Avion O-Issue Spring 2017

| Spring Orientation Issue | Volume 147 | Wednesday, January 11, 2017 | theavion.com |

SOAR HIGH, EMBRY-RIDDLE

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Inside this Issue:

Fall 2016 Photo Retrospective Campus Construction Updates Student Engagement and Student Union Department Upcoming Events

Fall 2016: A Photo

Keenan Thungtrakal/The Avion Newspaper A fall holiday decoration ornaments the West Lawn during the AutumnFest Event.

Liftoff! Of the Osiris-REX spacecraft, whose missi

Billy Nguyen/The Avion Newspaper Tri-Sigma Sisters Rachel Weeks and Alissa Piano pose their message for the “Dear World” event.

Keenan Thungtrakal/The Avion Newspaper

Keenan Thungtrakal/The Avion Newspaper The Force Awakened during Tri-Sigma’s annual Halloween Fashion Show, which included many costumed groups.

Billy Nguyen/The Avion Newspaper Faculty Member Stacey Junkins poses next to her “Fantasy Luna Moth” painting, which won the first prize in the Chancellor’s Art Exhibit.

The Halloween spirit abounded on Campus as many students dressed in costumes.

The Homecoming Court was revealed a

Billy Nguyen/The Avion Newspaper SGA President Dustin Gibson answers a question posed by a student during the SGA’s final Town Hall meeting of the Fall 2016 semester.

Students admire the Ferrari Formula 1 Car that visited campus on Wednesday

ographic Summary

Zach Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper The Eagles Cheerleaders bring spirit and pep to the Basketball and Volleyball games in the ICI Center.

Zach Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper

sion is to return an Asteroid sample in the 2020‘s.

Zach Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper

at the Homecoming Basketball game in October. As well as the king and queen, a representative was selected from each college.

Billy Nguyen/The Avion Newspaper

y, November 30, to promote the Ferarri Finali Mondiali event at the Speedway.

Zach Fedewa/The Avion Newspaper Skyler Hogan slam-dunks the ball during a basketball in October in ERAU’s ICI Center.

Andy Bronshteyn/The Avion Newspaper Hundreds of people planted flags for The Field of Hope Suicide Awareness Exhibit on the West Lawn towards the beginning of the Fall 2016 semester.

Welcome to ERAU!

Campus Construction Updates Jaclyn Wiley Editor-in-Chief

This is the first update of the Spring Semester for the various construction projects going on around campus. These updates are periodical and are an attempt to communicate directly with the student body as a way to decrease student confusion and frustration.

This article was written with the assistance of Rodney Cruise, the Vice President for Administration and Planning.

The primary goal of all the construction projects on campus are to improve the quality of student life.

Increasing the number of parking spots, decreasing the crowding of the residence halls, and creating state-of-the-art spaces for both research and relaxation are some of the ways this goal is being accomplished.

As it stands, there are three active construction projects on or associated with the Embry-Riddle

Daytona Beach Campus.

They are the new dormitory, the new Student Union and the John Mica Engineering and Aerospace Innovation Complex.

New Dormitory The new dormitory, which has not yet been named, has been under construction since early spring 2016 and is scheduled to be finished by Spring 2017.

It was conceived of when the Housing Department was forced to put three students, rather than the standard two into rooms in certain dormitories in the 2015-2016 academic year.

This over-crowding was due to an unforeseen number of students enrolling at Embry-Riddle.

The new residence hall will feature laundry rooms on every floor, separate toilets and showers for each suite to ensure privacy, and dedicated social spaces on each floor. These social spaces are programmable, and can be used for mul-

tiple purposes, including personal gatherings and club meetings.

Parking Parking has also been a major focus of student complaint. Embry-Riddle has answered these complaints by creating more parking lots and spots all over campus, including in front of Doolittle Hall and the new dormitory, as well as spending over three million dollars on the reorganization its current parking lots, making sure that the spots are lined in the most efficient way.

Students have suggested creating parking garages, but when studied and considered, the Student Government Association found that these structures were very expensive, with each space costing between $12,000 and $14,000. One way to combat the costs of the garage would be to increase the price of parking drastically, which is objectionable from both the

perspective of the student and the administration.

The New Student Union The new Student Union will be a one-of-a-kind building that will assume many purposes. Not only will it contain restaurants and an event space for students to enjoy, but also provide study and research space in the form of a library with hundreds of seats. The restaurants in the new Student Union will include a Qdoba Mexican Eats and a Starbucks.

The building is quite complex and had to be specially designed and engineered to be able to withstand hurricanes while still having a large glass windows and skylight. It also had to be able to hold hundreds of students, and the amenities they want, comfortably.

Due to the highly unique nature of the new Student Center, the design and construction processes take much longer than other

projects around campus.

Vertical construction is expected to begin within the next two months, and the building will not be complete until 2018.

To learn more about the Student Center, visit http:// sites.erau.edu/studentunion/.

Micaplex The John Mica Engineering and Aerospace Innovation Complex, also known as Micaplex, is the flagship facility in the planned Embry-Riddle Research Park. The Research Park is a 90-acre site located across the airport from the main Daytona Beach Campus, on South Clyde Morris Blvd.

The Micaplex is named after Florida Congressman John Mica, who has been a “tireless supporter of Embry-Riddle, and the aerospace and transportation industries." This was stated by Embry-Riddle's Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mori Hosseini, in a news release

Image Courtesy: ERAU

Image Courtesy: ERAU Above: An artistic rendering of the new residence hall, as seen from the Richard Petty Overpass Bridge.

earlier this year.

The Micaplex will house many lab facilities on its 50,000 square foot grounds, with focuses ranging from Advanced Dynamics to Computation Science.

Additionally, the Micaplex will hold a significant amount of leasable space which companies can use for research, development or other business needs.

Another attractive aspect is the space dedicated for the incubation of ideas and start-ups. This environment will encourage students from all majors to gather and share ideas. These students could then potentially team up to work on a project or start-up together.

The Embry-Riddle Research Park will draw aerospace business and interest to the university and the Daytona Beach area, for the benefit of all.

More information about the Micaplex and the Embry-Riddle Research Park can be found at http://erau. edu/micaplex/index.html.

Above: An artistic rendering of the new Student Union, as seen from the Henderson Welcome Center.

Coming Up This Spring!

Karen Gollin Executive Director, Student Engagement & Student Union

ruary 25. For first-year students, we also offer an Emerging Leaders program in January.

Welcome!

Student Engagement has some great programs and events on tap for this Spring. We hope you’ll find ways to get involved on campus – whether through student organizations, attending events, or participating in programs. Below are some opportunities this semester:

• Super Bowl Party: We continue last year’s highly successful Super Bowl viewing party in the Student Center, with a giant screen and free nachos and snacks, plus a special menu in the Food Court.

• Leadership: All students are invited to our annual Student Leadership Conference on Feb-

• Dan + Shay Concert: The Homecoming concert has been rescheduled for March 4.

• Blue & Gold Week, our campus spirit week, will be March 25-31. This

week will include a carnival, a comedian, and the Blue & Gold Games: a new week-long set of events focused on the things that make Embry-Riddle special. Competitions will include Pull-a-Plane, battlebots, Air Jam, chalk art, plane identification, drones, gaming (video and tabletop), and lots more!

• The Departure Lounge: We invite you to wind down every Thursday afternoon 4-7 pm on the Student Center’s Flight Deck. There’s trivia or bingo each week, with $5 wings and other pub food and drink.

Our programs for student organizations include weekly Leadership Engagement workshops, training in event-planning, fund-raising, and more.

At the heart of our programs are our people. We have four new staff members this year, and we hope you will drop in and meet us: • Negar Afshar and Amy Deahl are responsible for the world of student organizations. Come see Negar if your group needs anything! Amy also oversees our growing student staff and makes sure our jobs involve opportunities to learn skills useful

when you graduate.

• Want to help students transition to college life?

Ginny-Beth Joiner is responsible for New Student Orientation. She also handles Communications, if your interests lie in that area.

• Jessica Searcy advises our Student Government Association. There are many ways to get involved in the SGA, through elected and volunteer opportunities!

• Deb Padgett can help you learn more about the world of fraternities and sororities on our campus.

• If you are interested in leadership or in volunteering, come see Sean

Murphy, our new Assistant Director for Leadership & Civic Engagement.

• Enjoy creating events and opportunities to build community on campus?

Come meet Dustin Beech, our new Assistant Director for Campus Activities.

• I, Karen Gollin, oversee all of these and work with our Student Union Advisory Board, a group of students providing student leadership in our current Student Center.

If you’d like to participate in the Advisory Board, stop by my office in SC108. We look forward to seeing you around campus!