Student newspaper of Illinois Institute of Technology since 1928

 

MSI-IIT volunteer program provides
students opportunity to educate others

Kori Bowns
BUSIN ESS MANAGER

Each semester, 12 undergraduate
students from IIT have a unique service learn,
ing opportunity at the Museum of Science and
Industry through the MSI Internship Program
Students apply to spend a few days during the
semester volunteering at the largest science
museum in the western hemisphere, leading
science demonstrations to the museum’s gen
eral audiencel Volunteers who complete a re,
quired minimum number of volunteer hours
at the museum also qualify to apply for a paid
internship at MSI over the summer

Established in 2007 by a common
trustee between IIT and MSI, the program
aims to foster communication skills in stue
dents while making science education accese
sible to the community through the delivery of
several fun and interactive live science demon,
strations at MSII While IIT graduates are gen
erally incredibly knowledgeable in their area of
study, a common observation is that that some
graduates in the workplace lack the communie
cation skills and confidence to convey technie
cal subjects to an audience with a less technie
cal backgroundl As this is a potential problem
in the professional world, the MSI Internship

Program exists to give students practical expe
rience in communicating scientific concepts
to a variety of audiences, ranging from young
children to trained professionals

“Whatever field you go in to, you’re
going to have to communicate with people
who are not in your area Whether it’s your
boss, a customer, or a colleague in another def
partment, being able to confidently and cone
cisely explain diflicult concepts to somebody
who doesn’t share your background is a real
valuable skill," said Lynne Meyer, Director of
the Office of Spiritual Life and Service Learn,
ing here at IIT Lynne also says that the MSI
volunteership experience helps build confi
dence in students that will be invaluable in the
professional world

Reception of the program over the
years has been overwhelmingly positive Many
students who go through the program and late
er decided to change their major to include an
educational component

The MSI Internship Program has be
come a highly competitive opportunity for IIT
students over recent years “These seem like
really basic points, but know what you’re ap
plying for," Meyer said, about those filling out
an application “Don’t just come to an info ses
sion, sign in, and not pay attention Ask ques

tions Also, know yourself, and know what the
opportunity really is"

“When filling out the application,
answer the questions Take the application
seriously enough to think about it, represent
yourself, and sell yourself," Meyer addedl
“Take your time and think about what you’re
saying At the same time, have fun with it If
you’ve got a passion, let us see the passion."

When there are usually at least three
times as many students applying than there are
spots open for the volunteership portion of the
program, students should also remember not
to get discouraged if they don’t make the cut
the first time Although this program is a very
unique partnership between MSI and IIT, one
should also know there are many other ways
to volunteer within the museum if they’d like
to have that experience Students are also en,
couraged to try again and apply in upcoming
semesters should they not make it on their first
try

In order to be eligible to apply for the
MSI Internship Program, a student must at
tend one ofthree info sessions These sessions
take place on February 11, 12, and 13 in the
Hermann Hall Crown Room from 12:50 pm
to 1:50 pm For more information, contact
Lynne Meyer at lmeyer2@iitledul

    

“V, g,

Photo courtesy ofMSIL‘hlmgo.org

 

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SPORTS 1

Lewis College of Human Science YouTube competition nearing final stages

Travon Cooman
TECH NEWS WRITER

Designed to promote the study of
the humanities, social sciences and psychology,
the IIT Lewis College ofHuman Sciences 2012
YouTube Video Competition offers a monetary
benefit for those contributing to the effort The
competition is now in its final stages!

Who will be the winner? With only

one week remaining until a winner of the sec,
ond round of the Lewis College Competition is
declared, participants are seeking students to
View their video and hoping that they would
share it with their friends too

In the second round of the competie
tion, viewers will determine who wins the cash
prizes The most viewed video posted on You,
Tube wins the competition If any participant
has 25,000 views and places first, his first prize

will be $5,000

However, at this point it seems uni
likely since any of the videos will have as many
views If they however receive 5,000 views, the
prize will be $2,500 The competition’s pur
pose is to promote IIT’s newly formed Lewis
College of Human Sciences which comprises
of The College of Science and Letters, the De
partment of Psychology and the Humanities
Department

The current positions are: 1st place,
“IIT The Place To Be," with 2,355 views, 2nd
place, “Evolution of Pants," with 1,712 views,
3rd place, “The Best Students," with 980 views,
and 4th place, “Googling The Next Four Years"
with 678 views

The videos which are all posted on
YouTube can be viewed by searching for the
titles