also has a Sustainability Tracking and Rating System that evaluates an institution's sustainability efforts.
"We did the STARS assessment last year," Morse said. "We got a silver star."
Morse said the University is aiming for a gold star rating this year.
"We're working for it, but we don't really care about a score or a ranking," Morse said. "We want the results in sustainability that those sorts of things represent."
(09/02/13 3:40pm)
Auburn University students are participating in the Real Food Challenge to bring food to campus that is sustainably raised and ethically and locally sourced.
(07/21/13 5:23pm)
Combining the poise and demeanor of a seasoned veteran with an intimate knowledge of Gus Malzahn's offensive system, new Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee established himself as the protege of Auburn's newest head coach.
(06/23/13 1:00pm)
What are the everyday duties of the senior executive chef of Auburn University?I help oversee all food production and service for the campus, which includes all the dining venues and catering.My day is spent crisscrossing the campus visiting every outlet, assisting where needed and making sure quality, safety and consistency standards are followed. We have a great team of managers and wonderful employees who strive to offer the best service possible every day.
(06/06/13 7:34pm)
It seems there is no impossible task for a smartphone. It can be your planner, book, camera, radio, news source and now, your accountability partner.
(05/15/13 11:45pm)
Where is away? When we throw away garbage, where does it go? Is away a far off place, or is away somewhere near our homes and water supplies?
(04/26/13 8:43am)
After serving 10 years as a community gathering and one of Auburn's favorite subcultural hubs, The Gnu's Room is closing its doors.
(04/24/13 7:16pm)
Four students started Why Care Campaign at Auburn last fall, but have expanded it worldwide.
Reaching out to approximately 73 countries, Devin Yeomans, co-founder, Jenni Daniel, co-founder, Anna Kate Mullinix, co-founder and Aubrey Sullivan, co-founder have created this project to raise awareness about hunger locally and internationally.
"The goal wasn't to collect money," Daniel said. "The goal was to spread awareness and really make people truly think about it."
The four women first started the project in their Hunger Studies Capstone class taught by Kate Thornton, director of the hunger and sustainability initiative.
The assignment was to create something that would change the world.
"It was one of those things that we didn't plan it just happened," Mullinix said. "It's one of those things that we could have never dreamed of happening."
The women came up with the idea to spread awareness on the hunger issue, but focused more on asking people a question, not just giving them statistics.
"We realized once we figured out our reason it really empowered us to do more," said Yeomans. "I think by allowing it to be a question made it more powerful."
The Why Care Campaign has partnered with the World Food Program and the Food and Agriculture Program of the United Nations to reach more people.
The first step of the Why Care Campaign was to encourage people to figure out why they care about hunger through pictures sent to the campaign's social media sites.
"The campaign was actually for World Food Day on October 16, 2012, so everything that we had done was building up to that one day," Yeomans said. "The results were incredible. We peaked at 36,000-person reach on Facebook alone. The days leading up to World Hunger Day we collected over 2,500 photos and counting."
The first step of the campaign had gained the attention of people throughout the world by people sending in their photos of why they care about hunger.
"We had a lot of athletes, Olympians, politicians, Christina Aguilera, a lot of NGO leaders and people from the UN," Yeomans said. "The variation was incredible."
Yeomans said that people gave them varied 'Why I Care' responses.
"You had things that were really deep form people that had seen hunger first-hand and then you had people that were more fluid about it, which is fine," Yeomans said. "They would just say 'I care about hunger because I love bacon and everyone should have bacon.' We had a lot of religious, personal and moral reasons."
The second step of the campaign is a call to action.
"We're trying to get together a 50 million pound food drive, for food banks kind of like Beat Bama Food Drive," Yeomans said.
Mullinix said the issue of hunger did not affect her directly until her mission trip to Honduras last summer.
"This past summer I was in Honduras and there was this little boy that came to the orphanage that I was working at and trying to eat made him sick, which is a primary symptom of starvation," Mullinix said. "It really took on a different face that it was no longer just an issue, but it was a person, a name, a face and a story."
The group hopes to encourage students to volunteer on campus to help out their community and the world.
"They can get involved with Committee of 19, start their own food drive or help out the Campus Kitchen," Mullinix said. 'There are many initiatives on campus that give students the ability to make in different in their community and around the state and the world."
The campaign has grown into something that the women cannot control entirely anymore.
"I'm just really excited to see where it goes," Mullinix said. "It's one of those things that we have some control over it, but when it comes down to it there's really not many of us involved can do to control where it goes and what it does. I'm excited to see what it looks like in the future and how it continues to evolve in the international program."
(04/24/13 12:46am)
Several Auburn faculty, staff, alumni and students were recognized by the Office of Sustainability for their outstanding achievements related to their field, whether it was through academics, program development or finding innovation.
(04/10/13 3:33am)
Auburn students took what most people would only see as trash and turned it into something useful and environmentally friendly.
(03/29/13 1:15am)
For the fourth time, Auburn University has won the Tree Campus USA designation from the Arbor Day foundation.
(03/22/13 1:57am)
The 14th annual Flapjack Fest and Silent Auction took place Thursday, March 7 at the Foy Hall Food Court from 6-8 p.m.
Tickets were $5 and all proceeds went toward the Ryan F. Chandler Memorial Scholarship Endowment Fund. Five dollars provided attendees with all you can eat pancakes, bacon and sausage.
The purpose of the fundraiser was to ensure that the scholarship is self-sustaining for years to come.
Sodexo and Chartwells, a private food company, donated all of the food for the event.
Ryan Chandler was an Auburn University camp counselor in 1995, the first year that Camp War Eagle was the orientation program on campus. Chandler died four years later in the summer of 1999. His family set up the endowment fund in his honor after his death.
The scholarship fund is awarded to a student in the college of science and mathematics.
"We are here to raise money for the scholarships, and keep Ryan's name and his memory alive," said Mark Armstrong, director of First Year Experience. "We kind of tagged on and said we need to do something as a program to honor his memory."
First Year Experience is involved in many areas of orientation including Camp War Eagle, SOS, first year university seminar courses and the learning community program.
In the spring of 2000, First Year Experience created the Flapjack Fest and Silent Auction. Over the last 14 years, the event has raised more than $60,000 toward the scholarship fund.
Armstrong said the goal was to keep growing the endowment fund so that more students can receive scholarships.
The Foy Hall Food Court was so full that people were standing and eating their food because no more seats were available.
"More than 600 tickets were pre-sold, or sold at the door," said Melissa Dunn, assistant director of First Year Experience, exceeding the original expectation of 400 tickets.
Josh Huggins, head camp counselor and senior in music education, said that three rotations of staff were used during the event.
"We've actually had counselors cooking the pancakes, bacon and sausage in the arena all afternoon," Huggins said.
Sixty-two counselors participated in the preparation and management of the event, including 36 camp counselors, 20 parent counselors and six head counselors.
"That's our whole staff that we'll use throughout the whole entire summer," Huggins said.
George Merriam, junior in public relations, was the first student through the line to get pancakes.
"I'm thinking of going back and getting some more flappies," Merriam said. "I've only had 10."
Merriam said he stayed away from the sausage because it would take up too much space in his stomach and attributes his consumption quantity to his friends helping him keep pace.
The silent auction offered an alternative way for participants to show their support of the event.
"The silent auction is going on and it's all stuff that has either been made or donated, ranging from personal paintings to a football signed by Pat Dye," Huggins said.
The camp counselors were responsible for getting together most of the items that would be auctioned off.
Some of this year's contributions included a panorama photograph of Jordan-Hare Stadium, paintings done by faculty, hand-made jewelry and numerous Auburn memorabilia items.
The photograph of Jordan-Hare Stadium was the highest-grossing item at $70.
Dunn estimated that more than $3,000 was raised by the Flapjack Fest and Silent Auction in support of the scholarship fund.
"I'm grateful for anyone who comes out and takes part in it," Armstrong said.
(03/02/13 7:20am)
Marion Royston's journey to becoming one of 12 students in the nation to win a Mitchell Scholarship is the kind of story that gives truth to the quote, "You can do anything you put your mind to."
(02/27/13 5:31pm)
Dowell Hall channels "The Giving Tree" to encourage residents to go green. (Courtesy of http://ausustainabowl.weebly.com)
(02/27/13 5:27pm)
What would you say Auburn University budgets $23 million a year for?
(02/19/13 11:59pm)
One Auburn professor has shown that increasing an industry's environmental sustainability can lead to a lowering in its operating costs.
(02/14/13 7:14pm)
Iron will be pumping and Zumba will be jumping when the new Recreation and Wellness Center opens spring 2013.