The oil spill: How can our campus help?
June 4, 2010
The oil spill.
The photos and stories are horrifying. So, what can we do about it? How will we, as members of the UW-Green Bay community, respond to this crisis?
The mission of UWGB is to prepare students to think critically and address complex issues. The University promotes both environmental sustainability and engaged citizenship.
So, let’s start doing some thinking. All of us—students, staff, faculty, administrators, alumni, and community members—can take part. Our collective heads, hearts, and hands are needed.
Where does this conversation begin? We don’t have to look far to find basic ways we can help:
• Fund-raising: The International Bird Rescue Research Center, which picks up oiled birds, cleans, and rehabilitates them, is asking for support for its bird-rescue experts. Adopting a pelican, for example, costs $200, which goes to the cost of raising and eventually releasing it.
• Tweeting and blogging: The National Wildlife Federation is asking for support via social networking sites, such as Facebook or Twitter. Twitter users can tweet and retweet messages with the #NWF tag. A Facebook Fan Page invites users to support the Wildlife Federation by setting up a “birthday cause.” Instead of getting presents from friends, you can direct them to donate to an organization of choice.
• Writing in other ways: Leave condolences to the families of the eleven workers killed in the explosion. Transocean has a Web page that introduces the employees who died and provides space for messages of sympathy. Or you can write to your newspaper, to your legislators, or to BP.
• Learning: Read about the spill. How do oil rigs work? What failed? What solutions have been attempted? Why haven’t they worked? What’s next? How can problems like this be avoided…or can they? Talk about these things. Listen to people who have perspectives different from your own. Start forming a position…
and yet…we don’t have to know everything before we can do anything. According to Paul Loeb, author of Soul of a Citizen: Living With Conviction in Challenging Times, if we wait until we have all the knowledge we need, ample time to give, and the right words to say, we’ll never act at all. Now is the time, as imperfect as it may be.
“The wonder, “ Loeb writes, “is that when we do begin to act, we often gain the knowledge, confidence, and strength that we need to continue.”
So, if we can’t go to the coast to hold back the oil or to clean off the pelicans ourselves, what can we do to support that area and to protect the environment here in our own community? We have a beautiful campus, city, and state. How can we keep them that way? What are your ideas?
Can we do something? Yes. Will we do something?
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Why are you a UWGB student? Let’s talk…
May 17, 2010
Just like college students, universities think about their identities. What makes UW-Green Bay, well, UW-Green Bay? Why should prospective students choose UWGB over other institutions? Is UW-Green Bay a good fit for anyone and everyone? If not, who benefits most from coming here? What do you tell your friends and family about the UW-Green Bay experience?
When I talk to students about this campus, I hear a wide variety of descriptors. Most everyone knows about the three T’s: tunnels, trees, and toilets. To be sure, there’s nothing better than the tunnels in the dead of winter. Private bathrooms, too, are great (although you never really get to know a person until you spit toothpaste in the sink next to him/her. Trust me. I’ve been there.) And, this campus is certainly a rare beauty; not every university has deer in residence.
What else? Here are a few things I think are just great:
1) Student organizations. We now have about 120 recognized groups on campus, up more than 30 percent in five years. Most UWGB students are members of at least one organization. There’s something for just about everyone. And if you don’t find something you like, it’s easy to start your own group.
2) First-Year Seminars. For fall 2010, these amazing courses include “Science in Film,” “The Leadership Question,” “The Culture of Food,” and “Gods, Ghosts, and Goblins.” First-Seminars provide an opportunity for new students to learn from some of the most dynamic faculty on campus. And, in addition to learning about food or ghosts, students are introduced to study and test-taking skills, time management, and more. It’s a fabulous way to get started at UWGB!
3) Size. UW-Green Bay isn’t too big, and it isn’t too small. It’s relatively easy to get connected here, whether it’s by working with faculty on research, walking to class with your neighbors from the residence halls, making pillows or getting massages at UWGB Nites, joining an intramural team, or sitting down to talk with someone in the commons or coffeehouse.
How about you? How would you describe UW-Green Bay’s identity? Why should students consider coming here?
Tunnels, trees, and toilets, sure. And then there’s the Winter Garden lounge, bags of popcorn in the Garden Cafe, OrgSmorg, cheap movies, the climbing wall, the Shorewood Golf Course, the comfy couches in the AIC/Student Life, games in the Club, a disc golf course, Communiversity Park, Max U. Day, and…
Visit the permanent link to “Why are you a UWGB student? Let’s talk…”.
Student leaders and groups make a difference
April 25, 2010
UWGB student leaders and organizations have had a great year. As I look back over the last nine months or so, so many things stand out:
1) Student groups—big and small—have gathered around a shared purpose, committed to it, and are making a difference. Two organizations, in fact, are changing the face of the campus: The SLO Food Alliance is growing fruits and vegetables in the planters behind the Union, and “Together We Cope: Support for UWGB Grieving Students” has created a Memorial Garden by the bell tower.
2) The Campus Life Task Forces work to improve programs, specifically in the areas of relationships, alcohol and drugs, diversity, and leadership. Working with staff and faculty, a number of students actively contribute to creating a healthy, safe, and supportive campus environment. Task Force-supported programs included Cash Cart, the drunk-driving simulator, Day of Silence, and Max U. Day.
3) Many students give their time and talents to recruit and retain other students for the University. Phuture Phoenix mentors and interns, Ambassadors, Resident Assistants, Peer Mentors, and many others teach about the value of higher education, share their college experiences, and help their peers get involved, have fun, and connect with resources to ensure success.
4) Hundreds of student employees serve meals, make lattes and smoothies, plan activities, ref intramurals, work in offices, assist professors, familiarize their peers with the library, and help us all with our computers.
5) Students and organizations have handled big changes and unanticipated disappointments with grace and resilience. They’ve worked through conflicts rather than run from them, they’ve challenged others respectfully, and they’ve come out of difficult situations stronger and better prepared to work through the next ones (which will arise whether we want them to or not!).
And there are so many more examples of great student experiences! What have you observed? What highlights come to mind? What will you remember from 2009-10? As we approach the end of the year, take time to reflect on the memorable moments and to savor these remaining days.
Endings make way for beginnings. 2010-11 is coming…imagine all the new adventures and endless possibilities. Are you excited?
Visit the permanent link to “Student leaders and groups make a difference”.
It’s April…the sun is out and stress is up
April 12, 2010
I’m a little worried about some of you guys. You don’t look good. In fact, you look like you’re about ready to (pick one): 1) cry, 2) scream, 3) fall asleep standing up, or 4) gorge on a large Pecan Cluster Blizzard with a side order of fries. (Oh, wait, that last one is me.)
So what’s wearing you out? Papers? Tests? Projects? Roommates? Boyfriends/girlfriends? Parents? Job? No job? Bills? Lack of sleep? All of the above and more? Almost all of us has a mile-long list of stressors. To make matters worse, we seem to be working very hard to “out-stress” each other. You have two exams in the same day? Well, I have two exams, three papers, two organization meetings, and a flat tire. Have you heard (or participated) in the following conversation?
“I didn’t get to bed until 3:30 in the morning.”
“Well, I haven’t slept since last Wednesday.”
“Oh yeah? I haven’t had any sleep since my freshman year.”
We have a winner, first place, A+++, the Champion of Stress.
There are a handful of people who haven’t joined the UWGB Stress Competition. You see them at the Kress Events Center playing basketball, doing Zumba, or climbing the wall. They get enough sleep on most nights. They drink water, eat an occasional apple, put a veggie or two on their pizza. Papers and projects are spread over weeks rather than cranked out all in one night.
Some of you will stop reading this post now because you’re thinking something like: “Really, what planet is she on?” Or who wants to be one of those people? Yep, who wants to be calm, happy, awake, and healthy? Certainly not me.
We all have days when we feel frazzled and frantic, when we can’t focus on anything but our list(s) of things to do. We get through those days the best we can. But, for today, let’s challenge ourselves to stop for a few minutes. Let’s go for a walk around the arboretum (invite a stressed-out friend!), lie on the lawn and watch the clouds, enjoy a (decaf) latte and some music in the coffeehouse, or call a family member and wish him/her a happy birthday/anniversary/engagement/Monday.
We can simply try to survive April or we can make the most of April. The sun is out, the snow is gone, and anything is possible. Let’s not wish it away. Go out and play.
Visit the permanent link to “It’s April…the sun is out and stress is up”.
What does it mean to be a person of honor?
March 30, 2010
A group of UW-Green Bay students traveled to South Dakota over Spring Break to build relationships with the Lakota people, to learn about their culture, and to participate in service. The group visited Wounded Knee, the mass-burial site of 150 unarmed native men, women, and children who were massacred by the Seventh Cavalry in 1890. The U.S. government awarded Medals of Honor to more than 20 of the soldiers.
So what is honor? Personal characteristics associated with honor include self-respect, dignity, courage, fidelity, and excellence of character. To honor someone is to treat him/her with esteem, respect, and civility.
How can we, as members of the UWGB community, act honorably? We might start here: Treat everyone with dignity, work collaboratively rather than competitively, keep commitments, focus on community needs and interests rather than on an individual’s personal agenda, refuse to give up easily, and learn constantly. What else can we add to this list?
Central to acting honorably is being able to identify our values and convictions. When all is said and done, what really matters to you, and are you living according to these convictions? If we value honesty, we must live honestly. Can others identify what you value by how you live your life? As Ralph Waldo Emerson stated: “What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say.”
Think about a person of honor in your life. Who would you name and why? What makes him/her honorable?
In honor of the Lakota people who welcomed the UW-Green Bay students into their homes and their lives, I share this Lakota prayer:
Wakan Tanka, Great Mystery, teach me now to trust my heart, my mind, my intuition, my inner knowing, the senses of my body, the blessings of my spirit. Teach me to trust these things so that I may enter my Sacred Space and love beyond my fear, and thus Walk in Balance with the passing of each glorious Sun…
Visit the permanent link to “What does it mean to be a person of honor?”.
Remembering What Drives You
March 12, 2010
What drives you? Why are you involved? Why did you pick the organizations you did?
Sometimes, people get so involved in something or multiple things that they find it difficult to answer these questions.
This week, during all of my ridiculous amount of paper writing and exam cramming, I learned that by answering this question, you not only find out a lot about yourself, you also find a lot out about your priorities. By asking this question, you may also find a renewed sense of excitement in the activities that have felt like burdens in these stressful times.
Why did you get involved? What’s YOUR story? Everyone has one. Everyone has a reason they applied to be an Ambassador, an RA, a board member for an org like GTP, or wanted to attend RHAA. Everyone has a reason they signed up for groups at OrgSmorg, attended weekly meetings, and volunteered for events.
Was it someone inspirational? A life event? Were you following your friends? Were you leading them?
It’s really hard to be a good leader when you forget why you wanted to lead in the first place. You have to be excited so that everyone else can be.
So in the time of midterms, when leadership seems like more of a check-list than a series of events, I encourage you to go back to your roots and take into consideration the words of Max Dupree:
“Leadership is much more an art, a belief, a condition of the heart, than a set of things to do.”
Visit the permanent link to “Remembering What Drives You”.
Civic expressions: “Little” things make a difference
March 2, 2010
Am I doing enough to serve others? Am I a good citizen (or at least good enough)?
I am a privileged person: I have a loving (albeit quirky) family, a warm and safe place to live, more than enough food…a very good life. How can I give back? How can I make a difference for others?
For many of us, service and citizenship mean committing extensive amounts of time (and/or money) to a cause, such as serving on a school board or becoming a Big Brother or Big Sister. While these are both wonderful involvements, making this kind of commitment, especially when we’re full-time students with nearly full-time jobs, may seem daunting—in fact, the mere thought of this type of endeavor actually paralyzes many of us from doing anything.
Here’s another way to look at it: I recently encountered the idea of “civic expressions.” It was used to describe one-time, short-term efforts to contribute to our communities—things like sending an e-mail to a legislator about a cause we feel strongly about; signing up to participate in a single event, like the Relay for Life (March 27 at St. Norbert College) or the Special Olympics; or voting. On the campus level, it might mean contributing coffee money to the Haiti fund-raiser, picking up litter you find on the sidewalk, and guiding a lost campus visitor to his/her destination. These kinds of everyday “civic expressions” matter…to Haiti, to the environment, to UWGB guests.
What do you think? Are civic expressions “enough” or just a cop-out? What kinds of such expressions have you encountered? We’d like to hear from you.
Visit the permanent link to “Civic expressions: “Little” things make a difference”.
From the Olympics…a message for all
February 13, 2010
The opening ceremonies of the Olympics always give me chills — the athletes entering the stadium, the music and pageantry, the arrival of the torch. The recent ceremony in Vancouver was especially moving with its minute of silence to honor an athlete who died on the luge track earlier in the day.
With that said, I confess I typically tune out the speeches. Not this time. For some reason I was paying attention when John Furlong, the Chief Executive Officer of the Vancouver Organizing Committee, addressed the crowd. At one point he said:
“Through our example tonight and over the 16 days to come our children will begin to dream and believe in what is possible. Lives of great significance begin with a spark – a nudge – a gesture. Together let us touch as many as we can — while we can.”
A spark, a nudge, a gesture. Everyday we have the same opportunity. We can help another person see his/her potential. We can encourage a friend, a family member, or a neighbor to try something new, to face a fear, to take a step toward a dream. A former supervisor once told me that her personal mission was simple: “Notice and comment.” Where can we light a spark, give a nudge, and offer a gesture of support?
The motto of the Vancouver Olympics is “With Glowing Hearts.” It does the heart good to give and receive encouragement. Let’s set a goal: One spark or nudge or gesture every day for a week. In the spirit of the Olympics, let’s touch as many lives as we can. We’d love to hear from you: How did you reach out? How have others done something simple but impactful for you?
Visit the permanent link to “From the Olympics…a message for all”.
Leadership is Like a First Date
February 2, 2010
Leadership is like a first date. Scary to some, exciting to many, leadership and dating have more in common than you think…
Lately I’ve been attending meetings in which I’ve been astounded by one major current trend. Less and less often have I seen meetings that start with introductions!
Yes, I’ve been involved for a semester or two, but having bi-weekly, monthly, or even further spread meetings puts a lot of pressure on everyone to remember anywhere from 15 to 50 names. Not only that, but sometimes I feel very invisible or unvalued when, as a follower, the leader of my group does not even attempt to call me by my name.
Introductions also help form bonds! Think: common classes or common hometowns or even residence halls. Some people have dozens of common friends but may have never met.
When comparing leadership and dating, introductions are the pick-up lines! “What’s your name?” “Where are you from?” or one of the most common in college “So what are you studying?
Cheesy? Maybe.
Corny? Well, yeah.
But you can’t pick up that amazing date if you don’t even know their name, right?
Ok, so you are having a great time being a leader. What would you do if you were having a great time on your first date?
Most likely, you would make an attempt to get to know them better.
I feel like some of the groups I’ve witnessed around campus are hit or miss with this topic. How much do you, as a leader, know about the people you lead? Do they respond better when delegated to or when asked to volunteer? Can you recognize the people who have a lot of potential? What about the people who love the spotlight? These are questions that every leader should challenge themselves to be able to answer.
But what about the smaller questions. Do they have pets? Siblings? How is their day going? How are their classes this semester? Are they involved in more orgs? Taking the time to ASK the questions, even if you don’t necessarily remember the answers, shows you actually care about them as people, and therefore members of your organization.
This makes members feel valued, recognized, and more connected to the organization, making them more likely to keep meetings and volunteering for your group as a top priority.
Just like in a relationship where, if you want to see the person again, you have to take interest in their lives, not just how they are on the first date (or at that group meeting).
And of course, leadership is just like a first date because it’s really important to be yourself! Have fun! Every leadership experience, like every new relationship is a chance to learn and grow!
Visit the permanent link to “Leadership is Like a First Date”.
Start with your strengths
January 25, 2010
Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? How are they going? When people make resolutions, they typically focus on fixing what they see as their weaknesses, things like weight, credit card debt, and disorganization. What if instead of concentrating on minimizing our weaknesses, we focused on building our strengths? To make this shift, we must first know our strengths. Am I intelligent, kind, assertive, courageous, resilient, and/or generous? Identify your Top 5 personal strengths. If you’re uncertain, ask people who know you best. Then ask yourself: Am I using my core strengths fully? If you steer what you do every day to your strengths, you may be surprised at the positive results–energy, a feeling of lightness, personal and professional satisfaction. Have you ever been so engaged in what you’re doing that hours seem to fly by (and you may even forget to eat)? These are times when we’re applying our strengths to what matters to us. These moments seem almost magical, but actually we create them. Have you tapped into your strengths lately?
A good read: How Remarkable Women Lead by Barsh and Cranston (McKinsey & Co., 2009).
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