Published in the Utah Statesman October 25, 2012
Published in Utah State Today October 25, 2012
In commemoration of what would have been his father’s 80th
birthday, students and faculty of the Huntsman School of Business
gathered Wednesday at a Dean’s Convocation Speech to hear author Stephen
M.R. Covey reflect on his father’s legacy of leadership.
Covey’s
father Stephen R. Covey, the Huntsman Presidential Chair in Leadership,
a renowned educator, public speaker and bestselling author of “The 7
Habits of Highly Effective People,” passed away in July.
“I
view this as a tribute from you to my father,” Covey said. “My father
loved Utah State University and the Huntsman School of Business, and he
was very thankful for this relationship. It was a great source of
meaning in his life.”
Covey talked about the principles of leadership his father taught and how it impacted him and millions across the world.
“My father’s thinking has been the software of my mind,” Covey said. “It affects everything I do.”
Covey
said his father taught that as individuals, we each have four needs —
to live, to love, to learn and to leave a legacy. Covey said as
students apply these needs as they search for a career, they can find a
pathway they are passionate about.
“When
you look for a career, be thinking in terms of these four things,” he
said. “What need do I want to help in society? What do I love to do?
What am I good at doing and what am I called to do? And as you overlap
that inspiration, that’s finding your voice. My father taught that
beautifully.”
Covey
spoke about his father’s “rare gift” to reach out to millions through
his books and speeches while also being able to reach the few or “the
one.”
“Through
his works, through his writings, through his teachings, he literally
reached millions of people all over the world, and yet his most
significant work was reaching the one,” Covey said. “My father believed
in affirming the one. He believed in people even more than people
believed in themselves.”
Covey
spoke of many instances he saw his father, despite a rigorous schedule,
extend effort to reach out to “the one” needing extra support or
encouragement: helping his son’s high school friend with a speaking
assignment, encouraging and befriending an international student lacking
confidence in his abilities and listening and taking his time to say “I
love you” to his wife and each of his nine children.
Covey said personal integrity was what gave his father the power to reach out to individuals.
“My
father was a person of tremendous integrity,” he said. “He was who you
thought he was. He tried to practice what he taught and to live what he
was teaching. As good as my father was in public as an author and
teacher, he was even better in private to my mother and as a father to
us children. That integrity was the source of his power.”
Covey
said his father focused on teaching universal, transcendent principles
common to the foundation of any enduring society or philosophy, such as
trustworthiness, fairness, kindness and integrity.
Covey
said his father believed by focusing on the inside moving out,
individuals could use their resourcefulness and initiative to make
anything happen.
“My
father taught, ‘If you think that the problem is out there, outside of
you, that very thinking is the problem because you have just disempowered yourself,’” he said. That’s what the ‘7 Habits’ are all about.”
Covey
said his father’s fundamental teaching to “begin with the end in mind”
and to create personal and organizational mission statements helped
empower him and millions across the world to reach their potential.
“My
father thought, ‘I know what I want to do. I want to release human
potential,’ and that’s what he’s done,” Covey said. “His ability to see
more in me than what I saw in myself, his willingness to entrust me
unlocked something inside me.”
Covey said his father knew he didn’t invent these principles of integrity and leadership, but he felt they came from God.
“He
always gave credit to God,” Covey said. “He simply organized them and
sequenced them and arranged them to make them valuable with people.”
Covey said his father’s enduring idea was to live with the mindset that the best was yet to come.
“He
said always live life in crescendo, that your greatest contribution is
always in front of you,” he said. “This is the person that wrote the ‘7
Habits,’ 20 million copies in 40-something languages, and yet he always
believed his greatest book was still in front of him. That’s how he
lived.”
Jeff
Parker, business senator and senior in economics, said the Business
School hosts events like the Dean’s Convocation to provide models and
examples for students to learn from.
“The
Business School as a whole would hope students would take example of
ethical leadership and model their lives after it,” Parker said.
Parker
said the opportunities such speakers and events, the Huntsman Scholar’s
program, Go Global study abroad program, the International SEED program
and others provide students valuable experience.
“We’ve
started so many fantastic programs and I really hope students will take
advantage of these programs,” he said. “This is what sets us apart from
other universities.”
Michael
Peters, freshman majoring in marketing, said Covey’s speech was
inspirational and taught him the power of influencing and impacting “the
one.” Peters said speeches like Covey’s, as well as other programs and
opportunities within the Huntsman School, affirm his decision to attend USU.
“The
Huntsman School is definitely building me as a leader,” Peters said.
“Events like this inspire me to become a better person both in my
personal life and in the business world. I don’t think I could have got a
better experience. Coming here was definitely the right decision.”
– karlie.brand@aggiemail.usu.edu
Monday, November 12, 2012
Engineers open year with food, clubs
Published in the Utah Statesman September 20, 2012
USU students ate free chili dogs and were introduced to engineering clubs and organizations Wednesday at the College of Engineering’s Opening Social.
The event, organized by the Engineering Council, featured more than ten engineering club tables and booths.
Riley Bradshaw, College of Engineering senator and senior majoring in civil engineering, said the opening social has been held for several years. The aim is to allow the clubs and organizations to recruit students, he said.
“Last year we started incorporating all the different engineering clubs and giving them an opportunity for exposure to recruit and tell people what they’re about,” Bradshaw said. “It’s just kind of evolved each year and keeps getting better.”
Bradshaw said he believes getting involved in different clubs and organizations isn’t just a way to meet new people and have fun, but also a way to gain experience and see how what students are learning in class can apply in the real world. He said it is especially crucial for those students just beginning in the program.
“Getting involved is crucial especially for the young students — the freshman and the sophomores especially — in engineering because the first couple years can be kind of rough,” Bradshaw said. “The clubs provide an excellent way to find out what your major is all about, what it means to be a civil engineer or electric engineer and get some hands on experience in that field. It definitely helps with the retention.”
Brianne Smith, a sophomore in biological engineering who attended the social and participates in the Biological Engineering Club, said being involved has helped her build a network with other students.
“Well, for one, you meet a lot of people who are similar to you and are in a similar situation,” Smith said. “People you can do homework with or people you can rant to about your homework.”
Orrin Pope, a junior in aeronautical engineering, and Alan Edlund, a junior in mechanical engineering, represented the American Society of Mechanical Engineers at the social and said becoming involved in the different engineering clubs and organizations had given them the leg up in networking and internship opportunities.
“It’s a networking opportunity,” Pope said. “It’s a chance to meet people that are going into the engineering field, the same one I am, and have a high probability of ending up being my colleagues. Having that relationship with them now is just great networking.”
Edlund said in the past he’d had a difficult time finding an internship, but after gaining experience on the ASME committee, he was able to find a position.
“I believe that I got the internship because I was participating or had a position or experiences,” Edlund said. “So even though my grades were average, participating in ASME provided an edge up against other people who are just going to class and aren’t really doing anything out of the norm.”
Edlund, Pope and their other colleagues in ASME are currently working on a floating arm trebuchet for a pumpkin toss competition next month.
“Last year we had a pumpkin that was thrown over 150 feet,” Edlund said. “We also organize different events where we can do business tours or tech talks so that people can get introduced into the professional world and also so that they can participate in contests like the trebuchet.”
Nate Inkley, a grad student in aerospace engineering who also attended the social, is involved in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He said being involved in AIAA allowed him to meet people with his own interests.
“It’s great because you get to know people with the same interest groups apart from your classes,” Inkley said. “For example, with aerospace stuff, you’re not talking about spaceships and navigating and orbits until your senior year, so freshmen through juniors can have a place to come together to talk about their interests and beyond.”
Ryan Martineau, a senior in mechanical engineering also involved in the AIAA, said being involved in different clubs or organizations also offer opportunities for mentoring.
“You come in and meet other people who have been there so whether its official or not its an automatic mentor,” Martineau said. “We just like to talk to the younger students about what we’ve been through. It’s social interaction, which is rare for engineers.”
–karlie.brand@aggiemail.usu.edu
USU students ate free chili dogs and were introduced to engineering clubs and organizations Wednesday at the College of Engineering’s Opening Social.
The event, organized by the Engineering Council, featured more than ten engineering club tables and booths.
Riley Bradshaw, College of Engineering senator and senior majoring in civil engineering, said the opening social has been held for several years. The aim is to allow the clubs and organizations to recruit students, he said.
“Last year we started incorporating all the different engineering clubs and giving them an opportunity for exposure to recruit and tell people what they’re about,” Bradshaw said. “It’s just kind of evolved each year and keeps getting better.”
Bradshaw said he believes getting involved in different clubs and organizations isn’t just a way to meet new people and have fun, but also a way to gain experience and see how what students are learning in class can apply in the real world. He said it is especially crucial for those students just beginning in the program.
“Getting involved is crucial especially for the young students — the freshman and the sophomores especially — in engineering because the first couple years can be kind of rough,” Bradshaw said. “The clubs provide an excellent way to find out what your major is all about, what it means to be a civil engineer or electric engineer and get some hands on experience in that field. It definitely helps with the retention.”
Brianne Smith, a sophomore in biological engineering who attended the social and participates in the Biological Engineering Club, said being involved has helped her build a network with other students.
“Well, for one, you meet a lot of people who are similar to you and are in a similar situation,” Smith said. “People you can do homework with or people you can rant to about your homework.”
Orrin Pope, a junior in aeronautical engineering, and Alan Edlund, a junior in mechanical engineering, represented the American Society of Mechanical Engineers at the social and said becoming involved in the different engineering clubs and organizations had given them the leg up in networking and internship opportunities.
“It’s a networking opportunity,” Pope said. “It’s a chance to meet people that are going into the engineering field, the same one I am, and have a high probability of ending up being my colleagues. Having that relationship with them now is just great networking.”
Edlund said in the past he’d had a difficult time finding an internship, but after gaining experience on the ASME committee, he was able to find a position.
“I believe that I got the internship because I was participating or had a position or experiences,” Edlund said. “So even though my grades were average, participating in ASME provided an edge up against other people who are just going to class and aren’t really doing anything out of the norm.”
Edlund, Pope and their other colleagues in ASME are currently working on a floating arm trebuchet for a pumpkin toss competition next month.
“Last year we had a pumpkin that was thrown over 150 feet,” Edlund said. “We also organize different events where we can do business tours or tech talks so that people can get introduced into the professional world and also so that they can participate in contests like the trebuchet.”
Nate Inkley, a grad student in aerospace engineering who also attended the social, is involved in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He said being involved in AIAA allowed him to meet people with his own interests.
“It’s great because you get to know people with the same interest groups apart from your classes,” Inkley said. “For example, with aerospace stuff, you’re not talking about spaceships and navigating and orbits until your senior year, so freshmen through juniors can have a place to come together to talk about their interests and beyond.”
Ryan Martineau, a senior in mechanical engineering also involved in the AIAA, said being involved in different clubs or organizations also offer opportunities for mentoring.
“You come in and meet other people who have been there so whether its official or not its an automatic mentor,” Martineau said. “We just like to talk to the younger students about what we’ve been through. It’s social interaction, which is rare for engineers.”
–karlie.brand@aggiemail.usu.edu
Will canal changes end water recreation?
Published in the Utah Statesman August 30, 2012.
Logan residents have been engaged in a debate over the last several weeks about a proposed plan to enclose the Logan canal in steel pipes, removing the feature and potentially creating a hiking or mountain-biking trail over the piping.
Water flows freely through the open canal, supplying water to trees and vegetation. Canal reconstruction plans have been in the works since a canal break in the Island killed three people in 2009.
Holly Daines, a member of the Logan Municipal Council, said with the city’s original piping plan, canal water, which is used for storm drainage and irrigation, will be displaced underground. The piping will then be covered by large berms.
Residents upset that the proposed plan will ruin the aesthetics of their yards and neighborhoods voiced their concerns at the Cache County Council meeting Tuesday night.
Daines said the decision to enclose the canal, which was made months ago, is upsetting to residents just hearing about the changes.
“The project started, they were ready to dig to put parts in, and neighbors became aware of this and said, ‘We don’t want it enclosed,’” Daines said. “That decision was already made a long time ago, but we were really too far down the road in the process to change.”
Daines said the council has tried to be accommodating to Logan residents’ concerns. Logan City postponed the city’s planning commission meeting Aug. 23 to allow residents to voice their opinions at the Cache County Council meeting on Tuesday.
Daines said many residents were in attendance at the standing-room-only meeting. With the input of Logan residents, a new plan was designed to direct water into three smaller pipes buried at ground level. The pipes will be placed deeper in the ground to minimize concerns of eyesore dirt mounds, with a proposed plan to add a water feature to the side of the piping and a hiking trail over the piping.
“The water feature would include a lined channel with rocks and would run alongside the trail and collect storm water,” Daines said.
Daines said the cost to install this water feature and hiking trail would go over the budget allocated for the canal reconstruction project, and the council is working to secure shares to make the water feature, desirable not only for it’s aesthetic value but to assist in storm drainage, and hiking trail possible.
“My goal is to move forward with plans (for the hiking trail). It’s not approved but we’re working towards hopefully getting funding in next year’s budget to move forward with the plans,” Daines said.
Daines said the piping installation should be complete, with hopes of the additional water feature and hiking trail, in the spring of 2013. Construction on the piping will begin immediately.
While many students utilize the canal for recreation, Daines said they are technically trespassing.
“There wouldn’t be enough water to tube, but there would be a great trail,” she said. “Technically the canal is private property, so the idea is to turn it into a trail with official public access.”
Daines said the council hasn’t seen any reaction to the plans from USU students. The canal has been a popular tubing location for students and residents for many years and Daines said the plan would discontinue this long-time student hobby or tradition.
Jeremy Schumann, a junior majoring in marketing, uses the canal another way. Schumann and his friends have been wakeboarding by connecting ropes to a bridge over a section of the canal in the Island.
“I’ve never tubed the canal, but we surf it,” Schumann said. “We do it two or three times a week and we love it. If it was closed, that sucks.”
Although the portion of the canal Schumann and his friends utilize won’t be affected by the enclosure, Schumann said creating a trail wasn’t a good idea.
“There’s tons of trails in Logan,” he said. “With the water there’s so many options. We can run anywhere. We prefer the water.”
Daines said she knows residents aren’t happy with the plans, but said they hoped the revisions would address some residents’ concerns.
“People still aren’t happy the canal is enclosed, but the canal company has the right to do that,” she said. “I know the enclosure disappoints people, but the revisions will make it much more esthetically pleasing and level for a trail, and basically just less intrusive to people’s backyards.”
Tom Jensen, another member of Logan city council, said despite residents heated feelings about the enclosure ultimately the water company owns the rights to the canal. Jensen said a Supreme Court case gives them the rights to the waterways.
“There is a Supreme Court case saying they can bury it anytime they want,” he said. “No one has rights to it except the water company and they literally have the right to do what they need to do to the end of the ditch.”
Jensen said some residents do own property affected by the canal but the canal company has an easement on the property allowing them to make decisions about the waterway.
“The canal company has had a waterway there for over 100 years, since the time of the pioneers,” Jensen said.
“It’s a hard thing, it’s a dramatic thing, but the whole purpose of the canal is not a beautification thing but for getting water to farmers,” Jensen said. “But we’ll try to do the best thing for the locals.”
– karlie.brand@aggiemail.usu.edu
Logan residents have been engaged in a debate over the last several weeks about a proposed plan to enclose the Logan canal in steel pipes, removing the feature and potentially creating a hiking or mountain-biking trail over the piping.
Water flows freely through the open canal, supplying water to trees and vegetation. Canal reconstruction plans have been in the works since a canal break in the Island killed three people in 2009.
Holly Daines, a member of the Logan Municipal Council, said with the city’s original piping plan, canal water, which is used for storm drainage and irrigation, will be displaced underground. The piping will then be covered by large berms.
Residents upset that the proposed plan will ruin the aesthetics of their yards and neighborhoods voiced their concerns at the Cache County Council meeting Tuesday night.
Daines said the decision to enclose the canal, which was made months ago, is upsetting to residents just hearing about the changes.
“The project started, they were ready to dig to put parts in, and neighbors became aware of this and said, ‘We don’t want it enclosed,’” Daines said. “That decision was already made a long time ago, but we were really too far down the road in the process to change.”
Daines said the council has tried to be accommodating to Logan residents’ concerns. Logan City postponed the city’s planning commission meeting Aug. 23 to allow residents to voice their opinions at the Cache County Council meeting on Tuesday.
Daines said many residents were in attendance at the standing-room-only meeting. With the input of Logan residents, a new plan was designed to direct water into three smaller pipes buried at ground level. The pipes will be placed deeper in the ground to minimize concerns of eyesore dirt mounds, with a proposed plan to add a water feature to the side of the piping and a hiking trail over the piping.
“The water feature would include a lined channel with rocks and would run alongside the trail and collect storm water,” Daines said.
Daines said the cost to install this water feature and hiking trail would go over the budget allocated for the canal reconstruction project, and the council is working to secure shares to make the water feature, desirable not only for it’s aesthetic value but to assist in storm drainage, and hiking trail possible.
“My goal is to move forward with plans (for the hiking trail). It’s not approved but we’re working towards hopefully getting funding in next year’s budget to move forward with the plans,” Daines said.
Daines said the piping installation should be complete, with hopes of the additional water feature and hiking trail, in the spring of 2013. Construction on the piping will begin immediately.
While many students utilize the canal for recreation, Daines said they are technically trespassing.
“There wouldn’t be enough water to tube, but there would be a great trail,” she said. “Technically the canal is private property, so the idea is to turn it into a trail with official public access.”
Daines said the council hasn’t seen any reaction to the plans from USU students. The canal has been a popular tubing location for students and residents for many years and Daines said the plan would discontinue this long-time student hobby or tradition.
Jeremy Schumann, a junior majoring in marketing, uses the canal another way. Schumann and his friends have been wakeboarding by connecting ropes to a bridge over a section of the canal in the Island.
“I’ve never tubed the canal, but we surf it,” Schumann said. “We do it two or three times a week and we love it. If it was closed, that sucks.”
Although the portion of the canal Schumann and his friends utilize won’t be affected by the enclosure, Schumann said creating a trail wasn’t a good idea.
“There’s tons of trails in Logan,” he said. “With the water there’s so many options. We can run anywhere. We prefer the water.”
Daines said she knows residents aren’t happy with the plans, but said they hoped the revisions would address some residents’ concerns.
“People still aren’t happy the canal is enclosed, but the canal company has the right to do that,” she said. “I know the enclosure disappoints people, but the revisions will make it much more esthetically pleasing and level for a trail, and basically just less intrusive to people’s backyards.”
Tom Jensen, another member of Logan city council, said despite residents heated feelings about the enclosure ultimately the water company owns the rights to the canal. Jensen said a Supreme Court case gives them the rights to the waterways.
“There is a Supreme Court case saying they can bury it anytime they want,” he said. “No one has rights to it except the water company and they literally have the right to do what they need to do to the end of the ditch.”
Jensen said some residents do own property affected by the canal but the canal company has an easement on the property allowing them to make decisions about the waterway.
“The canal company has had a waterway there for over 100 years, since the time of the pioneers,” Jensen said.
“It’s a hard thing, it’s a dramatic thing, but the whole purpose of the canal is not a beautification thing but for getting water to farmers,” Jensen said. “But we’ll try to do the best thing for the locals.”
– karlie.brand@aggiemail.usu.edu
Updates in process...
Hello! Thank you for visiting my published writing sample blog. As you can see, it has been a while since my last post. From November 2010-June 2012 I was serving a full-time LDS Mission in the Philippines and took a break from school, work and writing. This fall I'm back at Utah State University writing for the "Utah Statesman" on occasion and working as a communications assistant for the USU IT program. I'm working on updates to this blog as well as creating a site that houses my resume, writing and design experience and more. So stay tuned!
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