House and Senate DEBATE TONIGHT!

For some of you new students, many of whom only recently turned 18, this will be the first time you’ve voted in an election.   It’s important to get informed about the positions each candidate takes before you vote.  Here’s a great way to do that- TONIGHT on campus!

AppSpeaks is pleased to present our biennial debate between local State House and State Senate candidates.

State House: Rep. Jonathan Jordan (R) will debate Sue Counts (D)

State Senate: State Sen. Dan Soucek (R) will debate Jim Sponenberg (D)

Student Moderators: Jonathan Williams and Lindsey Carbo

Time: Monday, October 27 from 6-7pm. 
Where: Gordon Gathering Hall (room 124), Reich College of Education building. (NOTE: this is a different location from the previously posted Price Lake Room, Plemmons Student Union)

Presented by AppSpeaks. Co-sponsored by the Department of Communication, College Republicans, College Democrats

AppSpeaks facilitates discussions on campus about local, national, and global issues. If your group would like to partner with AppSpeaks, please contact Jeff Motter (motterjb@appstate.edu).

How Did They Access Jennifer Lawrence’s Naked Selfies?

How did they access Jennifer Lawrence’s naked selfies, and could this happen to you?  It happens to celebrities and everyday folks, these breaches of online security and privacy. Some say it feels as invasive, intrusive, and abusive as a physical violation.  But how to you protect yourself from hackers, identity thieves, and other cyber-criminals?  I know, I know, it’s really THE CRIMINALS who should be reformed.  But meanwhile, if you’re sending naked selfies, sexting, or sending financial or other personal info via the latest information and communication technologies (and let’s face it, a ton of people are uploading, downloading, and sending through cyberspace images or information they would NOT want to make known to teachers, employers, parents, or others), then you should go check out this presentation:

 

“Anatomy Of A Hack” (free for students, faculty, and staff)

on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2014  from 2:15 pm to 3:30 pm in 137-B Macrae Peak, Plemmons Student Union.

Criminals have learned how to use our phones, laptops and even refrigerators against us. How do they do it, what can they steal, and how can we protect ourselves?

You may have missed “Managing Your Digital Footprint” and “Your Online Reputation” but it’s not too late to catch this final event for Cyber Security Awareness Month at Appalachian.

Your Community, Your Responsibility

One thing you learn in First Year Seminar is the responsibilities of community membership.  You have an opportunity to explore your role in the campus community by attending a workshop that will train you to become a “Suicide Prevention Gatekeeper” so you can help if someone you know is in emotional distress.  This two-hour training is free.

Tues, Oct 28, 12:30-2:30pm, Three Top Mountain

Wed, Oct 29, 7-9pm, Beacon Heights

Wed, Nov 5, 7-9pm, Belk Library 421

Wed, Nov 19, 5:30-7:30pm, Three Top Mountain

Thur, Dec 4, 4-6pm, Three Top Mountain

More info about suicide prevention at App State

FREE Food and FREE Art this Thursday Night!

If you haven’t walked into the gorgeous space that is the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts, you now have überincentive to do so this Thursday night.  For this Thursday, October 9, from 7-9pm, the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts on King Street in downtown Boone (just on the other side of the Valbourg Theatre not far from the Library parking structure) will host a special “Art Bash” event just for students.  The event is designed to introduce students to the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts and the exhibitions and programming we offer.  It is a free event for all students with an App State ID, and will feature:

• Free Food
• African drumming and dance performances
• Performance painting by Tunde Afolayan
• Great door prizes
• A scavenger hunt

The evening’s festivities are themed around the current exhibition “TWENTY: Contemporary Art from South Africa.”  More information about the exhibit may be found here: http://tcva.org/exhibitions/1349

Test your mOOd

When I was a kid, in the 70s, I wore a mood ring.  The stone on such a ring changed colors according to your mood (or so we aspiring preteen hippies thought).  Today, you can actually go TEST your mood with sciencey stuff.  Any time from 10:00am to 2:00pm on Thursday, October 9th, in the Student Union’s Calloway Peak room, you can walk in and get a free mood test (which is groovy talk for mental health screening that’s given by the ASU Counseling Center).  By the time I got to college, mood rings were passé but nothing had replaced the real value there is in checking in with and about your inner state.  College can present so many new challenges and stresses that is is gOOd to test your mOOd. dOO it.

How Would Socrates Discuss Gay Rights?

Socrates is known for his use of the dialectic or Socratic method of inquiry.  Your FYS instructor probably engages in this method in class.  Now you have a chance to watch some budding pros engage in this method of inquiry, discuss, and dialogue. This Wed, Oct. 8 you can see Appalachian’s student discussion group, Socrates Café, partnering with the LGBT Center in order to discuss what it means to be part of the LGBT community and what it means to be an ally of the LGBT community.

They would love to hear any and all opinions in this discussion as they look at how this is impacting our school, community, nation, and world. They look forward to seeing you on Wednesday, October 8th at 6pm in Whitewater Lounge.

Socrates Cafe is sponsored by AppSpeaks and the Department of Communication.  The Appalachian State University’s discussion groups, called Socrates Café, are student-facilitated small groups designed to explore complex questions. The facilitators are trained to support group members in becoming more autonomous, conscientious thinkers and doers, as well as skilled speakers and listeners. In the spirit of Socrates, we believe that we only discover what we truly think about something by engaging in constructive and empathic discourse with others. After meeting in Whitewater Cafe of the campus Student Union, small groups of twelve or fewer disperse to various areas of the student union. Led by a trained student facilitator, groups spend sixty minutes discussing an issue or question. At Socrates Café, just about any question can be grist for meaningful dialogue. Or at least, virtually any question can be fine tuned so it can be looked at in a philosophical way, and our facilitators are trained to do exactly this.

What to Expect

Picture a group of people gathered together for a regular meeting to talk about their thoughts and concepts of the world. At the beginning of the meeting a facilitator assists the group in determining the question or idea that is most interesting or valuable for the group to explore. With minimum verbal participation, the facilitator assists group members in discovering and sharing their thoughts about their chosen topic. Every participant is encouraged to engage on the topic. Facilitators are trained to resist making comments or drawing conclusions on the topic. Instead, facilitators question participants to attain depth and to discover hidden complexities of the topic, as well as of the group interaction.

Analyzing Pop Songs and Running a Bank* (*but not necessarily at the same time)

A major part of your education at Appalachian will come from your taking advantage of the incredible speakers, films, exhibitions, and activities available to you on and near campus.  Go, be a sponge and absorb, enjoy being challenged, make new connections among ideas, and ask questions.

On October 8^th you can catch “Post-Feminist Pop Songs: On Resilience, Gender, and Race,” a talk by Prof. Robin James, Dept of Philosophy, UNC-C. 5:00pm on Oct 8th in Belk Library Room 114. This lecture is free and open to the public.  It’s part of a series put on by the Women’s Studies Program this fall—see www.ws.appstate.edu for the entire schedule of distinguished lectures on women’s and gender issues! Questions about this speaker series? Please contact the WS Program Director, Prof. Kim Hall, at x7603.

You should also plan to attend the 54th Boyles CEO Lecture, scheduled for Thursday, October 9th at 2:00 p.m. in the Holmes Convocation Center.  The featured speaker is Mr. Jim Blaine, President and CEO of State Employees’ Credit Union. The lecture is open to the public at no charge.  A reception will follow on the floor of the Holmes Convocation Center.  There is more information at the Boyles CEO Lecture Series website. Questions? Please email wcob@appstate.edu or call (828) 262-2057.