Rawr weekly | 4.13.12

rawr April 13, 2012

“Don’t go to cabins in the woods”

Mmm pizza page 4 Grand grad students page 6-7 Bikes and babes page 8 cover art by jesse hart

the argonaut

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on the cover Title: “Summer Rain” “Although it sucked for it to start raining during a photo shoot, I was inspired to look for beauty in the little things, and I found it in the exact thing I despised at the moment.”

— jesse hart

your work in rawr illustration photography mixed media paintings sculptures short fiction poetry non-fiction rawr is an alternative weekly publication covering art, culture, campus life and entertainment.

We are accepting all forms of art and creativity for an artist corner, featured on page 11, or the cover.

Email: arg-arts@uidaho.edu

4.13.12

horoscopes danielle yantis | rawr

Aries 3/21 - 4/19 If you feel like you’re wandering around aimlessly in life, try something drastic.

When looking down doesn’t work, look up.

Taurus 4/20 – 5/20 When life gives you peanut butter, just give it some jelly and have a jam.

Gemini 5/21 - 6/21 Someone may be trying to twirl your world around. Just crank up the music and start dancing.

Cancer 6/22 - 7/22 The secret to life is a good recipe with good ingredients—use them wisely.

Leo 7/23 - 8/22 If my calculations are correct, parking your car in an unmarked area after having a few drinks could cause unwanted citations.

Sagittarius 11/22 - 12/21 Taking shortcuts in life is like having a peeing section in a pool—worthless because you’ll just end up swimming in your own mess.

Virgo 8/23 - 9/22 When writing your next term paper, consider eating alphabet soup. Maybe then your words will come out naturally.

Capricorn 12/22 – 1/19 Ever feel out of your mind? Try using a strainer to filter out the unnecessary thoughts.

Libra 9/23 - 10/22 Don’t sweat the petty things, and don’t pet someone else’s sweaty thing.

Aquarius 1/20 – 2/18 If your student loans are getting you down, try seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s better than working a minimum wage job for the rest of your life.

Scorpio 10/23 - 11/21 Worried about deadlines? I hear the library is quite morbid; that might helpy ou get our of your grave situation.

Pisces 2/19 - 3/20 In need of some change? I hear panhandling works great.

movie reel disney fans unite

molly spencer rawr

My roommate Annie decided to bring a good collection of Disney movies to Moscow with her to the University of Idaho. I’ve lived in the same house as her since November 2011 and our house has been missing a VCR until a couple of weeks ago. Even though I love them all, these are my top five Disney movies … if I had to choose.

James and the Giant Peach (1996) My favorite part of this movie is when it changes from live action to anima-

tion. James’ aunts, Spiker and Sponge, are the two ugliest ladies I’ve ever laid eyes on.

James and his giant peach inspire me to never give up hope.

Toy Story 2 (1999) Four years after the original, John Lasseter won my heart all over again with the Toy Story sequel. I find this movie heartwarming and sad — sad because Woody gets his arm torn off and is then stolen by the greasy chicken-suit Al, and heartwarming because the gang and new friends

are re-united with Andy in the end.

The Jungle Book (1967) I wish I had a best bear friend named Baloo.

“Look for the bare necessities, the simple bare necessities. Forget about your worries and your strife. The bare necessities, Old Mother Nature’s recipes that brings the bare necessities of life.”

Baloo is a good friend with some good advice, and that’s why he’s a bear who can rest at ease.

Alice in Wonderland (1951) This movie is loud and obnoxious but I still have a special place in my heart for Cheshire Cat and his mysterious ways, and no, it’s not just because he’s a cat. =^..^= Meow.

Toy Story (1995) There’s something about Randy Newman’s voice that brings back childhood memories for me. “Toy Story” was not only Pixar’s first film, but also the first movie done completely in CGI, computergenerated imagery. Tom

more information

You can find Molly Spencer’s Movie Reel online at uiargonaut.com.

Hanks and Tim Allen made the perfect Buzz and Woody love-hate-friendship combo. I really used to hate the scene where the deformed toys come out from under Sid’s bed — I thought they were terrifying. But now I understand that even though they were creepy, they were just trying to help Woody.

H i g h l i g hts rawr

Color ful n o

tes could

joanna wilson rawr Bright, bold and blindingly colorful, highlighters can turn a page of scribbled notes into an organized rainbow of study material.

Sherray Callistini, a University of Idaho freshman in anthropology, uses a highlighter to bring order to notes after class.

“When I go back home, I read over them again, and then I’ll highlight with a highlighter, the important things,” Callistini said. “And things that stand out and stuff I know will be on the test. When the professor says ‘OK all this will be on the test,’ and I’ll be sure and put a star by it.”

When she studies, Callistini said using highlighters helps her remember important pieces of information.

“I don’t waste time with that other stuff (that isn’t highlighted),” Callistini said.

“Like studying things that probably won’t be on the test.

So it just helps with time management.”

Callistini said it doesn’t take her very long to go through her notes. The little time taken after class saves a lot of time studying, she said.

“So that you’re not reading through all your notes, searching for a certain answer or something,” Callistini said.

“When you highlight your stuff, you look at a page, and boom—it sticks out.”

Some people learn best from hands-on experience, others prefer being taught directly and still others prefer the visual stimulation of reading instructions or seeing pictures in a textbook. Sometimes an aural style is best-suited for those who employ musical and rhythmic elements in their studies.

June Clevy, tutoring and college success program specialist, said highlighters work best for visual learners.

“The main thing to remember is everyone’s different,” Clevy said. “Some students are very visual, and using differ-

affect stu

3

dying sty

ent colored highlighters even on their own notes will help them break down a lesson plan … to make it more accessible to their learning style.”

Clevy said the Tutoring Center has assessments students can take to determine what learning style best suits their needs.

Highlighting can be detrimental if students don’t put any thought into what is highlighted, she said.

“Then, every time they come through, they only look at those (notes that are highlighted) and they’re actually hurting themselves,” Clevy said. “So again, it really depends on the student and how they’re using them.”

Clevy said textbooks often contain clues to what is important in the chapter.

“Most textbooks will include a ‘what you should know,’ or a review at the back of the chapter,” Clevy said. “Definitions that are in there, it’s usually bolded or italicized in the text. But if it’s not, it’s a good thing to

les

go back through and highlight those.”

Color coding the highlights can be helpful too, she said.

“If it’s a social science class, and you’re talking about pros and cons, it might be nice to break things up that way,” Clevy said. “If you’re talking about processes and steps, you might make a main process one color, and steps that go with that another one, so that you can tell where the breaks are.”

Books for higher level classes are often original documents or non-textbook books.

“I wouldn’t worry so much about a highlighter,” Clevy said. “I would worry more about making your notes from your reading — that’s something that a lot of students don’t do.”

Good notes with page numbers will keep the student from pouring over hundreds of pages to write a paper or study for a test, Clevy said.

Graduate student in adult

learning and leadership Rose Graham uses highlighters to place emphasis on the points her professor says will be on the exams.

“What was the most important thing that stuck in my head,” Graham said. “I go back and look for it, and highlight what I think is the most important. Sometimes, if it’s a group project, I go over it with the group to get different points of view.”

Clevy said when students know what style works best for them, they can take any instructor’s teaching style and make it work.

“If they’re a visual person, they can take things and diagram it out,” Clevy said. “If they’re a very verbal person, they can write things out in their own words. Or they can get in a group and discuss it with somebody else, even if the teacher doesn’t provide that kind of feedback.”

Joanna Wilson can be reached at arg-arts@uidaho.edu

hayden crosby

| rawr

the argonaut

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4.13.12

Cooking the old-fashioned way Saving money, filling your belly molly spencer rawr

hayden crosby | rawr

Get the hungr y.

On rawr ’s new food blog.

crumbs uiargonaut.com/crumbs

If there’s one person who really knows how to save a dime, it’s my mom.

She had a good point when she taught me how to make everything starting at square one, or as she says—the oldfashioned way.

If your financial situation is anything like mine, then you understand that sometimes college students have to come up with creative ways to feed ourselves. This weekend I was able to make homemade cheese pizza and delicious fudge brownies completely from scratch.

The pizza turned out to be mediocre, but I was so hungry that it didn’t matter. However, the brownies were to-die-for.

I made both of these dishes using only ingredients found in my kitchen, aside from the flour borrowed from my neighbor.

For the brownies you will need: cocoa powder, flour, baking powder, butter, eggs, sugar, confectioner’s sugar, honey, vanilla extract and salt.

(Here’s a tip: vanilla isn’t too expensive but I was able to find imitation vanilla for about half the price at WinCo Foods).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Grease and flour an 8-inch square pan so the brownies don’t stick.

In a large microwaveable bowl, melt 1/2 cup butter.

Stir in sugar, eggs, and one teaspoon of vanilla.

Beat in 1/3 cup cocoa, 1/2 cup flour, salt, and baking powder.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Do not overcook, seriously.

To make the frosting: Combine three tablespoons of butter, three tablespoons of cocoa, one tablespoon of honey, one teaspoon vanilla, and one cup confectioners’ sugar.

Be sure to frost the brownies while they are still warm.

Fudgy Brownies: 1/2 cup of butter 1 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Frosting 3 tablespoons softened butter 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tablespoon honey 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

see recipes, page 11

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I’ll write the title later The process of procrastination versus the art of incubation

photo illustration by jesse hart | rawr

nicole lichtenberg rawr Max Cowan said he is both a procrastinator and an incubator.

“I had to write an essay last semester, and I put it off forever,” Cowan said. “I woke up the next morning and I proofread it and it didn’t have a single verb.”

Cowan, a University of Idaho freshman, said he now realizes that essaywriting in the wee morning hours isn’t his strong suit.

“I still don’t know how I did that, but since then, I don’t write final drafts at 3 a.m., and I always save some time the next day to proofread,” Cowan said.

Putting things off generally leads to negative consequences, but can be beneficial for certain tasks. Cowan said it is important to prioritize.

“I look at tasks, and I ask, ‘What needs to be done now, and what can wait?,’” Cowan said.

He generally puts off rough drafts, and repetitive homework in favor of extracurricular tasks and final drafts of papers and projects.

“In a final draft, you not only need to get your ideas straight, but also your spelling, grammar and formatting,” he said. “At 3 a.m., ideas you can maybe get (right), but spelling isn’t going to happen.”

Some things, like projects that require unique ideas, are better to put off.

“I am a very social person. My brain requires other people to converse with to think through things. So setting aside time to privately think about things doesn’t really work for me,” Cowan said.

Incubation is a form of procrastina-

tion, but with a different predetermination, said Sarah Stout, manager of Tutoring and College Success.

“Procrastination is the decision to put something off that you know needs to be done. Incubation is when a student can perform what they consider to be higher quality work if they wait to the last minute,” Stout said.

While procrastination and incubation sound similar, the two work styles have an important difference. “(Incubation is) still procrastination, but the difference is motivation,” Stout said. “If you are motivated to do well on something…then you are able to make the decision to act.”

Everyone deals with procrastination, but Stout said, it can become a big problem for college students who are learning to manage their own schedules.

“When students procrastinate — their grades are affected, they don’t get a project done, they don’t study appropriately for an exam, so they have lower test scores, they don’t get their homework assignments done, they don’t meet with their study groups when they are supposed to, they let others down,” Stout said.

Stout said the pattern of being let down by your own inability to finish a project can thoroughly damage the student’s self-esteem. “(Students that procrastinate) avoid things further, and they procrastinate even more — they won’t talk to their professors (and) they won’t own up to what they’ve done,” she said.

Stout suggests several ways to deal with procrastination, including use of a

see write, page 11

Balancing

Dreams Life

rawr

APRIL

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and

Graduate students share their stories joanna wilson rawr

Chase Colton said he was eager for graduate school after two and a half years working at a restaurant.

“It was terrible,” Colton said. “I was in the dish pit — throwing dishes out — I get this call and I don’t recognize the number.”

The call came from Idaho’s area code.

“So he calls me, and I pick up the phone, and I’m like ‘hello?’ And he’s like ‘Hi Chase, this is Daniel Ross at the University of Idaho.’” Colton said.

“I partied that night for sure.”

Colton, a creative writing Master of Fine Arts student, moved into a building where he was surrounded by other MFA students who reached out to him.

“And they took me in as one of their own,” photo courtesy of bryan steven

Bryan Steven is working out in the field for his master's degree in wildlife back in May of 2009. His degree has him gaining hands on experience in the field for his graduate studies. He is now working on a master's degree in statistics.

Colton said. “Then they Colton said. “And quite offered me a TA-ship and literally fed me. And just suddenly I’m one of the made sure I was OK and wicked, you know?” introduced me to people, Colton said the work(it) really became like load is an enormous step home.” up from his senior year, Colton said the gradubut it comes in the form ate school experience fewer, but londepends on ger, papers. whether the “You’re going student has a to be doing a teaching assislot of reading, a tant position. lot of writing,” “If you teach, Colton said. not only are “Your apartyou financially ment’s going better off ... to fall apart. socially you’re chase colton You’re going to better off,” stop doing your Colton said. dishes, stop buy“You’re around ing groceries — people all the especially during finals.” time. Those who are outColton said grad school side that teaching bubble is about finding more are alienated and ostratime than he ever thought cized to a certain degree.” possible.

Colton did not teach “If nothing else, graduhis first year, and became ate school will teach you an unofficial representadiscipline,” Colton said. tive of the non-TA grad “You can’t be students, he said.

“I was voicing my com- good at anything without it.” plaints whereas I think High expectaothers hadn’t in the past,”

If nothing else, graduate school will teach you discipline.”

tions, field research and hauling your housing behind your truck — graduate school came with a set of challenges all its own for student Bryan Stevens.

Stevens said he knew as a wildlife resources undergraduate that he wanted to go on to grad school so he could do research.

“It’s like working with your professor to come up with a project, then kind of develop a research framework of how to try to solve this problem,” Stevens said. “The primary purpose of a higher degree in a natural resource field is to do research that’s scientifically valid.”

Stevens worked on a project that analyzed the impact of fences on greater sage grouse in southern Idaho.

see grad students, page 11

the argonaut

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4.13.12

photos courtesy of Titanic Super 3D

Terribly hilarious YouTube There are some things in life that should never be watched — yet are hilarious. And therefore should actually be watched multiple times.

The following videos are absolutely terrible, but are sure to have you on the floor laughing “lol” style.

Titanic SUPER 3D

include the absurdity of 3D movies.

Watch it, you will at least giggle. youtube.com/watch?v=dJxj1mou03M

Hunger Games (Parody of Grenade by Bruno Mars) There is something to be said about someone who can write lyrics that are actually pretty catchy, original and in line with the story of “The Hunger Games” — what that is has yet to be determined but is lingering somewhere between creative and too much spare time. It’s another to watch this girl’s video. It confirms everything in between.

This video is ridiculous.

Some might say it is morbid or in poor taste to mock such a historical event that resulted in the loss of thousands of people, which is a pretty elizabeth solid argument and why rudd this video should probably be called terrible. It’s rawr also funny and takes the mockery past the romanyoutube.com/watch?v=4TVVoH7-CKc tic gushiness that is “Titanic” to

Teach Me How to Dobby (Teach Me How to Dougie parody) The costumes alone make this video absolutely terrible. Where people come up with the outfits to continuously mock Harry Potter is amazing. The dances, lyrics and excellent production of the video are what make it hilarious. It’s a little iffy at the beginning, but if you can stick with it to the course, you’re in for a chuckle. youtube.com/watch?v=9GKBEMbMvEc

Darth Vader in Love

This is quite possibly the longest almost seven minutes of anyone’s life — yes, it is that terrible. It’s also a little sad. Somehow it has been made possible to feel incredibly

sad for Star Wars’ Darth Vader and laugh at the complete contradiction of his image that is portrayed in the video. The concept of Vader having feelings at all is enough to make anyone laugh. youtube.com/watch?v=0X9NFknjTRE

Real Life Superman All right, the idea for this video is pretty basic — they’re playing a prank on people. The execution is mediocre and background music is cheesy. We’ve got the terrible elements down, so why is it hilarious?

The way people react. Classic. youtube.com/watch?v=mQg1Hpcnz38

Elizabeth Rudd can be reached at arg-arts@uidaho.edu

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Website roundup Online venues offer outlets for stimulating creativity

Bikes + Babes bikesandbabes.tumblr.com

This Tumblr features so many old-school bicycles—and I’ll be honest—because I ride a baby pink and light green ‘70s Schwinn, I have a huge weakness for a cute old-school bicycles.

Scream Sirens screamsirens.com

If you could imagine a zombiefied Marilyn Monroe covered with tattoos, you’d have a picture perfect “scream siren.”

This site, created by a group of Spokane-area women obsessed

with the horror counterculture, is a mecca of horror movie reviews, pin-up style tips, and all things sultry and terrifying.

Go Longboard: Original Skateboards

and watching amazing boarders carve down the most ridiculous of paved roads. The “Original Skateboards” site is my ultimate summer skateboard-fest inspiration.

We Heart It weheartit.com

originalskateboards. com

The one thing I like better than actually skateboarding is oogling fancy skateboards online

chloe rambo rawr

This website is the love child of Pinterest and every Tumblr on the block. I like to call this site my own personal “inspiration central”.

Little Chief Honeybee kaelahbee.com

With a blog theme like “big hair, ugly shoes and tattoos”, how could you not love this girl? Style blogger Kaelah Bee is a tattooed and pierced graphic designer with an adorable fashion sense and a zillion floral dresses to prove it. Love her.

Fred Flare www.fredflare.com

The heavenly home of Batmanthemed USB drives, ice cream cone-shaped desk lamps, and pool floats that look like giant

OUT

“Chocolate chip or the pink ones with the frosting.” natalie brodie sophomore / organizational science

“Snicker doodle.” wilson yates Senior / fire ecology and management

“Turtle cookie.” melissa drew junior / landscape architecture

“Macadamia nut cookie.” yvette yzaguirre junior / public relations

reasonstobefit.tumblr.com

Couch potato no more, this fitness-focused Tumblr makes me want to get outside and move. From riding my bike on the trail to playing soccer with friends, “Reasons To Be Fit” always puts a bit of spring in my step. chloe rambo can be reached at arg-arts@uidaho.edu

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What’s your favorite cookie?

uiargonaut.com/crumbs

isla brazzil rawr

Reasons To Be Fit

crumbs

SPEAK

frosted donuts. I want everything on this website and you will too.

the argonaut

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4.13.12

Weighing your options Diet pills lower GPA rather than weight nicole lichtenberg rawr

Morgan Cain, a freshman advertising major, has been experimenting with diet pills since the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year. Since December, Cain has been taking MusclePharm Shred Matrix capsules — which promise to burn fat and build muscle in a multi-step process.

MusclePharm promises to increase energy, ramp up metabolism, “crush” hunger, increase nutrient absorption, maintain blood sugar, balance mood, remove excess water and promote “razor-sharp” thinking.

“I’ve never been fat, but I have had a little bit of chub that I’ve wanted to get rid of.

I’ve tried a lot of things, like eating better and stuff, but it’s never been as fast as I have wanted,” Cain said.

He said before trying the diet pills, he did some research online.

“I read a lot of reviews on bodybuilding.com, and people said they really helped. I decided to try them out and they really worked,” she said.

Since beginning the regimen, which includes a strict diet with small portions of food six days a week, working out five times a week and a lot of water, Cain has lost approximately 25 pounds.

Faulty causality Diet pills and weight loss supplements claim to initiate fat loss, but most of them include instructions to drink a lot of water before eating limited amounts of food, as well as lots of exercise. For example, many weight loss pills claim to include HCG, a growth hormone developed from human placentas, as their active ingredient.

The Food and Drug Administration has not approved of HCG as an over-the-counter medication, so if the pills do include it, the hormone is diluted or often synthesized.

Peg Hamlett, fitness director for the Student Recreation Center, said the pills probably do not cause the weight loss people see.

“When you read the HCG information, it will say to put like 30 of these drops in your mouth, drink a lot of water, wait to eat for 30 minutes, and you are supposed to have your calorie count at around 500 calories a day,” she said. “Do I really think that HCG is causing people to lose weight, or am I thinking it’s because they are eating 500 calories a day and work out?”

Hamlett also said diet pills normally include B vitamins, which perk people up, and caffeine, a stimulant. The combination of vitamins and caffeine is what creates the boost of energy.

“If (diet pills) really worked, do you know how many thin

people we would see around here?” Hamlett said. “They don’t burn fat. They burn your money.”

Not for everyone Some weight loss pills work, but they are meant for extreme cases. Alli is one of those pills. “(Alli) is not for the average person. For the normal person who wants to lose five or 10 pounds — you start depleting yourself of the nutrients and vitamins you need (and) you’ll just have problems. It’s made for severely obese people,” Hamlett said.

Alli reduces weight by blocking fat digestion.

“When you take the Alli … you are supposed to take it before a heavy fatty meal, and it grabs hold of the fat, and won’t let the fat be digested in the system, so the fat passes right through the body,” Hamlett said.

But the side effects are prohibitive. Because Alli blocks fat absorption, it is pushed through the digestive system — completely through, and sometimes without warning. This is why Alli packaging warns of anal leakage and discharge.

“It is probably more effective as a training tool,” Hamlett said. “(If you’re using the prescription every day and) you overindulge in super fatty foods, you have a kind of back-end blow out. It would retrain you not to want those foods as much.”

photo illustration by hayden crosby | rawr

Brain food The diet restrictions that are suggested in conjunction with weight loss pills may make your weight drop, but they could have the same effect on your GPA. “Without carbohydrates, you aren’t getting the glucose you need, and your brain isn’t functioning. You don’t focus as well, and you don’t react,” Hamlett said, Hamlett said the healthy way to lose weight is through a balanced diet. Not only is it important to balance what you eat, it is also imperative to balance when you eat it. Many students don’t eat much all day, and then binge at night,

more information Peg Hamlett can be reached at pegh@uidaho.edu, or at (208) - 855- 9355.

which is not healthy.

“When you see students on these diets they’re falling asleep in class, their grades are going down, they’re not functioning — it’s usually a diet issue,” Hamlett said.

Students are free to talk to Peg Hamlett or a graduate assistant about making healthy choices. They can also determine their body mass composition.

Nicole Lichtenberg can be reached at arg-arts@uidaho.edu

rawr

gradstudents

from page 6

from page 4

The pizza turned out to be mediocre, but I was so hungry that it didn’t matter. However, the brownies were to-die-for.

I made both of these dishes using only ingredients found in my kitchen, aside from the flour borrowed from my neighbor.

For the pizza you will need: flour, olive oil, salt, baking powder, tomato sauce and cheddar cheese.

To make my pie less bland, I topped it with garlic powder and Italian seasoning.

I’m also a vegetarian, but for the carnivores out there, try throwing on some pepperoni or ham slices.

When considering the crust, I just searched Google for a simple pizza dough recipe that didn’t contain yeast.

Once you have made the dough, roll it out over a flat baking sheet.

Crack open that can of sauce and spread desired amount over the dough.

Next, add your toppings and throw the pizza in the oven at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes (or until crust is golden brown).

write

from page 5 planner, realistic goals, and prioritization of activities.

Stout also suggests finding a friend with good time management skills and modeling their behavior.

If the problem may have underlying issues, it is important for students to seek help at the Counseling and Testing Center, from their academic adviser or by making an appointment with either Sarah Stout or June Clevy in the Tutoring and Academic Assistance Program office, which is on the third floor of the Idaho Commons. Students can also enroll in College Success Strategies courses every semester.

Students in group living environments, such as Greek houses or residence halls, can also sign up to have either Stout or Clevy do a procrastination workshop.

Stout said the worst thing to do is isolate.

“A lot of students isolate themselves, they don’t talk about it they make excuses— there’s always a reason. They need to make a decision to not use those excuses, to get beyond it.”

Nicole Lichtenberg can be reached at arg-arts@uidaho.edu

Pizza Dough:

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour 2 3/4 teaspoon baking powder (If you don’t have baking powder, you can use half the amount of baking soda and exclude salt).

1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon olive oil 3/4 to 1 cup water Mix dry ingredients and add 3/4 cup water and oil.

Stir until it forms a ball. If the dough turns out stiff, add more water.

The dough will be soft but not sticky. Knead on a floured surface for 3 to 4 minutes.

Molly Spencer can be reached at arg-arts@uidaho.edu.

crumbs.

Joanna Wilson can be reached at arg-arts@uidaho.edu

recipes

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phy and communications, ... I wasn’t really interested in doing business-y sorts of things,” Blankenship said.

“I wanted to pursue something that interested me. ... the questions that it asks (and) the dialogues that come about of those questions.”

Blankenship said grad classes meet for less time a week, but demand a deeper commitment to the material.

“It was all dependent on you becoming familiar with the material, presenting good work, and showing that you’ve engaged with the material at a very insightful level,” Blankenship said. “Going to class prepared.”

Blankenship said he always has some paper or project his is working on over several weeks or months.

Blankenship TA-ed the 103 Ethical Thinking course for the fall semester, and is currently TA-ing for spring.

“I was expecting to just grade and help out, but I did not expect to lead full classroom discussions,” Blankenship said. “It was super rewarding. Philosophy 103’s a required course for so many people that a lot of them don’t want to take it.”

Blankenship said he enjoys watching his students understand how the issues they are discussing in class connect to their current lives.

“It was really neat,” Blankenship said. “Having a strong contingent of folks come up to my office just to talk—to talk about the material—to better understand what we are talking about.”

TA-ing is time consuming – preparing lectures, writing tests, grading tests, grading papers.

“But it’s worth it,” Blankenship said.

uiargonaut.com/crumbs

“I worked with my adviser to narrow down the specific objectives of the project,” Stevens said.

Next, the researcher must determine how to reach those objectives.

“How do we answer these questions?” Stevens said.

“What methods (should) we use to answer these questions?”

The project evolved and developed as he discussed it with his adviser.

Stevens spent two spring semesters doing fieldwork and gathering data to be analyzed and recorded. Stevens’ research sites were spread across about 249 miles in southern Idaho.

“That made my project a lot more logistically difficult then a lot of wildlife projects,” Stevens said. “I had an Idaho Fish and Game truck and camper and would pull a camper from site to site and live with my technicians.”

Stevens experienced winter to spring conditions in a high desert.

“Very little running water,” Stevens said. “It was roughing it. It was fun really.”

Stevens was also separated from his wife for long periods.

“While I was doing field work, my wife was here in Moscow going to school,” Stevens said. “I was in southern Idaho 10 to 12 hours away for months at a time. That was very personally challenging.”

Associate dean of the College of Graduate Studies Jerry McMurtry said the graduate school is a valuable part of the UI campus.

“Really, the community (is) built in the departments,” McMurtry said. “It’s a small enough university that the faculty in those departments really take grad students seriously and really do a good job mentoring them.”

The students have a

chance to develop career skills through TA-ships and research assistant opportunities, he said.

“Oftentimes, we teach as we were taught, and oftentimes that’s not the best way to do it,” McMurtry said.

“In the College of Gradate Studies, we have a course in college teaching and learning, and students that chose to take that often are TAs who want to practice and develop better pedagogical skills.”

For a student looking to work in academia, a TA-ship is a place to improve teaching skills, he said.

“If they are a research assistant, that really helps get them into the laboratory and allows them an opportunity to work very in depth on projects – they can be grant funded, they can be underneath another professor, they can be interdisciplinary.”

The Graduate and Professional Student Association promotes chances for the students to meet and network with students from other disciplines, McMurtry said.

“Work towards even some interdisciplinary understandings where students can take a look at what they are doing in their program – talk to a student in another program, and try and synthesis something new,” McMurtry said. “Bringing those two together.”

Bryce Blankenship moved from Missouri to North Idaho to start gradate school with the UI department of philosophy in August 2011.

“As listed on the website, they have a joint program with Washington State University, and they have an emphasis in environmental philosophy through University of Idaho,” Blankenship said.

When Blankenship visited Moscow, he liked the town and the department, so he chose UI, he said.

For the two years between his graduation and grad school, Blankenship had managed a coffee shop in Kansas City, Missouri.

“With a degree in philoso-

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