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Show Page 4 CampusNews Monday, Aug. 24, 2009 JACOB SCHARTON, STUDYING POLITICAL SCIENCE, is a veteran and will be serving as a student mentor in the new Veteran’s Resource Office. The office opened as this semester’s classes started. TYLER LARSON photo New veteran office provides support By BRENDON BUTLER staff writer Veterans have a new support system provided by the newly created Veteran’s Resource Office. The office provides help for veterans when they gain admission to USU, register for classes and apply for financial aid, said Michelle Bogdan, director of the Women’s Resource Center and Reentry Student Center. Bogdan oversaw the creation and is in charge of administration for the Veteran’s Support Office, which is a branch of the Reentry Student Center “More and more veterans are returning from service,” Bogdan said. “There’s a need for an office to help veterans who are acclimating and getting through the maze of higher education.” A special committee comprised of representatives from the campus community, some of who are veterans themselves, convened to develop the program, Bogdan said. Alan Andersen, dining services executive director, has served three tours in Iraq with the National Guard. As a part of the committee, he said he is interested in “something being there for returning vets.” As a veteran himself, he thinks he can give insight into the experience of coming home, he said. “Imagine sitting here now and at any second a mortar could land,” he said. “Every pop can, every piece of trash on the street could be an (improvised explosive device). When you’ve been in an area with constant danger and stress, it’s a very different scenario.” Andersen said he wants to get the word out to veterans that may be hesitant to ask for help because they think veterans who need help are not good soldiers. “We want to educate, inform and create a forum where veterans can get to know each other in a way that’s not invasive or in your face,” he said. Andersen put out an open invitation for veterans to come visit him in the Dining Services Office, Room 232 in the TSC. Jacob Scharton, a 10-year Army veteran who served tours in Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan, will be serving as a student mentor in the Veteran’s Resource Office while he works on his political science degree at USU. Scharton said he is excited about the new program and looks forward to working with the community of veterans on campus. Scharton will be in the office between 1 and 5 p.m., he said, but anyone can stop by to find out more between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. There will be an open house Thursday, Aug. 27, from 10 a.m. until noon in the Veteran’s Resource Office, Room 315 in the TSC. For more information, call the office at 797-1728. –butler.brendon@gmail.com WOW: Aggies reconnect through activities -continued from page 1 – 29, which includes daily activities and events. Erin Reeder, ASUSU programming V.P., said WOW Week is to help students get involved with activities around campus. She said she feels students who participate in campus events have a more rewarding educational experience. “When there’s a sense of community people excel,” Reeder said. “Academic success isn’t just in the classroom.” This year’s WOW Week includes a number of old USU favorites; such as the Blood Battle, which runs all week; Wednesday’s Day on the Quad and Tuesday night’s movie on the HPER field; as well as some new additions like Wednesday night’s foam dance. “You’ll get soaking wet, it’s crazy,” Reeder said. Students donating blood in the annual Blood Battle against the University of Utah will be able to save time this year by registering online, Reeder said. USU won last year’s Blood Battle and will have to set a high bar for the U, whose blood drive takes place after USU’s. WOW Week also includes Moonlight and Music, a USU tradition normally unassociated with the first week of school. Following Monday’s Aggie Pride Stampede, The Sequence, a band from Huntington Beach, will play at the TSC Patio. Aggie music fans have plenty of other acts to see during WOW Week with The Vibrant Sound and John Allred performing Wednesday at Day on the Quad, and USU’s open mike-night Poetry and a Beverage Friday. “(Poetry and a Beverage) really embodies the atmosphere of USU’s campus. It’s really chill and relaxed,” Reeder said. The 2009 WOW Week theme is “Connect!” and event planners are hoping students do exactly that from the beginning of the semester to the end. Reeder said she wants students to be “hit in the face” with activities this year. “My personal goal (is) to make sure students are aware of every activity. We have a niche for every single student,” Reeder said. Both daytime and evening activities will be happening every day during the week. For more information students can log on to www.usu.edu/asusu, look for the fliers around campus or tune in to Fushion HD3 radio for announcements. –b.c.wood@aggiemail.usu.edu STUDENTS LISTEN TO LIVE MUSIC at last year’s Day on the Quad, a WOW Week activity aimed at letting students know about clubs and groups on campus. TYLER LARSON photo Buy 1 Entree get the 2nd FREE |