2013 State of the Campus Address

Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 19th, I will be giving the annual State of the Campus Address. The address covers the status of Student Government and highlights new initiatives and projects undergone by all three branches of government. The event will be in the Reitz Union Grand Ballroom from 7 to 9 p.m. I strongly encourage all students who are available to attend this address, as it will be very informative and interesting. There will also be free food and giveaways along with the important updates about the exciting things that are happening here at UF. 

There are a plethora of people inside student government that have been doing extraordinary things during my administration that have helped us progress as a university. Many of the amazing on-campus organizations will be tabling during the event and giving out information about what they accomplish and why they are continuously looking for new members. As for me, I will be speaking about my administration and how I am striving to improve the amount of transparency that Student Government provides the student body, as we are a liaison between the students and the administration. 

Those of us who have chosen to be involved in SG spend our time trying to make the experience of everyone here as enjoyable as possible, and for that reason I recommend everyone comes out to listen and learn about how we are doing that. If you can't attend in person, the event will stream on Google plus under the SG Google plus account. For more information, please don't hesitate to visit our event page at https://www.facebook.com/events/231762563655546/. Thank you to all of you who make what I do possible, and I hope to see you all there tomorrow night! Here is an online invitation cordially inviting you to the event: http://www.evite.com/event/0312GNQ4SNVQRAYUGEPDIT4PEYLHR4. Have a great day and go Gators! 

Online Course Syllabi

Today I would like to share a resource with you that many students don't know about. The University of Florida provides one website that centralizes every course syllabus, so that it is easy for students to find all the information they need for their various classes.

This is just one of the many ways that UF is simplifying school for our students. Instead of having to navigate Sakai to each individual class's individual syllabus to find out important information such as due dates and assignments requirements, students can find all syllabi at one location.

syllabus.ufl.edu is the website that provides this luxury for all students. Each class is organized by the college that it is taught under, further simplifying students' ability to find their course. This is also a great way to help students plan their future schedules, by giving them an opportunity to see what a class entails before they enroll in it. Along with that, it can also be a back up for those who have misplaced a syllabus. I encourage all students to use this useful resource to their advantage!

Business Spotlight: Spin Chill

Everybody agrees that warm beer sucks. For this week's spotlight, I want to raise awareness about two UF students that hate warm beer so much that they decided to do something about it. Trevor Abbott, a fourth-year mechanical engineering student, and Ty Parker, a mechanical engineer who graduated last year, are co-founders of a company called Spin Chill that has designed a product that has the ability to chill a canned beverage must faster than a fridge or a cooler of ice.

Putting a can in a fridge or cooler of ice can take between 10 and 30 minutes to cool to an enjoyable drinking temperature. By using the Spin Chill Chill Bit, a beer can go from room temperature to 32 degrees Fahrenheit in two to three minutes. How? By spinning the container in ice or ice water, convection is introduced to both the inside and outside of the container, thus increasing the rate of heat transfer and cooling the beverage down at a rate of at least 20 times faster than otherwise possible.

Trevor and Ty originally came up with the idea during the summer of 2013 when both traveled to Atlanta, GA for the AngelHack hackathon as a part of the HackerHouse accelerator program that both were involved with.

"Typically hackathons are software based, but Ty and I, having mechanical engineering backgrounds, didn't want to do coding. We were brainstorming ideas at a bar and couldn't come up with much, so we grabbed a case of beer and headed back to our hotel. The case of beer was warm, so we cooled it the quickest way we knew how: by spinning the cans by hand in a bucket of ice water. That's when we decided we were going to invent something that could do that for us. We ended up taking second place at the the Atlanta AngelHack hackathon with it," said Trevor Abbott.

After that weekend, the two came back to Gainesville and got to work on making their idea come to life. They just launched their newest product yesterday, the Beerouette, which is a fully self-contained beer chiller. It can spin cans and bottles and runs off of just four AA batteries. For more information about the awesome new product designed by two of our very own students, check out www.spinchill.com or find the Spin Chill page on Facebook, because everyone agrees that cold beer is the best beer.

Get Involved This Fall

With the Summer session nearing an end, some of you might have already begun thinking about what things you want to do this Fall. While UF offers more than 900 student organizations, containing pre-professional societies, various student unions and several Greek chapters in different councils, I have found that there is no better way to get involved than with Student Government.

Being a part of Student Government has been one of the greatest things I've done with my time at UF. While I started as a member of the Student Senate, during my four years I have been able to work closely with my fellow SG officials and through this, I have learned all about our different agencies, directorships and cabinets and what they have to offer.

Moreover, our Student Government is always adapting to enhance the student experience. I think that is why I have enjoyed being a part of SG; I truly enjoy seeing the projects I have undertaken really help students on this campus that I love!

There are many things you can do to get involved with SG. First, I recommend liking our Facebook page and following our Twitter account. On here you can find postings about open positions as well as events which will allow you to learn more about SG. I also would encourage you to check the SG website regularly. The website is home to all of our applications as well as lists of immediate openings.

If you ever find yourself in the Reitz with some time to kill, feel free to come up and talk to an SG official in person, anyone would be happy to talk to you about what opportunities are available!

Tobacco Free Florida Awards UF

Congratulations Gator Nation! This morning in the Murphree Courtyard UF’s Department of Housing and Residence Education was officially recognized as the first establishment to be designated with Tobacco Free Florida’s Smoke-Free recognition.

Tobacco Free Florida is a campaign administered through the Florida Department of Health. Its goal is to create these smoke-free areas across the state in hopes that residents will quit or be deterred from starting the use of tobacco products. Additionally, the campaign seeks to educate those on the dangers of second hand smoke.

While UF deemed itself a Tobacco-Free campus just a few years ago, this award serves as a great reminder that we are moving in the right direction. Cutting smoking out of the residence halls was recognized by the university as the only way to produce the smoke-free environment that we desired.

With 12 residence areas housing about 7,800 students, this was no small feat! Days like today make me incredible proud to represent University of Florida’s student body!