March 19, 2012 - Cal U Journal

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California University

VOLUME 14, NUMBER 8 MARCH 19, 2012 READ THE JOURNAL ONLINE: www.calu.edu/news/the-journal

Kenny Rogers Headlines Grand Opening Convocation Center Show Features Country Music Lineup hree-time Grammy Award winner Kenny Rogers will headline an evening of all-American country music as Cal U celebrates the Grand Opening of the Convocation Center. Tickets are on sale now for the all-star show at 7:30 p.m. April 20. The concert will open with performances by Grammy Award-winning contemporary country music star Billy Dean and singer-songwriter Andy Gibson, one of Nashville’s hottest young talents. A ribbon cutting and dedication for the Convocation Center will kick off the festivities, along with additional performances and activities in the Convocation Center courtyard. The public is invited to attend the concert and other Grand Opening events. “The Convocation Center was designed to serve our neighbors throughout the region, as well as our campus community,” said President Angelo Armenti, Jr. “I look forward to welcoming everyone — our students and alumni, our faculty and staff, our University friends and our neighbors from western Pennsylvania and beyond. This is going to be a night to remember.” With one diamond, 19 platinum and 31 gold albums to his credit, Rogers’ voice is recognizable worldwide. He has recorded more than 65 albums and sold over 120 million records in a career that includes 24 No. 1 hit songs, including “The Gambler,” “Lady,” “Lucille,”

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Kenny Rogers will perform April 20 at the Grand Opening of the Convocation Center.

“She Believes in Me,” “Islands in the Stream,” and “We’ve Got Tonight.” Two of Rogers’ albums, “The Gambler” and “Kenny,” are featured in the About.com poll of The 200 Most Influential Country Albums Ever. Rogers has received hundreds of awards for his

music and charity work, including three Grammys, 11 People’s Choice Awards, 18 American Music Awards, eight Academy of Country Music awards and five Country Music Association awards. “I really, really love what I’m doing,” Rogers says. “People survive longer if they love what they’re doing. Because you just don’t quit.” Dean has recorded 13 Top 10 hits. His best-known songs include “Only Here for a Little While,” “Somewhere in My Broken Heart” “Billy The Kid,” and “Let Them Be Little.” He and Alison Krauss sang harmony on Kenny Rogers’ No. 1 hit, “Buy Me a Rose.” Andy Gibson moved to Nashville just five years ago, and he’s already making a name for himself as a singer and songwriter. He co-wrote “Don’t You Want to Stay,” the No. 1 country hit for Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson that won a standing ovation at last year’s Country Music Association Awards. He’s in the studio now, finishing up his own debut album of songs, including the single “Wanna Make You Love Me.” Ticket prices for the April 20 concert range from $31 to $81. Parking is included. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster locations, online at www.ticketmaster.com , or at the Cal U Convocation Center Box Office between 10 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays. To charge tickets by phone, call 1-800-745-3000. To reach the Convocation Center Box Office, call 724-938-4600. For more information about the performers and links to their websites and music, visit www.calu.edu .

Four Exhibitions on Display for ‘Museum Month’ Contestants from 43 local high schools will take custom­built robots into battle during the preliminary BotsIQ competition Friday and Saturday inside the Performance Center.

Cal U Hosts BotsIQ Competition tudents from 43 local high schools will take custom-built robots into battle during the seventh annual preliminary BotsIQ competition Friday and Saturday inside the Performance Center. Robot combat is scheduled from 9:30 a.m.-noon and from 1-4:30 p.m. each day. BotsIQ is a national program supported locally by the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association. A representative of the U.S. Department of Education, James H. Shelton III, assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement, has been invited to attend.

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BotsIQ is based on the robotics curriculum from the National Curriculum Standards and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s mechanical engineering methodology. The program tests students’ knowledge of science, technology, engineering and math — the subjects collectively known as STEM — as they design and build robots to battle in an exciting, gladiator-style competition. Recordkeeping and public speaking also are part of the program. High scores are given to teams that win battles, but the top award will go to the team that also demonstrates the strongest documentation and — Continued on page 2

arch is “Museum Month” at Cal U. Now through Sunday, visitors can explore four separate museum exhibitions. • Native Words, Native Warriors, a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition, tells the remarkable story of the code talkers, Indian soldiers from more than a dozen tribes who used their Native languages in the service of the U.S. military. The exhibition is on display through Sunday in the Manderino Educational Resource Center, inside Manderino Library. • American Letterpress: The Art of Hatch Show Print was created by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. The exhibition highlights the work of Hatch Show Print, founded in 1879. It is still a working letterpress and design shop, creating posters today using the same letterpress methods as yesterday. Only the faces of the customers have changed: from Elvis Presley to Elvis Costello, Buddy Guy to Bruce Springsteen, the Carter Family to Coldplay, and many, many others. The exhibition is on display through July 29 in Manderino Library Gallery. • Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion continues through May 6 in the Convocation Center. At press time, more than 12,000 visitors, including school children, had visited this free, interactive exhibition. — Continued on page 2

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