FEATURES

assistant director of residential learning communitiesSue Belatti

Hello! Welcome to the first edition of “LC VOICE.” We are excited to offer this on-line magazine regarding our Residential Learning Community program here at NAU. As indi-cated by the title, this magazine contains stories BY current residential learning com-munity students FOR all members of our community. Within these pages you’ll read about exciting opportunities this semester that have brought members of our commu-nities together. Although different in their

experiences, the common theme running throughout all is a sense of camaraderie that exists among the learning community students. We hope you enjoy this edition of “LC VOICE.” As members of a residential learning community, we welcome stories about the programs and trips you are shar-ing with your group. Thanks for being a part of our Community.

CONTRIBUTORS table of contentsAbrahan Garibay & Lauren Adoram-Kershner Eco House Learning Community Gets Their Hands Dirty08

Alex Clemens 09 Business Learning Community’s Trip to Purina PetCare

Amber Diagostine 09 Criminal Justice Hears from a Judge

Tomie Barrio 09 Jail Is Pretty Fun- From the Outside of Course!

Eco House

Writer Abrahan Garibay & Lauren Adoram-Kershner

n Saturday, September 29th, National Public Lands Day, nine Eco House Learn-

ing Community members went to work with ecological restoration programs at Grand Canyon National Park. The volunteers spent two days exploring and restoring the natural environment. While some of the volunteers removed the non-native plants, others re-potted endangered and indigenous plants in the canyon nursery.

For the past few decades, invasive plants such as pigweed and horseweed have threatened the native species local to the area. David M., one

of the Eco-House volunteers, described the work process, “It was really tough taking out some of the weeds. They had thorns, but we had geo-picks! Picks were thrown, and blood was shed!”

Yet, beyond the hard work, another Eco-House member summed up the experience, “We slept out under the stars and saw the canyon in the moonlight. It was truly astonishing!” Abrahan G.

So in the end, not only did the group help ecologi-cally restore the landscape but they also had a great time!

If you are interested in meeting the coolest people around, the Eco House Learning Community meets Tuesdays at 8 pm in the 5th floor Reilly lounge.

Writer Kellyanne Brown

tudents from the CAL Secondary Education LC got the chance to go to the “Wall Draw”

event and draw on the walls. Chyanna Miller commented, “I have so many ideas! I don’t know

which one to pick!” Many of the students were excited to express themselves and to draw on the wall without getting in trouble!

he CAL Secondary Education LC also had eight faculty members join them for dinner

on September 11th. The students mingled and

got to know their faculty better and talked about their degrees. Many of the students were eager to know more about the College of Arts and Letters.

Faculty cannot wait to work with this group of students.

Outdoor Recreation

hikes pumphouse wash

Criminal Justice goes to jail

Writer Tomie Barrio

ow would you feel about going to jail, meeting officers, and learning about the

criminal justice system? This is what we did in the Criminal Justice Learning Community. We recently visited Coconino County Jail and it was a great learning experience.

We took a tour observing inmates, hearing stories about the goings on in the jail, and were able to ask questions freely about anything that came to mind. We looked into their holding area where, depending on their criminal status, peo-ple will be put into different “chambers”. When the time comes, they will be moved to a sepa-rate and permanent holding area if they proceed within the system. Then we journeyed to areas such as the gym, kitchen, and medical quarters and so on. There were inmates that had visitors and we saw inmates in their daily incarcerated lives.

There are 3 cell areas for inmates and the of-ficers code them by their offenses. Misdemean-ors are in a different cell than the maximum offenses. There is an area just for juveniles that are tried as adults, yet they are the only ones in the entire jail that get to play basketball. Amaz-ing isn’t it? When we wrapped up with the tour, the officers were very generous in giving us their card in case we wanted to fill out an ap-plication! Jail is pretty fun, from the outside of course.

Criminal Justice hears from a judge

Writer Amber Diagostine

he Criminal Justice Learning Community attended the CCJ Club meeting on Octo-

ber 2nd. The club offers many educational and professional events that benefit students within the criminal justice major. This time, we had the opportunity to listen to a guest speaker- a retired judge from Flagstaff Superior Court.

Judge Van Wyck spoke about his experiences as a judge and more recently as a mediator. He

had numerous funny stories and insights about becoming a judge and working in the criminal justice field. It was interesting to learn how varied the job of a judge can be, from ruling on parole violations to hearing a divorce case. The students were able to ask questions and connect with the judge on an informal level. It was a great experience!

Thanks to those of you who joined us for the Photo Shoot on October 4, 2012. For those of you who were not able to make it, almost 20 stu-dents came to represent the following Learning Communities: CAL Secondary Education, Chemis-try and Biochemistry, Education House, Engineer-ing, English, Global Village, Health and Human Services, and Leadership. If you were there, you will probably start seeing your photo showing up on the website or other marketing materials.

LCphotoshoot!!!

Rebecca Swain

Business RLC

Writer Alex Clemens

visits purina

f you have ever been on the east side of Flag-staff then you’ve most likely gotten a strong

whiff from the Purina PetCare Company. But what exactly is in the factory to produce such a malodorous smell? Recently, students from the Business Learning Community had the opportu-nity to see how one of Flagstaffs’ top employers operates. The tour of the factory started inside their giant warehouse where we saw stacks of pet food stacked sky high with over fifty forklift trucks rushing around to fill orders for distribu-tors. The warehouse is massive and seemed like an ideal place to play hide and seek.

Purina PetCare Company, inclusive of the Flag-

staff plant, became the first U.S. manufacture to use renewable solar energy. The tour continued to the quality assurance laboratory and a room that overlooked where the pet food is made from a highly technological advanced machine that is unique to the Purina operation. The tour con-cluded with the packaging area of the plant and a very cold room that stores ingredients that are used in the pet food.

The Flagstaff plant provides its pet food product to five states and sends food as far as New Zea-land. That smell from the plant is mainly from the baking of corn and will vary depending on what product they are making that day.

Hotel Restaurant Management

toursenchantment resort