Margo Uhrman (Week 4)

During my final week on project, I continued to supervise the activity room and provide activities for the kids on the floor. As a special treat to all patients and staff, Dairy Queen donated ice cream to the hospital. Most of the ice cream was on a truck next to the building but oreo blizzards were brought to the bottom floor of Rainbows so that patients who are not allowed outside could go and collect their ice cream. I brought a few patients down to get ice cream and brought more ice cream upstairs for patients who were not allowed to leave their rooms. One of the kids I brought down to get ice cream ran all around the room playing hide and seek as we waited for the ice cream to arrive.
On my final day, we had a special art project on the floor. Someone recently donated a bunch of wooden picture frames so many of the kids decorated them with feathers, shells, foam pieces, glitter, and more. One little boy decided to make presents and cards for his three siblings and his parents. We spent most of the afternoon creating different presents for his whole family.
I loved working on my project and was able to give back and have a great time for the entire month.

Week 3 Omar

Hey, my project's going pretty well. I submitted my completed remix for Kaskade's Dynasty, which can be found here on Beatportal (or here on Soundcloud if you would like to comment on it) and is open to be voted for from June 1-June 15 for Beatportal's contest! (You need to register for an account at Beatport.com to vote). I am continuing work on my other, more experimental project of mutilating sounds. Not quite done yet, but I'll post progress on that one later. I'll be playing some of my music both at the project presentation, and at Coffeehouse that night. Sweet :)

I've definitely taken a lot out of the project--regardless of how that remix does (it's style is much different than I normally do) I feel like I have a new creative technique under my belt to exploit, and I've gained a lot of perspective in why I make music--not just to have funky beats that everyone can dance to, but to explore interesting concepts as well. My prior works weren't necessarily that extraordinary or experimental, but they latched onto themes and melodies that contained irregularities, dissonant chords, and twisted melodies that kept people interested. The usual banging dance tracks aren't cutting it for me anymore--I'm seriously thinking about the stuff I listen to much more now, and so my interests within this month have shifted toward much more minimal styles than I ever had before. (Existentialism and Maleficence are the two pieces I did at the start of project that exemplify my workflow before project started--well produced, and with some interesting ideas, but not necessarily uniformly interesting or shockingly fresh. I'll probably move toward more conventional styles after the project, but I'll incorporate more interesting and intelligent ideas in my future work. This project doesn't just end now--it's going to be ongoing, perhaps for many, many years to come :))

Rounding third and heading home

Yes, Maya and everyone - keep blogging at least until you've done three - more if you feel like it.  I've enjoyed reading everyone's entries.

Final project presentations are 1 week from Friday.  You should be organizing your thoughts NOW for your final report and getting some ideas for your presentation.  I hope you will be more creative than a boring old powerpoint.  That is so yawwwwwnnnnnnny.  Make yours crisp, short, specific, and appealing.  If you have advice for the juniors who will be listening to your presentation, be sure to share it.

Doc M.

The Indians (Week 3)

The last week with the Indians has been a good one, as we have continued working in the distribution center and working during games during the last homestand. During games we were doing a variety of tasks, including running souvenir stands at Progressive Field, running the speedpitch radar gun thing, or shadowing the merchandising directors and seeing how they keep every stand in the ballpark running smoothly. We worked Friday and Saturday night's games against the Cincinnati Reds and yesterday's game against the Chicago White Sox. During the Reds series, we worked a new souvenir stand that the director of merchandising set up in Heritage Park selling various classic Indians gear. The White Sox game was fun, but also slightly difficult due to the fact it was Kids Day at the ballpark. This meant that there were 10,000 screaming little kids at Progressive Field an hour before we even got there, which was also an hour before the gates even opened. This also meant that I had a headache by the eighth inning. Regardless, it was still a very good experience to work the games, and it was fun to see many of the White Sox players in the tunnel by the clubhouse prior to the game. We look forward to our last week with the Indians, and especially to the all-you-can-eat Terrace Club buffet lunch tomorrow.

Week 4 (by Maya)

Hi everybody. I'm not sure if we're still supposed to keep posting blogs every week now that we've had our midproject meeting? But, heck, I might as well...

So by Week 4 I'm feeling distinctly fed up with the library, especially now that it's super sunny and 80 degrees outside every day (I'd much rather sunbathe!, though that in itself might also be a bad idea because I am also distinctly pale...). Anyways:

I'm getting down to the last couple of photographs now. There's this one photo that's really making me annoyed. It shows 6 people sitting at a desk, signing a contract. What's making me annoyed is that I know exactly what is going on in the photo & have identified 5 of the 6 people with reasonable accuracy, but I can't figure out who the 6th guy is!! Ugh. If I don't figure out the 6th guy's identity soon, I'll just identify the people that I can & mention in the caption that the 6th guy is unidentified...

For those random pictures that only show a room with chairs and sofas, I just had to caption them as "A room with chairs and sofas, possibly the interior of a hotel, at the Great Lakes Exposition" and then just gave a bit of background on the Exposition in the description field, since that was really the best I could do.

Usually there are lots of people around in Special Collections, since lots of undergrads and grad students work here, but it seems to be nearly empty this week (perhaps they are all sunbathing?), so there isn't even anybody much to talk to around here, which definitely adds to my boredom with the library... So overall I've enjoyed my senior project & the topic of my senior project, but I will definitely not feel sad to leave once it's over!

Hope everybody's having a good time! & See ya soon! :)

Oops...

I forgot to post the pic but it's not letting me! :(

Elizabeth's Week Three

Here’s a review of last week:

Last week Mrs. Hermann drove us all around Cleveland—we saw some pretty run-down areas that I have never seen before. But, we also saw some beautiful places: on Wednesday, May 19th, we went to Bratenahl to meet a client at her house. The house was gorgeous; it was a mansion that backed right up to Lake Erie. The Bratenahl community is surrounded by some pretty rough areas, but once you get to Bratenahl the environment entirely changes. The client is celebrating her 25th anniversary, 50th birthday, and the 100th year of her house. The party is in the middle of the summer, and it will be very extravagant, with ice sculptures and lots of flowers and great food. When we went there we met with the caterer to go over some initial ideas.

On Friday, I went with Mrs. Hermann to OfficeMax to go supply shopping for a client. She wanted to create a presentation folder different from what she’s done in the past. Early this week, Chelsea sorted through over 1,000 event pictures to create a photo collage to put on the cover of a folder we bought. It will be used for the MetroHealth Proposal. While Chelsea worked on the photo collage, I wrote the concept and idea part of the proposal. For this part, I looked through some of MetroHealth’s promotional materials to get a feel for the hospital’s vision and mission statement. In the proposal, I had to relate the idea for the party to MetroHealth’s purpose.

Week 3!

Hi! We had another fun week with Mrs. Hermann! For a large portion of the week, we worked on different aspects of a proposal for an event Mrs. Hermann is bidding on. I spent a few days working on a photo collage of Ghostlight Productions pictures to be used as the cover art of the proposal. This entailed sorting through over a thousand pictures to find a select few to use on the collage, and then learning how to use photoshop (thanks to Ellen Krantz) and piecing everything together. It was a lengthy process, but I'm happy with the final product! (I posted it here for you all to see.) While I was working on that, Elizabeth finalized some of the written parts of the proposal, and Mrs. Hermann worked on the cover letter. It was fun to see what is needed in order to put together a proposal! We also took many trips to Home Depot in order to pick out flowers for an office party downtown that Mrs. Hermann is planning for a friend. Mrs. Hermann also got me a poppy because I thought it was so pretty, but I guess I am not very good with plants because it already died. :( Today we are cooking! I am so excited. Hope everyone is having a great project!!

Week 3 (Randi)

Hey guys!

So this past week I have been pretty much just working on my initial screen of 30 different phtyochemicals. It's a lot of work, but it's cool to see how what we learn can apply to real world problems (I used stoichiometry and dilution Doc M!). I finished the actual experiment last week, and today and yesterday I have been analyzing the data, which is actually a ton of work. Hopefully I'll finish that today and be able to give you an update on the results.

Eric (Week 3)

So this week was a fun one. As you all heard and saw on Tuesday, Nate and I took an awesome ride through the Euclid Creek Reservation in the Metroparks. It was technically challenging and very fun at the same time. It was also very wet and muddy (hence our muddiness). We ended up hiking and dragging our bikes up a very steep hill while hanging on to tree roots to keep ourselves from falling, then going down another very steep hill, proceeding to trudge across the fast-flowing river (it was fast because of all the rain) with our bikes above our heads, and finally climbing the opposite bank, again with the aid of tree roots. All that to get to the road so that we could get to school on time. Other than that, the other ride that sticks out in my mind is our on-site visit from Mr. Thompson. I forgot the name of the place we rode, but we went out from Hawken (in our cars), turned right on Wilson Mills, and took that until it ended in Chardon. From there, it was about five minutes from a very nice route. It was in the Metroparks, and we took the paved road on the side of the street. Having planned to do this, Mr. Thompson and Nate brought their road bikes. However, I don't own a road bike, so I was stuck on a mountain bike while biking on a road. This wasn't too bad, as the ride was relatively short for a road biking ride, but it did become a bit of a nuisance. This is because as mountain bikes are meant for the mountains (and trails), hence their classification, they are not meant for the road. And while you can ride them on the road, as I did, I think Mr. Thompson put it best when he turned to me a little more than halfway through the ride and said, "You're the one getting the workout here, Eric. This is just a stroll in the park for the rest of us." And he was right. Mr. Thompson and Nate were riding ahead of me almost the entire time, talking about this and that (a good portion of it was the summer reading list that Nate and I are putting together), and I was lagging behind, not quite panting, but definitely feeling like I was working way harder than I should be. Nate also confirmed this when I asked if there was really that big of a difference between mountain bikes and road bikes. He said tat first of all, on a road bike you are in a much more aerodynamic position, and that second of all, road bikes just coast, and that they are overall much easier to ride (on a road, of course). So while the ride was a beautiful scenic route, and was also a lot of fun, it was more of a workout than I anticipated. However, I would gladly do it again and suggest it as a relaxing ride through the park.

Week 3 (Amanda)

Hi Everyone,

I hope everybody is having a great project! Mr. Clark came and visited me today and I got a chance to show him around the Q a bit. I hope he enjoyed it-he got a thorough tour of the control room for the tv screens during the game and he got to see the offices and where the court used to be.

I thought I'd tell you about one project that I have been working on this and last week. It's for both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Lake Erie Monsters. For this project I am composing a binder with print outs and some Microsoft Word pages of what different sporting teams are doing to sell tickets. I have been researching MLB, NBA, MLL, MLS, and NFL teams. Another intern (who is actuley working with the Monsters) has already completed the Hockey portions. I am doing this so that the group ticket sales departments can have insight on what other teams are doing to sell more tickets. I am not done yet but I have found that MlLL is suprizingly built up considering there are only 5 US teams. Also, within each league, teams offer very similar benefits (on basketball teams youth fans can high five the players as they come onto the court if they sell a certain amount of tickets). These promotions help draw more fans and provide a goal for a group to sell more tickets. Other benefits include honoring of individuals or teams and some may even have the opportunity to sing the National Anthem. Football does very little with group events but they work with a lot of charities in schools and other environments. Soccer tends to donate a lot of money rather then have group events. Baseball is probably the most similar to the basketball group events but many times their groups aren't given the benefits of high fiving players but rather are engaged in the advertising games during the baseball games.

Wednesday I give a presentation on a hypothetical group that I would have come down to the Q and why. It's not very intense and the binder I have been working on has been more tedious but this project is more analytical. I am going to explain the benefits that the groups, individuals, and team (Cavs) would see from them coming down to the Q for the game and ways in which they could be honored. I will let you know more about what I choose and why next week. I actuley composed a report and an additonal list of groups and charities that could come down because there are so many different programs that could exist. There is the potential for one or more every night and Cleveland is a bigger place then it looks that draws fans and groups from not just Ohio but from other boardering states and there are so many programs that already exist in Cleveland that would love the opportunity to come to the Q.

If you have any ideas for a group that you think should be honored or participate in a program at the Q or with the Cavs and/or Monsters let me know and I will add it to my list. I can't wait to hear more about your projects!

Margo Uhrman (Week 3)

I have had a very good third week at Rainbows. All of my days are pretty similar but on Friday two magicians came and performed a show in the Activity Center. I had to help set up for the show then bring kids in from both my floor and two other floors to watch the show. The magicians were really funny and the kids loved helping with the tricks. One six year old boy was especially amazed with the coin disappearance tricks and the show inspired another boy to show me the card tricks he knows. After the show, I helped clean up and brought the kids back to their rooms.
Today, I spent most of the morning playing Mario Karts with an eight year old boy. He kept making fun of me because my skill level was not up to par with his. This afternoon, I played with trucks with a three year old boy.
It has been a great week and I’m excited for Mr. Weiskopf to come visit me tomorrow.

Margo Uhrman (Week 2)

I only spent a few days this week at Rainbows and spent most of the time on the Outdoor Leadership trip. For the spring trip, we canoed on the Allegheny River in Pennsylvania and traveled over 110 miles (I forget the exact number) in five days. The trip was a lot of fun but unfortunately a stomach flu spread within the group and 17 / 18 of us showed flu symptoms and 12 / 18 puked. It was not exactly what you call the best conditions for a last OL trip but all in all, I had a good time.

When I was at Rainbows this week, it was very similar to my first week there. I spend most of my time playing with kids in the activity room and the last two days have been incredibly busy. There have been at least two or three kids in the room at all times which is a lot of fun but I’m tired by the time I leave. There was a very cute three year old girl who played kitchen with me and she loved to “make” strawberry juice and pizza to serve to me and the other kids in the room.

Week 3 (by Maya)

Hi everybody! It was great seeing you guys & hearing about your projects on Tuesday.

During week 3 of my project, it's pretty much been same old, same old at the library (well, I've found out a lot of new details about the Great Lakes Exposition & I've finished up writing descriptions for a lot more photographs, but there aren't exactly radical new adventures to tell you about). =]

What's cool is that now there are 34 photos which I've written descriptions for up on Cleveland Memory's website! Here's the link again (the same one as last time): http://images.ulib.csuohio.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=exact&CISOFIELD1=source&CISOROOT=all&CISOBOX1=Great+Lakes+Exposition%3A+Cleveland%2C+1936-1937+%2F+Charles+L.+Bradley
There are cool photos there, and some of them are pretty funny (260 pound ballerinas anybody?!?); some are cute (penguins! ^_^).

So far, I've been working on the photos that are relatively easy to identify and left the more difficult ones for last. Now it's getting harder to write descriptions for the photos because I can't always be sure what is going on in them. For example, there is one photo that I have to identify (not up on the website yet because I'm not finished with it) which is a picture of what looks like a hotel lobby. There are lots of armchairs, sofas, and coffee tables, but it's not really possible to identify what this place is! So what am I going to do when it comes to writing the description for that one (and other photos that are similarly confusing)? I don't know yet--be back next week for the full juicy details! ;)

Zack Lawrence (Week 2 with Cavs)

My second week with the Cavs was spent in accounting. When I first came in, the accountants that work for the Cavs didn’t really know what to do with me, so they sent me to spend some time with each individual member of the accounting team. So I spent a little time with each person. Some had little tasks for me to do, while others didn’t really know what to do so they just explained what they do and sent me to someone else. After I learned about each job, they put me to work. First I was sent to the file room. I spent almost an entire day in that room. It was simple, and mindless work but someone has to do it in order to keep accurate records. Then the next day (Wednesday) starting in the afternoon I was taught how to do a journal entry. Journal entries are made at the beginning of each month in order to close out the previous months accounts. So when I came in on Thursday, they felt I had gotten a pretty good grasp of the task, so they gave me a lot more journal entries to compute. Surprise, surprise, I got to do some more on Friday (even after the Cavs lost).

I found it very interested how many times documents are checked over for accuracy. In this business every number must add up perfectly, or else you start from scratch. My experience in Accounting taught me many lessons that I can carry with me throughout my life in the business world. However the biggest lesson I learned is that accounting just isn’t for me. It involves a lot of tedious work, and it really just didn’t interest me that much.

Reflections of Cleveland in a Library Archive

Right before our mid-project gathering, I zipped down to CSU through the pouring rain to visit Maya in her lair.  I found her in a room that was spacious, but surrounded by shelves piled high with mysterious, old-looking boxes filled with material awaiting attention.  Maya had one file of pictures at her fingertips that she was working on.  The first one I looked at, I immediately recognized.  It was Johnny Weismuller (of Tarzan fame), in his swimming trunks.  He was at his youthful most handsome!  So what is Maya doing spending her days pretending to do research while gazing at hunks from the past?  Just kidding, she actually IS doing research.  The pictures are from Cleveland's past - in this case, the great exhibition of 1936-37.  Maya's job is to fill in the details and tell us this part of Cleveland's story, as revealed in the pictures.  This means she has to identify unfamiliar faces and places.  This requires some creativity and dogged pursuit of leads that may not pan out.  It's tough work, but rewarding.  It's fun to see what some familiar places looked like back then.  Do you know what was on the site of the present Great Lakes Science Center 75 years ago?  Maya does.

I've enjoyed both of my advisee site visits this year.  Thanks, Maya and Natalie!   When your advisor comes to visit you, let him know what makes your project special for YOU.

Doc M.

Week Two (Elizabeth)

My second week with Mrs. Hermann was pretty broken up because of AP tests and track meets, but we still managed to meet with some interesting people and go to fun places. Mrs. Hermann is in the process of planning an event for HB, and last week we went with her to meet with a teacher who is working on the event. We met at Starbucks in Chagrin Falls. The event is split into two days: on the first night, a couple hundred people will go to a house for a formal dinner, and on the second night, buses will take everyone downtown to the Rock Hall. Chelsea and I worked with Mrs. Hermann on a spreadsheet for budgeting. We had to consider expenses for food, alcohol, entertainment, service, etc. It was interesting to see how quickly everything added up; it is going to be quite a costly event.

The main trip we took last week was to Lakeland Community College to see the enormous tent set up for the commencement ceremony. Mrs. Hermann’s business partner, David, was in charge of the tenting; he handles the lighting and staging part of the business. The tent was enormous and had television screens hanging from the ceiling. It held over 4,000 people.

On Friday, Mrs. Hermann and I drove to OfficeMax to look for some new, creative promotional materials. She wants to make something cool for when she proposes her idea for MetroHealth’s 175th Anniversary celebration. She really stresses the importance of being creative and unique in her presentations to clients.

Week 2 Eric

Alright. For the record, Nate will be posting this week's stuff, and I will comment on it (this is mostly for Doc. M's reading). Nate told me he had posted, but maybe he clicked save instead of publish. Therefore, I won't waste my time or yours potentially re-writing what Nate said, but just wait until tomorrow morning and ask him to please re-post. I am just posting this to say that we were on top of posting for this week, until now, and that I hope it's not a big deal that we post tomorrow instead of today. Anyway, a quick overview of this week, just for kicks. This week the ride that sticks out most in my mind is that of the South Chagrin Reservation portion of the Metroparks. It was awesome. First of all, the ride was moderately challenging, most of that challenge (from my point of view) coming from the numerous steep hills that we had to ascend, and therefore more difficultly descend. Also, we found a bunch of tiny branching trails that were much more technically challenging than the main ones, and went on those as often as we could. Those were great for working on my aforementioned balance issues, and were also more rugged (basically I felt more manly for going on them, so it was an added bonus in my mind). Also, what we didn't realize before starting the project is that mountain biking provides some awesome scenery. In the Metroparks, the Chagrin River does some cool things. There were numerous waterfalls, and a bunch of miniature ravines in which the rock formations just plain looked really cool. So the aesthetic aspect of our project has been noted, and we plan to pay more attention to meaningless details such as those as we continue our biking extravaganza (okay, they're not totally meaningless, and so although they don't technically have anything to do with our project, we shall mention them anyway, cause some of those things are simply awesome). Anywho, that is all for now, and more to come later. Hoorah!

Week 2 Omar

So this week I continued listening to crazy experimental music. Here's one that I particularly like:

Tim Hecker - Song of the Highwire Shrimper

In terms of affective elements of this song, I felt the pseudo-haphazard repetitious piano and the texture formed by the faint voices in the background gave off a feeling of content, intellectual stumbling as well as the feeling of a shortwave radio, where frequencies mix and blend... it's really immersive.

I also started on making two pieces: one experimental one, and one commercial/dance piece. The experimental one is currently based off of a heavily edited sample of cutting cardboard with scissors that I recorded (here's a short tidbit of it: http://rockandfire.biz/experiment.mp3), and the mainstream track will be a remix of Dynasty by Kaskade for Beatportal's/Ultra Records's remix contest (I think the chances of me getting my work into the hands of Kaskade, a producer who recently made the top 5 in the iTunes charts, is actually fairly high in this circumstance so long as I can make a good remix by June 1) [Here's a link for my work on that so far (it's still in early phases so it may change a bunch later. but i really like the sound now!): http://rockandfire.biz/minimal%20kaskade%20dynasty.mp3]. So until later, keep your eyes peeled ;)

Nate (week 2)

For the past week meisel and I have been following a very similar process to what we were doing in the first week. We have been looking for unique riding areas predominantly in northeast ohio. For us the biggest change between the two weeks is how sore our legs are. During the first half dozen rides we felt comfortable racing up hills and standing up in the pedals for hours on end. Now we are starting to feel generally tired from our high levels of activity. We have attempted to institute more nutritious diets with larger caloric intake in order to combat this. It has not been difficult to increase food consumption or the amount of sleep we get. On thursday we decided to heed our mentor's advice from before project began and took some more rest then we initially planned (4 days in that one week rather then 2). We took friday, saturday, sunday, and monday off. (although i sneaked in a quick 40 mile road ride) Week two was more of the same (we aren't complaining at all) more beautiful scenery, more technical trails, and because of the weather more mud. I think eric is going to talk more about our individual rides so I'll proceed to give some big picture stuff. One of the biggest obstacles that eric is working on overcoming is balance. Negotiating large roots while climbing at relatively slow speeds requires great balance. You must be able to stand still on the bike while jumping the front wheel up a foot or so and then raising the back wheel up, all while climbing a steep incline. This isn't as big an issue for me because I have much more experience on the bike. My goals are more directed at refining specific techniques. By the end of the week i want to be able to jump more cleanly over large logs so that I can descend all single path trails with much more confidence. I am also trying to work on the speed and efficiency of my movements so that I can prepare for a summer full of races. Overall we are very content with our project and are throughly enjoying it. This week we are going to bust out the camera and try to capture all the beautiful scenery and difficult trails we have been experiencing.

Week 2

Week two with the Indians was extremely different than the first. The past week, Eric and I spent in the Accounting Department and helped out there. The atmosphere in the upper offices was much different than that of the Distribution Center. In the offices, there is mostly silence among slight chatter on telephones as compared to the "DC" where there is constantly a radio blasting music to those working.

While in the Accounting Department, the two of us were put in charge of counting the "Fun Money" that were among the envelopes from various team shops around the area. In the envelopes along with the Fun Money were checks, credit card receipts and gift cards. I found it extremely interesting to see what exactly would be done with a credit card receipt that I signed months ago at the Indians Offices. In the picture above is a case containing many baseballs signed from famous Indians players. This is just one piece of memorabilia that is around the Executive Offices.

Another activity Eric and I were a part of was inventory for a souvenir stand. This was a complex day as there were multiple steps that needed to be done to check and re-check the numbers and merchandise that was in the store. I was intrigued by the amount of steps that they went through to be sure about all of their numbers.

This next week looks to be action packed as the Indians return to town with a series against in-state rival Cincinnati Reds come to open up interleague play. Also Zack is joining our project. Hope everyone is having fun.

John Wilson

Chelsea's Weeks One and Two!

Elizabeth and I are having a blast with Mrs. Hermann! Her event company, Ghostlight Productions, keeps very busy, so most of the time we are running around to meet with various clients, or to check out venues. The first week we went to see the Van Sweringen Arcade (which I know Elizabeth talked about in her post), sat in on a board meeting for the International Special Event Society at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, followed along with Mrs. Hermann to a meeting at Lakeland Community College for a fundraising event, and helped to set up a fundraiser at Vocational Guidance Services! When we weren’t busy running around, Elizabeth and I were able to write a proposal on behalf of Mrs. Hermann for MetroHealth hospital, which took a lot of creative thinking and careful, but interesting writing! It was a very busy week... My favorite part of our first week was being in control of DivaBling (Mrs. Hermann’s pet name for her event-goddess self) Twitter and Facebook accounts as DivaBling’s interns, or as she more affectionately calls us, her Divalings. Keeping up with Mrs. Hermann’s witty updates on these social networking sites takes a lot of energy!

Our second week shadowing Mrs. Hermann at Ghostlight Productions was a little more fragmented. With more than half of the weekdays taken up by AP tests, and with Mrs. Hermann going to see Billy Elliot in Chicago in order to better plan the opening event for the off-Broadway production of the show in Cleveland, there wasn’t much time for event planning fun! We were able to make it out to Lakeland Community College to see a HUGE tent set up in the parking lot for their Commencement Exercises. (On Saturday, this tent was filled with more than 4,000 people!) Elizabeth and I were also able to bake it to a meeting with a teacher at HB for an event they are hosting in the fall, and helped Mrs. Hermann work out the budget and contract for this meeting as well. We’re gearing up for some exciting projects next week, so we’ll keep you posted!

Week two (Natalie)

This week, we traveled the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington for the KY Spring Premier Hunter Jumper Show. The Kentucky Horse Park will host the 2010 F.E.I. World Equestrian Games in the fall, marking the first world games on American soil. You can imagine how large the venue is. We had kind of crappy weather this week so I was unable to take pictures, but I will hopefully be able to take some next week.

This is one of the largest hunter/jumper shows in the country, housing over 1000 horses. For those of you who don't know the difference between hunters and jumper, hunters can be compared to figure skating while jumpers are more like speed skating. Both compete over jumps, but are judged on different things. Hunters are judged on style, beauty, and grace while jumpers are based mainly on speed.

Many world renowned professionals competing here including Terry Brown, Jennifer Alfano, Kris Kappler, Candice King, Pablo Barrios (from Venezuela), Margie Engle, and Eric Lamaze (from Canada-individual gold medal winner at the Beijing Olympics).

I had A.P. tests Monday and Tuesday so we didn’t leave for KY until Wednesday morning. So on Wednesday, we arrived at the horse park around 3 P.M., unloaded the horses, and set up their stalls (putting down shavings and hanging water buckets and feed tubs). We brought 5 horses with us; Jasper, Kip, Tommy, Pommie, and Toby.

The horses got Thursday to settle in and prepare for Friday’s competition. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I showed Jasper and Kip in the Low Junior Jumpers (1.3 meters). The horses were awesome and it was definitely a learning experience.

Not that many exciting things happened this week…hopefully I’ll have more to share after next week (and pictures)!

Hope everyone’s projects are going well!!

The Cleveland Indians

For our Senior Project, John and I have been at Progressive Field working with the merchandising department of the Indians. It has been eye-opening to see how involved the Indians Company has to be in making everything go smoothly for every game. John and I have also noticed that there are two distinct sides of the employees at Progressive Field. There are the white-collar personnel that work in the Executive Offices at Progressive Field on Ontario Avenue. This is where people like General Manager Mark Shapiro and owner Larry Dolan have their offices. It is also where accounting, personnel, ballpark operations, and other divisions have their primary offices. In the basement of the Executive Offices is the Merchandising Office, which is where John and I are interning. Out one door of the Merchandising Office is the elevators to the white-collar world of the Executive Offices and out the other door is the massive underground tunnel that is the highway for vendors, warehouse workers, and other blue-collar personnel, as well as the access to the clubhouses, dugout suites, and batting cages for the players. Therefore, it has been interesting because John and I have worked in both the Executive Offices in the accounting department surrounded by salaried professionals and also worked in the Distribution Center alongside blue-collar warehouse workers. It has been one of the most interesting aspect of the project for me so far to see how these two different sides of the Indians Baseball Company interact and work together to make the gameday operations successful.

Above is a picture of the Distribution Center at Progressive Field. In this massive warehouse, all the merchandise that is sold in any of the Northeast Ohio team shop locations is first delivered here in massive cardboard boxes. Each order has to be processed by hand to make sure the delivery is accurate, that the merchandise is recorded into the Indians records, and then stored in the warehouse section of the distribution center to await shipment to anywhere from South Park to Great Lakes to the Progressive Team Shop 30 feet above the warehouse. In the middle of the picture there is a pallet of merchandise waiting to be received. During the first week of our project, the Indians were receiving about a dozen of those pallets a day, all needing to be received, recorded, and stored. It is a massive undertaking that requires many hours of hands-on labor. John and I have spent a few days in the Distribution Center and have gotten a taste of what is needed to make the merchandise move for the Indians. That combined with our work in the Executive Offices has made the first half of our project very engaging and interesting on a daily basis.

Week 2 (Randi)

So this week has been pretty similar to last week–mostly watching and learning. So, I think I'll explain my project specifically for this week's post.

First of all, I'm not sure if it was clear from last time that in addition to working in the lab for senior project, I will also work here over the summer. Therefore, I have had a little more flexibility with time, since I could spend my first two weeks watching and learning without worrying about fitting everything into one month.

This week we started working on my project/study. For my project, I will be testing 30 different phytochemicals, which are chemicals that are found naturally in plants. Some of the chemicals include sulporaphance, a component of broccoli sprouts (which has been found to inhibit breast cancer stem cells) and plumbagin, which has been shown to protect against cerebral ischemia ( condition in which there is insufficient blood flow to the brain). I will be running experiments to determine if these phytochemicals kill the Glioma Stem Cells (GSCs). I am first running a number of assays on all 30 phytochemicals to narrow down the list and see which ones have a significant effect on the number of GSCs. Then, I will be able to run more thorough/detailed experiments to determine the precise effect.

The goal of this project is to be able to finish a paper by the end of the summer to submit for publication (which I'm really excited about). It's pretty cool because like I said last time radiation doesn't kill these stem cells, and if a natural chemical did (especially if it did at a subtoxic level) then it could lead to a much gentler and more effective treatment. I love how this study could have such a direct effect on clinical practice, and potentially help save lives.

So far I have just isolated and cultured the cells (separate positive and negative cells for stem-like properties) on which I will test the phytochemicals next week. We had to wait for the chemicals to come in and for the cells to grow, but I should be able to run the initial test at the end of next week.

Also, one of the unique aspects of this specific lab is that the cells come from actual brain tumors from live patients (the lab receives the specimens directly removed from surgery). They then digest these tumors and inject them in mice so that they grow in vivo, and continue to use them for several months. This is really special though, since it's very difficult to make cells that resemble glioblastoma, and growing the cells in their microenvironment (or "niche") in vivo is vital to making cells behave as they would in a human body. Many labs do not have access to these tumors, which is one of the benefits of working in such a large, respected lab.

That's all for now. Can't wait to see everyone on Tuesday!

Week 2 (by Maya)

Hi everybody!

Some updates on what I've been doing...

...Last week, as I told you, I was scanning ("digitizing") photographs of the Great Lakes Exposition (1936-37). I have finished that up already.

So, Tuesday of this week (Monday I had 2 AP exams, ughhh) the lady in charge of categorizing online archives (which is called "metadata") showed me the procedure for putting the photographs up on the Cleveland Memory Project's online photo archive. There is a special program which shows me the fields I have to fill in for each of the photographs (the fields are just things like "Title", "Description", "Subject", "Time Period", etc.). The "Subject" field is pretty important, because this is what enables somebody to find the photo on the website. For instance, if I put the word "Automobile" in a picture's Subject field, whenever somebody types the word "automobile" on Cleveland Memory's website, that photo (along with any other photos with "Automobile" in the Subject field) will show up.

The thing that is sometimes challenging is filling in the Title and Description for each photo, since I have to know exactly what is going on in that photo before I can write a description of it. ...Which is why a lot of my time so far has been spent doing research all on the Great Lakes Exposition. I've been reading books & online articles and comparing the photos I am working with to the already labeled Cleveland Press photos that the Special Collections department in the library has.

I've definitely never been a history buff, but I have to admit the "old photograph" smell makes me kind of happy. (:
Also, three of the photographs that I've digitized and written descriptions for are already up online! Here's the link: http://images.ulib.csuohio.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=exact&CISOFIELD1=source&CISOROOT=all&CISOBOX1=Great+Lakes+Exposition%3A+Cleveland%2C+1936-1937+%2F+Charles+L.+Bradley
And there are many more photos that will be up soon!

Hope everyone's been having fun!
Maya

Week 2 (Amanda)

Hey Everyone,

So for this week's post I thought I would write about the game Tuesday.  I shadowed Game Operations which is pretty much the production side of the game.  They are in charge of what appears during the time outs, quarters, and the half-time show on screen, audio, and the advertisements.

Before the game started a lot went on.  I helped out some interns set up the face-painting, hair-spraying, and sign making tables.  We also set up signs and those big life-size cut outs of the players and Moondog. After that I was introduced to the production staff and we had a meeting with everyone that was helping out so we knew what was going on.  Every event was mapped out onto a timed chart sheet that described the video, audio, and advertisements for that time period and explained who was doing what--the sheet was nicknamed the bible. Everybody at the meeting got a sheet including the production staff, interns, video recording men, Ahmaad & Nicole, members of the Scream Team, the Cavs Crew, and the head, Amanda (not me, ha, but she has an awesome name).  We went over the timed sheet and any changes that might happen during the game.  We're supposed to incorporate advertisements in the breaks so there will be events where fans are chosen to run an obstacle course with lawnmowers or throw basketballs in huge McDonalds cups of coffee to win prizes but sometimes, especially during playoffs, the fans are really excited and we don't want to ruin that excitement so we can "go hot" aka ditch the script and send the Cavs Girls (I can't believe they can dance in those boots!!) out or Scream Team.

Anyways, after the meeting we ate dinner and started to work on the game.  We were on the court for a bit while the players were warming up and so I got to be literally on the court while they were playing! I got to meet Taylor Hicks (he was on American Idol and is singing in Grease in Cleveland, I didn't know that either, ha) who sang the national anthem and I went in his dressing room with another member of Production and we gave him a signed LeBron jersey.  He was really happy and was really into Twittering. Also in the dressing room was a bike crew--I'm not sure exactly what to call them but they did jumps off a ramp and tricks on little children's bikes during half-time. Meanwhile Ahmaad and Nicole were passing out gift cards to fans who were "banning together" a promotion that was sponsored by KeyBank where everybody who went to the game received free wrist and head sweat bands.

Once the game started everybody in the Production crew was wearing head sets that we could speak through (I got a headset but I didn't talk though because I was more shadowing during the game). Amanda made all the calls and would say things like "dissolve this add into Ahmaad and Nicole in 10, 9, 8..." however once it was into the 4th quarter the comments changed a bit.  During the game I was on the floor in the hallway to the VIP Club across from the Celtics bench so I got a great view of the game and I got to hang out with the Scream Team who I learned are really funny.  I got a chance to look into the room where a group of tech guys control the big overhead video screen.  They have about 20 mini TVs that show what each camera is taping and they pick what they want to play, or if they want an add to play, music, or if they want text to appear on the screen.

Once the game was over I was waiting in the tunnel near where the video crew is and I saw some cops walking a fan down the hallway holding him by the back belt-loops of his pants--his feet were barely touching the ground. There's a mini-jail for fans who get really drunk or inappropriate, so don't try anything and think you will get away with it or you will end up like him. Anyways, I was waiting to walk over to the media conference with another Cavs member.  There I sat among the interviewers from ESPN ect. who asked the coaches and LeBron questions.  It was really cool to be that close to them and hear directly their responses to the questions.

So I didn't really do a lot but observe during the game and help out a little but I learned a lot! I thought it would be really stressful for the production crew but everything was so well organized and put together that it ran really nicely.  It was a great experience even though we lost and it was really cool to be behind the scenes during the game and be so close to the players.

Wow, so I wrote A LOT but there was just so much I saw and wanted to share.  I still left some stuff out too but if there's anything you want me to elaborate more on let me know! I also didn't mention any of the stuff I did that morning or in the office this week so if you want more on that let me know too but I've been basically supplementing other Group Event projects and helping out with those.  Any random questions are welcome too. Let's go Cavs--game 6 here we come!

Week 1 (Randi)

Hey guys! I'm glad to hear everyone's having a good time at project :)

So for my senior project I'm working at the Lerner Research Institute at Cleveland Clinic's Main Campus. I am in the Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine department (the same department as Nikolai for any STEMM people out there) in the Rich lab. The Rich lab focuses mainly on a type of brain cancer called Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM). This is the same cancer that killed Ted Kennedy, for those of you who keep up with current events. Without therapy, patients with GBM usually die within 3 months, and even with the best treatment less than 10% survive up to 5 years.

Many experts believe that the main reason for this huge mortality rate is because GBM cells resist radiation. Many cancer cells actually function like stem cells (called Cancer Stem Cells, or CSC). The formal definition of CSCs is: "the ability to undergo self-renewal and developmental potential to recapitulate all the cell types found in a given tissue." In other words, CSCs are tumor initiating cells. For each tumor, there is a small number of CSCs and a large number of regular cancer cells, but the problem is that radiation/chemo kills the normal cells but not the stem cells. Therefore, when you irradiate, you leave the cells that can recreate the tumor. Obviously, that's a problem. Also, surgery doesn't usually work because the cancer metastasizes in the brain, which is really dangerous to operate on and it's really tough to get out the entire tumor.

So, the lab is trying to better understand GSCs in order to figure out why they resist radiation. If you can figure out why they don't die, you can potentially eliminate this factor, allowing radiation to work. What most people have found is that multiple aspects of the microenvironment help them survive.

So far this week I have mostly been watching a learning. I helped out some with a flow cytometry (uses florescence of the cells to count survival rates) and other experiments. I also have gone to a number of talks, including presentations of other lab techs and post-docs projects (the lab is really big, with about 15 people, so these presentations are a great chance for people to keep up with what their colleagues are working on). I also saw a presentation by Jeff Rosen, a famous researcher of breast cancer stem cells. Though it can get really confusing, I feel I have learned a lot and will continue to learn more as the weeks progress.

Next week I am also starting my own project, which I'm really excited about. I'll elaborate more next time.

For the past week and a half Mesiel and I have been exploring the areas mountain biking trails. Early in this process we stuck to trails we were familiar with so that we could develop a criteria for rating them. Our first ride was through Chapin Forest. Chapin forest in part of the Cleveland Metroparks and offers a great mix of gravel paths, beginner trails, and for the more adventurous, very steep, technical off trail descents. Recently we have been exploring new trail networks. We are sticking to the most rugged trails possible in order to improve our technical skills and get the adrenaline pumping. One of the things we keep discussing is the importance of pulling out everything a park has to offer. There are often tiny back trails whose quality far surpasses that of the adjoining trails. This week we are planning on heading down south to Vulture’s Knob, one of the primer mountain biking areas in Ohio. By hitting this area early in our project we will have a standard by which we can measure all of our other trail systems. Here is some footage of vulture's knob. (unfortunately not us yet but I just wanted to show you what we will be getting into. The video effectively starts around 1:00)

Aside from reviewing trails we have been training for two events. The first event is a 100 mile mountain biking race in Loudonville Ohio with 11,000 ft of climbing. The second event is a triathlon midsummer. In order to prepare for these events we have a very high training volume. Since project has began I have ridden nearly 300 miles on my road bike but logged much more time on my mountain bike (although I am unsure of the exact mileage). We have also been running and to a very limited extent (because of our high biking volume) swimming. So far we have really been enjoying this project. Its flexibility is wonderful and it allows us to do what we love.

Omar, Week 1

Ooops, a little late. Forgot about doing this. Here goes:

So my project is centered around learning about and creating electronic music. I told Mark that I wanted to learn more about the nuances of the creative process of making music, and that I want to figure out why I enjoy it so much and what the best elements of the music I already make exactly are. So, with that in mind...

What I've been doing so far is, first, a lot of music listening. I've been listening to a lot of abstract and avant garde artists from as far back as Edgard Varese's poeme electronique to as modern as Radiohead's Kid A and Amnesiac, and discussing "what makes these songs tick," as my mentor, Mark, would say. We have been choosing songs to listen to--one from each of us--and then discussing them at night. For example, the one I chose to analyze for last night was Autechre's Fold4Wrap5 (I highly recommend it. It is crazy cool if you ask me).

But the really cool part about all of this is that Mark isn't satisfied with any of the observations I make, which made me realize that I've been focusing so much on the technical aspects of music--like rhythm, tonality, and structure--rather than the affective aspects of it, like how it makes me feel and what the moods and vibes of the songs actually are in definitive terms. It's opening my mind to think of pieces like Fold4Wrap5 as Mobius strips or Mandelbrot sets in an audio form, instead of just "that song that keeps on slowing down and speeding up and repeating."

I have several projects that he's assigned for me to do this week as an exercise in creativity. First, I need to construct a piece from a short, ~3 second melodic tune that he made up off the top of his head in like 10 seconds into a full, ~2minute long piece to explore what I can do with that. Second, I will try to construct a piece entirely from a single synthesizer sound or grain that sounds interesting ("crunchy" in Mark's terms). And finally, I've ordered a program called Record to work in concert with the music program I use, called Reason. My current program alone is pretty much entirely based on synthesizers and virtual samplers, but Record will allow me to record things of my own and manipulate them natively in the program instead of having to draw off of samples that other people have already made (who knows, maybe I'll sing a funky jam). I have a condenser microphone lying around, so what I need to do is find some interesting sound in the next few days that I can record and then build things off of that.

After these preliminary exercises, I'll hopefully have a greater understanding of what constitutes music, and how sound operates to produce an interesting musical experience. Yes, I could dive in and make techno jams immediately. But I am spending this time not to continue what I already can do, but to develop my style into something unique, so I think my experience so far has been really eye-opening. Sweet! :)

A Day at the Ballpark

My senior project has been with Eric Wenz at Progressive Field with the Cleveland Indians. We are shadowing Mrs. Nancy Schneider who is Associate Director of the Merchandising Offices. Our goal was to learn the business world behind the team that takes the field every night.

Our first two days at Progressive were slower than the rest of the week as we were getting familiar with the operations and as the Indians were playing at 7:05 and Eric and I had to be back at school for baseball games. One thing we did learn from these two days despite the pace was the time spent before the game in preparation for the game. At 10:30 am, there were already four members of the merchandising office present working on what they call "Game Day Notes" which includes the expected sales plan for every souvenir stand.

Wednesday was a very interesting day because The Tribe played at 12:05, and Eric and I could stay due to no baseball practice. We prepared the game day notes, and set up program stands outside the gates and sold programs until the game began. This experience was surprising to see how many people actually bought programs compared to how much money we were expected to make from our sales plan. Eric and I were able to make $43 over our sales plan. Then we worked in separate souvenir stands for the rest of the game and I was surprised about how little business they attracted. With a struggling team, the resulting ticket sales and merchandising sales suffer also. It is sad to see this, as the stadium was so alive as I remember it in the 90s.

Thursday and Friday were my favorite days as we working in the Distribution Center. In this center we dealt with the incoming boxes of merchandise to be received. We would take the order form, which had the list of all the items that were supposed to be in the boxes to which the order form was taped. We would open up the boxes and check the numbers and the prices and bar code numbers on the items and make sure that all the numbers matched up. If there was a problem with the numbers not matching up then we would fill out an audit form for the difference.

Overall, I was very surprised by the number of people that were needed to make the stadium move smoothly every game. The number of boxes in the Distribution Center also surprised me. Eric and I would finish an order and then another pallet of about 7 orders would be moved down toward us. Hopefully we will get to see more players as on Tuesday I saw Shin-Soo Choo! Hope everyone else is having a good project!

John Wilson

Week 1 (Amanda)

So for my first post I figured I'd explain a bit what I am doing.  For my project I'm working with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the ticket sales department. Most people when they hear CAVS they think Lebron James, Mo Williams, Danny Ferry ect. but there is a lot more that goes on behind the court that most people aren't really aware of which is what I am helping out with.

So somewhere in the Q in the mix of the court and the 20,562 seats there are offices that deal with selling tickets, planning the game events, and attracting more fans. I'm helping out my sponsor CJ Marshall and the ticket sales department that she works in with their projects that they are working. So far I have been doing a lot of the back-work that makes their projects possible such as the 3.0 club (a discount that some schools offer to their students for good grades, attendance records, or other good deeds), boy-scout events (boy-scouts are rewarded with discounted CAVS tickets if they sell a certain amount of popcorn), and more group events.  I have been helping out in various different ways including making phone calls, sending out mailings, inputing information into data basing, confirming addresses for schools, and passing out tickets to CAVS events.

Next week I will be helping out the division in more of the same ways but I will get an opportunity to work with Game Operations on Tuesday during Game 5 and I will also get the opportunity to help out the Lake Erie Monsters.  So far, I love it! It's a blast to work with everyone at the CAVS--everyone is extremely nice and helpful. A lot of times different divisions help each other out especially when there is a big mailing or a lot of data-basing to be done. Even though I have paper-cuts from stuffing envelopes with boy-scout letters I know that these mailings that get sent out generate a lot of response and revenue for the CAVS and are necessary for these events to happen. The fan response is so encouraging--one lady even hugged a CAVS intern when she received free watch party tickets-- it's more than just a game to many, but it provides a way for our whole city to join together and support one team.

p.s. Some more great things I forgot to mention: the first Friday of every month is cake day so we celebrated the May birthdays last Friday with cake only we were all too stuffed because we went to Hard Rock Cafe (as a goodbye to the interns who left Friday) courtesy of the Cleveland Cavilers and I found out Thursday that I get employee discount at the CAVS store, so you might want to buy some stock there =)

Let's go CAVS!

Zack Lawrence's First Week With the Cavs

For my project, I will be splitting my time between two organizations located in downtown Cleveland. For the first two weeks I will be working with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and for the final two weeks I will be working with the Cleveland Indians.
Last week I spent time in two different departments in the Cavaliers organization. On Monday and Tuesday, i was in the "Web" department. The "Web" department controls the team website (clevelandcavaliers.com). There are 6 members of this department that all work under an overseer named Jeff Lillibradge. So one person does all the graphics that are on the website, through Adobe Photoshop. Another person takes images and makes videos out of them using Adobe Flash. A couple guys make a newsletter called the Cavs Insider, which is sent out to subscribers once a week. So over the two days, I basically just bounced around and helped each person in the department. I helped the Photoshop guy (Brandon) make a graphic to put on the main page of the website with the purpose of promoting their big "Band Together" promotion sponsored by Key Bank. Then I helped Nick with the making of the Cavs Insider email, among various other things.
Wednesday through Friday, I was in the "Basketball Communications Department". This group basically does everything dealing with the media. They set up and handle press conferences, they compile states and put together booklets to handout to writers and other media members, and gather newspaper articles about the Cavs. So mainly my job was to take a pile of newspaper articles collected from papers and websites all across the country, and make copies of them to be filed into personal folders. There are folders for each one of the Cavs Beat Writers, there is a folder for local papers, a folder for non local papers, and a folder for each played on the team.
On Wednesday, I got the opportunity to meet Cavs legions Austin Carr, Campy Russell, and General Manager Danny Ferry. Also on Thursday, I got to take a tour of the whole building top to bottom, including going into the Cavs locker room.
Ive had a lot of fun so far, hopefully that will continue.
Zack Lawrence

Week 1 (Margo Uhrman)

For my project, I am working with Child Life at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital. As a Child Life volunteer, I supervise the Activity Room on Rainbow 6 (the sixth floor of the hospital) and play with kids both in the Activity Room and in their rooms. It is has been a great first week and I spend almost all of my time just playing with kids. Most of the kids I work with are from 10 months to 5 years old although the patients in the hospital can be any age under twenty one years old.
As per hospital policy, I am not allowed to say the name or condition of any patient and am not allowed to take pictures of any patients. However, I can tell stories without giving away any of those specific details. One little girl I played with in the Activity Room thought that she was at preschool and couldn’t understand why there weren’t a lot of kids in the room. She kept asking me “what are we doing in class today” and “where are the other kids.” Her mom and I just laughed and I helped her play games and create a mother’s day gift for her mom. Today I spent most of the day feeding and playing with a 10 month old girl whose parents had to work and therefore she was alone in the hospital. The nurses would love to spend time with her but they all have multiple patients to look after. It was great to know that I was really able to help by feeding and playing with this little girl. :)

Week One (Natalie)

For my project, I am working with horses (surprise). My supervisor, Tammy Cagno (Head-trainer and manager of Ridgewood Stables), has been my trainer for the past 11 years and has 40 years of experience as a professional. I chose to work with her so that I could gain a better understanding of the "behind the scenes work" of the horse business.

On Tuesday, we worked with a local vet, Connie. I held horses for her while she gave them their strangles vaccinations. Connie explained that stangles is a highly contagious bacterial infection that affects the horses' lymph nodes. It causes them to swell and abscess. The horses get vaccinated once a year. The vet shoots a milky liquid up their nose and it coats their sinuses. This vaccine prevents or minimizes symptoms of horses exposed to the bacteria.

On Thursday, we took 4 horses to a horse show at Chagrin Valley Farms where Doc M. came to check out my progress. He was able to meet my horses, Kip and Jasper, and watch me show them. I showed them in the Junior Jumpers at 1.2 meters (4'). It went pretty well; Jasper ended up winning the class while Kip had some difficulties with the liver pool (blue tarp-like object put under jumpers. It draws their eyes down and a lot of horses are scared to jump them). The rest of the horse show went pretty well and Kip conquered his fear of the water jump.

This week was pretty fun and I look forward to next week. On Wednesday, we will travel to Lexington, Kentucky for a two week horse show.

Week 1 (Elizabeth)

For my project, Chelsea Mihelich and I are working with Mrs. Hermann and her event planning company, Ghostlight Productions, LLC (ghostlightllc.com). The first week was a ton of fun! These next few weeks will definitely be filled with activity because Mrs. Hermann is a very busy lady. She is working on a few different projects at once, and she plans on taking us with her wherever she goes.

We had a great first day with her on Monday because we managed to get a free lunch at Hyde Park Restaurant in downtown Cleveland (an upscale steakhouse that is very pricey). We managed to pull this off because Mrs. Hermann plans on using the facility next to the restaurant, The Van Sweringen Arcade, for an event in November. Hyde Park provides the food for all events in the arcade, so to help win over Mrs. Hermann, we all enjoyed a tasty lunch. The Arcade is a beautiful facility, and Mrs. Hermann does great lighting and decorations, so I’m sure it will look amazing for the event.

My favorite activity we did this week was starting a proposal for an event for MetroHealth hospital to be held in October 2011. The theme for the fundraiser is the four seasons, so Chelsea and I brainstormed what each of the four areas in the tent would look like. We came up with lots of ideas for decorations, entertainment, etc, some of which include ice sculptures, giant snowflakes, flower garlands, Chinese lanterns, and bamboo shoots.

Other activities we did this week included attending an ISES meeting (International Special Events Society), visiting a rental warehouse, Event Source, and helping to set up for a fundraiser at Vocational Guidance Services.

Home on the reins

I probably set some kind of record for the quickest site visit by an advisor by going out to see Natalie on project today, four days into senior project.  It was a beautiful afternoon to see her riding in a show (aka competition) at Chagrin Valley Farms outside Chagrin Falls.  It was a while before her turn on the course, so I had a good chance to meet two of her six (!) horses, Kip, in both pictures, and Jasper.  They were both super-friendly...either that, or super-hopeful that I had food!  Oh yeah, the other living thing in the pictures is Natalie!

The competition I got to see was jumping.  First, though, I got to walk the course, sort of like a golfer checking out a fairway.  The riders stride from one jump to the next, then translate that into the number of horse strides it should be.  OK, smarties - how many Natalie strides equals one Kip stride?  Anyway, I hung around long enough to see Natalie ride Kip through the course.  Imagine riding a half-ton behemoth as it (he) flies through the air.  Fun to watch, but I won't be doing that any time soon.  Natalie, I want to hear how that feels.  NatKip made all their jumps but one - no rails knocked over, and just one refusal.  A refusal is just what it sounds like - the horse rides up to the jump and says, uh, No.  But they went around and made the jump on a second try.  Good job!   I was going to make a video, or at least take some pictures, but my camera batteries had a refusal of their own.  Drat.  Did you know that horses wear shin guards during the jumping competition?  I had to leave before Nat rode Jasper later in the competition, but I'm sure she'll fill us in on how it went.

I had a lot of fun on my site visit.  This duty is the reward for being an SP advisor.  Thanks, Nat!  Enjoy the rest of your project.

Doc M.

Week 1 (by Maya)

For my first post, I guess I'll just talk about where I'm doing my senior project, what I've been doing here for the first couple of days, and some pros and cons of this project that I've noticed so far.

For my senior project I'm working at the Cleveland Memory Project (if anyone's curious, here's the website: http://www.clevelandmemory.org/), which is at the Cleveland State University's Michael Schwartz Library. The Cleveland Memory Project is an effort to preserve Cleveland's history through things like photographs, newspaper clippings, audio recordings, etc. and to digitize all these resources so that they are available online to the public.

So in 1936 and 1937 Cleveland hosted this huge festival called the Great Lakes Exposition (which legitimately sounds like it was awsome--something like a super jumbo cross between a county fair, a diving show, Disney's Epcot, a technology exhibit, and pretty much any other awsome thing you could think of; it would be so much fun if we could have one of those again!). This happened during the Great Depression, so the whole point behind hosting the Great Lakes Expo was to brighten people's lives, improve Cleveland's reputation (Cleveland had such high unemployment & so many other problems at the time that it had a pretty bad rep around the country!), and to bring some money to the city--all three of which the Expo succeeded at wonderfully.

The reason I'm telling you this is that the Cleveland Memory Project obtained some photos of the Great Lakes Expo, and what I've been working on for the past few days is digitizing these photos. ("Digitizing" is the more glamorous word for "scanning into a computer"). I'm nearly done with the scanning by now, and then I will get to identify what is going on in each photo & categorize the photos by subject, so it's not all "busy work"!

So the stuff I'm doing right now obviously isn't super enthralling, but it's alright, especially since I've learned about the Great Lakes Expo and have gotten an appreciation for all that goes on "behind the scenes" at libraries. The people are also all very nice. Plus, (due to crazy transportation shenanigans), I end up walking all over downtown & riding the rapid a lot, which I'm having a lot of fun doing. So, overall, though there isn't a ton of glamour to it, my senior project is going nicely.

Hope everyone is having fun! :)

Maya

What you're supposed to do here

Welcome to Doc M's overseer group senior project blog! I'll be asking each of you to keep the group posted on what you're up to during project by doing the following:

1. Writing one post each week of at least 200 words. You could focus on:
-describing something you learned this week
-recounting a particularly interesting anecdote from the week
-explaining something that surprised you about the week
-providing an update about projects you're working on

Include images or video that you take on project if you can -- blogging works best as a combination of text and visuals.

2. Commenting on two fellow seniors' posts each week. Show your classmates some love and comment on what they're doing. Do your part to insure that every post gets a comment. Nothing elaborate required -- but when you're writing blog posts, it's a great boost to have someone write a comment and affirm that they've heard what you said.

As a rough guideline, let's say that blog posts are due by the end of the day each Monday, which means the first post is due by the end of the day on Monday, May 10. Happy blogging!