Courtesy of Unotes

The University of Hartford is going through a process that will redefine the University in future years.

Foundation of the Future, Strategic Planning and the Branding and Marketing campaign are three campaigns that were started last year and will continue in future years to change the direction and overall image of the University.

On Wed. Aug. 28, University of Hartford president, Walter Harrison, gave updates to faculty and staff in Gengras Student Union.

The strategic planning is a process that started over the summer and will be gathering ideas from students, faculty, staff and alumni on what they would like to see change within the University.

A consulting form with the University, Napa Group, will help the University gather the ideas and analyze on how the University should approach the changes over the next five years.

According to Harrison, now was the time to do strategic planning because for the 16th straight year, the University had a surplus in the budget, and with enrollment down, more students needing financial aid, among others, now was the perfect time.

Foundation of the Future, a plan released in September 2012, put 253 academic and administrative programs in four different categories, invest, maintain, restructure and divest.

A final report on Foundations of the future should be issued by the end of the month or early October. According to Harrison, the University will be saving up to 3.5 to four million dollars in savings for the next five years.

Students who started their major or minor that were in the divest category will be able to finish their degree.

Starting either next year or in two years, the programs that are being divested will not be offered to incoming freshmen.

The final initiative the University is going through is the Branding and Marketing campaign. The main purpose of the campaign is to attract students to come here. The initiative is a three-year plan and the University will be working 160 over 90, a Philadelphia-based agency to help with the rebranding efforts.

The University has already started this semester with the branding and marketing campaign by hanging banners all across campus. Some of the locations where the banners are located is on the wall of the front of the library, C complex and the Bates house, to name a few.

Every few months, the banners will relocate to a different area, all-hoping to give the University a new image.

Over the summer, the University also changed its word mark. Also, the anchored line at the bottom has a centered, directional arrow that is supposed to provide a theme of providing direction.

The facilities master plan that was passed in 2009 is continuing to make major improvements throughout campus.

The Shaw Center was one of the buildings that were part of the master plan and future plans will be coming in the next couple of years.

All of these initiatives should be completed within the next few years with the end result being to attract more students and to give the University an image for people to remember.

Rizzotti has also been terrific off the court as well as on. Brian Izzo | The Informer

Jennifer Rizzotti, the head coach of the women’s basketball team, will be honored at the Leadership Greater Hartford’s Annual Polaris Event, receiving the Polaris Award.

The Polaris Award is given to leaders in the Greater Hartford community who demonstrate, “vision, skill and courage in serving the Greater Hartford community and being a “Polaris,” the North Star that lights and guides the way for others to follow.”

Ted Carroll, President of Leadership Greater Hartford, said of Rizzotti, “Coach Rizzotti is a tremendous role model for developing and leading a group of diverse youth.”

Rizzotti, who started coaching the Hawks in 1999, serves the Greater Hartford community along with the women’s basketball team. Last year, the team volunteered at Walk for Weaver, Girl Scouts of America, Tabor House, Mandel Jewish Community Center and the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Those are just some of the volunteer efforts that the team provided.

Rizzoti is a three-time America East Coach of the Year and is the all time leader in wins for the Hawks with 276. Rizzotti was also one of the top players for the UConn Huskies in her playing days winning awards such as the Associated Press Player of the Year in 1996.

Joe D’Ambrosio, known as, “the Voice of the Huskies,” will be introducing Rizzotti at the event. He is a seven-time Connecticut Sportscaster of the year.

The event will take place on Oct. 1 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. at the Hartford Marriot Downtown. For more information on the event, visit www.leadershipgh.org

My name is Ben Cohn.

I am the president of my fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi, the Inter-fraternity Council Vice President of Finance, and the incoming Editor-in-Chief of the Informer for the 2013-2014 school year. I am all these positions, and I will only be a junior next year.

If someone had told me a year ago that I would have all these positions in the future, I would have called them crazy. As a Communication major with an emphasis in Public Relations/Advertising and Media/Journalism, I didn’t exactly know what I wanted to do with my life.

At first, I always wanted to be a TV reporter, however I realized it wasn’t something that I enjoyed as much as I thought it would be.

That is when I turned to print journalism, and found that I enjoyed it a lot.

At the end of my freshman year, I was appointed the position of Copy Chief for the Informer this current year.

Due to circumstances that happened towards the end of last semester, I was asked to fill the void of Campus Life & Culture Editor, which I gladly accepted. I knew this would be difficult, but I felt it would be a great challenge for me.

As the year went on, I found myself learning more about journalism, and improving in my writing and editing skills. While I had a goal to eventually become Editor-In-Chief of the Informer, I didn’t think I’d be able to have the chance until my senior year.

However, an opportunity presented itself and I grabbed the bulls by the horn and was appointed to be next year’s Editor-In-Chief by my fellow colleagues.

I felt honored by the appointment and I vowed that I would keep the name of the Informer in high regards.

Now I could go on about my life, but I want to share with the readers out there what I’m going to do as Editor-in-Chief and what I’m going to do differently.

First off, there has been this notion that no one reads the Informer. I will admit, there are definitely people out there who don’t read it. However, there are more people that read the paper than you think. Plenty of times this year, people have gone up to me recognizing me from the paper or commenting on one of my stories.

Since I know there are people who read the Informer, even if people don’t want to admit, it is my job, along with my staffs, to provide you with all news regarding the University.

Therefore, I will be doing my best to make stories more about the students and faculty. If anyone has a story idea, or wants their voices heard, I urge them to email me at bcohn@hartford.edu.

We will also be adding a, “Letter to the Editor” section where anyone can email me a letter and have it placed in the Informer. It is time for the students voices to be heard, and as Editor-in-Chief, I want people to have a say.

Another thing I will be changing about the Informer is the design and layout.

A picture is worth a thousands words and I know people don’t like to read a long article. I will be working my best to make the paper more visually attractive for students to read.

For our online edition, along with the majority of articles will be a link to a Tout, taken by our reporters.

Tout is an application, available on smartphones and tablets, where someone can take a 15 second video and post it online. When the account is created, I urge everyone to follow our Tout page so they can get a glimpse of the event being covered.

If anyone wants more information on what changes I will be making with the Informer, please email me or come into the Informer office and I will gladly sit down and talk.

It is time for the students voices to be heard again, and as Editor-in-Chief, I will make it happen.

Two Hawks were rewarded with an America East accolade this past week.

Baseball player Chris DelDibbio won America East Rookie of the Week while softball player Chelsey Mooney won America East player of the Week.

DelDibbio, a freshman Centerfielder, played in four games this past week and had a .353 batting average.

In the four games, he finished with two RBI’s and scored three runs. He had one extra base hit.

In the three game series against the University of Baltimore Country Retrievers, he hit .385 knocking in two runs. He had five hits in a total of 13 at bats.

For the season, DelDibbio has a .284 batting average, with 13 RBI’s and 11 runs scored.

Chelsey Mooney, the designated hitter for the softball team, batted .643 this past week giving her the honors of America East Player of the Week.

In five games, she had nine hits in 14 at-bats including two doubles and three runs batted in.

In the second game of a doubleheader against Iona, she was 3-for-4 with two RBI’s and one run scored.

She knocked in one of those runs on a double in the bottom of the fifth inning helping Hartford with the comeback against the Gaels.

Mooney would continue her hitting prowess in the following series against Boston University. She had six hits in nine at bats including a perfect 3-for3 in the final game of the series. Mooney led the Hawks with their first ever series win against the Terriers.

For the season, Mooney has a .279 batting average with four rubs batted in and three runs.

Both players will continue to look for their success at the plate as the baseball team travels to Stony Brook while the softball team hosts UConn.

Many college students attended Ultra Music Festival over Spring Break the past two weeks, completing their “YOLO” experience. Courtesy of Tim Mosenfelder | Getty Images

YOLO. Yes, I said it. What are you going to do about it? Nothing.

YOLO, which means you only live once, is a term that became extremely popular from popular rapper Drake’s song, “The Motto.”

Many people used the term YOLO when using social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. Most of the time the term will come at the end of the status, using hashtag, YOLO.

While by this time, the term is pretty played out and not many people use it now as it was a year ago, I’m bringing it back now. Now is the time to be YOLO-ing it up.

You are only in college, hopefully for only four years. When you get older, you want to be able to look back on the college experience as something you will never forget. When you have children and they grow up and become college students, you want to be able to tell them of your experiences. When you are in your 40’s hanging with old friends from the college days, you want to be able to relive the best experiences you guys made with each other.

Over Spring Break, I visited my friend who goes to University of Central Florida. Now I can go on a five-page tangent on how big and nice the school there is, but that is not the point of this column. I will include though that they have a pool with couches, hammocks, padded seats and palm trees surrounding the area.

Anyways back to the point. While staying at his place, my friend and his friends, including myself went out every night. Let it be known, they still had school. These are students who do well in school and still have time to have a great night. They do their school word during the day so they have time at night to do things. That is what all college students need to do.

As college students, start doing your schoolwork during the day. However, once it hits 10 p.m., start hanging with friends and have fun. You don’t want to go through your years in college cramming your work until night and then not having time to socialize. Also, if you are one of those people who just normally like to go to bed early, now is the time to stop doing that. There will be ample amount of opportunities in your life to get sleep. However, this is the time to hang out with your friends and make memories.

You only live once in life, and that is indeed the motto. It is up to you on how to live life, but I for one will enjoy every minute and every second I have while I’m in college. College is the best time you are ever going to have and may be the last time to YOLO it up.

“Raw” which is aired every Monday night, averages five million viewers a week according to Nielson ratings. Courtesy of wwe.com

Ever since 2000, there has been one television show program that I have watched on a consistent basis, “World Wrestling Entertainment.”

Yes, I know what people reading this are going to laugh and say that it is fake. I’m fully aware that the wrestling is fake, and the storylines presented in the show are fictional. However, the level of excitement that the show brings draws me back to tune in every week.

“WWE” airs three shows a week starting with “Raw,” which is aired Monday night, “Main Event” that is aired on Wednesday night, and “Smackdown,” which is aired on Friday night. Due to scheduling conflicts, the only show I managed to watch is Raw on Monday night, but I read reviews online from the other shows. WWE also airs a pay-per-view once a month.

On April 7, I will be attending “WWE’s” biggest event of the year, Wrestlemania that takes place at Metlife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The event is expected to have at least 90,000 in attendance.

Millions of people watch WWE programs all around the world. Yet, many people who watch often hear from peers that it is stupid and fake. Everyone who watches knows that besides the little kids. However, aren’t all television shows fake?

Besides reality shows, programs like “Law and Order,” “Big Bang Theory” and “Pretty Little Liars,” among others are fake as well. It is even debatable if reality shows are actually real. However, the non-reality show storylines aren’t based on the truth. Yet million’s of people still tune in these shows because they are entertaining. So why do people who watch WWE get the brunt of getting made fun of?

Maybe it’s because it’s a bunch of men in trunks fake fighting each other. There could be hundreds of reasons as to why people make fun of others who watch wrestling. However the same people who make fun of it, will watch it with me when I’m watching.

On multiple occasions while I’ve been watching Raw, someone would come over for another reason to hang out. They would then continue to watch WWE with me until it ended even though they previously made fun of it. After, they would then ask questions about what is going on, often becoming interested in the product.

Now I’m not telling everyone to go home tonight and watch WWE. Everyone has their own choice of entertainment and their own favorite programs. However, next time you come across myself or any other WWE fan out there, don’t make fun of the fact that they watch it. I guarantee everyone out there has a show they watch that is fictional and others can make fun of.

Groups like Uharmonies perform at Hawks Nest to entertain students on week nights. Courtesy of facebook.com/thehawksnest

Hawk’s Nest hosts bands to play Monday through Thursday at 8 p.m.

On April 4, the band Nine Days with their hit song, “Absolutely (Story of a Girl),” will be performing.

According to Dan Gonzalez, the Hawk’s Nest Programming Manager at SCA, he was able to get in touch with the band due to his friend’s connection.

“One of my bosses knows the lead singer and got in contact with him,” said Gonzalez.

When it comes to finding other bands to perform at Hawk’s Nest, the process involves getting in contact with a manager and getting them to sign a contract.

“We contact their manager or the band members depending if they are signed with someone or not. If they are an off campus band we contact their manager, ask them when they can perform and if they need compensation, just write up a contract and make sure its signed so you are guaranteed to perform and receive the money they need,” said Gonzalez.

For bands on campus that want to perform at Hawk’s Nest, SCA is still accepting bookings. There are two weeks in April opened before Spring Fling opened for bands to perform, whether they live on or off-campus.

On April 5, there will also be live bands performing all day in an Alumni Plaza. According to Gonzalez, six to eight bands will be performing.

Giveaways also take place at events and later in the semester, they will include t-shirt and iTunes gift car giveaways.

For updates about events taking place at Hawk’s Nest, students can like their page on Facebook called “Hawks Nest Events.”

For bands interested in performing at Hawks Nest, they can contact Dan Gonzalez, dgonzalez@hartford.edu, or Ashley Snyder at asnyder@gmail.com

A new environmental club, Club 350, has recently started on campus this past semester.

Club 350 is looking for ways to reduce carbon dioxide levels to protect the Earth. Courtesy of Jasmine Johnson

According to Jasmine Johnson, president of Club 350, the point of the club is to reduce the University’s carbon footprint on campus.

“It’s an environmental club that is trying to change some of the things we do on campus to reduce our carbon footprint. We’re trying to do little things like raise money and awareness,” said Johnson.

In order to learn more about how to change the carbon footprint, professors have given Johnson suggestions alternative energy use the University can use. Also, Johnson is trying to get in contact with others who would know how to change the footprint.

“A few professors who suggested that we put in different types of energy in complexes so students can have something else to work off of than what we have now,” said Johnson, “I’m trying to get in contact with some people that can inform about what we are investing in currently so I know what fossil fuels company we are investing in as a University.”

Another goal that the club wants to accomplish is not only reducing the carbon dioxide levels, but to lower it to 350 from 392, which is our current CO2 level.

The CO2 levels now are a 102-point increase from 2011, when it was clocked in at 290. According to Johnson, the current levels are extremely unsafe for humans.

“392 is beyond unsafe. 350 is the maximum level of carbon that we can actually survive so that is why we are seeing a lot of the after effects of the storm and climate change.”

According to Johnson, ways we can lower the carbon dioxide levels are to reduce the amount of trash we throw and stop using plastic water bottles.

Anyone can reduce the carbon dioxide levels on their own by being environmental friendly. According to Johnson however, the club was created to use teamwork and bring people together to help save the environment.

“I think it needs to be a team effort. Club 350 isnt about doing individual things, but bringing people together to realize and educate others to know that we need to do something to make a change. There is no reason our generation shouldn’t  be the leaders in trying to make a movement,” said Johnson.

Events being planned in the future are having a water bottle sale, a tree planting day and a rally to support being more environmental friendly.

Club 350 is currently under probation by SGA. As of now, there are eight members in the group and they need to reach 15 students. If everything goes according to plan, the club will be officially recognized at the end of the semester.

If people want to protect their future and their children, Johnson said people should join the club.

“This is there life and future. If they really want to do something that will benefit their children and their own life in the next 20 years, students should join.”

For more information, students can contact Johnson at jasjohnso@hartford.edu

A recent campaign to get rapper J. Cole to come visit the University has been put on YouTube and has accumulated 624 views as of Wednesday.

The video has different students on campus speaking to the video telling stories of listening to J. Cole’s music or in general telling him to come visit Hartford. The video also has J. Cole’s hit song, “Work Out” playing in the background.

The idea of the video came from UHa student Dani Schwartz, who is also a college marketing representative for Sony Music.

According to Sony, a college marketing representative “plays an integral part in the development of Sony Music’s breakthrough artists and assist in the roll out of established artists as well. Among the myriad of functions and responsibilities, College Reps organize listening events, interact closely with record stores and lifestyle accounts (skate shops, coffee shops, clothing stores) and are also very active in the online space. College Reps are often tastemakers in their markets and are heavily involved in campus and community activities.”

With that in mind, Sony was brainstorming ideas to get J. Cole more connected with college crowds out there because he too was once a student at S. Johns University.

According to Schwartz, she made the video to gain attention from Sony’s management team because Hartford may be overlooked due to its size.

“I made the video because a lot of the other college reps that I work with attend big schools, Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan, Penn State, Florida etc.. and I felt that Hartford could be overlooked due to its size. The point of the video was to make the artist management team aware that we are here and we are still big fans,” said Schwartz.

The video was made using a normal video camera that Schwartz edited on her Mac after filming. While some of them were Schwartz’s friends, others were random students who wanted J. Cole to come here.

Schwartz said, “The students in the video are some people that I already know, students who I know are big J. Cole fans and knew would help me out. Otherwise the rest are just random students that I asked to be on camera and tell J. Cole to come through to Hartford or simply explain what it would mean to them if he were to come.”

While some may think that this is a viral campaign to get J. Cole to come to Hartford and perform at Spring Fling, that is not the case. The goal of the video is to get J. Cole to come here and connect with the students, not perform.

“J. Cole is not trying to perform at these schools, he simply wants to come through to college campuses and spend some time with college students just as he once was. This would include a question and answer type deal as well. It gives fans a chance to just talk to him and ask any questions that they might have,” Schwartz said.