President Haas meets with director of Peace Corps

President Haas along with other Grand Valley State University leaders held a meeting with the director of the Peace Corps to discuss ways to benefit students who are interested in joining the Peace Corps.

About 233 students from GVSU have joined the Peace Corps since the organization was founded back in 1961.

Carrie Hessler-Radelet, director of the Peace Corps, noted that recruitment in the Peace Corps has been on the rise since the application process changed. This year, the Peace Corps is expected to receive close to 30,000 applications.

For more information, contact Michele Coffill at 616-331-2221.

The race across America

Grand Valley State University researcher Cara Ocobock plans to study a group of marathon runners as they race 3,080 miles across the United States in an effort to bring awareness to childhood obesity.

The run began in mid January and will end sometime in June, with 140 days of running in total. If the runners keep their pace, this means they will run 22 miles a day for 140 days straight.

Ocobock, assistant professor of biomedical sciences and energetics specialists, will follow the runners and study the amount of calories they consume in comparison with the number of calories burned. Her research is intended to benefit anthropological theories concerning the evolution of endurance running.

Writers Series set to feature Jamall May and Tarfia Faizullah

Authors Jamall May and Tarfia Faizullah are set to headline the latest Writers Series at Grand Valley State University to talk about their most recent works.

May is the recipient of both the Beatrice Hawley Award from Alice James Books and the American Library Association’s Notable Book Award. He is known as the author of the book “Hum.”

Faizullah’s poems can be found in American Poetry Review, Oxford American as well as the New England Review. Her work titled “Seam” was the recipient of the 2012 Crab Orchard Series in Poetry First Book Award and won Faizullah the Pushcart Prize.

For more information on the event, contact Oindrila Mukherjee at 616-331-8034 or [email protected].

Giants Awards recognize campus faculty

The 33rd Annual Giants Awards & Banquet celebrated three staff members from Grand Valley State University on Feb. 7.

The event is known for honoring influential African Americans and/or organizations within the greater Grand Rapids community.

Those honored at the event included George Grant Jr, dean of the College of Community and Public Service; Beverly Grant, interim executive director of the Johnson Center for Philanthropy; and Dianne Green-Smith, associate professor and director of the School of Social Work.

For more information about the event, contact Dottie Barnes at 616-331-2221.

History Club movie night

The Grand Valley State University History Club is presenting a movie screening of The Fog Of War on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 6 p.m. in Room 174 of Lake Ontario Hall.

This movie highlights the horrors of modern warfare according to former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Prior to the screening, an introduction will be given by GVSU history professor James Goode. Pizza and refreshments provided for those who attend.

For more information or any questions, contact the club’s president Taylor Lewis at [email protected].