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Show StatesmanCampus News Page 4 Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009 Imagined by kids, built by volunteers STUDENTS VOLUNTEER TO BUILD the Adventure Playground for the Whittier Community Center. According to the center’s Web site, the playground is a 100 percent disabled-inclusive park built based on ideas from local school children. CATHERINE URIE photo USU Wind Orchestra to present annual Homecoming concert By USU Media Relations The Utah State University Wind Orchestra, under the direction of Thomas P. Rohrer, will perform its opening concert of the season and host the USU Alumni Concert Band, Nicholas Morrison conductor. The ensembles will perform both separately and together in what is an annual event as part of Homecoming festivities at USU. The Homecoming Concert is Friday, Sept. 25, at 8 p.m., and is presented in the Kent Concert Hall of the Chase Fine Arts Center. The concert is highlighted by a massed band finale. Admission for the event is $8 for adults, and USU and school music students are admitted at no cost. Those with questions should call 7973004. The Wind Orchestra, the “flagship ensemble” of the USU bands, is a 45-member ensemble of the finest wind and percussion players in the school, said Thomas P. Rohrer, director of band in USU’s department of music and the Caine School of the Arts. The orchestra plays contemporary wind music as well as timetested standards from the band repertoire. The Wind Orchestra performs two concerts in the fall semester and three concerts in the spring, and entrance is gained to the ensemble by audition at the outset of each semester. The ensemble has earned a reputation in the region by performing at the Utah Music Educators Convention and with two performances in four years at the College Band Directors National Association Western/Northwestern Division conference in Reno, Nev. Many members of the USU Alumni Concert Band participate in the summer concert series at USU, and return for this reunion during Homecoming activities. The USU bands’ schedule includes a concert of distinguished soloists Nov. 6, the annual “Sounds of the Stadium” marching band concert Saturday, Nov. 21, the Tri-State Band Symposium Finale Concert Dec. 5 and a holiday concert Dec. 6. USU rocket team accepts $5,000 winner’s check By USU Media Relations Representatives from ATK recently presented a $5,000 check to Utah State University’s Chimaera rocket team – one of the perks of winning the grand prize at NASA’s University Student Launch Initiative competition in April. The check was presented prior to the scheduled Ares rocket test fire on Aug. 27. Team members had VIP seating for the test fire, which was ultimately scrubbed due to technical concerns at the 20-second mark. As grandprize winners, the USU team also received an invitation from NASA to attend a space shuttle launch at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida in fall 2009. The USU rocket team won the grand prize in Huntsville, Ala., for the second year in a row, beating 18 other teams, including Arizona State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Vanderbilt University, Florida Institute of Technology and Alabama A&M University. The College of Engineering’s 27-member team of graduate and undergraduate students, including faculty mentor Dr. Stephen Whitmore and graduate student instructor Shannon Eilers, spent about 10,000 hours designing, building and testing their rocket. The team designed and built the rocket while working closely with NASA scientists and engineers, giving them the opportunity for first-hand, real-world engineering experience. “It was amazing to see the level of talent that participated in the competition,” said Jim Halsell, ATK Space Systems vice president. Beat poets to visit campus By RACHEL A. CHRISTENSEN news editor Beat poet Ani Mojgani will return to USU with three contemporary poets from the group Elephant Engine High Dive Revival Sept. 17, 7 p.m. at the Amphitheater. Jo Olsen, director of Associated Students of Utah State University arts and lectures, said Mojgani likes coming to USU and actually asked to come back this year. Olsen said he was introduced to Mojgani before the poetry slam last year. “One thing that I am impressed with Ani is he has almost all of his poems memorized,” Olsen said. “A big thing with him is his passion and delivery with slam poetry.” The Amphitheater was condemned and only recently fixed up to be usable. Olsen said he is now pushing for more events to be located here. The Amphitheater is located on Old Main Hill, just southeast of the Old Main Building. Olsen said he encourages everyone to attend but to be aware beforehand that the poets may use coarse language. Mojgani is a two-time individual National Poetry Slam champion, according to a USU press release. Derrick Brown, Shira Erlichman THE USU AMPHITHEATER will be filled with the words of four beat poets from the group Elephant Engine High Dive Revival Thursday at 7 p.m. photo courtesy of USU MEDIA RELATIONS and Buddy Wakefield will also perform Thursday. –rac.ch@aggiemail.usu.edu USTAR: Team started in summer -continued from page 3 Hashimoto said. “It is stuff that is all up and with the research. SVED is the department that coming and hasn’t been fully realized now. It oversees the nine USTAR teams at USU. deals with media, and I think students are really Shelton said IDIAS plans to hire several conplugged in with media now.” sultants who live and work in Cache Valley to Michael O’Malley, who does the public relahelp guide the projects. Many of them are USU tions and marketing for USTAR and a member graduates from the instructional technology and of its governing board, said the goal of USTAR learning sciences and the graphic arts departis to help the teams at USU and at the other ment, who have the unique type of experience research campuses to generneeded for his team. ate research that will lead Mendelkow said them to create patents and including the new teams cre“(IDIAS) is about licenses for new technologies. ated over the summer, SVED taking your traHashimoto said while at USU manages a total of ditional learning he cannot give any specific nine teams, which have names, the team is forming received USTAR funding as ideas and adding partnerships with groups seeding money. That is, the more media to it, and communities who are teams plan to use the money and the idea of interested in the type of to get the research started, research the team is working and hire researchers, coninteractivity.” on at USU. sultants and other personO’Malley said the IDIAS nel. After the research gets – Alan Hashimoto, going, the plan is to obtain team is one of three new teams that were created at associate professor of money from federal grants. USU and received funds by Shelton has already graphic arts USTAR over the summer. All submitted a proposal for three teams have been given a grant from the National a combined budget of $9 milEndowment for Humanity lion. The budget will be used to hire new faculty and is waiting to hear from them. He says they and personnel that will allow the team to keep are eager to obtain grant money wherever posworking on its current research, and will allow sible to further the projects. it to generate both new research and further “(IDIAS) is about taking your traditional funding in the form of grants from the federal learning ideas and adding more media to it and government and other institutions. the idea of interactivity,” Hashimoto said. “It is Jacoba Mendelkow, public relations and like going a step further. It’s not just about writmarketing specialist for USU’s department of ing, and listening and watching, but it’s a comStrategic Ventures and Economic Development bination of all of those, plus interaction, and I (SVED), said undergraduate research is strong think this is what the strength of (IDIAS) is.” at USU, and the new team will provide “really –jp.rodriguez@aggiemail.usu.edu cool” opportunities for students to get involved |