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Wednesday, August 31, 2011 Issue 11
E D I T O R I A L L Y
Vol. 118
I N D E P E N D E N T
S T U D E N T
The Donkeys bring childhood darkness to town PUBLISHED SINCE 1906 N E W S P A P E R
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Engineers put their knowledge to use in Paulding County Staff Writer Besides working for the Paulding County Government in Georgia, Chuck Rann, Mike Jones and Blake Swafford all graduated from the University of Tennessee. Before coming to the University of Tennessee, the three received their undergraduate degrees from Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta, Ga. “I knew of Blake at Southern Poly but did not meet Mike until we all met up in Knoxville,” Rann, community development director for Paulding County Board o f Commissioners, said. “Mike and Blake knew each other well d u r i n g Southern Poly.” Although they attended the same college, the three came from different towns. “Blake is the only one from P a u l d i n g County,” Jones, county administrator for P a u l d i n g County Board o f Commissioners, said. “I grew up in south Cobb County, a suburb of Atlanta, and (Rann) is from Chattanooga.” Rann began pursuing his master’s in Civil Engineering at UT in 1995. Jones and Swafford began their postgraduate careers in 1996 working towards master’s degrees in civil/environmental and civil engineering, respectively. Jones was the first to begin working for Paulding County, starting shortly before graduation in 1997. “(Rann) worked for an engineering company in Chattanooga for a while and (Swafford) was also working for a private company,” Jones said. In 2000, both Rann and Swafford accepted positions at Paulding County with Jones. “He had mentioned to me about coming to Paulding for a couple of years and, in late 2000, Blake and I both ended up starting,” Rann said. “I was working in Chattanooga, but the position in Paulding, at that time senior engineer, was a good opportunity for me.” After working for a few years with Paulding County, Rann and Jones opened their own engineering company called Edison Engineering Group. Edison worked on projects in the fields of sanitary sewer
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collection and treatment, storm water management and water distribution. Rann and Jones both returned to work for Paulding County in 2009. “Currently I work as the executive director of Airport and Industrial Building Authority in Paulding County,” Swafford said. “Prior to this, I served as the director for the Department of Transportation.” Projects that Swafford is working on include expansion of the Paulding County airport, a new local highway and the construction of a new production studio. The Atlanta Film S t u d i o s Paulding County will be one of the first production facilities to be developed outside Atlanta’s city center and made available for t h i rd - p a r t y rentals. Rann currently works as community development director and oversees three divisions: building and • Photo courtesy of Rob Davis permiting, development and planning and zoning. Among many responsibilities, Rann makes sure that zoning and buildings are within county code. Rann has also taught as an adjunct instructor at Southern Poly, teaching highway design and the construction measurement courses within the Civil Engineering Technology Department. Jones is serving his second year as the county administrator. “Basically, I oversee the day-to-day operations of Paulding County,” Jones said. “I help ensure that the policies voted on by Board of Commissioners are implemented. One of my other functions is to manage the county’s budget, which is about $150 million.” Jones’ position is an appointment by the Board of Commissioners. Although the three are now well into their professional lives, they do not forget their years at the UT. “We try to make it up for homecoming each year,” Jones said. “We received a great education from Tennessee and it has served us very well in helping us get to where we are today.”
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Google to recruit ‘rock star students’ of any major Jamie Cunningham Staff Writer Google is well known for many things: its popular online services such as Gmail and YouTube, its quirky and creative Google logos for holidays and events and even its April Fool’s Day pranks. However, there’s something that UT students might not know: Google is recruiting right here on Rocky Top. Starting Sept. 9, Google will begin recruiting on the UT campus with help from UT students Kaliv Parker, junior in finance, and Aeron Glover, senior in industrial engineering. Parker interned at Google in New York City during the summer and was asked by the U.S. tech giant to help recruit more UT students. Parker and fellow Vol and Google intern Aeron Glover founded HowsTheLiving.com, a small business website that allows users to rate and review their student housing. “I met a recruiter at Google when I was at a conference in New York,” Glover said. “Kaliv, who is now an ambassador for Google, was asked to help the company recruit UT students and he asked me to help him out.” Now they are working on promoting both Google and HowsTheLiving.com to UT students every Friday. Though Google attracts applicants from around the world, Parker insists that there is a great resource of talent right here in Knoxville. “My mission is to show Google that there is talent at schools outside of the Ivy League group, and a lot of great talent is right here at UT,” Parker said. “Knoxville has a lot to offer and we can make a big impact on companies like Google.” Parker and Glover’s recruitment assistance will be a recent addition to UT, but Google is not new to campus. Demian Caponi, campus and programs specialist at Google, explained that the tech company has been hiring UT graduates for a few years. “We have been on campus at UT since 2007 and it’s been a great source of talent,” Caponi said. “UT graduates have joined a variety of teams at Google, including Consumer Operations, Media and Platforms, the Online Sales group and Finance. Many of these UT graduates have joined our Austin location, where they’ve been integral to the office’s success.” While the two UT students are still planning events and ideas, they expect to be on campus to answer questions and give away free Google swag, food and drinks. They’ll also be telling students about HowsTheLiving.com. “We are here to answer questions, give advice and prepare students for the interview process at Google,” Parker said. Google may be a tech company, but Glover and Parker insist that you do not have to have a computer science or engineering major to get a job. “There are so many functions students can fall into. I’m a finance major, but I’m working in sales. Google has a place for everybody, so I recommend all majors apply,” Parker said. When the duo begins recruiting on campus, they will not be looking for anyone to fit a specific criteria. “This is definitely about quality over quantity. We’re not looking for a number. We’re looking for interesting individuals,” Parker said. “I’m looking for rock star students.” “We are looking for people who are really passionate about the things they do,” Glover said in agreement.
Course highlights leadership after graduation Jessica Vinge Staff Writer Every semester at UT, some courses remain, others discontinue and even fewer are added. This year, the Senior Leadership Capstone Course was introduced at UT for the first time. The course, taught by Sally Parish, assistant director of Student Orientation and Leadership Development, and Michelle Stauffer, director of Student Orientation and Leadership Development, is specifically designed to strengthen leadership skills for those graduating within the next year. “The Senior Leadership Capstone course is a selective leadership class for graduating seniors,” Parish said. “The class was created to provide an environment in which current student leaders can further examine their undergraduate leadership experiences while thinking critically about how those leadership experiences can be transferred to the post-collegiate setting.” The main purpose of this course is to have the seniors constructively look at all the leadership experience they have had throughout their four years at UT and realize that everything they have done thus far is meaningful and worthwhile according to the instructors. The senior students strive to be more prepared and knowledgeable about what to expect when assuming lead-
ership roles in the professional world after college. There are several topics that are included in the Senior Leadership Capstone course, including casting and leading a vision, leading people of different generations, resume and interviewing seminar, as well as other skills needed for continued, successful leadership. According to the course description, found at http://sold.utk.edu/slc, “This course is to facilitate learning opportunities and experiences, which will provide students with the knowledge, attitudes and skills necessary to assume leadership positions on campus, in the workforce and within the community.” The course offered for sophomores and juniors called Emerging Leaders was the inspiration for the Senior Leadership Course. Former Emerging Leaders student and UT alumnus, Nick Averwater, is the person who first conceived the idea behind the course. Averwater worked for hours developing the course objectives, curriculum and content. He is still attending UT, continuing his education in the MBA program. Averwater was able to parlay his final project in the Emerging Leaders course to the student leadership program. His work was used for the creation of the Senior Leadership Capstone course. The 15 students taking the course were selected based on an application and interview process.
“We are fortunate to have incredible students in the course who are eager not only to explore and develop their own leadership, but perhaps more importantly, to work diligently to ensure that they are leaving a stable and sustainable leadership environment on campus for the future leaders who will follow in their footsteps,” Parish said. The course is intended to make an impact on the students’ college career and prepare them for what is ahead, whether it be graduate school or the workforce. “I am a political science major, and I plan on attending law school in fall 2012,” senior Kara Gallagher said. “While the class is directed towards all seniors in a variety of majors, I hope to gain knowledge in the difference between student leadership and professional management. I would like to learn how to transfer the leadership skills I have obtained at UT into a career in law and government.” All seniors are encouraged to apply to take the course when applications are offered next. All students currently enrolled are seniors graduating in December 2011 or May 2012. It is a great opportunity for the students of UT to have the chance to take this course and better understand what it takes to be a leader not only at UT but in the real world following college, Gallagher said.