Parts Is Parts

A typical day at work for me in the food science lab usually consists of doing plasma extractions for my honors project, washing glassware, and making solvents, but today was not a typical day of work. Currently, we are in the process of moving to a larger lab. The previous professor in that lab left a large amount of his stuff there and we (the other people that work in the lab and I) have the responsibility of cleaning it out. One of the things that he chose to leave behind was freeze dried baboon parts….yup, that’s right, monkeys!!!!

What exactly would someone be doing with baboons???? I believe he was doing some sort of research on their bones. Anyway, we had to figure out what to do with these random baboon parts and it wasn’t as easy as we thought it would be. Since they are animal parts they are considered to be biohazard and cannot just be thrown in the trash so we called over to the vet school to see how we should dispose of these animal parts. They said they would have to be incinerated, but first we would have to take them out of their plastic containers and put them in paper bags since plastic can’t go into the incinerator.

All of us in the lab group thought, great, not only do we have to dispose of the baboon parts but we first have to take them out of their containers!!!! We were all freaking out at this point because this is about the weirdest thing that any of us have had to do before, and we were all hesitant to start. Finally, we removed all the parts and put them in the paper bags and took them to the incinerator. Needless to say, this was a very interesting day at work for me.

--Teryn

Ready, Set, Sell

Hello Everyone! My name is Kim Ziarko and I am a junior majoring in Foods and Nutrition in Business. Tuesday night I had my final presentation of the semester in my Selling Agriculture Business class (AGECON 331). This special night is called Ready, Set, Sell-or RSS for short- where it gives students an experience in professional selling. We all were asked to dress business professional, network and present our sales pitch to sale professionals. Assignments for the class were picking a product or service in a field of your interest and develop a professional sales presentation on it. I chose Organic Coffee Beans from El Salvador! To gain selling skills, you are asked to interview a sales professional and spend a day with him/her at the company to get a feel for their product or service. I was able to visit Uncommon Grounds Coffee Roaster in Saugatuck, Michigan. It was so much fun to see the shop and what they deal with on an everyday basis. The rest of the homework also leads up to RSS to prepare you for every step of the presentation. You might think, “How does this relate to me?” Easy. At one point in our lives we will all be selling ourselves to accomplish one of our goals in life. It could be asking to receive a grant for an experiment or trying to sell a new product you helped concoct in the test kitchen. This class helped my selling skills and did a great job preparing me for the future when I will need to make a professional sales presentation.

Seasons at Purdue

Hi guys! My name is Jaci Reiter. I am a junior majoring in movement and sports science. This fall semester has been crazy busy but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Fall is my favorite time of year and the campus is absolutely beautiful. This past weekend was our homecoming. I participated in some events with the alumni. I heard some interesting stories about alumni’s experience at Purdue. Things have really changed over the years.

Football games are my favorite part of this season. The student section in Ross-Ade (the football stadium) is quite a chaotic but a fun atmosphere. The tailgate for homecoming was incredibly crowded but everyone was revved up for the game. I also got to carve some pumpkins and go to a corn maze with my friends after the game was over.

This is my first year living off campus. You do not fully appreciate the residence halls until you move out of them. It’s fun to have your own room and your own kitchen, but there are some downfalls. I miss someone making my meals and never having to clean dishes J The food served in Purdue’s dining courts is delicious. They have a wide variety to choose from and you will never be bored with the selection.

I hope everyone has a great Halloween!

--Jaci

Lady A Keeps Going!

Lady Antebellum was so amazing live!!! David Nail was their opener. He was fantastic! If you get the chance, you HAVE to go see them! I was impressed with their selection of songs, and how they kept playing song after song without taking many breaks. They were super enthusiastic and a total crowd pleaser. With each announcement of big artists coming to Purdue, I love the Purdue Student Concert Committee more and more! I had a blast with my friends! The night flew by with the girls, but I couldn't have asked for a better concert!

Elise

Hey guys!

Purdue Convocations always gets the best artists to come to Purdue and perform. On October 7, 2010 they got one of my favorite groups ever to come and perform. This amazing group was Lady Antebellum, along with their opening act David Nail. Even though I had not listened to much of David Nail’s music, he was really great live. When Lady A came out, all of Elliot Hall of Music stood up, applauded, and screamed for them when they began to sing an acoustic version of “I Run to You”. Lady A proved that they have the vocals to sing live, just as well as they do on their cd. I thought they sounded even better live than they did on their cd. They proceeded to give one of the best concerts I have ever been to and I would recommend that if you like them, you should definitely see them live in concert. I became an even bigger fan after attending their first ever headlining tour and will see every other tour they go on! Alyssa S.

Barn Dances

Its that time of the year again! The leaves are falling off the trees, the squirrels are collecting the acorns, and the fraternities and sororities are trading in their regular attire and putting on their best cowboy/girl ensemble. That’s right its barn dance season!!! Barn dances are the second best thing about the fall season; of course college football is number one! No matter if you like country music or not you can bet that you will be listening to Kenny Chesney, Garth Brooks, and Taylor Swift at the fraternities during this time of the year. Some have barn dance in their basement, some go out to a barn in rural Tippecanoe County for a night, and some even camp out at the farm for an overnight trip. I went to barn dance last Friday, even though I had to coach in the morning I didn’t let that ruin the night for me and my date. We had a great time during the dance; eating caramel apples, drinking apple cider, and riding on the hayride! So the next time you get an invitation to go to a barn dance do not pass up the opportunity; no matter who you go with you are bound to have a great time!

A Busy Life at Purdue

Hi everyone!

My name is Christina Citta. I am a junior from Bartlett, IL (a northwest suburb of Chicago) and am majoring in Early Intervention AND Early Childhood Education and Exceptional Needs- I know it's a mouthful. I have been super busy the past few weeks with class, clubs, meetings and committees. I am participating in so much this semester and am actually surprised that I am managing! Right now I am actively participating in HHS ambassadors, the CDFS undergrad committee (I am the student representative on it), PACCH (Purdue's Association for the Care of Children's Health, I am the secretary), my honors research for CDFS (I am working with a grad student in the engineering education department in the preschool on campus), being a paraprofessional for a little boy off campus, babysitting, and substituting at Miller Child Learning Center when I have time... I think that's it, but I've got so much going on, sometimes I forget.

I absolutely LOVE my classes this semester. We are really throwing ourselves into the classroom at the 400/500 level. I have two practicum classes right now where I go into the classroom once a week (for each class) and work with the teachers and children. I have had a lot of experience in the classroom, but practicums are really nice because you are getting personal feedback about your work with the children, and it really helps you become a better teacher! I think that one of the things I love most about being in a practicum is that I can not only apply what I am learning in class, but what I have experienced in other classrooms and schools. I have been a student worker at Miller Child Learning Center since my second semester freshman year, and worked at a Montessori school this summer in my home town. The two schools had very different approaches to learning in the classroom, but I think that it is important to expose myself to such techniques this early in my academic career.

Getting off of the school subject a little bit, last weekend was family day. My parents, brother and boyfriend came to visit me. It was so much fun! We went to the football game and met with the faculty of CDFS for a little bit. One of the things I love so much about being here at Purdue is that it is very family friendly. I come from a large family who is very involved in everyone's lives, and so it is really wonderful that they can come visit and have such great hospitality. My parents look forward to coming up for Family Day every year, and talk about how much fun we have all the time.

That's a brief intro to what is going on for now. Like I said before I am very busy and have a lot to be doing, so I will try and write back as soon as possible and keep you updated on life!

~Christina

Fashion Week Fall 2010 – A Brief Return

On September 10th a couple weeks ago, I headed straight from class down to the Indianapolis International Airport to catch my flight to New York City. Upon accepting my internship offer at Cynthia Rowley this summer, I agreed to make myself available to work during our runway show this fall. The descent in proved very surreal, for after spending a whole year there only to return to Indiana still had me in culture shock – so this trip was like returning home, really. To save money, instead of taking a cab I took a bus to the subway; from that point on I felt as if I’d never left.
I arrived down at Heather Duge’s place in the financial district (Heather is a former Purdue Apparel Tech student,) and called the design office, expecting to be called in to work for last minute hand-stitching. To my surprise, I was not needed. Amy Morris (a fellow Apparel Tech student) and I decided to take advantage of this free opportunity and enjoy Fashion’s Night Out, an annual event to promote the fashion industry and raise funds for the September 11 Memorial Fund. In a nutshell, we hit up Fifth Avenue, Herald Square, and Soho, in the process meeting Jessica Stam (pictured), Paige Adams-Gellar of Paige Denim, and the band members of Carolina Liar. It was an exciting, memorable evening.
Onto the fashion, though. Cynthia Rowley’s show was scheduled to go off at 11 AM on September 11, 2010. I arrived at Lincoln Center at 9:30 to assist with set up. The venue was massive – a large entrance with the “Mercedes Benz Fashion Week” sign faced an open concrete square complimented by a fountain and a small park with benches. I made my way around to the back and found our appropriate tent, obtained my pass, and worked my way to where the models were getting hair and make-up done. Everything ran very smoothly, about fifteen minutes behind, but no disasters occurred. I fell in love with the models’ poppy red lips and enlarged barrettes clipped in their hair. A volunteer and I were assigned to the very first model (pictured-putting socks on). She only had one change, so the only difficulty was making sure makeup didn’t get on the garments – we used a silk cloth over her head to manage this. Unfortunately there were a few minor scares backstage. The model next to us couldn’t get her zipper up, and once we helped and succeeded, it separated. Hand tacking and strategic walking saved this on her and a couple other models. Other than that, the show was a huge success.

It all happened very quickly, lasting only a quarter of an hour. All the months and hours of preparation into fifteen minutes. But entirely worth it. The world now gets to view the collection, become inspired, and appreciate truly artistic design.

I spent the last day and a half sourcing fabric for my senior collection, in the process meeting and conversing with Valerie Mayen from this season’s Project Runway. As I toted my bags of fabric down the streets of Manhattan on Sunday afternoon, the light rain had cleared leaving slightly overcast skies visible through the rooftops. I stopped for a bit in Chelsea district and visited my favorite cupcake place, Billy’s. As I walked, I soaked it in, reminisced, then fished my Metrocard out, sighed, and descended towards the subway. New York is a stressful, yet wonderful whirlwind, and though I craved to just go sit along the Hudson one more time, I knew I had a true home to return to. Space to create my collection and valued relationships with others – that can’t be beat.

Ashley