It’s time to move out of 1016 Buchanan Doolittle. Into boxes to go to Omaha, NE, to put my stuff back in boxes, and then move to Martin residence hall during June, then move to Frederiksen Court in July, then back to the exact same room to 1016 Buchanan Doolittle. It’s taken Eric and I two days, a billion hours, many bags of trash, and lots of cleaning supplies, but I’m finally moved out.

Literally. I just finished like ten minutes ago. I was so proud.

Now it’s all sitting in the trunk of his Montero Sport, and I’m hoping that by blinking really really hard, it will make its way up the stairs in to Eric’s closet where it will be stored this summer. =]

So far, no progress on this subject. I’ll keep you updated.

Until next time,
I will be working on telepathy-
Seanna

So tonight was our Buchanan Bucks Auction here in good ol’ Buch- this event was in conjunction with our “Last Call for Buchanan Hall,” or our last week before Dead Week and studying for finals where residents could let loose and enjoy themselves before they started cracking down for finals.

Our Buchanan Hall Association entrusted me with their P-Card, which is a credit card associated with a student organization’s banking funds, and I went to the university Bookstore and bought over $400.00 worth in merchandise, and went to Wal-Mart where I cleaned up another $250.00 in food, drinks, an iHome, and DVD movie packs.

Gotta love the $5 movie tower in Wal-Mart, eh?

Anyway, so I got back to the Hall Desk and organized it all, made signs and posters telling the prices, and prepared for the anarchy to ensure. 

Buchanan Bucks are slips of paper money with Brock, our Hall Director’s face on it. When Community Advisors see residents building community by keeping their doors open and visiting with others, or showing good grades, a student can receive these Bucks as positive reinforcement for that behavior. It works really well, and they go like gangbusters. Yes, I just said gangbusters. It’s a valid term- in my vocabulary, at least.

Basically, residents can “pay” for these items in three ways: a Buchanan Bucks Store, an Auction where students bid on certain items and the items is thus “auctioned” off, and the third way is a raffle, in which two Buchanan Bucks equals one raffle ticket.

It went really well! We had the store open right after the Dollar Dinner, where we served Jeff’s Pizza, and residents payed $1 for two slices of pizza and a can of soda [or pop, your preference, hah]! Everything sold: tailgating folding chairs, ISU lanyards, hats, tshirts, car window decals, nalgenes, ISU glasses, face tattoos, blankets, and food like mini six packs of soda, chips and salsa, candy bars, chocolate twizzlers [yeah, I was just as surprised as you are right now], and a lot of other things, too. The auction items were two DVD movies related to each other, with two bags of popcorn and two packages of hot cocoa [there were five packs of those] and the ISU tailgating chairs, which are always popular. The raffle items were an iPod shuffle [of course], an iHome iPod dock, and an ISU fleece blanket, which is a HUGE seller. It was great because the raffle was at the end of the night and so anyone who hadn’t bought something in the store or the auction could use their tickets for the auction.

Most important item: energy drinks. By far the biggest seller. As you can see, this is pretty much what a typical college student looks like after an all-nighter and a billion arnold palmers mixed with a fleck of espresso. Mmmm good to the last drop.

Residents really appreciate when we take the time and support events such as these that bring the building together. It’s always fun to see people out of their rooms, enjoying themselves before the stresses of Dead Week and Finals Week. Then it’s 23/7 Quiet Hours, so it gets pretty lonely in the halls sometimes during the last two weeks of classes.

Until people are done, of course. And then the halls are flooded.

Tonight was our hall-wide event sponsored by the Hall Council and run by the Community Advisors of Buchanan. It was called Mocktail Night, and it was an educational program on college student drinking, with facts, quizzes, mock cocktails, or “mocktails” such as virgin strawberry daiquiris and pina coladas. I was the drink master of the night, whipping out cups and using blenders like a pro.

Here we have Michelle and Nate, other Community Advisors in Buchanan, wearing our event tshirts. They said Buchanan Staff on the front, with BOUNCER on the back.

The great part about the program was not only the “drinking” games, such as ROOT beer pong, flippy cup withHAWAIIAN PUNCH, and quarters with SODA, but also the educational information that went into the event. We were educating not only about drinking but also safety at parties, and other things. Community Advisors all had a bag of skittles, and if anyone left their “red party cup” unattended at the event, we dropped a “roofie,” i.e. a colored skittle into their drink. When they discovered the skittle, they were required to give us one of their Buchanan Bucks, which are “currency” that we pass out when you promote community, shows good grades to Community Advisors, or attend hall or floor events. We are having a Buchanan Auction on Sunday, so my post will talk about that then.

I “roofied” about ten people who left their cups unattended, and I gathered about fifteen Buchanan Bucks. We had board games, a ROOT beer pong tournament bracket, and a flippy cup tournament as well. We also provided dinner- we had Jeff’s Pizza [the BEST pizza in Ames] for $1 per 2 slices, and free drinks, fruit, cookies, chips, etc. It was really fun, and it was a great way to end the semester before Dead Week [the week before finals where no extracurricular activities are allowed to meet, to help for studying].

I think we should make it an annual event, so I’ll make sure to post [if I am able to continue the blog next year, keep your fingers crossed!] about updates to the program!

In a couple of days, I’m organizing the hall-wide Buchanan Bucks Auction, but more about that on my post on Sunday! Have a great night, and as always,

Until next time,
Seanna

So, we found out our placements as a Buchanan Staff for next fall!

Drumroll, please . . .

I am back on Doolittle [1st floor]!

I am also the new Multicultural Liaison for the building.

Buchanan Hall is primarily transfer and international students, so we have different policies and approaches concerning our students. We have a variety of student types, from freshmen in the Entrepreneurship Learning Community to the two floors that are restricted for ages 21+, to the ISU Women’s Basketball Team on 5th floor. We have a lot of different kinds of students, so we as a staff need to cater to all those different types of people. As the Multicultural Liaison, I would work to promote events that would interest students from other countries who are studying at Iowa State this fall and next spring, with anything from lecturers in native languages, to cultural food meals, movie showings in languages, and orientation the residence hall for the beginning of the year. Also, review of policies that may be different in their home countries such as cleaning rooms, check out processes, mail, and other customs that we as a staff take for granted that we feel students should already know.

I’m very excited for the position, and I really enjoy working with advocate groups to help students find their place on campus and enjoy their time here at Iowa State University. We have three Community Advisors graduating this May, 2009, and so we will have three new additions to our staff next fall! It’s always great to meet new people, and we will meet them on our hall wide programming night this coming Friday, so I’m psyched!

Until next time,
Seanna

10 ways to start living green

1. Flip the switch! Turn off appliances and electronics nights and weekends to save hundreds of dollars annually.

Formula for estimating energy costs: U.S. Dept. of Energy

APPLIANCES
(Annual energy costs)
Large Bunn-type coffee maker $ 34
12-cup coffee maker 18
24 cu. ft refrigerator 210 12 cu. ft refrigerator 22
3 cu. ft refrigerator 10
20-inch box fan
(4 mos., 10-hr. day) 17
Clock radio 4
Cell phone charger 3

ELECTRONICS
(Annual energy costs)
Personal computer (PC plus monitor)
Monitor, PC always on $165
Monitor off nights, weekends 105
Monitor, PC off nights, weekends 60
Black & white laser printer
Always on $123
Off nights, weekends 38
Color laser printer
Always on $246
Off nights, weekends 114
Copier
Always on 400
Off nights, weekends 145

2. ‘Off’ better than sleep mode! The “off” switch is superior to your computer’s “sleep mode.” Turn off the CPU and monitor to save more than $100 annually.

3. Ride the bus! ISU students ride all CyRide routes free. Faculty and staff can ride three circulator routes through campus free. For other routes, faculty and staff can buy passes at half the price. (Public Safety’s parking division subsidizes the passes.)

4. When to turn off the lights! Turn off lights if you leave a room for more than 15 minutes. Don’t worry about reducing a fluorescent light’s life by switching. New lights handle this better.

5. Share the ‘fridge! A small dorm-type refrigerator (3 cu. feet) costs $10 annually. A 12 cu. ft. refrigerator is $22 and a 24 cu. ft. refrigerator/freezer is $210.

6. Don’t lower the thermostat just for your computer’s sake! Most computers today can easily operate in a 78-degree room, if there’s airflow. Overheated computers are usually located in closets, corners or under desks, where air flow is minimal.

7. Get a flat panel! Flat panel LCD computer monitors use one-fifth of the energy of the old-style CRT monitors.

8. Fume hoods are big spenders! It costs about $6,200 to run a lab fume hood full-time for a year. When a hood isn’t in use, the sash should be fully lowered or the hood should be removed from service and clearly marked as unavailable.

9. Bright idea! Make the switch from incandescent lights to compact fluorescent (CF) or LED bulbs. The lights last longer and use less energy.

10. Save with sensors! Install automatic light sensors in rooms not in continuous use. The sensors, which cost about $37 plus installation, will turn lights on only when people enter the room.

These are easy ways that you can save electricity as a college student, so whenever you go to college, and wherever you go [hopefully here at Iowa State!] you can use these tips, too!

So until next time,
Seanna

Move-in Day from lonestarcyclone on Vimeo.

Hello all! I’m finally back in Dallas, specifically Richardson, where I call home, in the good old 75080; I flew in last Friday, but almost didn’t make it back until Sunday. . .

I was scheduled to leave out around noon on Friday, so I looked up options as to how to get to the airport. CyRide, the campus bus system, has this great option where you can take CyRide to the airport by meeting it at certain spots, certain times. I was aaaaaaall about that. So I made my reservation, packed it up, and went to sleep, excited to get home for the first time in a year. This has been the longest I’ve been gone from home, and I hadn’t even noticed until I sat down and thought about it.

So I woke up the next morning, hit the snooze and forewent any type of beauty routine [it's TSA, who needs to look pretty, am I right?], and grabbed my suitcase and was ready to hit the sidewalk when I took a step outside. It had snowed all night.

Yeah. Cool.

So I drug my suitcase through the snow, which really wasn’t that bad once I stopped cursing the unexpected precipitation, and grabbed the CyRide for the Des Moines airport. Once I got there, I was supposed to fly to Milwaukee and then have a flight to Dallas Ft. Worth. No such luck- nothing was flying in or out until Sunday via Milwaukee, so I was triple standby for three flights, but I finally arrived home at 9:40pm. Six hours later than expected, but at least I got out of a neighborhood holiday party. Whew.

At the airport, my two friends, Rachel and Pranay were waiting for me. It was a blessing- we headed to our favorite restaraunt, Chili’s, and had a nice dinner, and I got home. It’s good to be home again- I missed my family, but I also missed my dog. No warm-blooded animals allowed in the dorms . . . ‘course when I was on rounds once, a resident tried to convince me he could keep his hamster, simply by dunking him in water for a few seconds and saying, “He’s still alive. Doesn’t that count?” Humorous, but no cigar. =]

So I’m seeing friends, going to dentist/doctor appointments, catching up on the gossip from the past year, getting ready for holiday celebrations, and facing the malls around this season. I’ve got plenty to do, but I would love to hear from you guys! What questions do you have about college? Anything and everything is fair game. I’ve received some emails and I LOVE answering them, so feel free to either shoot me an email or leave a comment. Chances are, there is another person who has the exact same question as you. I am no expert employee, but I have worked as a TelStar, which means I have undergone training in all majors for the university, and I call students to help them with their applications, questions they may have, and scholarship information as well.

Start the barage of questions. I’m ready. =]

So until next time,
Seanna

It’s Friday night before finals, and my friend and her boyfriend just broke up.

What better way to help a friend feel better than make a BAMF gingerbread house and watch In the Land of Women, drooling over Adam Brody?

Me and Bailey and Nora hung out and tried to forget about the impending doom that is finals. After we made it, we Ding Dong Ditched it outside a friend’s room.

Mission accomplished, I’d say.

To be honest, I was sad to see it go. It was the only gingerbread house I’d ever helped make that didn’t collapse if you looked at it wrong.

Until next time,
I’ll be a hermit studying,
Seanna

I came home today, and realized something, my room is a P.O.S.

[a.k.a. Piles of Socks and Shoes]

They say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. . .

 As evidenced by the adjacent photo, I’m pretty sure that if my room wasn’t        rooted to the rest of the building it would take off and leave my laundry and    belongings, conveniently spewing them through the window, perhaps leaving  them more neat and arranged than I had them previously.

So if by some chance, I don’t return a phone call, or miss an email,
or you just can’t figure out where I am, I will give you one guess.