By Dan Chavez, Staff Reporter | Photo by Dan Chavez
Ten students and recent graduates from CNM were honored with substantial scholarships toward a bachelor’s degree in a ceremony recognizing their leadership, involvement with the CNM community, commitment to community service, and high academic performance, Director of Service Learning Sharon Gordon-Moffett said.
Students received their awards at The New Mexico State Capitol Building in Santa Fe at 491 Old Santa Fe Trail on January 29, and afterwards all recipients got to have a free lunch with CNM Vice President Philip Bustos.
The All USA, All-State Academic Scholarship awards students from community colleges and university branch campuses across the state, who have demonstrated leadership, service to the community and academic excellence, Gordon-Moffett said.
Students have to be nominated by the college president and they should prepare a track record of service to the community. This year there were some students who had worked on it for two or three years, she said.
Gordon-Moffett said students must complete a substantial application including official transcripts and letters of recommendation in regards to leadership and academic success and they must be graduating CNM with a minimum 3.5 GPA to receive this scholarship.
Student Activities Supervisor, Brandon Seber said that community service is really important to get the proper letters of recommendation for this scholarship.
“ Denonstrating leader abilities and creating a good rapport with faculty, so that students can obtain essential academic recommendation letters,” Seber said.
Gordon-Moffett said that although membership in the CNM Phi Theta Kappa honor society is beneficial, students do not need to be involved in any campus organization to apply and be considered for this scholarship.
“The focus is really on service within their community, leadership, and involvement on the college campus,” she said.
The scholoarship pays complete tuition for an additional two years at a university within New Mexico, which will vary depending on the school, but it averages at about $15,000, Gordon- Moffett said.
This award goes directly to the university and the funding will be adjusted to the particular school’s tuition costs, so students will not directly receive any funds from this scholarship, she said.
Go r d o n -Mo f f e t t said that with the academic credits earned at the community college level, a student could use the All USA, All-State Scholarship all the way to a bachelor’s degree without having to pay tuition.
“This is a substantial scholarship for students to graduate from a two year college with the goal of completing a four year bachelor’s degree at a New Mexico university,” she said.
Gordon-Moffett said that each award for this scholarship is a
one-of-a-kind original that must be held in a safe place because no other copies can be accepted, so this single piece of paper is worth about $15,000. for this scholarship is a
While Gordon- Moffett has helped organize the All-State Academic Scholarship on main campus, she said she has seen almost $1 million in scholarships awarded to CNM students.
Student body Vice President of the Executive Council of Students (ECOS), Carrie Ratkevch was awarded in this year’s ceremony, and is a CNM graduate with an associates degree of Applied Science in Criminal Justice.
Ratkevch said that it was exceptional to have this recognition because it means that others are supporting her in her academic aspirations.
“It means that people are behind me and saying ‘you can do it, you can finish, you can graduate, and you can do more than you ever thought possible.’ If it weren’t for CNM really showing me what I was capable of, I don’t think I would’ve gone beyond an associates,” she said.
Another award recipient and Business major, Jennifer Weber said she emphasized her degree in finance and accounting and that she will use her scholarship to continue business and finance studies at UNM.
“It feels wonderful; this was all a big surprise to read the letter and find out I’m getting a scholarship for four semesters to a university. I’m just over the top excited. It’s so pleasant to have that kind of recognition,” Weber said.
Robert Maler, a CNM graduate pursuing a mechanical engineering major at UNM, said that this scholarship is a fantastic opportunity and he would not have been able to continue toward a bachelor’s degree without this prestigious scholarship award.
He said he credits his parents with setting high standards for him to achieve.
“My father is my inspiration for continuing to go to school. He fell ill several years ago and now he’s doing much better. He’s here in New Mexico, in Las Cruces,” he said.
Iran Rodriguez, a CNM student majoring in nursing, will likely use this scholarship to study at UNM and complete his bachelor’s of science in nursing, he said.
“I feel very honored and very happy to receive this scholarship. It is truly a blessing and I’m very thankful for CNM and everyone who’s helped make this happen.” he said.
Gordon-Moffett said there are several levels for this award. The students who are awarded at the state level will be considered for recognition at the national level.
Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society has a scoring process that is used to select a national group for the All USA award, she said.
Gordon-Moffett said PTK International also awards a few of these students as Century Scholars and CNM had a student chosen for this honor in the past.
“So it may not be done yet for some of these students,” she said.
The All-USA scholarship is sponsored in part by Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society and the American Association of Community Colleges at the national level.
At the state level, the New Mexico All-State Academic Scholarship is sponsored and endorsed by the New Mexico Independent Community Colleges and the New Mexico Association of Community Colleges, Gordon-Moffett said.
By Nick Stern, Managing Editor | Photo by Nick Stern
In the past, disbursement day had previously been somewhat of a nightmare for both the students and faculty, but in the past few semesters the Financial Aid Department has made it much easier for most students to get through the lines easily, with students having the choice to get direct deposit, which has been making a world of difference, said Senior Director of Financial Aid, Lee Carrillo.
This semester was Business major Codi Battershell’s very first time receiving the Pell Grant which she received by walking up to the line that corresponded with her last name, at the Main Campus’ cashier’s desk, she said.
Battershell said she showed up at 2 p.m. and was able to grab her check within seconds flat, which left her quite impressed with how easy the system was for all the students who were picking up their checks, whether at the cashier’s desk or in the cafeteria nearby.
“I was able to walk right up to the desk and pick up my check because there was nobody in line. There were a couple of people that walked up right next to me and I realized that the way the lines are separated according to the first letter of your last name is very efficient,” Battershell said.
This being the first time Battershell ever received Pell Grants, said she was hesitant at first but once she started asking questions, she was pointed in the right direction and was able to apply without any trouble.
Any student who received financial assistance should be very thankful, Battershell said.
Carrillo said that as of the first disbursement date this semester, students were paid $18,027,255.65 in total.
Carrillo also got into the specific amounts like the Pell Grants which were at $11,281,798, the loans at $5,052,973, and the scholarships which were at $1,692,484.65, he said.
All of the financial assistance has gone to 10,106 students so far and the number will keep on growing throughout the semester because there are still checks given out throughout the semester, Carrillo said.
“We disburse throughout the term, so that number is going to increase exponentially by the end of the term. By the end of the term we will have probably paid out $26 million to students,” he said.
For how much money was given out to students on Friday, things went very smoothly and that has definitely been something the Financial Aid office has been working very hard to do, Carrillo said.
Carrillo said there are almost always new Federal regulations that change the way that financial aid can disburse, but they have gotten better at it every term, thanks to great staff, setting up lines alphabetically, and direct deposit.
Now that many students are on direct deposit the disbursement process is even faster, he said.
Carrillo said that about 40 percent of students receiving aid are on direct deposit which is impressive because 50 percent of the student population at CNM have bank accounts.
Students signed up for mostly Late-start classes who did not get their money during the first disbursement date will have to wait until 10 to 14 days after their classes start, Carrillo said.
Even despite the ease of picking up a check this past disbursement date, the financial aid office still received angry students in late-start classes who expected checks along with everyone else, Carrillo said.
All students have many tools at their disposal that should have made it clear when they were supposed to get their checks, such as the student resources on the CNM website, Carrillo said.
“The CNM website has a list of when all late-start students receive their disbursement checks. It is up to the students to go up there to look and see where they are at. That way they can be on top of things,” he said.
The financial aid department also sends a lot of information to students upfront and before disbursement dates via email, including, reminders of late-start classes, repeat courses, and even reminders to fill out FAFSA applications, Carrillo said.
All students in late-start classes, who did not get a check, were sent emails that explained how their checks would come two weeks after their classes have started, Carrillo said.
Students need to read their emails if they want to stay on top of their disbursement situation and that shouldn’t be hard, because financial aid sends students emails a couple weeks before disbursement occurs, Carrillo said.
Financial aid is also always willing to receive emails from students who have questions or concerns, Carrillo said.
There are always people dedicated to reading student emails and responding promptly on the same day as they are received, which can get tough on days when disbursement happens, Carrillo said.
“We have people who personally read the students’ emails and answer their questions. So if students have any questions about their financial aid, they should not hesitate to send an email. We try to answer all questions within an hour or two of being asked,” Carrillo said.
Carrillo would also like to remind students that above all, the Financial Aid department is there to help students, he said.
Students are always able to come in and ask questions about their disbursement, their files being incomplete, or anything else that financial aid can help with, he said.
They are there to help students and Carrillo even remembers being stressed out as a student himself, he said, so he generally knows how most of the students feel when they are worried about not getting their financial aid.
“I used to be a student so I know what it is like to be strapped, have no money, and not know when the money is going to come in,” Carrillo said.
Tuesday, Feb. 4 is World Cancer Awareness Day, and students as well as faculty should take the time today to think about how cancer has affected their lives and the lives of people they care for who are affected by the devastation that cancer can bring into one’s life.
Knowing the myths, how symptoms can be detected and the resources out there that are available to test for cancers is crucial to keeping one’s body cancer free and healthy, because early prevention and detection can be the difference in living and beating the odds.
Not only is Cancer Awareness Day all about learning to care for oneself, but to also remember the loved ones that many of us have lost or have had to watch go through the process of chemotherapy.
Some of us have been fortunate enough to have had loved ones survive this disease, but many still pass away, and is why awareness of this issue is vital to prevention and early detection for all the additional loved ones we all care about in our lives.
According to worldcancerday.org the goals declared for this year are to strengthen health systems for effective cancer control, measure cancer burden and impact of cancer plans in all countries, reduce exposure to cancer risk factors, universal coverage of HPV and HBV vaccination, reduce stigma and dispel myths about cancer, universal access to screening and early detection for cancer, improve access to services across the cancer care continuum, universal availability of pain control and distress management and improve education and training of healthcare professionals, with the ultimate goal of major reductions in premature deaths from cancer.
For people who want to help, but do not know how to get started; there are many resources one can become a part of to help people that suffer from cancer or to even help with the goals of this year’s cancer awareness day.
People can do anything from just wearing a cancer awareness ribbon, sharing information via social networking, or even volunteering.
Resources to volunteer can be found at volunteerlearning.cancer.org/,
testicularcancerawarenessfoundation. org/volunteer/, and at nationalbreastcancer.org/breast-cancer-volunteer.
Also for information on early detection readers can go to earlydetectionplan. org/
It is great to hear that Security Director William Duran in the article “Security department deals with thefts and starts community based initiative,” is taking steps to ensure that all campuses are up to date with a new access control system that will incorporate intrusion control.
That means that if there ever were a shooter situation students and faculty could have their classroom doors lock automatically to prevent injuries or loss of life.
With shooter incidents becoming frequent in schools throughout the nation, it is relieving to hear that measures will be taken to make sure students and staff are safe on campus.
Not many schools are taking the initiative at the community college level to get this type of access control system, so CNM is fortunate in the care and safety that the school plans to start.
Every second counts when it comes to shooters on campus, and an overall campus lock system could have the potential to save countless lives.
According to the dailybeast.com since 2012 when 20 first-graders were shot and killed at Sandy Hook Elementary, that school shootings have taken place in America every two weeks on average, with the majority of shooter situations being at high schools throughout the nation.
According to schoolsafetynews.com the Run/Hide/Fight reaction to school shooter scenarios suggests that running is not always better than hiding, and that the Department of Homeland security suggests evacuating if there is a possible escape route without contact with the shooter, but if not that students should try to hide until help can come school-wide.
Procedures such as this need to also be addressed and taught to students here so that everyone on campus knows what to do in a shooter situation, so hopefully when this new system is finished at all the campuses, maybe the school can do lock-down drills just as fire drills are done, and educate everyone at the same time on what students can to do to ensure their own safety.
The Chronicle appreciates that the security force on campus is changing things on campus for the better, and that are instilling a better customer service type philosophy that brings student safety to the forefront at CNM.
By Jonathan Baca, Copy Editor | Photo by Jonathan Baca
Some Culinary Arts students are getting out of the classroom and into the new food truck, serving up fresh homemade soups and sandwiches to Main Campus students and beyond.
The Street Food Institute Food Truck is the product of a new partnership that provides students with credits toward their degrees, along with some real world experience in the challenges of running a restaurant on wheels.
Every Tuesday and Thursday, the food truck will be parked on Main campus, in the parking lot just south of Smith Brasher Hall, and students are already enjoying the new dining option.
All CNM students receive a 25 percent discount, and just have to show their student ID’s.
Computer Informations Technology major, James Brice said “The Cubano sandwich is great; I’ve already had it twice. It’s just nice to have another thing to eat besides the cafeteria food.”
David Sellers, who is an Executive Chef and Program Director for the Street Food Institute, a part of the Simon Charitable Foundation, said his goal is to train young chefs to be future entrepreneurs and small business owners, also to have students help boost the local economy.
“I wanted it to be really simple. Great quality food but in simple sandwich form using really good ingredients, and we’ve had great reviews so far,” Sellers said.
The food truck itself is the hands-on portion of a new Culinary Arts class, Mobile Food Operations, where students learn the basics of running a food truck, including the creation of a menu, food costs, preparation and service, as well as setting up and tearing down the truck, Sellers said.
The new class is a pilot course being offered for three semesters, with the ultimate goal of creating a three-term food truck certification program, Sellers said.
Culinary Arts major, Jake Morgan said he was excited to be one of the first eight students to take the new course.
“I was really interested in it because I want to run a food truck. You don’t have as much overhead or costs at the beginning. I mean you are only paying for a truck, not a brick and mortar building,” Morgan said.
Morgan said that he would enjoy creating a unique concept for the truck, because one of the greatest advantages of having a food truck is the ease that one can change the menu and style of the cuisine, due to the low overhead and versatility of a mobile restaurant.
Another advantage that working in a food truck offers over a traditional kitchen job in a restaurant is the personal, face-to-face interactions that they get to have with their customers, Morgan said.
“You get to relate with people immediately. You can usually tell right away if someone is disappointed with what they got or not,” Morgan said.
The initial menu was designed by Sellers, and includes turkey, barbeque pork, grilled cheese and Cuban sandwiches, as well as several soups and side dishes, which are all made from scratch, and with a student discount makes these dishes a steal, Sellers said.
“It is already reasonably priced, so a 25 percent discount is quite cheap actually, especially for the quality,” Sellers said.
Sellers said he strives to use as many local ingredients as possible, including produce from Green Tractor and Romero Farms, and that he is working on creating a long-term partnership with Agricultura, a local student-run farming project.
Culinary Arts major, Sara Green does not work in the truck, but takes the partner class, where she helps prep food for the day.
Green said she thinks the thing that makes the food truck a better alternative for students is the fresher, homemade ingredients that students get to serve there.
“I think the truck is a good option for students to go to. I know for most students, they don’t like to necessarily eat the other food that is offered on campus, and at the truck we make most of the stuff basically from scratch,” Green said.
Much of the menu is handmade and fresh, including the salads, the sandwich spreads, lemonade, and their unique spiced parsnip potato chips, she said.
The food truck students even make their own pickles and spice, and roast the turkey that they use on sandwiches, which all contributes to a more flavorful, enjoyable eating experience, she said.
“I think it’s the food that makes it. Once people try it and like the food, they are going to come back,” Green said.
Culinary Arts major, Erik Newlander who has worked as a sushi chef, said he signed up for the class because he has dreams of someday starting a food truck that sells sushi.
Newlander said that the team has gotten a lot of positive feedback, and that the truck has had a very solid opening with few problems.
“The menu is going pretty good, people really seem to like everything on there,” Newlander said.
While the first menu concept was created by Sellers, he said that once the class is out of the pilot phase, the plan is for students to help create an entire concept from the ground up, creating a menu, sourcing and buying ingredients, and managing the operation of the truck themselves.
“That’s when you throw the ball into their court and see what they can come up with. It’s a great sort of multi-faceted program,” Sellers said.
Sellers said he is excited about the future potential for the Street Food Institute, as food trucks are becoming more popular in Albuquerque.
“I think right now we’re kind of hitting it at the perfect timing. The scene is just really starting here, so it’s a great opportunity for people to start something,” he said.
By Nick Stern, Managing Editor | Photos by Nick Stern
CNM students were proud to be a part of 516 ARTS’ Heart of the City Art Exhibition on 516 Central Avenue SW, from February 1 at 6 p.m. until May 3 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Art History major, Patricia Del Rio Jaen said.
Jaen said the same CNM art class that created the Signs of the Times mural was led by Instructor Larry Bob Phillips which the class also had an exhibit in the show, which was called Signs of Life.
Heart of the City consisted of a series of collaborations, which all explored the city environment through many different projects including art, urban planning, cultural and economic development, education, and community dialogue, said Executive Director of 516 ARTS, Suzanne Sbarge, who was also the project director of this collaboration.
There were thirteen different organizations involved with the collaboration, including CNM, and some of which were Ace Barbershop, Warehouse 508, and Amy Biehl High School, according to the program guide for the exhibition.
Jaen said the project CNM students had created was made up of over a dozen different signs that the students picked out, designed, and painted themselves.
Phillips’ class stuck to the traditional style of the Route 66 era sign painting that they had used for the mural they created downtown as part of the same Heart of the City collaboration called Signs of the Times, Jaen said.
“For the style, we tried to stick to the classic sign painting style so everything is very crisp and it is very traditional,” she said.
Jaen said that it seems everyone had a great time as the art space was packed for most of the night, and that it is good that the school partners up with projects such as this for students to learn outside the classroom.
Jaen said she is very proud of the work that her class created and that CNM should be very proud of it as well.
Sbarge said the idea for Heart of the City came from a longing to examine and analyze what was all around the people of Albuquerque, which could be interpreted differently by people, and making the focus of this project on Albuquerque culture and history based out of the Downtown area.
“The idea for Heart of the City emerged out of our desire to examine what is literally right outside our front doors,” she said.
CNM participation in the collaborations is very impressive because not only was their art next to other professional artists’ work but their Signs of the Times mural is also always going to be in public for the entire city of Albuquerque to look at, she said.
Jesse Philips, who has a bachelor’s in illustration, played a big part in designing both projects that CNM students worked on and he had a lot of fun doing it, he said.
Philips said he is good friends with Instructor Phillips and the two have worked on many projects together, he said.
Philips said he has always been inspired by the Route 66 era signage that has a big part in Albuquerque’s history and culture, who also believes that it is a lost art that has pretty much been replaced by canned signs that are a dime a dozen that require no skill to make, and he was happy to help preserve a little bit of the style.
“I think it is good that they are preserving stuff, like when hotels get torn down they keep the sign up because it is a symbol of our history,” he said.
Philips said he had a great time at the exhibition, as well as having a chance to work with the students of CNM on an outside project.
He had a lot of fun working with them and was very impressed by their drive to get the project done.
Jaen said, the students had already gotten the credit for the class, yet they were still showing up every day to work on the project and in the end they had something much greater than a good grade to be proud of with this one of a kind project to work with 516 ARTS.
By Jonathan Baca, Copy Editor | Photo by Jonathan Baca
In a crowded, noisy high school gym, the sounds of arena music, cheering fans, and a play-by-play announcer bounced around the walls as a timer ticked down on the scoreboard. But this was not a sporting event; it was a battle of scientific wits.
On Saturday, February 1 at Albuquerque Academy, the New Mexico FIRST LEGO League Tournament was held, where 57 teams of grade-schoolers used custom made robots built with LEGO parts to complete a series of challenges, all while learning that science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) can be a lot of fun.
Program Coordinator for the School of Health, Wellness and Public Safety at CNM, Amanda Lopez has been volunteering with FLL for three years as the Junior FLL Coordinator, and she said that watching kids discover how much fun they can have with science has kept her coming back for more.
“Seeing the kids do the work, building the robots and having a good time really drew me to continue volunteering with them. I just kind of got hooked, it was really fun,” Lopez said.
Each year, FLL, which is part of the international organization FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), creates a theme for the tournament. A series of challenges is created around that theme, and in the fall FLL sends each team a series of instructions on how to build the game board they will be competing on.
Each team also gets a kit that includes all the basic building pieces for their robots, made from the LEGO Mindstorms series.
Teams have several months to build a custom robot that can be programmed to perform specific tasks, and they do a research project that goes along with the year’s theme.
This year’s theme was Natural Disasters, and on the day of the tournament, each team had to use their robots to achieve certain goals on the game board.
Certain tasks are harder to achieve and count for more points, so teams need to decide on different strategies and different robot designs to try to earn as many points as they can over three two-minute rounds.
“The big thing about it is that the kids do the work. They are doing the research, they build the models, and adults are around to help them, but they are the ones doing the investigating,” Lopez said.
Morgan said that the creators of the tournament realized that kids have plenty of heroes in sports, music and movies, but little to no role models in the world of science and engineering.
So the creators designed the event as a sort of “sport for the mind,” with a raucous, exciting atmosphere, announcers, team t-shirts and high energy, she said.
Morgan said her biggest thrill is seeing kids getting excited about the world of science and technology, when these students realize that it is not as hard as it seems, and that it can be really fun.
“There is a great deal of joy that I get when I see the kid’s faces light up. They get it, and they realize that it’s not all nerd type stuff and old white guys with pocket protectors. We want to break that stereotype completely,” Morgan said.
She said that robotics is really only the hook to get the kids excited; the real value and learning comes from the themes, which all relate to the world of STEM.
Many kids who compete end up coming back as volunteers and team coaches, and FLL tries to keep them involved in a meaningful and creative way.
All of the workers at the events are volunteers, and Lopez said she encourages CNM students to get involved, or if they are parents, to have their kids compete.
“Especially for any of the youth that we work with, we want them to have a meaningful volunteer experience,” Lopez said.
Morgan said that involvement with FLL can be a big advantage for students looking for scholarships, and that sponsors like Sandia Labs and Northrop Grumman see the program as a kind of early training program for future technicians and engineers.
No matter how a person is involved, Lopez said that everyone has fun and gets a lot of satisfaction out of the experience.
For more information, or to volunteer with New Mexico FIRST LEGO League, visit nmfll.org.
By Dan Chavez, Staff Reporter | Photos by Dan Chavez
Party Rhino -Kristen Saiz, and J. AchenThe Kite -Amelia Sierra-Wilkerson and R. KarcherThe Planar Problem Frustration -James Carrasco, Sandra Lopez, and G. BirkholzThe Feast – Krisitan Fleming and Kale BeckThe Metamorphosis -B. Flowler, J. Hyland, H. Shih
Walking by the Student Resource Center one can see that some Art students have put together a sculpture garden for other students to admire, made out of cardboard to not only represent conservation but to also go with the theme of the RecycleMania competition CNM is competing in this Spring semester.
Art Instructor, Jennifer Johnson’s 3-dimensional design art class designed and set up the garden on January 28, with plans to dismantle it on February 11, provided the weather does not destroy the exhibit before then, Johnson said.
All of the projects were made with recycled materials that students pulled from nearby dumpsters, as well as reusing old wire clothing hangers to tie the pieces together, Johnson said.
“Instead of using costly art supplies, they decided that they would use recycled materials,” she said.
Johnson said that painting the sculptures was not allowed because the overall project theme was about recycling, and painting the cardboard would make them non-recyclable.
Johnson said there were teams of two or three students and they worked collectively to come up with the theme.
The students in this project could not construct closed sculptures, which means construction had to be open and transparent for people to be able see through, she said.
“They came up with a concept and they had to create in planer or sliced form construction, which is planes that are slotted and attached to create the dimension of the form. It’s also known as open sculpture,” she said.
Johnson said the students had a week and a half to develop a concept, complete the sculpture, and install it on the grass area near the SRC.
Johnson said the students worked during class time and in open studio hours to complete their projects.
Fine Arts major, Amelia Sierra-Wilkirson said she helped to create a sculpture titled “The Kite.”
Sierra-Wilkirson said her group’s concept was children climbing a tree, which she thought became ironic, because the team was combining a tree with cardboard made from wood, which is also recyclable.
Sierra-Wilkirson said her group began to like the concept so they went with it.
Once Sierra-Wilkirson’s group had all the pieces cut out, their sculpture took about five hours to construct, she said.
“We had it all planned out and we thought, ‘this is going to so be easy!’ It wasn’t,” she said.
Double major of Film and Veterinary Technician, Kristen Saiz said she was part of the group that constructed “Party Rhino,” who was sitting on the ground holding a bottle and having a good time.
Saiz’s team worked freestyle to create the sculpture’s pattern which made for a somewhat difficult task, she said.
She said that the project was a lot of work for a very short period.
“Party Rhino” took about 12 hours to complete and Saiz said she was happy with the outcome, she said.
“I’m pretty pleased with it, overall,” Saiz said.
Art major, Kristin Fleming and studio arts major Kale Beck constructed “The Feast,” which was a cooked turkey with ants marching toward it and a large fork stuck in the ground.
Fleming said some of the other teams had living animals in their projects, so for a different approach, they decided to construct a cooked animal.
Beck said this project took between 10 to 15 hours to construct over the course of a week, and that designing the sculpture was not too difficult.
“We kind of just winged it most of the way,” he said.
Their sculpture prop was of a fork, which was a challenge to keep in the ground, he said.
Beck said despite the long hours, he mostly enjoyed this project.
“But it’s been pretty fun,” he said.
Double major of Fine Arts and Mechanical Engineering, James Carrasco said he worked on a team with Sandra Lopez to construct a sculpture titled “The Planar Problem-Frustration.”
Their concept was an elephant trying to figure out a ball, which he finds complicated, he said.
Carrasco said his team’s sculpture took about 16 hours to complete.
Fleming said that one requirement for the project was that the sculpture has to consist of two things interacting with a prop, which limited them to animate objects.
“The hardest part, I think, was figuring out how to put it all together, we had a good design but then getting it to actually fit together,” she said.
