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Show Views&Op inion Monday, March 11 2010 Page 11 CIVIC: Education CI continued from page 10 Introducing you to ASUSU Administrative Assistant Nate Robinson H ey, everyone, my name is Nate Robinson. I'm from Castle Rock, Colo. I have the opportunity of telling you a little about myself and what I do with ASUSU. I showed up to Utah State in early January of 2004, having never been to Logan before. At the time I felt like I was moving to Antarctica, but I quickly fell in love with the university and Cache Valley. I'm currently a senior majoring in Spanish, and I'm also finishing up a business minor. I plan on graduating this semester, pending the final grade I receive in Corporate Finance, and hope to attend graduate school in the fall. During my time here in Logan I've really enjoyed supporting Aggie athletics and taking advantage of all the outdoor activities that this area has to offer. While I'm not much of a skier I stay up here in the summer and love to hike, boat and golf. I definitely recommend staying up in Logan for a summer if you haven't had the chance. I also highly recommend getting involved with the university and joining a club, council or organization. By participating in extracurricular activities, I feel I've been able to gain the complete educational experience while at USU. My involvement with ASUSU started when I was walking around Day on the Quad and starting signing-up for various clubs and organizations. I soon found myself involved with the Spanish Club, Service Center and eventually signed up for Aggie Blue. I realized that I greatly enjoy serving others and wanted to contribute more to the university. I was never involved with student government in high school but figured it might be a great way for me to contribute. The position that I hold with ASUSU is appointed by the student body president and not voted on by the student body. After elections are finished there are five appointed positions that any student can apply for. Applications are available in the Student Involvement Office on the third floor of the TSC. I applied for administrative assistant because its responsibilities fit my personality of being an organization freak. As administrative assistant, I work with the Academic Senate and Executive Council in helping them organize their meetings by making NATE ROBINSON agendas, writing minutes and serving as the chief of staff of the president's Cabinet. So part of my responsibilities are similar to a historian as I record minutes for each meeting, which will soon be made available on the ASUSU Web site because I'm sure all of you would love to thoroughly read them. Each year students can sign up to work with the president's Cabinet to work on different initiatives, to meet student needs and improve campus life. This year we worked on initiatives such as putting together a Spring Aggie Blue Leadership Conference to helping with a project called Donate Life 2009 to get more students registered as organ donors. Members of the Cabinet are often times found at the ASUSU Information Desk to help students know what activities are going on around campus and how to get involved. This week, with finals elections going on, I want to encourage everyone to go out and vote. ASUSU is wonderful because its structure allows for officers to truly make a positive impact on the university. Officers are given much responsibility and the opportunity to make innovative changes around campus. The Taggart Student Center itself is the result of an initiative taken by a student body officer years ago. So make sure to vote and, for those of you interested, pick up an application for any of the five appointed positions in the Involvement Office. Lastly, ASUSU has various clubs, councils and organizations to offer, and I, again, encourage everyone to take advantage of the opportunity to meet other students and get involved. Nate Robinson can be contacted at nate.robinson@aggiemaiLusu.edu . knowledge, it can be learned elsewhere: through religious institutions, patriotic organizations and books such as "We Still Hold These Truths," by Matthew Spalding of The Heritage Foundation. And that leads to the report's second finding. Civic knowledge, however learned, has a broader and more diverse influence on Americans' thinking than college does. To cite one example, the report found that having more civic knowledge makes a person "more likely to agree that prosperity depends on entrepreneurs and free markets; but less likely to agree that the free market brings about full employment." In other words, civic knowledge seems to make one more pragmatic but not more dogmatic. Those are traits Americans will need if we're to pass along a better world to coming generations. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the report concluded that additional civic knowledge increases a person's belief in American ideals and institutions. The 151 survey showed that, overall, "Sixtythree percent of Americans disagree that America corrupts otherwise good people, 61 percent of Americans disagree that America's Founding documents are obsolete and 56 percent of Americans agree that prosperity depends upon entrepreneurs and free markets." It further found that people with greater civic knowledge are less likely to believe that America corrupts otherwise good people, less likely to believe that the Founding documents are irrelevant, and more likely to believe that the free enterprise system works. As our economy works to recover from another meltdown, we need to keep thinking big. We need to help more Americans learn the basic principles of civil society. The way forward is in understanding our great shared history. When the Empire State Building opened, former New York Gov. Al Smith said it was "built by the brains, the brawn, the ingenuity and the muscle of mankind." The same applies to the United States. Let's make sure we pass the very concept of American greatness down to the next generation. This column was written by Ed Feulner, president of The Heritage Foundation. FOLLOW US FROM THE WAC TOURNEY. TWITTER.COM .UTAHSTATESMAN GAME UPDATES WILL ALSO BE POSTED AT WWW.AGGIETOWNSQUARE.COM YOU WON'T MISS A THING!! Live & Work Abroad Job Preview 4 Wednesday, March 3 University Inn Room 510 4-5:30 p.m. www.peacecorps.gov (800) 424-8580 mile Yr ieaaii a/ tie ,ferrit7Wasrie, Yilearie iaai leg 9aa to a ,93treitiz ..Zeta,e "Utah in the Twentieth Century" by BYU professor and co-editor of Utah in the Twentieth Century, Brian Q. Cannon Thursday, March 4, 7:00 pm Merrill-Cazier Library Rm. 101 Free and all are welcome Book Signing Afterward & Announcement of 2009 Leonard J. Arrington Lecture Student Writing Awards 11 94 UtahState University MERRILL-CAZIER LIBRARY 0 days left! LAST day to save $150 1 Summer Rent from $375 (May-August) 2010-2011 School year from $2200 Utilities Included Cable TV Wireless Internet Forest Gate 454 N 400 E email: forestgatemanagers@gmail.com VE A SECRET S ARE CH FREE DIAMONDS! MARCH 1-6 CALL STORE FOR DETAILS I blE46\ ) ' \I I I 45 -NORTMAIN, LOGA \ UT 4-jig-75w3-4•76 University Pines (435) 752-1516 |