OSU Memorial Union

Two great food themed movies are on the schedule just before Thanksgiving. This week is Julie & Julia. The plot is about Julia Child’s story of her start in the cooking profession is intertwined with blogger Julie Powell’s 2002 challenge to cook all the recipes in Child’s first book. It shows in the Memorial Union Commons on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (November 17, 18 & 19) at 2:30, 5:30 and 8:30 PM. Next week is What’s Cooking. The plot of this movie centers on LA’s Fairfax district, where ethnic groups abound, four households celebrate Thanksgiving amidst family tensions. It will show in the MU Commons on Monday and Tuesday at 2:30, 5:30 and 8:30 PM. It will show on Wednesday at 2:30 PM only. These are FREE and open to anyone.

The world’s most interesting Dads are coming to OSU. Check out the schedule of events.

Included in the weekend activities are comedian John Oliver from the Daily Show, Football (OSU vs. Washington), and featured speaker Don Malarkey (who life was the basis for the mini series Band of Brothers) at re-dedication of the Memorial Union. Sunday the OSU Flying Club will have an open house at the Corvallis Airport and offering rides . Check out their website.

A fun weekend for all, with of without your dad.

Check out the free movie every week in the Memorial Union Commons. The movies play on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. There are three showing each day at 2:30, 5:30 and 8:30 PM. Here is that line up for the rest of the term.

Accommodations for disabilities may be made by calling 737-6872

You should plan on coming to the dedication this evening of the Pan-Afrikan Sankofa conference room. The dedication will begin in the Main Lounge at 5 pm. Here is the program for the event.

Theresa Hogue, of OSU News and Communications, did a great article on Teressa Hartley’s work to make this room and tonight’s dedication a reality. You can read it here: STUDENT DESIGNER OVERSEES DESIGN OF PAN-AFRIKAN ROOM AT OSU

Here is one of the best ways to find out how to get involved on campus. Starting at noon today over 150 student organization will be in the MU Quad to let you know who they are and how you can be involved with them. There will also be over 50 vendors from the Corvallis community, many handing out free things. The Beaver Community Fair is a great way to:

Join a Club
Investigate Volunteer Opportunities
Learn about the Corvallis community
Get some FREE FOOD

Follow the setup of the Beaver Community Fair this morning on the webcam.

The 2009-10 season of After Dark programs starts tonight. After Dark takes place at the Dixon Recreation Center on the OSU Campus. Beginning at 8 pm with the showing of Transformers 2 movie (a second showing is at 10:30). At 9pm stage hypnotist Christopher Pemberton will perform (a second performance is at 10:30). Along with the movie and hypnotist there will be games and refreshments. Fun for all, help spread the word. The next After Dark will be on October 23rd.

The original idea for a “college community center” came from two students, Warren Daigh and Tony Schille, who were a part of a student organization called the “Gauntlet and Visor.” Both of the men were ex-service men, who helped promote the larger interests of the campus and student body. After an endorsement from the student body at a special convocation held in the fall of 1920, a committee was formed to determine the ways and means by which such a building could be built on this campus. Fundraising continued for the remainder of the decade. Because of the economic conditions of that period, many families who made pledges to the construction of the Memorial Union were forced to send only a small portion of their annual pledge. These families were no less committed to the project and often continued to pay on their pledge until the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. Construction began in late summer of 1927 with the first of twelve steel columns poking into the air. The Memorial Union opened its doors on schedule, early in October of 1928 and thousands of students, staff, faculty and alumni toured the massive structure and rejoiced in the culmination of their long-held dreams.

Today, the Memorial Union continues to be a center of campus life and activity. It is a leader among college unions internationally and is respected among peer institutions for its student leadership model, the preservation of its historically significant interior, the dedication of its staff and the creativity of its programs.

Planning for this year’s MUPC Dads Weekend is well under way. Here is the first draft of the weekend’s schedule. This is a tentative schedule, so things can change. Check the website (osumu.org) for updates. Special Note: Comedy Show tickets go on sale next Monday, September 28th, online.

FRIDAY (November – 13th)
3:30 – 5 Welcome Table | T-Shirts, schedules, refreshments | Memorial Union
4:00: Re-dedication of the Memorial Union veteran’s memorial | MU Concourse
6:30 & 9 Comedy Show headliner John Oliver | LaSells Stewart Center
All Day: Free Bowling for all Dads | MU Basement
SATURDAY (November – 14th)
9 – 10:30 Dad’s Breakfast | Memorial Union
9 – 1: Dad and I Photos | Memorial Union
9 – 4: Entertainment, Information & Activities | Memorial Union Quad
10 – 12: Radiation Center Tours | OSU Campus 35th & Jefferson
11 – 3 Root Beer Floats | Memorial Union
All Day: Strongest Beaver Contest | Memorial Union Quad
All Day: Free Bowling for all Dads | MU Basement
SUNDAY (November – 15th)
11 – 3: OSU Flying Club hosting an open house, free plane rides over the OSU campus.
All Day: Free Bowling for all Dads at MU Basement

People have been asking what the name Pan-Afrikan Sankofa for MU 213 refers to. Pan-Afrikan is a term that seeks unification of all people of the African Diaspora. Sankofa symbolizes people taking from their past what is good and using it to make positive changes in their future.

Artist Susan Bourque (who also serves as OSU Craft Center Manager) has created the Sankofa tile pictured above for the room. It is an Akan symbol that is derived from the words SAN (return), KO (go), FA (look, seek and take). This symbolizes the quest for knowledge with the implication that the quest is based on critical examination, and intelligent and patient investigation.

The symbol is based on a mythical bird that flies forwards with its head turned backwards. This reflects the Akan belief that the past serves as a guide for planning the future, or the wisdom in learning from the past in building the future.

The symbolic message:
The flags that hang in this display represent the countries of origin for many of OSU’s International students. Each student has helped to diversify the University with their unique experiences, culture, and personal knowledge. Flags are often viewed as powerful symbols of government, some of which may be out of alignment with our personal values. However, this flag display asks that we look past the governmental symbol and see each flag as a life of an OSU student. It is for that reason that historical flags, no longer representative of governments or countries, continue to hang in the Memorial Union. It is here that the lives of OSU students and their individual contribution to diversifying OSU are commemorated with this display.

The first flags:
The Memorial Union was presented a set of flags during World War II to commemorate those OSU men and women who were serving in the various branches of military service and to recognize the 26 allied nations supporting the United States effort in the war. At the completion of the war, the military flags were retired, but the allied nation flags continued to hang. The students and faculty were interested in watching the flag display grow and decided to add the flags of the founding United Nations member countries, as that entity continued to emerge following World War II. OSU students from the countries representing the United Nation members began writing to their embassies asking for donation of a flag.

An idea grows:
Once the majority of the United Nation member flags were acquired, other OSU International students wanted to see the flags from their countries hanging in the MU. Students from those countries began presenting flags as gifts or wrote letters of request to their embassies asking for a flag donation. A few flags appear to have been given by third parties on behalf of OSU International students from countries not represented in the display. Confirmation of this can be found in recorded gifts from alumni, visiting dignitaries and Corvallis host families who provided housing to International students, as they presented a flag in honor of the student they had known.