June 24, 2010 • The Tech Talk • 5

Waggonner Center
sends student to DC
By HALEY KRAEMER ence, said Land has a 4.0
hek002@latech.edu GPA, and he is a member of
the Tech Linux Users Group.
Ryan Land, a sophomore “[Land] is excited about
electrical engineering major this opportunity, and I am
student, was awarded the pleased that we found such a
opportunity to intern in Sen. high-caliber student for our
Mary Landrieu’s Washing- first Waggonner internship,”
ton, D.C., office this summer. Pigg said.
The Waggonner Center is Joe D. Waggonner Jr., a
a Tech-based program, former member of Congress
which fosters citizenship, bi- representing Northwest
partisan understanding, ef- Louisiana, was a 1941 Tech
fective public policy and graduate.
civic leadership among all The Waggoner Center
students, regardless of was established to honor his
major. spirit of bipartisanship, his
Land will gain knowledge trademark.
of the legislative process and “We are excited because
join the Landrieu team while they provide $3,000 which
working in all different areas should cover his plane ticket,
of the Washington office. housing and general living
The internship runs from expenses,” Pigg said.
July 12 to August 6. Last year, the Student
Land said that it took Government Association
Photo by Sean Zhou about a month after he ap- passed a bill to donate
plied to hear the final deci- $1,000 to the cause.
High school students attending the 5th Summer Leadership School parade across Centennial Plaza last week. The senate bill, proposed
sion because they were
trying to verify it with the by the College of Liberal

AFJROTC marches on campus Senate.

“When I heard I won the
internship, it was a huge re-
lief,” Land said. “It was excit-
Arts Senators, allocated
$1,000 from SGA’s Senate
Project Fund.
He said because the Wag-
By QUENTIN ANDERSON Prior to coming to Tech, the gram was established in 1916, the summers of 2004 and 2005. ing because I have never gonner Center is new, they
qaa001@latech.edu SLS was operated primarily at with the National Defense Act “SLS is a great way to prepare been to Washington, D.C., have not been able to set up
nearby Barksdale Air Force base, and its primary goals upon cre- high school students from senior before.” an internship in the past cou-
Tech campus played host to where they were exposed to ation were to develop a greater ROTC training.” Land also said that he did ple years.
its 5th Summer Leadership mostly active duty airman. Once sense of patriotism among Tyler said a typical day in SLS not have anything lined up Pigg said he contacted
School, the Air Force’s Junior Re- the Barksdale location became young men, improve communi- is long, tiresome and fast-paced, for this summer, so this in- Landrieu’s office this year to
serve Officers' Training Corps’ unavailable, the SLS moved to cation skills and emphasize the but she emphasized that the to- ternship turned out to be a set up an internship oppor-
summer program for high school Tech, where they have used both importance of physical fitness. tality of the program is reward- great opportunity. tunity, and what is usually a
students. This year, SLS was held Tech and Ruston High School fa- Since 1977, when the federal ing and can yield lifelong skills He said though he is an complex process turned into
from June 12-19. cilities. government abolished all sepa- and memories. engineering major “every- a mere phone call.
Since the summer of 2006, At Tech, many of the cadets rate corps for women, JROTC “My favorite memory of SLS body has to deal with the Ed Jacobs, dean of the
the AFROTC has brought high are seeing potentially the next has also been available for female would be riding on the bus and government.” College of Liberal Arts, said
school cadets from across the step in their JROTC journey at students as well. singing a military cadence, also Land said that he has that the ability of the Wag-
country to Tech’s campus for the college level and interacting Chasity Tyler, former SLS known as ‘jodies,’” Tyler said. heard from other engineers, goner Center and SGA to af-
eight days at the end of June for with college cadets. While on cadet and a senior kinesiology “The rule for the bus is to be and they have had trouble in ford a student the
military-style drills and a chance campus, cadets were housed in major, said her experience with seated quietly in an upright posi- the past with the decisions opportunity is remarkable.
to learn under both retired offi- Mitchell Hall and ate their meals the SLS made her a better cadet, tion with your back straight and made by the government. He said the purpose of
cers of the United States Air in the cafeteria, which took a motivated her to pursue ROTC in with straight faces. If we were or- “I would like to know the Waggonner Center is to
Force and cadets currently par- break from its current renova- college as well and exposed her dered to sing jodies, it was [to be] what goes on every day in provide a bipartisan ap-
ticipating in the college-level tions during the SLS program. At to a diversity of other cadets than done with no expression and no the Senate,” he said. “I would proach to politics.
ROTC. Ruston High School, they used those at her own high school. laughing. When I would sing a rather see it and develop an Jacobs said, “[Land] is
Lt. Colonel John Bartee, the the school’s football field for “I learned techniques in be- funny jodie, everyone laughed. opinion based on fact.” very privileged to have this
commandant of this year’s SLS physical training and the class- coming a successful leader from Of course, laughing meant a de- Jason Pigg, an associate trip paid for by the SGA and
and a JROTC instructor at Air- rooms for leadership training. our cadet training officers,” Tyler merit, which is counted against professor of political sci- The Waggonner Center.”
line High School in Bossier City, Cadet Captain David Car- said about her SLS experience in you during evaluations.”
said this year’s program brought aveo, a cadet trained officer who
about 165 cadets together from helps operate the SLS and a sen-
five states with 23 different ior history major, said the SLS is
schools represented. a good learning experience for
“Just as the name implies, this the cadets who want to learn.
is an intense leadership school “Many of them did not want
with a military flavor,” Bartee to be here when they first ar-
said. “The goal is to give kids rived,” Caraveo said. “They were
leadership skills that they can terrified, but those who were
take with them to their respective mentally strong enough to stay
high schools, be it in JROTC, stu- have acquired a great deal of
dent government or other organ- knowledge and respect for the
izations.” uniform, the flag and their coun-
Bartee said the military influ- try.”
ence is a large component of in- Caraveo said the cadets who

SUMMER SALE
stilling that discipline, with cadets come to the SLS are the best of
marching in unison, wearing mil- their respective schools, and SLS
itary uniforms and adhering to is responsible for “making them

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military protocols between both better.”
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> GREEK LIFE from page 1 While Greeks are still fuming
about the abrupt relocation,
Life office is here and working some students are happy to see

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with student affairs more col- new options in Tolliver to sup-
laboratively, we can give stu- plement Java City, Bytes and
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Morales said it is likely the Taylore Ferrell, a freshman
Greek life will move to the back undeclared major, said the ad-
of Tolliver and join the offices dition makes sense for students
of the Student Government As- and broadens their choices on
sociation and Union Board, in campus.
addition to the student affairs “It gives us more options,”
office. Ferrell said. “With our meal
He said a move to that area plan, you’re kind of stuck on

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may actually be more beneficial campus, so the more they bring
to Greek life on campus than to Tech, the more we can
their current one. choose.”
“Union Board and SGA have
had great success,” Morales
said. “And Greek life is kind of
down here at Tech. If they’re

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