SRU Fine Arts Major Talks Future

Common misconceptions for fine art majors include many different things. Some of these include; they sit around and draw all day or they get to take it easy and play with clay throughout the day. While fine art majors do spend their time drawing, creating ceramics and sculpting it really is a lot more complex than many think. Trevor King, 22, is a senior fine arts major at Slippery Rock University, and provides people not familiar with the major a description of what is entailed.




King began his career at Slippery Rock University as a parks and recreation major, after one day he made the change and went after his ambitions of becoming an art student. From that moment on King has been putting himself to the test not only in the classroom, but also pushing himself to succeed outside of the classroom.


According to King, SRU's fine art major has some differences from other schools. SRU's major doesn't really have an emphasis like other schools, students are able to get a well rounded approach to the arts. It is up to the student to make the time to emphasize a particular medium.

From Trevor King

This "glowing" Big Mac features King's capability to work with different mediums.

From Trevor King

These were featured at the Renegade Art Show on SRU's campus Thursday evening.

King has evolved from SRU's interpretation of the fine arts, and has came up with a style of his own. His style takes the foundations of traditional art and combines it with non-traditional ideas of his own. "It is traditional in form, but not in function," King said.

From Trevor King

This picture provides an example of how King uses traditional foundations to create non-traditional pieces. By mixing chemistry with ceramics he was able to create a realistic looking log.

The fine arts major requires a large amount of time outside of the classroom from the student. King said that typically he will go to class, then go to work, have another class and then spend his evenings in the studio working on creating different pieces. To be successful in the major it requires a lot of self discipline and time.



King's fellow classmate and graduate of the class of Fall 2009, Jackie Cypher, 23, speaks fondly of his work. She sees real potential in him and has taken notice of his motivation. Cypher also can see how King works well with different mediums.



So, now it comes down to what do you do with a degree in the fine arts? What kind of profession do you have, besides being a professional artist and selling your work? King hopes to one day be a professor. Since, there is no doctorate in the fine arts, to become a professor you just need a masters. King hopes to attend graduate school next year.



Along with becoming a professor, King hopes to one day work at an art residency. At these residencies you are given housing, money for food and a studio to work on your art in. King has shown interest to one in Montana called Archie Bray, which is dedicated to enrichment of the ceramic arts.



All in all, speaking with King changed my perspective on fine art majors. He reinforced that it's a serious major and not all fun and games, and just like many other majors requires hard work, dedication and time to really advance.

Slippery Rock Election Poses Large Divide Between Residents

Attention all Slippery Rock University students, Tuesday, November 2, 2010 was Election Day. It seems as though many of the students may have known, but chose not to express their right to vote and instead stayed away from the polling places. Even when the Student Government Association had an attempt to make it easier for students to get to the polling places with the, Election Express.

The bus was helpful to students who do not have transportation while on campus. However, many who decided to head out to the polls chose their own form of transportation.

One of the biggest issues posed in this election locally, was the proposed Government Study Commission that a select number of the borough wished to bring to Slippery Rock. The government study would be a group of officials voted on by the residents of the town to assess the services and finances of the governments of the Slippery Rock Borough and Township. Signs such as the ones pictured below were used to raise awareness of the different standpoints on the issue.

Members who stand behind the study, believe that it will be beneficial for the township. The study which will look at a proposed merger between the township and the borough. This will allow borough law enforcement to patrol the township as well. The study could also reveal that nothing should be changed with the borough or township. Charles Brochetti, a borough resident, explains why voters should vote "yes" for the government study.

The opposing standpoint asks voters to vote "no" for the Government Study Commission. They believe there will be no benefit for the township. Property tax rates would rise not only in the township, but also in the borough. Students residing in apartments throughout Slippery Rock would see increases in rent. John Hines, township resident, explains the consequences of a government study commission.

 Poling places for Slippery Rock Residents were located at the Slippery Rock Township building and the Slippery Rock Park. Polling locations opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning and closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday night.

View Slippery Rock Polling Places in a larger map

SRU Homecoming Parade Makes "Haunted" Appearance

Click the items on the map to view videos and photos from the event.

View SRU Haunted Homecoming Parade in a larger map

Special Olympics Athletes compete at SRU

Bocce was one of many events Special Olympic athletes participated in Sunday at Slippery Rock University.

Participants of the Special Olympics competed in the long distance walk Sunday. The event was held on Slippery Rock University's campus.

Participants in the strength competition pose for pictures Sunday at Special Olympics. These three men were the top participants in the strength event.

Volunteers and participants of Special Olympics were provided lunch from Sheetz. The event took place at Slippery Rock University Sunday.

Kara Mattern, 21, Chad Palladino, 19, Ali Doyle, 18, discuss their roles as volunteers at the Special Olympics. The event took place at the Aebersold Student Recreation center on Slippery Rock University's campus Sunday.

Special Olympics was held Sunday at Slippery Rock University. Participants had the opportunity to compete in multiple events such as volleyball.

Students at SRU have opportunity to explore job opportunities with thirty six employers at Job Search 101

Slippery Rock University hosted a job fair Thursday for students in the School of Business, Information, and Social Sciences. Check out my slideshow for images from the event!

Should the government provide vouchers for students to attend private schools?

If someone was going to write a story on a topic such as this you would want to know both sides of opinions. The Deseret Morning News believes that providing these vouchers will cause segregation. The American Civil Liberty Union of Utah provides their argument on this topic well. Not only do they tell you why they are opposed to the vouchers, but they provide background information to support their opinion. The Washington Times explains how the vouchers have become a good thing for families in Sweden. The Alliance for the Separation of School and State provides an entry for both of the opinions on this topic. They also provide multiple links for background information on the topic. In 2002 the state of Ohio had a case appealed to the Supreme Court to see if these vouchers violate the Establishment Clause. Zelman v. Simmons-Harris showed that the vouchers were indeed constitutional. A lot of the arguments made on this topic are regarding whether the vouchers should be able to be used for religious schools. The Americans United for the Separation of Church and State believe that the vouchers are constitutional, as long as they are able to use them at a wide array of private schools.

New West Knows How to Use New Media

New West is an online media source dedicated to providing information on the culture, politics, environment and lifestyle of the Rocky Mountains West. They describe themselves as a next generation media source, which in other words is new media. They wish to provide innovative journalism that evokes participation among their readers. Since their beginning in 2005, New West has been connecting the fastest growing region in the country. I am going to critique certain areas of their award winning website and explain why I think it works or why I think it doesn't.

Design
Upon first arriving at the website, I found the design to be a little busy. However, after taking the time to look deeper into it I was able to see that although it had a lot of information it was well organized. All of the information is placed in boxes and given some sort of heading. If you became familiar with the site and really liked a certain aspect then it is right there for you to find. One of my favorite things about the website is shown when you first log on. I like that they call their home page the Front Page. I think this helps people who are “newbies” to this kind of media source feel more comfortable. It gives it the style of a more traditional media source. All in all I'd have to say I don't love the design of the site, but it keeps everything organized and gets the job done.

Writing Style
After heading to read my first article on the site on the topic of wolves, I noticed another feature that I thought added to the new media aspect of the site. First you are exposed to the headline of the article, and then when you click the article you are given a brief bolded synopsis of what the story entails. I really thought this was a great idea because it allows you to get a general feel of what the story is about. The style of writing on this site is more conversational than a traditional media source. The authors do an excellent job of not burying the lead or the important information. The paragraphs are short and easy to read, however; many of the stories seemed to be lengthy. Another feature that I found useful was that they used links in the stories to go back to reference earlier stories. This makes it easy to guide a confused reader to the right direction.

Video/Graphics
I liked that each story had a graphic that went along with it. On the site they provide a link to look at graphics and video. This takes the reader to a page filled with pictures taken by the writers of the site and also community members. After each picture they have a link for comments so people can converse over the images.

Interactivity
One of the reasons why I like to get most of my news online is because of the interactivity. I love to provide my feelings on the topic after I've read the article. New West provides a link at the end of every article to allow the readers to strike up a conversation. New West strives for as much participation from their readers as possible. They provide links for input at any location they can. Another feature I find really beneficial is that they make it easy for you to share or e-mail the story which can help and boost them through social media.

Social Media
The Front Page of the New West site provides a live feed of their Twitter account. From what I can see they tweet a few times every few days. Their tweets are well written and provide just enough information to get the reader to want to read more. I also noticed that they use hashtags, this will help to gather an even larger Twitter audience. New West also provides a link to their Flickr account on their front page. They provide a featured photo, a slideshow and offer a group for people to contribute to. This is another great way to spark interactivity on their site.