Thursday, March 3, 2011

Nominations Sought for Emerging Humanitarian Award - Due Mar 24th!


Every day we work with youth in our community who are making positive change all around them. Little by little, these individuals are overcoming great barriers, standing up to indifference, and building safer, more inclusive, communities. The Inclusion Center believes that young people of this caliber are the embodiment of a better future, and a reason for hope and respect for all youth in our lives. That is why we are now accepting nominations for the Inclusion Center's Emerging Humanitarian Award, to be honored at the 44th Annual Humanitarian Awards Dinner. The winner will receive an award signifying their accomplishment as well as a $500.00 scholarship to be used for their education.

If you would like to nominate an emerging humanitarian in your work or life, please simply send us a short outline of their accomplishments, leadership, or personal story; their name; age; and contact information. We are accepting nominations for individuals up to 20 years old, and the cut off date is March 18th, 2011.

For more information about the Emerging Humanitarian Award, or our 44th Annual Humanitarian Awards Dinner that will be held on March 24th at the Little America Hotel, please go to www.inclusioncenter.org or contact us at 801.832.3260. Email submissions in PDF format to info@inclusioncenter.org


Nominations Sought for Mr. Bearcat Award


The 2011 Mr. Bearcat Award

SIGMA SIGMA was founded at the University of Cincinnati in the year 1898 by a group of young men whose purpose was to foster and encourage college spirit, and to enhance the glory of the University of Cincinnati in the college world.

Since 1958, Sigma Sigma has honored one graduating man each year with the Mr. Bearcat Award.

The Mr. Bearcat Award is to recognize and honor the outstanding graduating senior man who has achieved academic success, demonstrated leadership in diverse settings, and made a significant contribution to the University of Cincinnati, all while displaying “Bearcat spirit”.

Candidates may be nominated by a student, university faculty or staff, or student organization.

The following items must be submitted no later than Friday, April 1, 2011 by 5PM:
(1)   The application form (soon to be available on the SALD site)
(2)   Nomination letter from nominator (1 page)
(3)   Candidate’s resume
(4)   Short essay (1-2 pages) from the candidate on his contribution to the University of Cincinnati and Bearcat spirit

Finalists and the award winner will be introduced at the 2011 All-University Recognition Ceremony which will take place at 4PM on Sunday, May 15th, 2011 in Tangeman University Center Great Hall.

Submit all items for consideration, or questions, to Russell Best, 513-556-0910 (fax 513-556-6077), Student Activities & Leadership Development ML 0136, 455 Steger Student Life Center.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

"UC Monologues" Seeking Writers, Performers

From the UC Women's Center:

UC Monologues Informational Meeting:

Do you like to write? Poetry, creative writing, monologues, dialogues, comedic pieces or dramatic pieces? Do you want to write a piece or already have a piece written about gender, sexuality and relating intersecting identities? Would you like an opportunity to share your work with an audience?

Come learn about more about the first ever UC Monologues event which will take place April 15th at 7pm in Catskeller.

The UC Monologues is an event that will displays the talents of UC students that deal with issues of gender, sexuality and related intersecting identities. This show will be made up of pieces written by UC students and performed by UC students.

Want to participate but you're not sure? Come find out more!
Thursday, March 10th
5PM-6PM
565 Steger Student Life Center

Leader of UC Student Service Organization Looks Ahead to Spring Break in Haiti

Check out RAPP XXV member Lane Hart in this UC News article; RAPP XXVI also has dedicated SBC members:

Leader of UC Student Service Organization Looks Ahead to Spring Break in Haiti

It will be Serve Beyond Cincinnati’s first trip to Haiti as students become the first group dedicated to specifically building housing in a remote village.

Date: 2/25/2011
By: Dawn Fuller
Phone: (513) 556-1823
Photos By: Serve Beyond Cincinnati

Lindsay Long, a UC senior in biological sciences from Carrollton, Ohio, is looking ahead to finishing her last final next month to complete her requirements for graduation. About an hour after that, she’ll be boarding a plane for Haiti to join fellow UC students on a spring break service experience.
El Salvador
Serve Beyond Cincinnati in El Salvador

Long, along with Lane Hart, a UC junior in information systems and finance, are co-presidents of the UC student-created Serve Beyond Cincinnati (SBC) organization. Both Long and Hart are leading SBC’s first trip to Haiti this spring.

Ten SBC students will be working with the Fuller Center for Housing in Balan, Haiti, a town just east of the capital of Port-au-Prince. “We will be building the first house in this village, a home for a family displaced by the earthquake,” Long says. “There’s an increasing demand for housing in these rural areas as large numbers of people move out of the city.” The students will be departing Cincinnati on March 18 and returning on March 26.

Long says the group will be staying in a research facility run by the University of Notre Dame. The students are getting the appropriate immunizations before leaving for an area ravaged by the earthquake and the more recent cholera outbreak.

“I’m so excited to go to Haiti,” she says. “I’ve never been on the typical spring break trip, but I feel like I’ve experienced so much more through my trips with Serve Beyond Cincinnati (SBC) and through helping people.”

Serve Beyond Cincinnati is an organization created in 2007 by UC students who envisioned fueling the passion of a civic-minded generation by providing national and international service experiences for UC students. Costs of the trips are supported through student fundraising.

Guatemala
Guatemala

Long says she got involved with SBC her freshman year, hoping to fulfill her interests in service and traveling as well as make new friends at a large university. “Before joining SBC, the only area I had traveled outside the United States was Canada. I had never traveled without my parents.” The spring of her freshman year, Long traveled with SBC to Guatemala, where the group also had the chance to hike in a volcano. Her sophomore year, she led a trip to El Salvador. After joining the organization’s executive board during her junior year, Long traveled with SBC on their first trip to Peru, where students built an additional classroom on an existing school. The school faced an influx of an additional 40 students after a nearby village was destroyed by a flood.

In addition to the Haiti trip, SBC is planning four other spring break service trips to Peru, El Salvador, Webster Parish, La., and Kansas City, Mo.

Long is now considering graduate school and pursuing a master’s degree in public health, but says she wants to stay involved in SBC through spring quarter. In addition to her activities in SBC, she is also a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority and UC’s Mortar Board honor society for college seniors. She has also been active with What’s in a Doctor’s Bag? – an organization dedicated to educating children in underprivileged areas about the benefits of regular medical treatment and preventative care.

“Theta and SBC have both been such a huge part of my college experience,” she says. “All of the friends I have made and the places I’ve traveled have been through those outlets, so it would be hard to imagine what college would have been like if I didn’t have those things.”

SBC Website
Video: SBC Winter Break
Other UC Spring Break Trips
UC Student Organizations

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Intercommunity Justice & Peace Center Day of Dialogue Facilitator Training - Mar 5th!


Day of Dialogue Facilitator Training!
When: March 5, 2011 - 9:00am - 12:30pm

Join the Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC) for an interactive dialogue facilitator training offered at least twice a year. The next training will take place at the Peaslee Center, 215 E. 14th St., in Cincinnati on TBA. It will be a great experience for enhancing facilitation skills, active listening skills, and constructive inquiry skills that can be used in the classroom, in the home, and in the community.

What is a Day of Dialogue?
The Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center (IJPC) began offering Days of Dialogue as a way to bring together people with different points of view and model how respectful dialogue can take place on issues important to our country.  IJPC began offering the days in February 2006 and has offered many public dialogues since then.  Our purpose is to offer and facilitate dialogues to help people really listen to one another when discussing significant social issues. Our focus this year is to help increase respect, connection and understanding within the fragmented moderate to progressive forces in our community.

What can you expect at a Day of Dialogue?
Each dialogue has a large group component as well as a small group process where people break into groups of 6-8 people for a facilitated dialogue. A hallmark of the small group experience is that participants are asked to first paraphrase or capture the essence of another participant's viewpoint before sharing their own perspective. The process promotes active listening, respect, and understanding. 

Over the course of a year of dialogues the small group process has evolved to include offering models and ways that people can inquire about perspectives they may disagree with in a constructive fashion that maintains a spirit of openness and curiosity.

Facilitator Training:
The success of any small group dialogue relies on the presence of skilled facilitators. To that end we are offering a *Day of Dialogue Facilitator Training on Saturday,February 5th from 9am to 12:30p.m at the Peaslee Center.  There is free parking. 
The training will be very interactive and experiential. It will cover the small group process in its entirety and also answer any questions/ concerns you may have. It will be a great experience for enhancing facilitation skills, active listening skills, and constructive inquiry skills. 

If you have questions or would like to RSVP, contact program staff at 513-579-8547.

UC Restoring Hope in Haiti Toiletry Drive - Through Mar 11th!

From Shades of You:

There will be a toiletry drive held by the UC Restoring Hope in Haiti Service Learning Project through March 11, 2011. 

The Items that are needed will be apart of the project "Love Me Clean", which will help women's health, hygiene and self-esteem. Below is a list of items that are needed:

  • Hand Sanitizer
  • Hand Soap
  • Hand Lotion
  • Feminine Care Products
  • Or any other hygiene supply that you are willing to donate.

The drop off location will be in the Womens Center and the AACRC until March 11th. Any contributions will be greatly appreciated!


SAC/Senior Year Alumni Panel Discussion

Unsure what you should be doing during your College years to prepare for life in the real world?  Have no fear, the SAC/Senior Class Alumni Panel Discussion is here.  The Student Alumni Council, along with the Senior Class is bringing a free panel discussion to campus to help you get ready for life after college. This event is set for Wednesday, March 2nd, in the Myers Alumni Center at 5:30. The Alumni Center is across from the Campus Green Garage, here is a map of west campus.

Panelists at this event include:


- Mary Ronan, Superintendent, Cincinnati Public Schools
- Rick Krieger, General Manager, Sun Chemical
- Scott Stiles, Assistant City Manager, City of Cincinnati
- Mario San Marco, President, Eagle Realty (div. of Western Southern)
- Tina Jackson, Executive Director, March of Dimes

So come on out, and learn what steps you should be taking to make sure you are ready for life after College.  In addition, come out and get some free food and enjoy the company of your fellow students on March 2nd, at 5:30, in the Myers Alumni Center.