The Appalachian
GAME DAY
Thursday. September 24, 2015
see PAGE 12
Krista Gilbert
Mountaineers ‘out in droves’ for blood drive by Tommy Culkin Senior News Reporter
A
ppalachian State University held its ninth annual Homecoming Blood Drive Wednesday, at Holmes Convocation Center. Today’s been a great day,” Thomas Evans, the event’s director, said. “You can’t argue with the great weather, turnout has been wonderful, and Mountaineers are coming out in droves.” According to Evans, the event’s success is the result of many dedicated volunteers. Over 400 students worked as volunteers throughout the day. William Post, a graduate student at Appalachian, said volunteering was a
rewarding experience and he urged others to participate. “This has been an amazing experience,” Post said. “I love working with the students, and the excitement in the atmosphere, and it’s just such a phenomenal cause. The more people who volunteer, the better.” The event is a partnership between Appalachian State and the American Red Cross. According to Chris Newman, the donor recruitment district manager for North Carolina, the Red Cross shuts down most of its collections in North Carolina for the day to help with the event. Newman said that approximately 250 Red Cross employees worked at the event. The Red Cross employees were re-
sponsible for conducting background checks on the donors and drawing the blood. “We have Red Cross staff from all over the state who come in to help work this event for the day,” Newman said. Newman said the Red Cross gives so much support to Appalachian’s Homecoming Blood Drive because of the tradition behind the event. “This is just like a well-oiled machine, everybody working together,” Newman said. “Everything’s been going very smooth.” Evans explained how necessary it is to donate. “It’s incredibly important that people choose to give blood because
blood can’t be made or generated by any form that we possess currently,” Evans said. “Blood can only be donated by people who are willing to give of themselves. The Red Cross has a statistic that is, for every one person who gives blood, three lives can be saved.” Post says that the blood drive’s success is indicative of a strong student body. “I think this just shows that we really have a great sense of community here,” Post said. “All the students are very passionate about this cause, and they all want to do as much as they can.” As of press time the total volume of blood collected was not available.
Appalachian receives IDEXlab builds outdoor classrooms grant for teacher shortage for Park(ing) Day by Tommy Culkin Senior News Reporter
Appalachian State University recently received a $1.165 million grant from the National Science Foundation, designed to help address a shortage of math and science teachers in rural communities. The lead grant writer and project director for the grant, a decrease in math and science educators is a growing trend, and one that’s especially prevalent in rural areas, said Tracie Salinas. “Many people talk about a teacher crisis that’s inevitable because of shortages,” Salinas said. “And the places where we especially see that is in very high need schools that
don’t have the extra funding or aren’t in the communities that have the resources to be able to draw on well-qualified math and science teachers.” To try to counteract this problem, the grant will provide scholarships to math and science majors who aren’t currently enrolled in an education program for them to take additional teaching classes and receive their teaching license when they graduate. The grant also includes hiring professional mentors to provide hands-on experience for the students. As part of the program, the students will also be taken to professional workshops to
SEE SHORTAGE PAGE 2
by Carl Blankenship News Editor
Friday, Appalachian State University students participated in Park(ing) Day, an international event that encourages participants to transform parking spaces into temporary public places. There were installations scattered across campus and the town that were created by locals and students of different departments, but notably two groups of IDEXlab students created temporary outdoor classrooms out of mostly reused materials. Integrative Design Experience Laboratory, IDEXlab, is
SEE IDEXLAB PAGE 2
Carl Blankenship
The installation outside of Broyhill Music Center. The structure has an adjustable seating system that allows the level and position of seats to be moved freely.