This fall, the Oakland University Art Gallery will offer an exhibition commemorating ten years of art at the gallery.

The exhibit runs from Sept. 11 to Oct. 17.

The “10 Years of Contemporary Art” exhibit will feature work from 20 different artists who have been showcased in different exhibits during the past 10 years. The gallery became a part of the OU Art and Art History department in 2000.

“The idea of this exhibition is to celebrate that we’ve been here for 10 years and we’re likely to be here a lot longer,” Dick Goody, associate professor of art and director of the gallery, said.

Each artist will have an original piece from the first exhibit their work was featured in at the gallery, as well as a more recent piece. They have each provided a description of the changes their work has undergone over the years.

A variety of media types are included in the show, including paintings, sculpture and digital media.

“If art is reflexive and reflective of culture, I thought, ‘Let’s make the show illustrative of that,’” Goody said. “Ultimately it’s a balancing act.”

Many of the pieces are political, including a video project by Christian Tedeschi entitled “White Flight,” that he captured by attaching a camera to his pickup truck during a drive from Pontiac to Detroit.

Another one of Tedeschi’s pieces details a drive down Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, where he now lives, from a camera attached to a hubcap.

On one wall, a large piece resembling a ladder hangs. On each step of the ladder is a phrase involving the words “sometimes” and “desire.” Next to this piece hangs two smaller, less blatant pieces.

“That’s what makes it so difficult to hang an exhibition like this,” Goody said. “You have something as boisterous as this next to something much less obvious. It speaks to the plurality of contemporary art.”

Other pieces in the gallery include a video project of a field shot with only one frame per second rather than the usual 30 frames per second of a video and a “Children’s Survival Chariot” that is packed with items a child would need in case of a disaster of nuclear proportions.

A preview with champagne and hors d’oeuvres is scheduled from 5–7 p.m. on Sept. 11. Tickets are $60 for singles and $100 for couples. The opening reception, which is free and open to the public, is scheduled for 7–9 p.m.

The gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday from noon–5 p.m., as well as during Meadowbrook performances.

“This show is pretty exciting,” Goody said. “It’s a real cross-section and time capsule of what we’ve done these past 10 years. There are paintings, conceptual work, time-based work, really something for everyone. It’s very encyclopedic in that respect.”

Grizz mascot tryouts

The OU Athletic Department will be hosting university mascot tryouts today, Sept. 8 from 4-6 p.m. in the Vandenberg Lounge of Vandenberg Hall.

Any students, both graduate and undergraduate students, interested in representing the university at six home soccer games as well as around 30 basketball games on campus are invited to try out.

The job description requests students with an outgoing personality who are very school-oriented as well as school spirit, said Kate Boylan of the OU Athletic Department.

The tryout process entails different skit pieces to act out as well as showing how the individual would get the crowd involved, Boylan said.

More than one Grizz is hired to accommodate student schedules, and no registration is needed for tryouts. Each event will last between two to three hours and the mascot representative will be paid $30 for each event.

The Grizz mascot will only attend indoor events and will have the opportunity to be present at the NCAA championships if the Grizzlies qualify.

Sand volleyball tournament

With 19 teams last year and the anticipation of more this season, the annual Welcome Week volleyball tournament will kick off at 5 p.m. Sept. 8 at the Hamlin volleyball court. To compete, teams do not need to register in advance and there is no registration fee, said Dan Bettmann, coordinator of Intramural sports and club sports.

Each team will consist of two male players and two female players to form teams of four in a bracket-style tournament.

“We are trying to get as many people as possible,” Bettmann said.

The estimated event time runs until 8 p.m. but with a greater turnout, the time is flexible.

If light becomes an issue at the Hamlin courts, Bettmann said the tournament will move to the University Student Apartment courts, which are located behind the clubhouse.

The tournament champion team will receive intramural champion T-shirts as well as a team photo that will be hung on display in the campus recreation center. Since there is an online Facebook group for Oakland University Intramural Sports, the wining team photo will also be added to the IM champions photo album online.

Disc golf singles

With the new Grizzly Oaks Disc Golf Course on campus as of last fall, Welcome Week will host the second Disc Golf Singles Tournament on Thursday, Sept. 9 at 4:30 p.m.

Teams can register for the tournament up until 4:30 p.m. Thursday and will be located at the 18-hole course near the Upper Fields on campus.

All interested participants will be sent out in groups and the lowest score of the tournament wins, Bettmann said.

The tournament champions will receive an IM Champions T-shirt as well as have their photo on display in the campus recreation center and in the IM Champions album as part of the online profile, he said.

Those ready to play in the tournament must provide their own discs and will need their OU ID card for registration, Bettman said. The tournament is free to all. There are hopes of involving more disc golfers this year, as there were 16 competitors last fall.

Sigma Pi pig roast

Sigma Pi Fraternity will host its 16th annual pig roast this Friday, Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. until midnight.

New this year is the location of the roast, which will now be held on the hill across from the campus recreation center on the north side of O’Dowd Hall. Since there will be bands, the hill will improvise as a “natural amphitheatre,” said assistant director of student activities and greek life, Christopher Jensen. The hill is ideal for the annual roast as it will be closer on campus and will not consume a parking lot, as in previous years, he said.

It is ensured that there will be plenty to eat, as the Student Program Board will also have carnival-like snacks including cotton candy and pretzels.

Hoping for pleasant weather, the pig roast will set the stage for the evening’s comedy show with Charlie Murphy at 9 p.m. in the O’rena, Jensen said.

Charlie Murphy

Shortly after the Sigma Pi annual pig roast kicks off, the LOLFest Comedy Show, starring actor-comedian, Charlie Murphy and a guest will begin at 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 10.

For Charlie Murphy’s debut on OU’s campus, the LOLFest Comedy Show is replacing the annual Welcome Week carnival, said Breanna Coleman of the Student Program Board.

Tickets are free to all OU students and are available at the Center for Student Activities or the CSA service window, located in the basement of the Oakland Center. SPB executive board members will be passing out tickets on the day of the event and each student attending the show can bring a guest, free of charge, as well.

The show is expected to run for 90 minutes and will conclude Welcome Week 2010.

Hourly informational sessions will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Lake Superior A room in the Oakland Center.

Kahlo Hopper, ISV’s campus representative, will be conducting Thursday’s meetings. Students must be 18 years old to apply; Hopper said students of all majors apply to go on the annual trips.

“ISV is looking for students who are willing to give and willing to learn,” said Hopper. “We ask students to write briefly on their application about why they would be a suitable applicant for the ISV program.”

After several Oakland students applied and attended the summer trips last year, ISV has decided to return to OU to reopen the opportunity. ISV will be taking applications from students interested in traveling during Thursday’s sessions.

Hopper says these applications are non-committal and purely expressions of student interest. ISV is limited to 50 students per departure date for each country, so students are advised to turn in their application promptly.

“Students who hand in their applications at the information meetings will be given precedence over any mailed in at a later date,” said Hopper.

Students selected will travel with students from over 140 universities to Australia, New Zealand, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic, Thailand, Africa and Costa Rica to participate in volunteer work and adventure tours.

Most students who apply will travel for four weeks, but can choose to attend from two weeks to three months.

Volunteer work is hands-on and divided into social community work and conservation work. Community work would include building homes for refugees, improving conditions for impoverished villages and teaching children English; students doing conservation work would be working with endangered species or working to rehabilitate the ecosystem.

Students will work alongside professionally trained project leaders to accomplish these tasks during the first two weeks of the trip.

Following the volunteer work, participants will be involved in a two week adventure through the student’s chosen country with the opportunity to, among other activities, go waterfall rappelling, glacier climbing or jungle kayaking.

Adventure tours will be lead by trained professionals.

Nencho Teller, who participated in ISV’s program to Australia, was able to scuba dive in coral reefs and go white water rafting.

“I had a great time planting trees and doing land rehabilitation projects, which was challenging but rewarding,” said Teller. She said she recommends the ISV trips to any interested students.

ISV, a nonprofit organization, takes over 4,000 students on programs each year. Since ISV is not for profit, students may be able to offset some of the program costs through tax deductable sponsorship donations through the community.

More information on the program can be found at www.isvonline.org

Pakistan flood aid clothes drive

In the wake of the recent floods in Pakistan, Oakland University students are combining efforts to donate clothes as well as food and general aid. Students can stop by West Vandenburg Hall to donate items from noon to 10 p.m. until Friday, Sept. 17.

Gold Vibrations fall auditions

Students interested in auditioning for the only student-run a cappella group on campus are invited to try out on Wednesday, Sept. 15 at 8 p.m. in room 230 Varner Hall. All participants will need to prepare a verse and chorus of a favorite contemporary song and sing it a cappella style for the group. After initial auditions, callbacks will be the following day, Sept. 16 at 8 p.m.

SPB trip to Toronto

For OU students, a $100 fee will cover transportation, hotel as well as subway passes and a City Pass for a weekend trip to Toronto with the Student Program Board. The trip will be from Nov. 11-14, but tickets have recently gone on sale at the CSA service window. Those interested are reminded to have a passport or enhanced license available before the trip.

Stem Cell Research Summit in Detroit

At the upcoming World Stem Cell Summit hosted at the Detroit Marriott Renaissance Center on Monday, Oct. 4 and running until Wednesday Oct. 6, the recent topic of Sherely v. Sebelius halting federal funding of embryonic stem cell research will be a large topic of discussion this year. According to Bernard Siegel, co-chair of the Summit and executive director of the Genetics Policy Institute (GPI) in an Enhanced Online News article, the conference serves as the ideal forum to understanding the scope of the problem and the strategies needed to continue research. The program will include a session titled “Stem Cell Awareness Day Town Hall Meeting – Sherley v. Sebelius and Beyond,” as a way for summit attendees to voice their concerns.

With web searching and price comparison, students may find large savings on textbooks. Various places, including the OU bookstore, are now offering money-saving alternatives for students, such as rental options and e-textbooks.
The rental option offers up to a 50 percent savings from buying books; when the rental period is over, however, there is no reimbursement from selling books back.
“Some students are used to purchasing the book, turning it in and getting some cash back, they kind of depend on that cash especially in December at holiday time. No matter what you choose, we’re here to give that option,” said Debbie Ogg, OU’s bookstore manager.
Rented books can be purchased to keep within the first two weeks of the rental period and have the same policy when it comes to dropped classes. Books can be rented in new or used condition and normal use of highlighting and writing in the books is accepted. The books are due back from rental ten days after finals end.
Another option available this semester to save money is e-textbooks, digital replicas of the stand textbook with the exact same look and layout. E-textbooks come in a download pack, which allows the book to be downloaded on two different computers. The books may also be accessed online if neither computer is available. E-textbooks offer features such as highlights and annotations, as well as a search box for key terms and automatic organization for notes.
“This option is good for people who don’t want to haul around big books every day, and you might not need your book every day,” Ogg said.
E-textbooks are available for 13,000 titles and can be purchased online at oakland.bncollege.com or in the store.
Although OU is taking steps to offer alternative options to lower book prices, physical books are still available for new and used purchase, many of which can be found for low prices. In a price comparison for the book “Building a Speech,” a required book for COM 201, Amazon.com came through with the lowest prices on both new, $39.80, and used, $29.76, conditions, and also gives the buy-back rate before the purchase is made. OU’s Barnes and Noble was a bit higher, a new copy priced at $43.65 and used at $32.75.
If price comparing becomes overwhelming, websites such as bigwords.com and campusbooks.com make saving money simple by compiling a list of the best prices.

Construction, as if it is not already prominent enough all over the state of Michigan, will still be affecting students on campus going into fall semester at a lesser magnitude than anticipated.

“We started in May with a lot of different jobs to do, and everything is on schedule,” said Terry Stollsteimer, associate vice president of facilities management.

The sidewalks near Elliot Hall have been rebuilt with four inches added to them, making the sidewalks a total of 10-feet wide.  Seating was added to the stone structures that are around Kresge Library.

“Students used to sit on the tops of them, but now there is stable seating available,” Stollsteimer said.
Students can also expect to see a lot of work being done on Wilson Blvd., where construction for the High Temperature Hot Water (HTHW) project will continue until its October deadline.

“The north side of Wilson Blvd. will be closed down before school starts, and then they are going to open the south side of the road,” Stollsteimer said.

The sidewalk from North Foundation Hall will be open to the OC and to Wilson Hall. There will also be a temporary dirt road to P-2 and a sidewalk through it for construction. The roads will be watered frequently to keep the dust down.

In an effort to promote the usage of P-11, a shuttle bus has been arranged to transport students back and forth from O’Dowd. There will be signage on M-59, directing students to the Adams Road exit for a detour to OU. The Oakland County Police Department has offered to help direct traffic at the Adam’s entrance as well.

Although a majority of the construction has been completed, there are still a few different projects that will be completed after school is in session.

Two different projects have been proposed for the roundabout at the main campus entrance, one for a half-wall and the other a brass statue of Matilda Wilson.

“Once the board of trustees decides which project we’re going to do, we’ll plant the trees accordingly,” Stollsteimer said. “I’d like to have the trees planted in late September.”

Plans have also been made to build a new UTSIT computer room next to O’Dowd that will add capacity and enhance security.

OU has partnered with DTE and installed new lampposts that have energy-efficient CPL white light bulbs that will cut down energy costs. This partnership makes the school a DTE test site for other people to come and visit.

The OUSC is in the process of creating a plaza on the north side of Kresge, which will be completely funded by the organization. Along with a kiosk used to display fliers, OUSC plans on adding hammocks to the area to make it a study spot.

John Beaghan, vice president for finance and administration and treasurer to the board of trustees, said that students will be informed of all happenings on campus.

“Prior to the beginning of the fall semester, multiple communication vehicles will be used to keep students informed; website, email, signage,” said Beaghan. “In addition, we will have temporary overflow parking at the upper playing fields and near Pioneer and Meadow Brook Road.”

Parking in various parking lots on campus has been expanded, and a new parking lot has been created at the corner of Pioneer and Library Drive. The Bear Bus will be available to help students around campus without having to cough up a parking spot. OUPD and Facilities Management staff will be on cue to direct students as well.

“Mostly, I’m looking forward to the extra overflow parking lot off of Pioneer Drive,” Senior Communications major, Horatiu Zglembia said. “With all the new returning students, I’m excited to finally get some more parking spaces to maybe ease all the congestion.”

Although there will still be some construction going on once students return to school, the majority of it will have been completed before fall semester begins on Sept. 2.