Calendar of Events

Top Stories

• St. Anthony CHS makes history; wins BEST competition
• Fashion students display costumes at Rolling Oaks Mall 
• Heritage Week discussions spark interest...
  

Announcements

• Stress Management Workshop 
• Fitness At Your Desk Club
• Golden Harvest
• Words-Worth Meeting Reminder
• 16th Annual Light the Way
• United Way Employee Campaign

Notices and Special Announcements

• Heritage Week prize winners
• "Trick-or-treating the community"

Famous Folks

Ask U.R. Fit

SACHS wins first place at SA BEST competition

            For the BEST team of St. Anthony Catholic High School, success came to fruition after six years of dedication, experimentation, and patience at the recent San Antonio BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology) competition held on Saturday, Ocotber 20, 2001.

            Their city championship made history, being the only Catholic school to ever garner first place by beating out about 400 students from 28 other schools, and will carry them to the state finals to be held on Saturday, November 17 at Texas A&M in College Station. The team was awarded a $26,000 scholarship for an engineering major from St. Mary's University that can be renewed annually. 

            “I feel proud of what we've been able to accomplish this year,” Andrew Herzig, age 17 and president of the St. Anthony CHS BEST team, said.

“This is impressive because we have such a small student body and no funding for the BEST program,” added teammate Michael Schwirian, 17.

BEST began here in 1994 and St. Anthony joined in 1995. The objective is to build a robot that could perform a certain task(s) from materials given in a packet by corporate donors to the project citywide. No packet is different, and that is where the creativity comes in. Also a notebook documenting the process must be compiled and submitted.

            The members for the 2001 St. Anthony BEST team are: Seniors Mike Schwirian, Andrew Herzig, Matt Mortis, Eddie Flores, Francisco Vara-Orta, David Garza, Jacob Garcia, Junior Raul Martinez, Freshmen Nathan Adcock, and Raymond Mireles.

The game this year was called "RAD to the Core." The premise was that there is a nuclear core that is malfunctioning and beginning to overheat. We have to design and build a robot to move along tracks overhead and move fuel rods (sections of PVC pipe) out of the reactor and place them into the Multi Tube Containment Vessel. Basically, keys made of PVC pipe are to be picked up by the arm of the robot on the overhead track from the tubes that form the nuclear core and be placed in a canister like tier.

While it may sound simple to do, the difficulty lies within the strategy. The robot is driven by human hands using a remote control.

During the competition, Highlands High School beat St. Anthony after Schwirian missed a few of the keys. He was disappointed with his initial performance when the team dropped from 1^st place to 4^th place. But over time and through teamwork, the group went to finals with a clean slate.

While BEST competitions are not as famous as football games and the muscles are more brain than brawn, there are still cheerleaders, school pride, and uniforms present in the 56-round tournament. Each round lasts three minutes and all schools have eight sessions before the top four go to finals.

In the last round of city finals, Schwirian went head to head against Highlands as they fought for the keys. Despite what he felt about his first attempt, his concern evaporated when he deposited the key in at the two second mark. That secured the championship for St. Anthony.

“I didn’t want to let the team down again, so I did my best to get as many points as I could. I didn’t repeat my mistakes of the past, and we held our lead in the game. We were all in shock when we saw on the overhead screen that St. Anthony Catholic High School had won the competition,” Schwirian said.

Schwirian, vice president of the six-week project, said that hard work, strategy, and dedication was vital to obtaining the championship.

            “Although our team encountered many problems throughout the course of this year’s preparation, we still worked to overcome the odds,” he said.

            The “odds” that Schwirian refers to were that the team is from a small private school, and, just a week before the competition, various tools, supplied personally by the 10-member team, were missing from their lab.

           “While that was a set back, we did not let it faze our determination to continue,” Schwirian said.

            Nor did it hinder their eccentric creativity, although robots are regarded as more functional than decorative, the team decided to decorate the robot with fake brown fur, fake eyeballs, and named it the “electric squirrel.”

           “Our robot is named after a cross between the two modern-day super-animals: the flying squirrel and the electric eel,” Matt Mortis, 18, engineer and creative designer of the robot said.

           Andrew Herzig, an aspiring engineer at the top of his senior class, believes that the BEST project has taught him more than just how to build a robot.

          “BEST offers a greater challenge than common school classes. You have to understand and be able to apply what you know,” he said.  It offers hands on experience not only in building a robot but also in organizing a group of people and staying on schedule.”

          While the group is fine-tuning its robot and other BEST related projects, the members maintain their humility about winning and would rather continue working than rest on their laurels.

“Our main goal was to do well in the local competition. We reached that goal. I hope our success this year will help to raise awareness and support for next year. Right now, we're going to state to enjoy ourselves and have fun. Anything we're able to accomplish there is icing on the cake,” Herzig said.

            Schwirian reiterated the team’s gratitude for all the support of the student body, parents, and also for the attention from Dan Ochoa, St. Anthony Catholic HS principal and his administration. Both the high school and its parent institution, University of the Incarnate Word, have enthusiastically endorsed the project.    

“I would like to thank all of those who came out to St. Mary’s University on game day. Without their support, insight, and guidance, we would not have accomplished what we have so far,” Schwirian said.

However, the team stresses that there needs to be more attention and support for projects like BEST that proactively educate using creativity and teamwork.

           “I hope and pray that next year, there will be plenty of students, faculty, and parents willing to contribute their time and energy to this worthwhile program. I would also like to see the school donate tools and money to the BEST program, to keep it alive and growing in the years to come,” Schwirian said.

Submitted by Francisco Vara-Orta

L-R: Raul Martinez, David Garza, Nathan Adcock, Jacob Garcia, Mike Schwirian, Eddie Flores, Francisco Vara-Orta, Andrew Herzig, and Matt Mortis.
Photo by: Gail Zitz

            Fashion students display costumes at Rolling Oaks Mall

UIW’s Fashion Management Program was generously given the use of  display space for three children’s costumes during the month of October at Rolling Oaks Mall. Three students were selected to showcase their talents in costume design.

A “loveable lion” was created by senior, Anacani Reyes who designed the costume for her infant son.  The “fantasy fairy” costume was designed by junior, Christine Tabhan, and the “fearsome crocodile” costume was made by senior, Adrianne Olivera. Olivera crafted the design for a friend’s son and turned out to be one of the showcased costumes.

Children’s costumes were part of a project that students had to complete for one of their fashion design courses. The idea of designing them was originally thought of by Sister Joyce, who is known for her love of children. The function, fit, and physical and psychological comfort for children’s apparel is studied in FMGT 2221: Intermediate Clothing.

Creativity comes to life in the proud display that can now be seen on campus in a display case across from the James Tilton Room in the Joyce Building.  The Fashion Department would like to publicly acknowledge the mall’s management and marketing directors, Sue Evans and Terri Butler for their assistance on this project.

Heritage Week sparks interest...

In celebration of Heritage Week, the Office of Mission Effectiveness, and the UIW Learning Communities Initiative held Learning Communities forums during the week of October 8th, followed by a summative luncheon meeting of participating student representatives, faculty, and administrators on Friday, October 12th. The agenda were to continue on-going dialogue concerning bio-ethical challenges in our contemporary culture; and to bring thought to a process of envisioning commonly shared values for the Incarnate Word community. Sister Audrey O’Mahony, Assistant to the President for Mission Effectiveness, hosted and sponsored Friday’s luncheon; and, Dr. Chris Paris, Assistant Dean of HASS and Chair of the UIW Learning Communities Initiatives coordinated the week’s events. Friday’s attendees included student representatives from Learning Communities– Miss Julie Benedetti, Miss Maggie Hallenbeck, Miss Andrea Martinez, Miss Maggie McClean, Miss Mary Ruiz, and Miss Cristina Villa. Participating faculty and administrators were Dr. Terry Dicianna, Provost, Dr. Robert Connelly, Dr. Pat Lonchar, Dr. Bonnie McCormick, Professor Ben McPherson, Dr. Julie Miller, Dr. Richard Peigler, Dr. Moumin Quazi, Dr. Caroline Spana, Dr. Sonrda Stewart, and Dr. Tim Zeddies. Among the week’s participants , but unable to attend Friday’s session were Dr. Christy MacKinnon, and Dr. David Elizandro, Dean of the School of Math, Science, and Engineering. Benefits to the university included incorporating the UIW Mission with academic initiatives, collaborative opportunities for dialogue among a number of Learning Communities, and opportunities to view common moral and ethical values that are shared in the Incarnate Word community.

Submitted by: Dr. Chris Paris
Assistant Dean of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences

YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND A

“Stress Management”
WORKSHOP  

PRESENTED BY:
Dora Ruffner  

WHEN:           NOVEMBER 2,                         2001
WHERE:        UIW LIBRARY                         AUDITORIUM
TIME:            12 p.m.-1 p.m.  

For more information, call 805-5814.

JOIN THE

FITNESS AT YOUR DESK CLUB

The Center for Well-Being will send those who choose to participate in this club fitness exercises and stretches to perform at your desk. These will be sent bi-weekly through e-mail.

If you would like to participate, please reply by e-mail to: rfrankli@universe.uiwtx.edu and we will include you in the 'Fitness at your Desk Club'. You will receive a reply letting you know when your first e-mail will arrive.

Words-Worth Meeting Reminder:

Date: Oct. 30
Time: Starts promptly at 12 p.m.
(You are invited to bring a brown bag lunch and join us at 11:30 a.m. to enjoy your lunch before the presentation begins)
Book: Singing Boy, by Dennis McFarland
Presenter: Dr. Douglas Gilmour, Associate Professor of
Philosophy

Nov. 2: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Nov. 9: 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

United Way Employee
Campaign  

Time is running out…
Turn in your donations!!!

Remember we are shooting for 100% participation…
Every dollar counts!!!

Turn in your donations to the Office of Public Relations.

HERITAGE WEEK PRIZE WINNERS:

BULLETIN BOARDS

1st:          $30 Bookstore Gift Cert.–       HASS Office
2nd:         $25 Zodexho Gift Cert.–         ESL Students
3rd:          $15 Bookstore Gift Cert.–      Nutrition: Global Reach
4th:          $10 Library Copier Cert.–      ESL Exchange Students
5th:          UIW Mug-                              MBRS: 30– Years
6th:          Bear + ribbon-                        Brackenridge: HonoringOur Own
7th:          Bear + Mug-                           LAC Timeline
8th:          Mary Kay Cosmetics Cert.–   Delta Sigma Delta

Honorable Mention Ribbons went to:
                                Drama Department
                                Alpha Sigma Alpha
                                Nutrition: Original Call
                                ESL High School Students

TRIVIA GAME  

1st:          $20 Bookstore Gift Certificate-               Lorraine Ewers
2nd:         UIW Sports Watch-                                Nick Pertuit/ Men’s Soccer
3rd:          Movie Tickets-                                      A. Craven, V. Prosper,C. Caballero
4th:          $10 Zodexho Gift Certificate-               Will Carbonara
5th:          UIW Bear-                                            Rita Rodriguez

Congratulations and a special thanks to these winners and to all who participated in Heritage Week!

Join us on Halloween

And help us in:

“Trick-or-treating the

Community”  

Oct. 31

5:30 p.m.-7 p.m.

This event is open to the public and we would especially like to invite all university employees, students, and their children. Volunteers are needed to help at the candy stations. We would like to encourage everyone to donate a bag of wrapped candy. For more information contact the Office of Public Relations at 829-6001.

  *There will also be trick-or-treating with the children from St. Anthony’s Elementary School during the morning.  For more information on that event, call 829-3126.

Dr. Christy MacKinnon, Professor of Biology, was selected as a NASA-Project NOVA Faculty Research Fellow for 2001-2002. The purpose of the research award is to implement an evaluation program to determine the national impact of Project NOVA on higher education institutions, programs, faculty, and students. Research activities are directed toward the process and outcomes of the NOVA program, and impact made on institutions in the NOVA network. Dr. MacKinnon attended an orientation workshop at Kansas State University October 10-12.