One hundred reasons to celebrate: week 24

Story by Kelsey O'Connor, Staff Writer
April 17, 2017

Each week The Spectator will showcase organizations, departments, majors or other aspects of UW-Eau Claire as a part of the centennial celebrations event known as “100 Reasons to Celebrate.”

All photos courtesy of Special Collections and Archives, W.D. McIntyre Library, UW-Eau Claire.

#85 – Center for Alcohol Studies and Education

UW-Eau Claire’s Center for Alcohol Studies and Education (CASE) has recently merged with Student Health Services. According to the Eau Claire website, the CASE department now goes by the name of Health Promotion and acts as the prevention and educational arm of Student Health Services.

The Health Promotion department employs a small number of peer educators and staff members. Together they provide resources to students and parents, counseling sessions and classes for students with alcohol violations on campus and presentations and surveys informing students about alcohol consumption. Students can also find information about fines, housing rights and student rights on the CASE webpage.

For more information, students can visit the Health Promotion office located in Schofield Hall, room 26 or email [email protected].

This photo shows a counselor with a student in 1984. Today, Eau Claire still uses counselors to aid students in everything from registering for classes to programs such as the CASE.

#86 – Communication and Journalism

Students interested in writing, broadcast, social media, advertising or a mixture of said topics may find what they’re looking for in the Communication and Journalism (CJ) Department.

The CJ department offers five different majors and five different minors to students. These include communication studies, integration strategic communication: advertising, integrated strategic communication: public relations, integrated strategic communication, journalism, multimedia communication and organization communication.

The department also offers a variety of clubs and organizations. Professional organizations include the American Advertising Federation, Communication and Journalism Organization, International Association of Business Communicators, Public Relations Student Society of America and Society of Professional Journalists.

Students interested the art of debate can check out the forensics team. If interested in Greek life, Kappa Tau Alpha or Pi Kappa Delta may be a better fit. Finally for students looking for a more realistic, job-like setting, there are opportunities to write or become editors for The Spectator, take part in TV-10 or learn about broadcast working for WUEC-FM 89.7 Radio.

The CJ department offices are located in Hibbard Hall. Students can stop by for more information or email [email protected].

This photograph shows a man holding up an issue of the “Summer Times” which was printed by the Compugraphic 7200 I typesetting machine in 1980.
This Journalism student is using a Compugraphic 7200 during 1980. The Compugraphic was introduced to the department in the late 1960s.

#87 – Eau Claire Jazz Festival and Jazz Studies

Jazz Studies is not a major or minor, but more of an organization offered to Eau Claire students. The program does require auditions, but according to the website, the auditions are used as a tool to place students in groups of similar skill level to maximize cohesiveness.

The ensembles Eau Claire offers include the “Big Band,” in which students play timeless music at places such as the Jazz festival or the annual Gatsby’s Gala, or “combos” which focus on small groups of performers.

As mentioned above, one of the events Jazz Studies participates in is the Eau Claire Jazz Festival. This annual two-day event is one of the biggest in the country and takes place at venues throughout the community. Participants age from middle school to college grade levels.

This year, the event will be held on April 21 and 22. For more information, visit http://www.eauclairejazz.com/. Tickets can be purchased on this website or by calling (715) 832-2787.

This 1975 photo shows the Jazz Ensemble posing in front of an orange flame sculpture outside Haas Fine Arts Center.
This Saxophone player performed for the Eau Claire Jazz Program during February of 1978.

#88 – Watershed Institute for Collaborative Environmental Studies

Founded in 1969, the Watershed Institute for Collaborative Environmental Studies offers the region’s longest-running environmental degree, titled environmental public health. According to  Eau Claire’s website, this major is one of only 30 National Environmental Health Association-accredited undergraduate programs in the country.

The department also offers two minors in environmental science and environment, society and culture. Both are aimed toward improving the health of human and ecological communities.

The Watershed Institute has partnered with a large variety of groups within the community in order to get students out of the classroom to participate in hands-on learning. Some of these partners include Beaver Creek Reserve, Midwest Environmental Advocates, Save the Hills Alliance, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and many more.

Students who major in environmental public health can look forward to careers as environmentalists, stormwater research scientists or registered sanitarians. Regardless of which path they choose, the students coming out of Eau Claire’s environmental public health program have a 100 percent placement rate after graduation, according to Eau Claire’s webpage.

The Watershed Institute office is located in Hibbard Hall, room 384. Students can stop by for more information or email [email protected].

Pictured above: a Biology Interim Session took a field trip to the west coast from May to June of 1972.