- University News Archive - 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock /news-archive/tag/amy-frets/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Thu, 21 Mar 2019 13:15:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 EIT employees take pie in the face to support women engineers /news-archive/2019/03/21/eit-pi-day-2/ Thu, 21 Mar 2019 13:15:25 +0000 /news/?p=73744 ... EIT employees take pie in the face to support women engineers]]> Vernard Henley, assistant dean of the 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock College of Engineering and Information Technology, grudgingly agreed that taking a pie in the face in front of a cheering crowd of 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock students and employees on Pi Day was worth it to support female engineering students.聽 鈥淚 feel awful sticky,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 for a good cause, but I didn鈥檛 get anything out of it except for a wet beard!鈥 Henley and Amy Frets, EIT director of student services, were the two lucky winners who received a pie in the face after earning the most votes. Frets, who had been inside advising a student, lamented the fact that she did not get to see Henley take a pie to the face. 鈥淚t feels so gross, but it tastes so good,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 will do anything for the students.鈥 Pi Day is an annual celebration of the mathematical constant pi (3.14), which is celebrated on March 14 (3/14). The 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Society of Women Engineers raised $634 by holding a bake sale, selling T-shirts, and having an online auction of pies donated by students and faculty. For every $1 spent, a person could cast a vote for one of seven EIT employees who volunteered to get a pie in the face. The other volunteers included Dr. Lawrence Whitman, dean of the College of Engineering and Information Technology; Dr. Steven Minsker, professor of computer science; Erin Flowers, education counselor; Dr. Hank Bray, chair of the Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering; and Dr. David Luneau, professor of electronic and computer engineering technology. In the final minutes of the fundraiser, the top three volunteers with the most votes (Henley, Frets, and Whitman) all worked hard to keep themselves from getting chosen. Frets donated $20 in favor of Henley, while Vernard donated $65 and even offered to match donations from the crowd toward Frets and Whitman. 鈥淚 have a cash app, and I鈥檓 not afraid to use it,鈥 Henley said. 鈥淚 am dedicated to the university, and I want to stay here until late into the evening to work. I can鈥檛 do that if I have all of this sticky stuff on my face.鈥 In the last five minutes, it looked as if Henley had been successful in his venture to keep himself out of the hot seat, with Frets and Whitman taking the top two spots. However, Whitman snuck in a last-minute $15 donation toward Henley鈥檚 camp to keep himself out of the spotlight.
Amy Frets takes a pie in the face during a fundraiser for the Society of Women Engineers. Photo by Benjamin Krain.

Amy Frets is all smiles after taking a pie in the face during the Pi Day fundraiser for the Society of Women Engineers. Photo by Benjamin Krain.

“It鈥檚 the best money I spent in a long time. This is a fun event for a great cause,鈥 Whitman said. 鈥淲e are supporting the Society of Women Engineers sending students to participate in the national conference.” Some members of the crowd actively lobbied for who they wanted to see get a pie in the face. 鈥淲hen I went to contribute, I put my $10 in Dean Whitman鈥檚 cup,鈥 said Kesha Robinson, administrative assistant in the Department of Construction Management and Civil and Construction Engineering. 鈥淗ank Bray is my boss, so I told people not to put any tickets in his cup. I love Dean Whitman, but I didn鈥檛 think he had enough votes. I love that the volunteers can try to barter themselves out of it. The students are making more money out of the volunteers than anyone else. This is an awesome fundraiser.鈥 Echo Davis, a sophomore environmental engineering major and vice president of the Society of Women Engineers, said the group is thrilled for the university community鈥檚 support. 鈥淪WE is a noncompetition-based organization that encourages women to pursue engineering,鈥 Davis said. 鈥淲e take tours of local sites so that members can get an inside look into the life of an engineer.鈥 Anyone interested in joining the Society of Women Engineers can contact Echo Davis at ejdavis@ualr.edu or 501-701-8760. In the upper right photo, Assistant Dean Vernard Henley takes a pie in the face during a fundraiser for the Society of Women Engineers. Photo by Benjamin Krain. ]]> Veteran Looking Forward to Future Career as Engineer Exploring Renewable Energy /news-archive/2018/10/04/victor-ruiz/ Thu, 04 Oct 2018 14:49:12 +0000 /news/?p=72021 ... Veteran Looking Forward to Future Career as Engineer Exploring Renewable Energy]]> Victor Ruiz, a senior systems engineering major at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, has a lot to be thankful for. He鈥檚 a U.S. Air Force veteran with a beautiful wife and two young daughters. Now in his last semester as a systems engineering major, Ruiz is looking forward to a future career where he explores his passion for renewable energy.聽 鈥淎s the world gets bigger, and there are more homes and 聽buildings built that use more computers, lights, and phones, energy consumption will continue to boom,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 think people need to be educated more and learn to save what we have left on this world. People always assume energy is free and we can keep producing as much as we want at no cost, but it鈥檚 not the case.鈥 A native of San Leandro, California, Ruiz graduated high school in 2006 and worked in an auto parts store 鈥渦ntil a 6-foot, 6-inch mountain of a man walked into my auto parts store dressed in crisp Air Force Blues uniform and said, 鈥楽on, I am about to save your life.鈥欌 At 18, Ruiz joined the U.S. Air Force and was stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base. He worked as an aircraft loadmaster, earned an associate degree in applied science in aviation operations, and even met and married his wife, Alba, who he met at Cajun鈥檚 Wharf. Life was going well for Ruiz, who thought he would spend his whole life in the military and retire. Things changed after Ruiz’s first child, Zo褢, was born in 2014. Ruiz had already been deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait, but the thought of leaving his newborn child was devastating. 鈥淟eaving to go fight a war was never hard for me. I accepted the fact that this is what came with the job,鈥 Ruiz said. 鈥淭he military turned this skinny boy from the suburbs of California into a man. The Air Force saved my life. It gave me goals, ambition, and a drive to never settle. I have never been terrified in my life except for one time. When I watched my 5-pound, 11-ounce baby girl come into this world, I was petrified. My baby was my world, and that鈥檚 when I knew I had to do the scariest thing imaginable. I had to leave the Air Force.鈥 In 2014, Ruiz left the Air Force after eight years of service and moved his family to California and enrolled in college. However, life in California, with its expensive housing market and colleges, did not turn out well. He was only in his second semester at Ohlone College when he developed a devastating case of meningitis that left him unable to complete his classes. After he recovered, Ruiz and his family moved back to Little Rock, and he started at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock during fall 2015. With a strong belief that the world can no longer rely on fossil fuels as its main source of energy, Ruiz studies renewable energy and energy savings solutions 鈥渢o put myself in a position to leave the world a little better than I found it.鈥 His senior capstone project involved the development of a solar-powered irrigation system. Ruiz appreciates the small class sizes in the College of Engineering and Information Technology, something he wasn鈥檛 used to in California. 鈥淭he small class sizes really make the learning environment intimate and student driven. Instructors are able to move at individuals鈥 pace making sure no one is left behind,鈥 Ruiz said. 鈥淭he passion EIT professors show for their students keeps me coming back every semester. Coming from California and large college classes really makes me appreciate the time and care everyone at the EIT college spends with the students.鈥 He is also thankful to Amy Frets, EIT director of student services and retention, whose 鈥渕entoring and motivation makes you believe that when everything seems hopeless it can still be done.鈥 As a full-time, nontraditional student, Ruiz said he has faced the challenges of working two, sometimes three, jobs while attending school in order to support his family, which now includes a second daughter, 1-year-old Khlo褢. 鈥溙切腣log传媒 Little Rock is an institution that allows people like me who are getting up at 4 a.m. to run a truck route and then go to class all day to then go load and unload trucks until 10:30 at night,鈥 Ruiz said. 鈥淎 student that raises a 4-year-old and 18-month-old baby in their free time. 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock is an institution that does something no other college around here does. It gives nontraditional people that struggle to survive hope – hope for a better tomorrow. Hope that at the end of it all, that once you earn that degree, your dreams can become a reality. So last but not least, thank you 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock for making my dreams a reality.鈥 Ruiz is grateful to staff members of the Military Student Success Center including Cheryl Kleeman, assistant director of military student success, and Kathy Oliverio, director of military student success. 鈥淭he Military Student Success Center has been vital to my success during my time at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. It is often thought of as a sanctuary for military students where they can share their college experience, troubles, and accomplishments. I owe all my success and complete turnaround in my GPA, from failing to three straight semesters on the Dean鈥檚 List, directly to the MSSC,鈥 Ruiz said. 鈥淭he Office of Financial Aid has made returning back to school feasible, affordable, and a reality. As a father with two beautiful little girls, I thought I could never be able to afford going back to school while providing for my family. Financial Aid’s support and easy access to scholarships has really eased the stress of college.鈥 Ruiz is now completing an internship as an assistant energy engineer at Entegrity, an energy consulting business where he hopes to work after his graduation in December 2018. He also plans to pursue a master鈥檚 degree in systems engineering. In the upper right photo,聽Victor Ruiz is shown with solar panels that he works with at his internship as an assistant energy engineer at Entegrity. Photo by Ben Krain.]]>