Democratic candidate for Florida governor Alex Sink celebrated her birthday and the launch of “Vote 2010 Kick-Off with Alex Sink” Saturday at the Cape Florida Ballroom in the Student Union.

“We need to save the ‘change,’ ” Sink said as she addressed about 50 volunteers who attended. “The win is in your hands, in your involvement.”

The Vote 2010 Kick-Off was one of more than 60 events across Florida and around the country that hoped to reach 2008’s first-time voters, asking them to vote again in November.

Organizing for America and the College Democrats at UCF organized the event. The  candidates addressed volunteers before they headed out to canvass the areas surrounding UCF.

Organizing for America’s Florida regional field organizer John Bivona said he hoped the event would gather the support from voters who helped elect President Barack Obama to help elect Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink as the state’s next governor.

“We want to make sure to re-engage first time voters,” Bivona said. “And, educating them about the importance of coming to vote and supporting candidates that support the president’s agenda.”

Sink, urged volunteers to get all of the 2008 voters’ support once again. According to Sink, Florida needs a governor who can veto bad legislation, such as the proposed Senate Bill 6, which would evaluate and pay teachers based mainly on students’ test scores.

Sink said this bill doesn’t consider a teacher’s experience or advanced degrees in salaries.

“I’m bringing my business experience to turn this economy around,” Sink said.

Democratic candidate for Florida House of Representatives District 35 Amy Mercado also spoke at the event. She received loud cheers and applause when she said it was time to “eliminate corruption” in Tallahassee.

Loranne Ausley, a candidate for CFO, followed Mercado.

She said the upcoming elections are the time for young voters to make their voices heard.

Ausley said she hopes to turn our state around and focus on the next generation and not the next election.

College Democrats’ Director of Public Relations Lindsey Wellington said the event was significant for two reasons.

One, the College Democrats at UCF was chosen to host the event because it’s the most active of all the college Democrat groups around the country.

Two, the event helped inform young voters about the candidates who are running for office and will be representing them.

“It’s important for [voters] to figure out what’s going on,” Wellington said. “As much as they complain about politics, it affects their everyday life.”

Senior political science major Julie Allen attended the event not only because she’s a college democrat but also to learn more about Sink.

“People around the area don’t know much about Alex, and they’re asking me questions and I would like to give them educated answers,” Allen said. She also added that it’s important for young voters to get involved and make their voices heard in the upcoming elections.

“Eleven thousand voters registered in 2008 and voted for Obama,” Allen said. “We change the country. We turn Florida blue. It’s vital that we get involved and spread the word.”

Jessica Schwendeman will be stepping off a plane soon in the Republic of Niger, not as a tourist, but as a volunteer for 27 months.

Schwendeman will be joining the 7,671 current volunteers and trainees with the Peace Corps, according to its website.

For Schwendeman, the decision to join the Peace Corps was an easy one. The recent UCF grad knew for years she wanted to serve as a volunteer.

According to Schwendeman, she made the decision to join the Corps one day back when she was in middle school.

“I knew all throughout high school that it was a goal that I was working toward, and I started getting serious about it my sophomore year of college,” Schwendeman said.

She started the application process in September 2009 and found out June 1 that she would be going to Niger, a country in western Africa.

For her, the time between applying and being assigned a host country was short. That is not always the case.

There are six steps to the process beginning with an application, which includes two essays and three letters of recommendation, and ending with a preparation for departure.

In between is an interview, a nomination to serve, a medical review and an invitation to serve as Peace Corps volunteer.

Each applicant must also undergo a series of physical, eye and dental exams and must get any dental or eye work needed done and approved during this time.

According to Schwendeman, this step was the one that caused the most anxiety and pain.

“One of the requirements is that you have to get your wisdom teeth pulled,” she said. “If there is a possibility that they have to be removed, you have to get them out before you leave.”

Schwendeman had her’s taken out during finals week.

The benefits can far outweigh the seemingly endless amounts of paperwork and doctors visits.

According to Rachel Mast, the recruitment officer for the Southeast Regional Office, involvement in the Peace Corps stands out on a resume. Volunteers learn skills that are very marketable for when they return to the states, Mast said.

The Peace Corps also offers graduates a chance to further their educations through the Master’s International program and the Fellows/USA program.

The Master’s International program offers graduates the opportunity to serve for two years overseas, receiving academic credit toward their master’s degree.

They then return to school to finish their studies, according to the Peace Corps website.
Fellows/USA takes place after volunteers return home.

They can receive scholarships, reduced tuition, paid employment, health benefits, housing or living allowances, depending on the program, at more than 40 schools in exchange for professional internships helping underserved communities in the U.S., according to its website.

Volunteers in the Peace Corps undergo eight to 12 weeks of training aimed at teaching cultural sensitivity, improving their language skills and learning how to design and implement useful and sustainable projects.

Mast, who was a Peace Corps volunteer from 2002 to 2005 in Panama, said the most memorable part of the Peace Corps for her was being able to live in another country and learn about the people and their culture.

As a volunteer, Mast’s in-country expenses were paid for by the Peace Corps. She received enough money to live as the locals did as well dental and medical benefits.

Mast says her experience was life-changing, a sentiment that is shared by UCF staff member Robert Williams, the engineering coordinator for co-ops and internships at the Office of Experiential Learning.

Williams served as a community development agent in Venezuela from 1963 to 1965 as part of an associate program with the Peace Corps called “Action in Venezuela.”
Williams said it was a chance to broaden his horizons, gain a sense of self-worth and see how  people live in other countries.

“I found that the one and a half years [there] was a wonderful opportunity to expand my horizons and make a contribution to the world, however small,” Williams said.
Schwendeman is looking forward to having the same feelings as she prepares to leave.

“I’ve never traveled, and I wanted to go somewhere new,” she said. “I wanted an experience that I couldn’t get in America. You’re living at the level of the people who live there. You get to be a member of the community.”

The Peace Corps is actively recruiting to fill positions in six service sectors: agriculture, business, education, environment, health and HIV/AIDS, and youth development, according to a May 24 release.

According to the website, since its beginning in 1961, nearly 200,000 Peace Corps Volunteers have served in 139 host countries to work on issues ranging from AIDS education to information technology and environmental preservation.

UCF will see the addition of the School of Visual Arts and Design this coming fall semester.

A merger of the traditional art department and the digital media programs has spawned the creation of a new school at UCF under the College of Arts and Humanities.

The faculty from both departments have been working toward this goal for a few years.

The merger was approved by the board of trustees in October.

“These two departments have synergies that overlap, particularly in animation. By merging the two, students would be exposed to traditional and new media,” said Jack Lew, the director of collaborations for the Center for Emerging Media and interim director for the School of Visual Arts and Design.

The school combines traditional studio arts, design and art history with emerging media concepts that are the foundation of animation, game and interactive design.

The new school will feature tracks that unite curricula from each school, such as emerging media and game design.

According to the 2010-2011 UCF course catalog, the Bachelor of Design in Architecture was created to meet the local need in Central Florida for an architecture program.

In addition to the previously existing and overlapping tracks, the school will feature two new degrees: a visual arts and emerging media management degree, and an architecture degree.

The visual arts and emerging media management program gives students a basic insight into the creation of art and media, but the focus will be more on preparing students for a work environment centered around emerging media and visual art, Lew said.

The architecture program will be a “two-plus-two-plus-two” program, in which students will complete an NAAB accredited architectural program.

They will complete two years, at Valencia Community College, earning their associate’s degree, then two years at UCF to earn their bachelor’s degrees.

The program is offered at UCF at the Valencia West campus, located off of Kirkman Road in Orlando.

If architecture students choose to continue their education, they will complete another two years with the University of Florida, earning their master’s degree at the Center for

Emerging Media location in Downtown Orlando.
One problem with the new architecture program is the exclusion of students who spend their first two years of college at UCF.

Students who don’t immediately decide to take on architecture as a major are forced to either transfer to VCC or transfer to another school’s architecture program altogether.

“If I could go back in time, I’d go to Valencia, but I didn’t know [architecture] was what I wanted to do until last fall,” said Jack Danberg, a junior.

Danberg plans to enroll in the architecture program at Florida Atlantic University in the fall due to the structure of UCF’s “two-plus-two-plus-two” program.

Nevertheless, the school will provide new opportunities for both students and faculty for creative collaboration between digital media and the arts.

“What we’re doing with this interactive education is reflective of what’s happening in the industry, where different disciplines within the arts as well as related fields of the arts work together,” Lew said.

Courses will be held on the main campus in the Visual Arts Building, at the Orlando Technical Center in Research Park and in Downtown Orlando at the Center for Emerging Media.

For more information, visit the School of Visual Arts and Design website, svad.ucf.edu.

San Luis Obispo Police responded to a 911 call of an unconscious subject bleeding from the head in the laundry room at 1885 Garfield June 3 at approximately 6:07 p.m.

According to a press release issued by the police department, officers found a male lying in the laundry room with a severe head injury.

The subject was transported by ambulance to the hospital.

The preliminary investigation revealed that multiple males were involved in a fight in the laundry room and that a knife was involved in the altercation. The knife was recovered and one of the involved males, not the subject who was found unconscious, suffered minor stab wounds. That subject was treated and released from the hospital.

The investigation was turned over to detectives, who are actively working to determine what occurred in the laundry room and what lead to the fight.

No arrests have been made and no further information will be released at this time.

A 30-year-old Berkeley resident was fatally shot Thursday evening in South Berkeley, marking the city’s second homicide of the year.

Police officers responding to numerous reports of gunfire at around 6:30 p.m. found Kenneth Jerome Tims Jr. lying in the middle of King Street just south of 62nd Street suffering from multiple gun shot wounds, according to Berkeley police Sgt. Mary Kusmiss. Paramedics from the Berkeley Fire Department at the scene pronounced the victim dead at 6:39 p.m.

Berkeley police have not made any arrests in the shooting and cannot confirm a motive, though Kusmiss said investigators do not believe the shooting was random.

“We feel strongly this was not a community member walking down the street that was a victim of a random shooting, given the nature of the scene and from our experience in terms of homicides,” Kusmiss said.

Three weeks ago on May 20, two individuals were shot and critically injured less than a block away at the intersection of 63rd and King streets. Doran Williams Jr., an Oakland resident, is wanted in connection with the shooting on a no-bail arrest warrant for one count of attempted murder and one count of assault with a deadly weapon.

Kusmiss said police are investigating a possible connection between the two shootings.

“Any time there are shootings in close proximity to each other, geographically or in terms of time, we always investigate whether there may be a connection,” she said.

In Berkeley’s first homicide of the year on Feb. 11, a suspected gang member was fatally stabbed on the 2100 block of Curtis Street in West Berkeley. There were six homicides in 2009 and eight in 2008, according to police.

The City of Berkeley is offering $15,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect responsible for the shooting. Bay Area Crime Stoppers is offering an additional $2,000 reward.

Police are asking for anyone with information regarding the shooting to contact the Berkeley homicide detail at (510)981-5741 or the 24-hour non-emergency number of (510) 981-5900. Anonymous tips can be placed with Bay Area Crimes Stoppers at (800)-222-TIPS.

Justin Jones’ postseason debut, like the Cal baseball team’s stay at the Norman, Okla. Regional, proved to be painfully short-lived.

The Bears’ freshman ace failed to record a single out during Friday night’s 12-3 loss to North Carolina in the NCAA double-elimination opener at L. Dale Mitchell Park.

Jones struggled from the very beginning, starting the game with a four-pitch walk, a hit batter, and a three-run home run to the Tar Heels’ Dillon Hazlett.

Two batters later, Kevin Miller entered in relief of Jones and escaped the first half-inning – but not before North Carolina tacked on three more runs to take a 6-0 lead.

Hazlett started Cal’s weekend with a crushing home run, and Oral Roberts’ Tyler Garewal concluded it in similar fashion on Saturday afternoon.

After the Bears rallied in from a two-run ninth inning deficit to knot the score at 8-8, Cal missed a critical opportunity to take its first lead of the tournament. The Bears loaded the bags with just one out, but Danny Oh and Marcus Semien both fanned to end the top of the final frame.

The Golden Eagles (36-26) were quick to take advantage.

With one out, Garewal homered off of Dixon Anderson to give Oral Roberts a 9-8 victory and send Cal home.

The walk-off blast was a heartbreaking way to end a valiant effort by the Bears, who climbed back into the contest after trailing 6-1 in the fifth inning.

Cal (29-25, 13-14 in the Pac-10) rallied in the top of the sixth, as Chad Bunting followed up Brian Guinn’s solo shot with a two-out, two-run home run.

Tony Renda then tied the game at 6-6 in the seventh, scoring on a left field error after doubling to bring home Semien earlier in the inning.

On Friday, Baylor gave five unearned runs to Arizona in a 10-9 Wildcat victory. Arizona returned the favor in Sunday’s matchup, as the Bears caught a few breaks and supported Willie Kempf’s brilliant outing to win 4-2.

Baylor (36-23) advances to the championship round, where it will try to overcome the fatigue of three hours in 100 degree heat and beat TCU at 7 p.m.

Arizona (34-24) starter Tyler Hale assisted a struggling Raynor Campbell in the seventh inning. Campbell, who dropped to 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position at the Fort Worth Regional, swung at a slider in the dirt for strike three with two outs at Logan Vick standing at third.

The ball skipped to the backstop, and Vick scored while Campbell reached first safely and Baylor tied the game at two.

“I was pretty sure (Campbell) would swing at a hard slider in the dirt. Honestly, there were a couple of really timely breaks,” coach Steve Smith said.

An inning later an intentional walk put Max Muncy on first and pinch runner Chris Slater on second for Josh Turley. Turley smacked a grounder to shortstop Alex Mejia, but Mejia’s misplay left the bases loaded.

Landis Ware sacrificed flied to right, bringing in Slater, and Logan Vick added an insurance run with an RBI double.

Kempf suffered mild struggles through the first two innings, allowing five of his seven total hits. The Wildcats led off the second singling in consecutive at-bats before a Mejia two-RBI double scored both runners. But after consulting catcher Gregg Glime, Kempf settled down for the rest of his career long eight innings.

“In the first couple innings I was really on the side of my cutter,” Kempf said. “After that (catcher Gregg Glime and I) really started locating the fastball well and using the cutter whenever we were ahead in the count.”

The Baylor bats finally awakened in the third inning when Max Muncy blooped a single for his team’s first hit. He scored two batters later via Ware’s sacrifice fly to right.

When the Bears finally took the lead in the eighth, the team was glad to finally line up Kempf for the win.

“It was a huge relief because Willie was doing his job. He only kept them to two runs, so we’re trying to do everything we can to get a lead for him,” Vick said.

Kempf’s final line read 8.0 innings, two runs, seven hits, eight strikeouts and zero walks. He tossed 121 pitches.

Craig Fritsch takes the mound in tonight’s game as Baylor fights for its tournament life.

The Auburn Train Depot, built in 1904, has been placed on the list of Alabama’s most endangered historical sites.

Since 1994, the Alabama Historical Commission (AHC) and the Alabama Trust for Historic Preservation have sponsored the Places in Peril program. The program’s goal is to make communities aware of historic buildings, like the Auburn Train Depot, that have been condemned and neglected.

According to the Alabama Historical Commission website, the AHC and the Alabama Trust for Historical Preservation choose each year’s list based on the importance of the site, urgency and other various factors.

The rustic, brown-colored brick building located at 120 Mitcham Ave. easily goes unnoticed. The wooden platform is rotting and structurally unstable with various holes, missing boards, and chipped and peeling paint. Most of the wrought-iron décor is still intact, and the surrounding landscape is in disrepair. On the east side of the building, there is a plaque commemorating Jefferson Davis’ review of the Auburn Guard, made while on his way to his inauguration in 1861.

The building has been vacant since 2003 and has many maintenance and structural issues, a leaking roof and other contamination hazards.

When in operation, the depot was the central means of transportation for students to and from Auburn University. The depot’s last passenger ticket was sold in 1970. Designed by Ralph Dudley, a former Auburn architecture student, the Mitcham Avenue building is important to students like Jessica Brookshire today.

“It’s a really sad thing to watch a piece of Auburn history be forgotten and just left to crumble,” Brookshire said. “Not a lot of colleges can say that they still have historical buildings like the depot in their areas. It’s something that gives Auburn character.”

City Council member Tom Worden referred to the building as lovely but ancient.

“Any time we can save a piece of history we should do so,” Worden said.

David Schneider, executive director of the Alabama Trust of Historic Preservation, said that based off of his 30-year career in historic preservation he believes the Auburn Train Depot is an excellent candidate for rehabilitation.

“It has a lot to tell about the history of Auburn,” Schneider said. “There aren’t many train stations left in Alabama. They are getting fewer and farther in between.”

Currently, the property owner is listed as MRT LLC, a company based out of Montgomery, according to the city of Auburn. When contacted, the Russell Petroleum Corporation said that they maintain ownership of the gas station next door to the depot, but were unsure whether they owned the Auburn Train Depot property as well.

“We’ve tried to negotiate with the owners, but it’s just too expensive,” Worden said.

The property value and asking price for the depot is $1.2 million. When Moore Realty was contacted, they said that at this time there are no potential buyers.

Auburn police have released the name of a man who sustained fatal gunshot wounds in the 600 block of Bedell Avenue yesterday.

Daniel Hall, age 20, of Opelika, was pronounced dead at the East Alabama Medical Center. Hall was rushed to the hospital by ambulance after police responded to a call of “shots fired.”

Auburn police are currently in search of a suspect identified as Carl Edward Vinson Jr., of Auburn, according to a new release. The release said Vinson is described as a black male, 5’ 10” tall,190 pounds and may occupy a blue 1980’s model Honda Accord.

Those with information regarding Vinson’s whereabouts are asked to call or text the Auburn Police Division.

Auburn University’s faculty continues to change and grow in number and talent as the University welcomes Dr. Marie Wooten to the distinguished assembly of deans.

Wooten, named COSAM dean, studied microbiology at the University of Memphis. She earned her doctorate from Texas Woman’s University in cell and molecular biosciences and her postdoctoral training at Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory.

“I obtained a bachelor’s degree in 1978, Ph.D. in 1984, followed by three years of postdoctoral studies and have been in higher education faculty position since 1987,” Wooten said.

She is currently a professor of biological sciences and COSAM. Wooten has been an important part of COSAM for many years during which she has earned a reputation as a great instructor.

She gained interest in these subjects and accepted the job offer because of the “quality of the undergraduate and graduate students, strength of our academic programs and passion of the faculty for research and discovery.”

Wooten explained the students have created a passion for analysis and modernism. In that light, she said new online courses will be a change she implements to COSAM.

Wooten is known by the students as a scientist, an aide and academic administrator.

She added, “I will put in place mechanisms for more effective communication.”

Wooten is a firm believer in outreach and student training and co-founded the Institute for Women in Sciences and Engineers. She has also headed up associate dean for research in the college starting in 2000.

Even with all this on her plate, she still finds time for research, which includes cellular and molecular developmental neurobiology and neurodegeneration.

In addition, Wooten is an affiliate of the National Science Foundation ADVANCE program, which centers on boosting distinction in the STEM field.

Her research receives finances on an endless basis. She was recently given $1.3 million for four years by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

“The interest in sharing my passion for research and acquisition of new knowledge led me to a university,” Wooten said, explaining why she loves teaching. “In turn, I have enjoyed building programs and working with faculty and students to assist them with their academic goals. Becoming a dean was a logical progression in my career path.”

Wooten’s predecessor, Dean Stewart Schneller, was in the position for 17 years. Schneller is returning to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry where he will engage in teaching and research.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to serve as the next dean of COSAM,” Wooten said.