BGSU Zoom News

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Recreation and Wellness receives swim teaching grant | Media Career Day speaker advises students

Recreation and Wellness receives grant to teach more kids to swim

Bowling Green State University’s Department of Recreation and Wellness was chosen as one of 85 Make a Splash programs in the United States to receive grant money from the USA Swimming Foundation in early 2019.

The awarded money will go toward continued efforts to provide free or reduced-cost swim lessons. The foundation awarded a total of $507,461 to programs across the country that will provide swim lessons to an estimated 25,000 children.

“Receiving this grant creates an amazing opportunity to provide swim lessons to over 60 kids who have never had that opportunity,” said Chris Ballard, Recreation and Wellness assistant director. “Our program is about providing lessons, but also about teaching kids to be safe in and around the water, and I’m excited to impart swimming and safety skills to new swimmers.”

BGSU’s Learn-to-Swim program has been serving the community for 40 years, offering swim lessons for all people, age 6 months through adult, and all skill levels, from beginning to advanced, taught by fully certified American Red Cross water safety instructors. The goal is for participants to learn the fundamentals of swimming, the importance of safety and to develop a love and passion for the water.

Mills on decreased flight choices at Dayton airport – Dayton Daily News
Stinson on police officer shootings – New York Times
Bullerjahn on toxic algae blooms – Water Online, BG Independent News
Ballard on swimming program – NBC24
Forensics and Debate Team championship – 13abc
The Hatch – Sentinel-Tribune
Cherry Blossom Festival – BG Independent News
StormReady University designation – NBC24

Talking with Brian D’Aurelio (right) are students Hannah Paris (left) and Josie Weickert (center).

Career Day keynote speaker encourages students to be assertive, take opportunities

Brian D’Aurelio ’96, former long-haired monkey of the SICSIC spirit crew, is senior director of national promotions and events marketing at Sirius XM Radio. He has formerly worked for Emmis Communication New York, Z100 New York and Chicago Public Radio.

He recently offered his best career tips and tricks to students attending his keynote speech at the annual Media Career Day hosted by the School of Media and Communication. He said that it was ironic to come back after 23 years as a guest speaker for a keynote, since his career really started at an event like it.

Listening to the keynote speech of 1987 alumna Lisa Braun, former MTV marketing director, and asking her for an internship with MTV was an assertive moment for D’Aurelio. His MTV experience in Manhattan led him to Chicago, where he spent the first few years of his professional career working in radio promotions and on-air talent for Rock 103.5 and 97.9 The Loop. In addition to his current marketing position, He hosts a weekly four-hour show on Alt-Nation (Channel 36 on Sirius XM). He said the hands-on skills he gained from working at WBGU-FM served him well after college, because the professional environment there was similar to the professional radio stations he later worked in.

“One of the things that I learned is when you’re in college, any professional in any industry will take your call, and will want to talk to you. Because at one point they were in your shoes,” D’Aurelio said during the luncheon portion of Media Career Day.

Tarana Burke, 'me too.' Movement founder, to speak April 30

Tarana Burke

Tickets are still available to hear Tarana Burke, social justice activist and founder of the 'me too.' movement, give the University Libraries’ 2019 Ordinary People, Extraordinary Stories lecture on April 30. She will speak at 7 p.m. in the Lenhart Grand Ballroom in the Bowen-Thompson Student Union.

Admission is free for BGSU students with ID and $25 for others. VIP tickets that include a 5:30 p.m. reception with Burke and reserved seating are $100. Purchase tickets online.

A sexual assault survivor, Burke has dedicated more than 25 years to social justice and laying the groundwork for a movement that was initially created to help young women of color who survived sexual abuse and assault. She will share the story behind the genesis of the 'me too.' movement, a simple hashtag campaign that went viral and was named Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 2017. Putting the focus back on survivors, the movement gives strength and healing to those who have experienced sexual trauma or harassment.

In her upcoming book, “Where the Light Enters,” Burke discusses the importance of the 'me too' movement as well as her personal journey from "victim to survivor to thriver." Her continued work with the movement has earned her the honor of being named The Root 100's most influential person of 2018.

Burke is now working under the banner of the 'me too.' movement to assist other survivors and those who work to end sexual violence. She is also senior director of programs at Brooklyn-based Girls for Gender Equity. On stage, she provides words of empowerment that lift up marginalized voices, enable survivors across all races, genders or classes to know that they are not alone, and create a place for comfort and healing to those who have experienced trauma.

BGSU offers free Skywarn Severe Weather Spotter’s webinar

The BGSU Department of Public Safety and Office of Emergency Management, in coordination with the Wood County Emergency Management Agency, will host a free 2019 Skywarn Severe Weather Spotter’s webinar April 18. The training is open to BGSU students, faculty, staff, first responders and the general public.

Presented by the National Weather Service Cleveland Weather Forecast Office, the webinar will take place from 1-2:30 p.m. April 18 in 206 Bowen-Thompson Student Union. No pre-registration is required. Participants will register the day of the webinar starting at 12:30 p.m.

IN BRIEF

• The School of Art’s 2019 BFA Thesis Exhibition “is generous in terms of its visual joy and thoughtful content,” said Boston photographer David Hilliard, who was the juror for the spring exhibition. The show runs through April 14 in the Fine Arts Center galleries.

• The University will host the 2019 Austrian Studies Conference on campus today through Sunday. The conference theme, which focuses on “Austria in Europe: Migration, Immigration, Integration. Contemporary and Historical Perspectives,” is the final act of the yearlong celebration of the 50-year partnership between BGSU and the University of Salzburg.

• The Philosophy, Politics, Economics and Law program welcomes Nirej Sekhon, an associate professor of law at Georgia State University, to present “Racism Without Racists? Disparity in Criminal Justice” at 5 p.m. today (April 11) in 115 Education Building.

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