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Show Monday, April 25, 2011 Page 3 StatesmanCampus News Briefs Class aims to ease students' fears about graduation and job hunting By CATHERINE MEIDELL news editor At this time in the semester students are not only forced to think about graduation, but about the pressures of finding a job that matches the skills learned in their major, said Brett Cheney, a junior majoring in entrepreneurship. Cheney is one of about 30 students who were enrolled in a no-credit class titled "Great Work Great Career," after Stephen R. Covey's book published in 2009. Covey partnered with USU as a tenured professor in the Jon M. Hunstman School of Business. With about a year left until graduation, he said he has observed the way this nine-week course has influenced students who are unsure what their majors will allow them to do careerwise, especially those majors that have been deemed less marketable. "For me, I realized that I have qualities that other people don't," Cheney said, "and I felt that this class will help me better show those qualities to potential employers." This program is hopefully going to turn a negative into a positive, said Bryce Smalley, a student and facilitator of the class. After Sen. Howard Stephenson's claim in February that students are working toward "degrees to nowhere," many students were disheartened, but this program can help those students realize that they can be marketable if they learn how to sell themselves effectively. USU students must pay a $100 fee to participate in the class, said Lynne Pettit, a business professor who got the ball rolling on the project about a year ago. This fee includes Covey's book and access to the affiliated online program. "This is a critical time for this program," Pettit said. "The job market is getting extremely competitive. The number of jobs available has gone down." Lydia Brown, a senior in human resources, will begin her job hunt upon her graduation May 7, but she said she isn't too worried about landing a job because she knows how to market herself well. While taking this class she realized potential employees should not go into their careers simply wanting a job, but should want to make a contribution to that company, she said. "They have needs to hire employees to fill those needs," Brown said. "Employees should want to make a difference with what that company is doing." The class is not only taught by professors like Pettit, but by three student interns as well, and they are opening the classes up to students of Campus & Community Harvard chemist speaks Thursday all disciplines on campus. One of the first lessons learned, Chensey said, is defining each individuals' unique contributions based on their talents and knoweldge. "Its about combining their talents, their passions, their overall desires," Cheney said. "Along with that, a lot of stuff what you learn in this class is common knowledge but not commonly practiced." One example of a tip taught in the class is to research the company's purpose and goals before attending an interview with them, he said, and simply doing this will make the chances of being hired much greater because the company will know the applicant is clear about what he or she could contribute. "Basically, they can say I can solve your problem, and learn how to do that without being arrogant," Pettit said. Smalley said he encourages students who feel unsure about what to do with their liberal arts majors to come to a brief meeting in Room 211 of the business building on April 29. There will be an information meeting about the curriculum and its benefits. USU's history department has committed to sponsor six of its students to enroll in the class. STEPHEN R. COVEY *Covey and Colosimo wrIl CNIngs ex? way Yo4) Oink about yam work" -MOM ftetoslookrteltaw DitAlow Grea wCaorkree Great How to Create Your Ultimate Job and Make an Extraordinary Contribution — catherine.meidell@aggiemail.usu.edu Stephen R. Covey Jennifer Colosimo Electronic: Campus group covers recycling expense continuedfrom page 1 ALEX STEELE, A GRADUATE STUDENT in mechanical engineering, and Patrick Ball, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering, drop their old cell phones into USU Recycling's electronics bin. There are 100 million cell phones disposed of yearly and 130,000 computers disposed of every day. BRECK BYINGTON photo will be easier to host electronics collections on a yearly basis. Lisa Tobias, the education coordinator of USU Recycling, said, "Usually Logan recycling takes electronics, and also the dump takes them. We don't usually because it costs money for them to be disposed of. Since this is all free, that's why we're trying to promote it." Phillips said that electronics waste (e-waste) is the biggest challenge across America because of the sheer volume of the e-waste that's hitting the markets. Since most people have electronics, he said, the problem is much larger. He said there are many environmental health and safety problems that result from computers in particular that aren't recycled or disposed of properly. Computer monitors, like television screens, contain lead and are considered hazardous waste. A further danger, said Phillips, is when computers are thrown in the garbage and left alone. "That beats the heck out of me," he said. "I don't know what people are doing with their old computers. I hope they're not putting them in the trash can, but maybe they are." Phillips said many corporations that have created the problems are now taking responsibility for them, but that, he said, is useless without the public realizing the benefits of recycling their electronics. "There has been pressure for cornputer companies to step up, and final- ly, Mac has," he said. "It's a shame if they step up and do this and we as the public act like we don't care." He added that recycling electronics hasn't really caught on to the public, but that if it did, it would make a world of a difference. Utah State already mines minerals and collects precious metals when recycling computers, he said, and USU Recycling recycles about 25 percent of the university's main waste stream. He added that other sustainability efforts are happening all over campus; an example is in the field south of the Spectrum where a giant water tank is being placed. It will circulate water through campus during the summer and save approximately $100,000 a year from electricity bills, he said. Any efforts the public can make to help the environment would make a large difference, Tobias said. With students moving away from campus for the summer or graduating, Tobias said, now is the time for USU students to help out the environment by taking their old cellphones and other devices to the Recycling Center. "There are a lot of things the university is trying to do to decrease its footprint on the environment," Phillips said, "and this is one little part that we can do." Items will be collected at the Recycling Center until Thursday, April 28. — ariwrees@gmail.com Freeze: Three students' USU funding uncertain due to Libyan conflict continuedfrom page 1 zone, going back to Libya is not an option for Alakari and the other Libyan students. To Alakari, an even better option would be to unfreeze the Libyan funds. That money belongs to the Libyan people, not Gadhafi, she said. Freezing Libyan scholarships is a victory for Gadhafi because his actions in the country are also controlling the Libyans who live abroad. "It doesn't make sense to me that the money is frozen, you are not allowed to work, and you cannot go back now," she said. Alakari is a graduate student studying second language teaching. Even though she can work, she does not expect to be able to do much because she has a family to take care of, classes to finish and a thesis to write. "Imagine the frustration that (the students) have now, because they know that there won't be any money after May," Alakari said. "You know, I feel guilty talking about money when there are people dying in my country, but I want to explain this situation." For these students, the problem lies not only in how to get financial help, but where it comes from. The scholarship does not come from the university. The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) administers the Libyan students' sponsorships in Canada and the U.S. on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research (MOESR), and all actions are done with Libyan money. In an April 20 e-mail, CBIE director of U.S. operations Kemale Pinar said, "CBIE recently obtained a license from the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control to allow CBIE to issue monthly living allowance payments to students and tuition payments to insatitutions." However, in a message to Libyan students posted April 21, on CBIE's U.S. website, it states there are "sanction-related technical difficulties" in regards to future tuition payments. "CBIE is working diligently in cooperation with the MOESR and the financial institutions to ensure these technical difficulties are addressed," the message states. It also states there are no funds from the Libyan government to cover monthly living allowances after May, and there is not a sufficient amount of money to pay for health coverage at this time. There are three Libyan students at USU, including Alakari. The Office of International Students and Scholars at the university said they are doing all they can to assist the Libyan students and their families with housing and much needed items, but there is only so much they can do. Vice President for Student Services James Morales said the university has to work with these students on a case-by-case basis because each has a different graduation date and personal circumstances, and he is currently working with one of the students. For now, the best Alakari can do is wait for change as she reads reports on the news about the violence in Libya, and sees familiar faces while watching coverage of the Libyan conflict on television news. "They say that 'We are safe,' and 'We are good,' but you know I don't trust that anymore because they cannot talk and I sense that," Alakari said of phone calls to her family. "You can know when they are really safe and when they are just telling you that to make you feel more comfortable." — la.stewart@aggiemail.usu.edu Utah State University's Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry welcomes renowned chemist Jon Clardy of Harvard Medical School to campus Thursday, April 28, as guest speaker for the 2011 Richard Olsen Lecture Series. Clardy, who is the Hsien Wu and Daisy Yen Wu Professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard University, presents"Discovering New Molecules in Nature." He speaks at 4:30 p.m. in Widtsoe Hall, room 007. His talk is free and open to all. Clardy joined Harvard Medical School in 2002. His primary research focus is small, biologically active molecules, especially those from natural sources. Clardy studies bacterial symbionts as a way to discover new molecules and place them in an evolutionary/ecological context, small molecules that govern developmental decisions in bacteria and new approaches to controlling — and possibly eradicating — malaria. Munsen hired as chair for art ed. The Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services and the Caine College of the Arts at Utah State University announced that Sylvia Munsen is joining the university as the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Endowed Chair for Elementary Arts Education. In this position, Munsen will develop the skills of those who teach arts to elementary students, teaching university students how to incorporate music, dance, drama and visual arts into the core curriculum of English, science, math and social studies. Munsen was introduced at a special event April 15 that honored arts advocate Beverley Taylor Sorenson for her many contributions made to arts and education in the state of Utah. The event featured an arts program including elementary- and high schoolaged student performances, the USU Chorale and a student artwork display. Beth Foley, dean of the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services, said Sorenson deserves special recognition for helping to return arts education to Utah classrooms through her philanthropy and her work with the state legislature, educators and business and community leaders. "Mrs. Sorenson has long recognized that the arts, including music, dance, theater and visual arts, play a vital role in supplementing the academic experiences of children and helping them to integrate learning across the curriculum," Foley said. USU applauds teaching fellows The 2011 Utah State University Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Fellows were honored recently at a banquet in the David B. Haight Alumni Center. The Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Fellows for 2011 are: Miriam Fellows, agriculture education, College of Agriculture; Erik N. Olson, double major: printmaking and art history, double minor: classics-Latin, Caine College of the of Arts; Derek Kent, marketing, Jon M. Huntsman School of Business; Chalese Buttars, communication disorders, Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services; Allia Abu-Ramaileh, environmental engineering, College of Engineering; Rebecca Richards, English, College of Humanities and Social Sciences; Hannah Moore, fisheries and aquatic sciences, College of Natural Resources; Claire Adams, public health: industrial hygiene and biology, College of Science; Sara Hegsted, COMD, speech-language pathology concentration, Honors Program; and Carlie Stevens, secondary education (English teaching), Library and Instructional Support. Co mp ile d from staff and media reports ! |