KSU Campus Event Highlights

Kennesaw State University's Wellness Center invited some adorable dogs to help students take a break from studying and the stress of finals. The most stressful time for college students is usually during finals week. For some, this is the time where they have to cram an entire semester’s worth of information in just a couple of days. Along with the dogs, stress packets were given out to students. They included information about stress, tea, and other stress relieving items and tips.

Gifts from the Kennesaw Fund Campus Campaign, along with donations from alumni, individuals, corporations and private foundations, are housed within the KSU Foundation, a non-profit corporation created to further the interests of the University by guiding and protecting private gifts to KSU. Volunteers agreed to go on a ballot box to see who would race on tricycles around the campus green. As last year's winner, Gerald Donaldson raced this year's winner at the ballot box, Lectra Lawhorne. There is one change in the race this year; each participant has to actually pedal the tricycle.

Students, faculty, staff, and local residents came together Saturday to attempt to make a Guinness world record for the largest human peace sign. KSU art history major Jessie Blowers had an idea which came to fruition at Kennesaw State University on Saturday—a human peace symbol. While she didn't break a record, Jessica Blowers posted this on the KSU Peace website: "THANK YOU for coming to be a part of this EPIC event. Give yourself a hand for contributing to such a beautiful moment. While our numbers were not sufficient enough to break a record, we should still be proud of our accomplishment. Thanks for believing in me, in this project, and most of all, peace. Peace out y'all" ~ Jessie Blowers, Founder of the KSU Peace Project About 3,000 individuals registered prior to the event and more registered Saturday, but almost 6,000 were needed to make the Guinness record book, said Blowers. Saturday, Blowers explained how the event was created. “Last year I was the co-chair of the Peace in the Arts Conference," said the 24-year-old Blowers. "As I struggled to come up with a visual way to depict peace, it was natural to turn to the peace symbol. As I researched its use, I discovered that the world record for the largest live art peace sign was created by a 16-year-old boy from Ithaca, New York.” After discovering that the young man never completed all of the steps to be recognized as the world record holder, Jessie was inspired to contact the Guinness Book of World Records. That’s where creativity and humanity came together. Jessie created the KSU Peace Project to bring together people from all parts of Atlanta in one huge show of unity to remind the world that peace matters. All types of student and community organizations showed up Saturday to recruit folks for their cause. "That was really the whole point," said Blowers. "We wanted to reach out and have organizations promote their different causes—if we all did that, we'd have a more peaceful world." Blowers said she has always heard of the activist movements in the 1960s and 1970s in this country. "What happened to that attitude," asked Blower. "Where did that go?" Music courtesy of Emmanuel Jal Article by: Donna Espy- Rypel

Kennesaw State University officials, led by the Department of Strategic Security and Safety, set fire to a mock dorm room in a field near the University Village Suites in early October. The simulated dorm burn exercise was designed to show how quickly fire can spread when a lighted candle comes in contact with combustible materials such as bedspreads, curtains or notebook paper — items commonly found in college dorms. As a crowd of students, faculty and staff watched, the dramatic demonstration drove home the dangers of burning candles in dorm rooms. Cobb County Fire & Emergency Services personnel were on hand to extinguish the blaze at the end of the exercise. KSU Police provided crowd control and traffic direction. The first week in October is designated as National Fire Prevention Week. Each year an estimated 23,600 fires are caused by candles, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

For several hours on Friday, Sept. 9, students surrounded the familiar red Coke vending machine to see what crazy thing it would do next. Cleverly concealed inside the contraption, the Coke “happiness team” surreptitiously sprang into action each time someone approached. Sometimes a bottle of Coke or Sprite would roll out in the bin, followed a few seconds later by gloved hands extending flowers, Coke hats, assorted candy or trinkets in addition to the beverages. Some of the biggest laughs from the crowd of about a hundred people came when the hand delivered Cokes and a Twister mat. The hand spun the wheel as several students twisted themselves like pretzels on the floor of the student center. A few lucky students even scored Braves tickets behind home plate.

A typical day at the office doesn’t usually involve cheering‚ water balloon tossing or other fun outdoor competition. “Owlympics brings staff together for a fun and exciting time to help build morale on campus‚ as well as to help make new friends‚” said Staff Council member Sarah Brooks. The competition included challenges such as the water balloon toss‚ tug−of−war and the six−legged race. Despite the cloudy weather‚ spectators came out to cheer on their favorite teams from the sidelines with signs and pom−poms.

The Haitian Student Alliance at Kennesaw calls for a vigil in support of the country of Haiti, which was devastated by a large earthquake that nearly ruined the country’s infrastructure.

Gifts from the Kennesaw Fund Campus Campaign, along with donations from alumni, individuals, corporations and private foundations, are housed within the KSU Foundation, a non-profit corporation created to further the interests of the University by guiding and protecting private gifts to KSU.Fall Semester 2009, the department's carpentry shop designed a box for voting. Meanwhile, 6 volunteers agreed to go on the ballot box to see who would race on tricycles around the campus green. Plant Operations employees voted by placing their change in the box for one month. After voting, the two candidates with the most money raised raced. On November 6th, 2009 Wes Wicker, Vice President for Advancement and Foundation raced John Anderson, Assistant Vice President for Facilities Services. Mr. Anderson scooted across the finish line first and took home the gold and black trophy adorned with a tricycle. The event raised over $256 for the Kennesaw Fund Campus Campaign.