CHaSS Week highlights research
CHaSS Week includes a hat tip to the Oreo cookie this year, in addition to other events like Slam Beat Poetry night and a student-run research symposium featuring projects from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, according to Erika Norton, CHaSS senator.
“This creates an opportunity for students to display their work, and they can put this on their resumé,” Norton said of the research symposium.
A lot of students don’t think they can participate because they see research as just writing a paper, Norton said. The submitted projects were divided into categories of journalism, multimedia, research and creative writing. Projects were judged on several criteria, but the main one was creativity, she said.
CHaSS is a unique college in that its majors range from quantitative to literary studies, Norton said.
“Pretty much everyone in our college could submit something with those themes,” she said.
Prizes will be given to researchers for the best-judged projects in each category. The public can see the finalist projects Thursday at 7 p.m. in the David B. Haight Alumni Center. Dress is business casual.
CHaSS Week starts with a universitywide quiz bowl at noon in the TSC International Lounge, said journalism major Rhett Wilkinson, the senior in charge of CHaSS Week public relations. He said he hopes interest in the quiz bowl will spread.
“We hope to generate more excitement than last year,” he said.
The Dean’s Convocation on Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the TSC Auditorium includes a speech by CHaSS Dean John Allen, who will speak on the week’s theme, “Ignite Your Passion.”
“He’ll be speaking about the college in general and how we are passionate about the things we do,” Norton said.
Instead of pizza, the usual refreshment, Wilkinson said the planning group picked Oreo cookies to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the cookie’s inception, per the suggestion of Michael Lyons, interim director of the political science department.
Lyons, who brought Oreo cookies to his class the Monday after Spring Break, said he sympathized with students who didn’t want to return to the classroom after the break. When he saw the sandwich cookies were on sale at Smith’s Marketplace, he bought all the different flavors for his students that day. Then, he went to the CHaSS Week planning meeting and suggested Oreo cookies as a refreshment for the Dean’s Convocation.
“I don’t even like Oreo cookies that much,” Lyons said.
Students interested in food will find a variety at the International Picnic on Wednesday, Wilkinson said. A number of clubs plan to set up booths in the International Lounge at 11 a.m. and serve food until it is gone, he said. Admission is $1.
An interesting new event for CHaSS Week is the Women in Management Workshop later Wednesday, Norton said. Many students get questions about what they are planning to do with their degree, she said, so part of the college’s focus this year is to show students in CHaSS majors they have degrees to everywhere.
The workshop includes women employed at Enterprise Rent-A-Car who work in management positions from human resources to sales to upper management, Norton said. Men are invited, but the workshop is focused mainly on women, she said. However, a management-related major is not necessary.
“There are skills and things you can learn (that) are beneficial no matter where you are going with your major,” Norton said.
The workshop is at 3 p.m. in the University Inn, Room 507.
Lyons’ involvement with CHaSS Week is more than Oreo cookies. He will present a lecture at 3 p.m. Thursday in Room 101 of the Engineering Building with Damon Cann, political science professor, about the upcoming presidential election.
“I will be analyzing what’s going on and what’s going to happen in the future, and why Romney’s having a hard time sealing up the presidential nomination,” Lyons said.
Lyons said he will explain four reasons why President Barack Obama will lose the 2012 presidential election and six reasons why he’ll win.
“People are expecting a close election because it’s been a recession,” Lyons said.
The speaking engagement is part of the Government Relations Council’s “Why Should I Care?” campaign this year, which includes a presentation by each college about how politics is connected to that college’s area of study.
“Politics is everywhere,” Norton said.
Slam Beat Poetry night completes CHaSS Week, an event the college featured in last year’s celebration. Wilkinson said tickets include not just admission but a free mug made by the USU Ceramics Guild. Free coffee and hot cocoa from Caffé Ibis and USU Dining Services will also be provided.
– la.stewart@aggiemail.usu.edu