Robots?!

As I mentioned in my introduction post, the Innovation House LLC is participating in a program at Discovery World. We're building simple robots, programming them, and even making podcasts about Engineering! We're about 3/4 of the way through this multi-week program, and we're all sad to see it wrapping up!

Some of the groups made robots to automatically shoot balls into cups it scanned for (that was my group!), one of the groups pulled a cigarette out of a box, and moved it around on a conveyer belt, one group made a robot to putt in golf. There were really creative things done!

Right now, we're using professional equipment to interview professors, students, and other people for our podcasts. We split up into two different groups, half are doing an audio podcast, half are doing video ones. I'm really excited to see how they turn out.

Museum and Tree decorating

The Visual Arts LLC had a very busy afternoon this Tuesday. We took a trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum and decorated a tree in Cathedral Square for the holidays.

(Ashley, Amanda and Jordan check out some Warhol)

First we went to the Milwaukee Art Museum. The Visual Arts LLC instructor, Raoul Deal, talked briefly about the various exhibits in the museum. We were also free to roam around to explore the different pieces. Currently, the museum has an Andy Warhol exhibit. It was really exciting to see works that were done by an artist who everyone was very familiar with.

(Megan studies reflections)

(Xeng in front of Milton Resnick's East Is the Place)

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After the art museum, we walked to Cathedral Park where we participated in a community tree decorating activity. We chose an ecology theme for our tree. We had one hour to create our idea with the materials we had. It was a challenge, yet a lot of fun! We used found and recycles materials to create a reindeer out of the tree. We used tree branches, old clothing, aluminum, berries, string, and cardboard. After fighting the cold weather the Visual Arts LLC defiantly had the most creative tree in the park!

(The Visual Arts LLC working on our winter tree)

Although the day was busy, we had a lot of fun. I liked having all of the members of the Visual Arts LLC together as a group, as well as the instructor, mentor and myself.

Hey!

Hey, I'm Brad Parbs. I'm a first-year student at UWM, studying Computer Science and I live in the Innovation House LLC in Sandburg. It's the Engineering and Computer Science LLC. I'm originally from not too far away, I'm from West Allis.

It's really awesome living in this LLC, we do a lot of cool things. The picture below is from a recent 'Fort Night' program, where we built a huge fort and watched a movie underneath. It's was really fun.

We've also done some Engineering-related programs. We are currently halfway through a program where we go to Discovery World and build and program robots. It's a really awesome experience.

Living in an LLC is an awesome experience, and is definitely worth it. It's really nice having something in common with almost everyone in your hourse, and it makes it really easy to meet people. Our house is very social, and we're always doing stuff together. We play movies in our lounge everynight, we have have game nights, and of course, have the most awesome programs ever!

Let Me Introduce Myself....

My name is Courtney Schmidt and I am a sophomore at UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts. I am studying fine arts with a focus on art education (K-12). I am originally from Belgium, WI. However, during the academic year I call Riverview Residence Hall my home! It is my second year living at Riverview and I absolutely love it!

This year (2009-2010) I am an RA at Riverview and involved with the Visual Arts and Film LLCs. As an RA, I plan programs (with the help of the class instructor) for the residents involved with the LLC. I have planned trips to the art museum, film observations, and much more. We have also had programs where the LLC’s meet with professionals in their field of study. For example, last month the film LLC watched the film, Rivers Wash Over Me, and then we had the opportunity to meet with the director. We were able to ask anything that we wanted to, which was very exciting and inspirational! The visual arts LLC was also able to speak with a master printmaker who has worked with well known artists. My favorite part of planning these programs is to give residents a unique experience that won’t be found outside of the LLC! During my first year at UWM I was a resident who was part of the visual arts LLC. The wonderful experience I had as a resident inspired my involvement this year. I hope my contribution gives my residents the same experience I did.

Living Learning Communites @ UWM

Welcome to the UWM Living Learning Community Blog! Most posts will be written by UWM students that are currently participating in a Living Learning Community, either as a student or a Resident Assistant. Our first two bloggers for 2009-2010 are Brad Parbs and Courtney Schmidt. I'll allow them to introduce themselves in a post next week. In the meantime, check out www.LLC.uwm.edu for more information about Living Learning Communities, and www.universityhousing.uwm.edu for more information about University Housing. We're also on Facebook: www.facebook.com/UWMUniversityHousing.

University Housing will begin accepting LLC applications when contracts are mailed in January.