On Friday, Sept. 18, students at the University of Hartford were treated to demonstrations on the importance of seat belt safety. The Department of Public Safety and the Connecticut State Police teamed up to bring “The Convincer” and a rollover car simulator to campus.

The rigs were set up just outside of the Gengras Student Union on the GSU Lawn during happy hour. More than 20 students participated in The Convincer simulator while about 40–50 people watched each demonstration.

Officers took participants and strapped them in a seat with a seat belt over the front of their body and lap. The Convincer was then loaded to the top when an officer would release the lock, allowing gravity to pull the seat down until it hit the end, causing a jarring stop that simulated a “5 mph car accident.”

“We’re trying to inform people who may not be aware of the benefit of seat belts and I would say that the majority of the population wears it,” Connecticut State Police Sgt. Troy Anderson told The Informer news editor Spencer Honda. “We’re trying to reach out to that small number of folks who don’t wear their seat belt now and remind them of why they should and the benefit to it and this really is a great tool to show them.”

The @CT_STATE_POLICE brought "The Convincer" to the #UHart campus today to reinforce the safety of seat belts pic.twitter.com/vbJodl0Az4

— The Informer (@UHartInformer) September 17, 2015

There was also a rollover simulator that showed a mock car rolling over on its sides. The car had dummies placed in the car seats without wearing seat belts. As the car spun and rolled over, the dummies fell out of the windows of the car.

Come to the GSU Lawn to see what a 5 MPH crash feels like #UHart #CTpolice pic.twitter.com/9C2DeiumZk

— The Informer (@UHartInformer) September 17, 2015

Although dealing with a serious issue, many of the participants had fun with it and were laughing and having a good time. Anderson agreed that it should be a fun experience and felt that the message was still being sent to all involved.

“Not all educational tools are meant to be unfavorable,” Anderson said. “I think that this is a great opportunity to interact with the police and an opportunity to ask questions.”

Among the recent issues of police brutality, this was a great example of good community policing. Communication with the community is something that University of Hartford Public Safety asst. chief Michael Kaselouskas said he wanted to push forward with his department and this certainly was a good step in the right direction.

Last Thursday, Sept. 10, University of Hartford president Walter Harrison announced in a video that the University’s Anchor Fund will go toward student financial aid for the 2016 and 2017 Fiscal Years.

“We’ve always had many students who have benefitted from financial aid. Alumni have come before them have contributed so that those students can benefit from a world-class university education,” Harrison said in a video posted to the University’s website, Facebook page and YouTube channel. “For me, this is our principle reason. To help students fulfill their dreams. To ensure our own future as a university and to make this a better country and a better world.”

The Anchor Fund is the University of Hartford’s annual fund which is supported by faculty, staff, alumni, parents, friends of the University, students, foundations and corporations. Traditionally, the Anchor Fund has supported the University’s highest needs.

For the 2014–15 school year, the goal was $755,000, but only $635,356 was raised. However, it was one of the University’s best fundraising years in a while.

This year, the goal is set at $695,000.

Back at the 2015–16 Faculty/Staff Kickoff in August, Harrison had said that the Anchor Fund would be repurposed to focus on supporting student financial aid.

“One of my most important personal goals over the next two years is to raise funds to help more students afford the opportunity for a University of Hartford education,” Harrison told the crowd at GSU in August. “To that end, we are repurposing our Anchor Fund to focus on supporting student financial aid.”These announcements came after Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s proposed state budget would eliminate funds for private colleges and universities for the Governor’s Scholarship, which focuses on the poorest students among Connecticut residents to attend college.

The cuts reduced the University’s funds from $1.5 million to $900,000 in the coming year. The University originally received $2.8 million back in 2008 but it has since been cut down.

To counter that, the University has put it into their own hands and are now allocating their own funds to make up for it.

Donors can make a donation online at the Anchor Online website. There are also a multitude of ways to give back to the University and more information can be found online on the University website.

Throughout the school year, the University also runs a few events with the focus on gathering more donations.

Earlier this year, the University held its third annual 24-hour challenge on April 30 with the stipulation that if at least 300 gifts were received, a donor would add an additional $10,000 to the Anchor Fund.

The University received gifts from 320 individuals and raised over $30,000.

For 2016, the ante has been upped. Based on the success of the 24-hour challenges, it will now be expanded to Challenge Week coming in February. More information is expected in Jan. 2016.The Student Alumni Association also runs the #FeedVinny promotion throughout the year. Students can receive their own personal Vinny the Pig piggy bank and fill it with change or cash throughout the semester.

Roundup dates for this semester are set for Oct. 15 and Dec. 1.

On March 1, 2016, the University will celebrate its fourth annual Thank-A-Giver Day on campus that engages and educates students, faculty and staff about the importance of giving back.

Red TAGS can be found posted around campus to recognize their generous donations.

Taking quotes out of context is probably one of my biggest peeves about the media. This most often happens when it comes to sports.

Or maybe it happens with all types of news and media, but sports is the one that I’m most exposed to.

The one story over the summer that really got to me was one that surrounded professional basketball player Josh Smith, now of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.

Smith previously played for the Detroit Pistons and signed to the Houston Rockets midway through the 2014–15 NBA season. His contract was a one-year deal worth $2 million. Fast forward to this past offseason where he signed with the Clippers for the veteran’s minimum deal worth roughly $1.5 million.

At the Clippers’ introductory press conference, Smith answered a question about why he signed for the vet minimum and responded with the most monotonous voice and said: “It wasn’t about the money because of the Detroit situation. But at the end of the day, you know, I do have a family. So, it is going to be a little harder on me this year.”

The Detroit situation he referred to was that he would be receiving just under $5 million from the Pistons because of the contract he signed with them a few years ago.

This simple quote in context is Smith saying that it’s not about receiving the vet minimum that would make it hard on him, but having to be away from his family or having to move his family again being that Los Angeles would be his third different team in less than a year.

Smith even later clarified that that was the case. But, okay, maybe he didn’t make that clear that he was talking about his family, but it also wasn’t clear that he was complaining about not getting enough money.

Except the problem with that was that the media decided to latch on the latter by claiming that he was whining about “only” making $1.5 million this year.

This story blew up. It was originally “reported” by the Detroit Free Press but then referenced by almost any and every sports media source.

What happened to having a code of ethics when it comes to news reporting?

I get it. In today’s digital world of almost instant reachability and virality, views and clicks is what helps media companies make money. But why has “accurate” reporting been compromised just to gain more views?

I guess money just makes the world go round, especially in an industry where layoffs and budget cuts happen more often than Smith can hit a 3-point shot.

A big theme in education is trying to get students to be critical thinkers. So the next time you see an outrageous quote in a tweet or a headline, make sure to do your part and challenge that by actually looking into the context of what’s going on, rather than just believing what a reporter decided to put out there.

Among the many changes at the University of Hartford for the 2015–16 school year, one of them involves the new location of the Career Services Center in the Gengras Student Union.

Well, at least half of it.

Previously, Career Services was located only on the third floor of GSU in room 309. Part of the offices are still there, but the main hub has moved to the second floor next to the Center for Community Service, replacing the previous tenant, Educational Main Street.

The new location at GSU 207 gives Career Services higher visibility, especially since that hallway is a heavy foot-traffic area for students going to the Gengras Cafe or Suisman Lounge.

“People just walk in and that’s a thing of great beauty,” director of Career Services John Kniering told The Informer. “Suddenly everybody comes in and they say, ‘There’s Career Services here? Wow!’

“We’ve been hidden upstairs for the last three millennia,” he continued. “No one goes upstairs. You go upstairs to see the dean of students if you’re in trouble.”

The functions of Career Services range from planning employer events to brokering internship information, counseling students on potential career paths, delivering in-class workshops and finding out what University of Hartford graduates are really doing in the “real world.”

A majority of their work during the fall semester is working with the freshmen class.

“If a student isn’t convinced that he or she is going to have some path to the future, all these questions pop up. ‘Why persist? Why do this?’ when they could be sitting on the beach and tending the bar,” Kniering said. “It’s a legit question.

“The highest percentage of students most at risk for not persisting are classically freshmen looking at their sophomore year.”

With the higher visibility, they hope that students will reach out to them for assitance.

In the past, Career Services teamed up with the Office of Student Financial Assistance to provide a work-study fair for students looking for jobs.

Due to procedural changes, SFA did not schedule a work fair this year. Instead, most known work-study jobs are now posted on the University’s online Career Bridge employment system.

However, Career Services is still encouraging students to walk in to their new location to get their questions answered in real-time.

A future evening session is also planned to assist students in finding jobs and other forms of student employment.

This is a test

Two of the best things that college students love to hear are the words “free” and “getting paid.” Getting something free is like waking up on Christmas morning to find presents under the tree from Santa Claus.

Receiving money is a big deal too, but that’s usually the result from working or having a job.

Another big part of college is obtaining internships, especially since many of those opportunities are only offered to college students.

The big lottery pick would be landing a paid internship, but those usually come very few and far between.

However, since I’ve been involved and focused in the media field, I’ve often heard of a stigma against taking internships.

I’ve come across many people who have advised to not sell yourself out,since in their view, it’s free labor for a company or an employer.

Well, this past summer, I had the opportunity to intern in the sports department at KHON2 News, a television news station in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Oddly enough, I landed the gig partially through Twitter.

Since I’m from Hawaii, I often tweet (mostly my frustrations) about the University of Hawaii Rainbow Warriors and Hawaii sports in general.

It was through there that the KHON2 sports director followed me and then later messaged me asking if I wanted to intern over the summer.

I also had a lot of help since a friend had interned there last summer so he was able to vouch for me.

Those are just two lessons that networking and connections really are important, and that social media can create opportunities so it’s key to make sure you have a fairly clean profile.

Future so bright he gotta close his eyes! #MAHALO to @SpncerHonda on smashing his summer internshi. #GreatKid #Cover2 pic.twitter.com/BzZJ03XylY

— Rob DeMello (@RobDeMelloKHON) August 24, 2015

While I was there, there was another intern who would help out every once in a while and he just so happened to be the son of the University of Hawaii’s athletics director.

When he left on his last day there, he half-jokingly said that he could help them out during the school year if they ever needed “cheap labor.”

Yes, one way to look at internships is that it is indeed cheap labor and free work for an employer, but it’s still a great opportunity to gain experience, enhance a resume and to further expand and grow a portfolio of work.

It’s always much easier to show something, rather than talk about it so when I apply for jobs or work opportunities, I can give them examples of the stuff I’ve done and say that it aired on TV or that it was published on their website.

In the short run, sure, maybe the internship didn’t result in getting paid, but it was still an invaluable experience.

Internships just depend on how much you plan on getting out of it.

Plus it motivated me to do so many things this upcoming school year so stay tuned with The Informer for some exciting content to come.

It’s been a non-stop grind for recent Class of 2015 University of Hartford graduate and former news editor for The Informer, Zoe Rubin.

After walking across the stage at commencement earlier this year in May at the Sports Center, Rubin had just two short weeks before jumping into an internship at Intermarket Communications, a financial public relations firm in New York City. She began June 1 and ran with it all the way until Aug. 13.

From there, she moved up to the big leagues just a few days later and began a full-time job as a financial account coordinator with Rubenstein Associates, one of the most well-known high level firms in New York and in the country.

She works on business structure and crisis communication plans while working with a small team on providing strategies to further help the client get exposure in the press, and dealing with their legal issues.

A native of Parsippany, New Jersey, Rubin graduated with a bachelor’s in communication, with a focus in journalism and studies in international relations. She also minored in music theory.

In addition to The Informer, Rubin was also involved with communication honors society, Sigma Alpha Pi, the Hartt School of Music, SGA, CAT, Study Abroad Alumni Association and Chabad. She also spent her college time beefing up her resume as a news production intern at WGGB-TV in Springfield, Massachusetts, a sales representative for Will Enterprises, an executive personal assistant at Najmee, LCC, a sales model for Abercrombie & Fitch, a digital audio content and radio intern at ESPN, a representative of ‘Stache Media Marketing, and finally, a fashion stylist at White House Black Market.

“Luckily, I’ve been fortunate in my job search, following graduation, which ultimately let me fulfill my interest working in a corporate setting to grow,” Rubin told The Informer.

“It’s a great stepping stone to build on my career path, but shortly down the road, I can see myself in the entertainment biz, without a doubt,” she continued. “Keep an eye out for a book in the near future too.”

Now having been out of college for only a few months and already having a job, Rubin had some advice to give to those still working through the college grind.

“Work to your best ability, build relationships with your teachers on a personal level for recommendations and to catch up on the future,” Rubin said. “But balance it with having a great time in college because it goes by before you know it.”

On top of everything she has done, Rubin is also active in giving back to the community. Having grown up as a talented musician, she is now providing lessons in master classes with a master violin instructor, as well as vocal and piano assistance.

“Music to Soothe the Soul” is a continuation of a project she did where she performed at local and tri-state nursing homes and hospitals.

She’ll also be giving single or group training by herself on a freelance basis or with The Music Shop in Booton, New Jersey.

Although having accomplished so much and loving what she is doing now, Rubin said that she still has two dream jobs that she would like to eventually tackle down the road.

“Law school, becoming an intellectual property and patent law attorney, working on copyrighting music and legal docs for performers,” Rubin said. “Or actually stepping foot in the ‘character’s’ shoes and being an entertainer myself.”

Ever since University of Hartford athletics director Anton Goff was named to the position more than a year ago, change has been the big theme during his short tenure here.

It started at his introductory press conference on May 2, 2014, where fueled by high-octane passion and energy, he pumped out three simple words that would now be known as #HawkNationDomination.

The famous phrase came two days before Goff’s introduction when he was freely expressing his plan to not only win, but to dominate athletically, academically and in the community.

With the new Hartford Hawks brand soaring off on campus, Goff decided to take it even higher by refreshing the athletics logo that hasn’t been changed since 1989 when the Sports Center opened.

“One of the things I look at is branding and, ‘What’s cutting edge? What’s cool?’ and I said, ‘Let’s do something with the logo’,” Goff told The Informer news editor Spencer Honda.

Announced June 16, 2015 on the athletics website, the countdown began for the unveiling of the new logo. Looking for something fierce, sleek, cool and hot, the new identity was unveiled to a crowd of about 250 at the logo launch party at NIXS Restaurant in downtown Hartford on July 28.

The new branding features a primary mark that shows a profile shot of a hawk soaring between two upright columns to create the letter ‘H.’ The secondary logos feature a full frontal view of a fierce red hawk with its talons up, and the profile hawk head just by itself without illustrating an ‘H.”

With the buzz of a new logo and press releases being sent around the country, Goff hopes that it would all bring attention to Hawk Nation.

“It gives us some visibility. Hopefully we get some excitement around it,” Goff said. “It brings a little bit of unity. We’re all Hawk Nation. I want Hawk Nation to come together.

“Hopefully it energizes our student-athletes,” he continued. “When they look good in their uniforms, they play good.”

The process took about seven months from when discussions first began earlier this year back in January, up until it was unveiled in July.

This marks the schools’ seventh version of an athletics logo and it’s third while the program has been in Division I.

In designing the logo, the athletics department collaborated with 160over90, a branding agency who also worked on the University’s re-branding campaign.

The logo was finished in May with a two-month planning period to figure out how they would launch it.Last week, the old logo was swapped out for the new one on the front of the Sports Center and renovations are currently taking place on the basketball court in the Chase Family Arena.

Now equipped with a new logo, Goff has his sights set on building upon #HawkNationDomination in year number two as athletics director.

After a year of success that included the likes of a fourth-straight America East Academic Cup, one regular season conference championship, three conference championship game appearances, numerous student-athlete honors and awards, and an abundance of community work, Goff is expecting improvement in all phases and for more championships to come.

“If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. There’s no staying the same,” Goff said, reiterating what his college football coach had told him long ago.

With classes now in full swing at the University of Hartford, the Class of 2019 freshmen class will begin their real journeys into what college really is about.

Having gone through LiftOff Orientation this past weekend, many of the freshmen had the opportunity to meet each other to create new friendships and memories.

Many of the memories that the freshmen were able to create were unique in that the returning students did not have the newest addition of the LiftOff Activities.

Previously, orientation included a “Day of Choices” that had five or six events that students could choose to go to on the Sunday of orientation.

Some of these events included a pool party, a trip to Six Flags and even a Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees baseball game.

However, this year, they had what director of orientation Irwin Nussbaum described as “Day of Choices on steroids.”

The new LiftOff Activities not only increased in size by the number of options available, but also with the inclusion of faculty and staff. The events also spanned over two days, Sunday and Monday.

The change in orientation comes from phase one of the University’s Strategic Planning, which focuses on enhancing the first-year experience for students.

With over a thousand students signed up, the three main goals were to get students to meet other students, to get students to meet faculty and staff and to have them feel connected to the University and excited about being here before classes started.

“Before, it was more to get students off-campus and meet each other, rather than tie it back to the goal of the University” Nussbaum told The Informer news editor Spencer Honda.

“Students are meeting each other on these trips, but they can also do that on campus,” assistant director Mike Ormsby said. “Coming back to campus having gone on a trip with a professor and having a class with them or seeing them as they’re walking to class, that develops a little bit more of a connection to the University.”

Some of the off-campus activities included “A Traveling Taste of West Hartford” where students got to sample food from local restaurants, “Floating Down the Farmington and Community Building,” “Writing, and Power: Mark Twain/Harriet Beecher Stowe Houses,” “Connecticut Science Center in downtown Hartford,” “Hiking Talcott Mountain,” “Career Ready” where students got to visit the Hartford Hospital, Stanley Black and Decker and Pratt and Whitney, “Day of Service” and “Arts in Hartford.”

The on-campus events were a “Leadership Workshop,” “Ropes Course and Building Community” and “Scavenger Group Building activity.”

The athletics department also held a two-day interactive expo hosted by student-athletes and coaches showcasing the many resources available at the Sports Center.

This ranged from having workouts of varying degrees, a pool party, playing games and even watching and attending Hartford Hawks events.

The main person who put it together was senior associate provost Guy C. “Chuck” Colarulli, who was the guiding force behind it all.

It was a total team effort with the individual expertise and connections going a long way in pulling strings and making things happen.

“We figured out what might work and we geared ourselves toward the faculty and staff that had an interest in that area,” Nussbaum said, after agreeing that it was just about finding the right fit.

Currently, the students and faculty who went on the LiftOff Activities events are undergoing evaluations and the vast majority of the feedback has been positive.

Orientation may have just finished up, but it’s never too early to look forward to next year.

Nussbaum hopes that it continues to grow and that the enthusiasm and recommendations of the faculty and staff will encourage even more participation next year.

A year ago, one of the big buzzes on the University of Hartford campus was the newly renovated University Commons dining hall.

This year — although not quite as big, but still significant — the talk around campus is the newly transformed Starbucks at The Goodwin Café in Mortensen Library.

Previously, the Dorothy Goodwin Café was more of a Starbucks Express as it served Starbucks drinks, but did not offer a full menu. Now it is a full-fledged Starbucks service that has offered more job opportunities, more space and more electrical outlets.

The previous Goodwin Café shut down earlier this year on May 13 for construction and the renovations to begin.

Starbucks was officially opened this past Monday, Aug. 31 at 9 a.m.

In the weeks leading up to the opening, the staff was trained and had practice as several trial runs were done during the past week and during the LiftOff orientation weekend.

Look familiar? Rennovations continue in @Mortensen_Lib as Dorothy Goodwin Cafe transforms into a full Starbucks #TBT pic.twitter.com/23seye8hJs

— The Informer (@UHartInformer) July 17, 2015

Another campus renovation that was completed over the summer was the Microgrid Project.

It was announced in July 2013 that the University of Hartford was one of nine schools that received organizations and municipalities in the state of Connecticut that received funding as a part of the state’s plan to better prepare for destructive storms.

With the project now completed, the Village apartments, Regents Park, Park River and Konover are connected to the main campus electrical loop and thus, giving those buildings access to the emergency generators if the campus loses power.

Construction began in Nov. 2014 and resumed in the spring earlier this year.

Other summer projects include new brick walkways in the Harry Jack Gray Center area, office and room renovations in the Fuller Music Center and the construction of the Helen S Kaman Print Study Center in the Hartford Art School.

The Helen S Kaman Print Study Center was announced earlier this year in March with a $300,000 grant from The Charles H. Kaman Charitable Foundation, Inc.

Construction work is scheduled to be finished by Labor Day, but the center won’t officially open until Feb. 2016.