University of Utah Student Newspapers--The Chronicle | 2013-02-22 | Page 3

Tas DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE Friday, February 22, 2013 3 Noteworthy student wins Faculty Choice Award Kelly McArthur STAFF WRITER When a student wins an academic award, most people think of the stereotypical straight-A, nothing-matters-but-school student. But Cameron Bowen, a senior in architecture and one of the two winners of the ASUU Faculty Choice Awards, is far from typical. "Cameron is the type of student to typically not be nominated for this type of award," said architecture professor Erin Carraher, who nominated Bowen for the award. "He's an unconventional student. He's not likely to be in the front row with his hand raised." Faculty nominate students who show dedication, work hard and inspire for the Faculty Choice Awards, according the ASUU website. Bowen had no idea he was being nominated for the award. When he checked his email one afternoon, he was a bit surprised to find a message from ASUU informing him he won. "I've had a turbulent academic career," he said. "When I first came to the university, I didn't really know why I was here, and I got a little caught up in experiencing life. I actually got suspended for poor academic performance for three semesters." During his time away from school, Bowen had several different jobs and one of them was MICHAEL SYGNATOWICZ/The Daily Utah Chronicle Cameron Bowen, a senior in architecture, was one of two students to win the ASUU Faculty Choice Award this February. in construction. Working in construction is what sparked his interest in architecture. "I really loved to question why I was building what I was building," he said. "I just continued in that analysis and tried to discover where these ideas were coming from. That's what lead me toward architecture." After discovering his passion, he went back to school and took academics more seriously. "I spend a lot of time here, and I'm extremely dedicated to what I do," he said. "I work really hard, and I study hard. I think all architecture students have to dedicate their lives to the program. Archi- tecture has to be your girlfriend or your wife. It's been really crazy, and I'll tell you it never stops." Once he graduates in May, Bowen wants to continue his education, but in industrial design instead of architecture. "Design is really powerful," he said. "I think [design] can have a pretty powerful impact on the way we live our lives." With his knowledge in design and the way it affects the world, Bowen wants to do something deeper and more meaningful and address the social and cultural deficiencies he sees in the world. But school is not the only thing in Bowen's life. "I would say I'm not a traditional good student," he said. "I still try to find a balance in my life. I think that's what sets me apart from other students. I really try hard to have an enjoyable life outside of school. I try to have fun, get out and let loose. A lot of people don't know how to do that, and it has a negative effect on them." Bowen is looking forward to his future. "I have a lot of things to be excited for right now," he said. "I have a tentative internship in Brooklyn this summer. I have a couple of cool colleges I've applied to, and I have an interview in London for a design school in two weeks." Carraher said Bowen is an engaging student. "Cameron is the most challenging, invigorating and sometimes exasperating student I've ever had," she said. "He thinks about the bigger picture and challenges me to think more deeply about what I'm doing as an educator." Bryce Williams, director of academic affairs for ASUU and master's student in education leadership and policy, said Bowen's difference set him apart. "The nomination letter was a little untraditional and stood out a little bit more," he said. "The way Erin [Carraher] wrote the letter showed that Cameron is a one-ofa-kind student. I think that's kind of the spotlight with him." [e-mail] Police Report Driving with fire A Chevy Venture caught fire while driving to campus at about 9 a.m. on Feb. 14. The fire started while the vehicle was in motion in the Merrill Engineering parking lot, said Sgt. Garth Smith of U Police. The cause is unknown, but arson is not suspected. The driver was not injured, but the vehicle was not drivable after the fire, Smith said. Hateful emails A female student reported receiving two threatening emails on Feb. Is. "The emails told her to 1*** off' and wished her to die, among many other hateful comments," Smith said. The complainant knows the sender of the emails, Smith said. The case remains active. Custodial harassment A student reported harassment from a custodian in OSH on Feb. 15. "[The harassment] started over a suspected spilling of a `carbonated beverage' in a computer lab," Smith said. The case had been referred to a detective, he said. Kissing contest collapse MCKEVITT Continued from page 1 the effects of the new budget on their training and education until after March I when the budget is finalized. "In terms of budget, our number one priority is the graduating first [senior] class," he said. McKevitt graduated from the U in 1985 and said the requirements at West Point are more rigorous. "Everyone gets a bachelor of science degree and plays a sport," he said. "You can't take basket weaving like I did at the U." Shortly after graduating, he entered active duty in the Army as a second lieu- tenant. Over the extent of his career he served as platoon leader, company commander and battalion commander. He was also deployed to Kuwait during the reign of Saddam Hussein. "I've been to every continent in the world, except Antarctica and Africa ... there are a lot of people suffering out there and we GREEN BIOMIMICRY Continued from page 1 Continued from page 1 we're doing more and more research, which has a really large environmental and energy footprint," Willson said. Willson looked back on the developments in sustainability at the U during the past five years that have helped the U reduce its impact on the environment, including the UTA U-Pass program, the Re-imagine the Plaza project, a large increase in purchasing green materials and irrigation improvements. Willson also shared projects the Office of Sustainability is working on implementing, including an app that it is developing in cooperation with Verizon Wireless and Salt Lake City. The app will help mobile phone users organize and compete to reach sustainability goals. U President David Pershing also attended the session and assured those in attendance increasing sustainability on campus is going to remain a huge goal in his presidency at the U. "You don't have to worry that [the U] has a new president ... All my career I've worked [in sustainability]," Pershing said. "Even though I'm now a bureaucrat, don't worry. I'm not going to change." The rest of the symposium continued to focus on future projects, both those in progress and the creation of new ideas. One session featured a workshop with three students from the Honors College who presented project proposals. Following the presentations, the audience made suggestions and asked questions to help the students perfect their ideas. The final session was a brainstorming meeting allowing students and faculty to come up with ideas for projects that would make the U's campus more sustainable. The session was meant to help students realize their ideas could eventually be funded by money that is available through the Sustainable Campus Initiative Fund. technologies in an earth context and with a very rigorous selection process that ... generation after generation ... chooses life." Scientists or engineers tasked with biomimicry seek to take these "technologies" adapted in certain species of plants or animals through natural selection and re-create the traits and apply them to problems society faces. Benyus provided an example to explain the biomimicry process: a gecko's foot. She explained geckos are able to stick to a wall, not because their feet are sticky or employ suction, but because hundreds of thousands of tiny bristles exist on the end of their toe pads. These bristles adhere to the uneven surface of the wall and allow the gecko to stick to it. Scientists and engineers are working [e-mail] LCEP Continued from page 1 of students, such as those studying international business, anthropology and geography, or students interested in learning more about the world. "For me, places didn't exist on a map until I met a person, and it was eye-opening," Scott said. "Making that personal connection is incredible." The center has about 8o interested students, close to half of which are already paired. Shuai He, a junior in finance from China, began with LCEP two years ago. He noticed it The forget how blessed we are to live in this country," he said. McKevitt retired from the Army in 2007 because he was about to be re-stationed in the middle of his daughter's senior year in high school. "I love the Army ... but I couldn't do that to her," he said. The dinner was an in- to re-create this trait to produce a new kind of nontoxic adhesive. Many of the objects modern societies use on a daily basis are glued together with toxic glues, making the objects non-recyclable. Creating "gecko tape" would make it possible to create products that could be easily disassembled and recycled. She shared more examples of animal or plant-inspired projects currently being developed to increase sustainability, such as brighter LED lights designed like the glowing part of a firefly and wind farms designed like schools of fish that harness turbulence to increase power production tenfold. In addition to product design, Benyus' ideas of biomimicry can be applied to larger systems. "If you want to know how to live well in a place, ask the creatures [or plants that] live there — who have lived there for millions of years longer than we have," she said. "They're trying to do the same things [that we are]. improved his English skills, and he also learned about American culture. He and his language partner meet up once a week and play pool or just talk to each other in English or Chinese. "We got close to each other," he said. "We are friends right now, not partners." Many international students take part in this program to practice English and learn about culture, but Scott said both students can take away lessons about the other culture. The center has received a lot of response since the change, and some students have unique needs to be met, formal commemoration of the fraternity's upcoming Chapter Centennial in March 2014, said Daniel Garcia, a freshman in business management at the fraternity. The Centennial committee asked McKevitt to speak to Phi Delta Theta as a significant alumni and member of the committee. A female student was treated for being lightheaded after a kissing contest at the University Campus Store at about 1:3o p.m. on Feb. 14. Smith said the student was treated and released at the scene. The cause of the lightheadedness is unknown. by Topher Webb [e-mail] They're trying to store water, they're trying to build their homes ... and keep themselves warm or cool, and they're trying to raise their young ... They are the embodied wisdom of living well in a place." She has worked with an architecture and engineering firm to create guidelines for cities based on the healthy natural environments surrounding it. For example, ecologists will determine how much water is naturally stored in a forest adjacent to a city. The city, then, is responsible for finding ways to store the same amount of water through rainwater harvesting, permeable pavement or green roofs. "We should pull our ecological weight," Benyus said. "A city should at least be as good as the native ecosystem of its area." This idea particularly intrigued Dawn David, a Chicago-based law student who attended Benyus' lecture while visiting her sister, a U student. "The concept of the city having dif- such as Midori Ikematsu, a senior in international studies from Japan. She is interested in learning about Native American culture but not necessarily the language. She was extremely interested when she heard about Native Americans at her home university in Japan. She has since visited Navajo, Hopi and Pueblo reservations, and is eager to learn more about the culture from a person rather than a lecture. "I read a lot of articles about the Navajo culture, but after I visited there I was surprised because there were so many differences between 'real' culture and book culture," Ike- ferent parameters to at least match the ecosystem around it is such a simple but interesting concept, because a building could easily do that — they just don't," she said. "If that were some sort of standard or regulation ... that you could impose on manufacturers or buildings or companies ... that's just so simple and would be such an easy solution." Benyus ended her lecture by cautioning students not to self-deprecate their species. She said humans are part of nature as well and have just made some bad decisions in their relatively short 200,000-year existence. She told students to stop the poor decisions and instead, "create conditions conducive to life." "We do belong here [on Earth.] We're just learning how to get along here," Benyus said. "And the most delightful thing happens when we get [the decision-making process] right: we get to stay here. We get to stay home." matsu said. She has found the best way to learn about culture is to be in it and to meet people. She is waiting to be paired up. The number of international students is slowly growing each year, with a total of 2,700 currently at the U. Scott said the university wants to show international students the school offers opportunities to make meaningful connections. She said international students frequently arrive here and only make friendships with other international students. This program helps them get a full experience and also helps native speakers le VOTED LOCATIONS: Downtown Delivery ry 300 S. 1300 E. 582-5700 Best Pi zza 1320 E. 200 S. 582-0195 Come see for yourself... [e-mail] learn more about the world. "It's a win-win for students in general," Scott said. "It's amazing to get the different mind-sets and values." She has noticed it helps students in their classes, which can aid the many majors that require a foreign language. She said the program is free and flexible, but the friendships and connections are the real goal. 'Any friendship develops you personally, how much more when it can open your eyes to another culture and you can understand why they do things the way they do," Scott said. [e-mail]