Equestrian Team

Giddy up for the University of Akron's Equestrian team! The university has both an English Team, and a Western Team.

The English Team was created in 2002 and currently trains out of Stoney Ridge Stables in Wadsworth, Ohio. They compete in regional shows with several other teams and are coached by Laura Hearty. The English team competes in Equitation on the Flat and Over Fences.

The Western Team was formed in 2006 and rides out of Greenwich Hill Farm in Wadsworth, OH and is coached by Chris Cook. The team competes in regional shows around the area. The main areas of focus include Western Horsemanship and Reining.

If I knew about this club earlier in my college career I probably would have joined. Had I not owned a car perhaps I would have looked into a horse. Although that would make for a long commute up 77 North from Canton.

This group encourages riders of any skill level to join. Students must be enrolled full time at the university to join one of the teams. Visit the contact us page to find out where to join.

(Photo courtesy of http://www.uakron.edu/groups/equestrian/PhotoAlbum.php)

Greek Week

Given that this week is "Greek Week", I am taking some time to recognize all of the Greek organizations on campus. Greek Week is a week dedicated to all of the fraternities and sororities on campus with events and fundraisers for local charities. Greek Week is the one week out of the year for everyone involved in the Greek community to show their pride for their individual chapters.

One of the fundraisers is the Penny Wars. Penny Wars are held everyday during the week from 11-2 in the student union. Jars for every fraternity and sorority are represented. The team with the most pennies wins, however, other people can put in silver change that will deduct points according to the value of the coin. All of the money is then donated to the Akron Human Society.

Other events are cookouts with volleyball tournaments, Banner competition, Sports Trivia tournament, Greek Olympics, and God and Goddess competition. The God and Goddess competition is where each chapter chooses one member to compete in a multiple round pageant competition to decide who will be crowned Greek God and Greek Goddess for 2010. It's much like a beauty pageant where the contestants compete in interviews, talents, and evening wear events. This is held in the student union ballrooms a+b for anyone who would like to show up.

For a listing of all the events taking place, please visit the official 2010 Greek Week webpage.

For more information on Greek life and how to get involved, visit the Greek life webpage.

AK-ROWDIES

Have you ever wondered who those crazies are at all the soccer games at Lee. R Jackson soccer field, aka The Pouch? Well if you're new to Akron then you have an excuse if you are actually pondering that question. Everyone else knows them as the AK-ROWDIES, and they are just what their name implies, "Rowdies". Actually, it's an acronym for ROOthless, Obnoxious, Wild, Dedicated, Insane, Egotistical, Students.

Since ESPN is ranking our football team at the fourth worst team in the country, there hasn't been much to get "rowdy" about for them. However, with the Nations #1 soccer team they have been rowdier than ever.

The AK-ROWDIES are one of the largest student orgs at the university with nearly 2000 members. Their main purpose: "To cheer UA student-athletes to victory".



As you can see, this group is not for the casual fan goer. This group is for the die hard, can't miss a game, need to be there, going to skip my girlfriend's sister's wedding because I gotta see it live, fan group.

For those interested in joining they provide you with t-shirts, food, priority seating at sporting events, free road trips and more. You can check them out on Facebook.

Akron Badminton and Tennis Club

Today in my reading class we read an article how tennis players snap their writs' after they made contact with a ball. Here's an interesting article about wrist snapping in tennis. My old high school tennis coach always told me to snap my wrist to hit the ball correctly. Turns out the wrist snap had nothing to do with hitting the ball.

If you would like to try out this technique you may want to consider joining the Akron Badminton and Tennis Club. They promote the skills of both badminton and tennis at the University of Akron. They provide instructions, practice time, and recreational court time. They also organize tournaments versus other Ohio universities.

Badminton is offered in the fall. Anyone interested in joining the club can should go to the Intramural sport page or email intramuralga@uakron.edu.

Amateur Radio Club

The University of Akron is home to one of the highest rated college radio stations in the nation, WZIP 88.1 FM. That's not the radio station I'm talking about this week.

As a student of communication I learned about amateur radio, but never went into too much detail. Basically, if I wanted to put in the time, effort, and money, I was told that I too could have a radio station. Not in the traditional sense though. The term amateur does not imply a lack of skill or quality, but rather that amateur radio and its operators work outside of an official, governmental or commercial capacity. Basically, you're not going to find these stations on your car radio dial.

The university is home to the amateur radio club, W8UPD. Who knew we had an amateur radio club? By the looks of their website they have a nice little organization going too. Their opening statement says it all: "As a club, we use our time and resources towards expanding our knowledge and experience concerning not only amateur radio, but all aspects of technology. Club meetings are conducted in a semi-formal manner, and normally conclude with a general discussion and group chat, and afterwards we normally head to a local eatery for a bite. Fox hunts are normally done on foot around the campus, although there has been some interest for mobile foxhunting. You can find some more information in the Activities secton of the site. We regularly go to ham-fests as a club, including an annual trip to the Dayton Hamvention. For more information, please stop by a meeting, all are welcome!"

This is a great way for anyone who is interested in radio to get familiar with it on a small, yet professional scale. If anyone is interested in possibly setting up their own personal station, they might want to consider going to this site. It gives you all the information you need to start blasting out your favorite tunes to those young, out of control, hormone enraged, rebellious teenagers out there listening your amateur radio station.

For anyone interested in joining you can attend their meetings which are held Tuesdays at 8:00pm EST in Zook Hall Room 501(The Shack).

(image courtesy of http://www.w8upd.uakron.edu/?about)

Student Art League

I never considered myself an artist, which is probably why I dropped out of the Graphic Design program after my first college semester, but I found myself revisiting the Myers School of Art in my last college semester. This time however I am fortunate enough to share my two art classes with the President of the Student Art League (SAL), Joey Augustyn.

SAL is open to all students enrolled at the university.

"It's a fun organization to build a better sense of community in the art school through fun programs, and just going to participate in art activities that one wouldn't normally do inside the classroom," said Augustyn.

There is much more to be experienced if you join SAL. When asked about what his favorite part of the group was Joey was not short with things to say. "My favorite part of the group is the activities that we plan and which the students get involved with. We hold a movie night every Thursday at 8:00, attend Tremont Art Hops in Cleveland, and every spring we go to New York City. We have SAL Art Shows once a semester in one of the honors galleries for students to exhibit their work."

To raise money for the group they sell coffee, coffee mugs, and t-shirts in the "slide library" right next to the Folk Hall Auditorium.

People can get involved through contact the SOuRCe, or checking out what SAL is about at our meetings every Tuesday and Wednesday at 12:30PM in Folk Hall Auditorium. You can check out their Facebook page, or they can contact: Joey Augustyn SAL President at jma60@zips.uakron.edu or Sarah Murphy SAL Vice President at slm90@zips.uakron.edu for more information.

Ice Hockey Club

So everyone knows we have a football team, a baseball team, and a softball team, oh and don't forget about that little soccer team we have too. But who knew we had an Ice Hockey team?

Akron's Ice Hockey Club was started in the Fall of 2005 by student Joseph Frato. The main goal of the student organization is to give students at The Univesity of Akron a chance to continue their hockey careers either competitively or recreationally. Students compete competitively through the club team which plays other college club teams.

Currently, the University of Akron Ice Hockey Club participates in the Tri State College Hockey League, a new team at Center Ice Sports Complex in North Canton, Ohio. This league gives students a chance to learn how to work on the ice together and also a chance to showcase their skills and leadership abilities. Center Ice Sports Complex is the home arena for the University of Akron Zips, hosting weekly practices and games on the weekend.

If you have ever wanted to learn hockey, or played in high school, then this club is a must to check out. With the winter season quickly approaching, now is the perfect time to start playing a winter sport. Our soccer team won't be playing all semester long, but the hockey clubs plays all the way until March.

University of Akron students get into their games for free and can see their schedule here. They also have a Facebook group for updates and results. You can also go to the contact page and email team members for more information.