Finally, room to breathe, space to move about. The Cultural Center, once located in the Student Union Annex, has grown from 600 square feet to a spacious 1600. And Cultural Center Coordinator, Ro Parker, is smiling. No longer does she have to schedule activities in venues all over campus. "In the old building," she says, "it was impossible to host meetings for the larger clubs, now there's room for everyone."

Because so much more room is available, Parker sees a future filled with new services, programs, and events. She imagines an art gallery, for example, and a mentoring program. The very visible second-floor location in the Student Union also means exposure to a wider student body. "We're trying to create an all-inclusive environment," she says.

With a presence in the center of campus life, promoting cultural diversity gets easier just by opening the doors. Parker also sees the new location as a valuable source for recruitment since the Student Union is included on new-student orientation tours.

Another advantage of the new location is the Center's close proximity to the newly remodeled Student Organization Complex. With well over 150 student organizations sharing a main entrance, the two offices will have greater opportunities to network and collaborate on projects more efficiently.

The Center has a home-away-from-home effect on visitors when they walk in the door. The comfortable seating, the warm color schemes, and the bright airy atmosphere make you feel like you can walk into the kitchenette, make a cup of coffee, sit down and read a book. It's a well-used facility and Parker expects even more traffic as people discover it.

Evangeline Beaver, president of FILAMO, the Filipino-American Student Organization, and Uyen Dinh, president of Hui-O-Aloha, study together at the new Center, papers and books spread out in front of them, enjoying the elbow room. Like Parker, they expect to meet more people and see an increase in activities. "We can really let people know we're here," says Beaver. "It's exciting to be a part of it."

Parker wants everyone to visit the Cultural Center. "It's not just for ethnic groups," she says. "Everyone has a hand in diversity."

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If you've been lunching at the Student Union, having an occasional cup of coffee, or even just walking through, it's hard not to notice the changes that have been taking place over the past year. The Fresh Express convenience store, for example, has wider aisles and carries 30 percent more product, and new menu boards have been installed at places like Moxie Java and Tortilla Fresca. Now, according to Retail Food Service Manager, Ryan Hembree, it's time for change at the deli.

"Everyone's had their turn," he says. "Now it's time for the Boar's Head to get a facelift. It's exciting. The improvements are huge." In addition to shining it up in chrome with a new three-section menu panel, and full-color wall posters, and display equipment, the deli is also offering more choices.

"Vegetarian sandwiches," says Hembree, and "real deli pickles, the kind you bite into and the juice dribbles down your chin."

But while you're wiping off your chin, you’ll notice it's a line of signature specialties, locally named sandwiches like The Depot, the Foothills Focaccia, and the Bronco Slam! that are the real headliners at the new Boar's Head. From thin-sliced ham and honey mustard on an onion roll to hearty roast beef and cheddar, the selections promise a wide variety of new flavor combinations. Hembree says they're "a taste of New York but with a Bronco twist." You can try one of the new made-to-order sandwiches at The Boar's Head Deli between 10:30 and 2:00, Monday through Friday.

In addition to the new lunch options, Hembree has also kicked off "a Tmmy Ymmy program, the only thing missing is you." Each retail outlet in the Student Union has a new display rack of homemade desserts like brownies and Rice Krispies Treats. So, when you’re hungry and you don't know what you want, try something new for a change.

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Why stand in line if you don't have to? Think of the things you could be doing.

If you haven't heard, Bronco Express makes it possible for you to get those things done and finish your business, too. Just click on boisestatebooks.com and place an order via credit card from a complete catalog without leaving home or office. In twenty-four hours your books will be ready to pick up. "If it's on the bookstore shelf," says supervisor Dawn DiFuria, "it's online."

DiFuria has seen a consistent increase in orders since the service began three years ago — from 40 to 50 sales a week to as many as 150 in one day just before the start of school. She says the service has become more popular because it's so convenient and saves time: no parking issues to deal with and no getting caught in the middle of the rush to buy books.

Supplies such as binders and paper are also available online, as well as clothes, novelty items, music, DVDs and software. Visit the merchandise Web site at broncoshop.com and don't forget to check for any student specials while you're there.

Bronco Express offers shipping and mailing services. If you need to mail packages, or anything for that matter, you don't have to leave campus to do it. They have the boxes and the stamps and they'll even pack for you and ship it UPS. It doesn't get any more convenient than that. Difuria says the service will be especially handy during the busy holiday season, and also for those students having to move at the end of the school year.

Bronco Express is located behind the pool tables where the outdoor recreation office once operated. Look for the Bronco postage stamp above the window. Hours are the same as the Bookstore:

Mon. & Tues. 8:00 - 7:00 pm
Wed. - Fri. 8:00 - 5:30 pm
Sat. 10:00 - 5:00 pm

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This year’s Boise State winners are: Men's Table Tennis: Riley Thomas, 5th place Dan Platt, 6th place Men's Table Tennis/Doubles: Riley Thomas & Dan Platt, 3rd place Billiards: Hope Jensen, women's 1st place Michael Jensen, men's 1st place Team Bowling/Recreation: Boise State, 1st place Bowling/Recreation Women Singles: Patti Collins, 1st place

Each year, the Association of College Unions International (ACUI) conducts tournaments in various events. On February 20-21, Boise State, a member of ACUI, hosted the Region 14 Recreation and College Bowl Tournaments, competitions that bring students together from all over the Northwest to bowl, shoot pool, play table tennis, and demonstrate their general knowledge skills about a variety of topics ranging from pop culture and history to literature and art. Region 14 includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, and Western Canada.

The College Bowl was held on the second floor of the Student Union. The Boise State All-Star Team winners were James Wolfe, Kersti Harter, Matthew Meyer, and Trevor Farlow. Thirteen other teams from across the region also participated.

To participate in the billiards, table tennis, or bowling tournaments in the regionals, students had to first participate in the qualifying tournaments that were held during the first week in February in the Student Union Games Center.

The billiards competition was held at the Games Center, but because of space limitations, table tennis was held across the street in the Recreation Center, and bowling was held in Meridian at the Meridian Lanes. "We're just not big enough," says Greg Hampton, Games Center Manager. "There are approximately 60 students in each event." Hampton is also the director of the bowling portion of the tournament, an advisor to the bowling club, and teaches bowling classes. A Boise State graduate, he met his wife bowling. "It's a social thing," he says. "It's fun."

Hampton says the idea behind the recreation tournaments was to create events that would bring students together who share common interests. For decades, universities and colleges took turns hosting everything from chess to foosball, but eventually, in some regions, the most popular sports took over and reduced the variety considerably.

Carla Beers was a volunteer tournament director for the billiards competition. She's done it for nine years now. She says, "I want to give something back because of the benefits I got out of participating." When Beers attended the College of Southern Idaho, she qualified to play billiards for the regional, then eventually went on to be a two-time winner. In 1993, she won the national title. She says the tournaments are important because "it's an opportunity for students to meet people and make lifelong friends, and even do some traveling . . .under the best circumstances possible. It means being in the presence of the best in the country. It's amazing."

This year, Hope Jensen and her husband, Michael, took first place in the women's and men's pool events. In April, they'll be traveling to Colorado to compete in the national championships.

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Who wouldn't want to go to work every day if "office" meant a sunny room in the music department at the Morrison Center where violin and piano music, and voices rising in harmony resonate throughout the corridors. The atmosphere is like the joy of the Christmas season long after the holidays are gone. Perhaps that's part of the reason Dr. Giselle Wyers is inspired.

As director of choral activities at Boise State she conducts three choruses including the award-winning Meistersingers (their first CD "Vision of Peace" is available for $10 through any Meistersingers member or call Dr. Wyers at 426-2400), advises graduate student conductors, and teaches choral literature and private voice. As advisor of the Meistersingers Student Cabinet, she created the office of Historian (designed to archive choir events through the creation of an annual slide show and scrapbook), and the office of Social Chair (designed to help build community by planning social events for choir members).

She also advises the American Choral Director's Association, student chapter, whose mission is to provide resources and opportunities for student conductors. The BSU ACDA Chapter has seven members who meet once a month and organize various student directed learning projects. And if all of that isn't enough to keep Dr. Wyers busy, she directs the University Community Choir — eighty singers ages high school to senior citizen — every week. She selects all the music for all her choirs, conducts rehearsals, listens to auditions, schedules lessons, writes recommendations, orders dresses and tuxedos.

According to Wyers, it's the students who help drive her. She says, "I really like to instill leadership by being an example and by giving them responsibility. It's wonderful to see their energy and work toward a common goal. We have some very bright, motivating, and talented students . . . they work hard."

Vocalist Aaron Eagan believes it's the other way around. It's Dr. Wyers who drives the students. "She sets a pretty high standard," he says, "and I'm glad she does. She's helped me a lot."

Dr. Wyers has been at Boise State for four years. She earned a bachelor's from UC Santa Cruz (where she founded the San Lorenzo Valley Community Chorus and Orchestra), a master's from Westminster Choir College (where she founded the Greater Princeton Youth Chamber Orchestra), and a doctorate from the University of Arizona.

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Dr. Robert McCarl is an associate professor of anthropology at Boise State. You'll find him in the Hemingway Center surrounded by piles of papers and mountains of books. As a faculty advisor he is working with a group of young men and women who are involved with the InterTribal Native Council. Currently, they are preparing for the 11th annual Pow Wow coming this spring, a gathering that has grown to be one of Boise State's largest events. Dancers and drummers from around the intermountain area come to campus to compete for cash prizes. It's something McCarl enjoys — bringing people together. "It's an important event," he says, "everyone, a real sense of community."

McCarl also enjoys researching and preserving Native American art and histories, and helping others. His work has taken him to the Duck Valley Indian Reservation where he helped document the lifestyles of "ranchers and buckaroos." The project, an educational CD-ROM produced by the Boise State Department of Anthropology and the Shoshone-Paiute tribes, is titled "Pakkiata: Shoshone and Paiute Ranchers and Buckaroos." McCarl hopes to see its release in late spring or early summer. Part of what he found so rewarding in that experience was seeing some of the people he met "seek a higher education." He says, "It's exciting to help guide them through the maze of a university."

Ranging from such topics as urban fire fighting and industrial folklore to Latinos in Idaho to skateboarders in Boise, McCarl's work has appeared in many journals, books and magazines. He has also assisted with many media projects. Some of the hats he's worn include: crew chief and producer for the film "Twenty Years of Women Smokejumpers, First Annual Reunion"; humanistic advisor for the film "Sweetheart of the Rodeo"; co-producer, organizer, and moderator for the video panel discussion "Worker's Compensation: A Time for Change"; and coproducer for the twenty-minute programs "Sr. Ballesteros" and the "La Culturas."

McCarl moved to Boise in 1986 and was the Director of Folk Arts Programs for the Idaho Commission on the Arts. He started teaching at Boise State in 1994. He earned his bachelor's degree in English with an anthropology minor, and his master's in Interdisciplinary Studies: Folklore/Anthropology at the University of Oregon, 1969 and 1974 respectively, and his doctorate at Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1980.

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