The Fall Welcome Reception for the Arizona Fulbright Chapter will be held on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson at the Arizona State Museum on Friday, September 27 from 4 - 6 pm. Entrance to the museum will be free for those who attend.
We will hear from Dr. Nancy Odegaard, Conservator at the Museum who has appointments in anthropology and materials science. There will be tours of the conservation lab in the museum, an area that is typically off limits for visitors.
Refreshments will be served. RSVP by September 20 to Carol Bender at bender@email.arizona.edu. Sponsored by the Arizona Chapter of the Fulbright Association and The University of Arizona Office of Outreach and Global Initiatives
Madeline Friend takes advantage of opportunities to learn and earn scholarships.
Born and raised in Flagstaff, Madeline Friend is no stranger to nature. Here, in the world's largest ponderosa pine forest, she grew up learning the value of a healthy environment, including forest fire prevention and water conservation. Now, she has combined her background with her education at Northern Arizona University to impact the lives of others while carving out her own future.
Friend originally arrived at Northern Arizona University as an English major, but after taking an environmental science class her freshman year, she discovered her true calling - helping others find the value in environmental conservation and preservation.
"Growing up, I didn't know what I was passionate about," Friend says. "This past year, I've been talking to people about energy policies, and I've realized it makes me so excited. I want to share that excitement, and I want everyone to know more about this topic."
This passion has led her to explore many different avenues at Northern Arizona University. Friend currently works with NAU Outdoors and leads hiking trips for her fellow students. She also works with The Lumberjack student newspaper, having served as its chief copy editor for multiple semesters, and is a member of the Honors program.
This year, Friend applied for the Udall Scholarship and the Barry Goldwater Scholarship. Both awards are highly prestigious and nationally competitive, and, like Friend herself, are both named after native Arizonans.
She was recently named an honorable mention on both awards. Friend views this not as a defeat, but as a sign that she's on the right track.
"It means the work that I'm doing is worthwhile," Friend says. "It's very humbling to have that. I couldn't be here without all the help from mentors on my research."
Applying for greatness
Like many of her peers at Northern Arizona University, Friend was initially tasked at the start of her studies with supporting the cost of her own education. However, her persistence in applying for several scholarships has paid off.
"I'm on the AIMS scholarship," Friend explains. "I also have the National Groundwater Association scholarship. I have three from the Honors program, and a few others from the NAU Foundation."
Friend says the application process for the Udall and Goldwater awards was demanding - the latter took her two months of hard work and help from the scholarship coordinator, Melissa Riggs.
"It's intimidating applying for a national scholarship," Friend says. "Even though I didn't win either of them, I'm glad I tried."
Friend is grateful for the opportunities afforded to her by both the university and other forms of funding.
"Because of these scholarships, I'm going to graduate debt-free," Friend says.
Standing for nature
Friend admits she was originally apprehensive about staying in Flagstaff for college. In hindsight, she says staying local was the right choice.
"Northern Arizona University has shown me all these opportunities," Friend says. "I was able to go on a field course and do in-depth, field-study research, which doesn't happen at a lot of other universities. I was able to do the Grand Canyon Semester, thanks to the Honors program.
An environmental science degree at Northern Arizona University enables students like Friend to pick a scientific field and apply what they're learning in that field to environmental topics.
"A lot of it is looking at the impact humans have on the environment," Friend says. "At Northern Arizona University, you can select from a variety of different emphases: mathematics, chemistry, biology, geology, and more."
In part due to what she's learned inside the classroom - and outside of it - Friend says she has discovered her passion.
"During the Grand Canyon semester, I did research in designing an experiential educational science curriculum for eighth graders at Mt. Elden Middle School, and I realized how much I love working with people and talking with people," Friend says. "I don't want to be cooped up in a lab all day."
Friend hopes to earn a PhD and use that degree to find ways to share her passions with others.
"I think growing up in Arizona and going to the Grand Canyon does that to you," Friend says. "I would love to work in environmental education."
Sun Devil fans across the country have been displaying their ASU pride on license plates for years, with personalized sentiments that have included "SPARKY," "SUNDVL," "DVL4LF," "ASUONE," "AZST8T" and "UDEVL."
The ASU Alumni Association plans to reward fans with the most creative personalized plates through its "What's On Your Plate?" contest that showcases the cleverness of its supporters.
ASU fans can enter the contest by sending photos to sparkyplates@asu.edu. The contest will run through Saturday, Oct. 19, the date of ASU's Homecoming game. From Oct. 21 to Oct. 30, Sun Devil fans will be able to cast their vote online for their favorite plate in each of the two categories, and winners will be announced in November.
The contest will have two categories: one for those in Arizona with an official ASU collegiate plate, and a second category for Sun Devils with an ASU-themed personalized license plate living anywhere in the country.
The first-place winners of the Arizona version of the contest will receive two tickets to the ASU - University of Arizona game on Nov. 30, as well as a Sparky Car Care Package, which is filled with ASU-themed items for a vehicle. The entrant receiving second place in this category will win a $25 gas gift card and a Sparky Car Care Package, and the third-place entrant will receive a Sparky Car Care Package.
The winner of the out-of-state category will win a $100 gas gift card and a Sparky Car Care Package; second place in this category receives a $25 gas gift card and a Sparky Car Care Package, and third place receives a Sparky Car Care Package.
One of the goals of the "What's on Your Plate?" contest is to raise awareness of the Alumni Association's Medallion Scholarship Program. The Medallion Scholarship program gives students who are Arizona residents financial support, as well as the opportunity to foster their personal development and leadership skills while attending ASU.
Christine K. Wilkinson, president of the Alumni Association, explained that $17 of every $25 charged by the state of Arizona for the collegiate license plate benefits the program, which is the association's signature scholarship initiative. "ASU has a tremendous base of supporters here in our state, and every Sparky license plate on the road generates funding for a scholarship program specifically for Arizona students," she said. "We hope many Sun Devil fans show us their creativity and school support by participating in this contest."
Hundreds of ASU Medallion Scholarship recipients have benefitted from the funds generated by proceeds from the Sparky license plate since it was introduced in 1989. The current Medallion Scholarship program cohort is comprised of more than 100 ASU undergraduate students, majoring in fields that include business, engineering and liberal arts, among many others.
Sun Devil fans who purchase a Sparky license plate in Arizona will be charged an annual special plate fee of $25. Those wanting a customized license plate will be charged an additional $25 personalization fee.
For more information on the "What's On Your Plate?" contest, or to order a Sparky license plate, visit www.sparkyplates.com.
University of Phoenix is pleased to collaborate with the Rodel Foundation of Arizona to offer a scholarship program. As a leading nonprofit in Arizona, Rodel Charitable Foundation of Arizona, is working to improve Arizona's pre-kindergarten through grade 12 public education system. Rodel Charitable Foundation of Arizona collaborates with wide range of individuals and organizations to help develop educational initiatives designed to raise student achievement and to assist those engaged in the process of identifying and removing the major roadblocks to achieving healthy schools and communities.
Through this scholarship program, up to five (5) scholarships to cover the cost of eight credit hours of student teaching will be awarded. Each scholarship will allow a current University of Phoenix College of Education student who lives in Arizona and is ready to begin student teaching in January 2014 to complete a Bachelor of Science in Education or Master of Arts in Education degree program at University of Phoenix. Recipients may be attending University of Phoenix on-ground campus or may attend University of Phoenix online.
With base undergraduate tuition at the UA increasing by nearly 90 percent between 2008 and 2011, the AIMS scholarship has played a pivotal role in helping Arizona high school students afford a university education since 2006. However, major reductions to the amount of money awarded by the scholarship have already begun to hurt students, and the Arizona Board of Regents should reverse course and increase the difficulty of attaining the scholarship to meet budget constraints.
In its first year, 1,565 students received the AIMS scholarship, a number that had almost doubled by the 2009-2010 school year.
"Without the AIMS scholarship, I would not even be able to be here [at the UA]," said Shelby Pierce, an undeclared sophomore at the UA. "I am so grateful to have the extra help."
Instead of making cuts to the amount awarded, the Arizona Board of Regents should expand the requirements students must meet to earn the scholarship.
Some steps have already been taken in that direction, but they have been taken in tandem with reductions to the amount awarded.
The number of credit hours a student must complete in one academic year to retain the scholarship has increased from 24 to 30, and students now must receive a mark of "exceeds expectations" on all AIMS tests in addition to earning at least a 28 on the ACT or a 1300 on the SAT to qualify for the scholarship.
However, students who meet these standards will now only receive an AIMS scholarship offer of 25 percent of their base tuition.
"Make no mistake: We cut 75 percent out of [the award], the incentive is gone," said Arizona attorney general Tom Horne, the lone board member who voted against the changes in 2010.
The AIMS scholarship provided the three in-state universities with a way to keep Arizona's hardest working students in-state.
Creating tougher criteria to earn the AIMS award would help to isolate those students and could prevent a brain drain from the state.
With tougher criteria, the regents could potentially restore the full tuition award because fewer students would meet the requirements. Students who receive the AIMS scholarship would have truly earned it and be rewarded for their intense effort.
"It is an incentive to keep my grades up," Pierce said, "and I have more time to study since I don't have to work as much to help pay for school."
The AIMS scholarship has helped thousands of Arizona students earn a college degree since 2006, and it should continue to be used as an incentive for Arizona students to work hard and to stay in the state for college.
A university education is only becoming more expensive, and although other states are experimenting with ways to keep costs low, the trend of increasing tuition isn't showing any signs of slowing or stopping. If opportunities like the AIMS scholarship are taken away, what options are we left with?
The Arizona state constitution mandates that public higher education be "as nearly free as possible," a promise the state legislature and the board of regents seem to have forgotten. With the budget constraints, stricter requirements that will encourage students to work harder appear to be the best solution to make college affordable and to keep Arizona's best and brightest in the state.
Kayley Koontz_Kayley Koontz is a sophomore studying journalism and creative writing. Follow her on Twitter.com/dailywildcat.
