The UMW club tennis team won the Team Sportmanship Award at the 2013 Mid-Atlantic Tennis On Campus Sectionals, held at Old Dominion University Feb. 2 to 3. The UMW team, one of 14 teams at the tournament, lost to Virginia Commonwealth University in the semi-final round of the silver bracket. Tournament staff recognized UMW’s team with the award and a gift card to Tennis Warehouse.
Thirteen University of Mary Washington students spent a day last week talking to Virginia General Assembly legislators on behalf of the university. Student Lobby Day provides students from colleges and universities across the state a chance to meet with the state lawmakers.
“Lobby day is our opportunity as a university to articulate th
e importance of a liberal arts education and inform lawmakers about all of the exciting things our university is engaged in,” said senior Sean Simons, legislative action chair for the Student Government Association. Simons also majors in political science and political communications.
The students began their day with a brief introduction to Richmond’s General Assembly building. Then, students met with area legislators, including Speaker of the House Bill Howell, Sen. Bryce Reeves and Sen. Creigh Deeds. Afterwards, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling gave the group an impromptu tour of the Rotunda and shared the history of the building.
Erica O’Brien, a senior political science major, enjoyed meeting with the legislative aides. “I love talking about Mary Washington, and being able to share some of the exciting things that are happening at UMW was fantastic,” she said.
Shirley Martey, a junior political science major, was excited to speak with legislators. “I wanted to practice communicating effectively with people in this environment so I thought this would be an excellent opportunity,” she said.
Student Lobby Day is annual event sponsored by the Student Government Association. More information on the SGA can be found at http://sga.umw.edu/
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Attention service members and veterans: come out to Capital Ale House on Thursday, Feb. 28 to share camaraderie, swap stories and get to know each other. We are putting together a veterans group interested in developing a network to support all our vets with a special focus on the young veterans on all our campuses. We are starting out informally with a planned meeting in the Capital Ale House cellar on Thursday, February 28 starting at 6 p.m. and lasting until we decide to go home. We encourage all UMW vets to join us. Feel free to wear something that shows your unit or service pride.
Congratulations to Dan Quann, director of maintenance services, who has been selected as the Excellent Eagle Employee for the month of February. A parking spot of his choosing has been reserved for him through the end of the month.
Here is what one of his co-workers said about him:
“I recommend Dan Quann for his above-and-beyond prosecution of several recent incidents, including:
- Repair of steam line and water line leak between Brent Hall and Marshall Hall
- Clean-up following the Mason-Randolph fire sprinkler episode
- Flooding of Eagle Landing this past weekend
While his presence was not required during any of these repairs, Dan spent much of his personal time after hours and on two weekends to ensure that the repairs were completed as quickly as possible.”
To nominate someone who you believe is an Excellent Eagle Employee, send an email to Priscilla Sullivan (psulliva@umw.edu) with Excellent Eagle Employee in the subject line. In your email, be sure to list the person’s name, department, work location (with the most convenient parking lot), and of course, the reason why you believe they should be recognized. Please spread the word to other employees about this wonderful opportunity to recognize a co-worker(s).
Picking up right where we left off last semester, the “Office Sustainability Tip of the Week” is back! If you’re new to this series, the “Office Sustainability Tip of the Week” is a weekly article featuring different ideas and suggestions that hopefully people will put into practice in order to create more sustainable office environments. And sometimes, we like to look outside of the office as well.
Did you know January is the most popular month for joining a gym? We indulge a bit more than we wanted to during those last few weeks of December, and then come January 1st, we’re making plans to join a gym, go seven times a week, and lose 40lbs in a month. Obviously very achievable goals. We know that you have probably already started to see results, so maybe now is the time to think about donating all those clothes you no longer fit into/no longer wear. It is estimated that the typical American discards approximately 68 pounds of used clothing a year, resulting in two quadrillion pounds of clothing being tossed into our landfills every year. Therefore, in addition to donating to those in need, donating your used clothes or items to charities is one of the easiest ways to help the environment. You can also deduct your contributions from your taxes as you would a monetary donation. Furthermore, you can start the new year off right by clearing clutter from your house. Before you know it Spring will be here — so get a jump on that annual Spring cleaning! Here are just a few organizations that accept clothing donations:
This article is not a means of officially endorsing any of the above organizations, but rather just giving the reader some suggestions of places to look into if you are considering donating clothes or other items to charity. Of course, you can also donate locally — churches, thrift stores, homeless shelters, school clothing drives, etc. Rappahannock Goodwill Industries contains a list of goodwill stores in the area that you can bring your items to donate. The goal should simply be to DONATE your used clothes as opposed to throwing them out. Help others, help yourself, and help the environment! We know what you’re thinking (“But what if I gain weight back? I may need those old clothes!”). Don’t be such a pessimist! We KNOW you’re going to keep that weight off, so it’s time to buy yourself some new threads and donate the old ones to charity! And don’t forget — Faculty/Staff and Faculty/Staff secondary card holders (a spouse or partner) are eligible to use the UMW Fitness Center with a UMW ID Card. Plan your work-outs around your work schedule and you’ll not only save money by avoiding high fitness center/gym fees, but you’ll also be helping out the environment by reducing the amount of car trips you make by going to another fitness center/gym.
If you have any suggestions for things we can all do differently each day to create more sustainable environments, please feel free to leave a comment or email me the idea to be featured in a future Tip of the Week.
The PCS Action Group members for the “Office Sustainability Tip of the Week” are Kevin Caffrey, Elizabeth Sanders, Robert Louzek, and Dre Anthes.
