Monthly Archives: August 2011

Back to the ’60s: WSU Block Party

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Friday, August 26th, 2011 Weber State University had their seventh annual Wildcat Block Party, themed “Blast Back to the ’60s. The whole place was covered with tie dye, and peace signs while The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and other ’60s music filled the air.

What is the Block Party?

The Block Party is one of the biggest events on campus all year. It’s goal is to help students learn about services, clubs, departments, and organizations across campus. Students can get information about everything from the Wrestling Team, the Women’s and Nontraditional center, Davis Campus, Veterans Services, Health Professions, and Botany. “Sometimes people can be intimidated by office situations…we want to make it a fun and relaxed environment where students can approach a booth and ask questions, play games and get to know the university better,” said Nikki Nicolas, the chairwoman of the event.

Check out the WSU Block Party highlights below

Family Fun: WSU Davis Carnival/Outdoor Movie

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The Davis Campus Student Council is planning a free Carnival and Outdoor Movie on Saturday, September 10th at 6 p.m. So grab your friends and family, bring some blankets and camping chairs, and join Weber State Wildcats at the Davis Campus Carnival and Outdoor Movie.

 

 

8 things that you don’t want to miss out on

  1. Bouncing around on the inflatables
  2. Getting soaked in the dunk tank
  3. Taking silly pictures at the photo booth
  4. Snacking on delicious Dominos pizza
  5. Watching the free showing of Pirates of the Caribbean 4
  6. Meeting Jack Sparrow’s cousin, White Rock Willey
  7. Playing all the awesome carnival games
  8. Watching the K9 unit and search dogs demonstration

This event is free to the public. The only cost is if you want to grab some Dominos pizza for the family.

Saturday, September 10, 2011

6 p.m.-8 p.m. Carnival

8 p.m.-8:30 p.m. 9-11 service tribute

8:30 p.m. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

 

 

BREAKING: People do better when they have a college degree.

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File it with such breakthroughs as Exercise is good for you and Potato chips can make you fat, a recent article in the Deseret News looked at how earning a degree has a positive impact on Utahns.

The article examines a poll by Dan Jones & Associates that reports that Utahns with degrees or certifications do better than high school graduates when it comes to income, health care and quality of life.

In a survey of 1,200 Utahs, people were asked about their education level, employment status, civic engagement and other factors.

Across the board, people polled said their post-secondary education has had a positive effect on key factors related to their lives and families compared to those without. Degree and certificate holders are more likely to report personal happiness, to have a better perception of their relationships, to characterize themselves as having good families, and to report having better health than those without a degree or certification.

No word on what those 1,200 people think is going to happen on the new season of Sister Wives.

READ MORE—Utahns with better educations fare better in jobs, life and family, new poll shows

 

WSU Summer Tour: Davis County Fair

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Megan shows off her new lasso skills.

The 2011 Davis County Fair wrapped up this weekend after four days of everything from snake charmers to Elvis cutouts. We played Just Dance at our booth and had a lot of fun with the fair-goers who were willing to shake their groove thing. We also tried to pick up some important fair skills, check out the videos below.

 

Accuplacer: How do I do that?

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What is Accuplacer?

The Accuplacer placement exams are simple tests to gauge your knowledge and skills in certain subjects. Accuplacer is basically a way to make sure you don’t take classes you don’t need (or that you’re not ready for yet). There are two Accuplacer tests you can take, Math and English (which consists of two parts, reading comprehension and sentence skills).

Do I need to take it?

After you apply for admissions, you’ll receive an acceptance letter that will tell you if you need to take a placement exam before signing up for classes. You are required to take the Accuplacer if your ACT math scores are below 22 or if your course placement has expired. Your placement has expired if your ACT/ SAT is older than 2 years, your Accuplacer is older than 1 year, or your prerequisite math course is older than one year. If you’re coming back to school after a few years, you are more than likely going to need to take the Accuplacer to be placed into the correct math and English classes. Also, just a heads up, you won’t be permitted to register for classes before you take the required Accuplacer tests. Essentially the sooner you take the Accuplacer, the sooner you can sign up for classes.

Taking the Test

You can take the Accuplacer at several locations including the Ogden Campus, the Davis Campus, and the West Center. Just make sure to check out the testing center hours and locations. No appointment is necessary but you’ll need to be at the testing center at least one hour before they close. The math and English will each take about an hour, depending on your skill level.

What to Bring

  • Money: The math and English Accuplacer cost $10 each, so bring some form of payment with you. (But if you’re retaking one part of the English, it’s only $5).
  • A picture ID: Your Wildcard, license, or something akin to that.
  • Your W number: If you don’t know what it is log into your Weber Portal, click on the student services tab, and it will be on the left side under personal profile. And remember when entering your W number into Accuplacer, be sure to use a capital “W” and use zeros not Os.
  • A pencil: The main staple of taking any test.

THINGS YOU DON’T NEED: Calculators are not allowed, and scratch paper will be provided so you won’t need that.

About the Test

The Accuplacer is an adaptive test, which means that the questions are chosen for you on the basis of your answers to previous questions. Basically, if you answer the questions correctly you will keep moving on to tougher sections. Because the test works this way, you must answer every question in order. The Accuplacer isn’t timed so you can give each question as much thought as you wish. You can change your answer to a particular question before moving on to the next question, but you cannot skip a question or come back to it later to change your answer. Also you can’t “pass” or “fail” the placement tests, but it is very important that you do your very best on these tests so that you will have an accurate measure of your academic skills.

How can I prepare?

Now for most of us it’s been a while since we’ve thought about the quadratic equation or where in the world the comma is supposed to go, so you may want to prepare and go over sample questions. You can also look at test helps for the SAT or ACT.

When do I take it?

The Accuplacer is offered year round, so as soon as you’ve been accepted to WSU you should take the test. After you take it the testing center will give you a print out your scores. Once you have your scores you should look at the assessment and placement standards which outline what scores are needed to be placed into math and English classes. These standards are helpful to see your placement fits in the grand scheme of things. For example, Lets say you get an 88 on your English reading comprehension Accuplacer, well you only need two more points to go from ENGL 990 to ENGL 1010.  If you’re close to the next class my advice would be to study hard so you don’t have to take any developmental classes that don’t count towards your degree. Just because you do poorly once, doesn’t mean you can’t study and improve your test score. WSU does not count any 0900 level developmental course into your GPA average or graduation credits. 0900 level math and English courses are developmental classes that help advance you to the 1000 level courses, which count for your degree.

Test Results

For math, you can be placed into MATH 0950 Pre-algebra, MATH 0990 Algebra, MATH 1010 Intermediate Algebra, Quantitative Literacy (QL) Contemporary Mathematics 1030 or QL College Algebra 1050, or you can completely test out of math (although this is very rare). For English you can be placed into ENGL 900 Fundamentals of College Reading and Writing, ENGL 955 Developmental College Reading and Writing, or  ENGL 1010 Introductory College Writing, and there is no possibility of testing out the English (sorry folks).

WSU Summer Tour: Weber County Fair

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We tried to trade them t-shirts for a puppy. We really want an office puppy.

Lots of blue ribbon animals.

Megan was hogging the mechanical bull the whole time.

The pigs at the fair were massive, and sooooo tasty.

Our team from Continuing Education visited the Weber County Fair and got a crash course on everything from what to feed your pigs to mechanical bull riding. Check out these great pics and video.

 

TAKE IT FROM A RECENT GRAD: BEST GEN–EDS

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As everyone knows, picking general education courses is somewhat akin to powering through a proverbial box of chocolates—you never really know what you’re going to get. What you expect to be the funnest class ever can sometimes turn out to be about as exciting as Math 1050, or vice versa. As a recent graduate, I feel it is my duty to impart to you some of my favorite* (valuable/interesting) general education classes, along with their credit type, pros/cons, and difficulty level.

Clint Eastwood, eat your heart out

American Civilization

Course: History 1700
Credit Type: History / American Institutions

I’ve always been somewhat interested in history in general, but American history always seemed to lack the excitement and energy that European history has. However, American Civilization turned out to be a great class. I credit a lot of my positive experience to my professor, Dr. Gene A. Sessions, who always managed to present the history and tell stories in an exciting and unique way. He’s also hilarious, and makes each class wildly exciting and informative. I walked away from the class with a wealth of knowledge and a healthy respect for the history of this country.

Pros: Interesting and relevant subject matter taught by an amazing professor.
Cons: One of the few Breadth requirements, this class is always large and always full (currently, Dr. Sessions’ two History 1700 classes have a capacity of 150 students each)
Difficulty Level:

2.5 out of 5 rating

That totally looks like a Sagitarius…right?

Elementary Astronomy

Course: Physics 1040
Credit Type: Physical Science / Scientific Inquiry

Who doesn’t love staring up at the stars? Well, welcome to Elementary Astronomy! The classroom itself is a state–of–the–art planetarium and has the most comfortable chairs on campus. I really loved this class because it was different in every way from the average classroom setting. It was also a blast to have my mind blown every class learning about stars, galaxies, black holes, relativity, the laws of physics, and anything else to do with outer space. My professor, John Armstrong, was an amazing teacher and a hilarious person. His passion for physics really made the class fun and exciting. Don’t get me wrong though, it is a fairly difficult class. There aren’t any prerequisites listed, but you would definitely be ahead if you have a handle on math and physics.

Pros: High–tech planetarium star shows and very interesting lectures.
Cons: Not a very easy class, especially if you struggle with math.
Difficulty Level:

3.5 out of 5

 

 

For more information on the Physics department, read my other blog article.

Omega–3′s anyone?

Foundations in Nutrition

Course: Nutrition 1020
Credit Type: Life Science

Everyone knows that eating right is vital to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, but it’s not always easy to know exactly what to eat, or why. Foundations in Nutrition is a great way to get educated in the complex world of healthy eating. This is one of those classes that I really was not excited about taking, but over the course of the semester I learned to really like it and appreciate everything I was learning. Taking a class like this, you can’t help but apply what you learned to your own life, which is important if you aren’t totally satisfied with your own health. Be aware that the class does involve some minor mathematical calculations (regarding numbers and percentages on a nutrition label) and a good amount of traditional homework and studying.

Pros: Lots of valuable, life–changing information to be learned
Cons: Unless you’re a health nut, it probably won’t be the most exciting class you’ve ever taken.
Difficulty Level:

2.5 out of 5 rating

 

 

*Remember that this is all my own opinion and comes directly from my own experiences. You may not feel the same way about these classes and if you’re hesitant, contact an adviser to help you out. Good luck!

 

Tips from an Insider: Navigating the WSU Bookstore

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So you just registered for classes and you need to buy textbooks, but you don’t know how. As a former bookstore employee, let me guide you through the process.

Print out your detailed schedule

The first thing you need to do is print your schedule. Log into your Weber Portal, click on the student services tab, then click view my detailed schedule under the Registration heading. Print off what’s called the detailed schedule. This has all the info for your course, so hold onto it.

Going to the Bookstore

Now you have some options, you can either go to the WSU Bookstore in Ogden (see directions below), the WSU Davis Campus Bookstore (2nd floor) in Layton, or you can shop online. My advice is to go as soon as you have your schedule. I’ll say it one more time for effect, GO AS SOON AS YOU HAVE YOUR SCHEDULE. This way you can avoid the crowds and you’re more likely to get used copies of the books you’ll need. If you wait for school to start, be prepared for a jungle of students all ­massed together foraging for books.

IF YOU SHOP ONLINE:   The online searching method is really simple, you can search by department, course number, and section number. When you checkout, you can either choose the “Pick Up” shipping method (you pick the books up at the Ogden, Davis or West Center) or you can just have them mailed to your house.  The online shop at the bookstore is a good way to see what your book looks like, so it will make it easier to find if you go in person.

Translating your schedule and locating textbooks

Ok so your schedule will look something like this. I’ve highlighted  the department and course number in yellow. The number in green is your CRN (course reference number), which is completely unique to your class. So for this example we’re looking for ENGL 3500, CRN#21701.  First go a few aisles in and look for signs above the book isles that say ENGL, then look for the course number 3500. You’re getting warmer, but wait, there’s more. Check the CRN. Sometimes professors teaching the same course will use different textbooks.  So check the CRN to make sure you have the right book for your exact class. Keep in mind there may be more than one book listed on the tag for your class.

Tips from a bookstore insider

  •  Use the new WSU online price comparison website to get good pricing on textbooks. On their website you can see the WSU bookstore’s prices right alongside those of Amazon, Half.com and other textbook retailers. Keep in mind shipping costs and added time as you plan for the first day of school. So it may be worth the peace of mind to just get your books at the WSU bookstore.
  • Make sure to keep your receipts. If the professor makes any changes for textbook requirements (which they do!) or if you drop a class, you can still get your money back as long as you return your books unopened and with your receipt before 4:30pm on the first Friday of the semester.
  • Remember you can always resell your books to WSU. However, for the best prices bring your books in during the scheduled Finals Buyback (the Wednesday of “Dead Week” through Finals week).

Note: There are 2 floors to the WSU bookstore. The fun stuff; WSU apparel and foam wildcat paws are on the 2nd floor and the essentials; textbooks, computers, & school supplies are on the lower level. So look for the staircase in the back to get to the textbook department.

The textbooks are organized alphabetically by the departments starting with Art textbooks (who knew you needed textbooks for art!?) and ending with Zoology textbooks. So if you know your alphabet you’ll be golden.

The employees don’t wear name tags and aprons for nothing, so don’t hesitate to ask them a question.

And just a side note, your class schedule and the shelf tag at the bookstore will not actually be highlighted. So don’t be shocked when you don’t see a cute colored schedule and shelf tag

If you can’t find your book on the shelf tag, come to the information desk and an employee can look up the status of your textbooks.