The Signpost, 3/25/2022

Friday | March 25, 2022 | Volume 95 | Issue 16

SPORTS » PAGE 9

NEWS » PAGE 4

ELEVATING THE INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE

FIRST PITCH OF THE SEASON WSU Athletics

TIM COSTELLO | The Signpost

2 | MyWeberMedia.com | March 25, 2022

By BEX BAGGETT Reporter

Follow your nose A WSU officer was dispatched on March 18 around 8 p.m. to respond to a potential drug violation at University Village. The officer made contact with a resident of the dorm where the smell had been reported, and he reported an odor that could have been the smell of marijuana smoke.

The officer asked permission to check the dorm, and the individual permitted the search. There were no illegal substances in the room, but the officer did find alcohol, which is a violation of university policy. The officer attempted to find the origin of the smell by walking to other dorm rooms but did not find any marijuana. The officer then advised the parties of the consequences of smoking marijuana on campus.

Damaged property A university truck was reported as damaged around 4:30 p.m. on March 18, and the incident likely occurred on March 16 or 17.

The incident reportedly took place near the parking shared by the stadium and the Marriott Health Building.

The officer checked the security cameras with the employee who reported the incident. They were unable to locate evidence of the incident. The employee informed the officer that the incident may have occurred while the vehicle was located in Farmington.

No further action was taken at this time.

Property control An officer was dispatched to property control on March 18 around 2:30 p.m. The officer was advised of previous reports in which two individuals pretending to be employees attempted to pick up property. When he arrived, he identified the individuals, who did not meet the description of the previous sub-

jects, waited for them to make their purchases and leave before he left.

Campus graffitied Graffiti in three bathrooms was reported on the Davis Campus around 11 a.m. on March 16. The officer took photos of the graffiti for evidence and had WSU custodial clean the graffiti off the bathroom stalls. The officer reviewed security camera footage in an attempt to determine the identity of the subject, but no one has been identified.

Stolen bike A bike was stolen from a bike rack at a resident hall sometime between March 11 and March 14. The victim reported the theft on March 15 around 1:15 p.m. The victim told the officer they had locked their bike in the area around 5 p.m. between March 11-14 and when they returned on March 14 around 10 a.m. the bike and the lock were both gone. There are no leads at this time.

Knives Out A NUAMES student was seen flipping a knife while sitting in the Stewart Center lobby around 1:45 p.m. on March 15. The officer who observed the action took the knife and informed the NUAMES administration about the ordinance violation. The officer stood by while the NUAMES principal spoke to the student.

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Students, faculty and staff gathered virtually for the 2022 Weber State University Internship Conference on March 18.

The event was organized by Robert Ameling, the assistant director of internships at Career Services.

This is an event unique to the WSU campus and fairly new to WSU itself. Ameling spearheaded it himself just a few years ago in 2018.

“This is indeed my baby,” Ameling said. “I had the idea of an internship conference to bring everyone together across the university to let everyone know what all the colleges across campus are doing for internships.”

In spring 2019, the conference began with a small audience of exclusively faculty internship coordinators. In 2020 the event unfortunately had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Internship Conference was then reinstated in the spring of 2021 with varied results.

“I made the mistake of scheduling and hosting all the sessions of the conference myself,” Ameling confessed. “Zoom doesn’t let you do that. We could only have two sessions open at a time. We had a lot of technical difficulties.”

This year was not met with such difficulties, as everyone in atten-

dance and everyone hosting was proficient with Zoom and all virtual options. This year was also the first year that the event was open to everyone on campus.

The event kicked off with a session opened by Ameling, who moderated the opening and closing sessions of the conference.

The session continued with an address by Julie Rich, the dean of the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences, about internship opportunities.

She shared specific stories about students in various internships around the country and what they learned from those experiences. She shared an invitation to those seeking out internships and those who dispense the internships.

“Internships have the lens for unique student experiences,” Rich said at the conclusion of her address. “Faculty and staff, make sure students are getting these experiences that will transform their lives.”

Jill Morales, a career counselor advisor for the College of Education, shared how internships changed her career path.

“A career services person came to my grad school looking for interns,” Morales said. “That very internship led to the job I have now.”

Ameling highlighted a class that will be available this fall, one

he is co-teaching, that will help students prepare for their internships — the REAL Projects Honors course.

“A student once told me that she found out about that class through this very conference,” Ameling said. “That’s a very large measure of student success from this event.”

Both Rich and Ameling encouraged students to start their internship journeys early, and not just in their senior year. They further shared it would be the best way to start their Weber State story.

Breakout sessions commenced to provide more information on various programs that will lead to internships throughout campus.

These sessions covered topics such as the APEX certificate for students in the College of Arts & Humanities, the inaugural Wildcat Advantage program, on-campus internships and the aforementioned REAL Projects course.

These sessions were led by faculty and staff members with knowledge about these programs. APEX guides Andrea Baltazar and Youn Soo Goldstein led the session on the APEX Certificate. Wildcat Advantage coordinator Jenny Frame led the session on the Wildcat Advantage program. Student employment coordinator Sarah Seefried led the session about on-campus in-

ternships.

Students who missed the conference or have questions about the material covered in these breakout sessions can find these recorded sessions online on the Career Services website in the upcoming week.

The conference concluded with a short closing keynote address given by Ameling about what to do after students have achieved an internship. Citing a banquet that WSU President Brad Mortensen had with potential employers, Ameling asked those in attendance what they thought employers wanted out of their students.

“The answer to that question is that employers want students to do what they say they are going to do,” Ameling said. “The method Weber State has of doing that? ePortfolios.”

The ePortfolio is a resource readily available through a student’s Canvas account where students can document all their progress with their college career and their intership. Ameling encouraged all student to keep their ePortfolios up to date with all the work they are doing in both their college and employment careers.

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MyWeberMedia.com | March 25, 2022 | 5

By MARIANNA LOPEZ Translator

By TIM COSTELLO Reporter

TIM COSTELLO | The Signpost

El 18 de marzo, estudiantes, profesores y personal se reunieron virtualmente para el 2022 Weber State University Internship Conference. El evento fue organizado por Robert Ameling, el director asistente en el Career Services Office sobre Prácticas. Este es un evento único en el campus de WSU y bastante nuevo en la propia WSU. Ameling lo encabezó él mismo hace apenas unos años, en 2018.

“Esto es de hecho mi bebé”, dijo Ameling.

“Tuve la idea de una conferencia de prácticas para reunir a toda la universidad para que todos sepan lo que todos los colegios de todo el campus están haciendo para las prácticas”.

En la primavera de 2019, la conferencia comenzó con una pequeña audiencia de coordinadores de prácticas de la facultad exclusivamente. En 2020, el evento lamentablemente tuvo que ser cancelado debido a

la pandemia de COVID-19. La Conferencia de Prácticas se restableció entonces en la primavera de 2021 con resultados variados.

“Cometí el error de programar y organizar yo mismo todas las sesiones de la conferencia”, confesó Ameling. “Zoom no te permite hacer eso. Sólo podíamos tener dos sesiones abiertas a la vez. Tuvimos muchas dificultades técnicas”.

Este año no hubo tales dificultades, ya que todos los asistentes y todos los anfitriones dominaban Zoom y todas las opciones virtuales. Este año también fue el primero en que el evento estuvo abierto a todos los miembros del campus.

El evento comenzó con una sesión inagurado por Ameling, que moderó las sesiones de apertura y clausura de la conferencia. La sesión continuó con un discurso de Julie Rich, la decana del College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, sobre las oportunidades de prácticas.

Compartió historias específicas sobre estudiantes en diversas prácticas en todo el país y lo que aprendieron de esas experiencias. Compartió una invitación a los que buscan prácticas y a los que las dispensan.

Youn Soo Goldstein highlights the APEX program.

“Las prácticas son la lente para las experiencias únicas de los estudiantes”, dijo Rich, al concluir su discurso. “Profesores y personal, asegúrense de que los estudiantes obtengan estas experiencias que transformarán sus vidas”.

Jill Morales, consejera de carrera del College of Education, compartió cómo las prácticas cambiaron su trayectoria profesional.

“Una persona de servicios de carrera vino a mi escuela de posgrado en busca de pasantes”, dijo Morales. “Esas mismas prácticas me llevaron al trabajo que tengo ahora”.

Ameling destacó una clase que estará disponible este otoño, una que ella está co-enseñando, que ayudará a los estudiantes a prepararse para sus prácticas, esta clase es el curso de honores de REAL Projects.

“Una estudiante me dijo una vez que se enteró de esa clase a través de esta misma conferencia”, dijo Ameling. “Eso es una medida muy grande del éxito de los estudiantes de este evento”.

Tanto Rich como Ameling animaron a los estudiantes a comenzar sus viajes de prácticas pronto, y no sólo en su último año.

Además, compartieron que sería la mejor manera de comenzar su historia en Weber State.

Las sesiones comenzaron a proporcionar más información sobre varios programas que conducirán a las prácticas en todo el campus.

Estas sesiones cubrieron temas como el certificado APEX para estudiantes del College of Arts and Humanities, el programa inaugural Wildcat Advantage, las prácticas en el campus y el mencionado curso REAL Projects.

Estas sesiones fueron dirigidas por miembros del profesorado y del personal con conocimientos sobre estos programas. Andrea Baltazar y Youn Soo Goldstein dirigieron

la sesión sobre el Certificado APEX, ya que fueron guías en ese programa. Jenny Frame dirigió la sesión sobre el programa The Wildcat Advantage, ya que es la coordinadora del mismo. Sarah Seefried, la coordinadora de empleo estudiantil, dirigió la sesión sobre las prácticas en el campus.

Para aquellos que se perdieron las sesiones o que se perdieron la conferencia por completo, no hay que temer. Los estudiantes que tengan preguntas sobre el material cubierto en estas sesiones pueden encontrar estas sesiones grabadas en línea en el sitio web de Career Services, en la próxima semana.

La conferencia concluyó con un breve discurso de clausura pronunciado por Ameling sobre qué hacer después de que los estudiantes hayan conseguido unas prácticas.

Citando un banquete que el presidente de WSU, Brad Mortensen, celebró con posibles empleadores, Ameling preguntó a los asistentes qué creían que querían los empleadores de sus estudiantes.

“La respuesta a esa pregunta es que los empleadores quieren que los estudiantes hagan lo que dicen que van a hacer”, dijo Ameling. “¿El método que tiene Weber State para hacerlo? los ePortfolios”.

El ePortfolio es un recurso fácilmente disponible a través de la cuenta de Canvas de un estudiante donde los estudiantes pueden documentar todo su progreso con su carrera universitaria y sus prácticas. Ameling animó a todos los estudiantes a mantener sus ePortfolios al día con todo el trabajo que están haciendo tanto en sus carreras universitarias como en sus empleos.

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KENNEDY ROBINS | The Signpost

MyWeberMedia.com | March 25, 2022 | 7

Reporter

KENNEDY ROBINS | The Signpost

Weber State University students and faculty had the opportunity to attend a lecture given by the artist Antonius Oki Wiriadjaia on March 18 in the Browning Center. Wiriadjaia, also known by his artist name Foodmasku, focused his lecture on the intersectionality of art and technology.

The former Fulbright scholar is well-known for his Instagram account “Foodmasku,” where there are many photos of him wearing masks made out of various foods.

The project first started when Wiriadjaja was in a Zoom call, and a fellow artist was using one of Zoom’s face filters to alter their face into a pickle. In a small moment of humor, Wiriadjaja stuck a piece of kale to his face like a mask, and from then on, he began his Instagram account that documents Wiriadjaia making different facial coverings with various kinds of daily foods.

Wiriadjaja began his lecture by talking

about his history and work before Foodmasku, highlighting the music video he made for the artist called Saudi. He also highlighted his project where he made one of the world’s largest animations of a swimming pool, which was then displayed in the Interactive Corporation building in New York.

He then elaborated on how the Foodmasku account was a play on the 100-day mask challenge.

“That was actually surprisingly popular. It was so popular that I ended up basically becoming a meme,” Wiriadjaja said.

His work became so popular that he found himself on The New York Times’ list of five artists to follow on Instagram. However, he also found himself in some more troubling times.

Wiriadjaja found that some of his artwork had been stolen and posted on other accounts or other social media sites. He expressed how this was an issue to artists like him who were posting solely for exposure.

This problem spurred an interest in digital ownership and what is known as the “blockchain.”

The audience listened as Antonius Oki Wiriadjaia presented his art on a projector screen.

By ADDISON WEEKS Translator

By COBY CRISLER Reporter

Artist Antonius Oki Wiriadjaia introduces himself to his audience.

From this research, Wiriadjaja found non-fungible tokens, more commonly known as NFTs, leading into his main topic about artwork and technology. By “minting” his artwork and selling it as an NFT, Wiriadjaja overcame the theft of his artwork.

“But at the very least, understand for once, artists actually have a chance to have ownership of something that they created and get something out of it that’s more than dislikes and follows,” Wiriadjaja said.

Wiriadjaja explained how other contracts, like licensing agreements, are short-term and never really last. However, his NFT artwork, even if resold, still has royalties given to him as the original creator. This money allowed him to make a living as an artist. Additionally, Wiriadjaja gives portions of his earnings from NFTs to various non-profits, such as trans-lifeline and fundraising for food banks in New York City.

Another point made by Wiriadjaja was the importance of digitizing artwork. When he traveled to Indonesia to learn shadow puppetry, he noted if the masters of the art he met there died, the art and knowledge died

with them.

“It is our duty as artists to digitize the things we have now, the arts that we have now so we can see our future with those arts in them,” Wiriadjaja said.

Wiriadjaja spoke on the importance of seeing the benefits NFTs have, pointing out his friends and colleagues who were hit hard by the pandemic. Their galleries and productions were shut down, and their source of income stopped. However, they were able to survive by selling their artwork as NFTs online.

“By digitizing it and by turning it into non-fungible tokens, they actually were able to continue living as artists,” Wiriadjaja said.

However, only the big sales make headlines for NFTs. Those that make millions take up news over Wiriadjaja and his friends, who are getting by.

“I wish that more people would speak to artists who are using this as a way to basically support themselves,” Wiriadjaja said.

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Estudiantes y facultades de Weber State University tuvieron la oportunidad de asistir un discurso del artista Antonius Oki Wiriadjaia el 18 de marzo en el Browning Center.

Wiriadjaia, también conocido por su nombre de artista Foodmasku, enfocó su presentación en la interseccionalidad de arte y tecnología.

El ex becario de Fulbright es bien conocido por su cuenta de Instagram “Foodmasku”, donde hay muchas fotos donde tiene puesto máscaras hechas de varios tipos de comida.

El proyecto empezó cuando Wiriadjaja asistía una llamada de Zoom, y otro artista estaba usando uno de los filtros de cara en Zoom para alterar su cara para que sea un pepinillo. En un momento pequeña de humor, Wiriadjaja juntaba col rizada a su cara como una máscara y de entonces empezó su cuenta de Instagram que documenta Wiriadjaja haciendo cubrimientos de cara diferentes con varios tipos de comida típicas.

Wiriadjaja empezó su presentación KENNEDY ROBINS | The Signpost

By COBY CRISLER

KENNEDY ROBINS | The Signpost

Antonius Oki Wiriadjaia has made many masks out of food.

“The Pool” was known at the time in 2009 as the world’s largest animation at 120 feet by 12 feet.

hablando sobre la historia y obra antes de Foodmasku, subrayando el video de música que hizo para el artista llamado Saudi. También subrayó su proyecto donde hizo una de las animaciones más grandes del mundo de una piscina, lo cual mostraban en el edificio Interactive Corporation en Nueva York.

Luego elaboró en cómo su cuenta de Foodmasku se basaba en el reto de máscara de cien días.

“Era sorprendente que fuera tan popular. Era tan popular que se convirtió en un meme”, dijo Wiriadjaja.

Su obra era tan popular que él estuvo en la lista de cinco artistas para seguir en Instagram según New York Times. Sin embargo, se encontró en más tiempos difíciles.

Wiriadjaja notó que algunas de sus obras habían sido robados y publicados en otras cuentas o en otras redes sociales. Él expresaba como era un problema para artistas como él que estaban publicando solamente para exposición. Este problema inspiraba un interés en propiedad digital y lo que se conoce como el la “cadena de bloques”.

De esta investigación, Wiriadjaja encontró los tokens no fungibles, más comúnmente conocido como NFTs, guiando a su tema principal sobre sus obras de arte y tecnología. Al crear sus obras con “acuñación” y vendiéndolos como un NFT, Wiriadjaja superó a los que robaban su arte.

“Pero al menos, comprenden esto, los artistas tienen la oportunidad de tener propiedad sobre algo que han creado y consiguen algo más que los ‘no me gusta’ y seguidores” dijo Wiriadjaja.

Wiriadjaja explicó que otros contratos, como acuerdos de licencia, son de corto plazo y no duran por mucho tiempo. Sin embargo, sus obras de NFT, aun si lo revenden, todavía proveen regalías para él como el creador

original. Ese dinero lo deja vivir como artista.

Adicionalmente, Wiriadjaja regala porciones de sus ganancias de los NFTs a varios sin ánimo de lucro, como trans-lifeline y recaudación de fondos para bancos de comida en la ciudad de Nueva York.

Otro punto que hizo Wiriadjaja era la importancia de digitalizar obras de arte. Cuando viajaba a Indonesia para aprender títeres de sombra, notaba si los maestros del arte que conoció ahí murieron, el arte y sabiduría murieron con ellos.

“Es nuestro deber como artistas digitalizar las cosas que ya tenemos, el arte que tenemos para que podamos ver nuestro futuro con el arte ahí,” Wiriadjaja dijo.

Wiriadjaja habló de la importancia de ver los beneficios que tienen los NFTs, señalando a sus amigos y colegas que la pandemia les chocó. Cerraron sus galerías y producciones, y su fuente de sueldo paró. Sin embargo, podían sobrevivir al vender su arte como NFTs en línea.

“Al digitalizarla y convertirlos tokens no fungibles, ellos podían continuar viviendo como artistas,” dijo Wiriadjaja.

Sin embargo, solamente las ventas grandes son encabezados para NFTs. Los que ganan millones llenan las noticias en vez de Wiriadjaja y sus amigos que están sobreviviendo.

“Quisiera que más personas hablaran con artistas que están usando esto como una forma de soportar a ellos mismos”, dijo Wiriadjaja.

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Mariah Ramirez begins her pitch against the UVU Wolverines.

By CAYDEN TREASURE

Reporter

The Weber State University Wildcats hosted and defeated the Utah Valley University Wolverines 7–0 for their first home game and first home win of the season on March 22.

Weber State has gotten off to a 20–6 entering their home opener, the best start in Wildcat softball history. They rode a 12-game win streak against major out-of-state opponents such as Kansas and Texas A&M. The hot start had Weber State ranked 49th in the country going into the match against Utah Valley and remained on an upward trajectory with the win.

The Wildcats have been bolstered by their conference-best pitching staff, holding opponents to 2.71 runs per game and allowing a .235 batting average against. Wildcat pitchers Arissa Henderson and Amanda Sink lead the way, both having top five earned run averages in the Big Sky conference.

“It’s really good to be home,” Henderson said. “It was a lot of fun out here today.”

Henderson started the game for the Wildcats. They pitched four shutout innings and struck out five to set up the win for the Wildcats. 2021 Big Sky pitcher of the year Mariah Ramirez took the mound for Weber State for

the final three innings to complete the shutout.

Utah Valley was set to be a formidable opponent for the Wildcat pitching, coming into the game with a .315 batting average, but Weber State made quick work of the Wolverines, handing them their first scoreless game of the season.

Center fielder Madison Carr batted leadoff for the Wolverines and notched a hit on the first pitch of the game with a grounder to shortstop that she out-hustled. The Wolverines had runners on second and third with one out in the first but were unable to get anyone home.

The Weber State offense is no slouch, either; their .273 batting average is good for fourth in the conference. The Wildcats are also top five in runs batted in, stolen bases and home runs. Meanwhile, Utah Valley is second to last in the Western Athletic Conference in ERA, allowing 5.73 runs per game.

The Wildcats center fielder Mia Rushton led off the bottom of the first inning with a hustle double to left field. First baseman McKell McCuistion hit a double of her own to bring Rushton home and give the Wildcats a 1–0 lead.

The second inning was silent for both teams, a double play erasing the only base runner for the Wolverines.

The scoring dry spell continued until the

Weber State University’s Lauren Hoe finishes her swing after the pitch.

bottom of the third. Wildcat shortstop Makayla Donahoo started the inning with a triple.

Following that, two walks and a fielding error put two more runs on the board for Weber State. A triple from Faith Hoe brought in two more, and Henderson homered to bring another two home and clean the bases to make it 7–0.

The fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings were quiet for both sides, with only four hits HELP PREVENT VIOLENCE across both squads coming in the last four inIN OUR nings. Anna Berger pitched the last four for WEBER COMMUNITY! the Wolverines, but the offense was unable to make up the seven-run deficit.

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The Wildcats have now won their first two 3 meetings with Utah Valley University and Click on the Safe@Weber solidified their already impressive standing icon and choose student atop the Big Sky. or employee training.

The Wildcats look to follow up their win with a back-to-back against the University of Utah on March 26 in Salt Lake City, and March Questions? Email safeatweber@weber.edu 27 in Ogden. weber.edu/safeatweber

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Keynote speaker Mike Veny spoke at the annual Allen Holmes Diversity Symposium.

By ADAM MONTGOMERY

Reporter

Mike Veny, an established speaker on mental well-being and bestselling author of “Transforming Stigma: How to Become a Mental Wellness Superhero,” “Connectivity & Conversations” and “The ROI of Mental Wellness in the Workplace,” spoke to Weber State University students on March 15 as part of the Diversity Symposium.

The event highlighted mental health in sports and what to look out for in friends,

family and teammates.

Veny spoke about his troubling childhood and misunderstood anger and depression.

“I convinced the staff at the psychiatric hospital to discharge me three separate times,” Veny said.

It wasn’t until he discovered a passion for drums and making music that he found an outlet to direct his rage. In fact, his newfound passion allowed him to make money and travel the world. He was opening his eyes to happiness.

Veny gave a small demonstration of his award-winning drumming skills on a trav-

ADAM MONTGOMERY | The Signpost

MIKEVENY.COM

MyWeberMedia.com | March 25, 2022 | 11

The ballroom stage set up for Mike Veny’s speech.

el-friendly bongo. He later talked about his current routine and the constantly ongoing struggle with mental health and checking in on oneself.

“Therapy and medication also saved my life,” Veny says.

Mental health is often discouraged from speaking about and is typically placed on the back burner of life.

Veny hopes that by allowing these conversations to be had, it can break the stigma and more people can find their passions and happiness.

Veny still makes music but has since

found another love in traveling the world and speaking to those who will listen on the importance of education around mental health.

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