Photo credit: Rebecca Forman

It’s incredibly difficult to find a job these days, right? Think again.

On Thursday, in the College of Business Atrium, sat tables with 15 companies waiting to talk to graduate students of the college. All of them had full-time positions to fill.

Lindsay Burke, a graduate student earning a master’s of science in marketing, arrived decked out in her business attire, ready to mingle with her possible future employers.

“I hope to make at least some sort of connections for some possible job opportunities,” she said.

Burke was most excited to talk to Nielsen, which is one company she would like to do data and market research analysis for.

Another company represented was Internet retailer Web Direct Brands. The CEO, Anthony Gaeto, who is a USF alum, enjoys coming to campus because it is a tie to the community.

“We’ve actually got four people that we’ve recruited from these types of events. One of them being our vice president and one of them our director of operations,” he said.

Gaeto realizes this is a challenging job environment but he said students are coming to the table with lots of talents. He shared some advice as to what impresses him and makes students stand out.

“We really look for a sort of consistency, an ethics in their past jobs. We shy away from people who change jobs every six months. Even if you’re a bag boy for three years, it shows the ethics to stay with your work,” he said.

So, Bulls, there are jobs out there waiting for you – you just have to look in the right places. Heck, I even got asked what I was doing after graduation!

Companies in Attendance:

1. Chase
2. TQL (Total Qaulity Logisitics)
3. Bisk Education
4. Tech Data Corporation
5. Defense Contract Audit Agency
6. Verizon Wireless*
7. Nielsen
8. First Investors Corporation*
9. Citigroup
10. Northwestern Mutual
11. Target Corporation
12. Kass Shuler, PA*
13. Accounting Principles
14. Prudential
15. Web Direct Brands

* denotes new to the event

The Inventors Club is currently fundraising to cover the donations of each of its members to participate in the NEDA Walk, which marches across Tampa Bay on Saturday (Feb. 25) beginning at 10:00 a.m. from Al Lopez Park.

This small group of creative thinkers, future business leaders and eclectic innovators got involved with helping raise awareness of eating disorders after learning about Bailey Monarch, a 17-year-old Pinellas high school student who was paralyzed, lost her hair, and nearly died battling anorexia.

“We felt it was important to have some kind of philanthropy,” said Ally Lewis, a USF Inventors Club member who helped organize the club’s involvement in the NEDA Walk. Lewis, a sophomore double majoring in psychology and molecular biology, explained that “when you hear [Bailey’s] story it’s hard to ignore.”

After getting treatment and overcoming anorexia, Bailey wanted to help other people who struggle with eating disorders. She founded the Tampa Bay NEDA Walk in 2011, the first event raising $33,000.

NEDA Walk Coordinator Cherie Monarch, Bailey’s mother, spoke at the Inventors Club meeting Tuesday, Jan 31, where she thanked the club for getting involved and expounded upon the dangers of eating disorders.

“Eating disorders kill 10 times more people than car accidents,” said Monarch, “and if we don’t do something there will be an entire generation of kids that have eating disorders.”
Monarch estimates that 11 million people suffer from anorexia and bulimia, with around 30,000 Tampa Bay area residents suffering with eating disorders. Without treatment up to 20 percent of serious eating disorder patients die, a number that drops to three percent with treatment, according to NEDA.

“It’s not something that you usually see a USF Student Organization getting involved in,” said Inventors Club Publicity Officer Taryn Dewey. “We wanted to do something a little different.”

The USF Inventors Club is a new student organization, having had just three meetings, but they are already proving that with creativity and ingenuity they can tackle far greater issues than just technological ones.

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Photo Credit: Eric E. Johnson

Participants prepare poster presentations in anticipation of further questions from lead researchers who will ultimately decide on the award-worthy entries.

Here are the top five reasons to attend tomorrows event being called  “the coolest USF Health Research Day ever,” by Dr. Stephen Klasko (CEO of USF Health and Dean of the College of Medicine):

1. It’s going to be better than last years Research Day – This year boasts a record number of poster presentations (340 vs. 260) and a record number of undergraduate presenters (22 vs. 29). This years event will also be the first showing presentations from the new College of Pharmacy students.

2. Get a first look – It’s a chance to get a first look at work from presenters whose work may score spots at national research meetings.

3. Listen to a speech from Dr. Liggett – This years keynote speaker is Professor of medicine and physiology, director of the Cardiopulmonary Genomics Program, and associate dean for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Dr. Stephen B. Liggett. His speech is titled “Personalized Medicine for Asthma: Role of Viral Genomic Variation.” Dr. Liggetts studies have lead to new discoveries in how a patients genetic makeup can be used to customize drug treatment.

4. Check out a presentation from the Dali Museum – The presentation will address the connection between arts programs and the self-concept of children. It is only the second ever presentation of the Dr. Christopher P. Phelps Memorial Fund Award for a winning neuroscience poster presentation.

5. You don’t have to go far – Organizers opted to keep the event in the Marshall center this year. Presenters will display their work on the second-floor ballroom of the Marshall Center while the keynote address will be given in the Oval Theatre.

If you go:

Health and Research Day takes place from 8am to 5pm.

For more information visit the Research Day website.

Photo credit: Rebecca Forman

Ryan Spellins remembers how important last year’s 25 Under 25 award in the College of Business was for him.

The recognition has helped him land a pretty sweet job.

“I’m going to be starting as a financial analyst for Goldman Sachs in the middle of March. I just received that job offer this week,” he said.

Ryan Spellins/Courtesy: USF

He had planned to enter the Marine Corps for flight school, but when military cuts delayed everything, he decided to pursue his other passion: finance. Now, he’s on his way to Salt Lake City, Utah.

“It just gave me the opportunity to network and be comfortable with high-up management, executives, and just really be involved with the community,” he said.

The College of Business is taking applications for its 25 under 25 program, which recognizes 25 undergraduates under the age of 25 who have demonstrated excellence in at least two of the following four areas: scholarship, professional development, leadership, and community/campus service.

Applicants must be admitted to the College of Business and have a minimum 3.0 cumulative GPA at the time of application.

Below is a video the College of Business has provided for tips on filling out the application, which is due no later than 11:59 p.m. on March 6.

The solar panels will arrive on the roof on Saturday, begin installation on Monday and be completed in a week. This project is possible thanks to the money from the Student Green Energy Fund, generated from the one dollar per credit hour student tuition green fee.

The fund supports sustainable projects that students, faculty or staff may submit to the Office of Sustainability.

“(Solar panels) are a feasible and essential means to reduce our fossil fuel consumption,” Jamie Trahan, a graduate student majoring in mechanical engineering, said. “Wind turbines need a lot of area and need to be in places that are uninhabited. Solar panels, you can pretty much put them anywhere.”

The 108 panels will provide144 watts of energy each, which will feed into the electrical system of the Marshall Student Center.

“Well if you have a 60 watt light bulb – a typical incandescent – that would power a few light bulbs, one of those panels,” she said.

The amorphous panels on the student center, which are silicon based, have a lower efficiency than typical crystalline panels but have a better output during inclement weather and high temperatures.

“We thought in Tampa’s conditions the Amorphous would fit pretty well,” she said.

Trahan and three other graduate students submitted the $160,000 proposal, which included a second option to add solar panels to the canopy being built over the amphitheater outside the student center.

The canopy was designed to have the panels, Trahan said, but the Marshall Student Center ran out of funds to include them.

“When we found out, we said, ‘why don’t we just ask for the money to put those panels up,’” she said. “They went ahead and moved forward getting us the funding for both of (the projects).”

The canopy installation will begin May 10 and consist of crystalline panels, which have a higher efficiency because of their absorbent small silicon crystals.

Trahan and her team proposed the solar panels because they will be visible to the student body, proving their tuition is hard at work.

“The Student Green Energy Fund only has a three year time period so after three years it has to be renewed,” she said. “And that means students have to vote on it again, and unless they see what their money is going towards, they might not do that.”

The team is working with a design group creating a kiosk to be available at the end of February in the Marshall Student Center to track and display the energy output of the panels.

“You can replace light bulbs and reduce energy consumption, but we really wanted something that was symbolic of USF’s initiative toward sustainability,” Trahan said.

Zaida Darley, program director in the Office of Sustainability, said President Judy Genshaft signed a climate action plan in the spring 2011 semester to become a more energy efficient university.

“This Student Green Energy Fund allows for USF to meet those goals to become a greener campus,” she said.

The fee generates about $800,000 a year and supplied $300,000 for the first four projects last fall semester.

“I get a lot of students that have ideas about how to make the campus greener,” she said. “Sometimes that student interest just needs a little money and back up to make those ideas happen.”

The Office of Sustainability has not received any proposals yet for this semester. This is not an issue considering 12 of the 14 submitted proposals in the fall were turned in the day of the deadline, Darley said. The deadline this semester is March 5.

Junior golfer Karli Heimbecker. Courtesy: USF

The transition from a contact sport to a non-contact sport can be tough for any athlete, but for USF student Karli Heimbecker’s transition wasn’t difficult.

The youngest sibling of three, the 20-year-old international studies major didn’t begin her athletic career playing golf.

“I had other sports I was interested in, mainly soccer,” Heimbecker said.

Her older siblings, David and Dani, both played golf in high school and at the collegiate level, which influenced Heimbecker into playing golf her freshman year of high school.

“I didn’t start taking golf seriously until I was in high school,” she said. “I just decided to tryout for the team because soccer was in the spring and golf in the fall.”

“I started working towards a golf scholarship my last few years of high school,” Heimbecker said. “I knew I needed to choose soccer or golf…. I couldn’t pursue both of them. At first, it was tough knowing that I was leaving it [soccer] because I played it for the first 14 years of my life.”

Playing golf her last two years in high school led her to a golf scholarship at USF, forcing her to give up soccer.

Now in her junior year, Heimbecker looks to continue to improve her game with dreams of becoming a professional golfer.

The next tournament for the USF women’s golf team is on Feb.27 in Weston, Fla.

Frankel is a professor and the assistant director for the USF theatre program, and Allison is one of his students. Frankel suggested that Allison audition for the role after the previous performer dropped out of the Tampa Repertory Theatre’s production of Cold Storage

“Lauren is very accomplished for her age,” Frankel said. “I’m usually reluctant to involve students because of the time commitment, but I thought that Lauren was capable of bringing certain qualities to the role.”

Allison said that working with Frankel and co-performer Jim Wicker was an interesting experience. As they practiced and performed she could see that, as her teacher, Frankel wanted to offer her direction but had to stop himself because, in this situation, they were cast members and not teacher and student.

“It was fun to be on the same level as the other cast members,” Allison said. “Frankel is such a seasoned actor and watching him work with Jim Wicker was such a learning experience.”

This wasn’t the first time Frankel or Allison stepped out of their school roles while performing. Allison performed with Daniel Bonnett, her then high school drama teacher, in the Broward Center of the Performing Arts production of The Jungle Book.

“It was the same sensation as in Cold Storage,” Allison said. “I had to keep reminding myself that I was an equal in that setting.”

When Frankel taught at Saint Leo University, he also had worked with students in two instances where actors dropped out at the last moment and in another instance where the students requested it.

“The students wanted to do Moliere’s The Miser and they wanted me to play the main character Harpagon,” Frankel said. “The theatre department was closing and it was a last, fun thing to do. I saw it as a way for the students to work with someone of a different age and experience level.”

Credit: GoUSFBulls.com

Dontavia Bogan’s rookie season in the NFL didn’t go quite as planned.

After starring at USF for four years and finishing with the second-most receiving yards and touchdowns in school history, Bogan wasn’t selected in the 2011 NFL Draft. However, the 23-year-old was signed by the San Francisco 49ers and made the team’s roster. Then, less than a week into his NFL career, his season came to an end.

“On the third day of training camp, I tore my ACL,” Bogan said. “Unfortunately, I had to miss the entire 2011 season, so my rookie year was basically just about rehabbing my knee. They placed me on injured reserve and they had me out in Arizona doing rehab with a knee specialist. I went to four or five games this year, but other than that, I was just rehabbing and making sure I’m ready for this upcoming season. That was the story of my rookie season.”

After working his entire life to play in the NFL, he had to put his dream on hold for another year. Now, Bogan’s knee is completely healthy, and he’s excited to get back onto the field next season.

“I’m starving right now, and I’m not talking about food,” Bogan said with a laugh. “I’ve been out for an entire year. I’ve been away from the game that I love. I can’t wait to get back.”

Because of his injury, Bogan’s contract with the 49ers won’t be guaranteed entering the season. He’ll have to earn his way onto the roster again with an impressive outing in training camp. Charlie Bernstein, NFL analyst for Fox Sports, believes that Bogan has what it takes to make the team.

“He’s a smaller guy with average speed, so he projects to be a possession receiver at the next level,” Bernstein said. “But if he can stay healthy, he’ll have as good a chance as anyone to make the 49ers.”

Even though he was sidelined for his entire rookie season, Bogan still enjoyed the experience.

“I still learned a lot,” Bogan said. “I was sitting there watching every game from the sideline and learning so much about this league. I understand how NFL cornerbacks play, how tight the route running needs to be and a bunch of things like that. I studied it all and noticed a lot of new things. The experience was great. You first get there as a rookie and see all of these big-name players that you’ve been watching on TV. You see someone like Vernon Davis and it’s like, ‘Dang, I’m in the same locker room as this guy?’”

Bogan played 49 games for the Bulls and has fond memories of his time at USF. He believes that the coaching staff deserves a lot of credit for his development, and he still follows the team closely.

“I feel like they put me in a great situation,” Bogan said. “There were a number of great wide receiver coaches there that really helped me. I learned a lot from Coach [Mike] Canales, and then they brought in Coach [Phil] McGeoghan. He played in the NFL, so he knows what it takes to get there and he helped put me in position to make the league. He taught me a lot and helped me improve my route running. USF prepared me pretty well for the next level. I still spend a lot of time in Tampa. I’m alumni now, and I watch every single game.”

Bogan had a stellar career at USF and will try to duplicate that success in San Francisco this season. His rookie season was a disappointment, but Bogan’s best football is likely still ahead of him.

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