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Show Utah statesman Wednesday, Sept. I, 2010 Campus Voice since 1902 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com USU asks students to open their pockets By MEGAN ALLEN news senior writer The USU Advancement office will be at Day on the Quad Sept. 1, handing out plastic piggy banks to students in order to help students give back to the university. The new program, Aggies for Change, is a collaborative effort with the Advancement office and Dr. James Morales, vice president of student services. "The initiative came because we are trying to help students realize they can make a difference without putting forth a lot of effort," Morales said. Elizabeth Bare, the assistant director of the Aggie Fund, said Aggies for Change is the first all-student giving program at Utah State. "We are hoping to educate students in philanthropy and the impact they can have," she said. Bare said USU Advancement handed out plastic piggy banks to Connections students last week, and over the next couple of weeks they will be getting them to the rest of the student body, starting with Day on the Quad. The goal is for students to use the banks and fill them with their spare change. "You don't have to donate thousands of dollars," said Tessa Goodall, a senior in exercise science who is serving as the Student Giving Chair, "just your change can make a difference." All the money raised will go to support student priorities, Bare said. "We are going to put it toward whatever will benefit the greatest number of students," she said. A vote will be held for students to decide what the money will be used for, Bare said. Some ideas include scholarships, specific college funds, or the general university fund. "We want the students to be able to see the results of their donations," Morales said. "We want it to go toward something of high visibility and high interest." However, Morales said the money is secondary. "Mostly," he said, "we want students to see themselves as agents of change." Utah State University Charter Credit Union is sponsoring the program, and donated all the piggy banks, Bare said. None of the money raised by students will be benefiting the extensive university fund-raising campaign. Each semester, University Advancement will have a collection day where students can bring all the change to a central location. This will also provide students an opportunity to see all the money that has been collected so far, which will hopefully encourage them to donate more, Bare said. In addition to the money raised by students, two unidentified companies have committed to matching the donations, Bare said. University Advancement is hoping to make this a campuswide project. Many student organizations, such as Student Alumni and ASUSU, are joining the effort to increase awareness and participation. "We don't want to be just another student organization," Bare said. "We want to appeal to everyone. We want it to be a part of the whole student body experience." In the past, students have shown resistance to donating money to the university. They feel they already pay too much in tuition and fees and shouldn't have to pay anything else, Bare said. Bare reminded students that even though tuition increased 7.5 percent last year, the money they pay only covers about 18 percent of the actual cost of a semester. "We don't want you to go into debt to donate," she said, "but just the small change that usually goes unnoticed can make a difference." "Hopefully this can help students realize how important their education is," Goodall said, "and get them in the habit of giving back." "Our main point as a program is for students to understand that if everyone gives a little, we can make a huge difference," Bare said. "We can do it," she said. "I believe in the Aggies." CARL R. WILSON photo illustration — megan.allen@ggiemail.usu.edu Researchfunding readies record high Waitlisting By CATHERINE MEIDELL news editor USU research teams brought in $42 million more in the 2010 fiscal year than the previous year, which made it a banner year with record awards totaling $187 million. Researchers in all departments were hungry for funding and submitted thousands of research proposals throughout the course of the year, said vice president for research Brent Miller. He said investing in faculty members who are skilled in developing thorough and professional proposals was a key factor in receiving funding. USU research created an office for proposal development two years ago in hopes of creating a greater probability that proposals are accepted. The 29 percent increase in research funding is also due in part to the stimulus year in conjunction with the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which yielded $12 million. Miller said 70 percent of the research money is from the federal government. By receiving this money, USU research has been able to produce many job openings, which, in turn, has been a factor in fueling Cache Valley's economy. "In doing all of this research there are discoveries and inventions that are found and can create new business," Miller said. "The research generates jobs directly, but it also generates a base for new jobs, which allows for economic activity." Grant funding not only allows for more faculty and professional researching positions. Jeff Broadbent, associate vice president for research, said research funds invite opportunity for more graduate research assistants and undergraduate research positions. None of this would be possible, though, if concise proposals were not formulated, he said. "Hundreds of proposals are written at a time," Broadbent said. "There are constantly proposals being looked over. It's a never-ending process." In Utah, there are two research universities: University of Utah and Utah State University. Though the University of Utah has a greater GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCHERS assist professors in writing research proposals in addition to performing hands-on research. By doing this, they will be better equipped to bring in research funds in their futures. BRECK BYINGTON photo Inside This Issue YOUR LIFE. EC URE 9/01/10 Women's volleyball takes down Weber State, moving to 3-0. See PROPOSALS, page 4 USU alumni brings three unique music styles to Cache Valley. Page 7 flaws to be corrected By MIKAYLA RICH staff writer The new school year brought several changes to USU's policies and procedures, one of which is the new waitlisting feature available to students who are unable to sign into classes. The new feature allows students to join a waitlist for classes that have reached their maximum occupancy. If someone drops the class, the first student on the list receives an email stating that they have 24 hours to add the class. Students are dropped from the waitlist if they do not add the class in the allotted time, and will have to rejoin the waitlist and wait until it is their turn again. "We were sure to give professors a choice if they wanted to utilize this feature or not. We defaulted all classes to it unless the professor specified otherwise," Registrar John Mortensen said. According to Mortensen, most of the complaints that students have had with the waitlist have been that they did not add their desired class in the allotted time. "Professors' main complaint is that they could not add a student to a class if they weren't on the top of the wait list," Mortensen said. Professors that decide to go with the waitlist option for their class aren't allowed to add students on their own because it can cause problems for students trying to get into the class who are on the waitlist. An unexpected benefit of the waitlist is that departments can now see which classes are in the highest demand and how many students are on the wait list. This has allowed for more sections to be opened to meet the demand, Mortensen said. "It was really convenient to get the email telling me I could sign up for the class, and it was nice to see exactly how much time I had to add the class," said sophomore Alicia Card. I See CLASSES, page 4 Check out Big Blue's Best Calendar, the best master calendar on campus. Send something in ... let people know what you're up to. Official Student Newspaper of Utah State University • "It's All The News You Need!" |