By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – Go Fish. Life. Apples to Apples. Checkers. These are games that bring people to together for the purpose of family and friend bonding. But for some new to the English language, translating how to play the games into a structure that is easy to understand can be difficult, considering the complexity of some instructions.

That is why Tri-City Area Gaming partnered with an English course at Washington State University Tri-Cities to refine board game instructions into a simpler structure, which makes it easier to translate those instructions into a variety of languages.

Tri-City Area Gaming is a local nonprofit that hosts an assortment of community and private gaming events. They wanted to be even more inclusive by having instructions of each of the games to include all families, rather than just those who spoke English.

“Board games are great ways to spend time with families, and they wanted a way to make their game nights not only more inclusive, but more accessible by a variety of individuals locally in the Tri-Cities,” said Vanessa Cozza, clinical assistant professor of English. “This is a fun project for students to use the skills they learn and develop in an English class to make a difference in their local community.”

As part of the course, students were split up into groups where they first dissected the established written instructions for a respective game assigned to their group. From there, the students developed even simpler instructions, where they gave great care to use words that are easily translatable into other languages. The students then played the games with the new instructions to make sure that each of the instructions were easy to decipher.

“Having the opportunity to work on a project that has that real-life connection makes the project so much more relevant and important,” said Kylie Downard, a junior elementary education major in the course. “People are actually going to use these instructions and it makes the project a lot more interesting to work on. It’s a great project to work on as part of an English class.”

For student Andres Ponce, a junior mechanical engineering major, the project hit close to home.

“I personally have Hispanic parents who aren’t fluent in English,” he said. “Working on these sorts of games where more family nights are spent together is really cool.”

Maggie Cooper, a senior English major, also liked the idea of working on a project that would be more easily translated into other languages to benefit families.

“It is cool that we are keeping in mind the translation,” said student Maggie Cooper, a senior English major. “Some parents don’t speak English, so this is a great way to make sure that everyone can participate in the family game nights.”

Ponce said one of his favorite components about the project was also identifying the language and terms to use for different age groups.

“Keeping the audience in mind, you can make the instruction more or less complicated,” Ponce said. “Games for those ages 7-12, for example, could have slightly more complicated instructions compared to those for kids that are younger. It’s been fun making the games more applicable to different age groups and refining the instructions. Plus, we get to play games until we get it right.”

The students presented the project to Sara Quinn, who leads the nonprofit. Cozza said Quinn was impressed with the students’ work. She said they hope to continue the collaboration with Tri-City Area Gaming, as well as partner with other organizations.

“These are great opportunities for students to not only develop their skills in the English language, but also give back to a local organization that will have a real-world impact,” Cozza said.

RICHLAND, Wash. – The Franklin County Historical Society and the Hanford History Project at Washington State University Tri-Cities invite writers and aspiring writers of all ages to attend the new Three Rivers Writers’ Festival on Saturday, Nov. 2, at ���سԹ� in Richland.

Throughout the festival, participants will hear from established local and regional authors, publishers and editors, WSU English and history faculty members, and partake in seminars and workshops.

The festival runs 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2, in the East Building at ���سԹ�.

“Our goal is to bring together writers from throughout eastern Washington to celebrate writing, to discuss the role of place in writing about eastern Washington, and to highlight local opportunities in the mid-Columbia region for writing and publishing,” said Michael Mays, director of the Hanford History Project and English professor at ���سԹ�.

Mays said the festival presents an excellent opportunity for writers of all abilities.

“It’s a great opportunity to learn about the nuts and bolts of the writing and publishing process from highly-acclaimed authors on the regional and national levels. Workshops will feature panelists discussing topics such as writing local history; non-fiction, journalism, and other forms of writing; and the publication process,”  he said.

The festival is free and open to the public. No tickets are required.

Books from the featured authors will be available for purchase by cash or check throughout the day. A meet and greet with the authors will follow the last workshop session from 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. on campus.

For more information about the festival, to view the full schedule and for a complete list of authors and publishers featured at the event, visit .

 

Media contacts:

Michael Mays, director of Hanford History Project and English professor, 509-372-7380, Michael.mays@wsu.edu

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� public relations specialist, 509-372-7333, maegan_murray@wsu.edu

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – Students will highlight semester course projects, research and art as part of the fall Undergraduate Research Symposium and Art Exhibition on Dec. 11 and 13 at Washington State University Tri-Cities.

Members of the public are invited to attend as students present on their projects, which include the areas of history, political science, psychology, wine science, biology, fine art, English, mechanical engineering and environmental science.

Students will present posters of their research and course projects both days from noon – 1 p.m. in CIC 120. The art exhibition will be held from noon – 1 p.m. on Dec. 13, in the CIC Art Gallery.

“The Undergraduate Research Symposium and Art Exhibition provides our students with an excellent opportunity to practice communicating their research and course projects, which is an essential skill for when they go out into the professional environment,” said Allison Matthews, ���سԹ� clinical assistant professor of psychology. “We have a variety of great projects that will be on display.”

Some of the projects include:

• Research on plant-mycorrhizal fungal interactions
• Research on public health education programs for people who are at-risk for developing Type 2 diabetes
• An analysis of data from the Tri City Union Gospel Mission regarding client demographics, factors that influence homelessness and other related variables
• Investigating heat transfer on a surface subject to nanoparticle coating
• Nutrient limitation of algal and microbial biofilms in the Yakima Watershed
• The effect of pesticides on algal and microbial biofilms
• Cluster architecture and fruit composition as influenced by rachis tipping in wine grapes
• Title IX in regard to procedures on campus
• The Plastic Garden – a fine arts and engineering collaboration to construct a moving mechanical garden made of plastic and mechanical components

Media contacts:

Allison Matthews, ���سԹ� assistant professor of psychology, 509-372-7146, almatthews@wsu.edu

Maegan Murray, ���سԹ� public relations specialist, 509-372-7333, maegan_murray@wsu.edu

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – Peter Nolan spent four years post-high school serving in the military police through the U.S. Army.

But as his enlisted contract came to a close, he decided to leave active duty to pursue college full-time because he knew an education would provide him with the background and know-how to not only succeed in a future job, but also provide him with greater career advancement options.

Finding and attending Washington State University Tri-Cities, he said, has allowed him to continue pursuing a rewarding military career part-time through the National Guard while studying at a top research university on a small campus.

“I wanted to go to a good school, but also in a small, tight-knit community because that is truly the type of school environment where I thrive,” he said. “I decided to visit ���سԹ� and thought, ‘this would be great.’”

Combining military background with college for a bright future

Nolan joined the U.S. Army right out of high school in 2011 and from there, served for two years in Germany, in addition to being stationed at Fort Drum in upstate New York for an additional two years. During his service with the U.S. Army military police, he had opportunities to serve as a patrolling officer, investigate traffic accidents, provide ceremonial support for the military community, as well as serve as personal security for high-ranking individuals.

Following his contract ending, he attended a community college in western Washington, planning to specialize in nursing. After a few semesters, he felt that career route wasn’t for him. Relying on his former experience in law enforcement in the armed services, he realized he had a passion for that area of public service. Upon examining options for state schools in Washington and doing a couple of ride-a-longs with civilian officers, he decided to transfer to pursue a degree in social sciences from ���سԹ�.

“I was friends with individuals who had become police officers and I did a couple of ride-a-longs and it made me realize why I didn’t want to do a full career switch from policing to nursing, since I had really enjoyed law enforcement.” he said. “I chose ���سԹ� because of the professionalism I experienced with their admissions office and they offered everything I wanted, including a degree I could directly apply to my future career.”

A perfect fit

Nolan said the small campus and class sizes were attractive because it would allow him to better connect with professors and become really invested in his classes. Plus,

his degree in social sciences would provide him with the knowledge and skills suited for law enforcement.

“I grew up in a small town in Montana, so I was looking for an environment similar to that,” he said. “I thrive in a small school setting. And with social sciences, between the emphasis in sociology, English and psychology, it is a good degree program that gives you a good idea of how to work with people, developing a better understanding to the sensitivity of other people, and I could really hone my skills for working in a professional environment.”

Using his education for a future in law enforcement

Nolan plans to continue his military service. Currently, he works part time with the Washington Army National Guard, providing critical training to new recruits while still taking classes full-time. After graduation, he plans to either pursue a career in civilian law enforcement or continue a career with the National Guard.

His education from ���سԹ�, he said, will serve as a true asset in either endeavor.

“I do believe I will want to eventually go into administration and leadership,” he said. “I enjoy leading a team, contributing in that way. And the things that I’ve learned at ���سԹ� will be beneficial in that area. As an officer, you do a lot of administrative work and function primarily with other people. These are all skills that I’m perfecting, whether it be through English courses, or through sociology and psychology courses, I can use it all in my career.”

He said he loves the fact that his military experience provided him with the discipline and work enthusiasm to perform optimally with his tasks at hand. Prior to his life in the military, he said he struggled in school. But the positive push in the military provided him with a healthy appreciation for work ethic and self identification of goals.

Combined with the things he has learned through his education in the social sciences, he said he feels well prepared for his continued career in the military and law enforcement.

“I’m glad I’m pursuing higher education while I have the opportunity,” he said. “I want to make sure my experience and education combines effectively to provide me with the best outlook possible for my future.”

By Maegan Murray, ���سԹ�

RICHLAND, Wash. – A technical writing course at Washington State University Tri-Cities partnered with local businesses and organizations to produce documents ranging from manuals, to booklets, to instruction guides. This opportunity allowed students to hone the skills they cultivated throughout the course to fulfill a real-world business need.

Vanessa Cozza, clinical assistant professor of English and instructor of the course, said the goals with the project were to provide students with a real-world opportunity that would add value back into their own community, while offering them a tangible example they could use in the future for their professional careers.

“Knowledge in technical writing is necessary to advance speaking and writing skills beyond academia,” she said. “While some careers might require it more than others, technical writing encompasses what professionals need to know to communicate effectively. Business owners or employees, for instance, most likely have to be familiar with different types of manuals, handbooks, or user guides. I wanted to provide my students with an opportunity to build something that would be used in the real-world.”

Partnering with local companies

The 17 students in the class partnered with the following organizations to create the following projects:

• Gravis Law – Writing a guide for a component of the firm’s software, which focuses on guiding attorneys through the timekeeping function of the program.
• Fuse – Creating a playbook with information on Fuse’s Launch Weekend event. The document focused on outlining different stages of the event, as well as providing a schedule to guide event organizers.
• Solar Spirits – Drafting components of an operations manual for the training of new employees, which included a safety guide and information covering all stages of production and product sales.
• Rebuilding Mid-Columbia (RMC) – Creating three templates to assist board members with the grant writing process, which consisted of a letter of inquiry, a cover letter and a frequently asked questions (FAQ) document.
• Fuse – Producing content for Fuse’s website, which included information on their State of Motion nonprofit organization that provides services and funds for new businesses, as well as seed funding and events.

Value of real-world opportunities

Student Shannon Horne and her group worked with Rebuilding Mid-Columbia to develop two templates to assist RMC with the grant proposal writing process.

“It was a great opportunity to work with RMC,” she said. “I definitely felt motivated to create a quality product since I knew they trusted us with such a key element of their organization. The skills taught in this course are highly valuable and applicable to professionals in all fields. They definitely apply to my daily work.”

Student Liz Brager and her group worked with Fuse to write information for their “State of Motion” non-profit website. She said the project forced them to problem-solve in order to create content for areas that they didn’t have a background in or provided previous knowledge of.

“Our team divided up the work, but supported each other, which helped a lot,” she said. “We learned what we were working on while we were working on it.

That’s a difficult, but sometimes important, skill in the workplace. I think the project, itself, has value because people will hopefully be able to understand what State of Motion is and how it can benefit them.”

Cozza said upon presenting their projects to their respective organizations, many of the company representatives were quite impressed with the students’ work.

“Watching one group’s presentation, I noticed that the client had a big smile on his face,” Cozza said. “The clients will further develop what the students did, as most of them needed a skeleton or a blueprint to get them started. Others will take the content that the students put together and add it to their website.”

Ideal work flow and partnership

Crystal Carter, co-founder and executive director of Rebuilding Mid-Columbia, said she was impressed with the students’ professionalism and end product. She said having student support for their small organization proved to be incredibly valuable.

“We are a very small organization – we have eight people on our board and one staff person,” she said. “To coordinate our projects, and in working with the city and finding volunteers, it is pretty time consuming. So to have the students come alongside us and deal with a portion of that administrative work load was truly a benefit and a blessing to this organization.”

Carter said she hopes that the partnership will continue for years to come.

“We were very pleased with the results of the project and the students’ work,” she said. “The students did a fantastic job.”

Many students said they were thrilled to use what they had learned in the course and apply it to a real-world setting where their developed materials would be utilized and expanded upon.

“The course provided valuable instruction regarding technical writing, the overall writing process and how to market and tailor it to your audience, which are applicable across all disciplines,” Horne said. “The project was an excellent opportunity to apply what we learned in a real-world format, which is invaluable. We received extensive positive feedback from the organization, which was rewarding, as well as motivating, when finalizing our product for final submission.”