NEWS
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Alex Nemec - News Editor Laura Dickinson - Assistant News Editor
March 2, 2017
Students have a ‘blast’ by Moira Danielson daniem16@uwosh.edu The UWO Student Recreation and Wellness Center held “Blaster Ball,” a free event on Friday that gave students the opportunity to physically destress. Blaster Ball is a game similar to paintball. Face masks and chest guards are still required, but instead of paint balls to shoot at each other, students were given compressed air guns that shot nerf balls. The arena was set up with protective plastic to ensure viewers of the game would not get hit. The game is played in two teams and the players have a set amount of time to hit their opponents as many times as they can with rounds lasting about 1 0 minutes each. Reeve Union Student
Leadership and Involvement hired the company Record a Hit! for the event, who provided the equipment, music and inflatable obstacles for students to hide behind. The company also served as a referee for the game, using a megaphone to signal the beginning and ending of each round and fixing any malfunctioning air guns. Emerging Programs and Special Events Advisor Carmen Hetzel explained how the game works once the first round got started. “They run around and they pick up the balls and then they put them in their cannon,” Hetzel said. “And then the cannons have, like, CO2 tanks and then they try to get each other.” Many UWO students who completed a round went back for another instantly,
bringing more attention to the event as other students joined in. Student Tyler Ferrer said there is only one real strategy to the game: stick together. “Y ou gotta travel in a group, like a pack of wolves,” Ferrer said. Student Adam Mott said his strategy was a little bit different than Ferrer’s. “It’s more like let’s go [rush] someone,” Mott said. UWO student Sam Moore said the game was fun, but it would be better if it was scheduled for an earlier weekday instead of the end of the week in order to have more students attend. “N ot a lot of people are available on Fridays,” Moore said. “So I think a weekday would be better.” UWO student Samantha
Maravilla said the event was a great way to give students the opportunity to get involved in school programs. “I thought this was a really good idea,” Maravilla said. “It was nice to just have something to do other than sit in my room and watch TV .” Hetzel said the event was initially a one-time deal, but if students showed positive feedback, it could return. “If students really like it we can look to bringing it back in the future,” Hetzel said. Hetzel was glad to hear how positively the students took to the experience after they came out of the Blaster Ball arena. “It is so great to know that all of the individuals who participated really enjoyed the experience,” Hetzel said.
“ t was the first time had a teacher who was active in research, but was also teaching,” Hawkins said. “It was exciting because when he came in and got excited about this aspect of science, you knew that he knew this stuff. I took away that you need to be excited for students in order to make it come to life.” Hawkins said she went to the University of Iowa, still following her astronomy dream, but kept getting asked if she would be going on to graduate school. “I hadn’t even thought of grad school,” Hawkins said. “Come on, the [bachelor’s degree] is hard enough. I was just going to get my degree, get a job and get out of there.” Hawkins said it wasn’t until physics theorist V incent Rodgers came to Iowa her junior year that she really considered graduate school. “He would have me work [in Iowa] in the summertime,” Hawkins said. “I was really considering staying there, but I felt disconnected at Iowa because I realized besides V incent, there was no one else who looked like me.”
awkins said she finished at Iowa, but then decided she needed a change in plans before continuing on. “I packed up and went to N ew Y ork City for the summer,” Hawkins said. “At least that’s what I thought I would do. I ended up staying there for three years.” Hawkins said she was able to get a job after the saving and loan crisis in the 1 9 9 0 s at Resolution Trust Corporation due to her experience and degree in physics. “[My boss] said, ‘ Y ou have that physics background, that makes you a problem solver naturally,’” Hawkins said. “Even though I wasn’t familiar with the housing market, he taught me those formulas because I wasn’t afraid of math and I am a quick learner.” While Hawkins said she was making a good living from the jobs at Resolution Trust Corporation, she received a phone call from Rodgers saying he believed it was time for her to return to school. “He said to me, ‘ Are you tired of playing around? Are
you ready to come back to physics,’” Hawkins said. “That’s the thing, you need to do it for people along the way, you need to do it for people behind you to push you.” Hawkins said she was uncertain whether it was the right move to make and she had her reservations about it. “ left physics in the first place because I felt like I was the only one,” Hawkins said. “I told [Rodgers] that I didn’t think I could to it, it was going to be hard. He told me ‘ It’s going to be hard otherwise everyone would have a physics degree, but you have what it takes to do it.’” Hawkins said in the end she visited Syracuse University to explore her options, but when she arrived, all of her paperwork had already been approved and was ready to go. “ t took me a long time to finish there,” Hawkins said. “Up until this point I only had other people trying to better me, but it was the push for me to have an interest in teaching.” Hawkins said her big break was her position at Mount Holy-
ELIZABETH PLETZER/ADVANCE-TITAN
Left: UWO student Casey Blohm hides behind an inflatable barrier while aiming at his target at Blaster Ball on Friday. Above: UWO student Brice Vollmer runs across the gym to find the next individual to hit.
Hawkins speaks on journey to becoming the 50th African-American woman to earn PhD in physics
by Laura Dickinson dickil83@uwosh.edu Dr. Taviare Hawkins shared the struggles and triumphs she faced as she became the 5 0 th African-American woman to earn a doctorate in physics as part of Black History Month on Feb. 23. Hawkins is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where she specializes in computational methods and experimental biophysics. However, her presentation focused on her life to this point and her own personal philosophies. Hawkins said she grew up in the south side of Chicago, where she gained interest in school because of her brothers constant competition with her and her early teachers. “They say that public schools don’t create scientists,” Hawkins said. “Well I like to disagree, they do. They create ground to navigate with your peers.” Hawkins said her teacher, Mr. Benjamin, who worked at N ASA while teaching, inspired her to work in astronomy.
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talk to the professor outside of class,” Adas said. “Everything is situational; [it] all depends on if the professor is willing to meet with a student outside of class.” Adas said the proposal seemed confusing because of what is allowed and not allowed by professors. “It is going to be frustrating for that student if they need a one-on-one meeting, the proposal might eliminate the incentive for office hours,” Adas said. Adas said it would depend on the professor, if they are willing to work outside of work hours without being paid, getting those benefits. “Professors should do their job regardless of pay and bonuses,” Adas said. Loewenstein said the new proposal will probably just mean more paperwork. “I can’t see a huge difference as of right now,” Loewenstein said. Loewenstein said this might be a poke at UW Madison, whose professors do more research than teach. “Particularly at Oshkosh, professors and staff are very busy,” Loewenstein said. “Y ou will find here that everyone teaches quite a bit.”
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all, no matter the medium.” Schut said while TutorTeddy may help students in subjects, having a tutor who experienced the class a student is struggling in is beneficial in a way online tutoring couldn’t be. “Students that receive tutoring services are able to work with an expert in the class material who has received training on how to be an effective tutor,” Schut said. “In addition, clients are also networking with older students in their major who are able to answer their general questions on aspects of their program in an informal setting.” Rallis said she hopes TutorTeddy will help benefit all students and will help them feel more comfortable in their academic settings. “We also hope to get students more excited about and engaged with math and science topics,” Rallis said. “With technology becoming more advanced and widespread with each passing year, the number of jobs in these kinds of fields is expected to grow significantly in the future, and we want to inspire more students to pursue these subjects in addition to helping them with their classwork.”
oke College where she was able to conduct research and teach. “Trying to do things the traditional way wasn’t working for me,” Hawkins said. “I told myself, I am going to take charge and write my own script. I felt like because it took me so long to finish still felt doubtful of my abilities as a physicist and I still had more to prove.” Hawkins said everything fell into place soon afterward, and came back to the midwest to teach at UW-La Crosse. “I came back because you grow where you are planted,” Hawkins said. UWO sophomore Paris Larson said she felt inspired by Hawkins’ journey to where she was now. “I think her journey was sporadic,” Larson said. “She ended up where she need to be. She traveled everywhere, but still got what she needed to do. She definitely inspires women to be in science.” UWO Black Student Union leader Byron Adams said his organization is proud to be a part of Hawkins’ visit to UWO to inspire students on campus.
“Our organization is bringing cultural awareness of African-American culture on campus,” Adams said. “One of our goals is to collaborate with different groups on campus, like what Hawkins shares with us.” Hawkins said her biggest takeaway was that although there was a lot of questioning herself along the way, she persevered through all the obstacles. “Even though people may not look like you, you can find allies in your work,” Hawkins said. “I think it is very rare for a minority to see people like them in this field of work. t this point in my life, however, I think they don’t need to look like me, they just need to give me what I need.” Hawkins said she had to keep telling herself she could achieve all of her goals, but doesn’t mind that the journey took as long as it did. “We just keep doing it, getting through that next door,” Hawkins said. “In the end of it all, when you’re sitting back and reflecting, ’ve learned you really need to define happiness for yourself.”