Yesterday, the men of Pi Kappa Phi welcomed their brothers to UT’s campus for a rest during their long trip across the country -- by bike! Each year, members of Pi Kappa Phi (commonly known as the Pi Kapps) raise money for thier philanthropy -- Push America. This is a fantastic organization that focuses on raising money for children with disabilities. Each Pi Kapp that is participating in the event has committed to raising $5,000 on thier own to be donated to thier cause.
Over the years, the men of Pi Kappa Phi have raised millions of dollars and volunteered millions of hours of thier time to Push America. Not only does the program raise money for children in need but it also raises awareness of the cause to the community.
At yesterday’s event, the cyclists were welcomed to UT by members of UT and the community and recieved a free lunch donated by Chipotle.
UT’s Chapter of Pi Kappa Phi, some of their alumni, and advisors pose with the mayor.
Below is a video from NBC 24 highlighting the reception:
Good luck on the rest of your journey guys and thanks for stopping at UT!
Last week, I met with our VP for External Affairs, Larry Burns, and several executives from the Toledo Blade to discuss a new service for UT students. This program will deliver a copy of the Toledo Blade to every students email account every morning! Not only will this provide students with information about national and state events, it will also give us the opportunity to interact and learn more about the larger Toledo community that we are all a part of!
What’s great about the program:
What we will be given is not simply a picture of the paper, but it will be an interactive program that is easy to use and directed toward students. If there is a link in the article, you can simply click it to follow it. If you want to zoom in on a particular article you can do that too. There is even talk of having a special section just for students at certain intervals of time. They could be about career development or many other topics.
This program will help to save some trees, too because UT students will not have to pick up a paper copy of the newspaper to get their dose of the news, simply check your email!
What it will look like:
Here are some screen shots of what the paper will look like in your inbox:
If you are worried about having too many emails in your inbox, you are able to opt out of this program, so don’t worry.
Also, if you do enjoy grabbing a paper in the union or the library to read over coffee, we are also working on getting some hard copies available as well.
This weekend, I went home to work in a local grocery store pharmacy. It’s interesting to see what its like out there in the real world. I work part time in Toledo at a pharmacy too but being here for three days in a row and seeing a little more in depth has opened my eyes a little bit.
Its so frustrating to see the people who work in the pharmacies trying so hard to provide good care to their patients and being hindered by the business side of the operation. Currently there seems to be a mad dash by retail pharmacies to assume more patients at their store and entice them to stay with give-aways and coupons. Nearly every patient that walked in this weekend had a coupon for a dollar off per gallon of gas. I would say at least 75% of the patients did this. For each sale you are required by law to ask the patient if they have any questions about their prescription for the pharmacist. Maybe 2% of the patients do ask a question. In contrast, probably 25% ask questions about their coupon!
Now I am all for saving patients as much money as we can. Health care is sooo expensive. There are way too many people, especially senior citizens who either don’t take their medications or ration them to make them last longer. This leads to bigger health problems and thus higher costs. The reason I don’t like this coupon phenomenon is because it encourages patients transferring their prescriptions from one pharmacy to another.
This can lead to MAJOR problems in their care. Going to more than one pharmacy for your prescriptions prevents the pharmacist from being able to check for all possible interactions, get a complete medical history, among other problems. One such incident came up where a patient was seeing multiple doctors and going to multiple pharmacies and ended up getting the brand name of one prescription filled at one pharmacy and the generic filled at another – and was taking both!! More and more issues like this will come up as the industry incentivises this practice.
This is where I think the state needs to step in and out law coupons for prescriptions.
Hey Fellow Students!
Today one of our administrators asked me to help him find some students who would be interested in an internship opportunity currently available. There are two positions open with the Toledo Greater Downtown Business Partnership (GDBP) and the Downtown Toledo Improvement District, Inc. (DTID). These companies are working on the Downtown area of Toledo, working to develop it into a more vibrant area. You can get the descriptions by downloading this file: Internship descriptions.
I think that students who are interested in the entertainment industry, city planning, or marketing would be most interested in these opportunities. Let me know if you are interested by emailing me at Krystalyn.weaver@utoledo.edu and I will connect you with the right people.
It’s been an interesting month at UT and for me. We have had some really good things happen – graduation (congratulations to all of the graduates); national recognition for our university, in a couple days UTMC will be cutting the ribbon for a new center at the hospital for cardio-vascular care that is really revolutionary, and so many other things. Personally, Rachael and I won a tough election for SG; I made it through my classes fairly unscathed, was tapped into Blue Key, and am very excited to start summer.
However UT and I have also gone through some tough situations. The challenges that our economy have imposed on our University are difficult and trying. The recent indictments on our former basketball players reopened an otherwise closed wound. These situations have been difficult for me to deal with watching them happen because of the way in which people react to them. I have my own share of criticism for the budget (which I need not go into here), but these are on a small scale compared to the enormity of the institution. What I am saddened by are those that have spoken out against it with very little insight.
I have the fortune (or misfortune – depending on how you look at it) of getting a lot of information about how the overall budget was formulated. I can honestly tell you that it was done in the most moral way possible. Values were used to make decisions and it was done in a way that will continue to advance our institution. It makes me really upset to see the personal attacks on our administrators on websites like the A&S blog. As someone who is quite informed on the operations of this institution, most of the things in that blog are NOT true.
And here’s where I get to the morality of it all. When we go to college we are expected not only to learn the facts of biochemistry, electrical engineering, modern philosophy, and environmental science; we are also supposed to learn about how to be good and decent citizens. We are supposed to learn how to think critically using facts and sound arguments to formulate our OWN justified and sound opinions. We are to learn all of these things by example from our faculty, staff, and administration. If the site I’m referring to really is run by faculty, I am very disappointed and challenge those faculty members to come and talk to me and reassure me that they have sound evidence for their accusations.
Is it really a moral thing to do, to post anonymous accusations and criticisms somewhere where that person cannot defend themselves? I know what it is like to be in a leadership role (on a smaller scale than the administration but the same ideas apply). It is critical (in my opinion) to take in criticism. To hear it, think about it, and when applicable change your behavior. I welcome and invite all constructive criticism over the next year. If any student has a problem with things that I am doing as Student Body President, please come to me and tell me. But use evidence and facts. And talk to me to my face or with an identifiable email address.
It is impossible to respond to anonymous comments. So what do they achieve? For those that are posting these comments, do you intend to change the behavior of those that you are criticizing, or just to encourage others to share your hateful views? I would never change my behavior because of an anonymous criticizer and I doubt any administrator would either. Have the courage to use your name, and the morality to use facts in your arguments.
I probably will be accused of being set up to write this, or of trying to “suck-up” to the administration. Well that’s not true. I just want to assure my fellow students that an overwhelming majority of our administration has our best interests in mind. I know this because I work with them nearly everyday. I believe in this institution and I am so proud to be a rocket.
As some of you may know, I was recently elected as the next Student Body President. Rachael and I are now accepting applications for our Cabinet for next year. Here’s an overview of how Student Government is set up:
Just like the United States Government, there are three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.
The executive branch includes myself, Rachael, the VP, and our cabinet. We work on projects to make life better for the student body, respond to student input and concerns, work with the administration, and work to make our platforms become a reality.
The legislative branch is Student Senate. Senate serves as a representative body of different constituencies within the student body. They write legislation which serves as the formal opinion of the student body on many differenty issues.
The final branch is the Student Judicial Council. SJC represents students when they need help and also serves as a mediator when issues arise within student government.
Right now, we are forming the executive cabinet. There are lots of positions available for those who want to help Rachael and I Make UT Better. Click here to download the application: Cabinet Application. Positions available include: Chief of Staff, Finance Director, PR Director, Webmaster, Director of External Affairs, Diversity Director, Spirit and Traditions Director, and much more.
Let me know if you have any questions about the application or about Student Government in general.
As some of you may have seen a few weeks ago, Greg Seifert and I interviewed President Jacobs in a MyUT video. This was an unrehearsed interview and President Jacobs did not know what Greg and I were going to ask him. The interview went really well so we are going to do it again! I would really like for my fellow students to send me questions. I don’t claim to be the only person on this campus who has questions about what is going on so send me your input! Please email me your questions rather than posting them here (President Jacobs does not want to know what the questions are ahead of time). I will only accept questions from current students. No offense faculty and staff, but this is for the students
My email address is Krystalyn.weaver@utoledo.edu.
Thanks and Go Rockets!!
Things have been so crazy in Rocketland the last few weeks, I haven’t even been able to keep up with my blog. Let’s just recap a little:
SG elections -- yay I can talk about them now! I didn’t want to write anything about student government elections on the blog since I was a candidate but I would like to thank everyone that voted and participated in the election. It was so great to see so many great candidates come out this year. We are privileged to have so many outstanding leaders on our campus who care so much about our institution. I am honored and humbled to have been chosen to lead our Student Government for next year. Please come to me with any questions or concerns that you have that you think I can help you with. More to come on that in later blogs I’m sure.
Songfest!! So fun. I had such a good time working on getting ready for Songfest this year. Props to the directors -- Breanne Democko and Adam Motycka. They will go on and on about how they couldn’t have done it without the committee but I can tell you as a committee member that we couldn’t have done anything without their amazing leadership. Thanks guys. Congratulations to the Songfest winners and others who were honored at the event. One more shout out to one of my very best friends Hemal Brahmbhatt who was awarded Outstanding Student Leader of the Year. You definitely deserved it.
Here’s a clip from the women’s competition winners, Kappa Delta:
Dance Marathon -- THIS FRIDAY!!! I can’t believe that it is already here. For those that don’t know, Dance Marathon is our biggest philanthropy event on campus. Each year, tens of thousands of dollars are donated from UT students and organizations to the Children’s Miracle Network. It’s too late to register now, but come and check it out. It starts Friday night and goes through Saturday morning. If you are able to help by donating, please go here. It will help me reach my donation goal too! Every dollar counts.
Here’s a clip about DM last year:
Looking towards next year -
Right now is the time to get ready for the coming year and join executive boards and get more involved. Applications are now available for lots of organizations executive boards. Campus Activities and Programming has just recently restructured and is looking for interested students to apply for an all new executive board and board of directors. Learn more at our Facebook group or feel free to ask me. Also applications for Student Government Cabinet will be out soon… more to come.
I don’t know about everyone else, but it always seems like I never have enough time to sit down and eat in the dining hall. Well procrastinators worry no longer! Starting last week to-go containers are now available in the dining hall for the eater on the go. There is a set size of containter that you have to use but its big enough that you can have a full meal.
I think this is a great service for students who are super busy and would prefer to take thier food with them. If you would like to use this program just tell the cashier that you need a to-go container. They will keep your Rocket Card (sort of as collateral) and then you have about 10 minutes to keep your food. Don’t get too excited because you can’t just go in eat AND take a meal out with you BUT this is just another example of all of the great services that UT Dining is offering.
However, there is always room for improvement. If you have an idea on how your dining experience can be better, please contact me and I will let you know when the next Dining Committee meeting is (I sit on this committe). Just shoot me an email or post on here
ATTENTION UT STUDENTS!!!!
The biggest concert you have ever seen is about to come to UT!!!! Top artists who have performed at UT like Billy Joel, Tina Turner, and even Elvis are all coming back for one night for a final performance on April 4th, 2009. Why would all of these great artists come back to UT (and from the grave)? SONGFEST ‘09!!!!
Ok so we aren’t really bringing any artists back to UT… BUT our students are going to be singing and dancing to their favorite artist who has performed at UT in the past.
Songfest is going to be really awesome this year because we are back and better than ever in Savage Arena. I’m on the Songfest committee because of my involvement in Mortar Board and I am soo excited for April 4th.
For those of you who don’t know what Songfest is, check out the website at www.songfest09.com.
Get ready, its gonna be great!
Songfest is on April 4th, 2009 in Savage Arena at 5:00PM.
For more information please check out the website or just ask:)
Krystal is a senior in the College of Pharmacy and is working towards completing the PharmD program. She is currently the Student Body President, a Student Trustee, and involved in several other organizations and committees. If you have any questions about Student Government, want to get involved, or just have a concern, please email her at krystalyn.weaver@rockets.utoledo.edu
