12.1.10
The last Engineers Without Borders Meeting of the semester was brief but crucial for active members, covering details about the winter break trip to Belize and the last fundraising event of the year.
EWB members will set up a convenient coffee stand-bake sale at 8 a.m. Monday, December 6 at the top of the ramp in Bell Engineering Hall. Main retail items will include brownies and cookies. Predicted temperature climax is 38 degrees Fahrenheit, so don’t forget cash for a steamy cup of medium roast!
If you’d like to help bake items for the sale, meet with other members at Sarah Beth Dalby’s apartment at 7 p.m. on Sunday, December 6. (For more information, contact her at sedalby@uark.edu)
Members are also encouraged to bake items at individual houses and bring them to the stand on Monday. Already, one student is doing so, another is bringing coffee cups, another is bringing sugar packets and the EWB Treasurer is collecting airpots from a generous donation/allowance from Arsaga’s Warehouse.
Members taking the trip to Belize have one crucial meeting this week. Because of rigid studying and class schedules, the meeting will take place twice. One is at 5 p.m. today, December 3, in the Civil Engineering Lounge. The other is on Tuesday, December 7, after 2:30 p.m. (time TBA.)
These meetings will coordinate the last of the EWB members’ meetings with department heads, for funding discussion.
Iain Bailey, an active EWB member, went to an engineering professor for advice on securing funding for the trip.
“She told me we need to rethink our proposal,” Bailey said. “We need a formal proposal that’s really detailed, including a very specific financial breakdown.”
One EWB action the professor approved was having separate groups for the two trips (one during winter break, one during spring break.)
“She suggested instead of sending 11 (people to Belize) in January, that we split it up between the two trips,” Bailey said.
As EWB President Nikki Lorenz pointed out, there are two very different groups for each trip, as a result of students’ widely varying plans.
“We have a lot of people going to the Spring trip that aren’t going on this one,” she said.
So the group is on top of the game for this point.
Another suggestion Bailey was given included formalizing your individual plans.
In paraphrasing the professor, he said, “We need to know your goals within your major and your career goals, your plans for after college. Why would I give you money if you don’t know that?”
Students appreciated the frankness of the professor, and instead of being upset, agreed that the information would definitely be beneficial on both sides: for the student and for the company to decide where funding should be applied.
Other members noted the value of such detailed, special-formatted documents for corporate packages.
“It’s just courteous,” Bailey said.
President Lorenz suggested that members begin contacting companies as soon as possible to secure funding for the Belize trip scheduled for March.
“Companies take longer to get a straight answer from them, so we should start now with proposals,” she said. “When you return (from this Belize trip), add information from the first trip to the proposals.”
Students at the meeting who have traveled abroad previously highly suggested having a detailed agenda for the January trip. A particular experience included fixing less than half the amount of filters expected, creating something that was later blown away in a hurricane and having a few days of nothing to do.
The EWB consensus is to prevent such conflicts.
EWB members must consult the study abroad office before taking the trip, so the Friday and Tuesday meetings will coordinate that effort.
Fundraising during winter break is up for discussion. Please contact EWB members if you’re available or have fundraising ideas that they could use.
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