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Show A&EDiversions Friday, Nov. 6, 2009 Page 7 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com Giving up time to help others in need By LAUREN GARDNER staff writer When most people think of volunteer work, more often than not they think of dirty work, such as picking up garbage on the side of the road or cleaning up animal droppings at the park. However, volunteering is a fun, rewarding experience that leads to meeting new people and making a difference in the lives of others. Some USU students complain there is nothing fun to do in a small town like Logan. They may find themselves watching movies or playing video games every weekend, groaning the entire time about how bored they are. However, some students have found volunteering to be a great cure for boredom and a great way to spend their free time. Two of these students are Emily Davis and Chris Gardner. Davis has been involved in volunteering since she moved to Logan for college from Colorado three years ago. “As a freshman, I went to a service seminar just out of curiosity,” she said. “At the service seminar I learned of a ton of volunteer opportunities here in Logan. I picked an organization that best fit my schedule and got involved.” Since that seminar, Davis has had several volunteering opportunities and currently works with Bridgerland Literacy and the Cache Valley Humane Society, both of which, according to Davis, have their share of rewards and fun. “I tutor for a little boy struggling in reading comprehension and spelling,” Davis said. “As an English major, I love having the opportunity to share my love of reading and writing with him. It’s a perfect fit.” Sharing one of her favorite experiences from volunteering with Bridgerland Literacy, Davis fondly said, “The little boy I currently tutor loves pizza, and when I first started working with him we made an agreement that after a certain number of sessions, if he worked really hard we would have a pizza party. This really motivated him and after just a few sessions we bought pizza, root beer and cupcakes and spent the afternoon with his mom and brother celebrating his success in school. It was so much fun.” The Humane Society is another perfect volunteering opportunity based on Emily’s interests and hobbies. “Volunteering at the shelter is such a fun way to get involved,” Davis said. “I literally play with cats and dogs all day, and the kittens and puppies are so much fun.” Davis said her volunteering tasks at the Humane Society consist of socializing the dogs and cats, walking and exercising the dogs, training and various odd jobs the society needs. In the past, Davis has volunteered at hospitals, helping the nursing staff with its assignments or visiting the patients. Last year, she had the opportunity to volunteer for a Latino finance class for parents and their children. “We would prepare a meal prior to the class, and while the parents went to the class, we would put together activities for the children to do,” Emily said. Gardner, who is a senior, has also spent a fair amount of time doing volunteer work for different places in Cache Valley. Like Emily, he picked places to volunteer based off his talents, hobbies and interests. Most recently, Gardner had the opportunity to assist in building the Whittier Playground. “That was something that interested me,” Chris said. “I helped put together the framework and the foundation for the playground. It was lots of hammer and nails and connecting things.” As a member of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, Gardner said him and his fraternity brothers are always looking for ways to get involved. They participate in Adopt-A-Highway up Logan Canyon, and every spring they team with Red Cross to do a charity event. “There is plenty of volunteering to be done out there, and we like to get every brother to participate,” he said. In the past, Gardner has done a lot of volunteering for the theatre arts department on campus. He helped put together the sets for the department. He said volunteering for the department has been his favorite form of volunteering so far. Gardner’s favorite part of volunteering is the people he meets at different volunteering events. “You meet people who live down the street from you who you never knew,” he said. For students like Davis and Gardner, getting involved is a fun way to spend spare time in Cache Valley. For more information on how students can get involved, visit the Val R. Christensen Service Center on the third floor of theTaggart Student Center. –lauren.gardner@aggiemail.usu.edu EMILY DAVIS HOLDS a cat at the Cache Valley Humane Society Thursday where she volunteers. ANI MIRZAKHANYAN photo Swell Season’s new album is a ‘Strict Joy’ “Strict Joy,” a followhas its perks but listening to up to the Swell Season’s Pete P. the CD adds another dimenpopular album, ‘Once’, this powerful song. Smithsuth sion toSwell explores the band’s Season impresoverall sound, distinsively combines different guishing itself from Glen voices with its instruments Hansard’s original band, into something unique, makThe Frames, without ing this easily my favorite alienating itself from the track in the album. Grade Astyle. “The Rain” retains the “Low Rising” start- “Strict Joy” qualities Swell Season had in ed off the album with by Swell Season its previous album – Hansard something more hopeon his guitar, consequently ful than usual. The music adding on layers of percusfeels a lot more upbeat than most of what sion and strings, interrupted by episodes Hansard has written in the past. The track of vocals. This is present in some of the really invites the listeners and surprises Frames’ early albums. Fans will not be disthem with such optimism. appointed with this one. “In These Arms” is a song on the album Honestly I didn’t love Irglova’s voice that I heard in a Swell Season concert last on the previous album. In the songs “The year. This song particularly attracted me Moon” and “If You Want Me.” On this because of its simplistic harmony, clean new album, “I Have Loved You Wrong” accompaniment and lyrics. Listening to changed my mind. Her voice on this track Hansard and Marketa Irglova serenading is a lot stronger than in the past. The way the audience with their acoustic guitars her voice mixed with the rest of the instru- Tune Takes ments is refreshing. It even made me go back and listen to her old songs and gave me a new perspective on her. Hansard’s and Irglova’s voices do not disappoint here. I have always loved them together as a duet. Live or on CD, there is no doubt that this duo works amazingly well together. As a fan of The Frames, I felt that in the previous Swell Season album, I was listening to two different bands. “Strict Joy” better combined the styles of both bands. I feel like I can listen to one and switch to another without having to change my mood. I used to like each band separately, now I love listening to the two together. This album being released after the huge success of “Once,” which was extremely popular, puts a tremendous pressure on the artists. Being a long time fan, I am fully satisfied with the quality of the songs on “Strict Joy.” This really makes me excited for their upcoming Utah tour. It’s always a joy seeing Hansard and Irglova perform. –petesmiths@gmail.com Go back to the basics for a great gaming experience Being of a younger generation, I wasn’t really a part of the early gaming sensation. The first system I had as a child was the Nintendo 64 and, while it is a respectable system – I still play the N64 to this day – I feel like I missed out on possibly the greatest era of games ever. Thanks to recent developments in technology I can revel in games long past their prime, with possession of nearly every Nintendo Entertainment System and Super Nintendo title ever. Even though these systems are dated, I would hardly be able to call myself any sort of gamer if I never partook in the classics. What is amazing about most of these titles is that, even to this day, they are an excellent way to waste hours upon hours of your time. Lately, I have put down my next-gen consoles in favor of eight- and 16-bit games, like “Megaman,” “Contra” and “Tetris Attack.” What these games lack in graphic capability they more than make up for in powerful gameplay. Back when developers were not expected to portray gripping stories or wow players with dazzling visuals, games focused on fun and skill, not who has the most realistic blood-squirt. Where I can breeze through most newer games without breaking a sweat, old classics like “Battletoads” humble and punish me. The constantly regenerating shields of Halo are a joke when you have to train yourself to cope with one-hit deaths and respawns that bring you back to the beginning of the level. Often I get too worked up to get past level three and have to put down the controller, take a break, maybe play some “Half-Life” to calm down. But it’s not all just frustrating mechanics. Every game is beatable, it just takes more reflexes and skill than I am used to. I guarantee there is nothing more satisfying than finally obliterating Dr. Wily after dying 30-plus times. I find myself sighing and saying, “There’s no way, but let me give it one more try.” That’s what makes you know you’re playing a good game: When you feel like it is impossible but maybe you should try again anyway. But probably even more gratifying is finally playing, in all their pixelated glory, the originals that spawned great modern games, like “Prince of Persia,” “Final Fantasy” and “Castlevania.” Games of the earlier generations defined what we play today. Maybe I am just a kid marveling at something that should be commonplace to me, but I strongly suggest giving these old games a first (or second) try. I am not legally allowed to tell you where to get these games, and I do not condone illegal downloads. I do, however, encourage sharing. Find friends who have old Nintendo systems, dust them off and give them some much needed love. Need help choosing or finding games? Feel free to e-mail me. Happy gaming. –H.Chelak@aggiemail.usu.edu |