By Amanda Hargett-Granato | Reporter One Baylor organization aims to help students in Waco experience the outdoors by taking advantage of Central Texas’ unique landscape. Bear Adventures, a program started by coordinator Stephanie Davis, seeks to teach Waco youth about the environment and encourage healthy lifestyles by helping them participate in outdoor activities such as camping, kayaking and rock climbing. “I just thought it would be a fun opportunity to get to have fun with kids and get to introduce them to new activities that they’ve never heard of,” Davis said. “There’s so much they can do in Waco, especially…
Author: Amanda Hargett-Granato
By Amanda Hargett-Granato | ReporterBaylor engineering students have teamed up with the Baylor Student Nurses Association to design and build a special swing for the Ronald McDonald House of Dallas, an organization that provides families a place to stay while their children are in the hospital or receiving treatment. The “Swing ‘Em Bears” project began last fall, and served as the senior design project for several Baylor engineering students this semester. League City senior Heather Foskit is the team lead for the six engineering students working on the project. Foskit said the goal of the project was to build a…
By Amanda Hargett-Granato | Reporter For students with the proverbial “green thumb,” the annual Beta Beta Beta plant sale will take place from noon to 4 p.m. on April 23 in the patio area outside of the Baylor Sciences Building. Beta Beta Beta, the National Biological Honor’s Society, started its Beta Tao chapter at Baylor in 1931 and remains one of the oldest organizations on campus. Its plant sale is one of two annual events that help raise funds for the organization. Sugarland junior Brittney Crenshaw, Tri-Beta media chair, said the sale benefits the new plant parents as well. “It…
By Amanda Hargett-Granato | ReporterThe Baylor University Louise Herrington School of Nursing has several programs ranked among the U.S. News & World Report 2018 Best Graduate Schools. The Doctor of Nursing Practice program ranked at No. 47, the Masters of Science in Nursing was ranked No. 56, and the Nurse Midwifery program was ranked No. 10.Louise Herrington School of Nursing Dean Shelley F. Conroy emphasized that the school’s motto — Learn, Lead and Serve — conveys the approach it took to shape the nationally ranked program. “Our mission, we believe, is to prepare professionally educated nurses within a Christian context…
Last week, the space transportation company SpaceX made history by launching a commercial satellite using a recycled rocket. The first stage of its two-stage Falcon 9 rocket had been used to launch its CRS-8 mission in April 2016. The implications of re-utilizing rocket components could help break down financial barriers to space travel, according to Dr. Rene Laufer, an associate research professor with the Baylor Center for Astrophysics, Space Physics and Engineering Research (CASPER) and head of the Space Science Lab. Laufer said SpaceX and similar commercial space flight corporations have worked to combat the expense of space travel. “Falcon…
Every day, I walk around campus laughing at voices only I can hear. If there’s a downside to podcasts, it’s the inevitable moment that you make eye contact with a stranger right as the show makes you giggle. But podcasts are so much more valuable than any momentary social awkwardness. Podcasts have risen in popularity since their creation in 2004 when Adam Curry and David Winer were credited with inventing the medium. Podcasts are audio shows that are distributed through the internet. With hundreds of thousands of different podcasts in a variety of languages, a podcast exists for almost any…
The month of March may be at an end, but the March of Dimes soldiers on in their fight to stop premature births. The Waco March for Babies will take place on April 15 at McLane Stadium. The Baylor March of Dimes team along with many others will be raising money to reach a goal of $160,000.The current focus of the March for Babies is to help raise awareness and find a solution for premature births, a problem that affects one out of every 10 babies born in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.…
By Amanda Hargett-Granato | ReporterSmartly dressed students stand in front of large, glossy posters. Many smile nervously, hands clasped in front of them, as their peers and professors judge the results of months of research.Over this week, undergraduate students displayed and presented the research they’ve conducted over the last year at the Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Achievement Scholars Week. Students gave oral presentations in the Bill Daniel Student Center, while poster presentations continue through Friday in the Baylor Sciences Building. Of those giving oral presentations, a group of students who took part in the Global Environmental Leaders Program at Hong…
By Amanda Hargett-Granato | ReporterNext week, students from all around the university will present the results of over 100 research studies at the ninth annual Undergraduate Research and Scholarly Achievement (URSA) Scholars Week. From March 27-31, undergraduate student research posters will be displayed in the Baylor Science Building, and oral project presentations will be given in the Bill Daniel Student Center. The Scholars Week keynote lecture will be given on Thursday by Dr. Michael Endl, who was involved in the discovery of a new planet, Proxima B, in 2016. Research projects ranging from theoretical mathematics to family and consumer sciences…
By Amanda Hargett-Granato | ReporterContinuing a tradition begun in 2010, Baylor Libraries will accept summer interns to work with the special collections housed on campus. The five internship positions are available to both graduate and undergraduate applicants from a variety of disciplines. The positions are paid, and applications are due by April 7. Kathy Hillman, the director of the Keston Center for Religion, Politics and Society, has coordinated the internship program since its beginning. Hillman said the summer internship program gives students opportunities they would otherwise not get in work-study jobs at the libraries. “It’s one of those win-win kind…
For the last two months, I’ve had to use my knowledge of biology more often than at almost any other point in my college career. If I had a penny for every time I’ve had to explain the term “ketosis,” I’d probably have about thirteen cents. I never thought so many people would be so interested in what I eat, but since starting a diet in January, I’ve received a surprising number of questions about it. I’m on the ketogenic diet. In a sentence, the keto diet is a super low-carb, moderate-protein, and high-fat diet. Essentially: cheese, butter, bacon —…
By Amanda Hargett-Granato | ReporterA group of 10 Baylor students spent last Friday night remotely defending a computer system from hackers over 350 miles away. Students from the Baylor InfoSec organization took part in the Southwest Regional qualifying round of the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition and qualified as one of eight teams that will move on to the next round. They will compete in the regional finals in Tulsa, Okla., in mid-March. Austin junior Brendon Kelley captains the team of cyber defenders that competed in the four-hour virtual event. The students remained at Baylor while interacting with a virtual…
By Amanda Hargett-Granato | Reporter A familiar face has taken up residence in a brand new office at Baylor. Dr. Kevin Chambliss, professor of chemistry, has taught and performed research at Baylor for 15 years, but his new title has only existed for six weeks. At the beginning of the spring semester, Chambliss became the associate dean for research and graduate education in the College of Arts and Sciences. This position is new to Baylor and focuses on facilitating programs for research and graduate students. We sat down with Chambliss to discuss his new position, his personal research and his…
By Amanda Hargett-Granato | ReporterThe Baylor School of Engineering and Computer Science is hosting ECS Week 2017 next week in honor of National Engineers Week. The week will include several large events, as well as two industry panels, all of which are open to anyone. Kansas City junior Elliott Jost is the chair of the Baylor chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, one of the engineering organizations helping put on the event. “I really think engineering has shaped the way I think about the world,” Jost said. “Engineering is all about problem solving and coming up with intuitive…
By Amanda Hargett-Grandato | ReporterEvery day after she drops off her three kids at school, author Candice Millard gets to become a detective at her desk. Delving into lost details of history, Millard has worked to bring light to fascinating, forgotten stories, and her work has paid off. Millard has published three New York Times bestselling books, and her most recent work, “Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape and the Making of Winston Churchill,” was named Amazon’s best history book of 2016.Millard completed her undergraduate degree at Baker University in Kansas and then spent two years…
By Amanda Hargett-GranatoResearch at Baylor takes many forms and only sometimes takes place while wearing a lab coat. Current undergraduate research spans from the social sciences to laboratory work, and students from all fields are able to take part.For her senior thesis, Belton senior Melissa Montgomery is developing a curriculum using “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” to teach students several sociology concepts to help them learn sociology. “The thing that really caught my attention the most, especially within ‘The Deathly Hallows,’ is you can really see the parallels of how J.K. Rowling is using the series to show how…
Measles, mumps, rubella — These three virulent diseases have been easily preventable since the introduction of the MMR vaccine in 1971. And yet, in 2014, the United States experienced 667 measles cases, the most since measles were deemed eliminated in the U.S. in 2000. Most of the individuals who contracted the disease were unvaccinated. Mandatory vaccinations are necessary to protect innocent people from preventable diseases. While both mumps and rubella are extremely contagious diseases with serious risks of their own, measles infections are both highly infectious and dangerous. Not only does the measles virus cause high fever and a rash,…
By Amanda Hargett-Granato | ReporterOn the 90th anniversary of the fatal accident, Baylor students, alumni and relatives of the 10 students killed in a bus accident gathered at the Mays Street Bridge in Round Rock to honor the memory of the Immortal Ten. The City of Round Rock dedicated the bridge, which crosses over the railroad tracks where the accident occurred, to the 10 students who lost their lives on Jan. 22, 1927. Plaques with the names and faces of those killed were added to the new green lampposts on the bridge. Round Rock Mayor Alan McGraw said during the…
Amanda Hargett-Granato | Reporter From brewing the perfect cup of coffee to enhancing professional communication, Baylor’s newly relaunched Continuing Education program aims to help students, alumni and the community learn something new in 2017. This spring semester, Baylor Continuing Education returns to campus 11 years after the previous program closed, offering courses in both personal enrichment and professional development. The classes are available to anyone in the community, not just students and alumni. The first course, a calligraphy class, will take place tonight. “Baylor, like most universities, has a really deep desire to connect with the community and alumni through…