Honors Program THE VIEW FROM HERE. G e o r g i a I n s t i t u t e o f T e c h n o l o g y. Course Rollout Luncheon

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1 G e o r g i a I n s t i t u t e o f T e c h n o l o g y THE VIEW FROM HERE Honors Program October 2009 by Dr. Monica Halka The IMPACT speaker series last week featured President Peterson s impressions about leadership, and he said many laudable things, including how a leader must also be a servant and should strive to provide direction rather than management all very sensible and important. But it got me wondering about why the concept of leadership is such a huge focus on this campus and if that s really beneficial to students. The why has many answers, probably the foremost being that if Tech can produce a high percentage of industrial, political, and other organizational heads, it looks good: Ambitious parents will want to send their children here. But is leadership the best ambition for all students, or even most? The Honors Students collaborating at the Honor Program Expo last spring. Program would probably not run very smoothly if each year we admitted 115 student leaders to live together in the same dorm. An orchestra wouldn t work at all if every musician chose (or was pushed) to be a conductor, if there were no music students, no solitary composers, no passive listeners to sit in the audience. The same can be said for almost any field of endeavor architecture, literature, engineering, conflict management, scientific research. The designers, learners, analysts, builders the doers must outnumber the leaders by orders of magnitude, or nothing can be accomplished. Understanding what defines a good leader is important for all of us, but studying leadership will not grow a Mohandas Gandhi or a Bill Gates. Great leaders evolve through their experiences, not from training. (An ambition to be in charge of people should, in fact, be viewed with suspicion.) Perhaps attention to collaborative skills, such as the art of intellectual discourse, would be a more sensible focus for a campus as diverse as ours, with graduates who will enter all walks of life. Drowned R.A.T.S.? Not on this Retreat! by Frances Chiang and Kristin Herrel Rain, rain, go away. This was the thought that kept running through everyone s minds during this year s Honors Program Freshman Retreat, which took place on the wettest weekend of the year. Luckily, the retreat proved to be a success despite the wet dog feeling of most retreat goers. On September 19th and 20th, this year s Honors Program Freshman class headed south to Indian Springs State Park for a day of activities, s mores, games, and bonding (not molecular bonds, but friendship!). See Retreat pg. 3 Mark your calendars now... Course Rollout Luncheon Tuesday, October 20 11:00am-12:30pm Student Success Center - Press Rm. A Come out to meet the professors of our special topics courses and hear about the classes HP will be offering in the Spring! Lunch provided. v 1

2 Honors Program Special Topic Courses for Spring 2010 CHEM Origins of Life TR 1:30-3:00 Dr. Nick Hud INTA Rise of China W 3:00-6:00 Dr. Fei-Ling Wang ME Cutting Edge Seminar TR 4:30-6:00 Dr. David Ku ISYE Duality TR 3:00-4:30 Dr. Craig Tovey ECE Success or Failure? MW 4:30-6:00 Dr. Joe Hughes EAS Balance of Power TBD Dr. Kim Cobb LCC Pick of the Literature TBD Dr. Catherine Murray-Rust Note: This schedule is still tentative. Times and dates may change. For more information on the courses being offered, please attend the HP Course Rollout Luncheon on October 20th from 11:00am-12:30pm in the Student Success Center, Press Room A. AIESEC Builds International Connections by Priya Nakra and Priya Malhotra The Georgia Tech Honors Program encourages sustainable education and individual initiative among its students, and when observing how HP student involvement actually reflects these ideals, one campus organization comes to mind. AIESEC, the world s largest student-run organization, is a global network that serves as a platform for leadership development, student exchange, and cultural understanding. It was created in 1948 amidst the brutal aftermath of World War II by university students across Europe with one idea in mind to foster peace through global understanding. AIESEC s founders viewed student exchange as a means to achieve this understanding. This idea has served as the organization s foundation through its worldwide development over the past 60 years: Whether it be conferences, projects in local committees, or students going abroad for work experience, every aspect of AIESEC is based on fostering global awareness through the exchange of ideas among its chapters, which are present in over 107 countries, in 63 of the top 100 universities in the world. The relationship between the Honors Program and AIESEC at Georgia Tech has been extremely successful, apparent in the strong number of HP students involved in the organization. These include several new members, who just joined AIESEC this semester, and older members, some of whom serve in various leadership roles within the organization, like current Local Committee president, Amira Choueki. Priya Malhotra, a second-year industrial engineering major in HP, has recently been chosen to be a session facilitator for this year s regional kick-off conference in Greenville, South Carolina. I am very excited about AIESEC, and have personally found it to be a great source of motivation when school in general seems dull. Although she only joined the organization in the spring of this year, Malhotra has already taken on leadership roles, including being on the Organizing Committee for the AIESEC International Fundraising Ball, taking place on November 6th at the Hotel Palomar. Sales and Incoming Exchange team member Victor Lesniewski, also in HP, has gained an immense amount of sales experience from being in AIESEC and has personally helped to sign contracts between companies in Atlanta to take on trainees from abroad. AIESEC Georgia Tech will also be helping to organize the United States Winter National Conference in December of this year, here in Atlanta at the Sheraton Gateway hotel. The conference will host over 250 AIESECers from around the country, and will prove to be the year s most prominent learning experience for the organization s youth leaders. While membership at AIESEC Georgia Tech will continuously evolve, the representation of HP students in AIESEC will continue to stay strong in this economy and environment that is so influenced by international advantages and globalization. v2

3 Photo by Frances Chiang Freshman Retreat 2009 Cont'd The weekend kicked off with a few icebreakers, including Red Rover and the human knot game, followed by an activity of the student's choice: hiking and wilderness survival, canoeing, biking, improv, games, sports, or raft building. During the hike, the students found themselves by a spring in the park and many waded through the water. The canoers, despite the shortage of boats, all got the chance to explore the waters, and avid bikers Dr. Nobles and Dr. Crawford took some students on a long, wet excursion around the park. Aside from the physical activities, all had the opportunity to relax, hang out with their friends, and listen to a few speakers. Dr. Hugh Crawford and fourthyear HP student Martha Lesniewski spoke about the student vs. teacher aspects of academic life at Tech, while fellow fourth-year Will Boyd held an interactive discussion about getting involved on campus. To wrap up the day, the students salsa danced the night away and enjoyed delicious s mores made by our very own Darin McKenna, known to the freshmen as The Fire Master. Everyone had a great time hanging out, laughing with each other, and just getting to know their classmates. Besides the freshmen, some upperclassmen also came to the retreat to help out and to meet our newest additions to the Honors Program. We would like to take this opportunity to thank them. Without them, this retreat would not have gone so smoothly. The 2009 retreat planning committee, comprised of Kristin Herrel, Gargi Mukherjee, MK Scott, Frances Chiang, Matthew Jacobson, TK Kiatkungwanglai, and Neiloy Mukerjee, has been working hard to plan the weekend since April. Interested in planning next year s retreat? Look out for more information in Spring 2010! Photo By Frances Chiang Photos by Frances Chiang "Fire Master" Darin McKenna before and after he discovered lighter fluid when making s'mores. For more Retreat photos... Become a fan of the Honors Program on Facebook! Check out our Fan Page for event updates, photos, discussions, and more! v3

4 First Thursday Field by Diana Kerckhof We are at the Georgia Institute of Technology a university of the laser-sharp left brain, the goggled discovery of some impossible chemical, the twenty pages of numbers getting us closer to understanding the origin of life. At this school, so heavy is the focus on the science, engineering, and mathematics of the world, the artistic sides of students often grow cold with neglect. It s difficult to find outlets for our inner artist, or even a community here at Tech that would acknowledge and encourage such endeavors. At least, until now. The Honors Program, beginning in September of this year, started a student-based art series that takes place every first Thursday of the month called First Thursday Arts Café. Taking place in the Field Hall Lounge, a different art form is chosen each month, and any student is welcome to come display or share their art or to just appreciate others works, all while enjoying coffee and home-baked goods. The first Thursday night was a poetry reading. The students who read were all quite amazing there were moments soft with poignancy and then there were moments when Kenny Taylor read his poem Double Flush Day. The title says it all, and it was inarguably memorable and, in my opinion, quite clever and funny. The second Arts Café showcased photography. It was an intimate gathering of students and faculty as the photographers displayed their pictures and told their stories. Sipping coffee and enjoying Dr. Halka s amazing pumpkin bread, we listened to the adventures and travels of fellow students, whether it was being stalked by panthers in the jungle or capturing the offcentered beauty of a dragonfly, every student s story was truly riveting. The next First Thursday Arts Café is going to showcase music fellow HPers, if you can sing, if you can play, if you simply want to share your passion in any way, contact Dr. Halka or Christopher Olson (colson@ gatech.edu) and come gather with us to share your talents and be inspired by the talents of others! Also, if you have any ideas for future First Thursday Arts Café, do not hesitate to propose them. So come be with us, even if just to nurse a cup of coffee, we want you there! Photo By Chris Olson Photo by Bibiana Garcia Bibi Garcia captured memorable moments from her trip to Europe this summer. Above is a street breakdancer she witnessed while exploring Paris. To the right is a monument carved in a mountainside in Lucerne, Switzerland. v4 Photo By Bibiana Garcia

5 An Informal Conversation with the Petersons by Martha Lesniewski Photo by Warren Van Nus September 15th was a night of firsts: the inaugural event of the Informal Conversation series, the first introduction of the Honors Program to President and Mrs. Peterson, and on their way to Brittain Rec, the first time the Petersons had smelled Brittain Dining Hall. Every seat and wall was filled with Honors Program students who eagerly listened to the honest and inviting conversation with the institute s newest President and First Lady. President Peterson started off the hour by discussing the strategic vision, the collaboration currently underway to develop a plan intended to take the institute to the year President Peterson encouraged everyone to take part in the planning process by filling online surveys and attending upcoming town hall meetings. As he explained, we need to see where the world will be in 25 years, and realize what we need to do now to prepare for it. In the last decades, an interdisciplinary spirit has transformed engineering and science fields, from mixing biology and engineering to form bioengineering (first generation) to mixing bioengineering with nanotechnology to form nano bioengineering (second generation), which fuels the need for a cross-disciplinary degree. Dr. Peterson suggested a build-your-own engineering degree, Save the Date! An Informal Conversation With... Dr. Raymond Vito Vice Provost for Graduate and Undergraduate Studies Thursday, October 15 5:30-6:30pm Brittain Rec. Hall on East Campus v5 which would require 50 hours, leaving the rest of the courses to be selected to cater to the student s own interest. Or maybe each engineering degree should have at least 20 hours of electives in the curriculum. Both ideas received loud applause from HP students. As is typical for an HP event, there were many questions from the students. When asked what the hardest challenge of his presidency is, Dr. Peterson answered the budget and then explained the possible scenarios for state budget cuts and how the institute is preparing for them. When asked about expanding the fine arts and humanities taught at GT, he suggested collaborating with Georgia State and Emory to share classes so that each university can do what it does best while allowing students to expand their education. For example, Emory could be in charge of teaching French and Italian, while GT could teach Spanish and German, both schools offering a greater depth of classes than is currently available. Whether these ideas will be included in the final strategic plan is uncertain. Whatever initiatives will be implemented will be first tested with the Honors Program students, Dr. Peterson reassured, for they are the ones who will work hard to make innovation work. The Honors Program is now accepting mid-year applications! Do you know first year students who would be great additions to the GT Honors Program? If so, please have them send the following information to honorsprogram@gatech.edu by 5pm on October 16th: Name, gtid #, semester of entry, and Answer the following How do you hope to benefit from becoming a part of the GT Honors Program? Photo By Warren Van Nus

6 October 2009 Sunday Monday Tues d ay Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 11am Commencement Fair - Student Ctr. Ballroom pm First Thursday Arts 7pm Le Flash Photo Field - Field Lounge - Castleberry Hill neigh. FALL BREAK 4 Child Health Day :30pm Sustainability Talk 4,7pm Film Screening: UP! Team Buzz 2009! - LeCraw Auditorium - Student Ctr. Theater - Meet at Campanile FALL B REAK 6pm Urban Design Book Talk 7pm Financial Literacy Wksp 9pm RHA Music & Mocktails - CoA Auditorium - Clary Theater - Tech Rec. 11 Columbus Day World Food Day 16 HOMECOMING!! 17 11am Internship Info Wksp. 11am Job Search Strategies 7pm French Film: Days of 1pm Missile Defense Debate - Success Ctr, Suite A 1:30pm Resrch & Publication Wksp. Clary Theater Glory - Clary Theater 1pm Football v. VA Tech - Gordy Rm, Wardlaw Talk - Klaus Rm Bobby Dodd 7pm Film: Flight of the Red 5:30pm Conversation with 8pm Surround Sounds Balloon - Clary Theater Ray Vito - Brittain Rec. Marching Band - Ferst 8pm Homecoming Concert - Burger Bowl am Study & Work Abroad 11am Relationship Stress 4, 7pm Film: The Hangover Fair - SC Ballroom GT Counseling - Library - Student Ctr. Theater 11am Course Rollout Lunch 6pm Astrophysics Unplugged 7pm French Film: Dreamlife 7pm Tech 8pm Kim Waters Jazz - Success Center - Manuel's Tavern of Angels - Clary Thtr Academy of Medicine Concert - Ferst Center Halloween! 31 7am Halloween Holla 5K - Meet at CRC 7pm French Film: Hate 8pm GT Jazz Ensemble & (La Haine) - Clary Thtr Symph. Orch. - Ferst Ctr v6

7 Bikes Return to HP! Need a faster way to get around? Want to visit exciting places in Atlanta? Like to get to class on time for a change? Then check out an Honors Program bike as part of the new Weigel Cycles Program! In honor of HP student, Emily Weigel, who instigated an HP bike share program back in 2007, the program has 6 urban bikes available for your use. CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEW HONORS PROGRAM STUDENT ADVISORY BOARD!!! Ashley Ahrens Biology Santiago Hässig Electrical Engineering Nirouz Elhammali International Affairs and Modern Languages Come to the HP Office during a weekday to check one out. To help offset the costs of repairs and maintenance, we're charging a very modest rent of $2.00 per day or $10.00 per week, easily the cheapest rental deal in town. Enjoy! Gregory Updike Electrical Engineering Michael Chen Biomedical Engineering Kristen Rieck Economics and International Affairs Advising Corner by Nicole Leonard About two weeks ago I left the Honors Program office to visit Centennial Place Elementary. Once there I found myself in an area that was too small to be a classroom but contained massive amounts of knowledge and creativity. At the start of this semester, third year students Audrey Plummer and Alexandria Evans submitted a Student Challenge Fund proposal to begin an Architecture Outreach Program at the elementary school with a group of fourth graders. Viewing the results of this program as well as watching the interaction between the kids and Audrey and Alex really reinforced the adage that I ve heard numerous times The best way to learn is to teach. Be it sooner or later, quite a few of you will be in the position of teaching. As teaching assistants, peer tutors, or counselors, opportunities will arise that require you to share what you know. When this time comes, I want to offer a few things to keep in mind: 1. Be patient. You may have been asked the same question dozens of time, but to each individual this is the first time that they asked the question. 2. Be prepared. Any prep time that you spend working through a problem should be done before presentation of material. Keep in mind that no one likes to wait. 3. Be efficient. Remember that your level of understanding is different from others. Draw from your first learning experiences to help simplify the explanation process. 4. Be unbiased. Your opinions are just that: your opinions. There is nothing wrong with sharing your know-how, but never present it as fact. 5. Be a resource. You re there to help by offering guidance and examples. Leave the heavy lifting for those to whom you are offering assistance. They will thank you later. Beyond a line on your resumé or the external recognition that one gains from academic coaching, the intrinsic rewards gained from this process are numerous. So, from first- to fourth-years, think about sharing your wealth of knowledge. As always, remember that my door is always open. v7

8 Message from the Director October (and Mid-term) Madness by Dr. Greg Nobles When I get the newspaper in the morning, I usually go right for the sports. Part of the reason, of course, is that I m a fan, and lately my beloved Detroit Tigers have been involved in a tight, nail-biting playoff race that s had me hooked to the box scores before breakfast. But Tigers aside, it s not just the scores and standings I go for. It s more the post-game stories about how players and coaches try to make sense of success and, more important, face up to failure. As my high school baseball coach used to say, When you lose a onerun ballgame, you can almost always point to one mistake that killed you. (When he said that, in fact, he almost always looked directly at me, the second baseman he called Stonefingers for four years.) And it s true: sometimes you know you blew it, and there s no place to hide, no way to explain it away, no chance to ask for a do-over. To me, that s what makes the sports page the most honest part of the paper, the one section where success and failure are right there together, side by side and inescapably evident to everyone. That s especially evident in the edition of the New York Times we get in Atlanta, which has business and sports in the same section. It s often an interesting contrast in explanation and evasion. Why did the Dow go down? Perhaps some financial report made the legions of invisible investors uneasy, leading the seemingly anthropomorphic market to get nervous. Why did some company s stock slip? Maybe quarterly sales didn t meet projections, or market trends might suggest a seasonal adjustment or something. Who s responsible? Hard to say, and no one really wants to say It s me. Why did the Tigers lose? The starter had no stuff, the bullpen blew it, the last batter took a called third strike with two on and two out. Anyone could see it, someone had to admit it, and you can read all about it. No one s in favor of failure, but no one should be afraid of it, either. Athletes have to deal with it all the time, and if they want to endure and be decent in the long run, they learn to shake it off, cope with it, and come back the next time. For those of us whose academic prowess has eventually taken precedence over the athletic (and when your coach calls you Stonefingers, you reluctantly discover who you are), athletes might have something to teach us about making an error or taking a loss, whether it s on some assignment or for a whole semester. Win some, lose some, but above all, learn how people come to terms with both. That s why I start the day with the sports page. That and the Tigers. Newsletter Staff Editor-in-Chief: Writers: Layout: Photos: Dr. Monica Halka, Associate Director Georgia Tech Honors Program Frances Chiang, Kristin Herrel, Diana Kerckhof, Nicole Leonard, Martha Lesniewski, Priya Malhotra & Priya Nakra Lindsay Anglin Frances Chiang & Warren Van Nus 8v Design by John Watson, 2008