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Show Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010 StatesmanCampus News Page 3 Sustainability council holding "dorm wars" contest Briefs Campus & Community tally friendly. They also want to begin working with By JESSICA SWEAT ASUSU to make campus events more sustainable. staff writer "We want to change the culture at USU for the better and take action that is supported by stuThe table was a little more crowded at this week's dents," Buckner said. ASUSU executive council meeting, with guests Armstrong also announced that the council is from the Residence Hall Association (RHA), USU's working to bring Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to campus Sustainability Council, and Natural Resources this spring to speak to students on how to live susSenator Jason Carlisle. tainably, at an estimated cost of $30,000. So far the Sara Cody from the RHA opened up the meeting event has been set for Thursday, April 21. said the RHA "loves" working with the council and The sustainability council will intends to continue to work also be putting on a contest closely with them. "We want to change called "Dorm Wars." The contest Cody asked the council will be geared toward on-camthe culture at USU for to give two weeks advanced pus residents and will run from notice to the RHA for dates of the better and take October to March. The residence events and activities so that action that is supporthall that reduces its energy costs all residence assistants can be and other practices the most will ed by students." on board. She also said the receive $500 to spend how they RHA was building new leaders _Jake Buckner, please. This prize, along with an that will "hopefully live up to USU Sustainability Council additional $500 being given away, ASUSU standards." will be provided by the college of President Tyler Tolson Natural Resources and awarded said, "RHA is a great resource to us. They always on Earth day. volunteer to help and give us on campus access to Diversity Vice President Kaho Fiefa announced students." that on Thursday, Sept.30, there will be a "very The next guests to present to the council were beneficial" meeting all clubs and organizations are from USU's Sustainability Council. Director Jake required to attend. All college senators will also Buckner and executive council member Brad need to attend in order to receive information about Armstrong said the council works closely with which clubs they will take charge of. Fiefa then USU's service center toward making the USU camsaid that after this meeting, clubs will mainly work pus more sustainable — meaning more environmen- through their designated college senator. The meeting will be held in the TSC auditorium at 5 p.m. Another update was that of Tom Atwood, programming vice president. Atwood announced that after the Aggie football team takes on BYU this Friday, an after-game party unofficially dubbed the "White Trash Bash" will be held in the lounges of the TSC from 10:30 p.m. to midnight. The band "The Metal Gods" will provide entertainment. "It will be an awesome, awesome party," Atwood said. ASUSU interim adviser Linda Zimmerman and Athletics VP Alex Putnam said ESPN will be coming to USU to not only cover the BYU-USU football game, but to film game-day traditions as well. ESPN will also film students camping out for the game around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 30. Footage captured may be used during the game to highlight specific traditions the university endorses. Natural Resources Senator Jason Carlisle gave a short presentation on behalf of USU's student organic farms. Carlisle made the request for $1,300 from the Capital and Support fund and stated that the farm is "in dire need of a structure that will provide wind break." The structure to be built is a straw bale building that will "be a large icon for sustainability for USU." The council voted to approve the request. — jessie.a.sweat@aggiemaiLusu.edu Three USU choirs to perform in ensemble The choral ensembles of USU's Caine College of the Arts Music Department present "Autumn Voices" Oct. 6 in the USU Performance Hall at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $8 for reserved seating and free for USU students with ID. The performance features the USU Chamber Singers, USU Chorale and USU Women's Choir. The music of Claudio Monteverdi, James Mulholland, Daniel E. Gawthrop, Bob Chilcott and Michael McGlynn will be featured. Several handcrafted bells created by local metal artist Doug Adams will be used during the performance. "I've always been drawn to Doug's incredible bell sculptures," said Cory Evans, director of choral activities at USU. "We thought it would be neat to hear them ringing in the Performance Hall along with the beautiful voices of these student singers. I'm excited to hear how it will sound." The USU Women's Choir is directed by Michael Huff, director of special programs with the Caine College of the Arts and newlyappointed director of the Women's Choir. "Dr. Huff and I have wanted to work together for years, and it is a delight to see his new leadership of the Women's Choir," Evans said. More information and ticket purchase options are available online (www.arts.usu.edu<http://www. arts.usu.edu >), or call the CCA Box Office, 435-797-8022. Boy Scouts invited to earn merit badge STRAW BALE STRUCTURES, like the one shown above, are an inexpensive and sustainable new way to build facilities and students are salvaging resources to build USU's first. MCT Campus photo Organic: Farm to use new facility for shelter and storage continued from page 1 bottles built into the structure in addition to the windows to let light in, Hunt said. Though a straw bale structure's cost is appealing to the student farm, which thrives on donations, there are some hurdles that must be overcome to complete the building. Jack Green, a member of USU's sustainability staff, said a lot of sweat will go into the facility, and materials to build it are not easy to find, especially with the budget the student farm has to work with. "It is very labor intensive," Green said. "It takes a lot of grunt work, if you will, to make it work. a lot of folks haven't worked with straw bale, so they are kind of shooting in the dark initially. Just the novelty of it, the strangeness of it, will be the struggle." The student farm's straw bale structure will not be the first in Cache Valley. Green assisted the construction of a greenhouse composed of straw bale for Logan High School. A man in Avon constructed his house this way as well, Workman said. Necessary procedures to build the structure are mostly simplistic, Workman said, and with the help Green and others who are experienced in working with straw bale, the volunteers may be able to complete the building over the course of a few weekends. Construction of a straw bale structure begins by planting posts four feet in the ground into gravel. Then a rammed earth foundation is created made from nine parts dirt and one part gravel. This layer is covered with chicken wire and then the layers continue until they are one foot above the ground, Workman said. Wood beams create the shell of the building and straw bales are stacked to fill the spaces in between. These straw bales are then bound together by large metal wires that resemble staples. A plaster made from clay is packed onto the straw bales and beams, which is then sealed. This is what gives straw bale structures an adobe look, Workman said. "If we do the clay right and seal it, the structure will last for a long time," Workman said. "It's a new and trendy thing to do in California, and people build their houses this way." She said anyone willing to donate their time and get their hands dirty is welcome to be a part of the new building's construction. — catherine.meidell@aggiemagusu.edu VP: Position to improve marketing and connection with regional campuses continued from page 1 ROB BEHUNIN in 2008, research by USURF on air scrubbing technology led to the formation of Purestream Technology, which continues to see success in the business market, Behunin said. As for regional development, Behunin has seen extensive research application at the Uintah Basin Campus and has been working with entrepreneurs at USU-CEU in Price on projects that deal with clean coal technology and mining safety procedures, and was very positive about the progress being made there. "We're already moving in that space," Behunin said. "The Uintah Basin certainly is the model. This has been our first test, Price is next." DeVilbiss said, "Rob is already at work doing his magic. I know there's potential for a very exciting announcement down the road." While Behunin couldn't comment on the commercialization of specific projects, he said that research in Tooele on advanced vehicle technology has the potential for business application and that a USURF satellite project is very near to reaching the commercial stage. "We're looking at a weather satellite technology that we'll be commercializing in the near term," Behunin said. By unifying university research, Behunin said any student on any USU campus has the potential to be involved in the projects at Utah State. "We're going to try to cross-pollinate across all disciplines," Behunin said. "The average student may be working on very specific projects, that might migrate out into regional areas." Behunin gave a hypothetical example of how research by students in the College of Agriculture might be taken to Price, Moab or Blanding for testing and application after which students from the Huntsman School of Business would be called in for marketing and business strategies. "We want to try to connect the dots with our Logan students and our regional students," Behunin said. — b.c.wood@aggiemail.usu.edu USU's Museum of Anthropology again offers its popular Boy Scout Archaeology Merit Badge Workshop, and early registration is requested. Sessions are held on two consecutive Saturdays. The badge workshops are Oct. 2 and Oct. 9 at the museum. The cost is $5 per scout, and a troop leader must be present. Sessions are held at the museum, Old Main Room 252. The workshops meet all requirements for the archaeology badge. Activities include an archaeological dig and a segment where participants can learn about, then practice, pre-historic Native American skills. "This is a great opportunity for scouts to meet all their requirements in a short amount of time,' said program coordinator Aurora Wallis. "The format for the fall workshop is different from our previous workshops so we can accommodate more scouts." Scouts can choose one of two sessions; one from 9 a.m. to noon and a second from 1-4 p.m. Scouts must participate both Saturdays to meet all requirements. Entire troops or individual scouts are welcome. Interested scouts and troops should call the museum to register, (435) 797-7545, no later than Friday, Oct. 1. The merit badge workshops Oct. 2 and Oct. 9 take the place of the museum's regularly offered "Saturdays at the Museum" series. Build-A-Bear CEO to speak on campus Dave Finnegan, the CEO of Build-ABear, will speak Wednesday, Sept. 29 at noon in the Merrill-Cazier Library auditorium. He will be speaking on how to Build-A-Career and lunch will be served afterwards. The Lunch 'n' lecture series is put on by the Graduate Student Senate and give Graduate Students the opportunity network and prepare for their careers. All graduate students and upperclassmen are encouraged to attend the lecture. The Graduate Student Senate may be contacted at gss@aggiemail.usu.edu . !Compiled from staff and media reports |