Wednesday, November 28, 2007

 

Campus Safety

With campus safety such a hot topic since Virginia Tech, many universities - including Eastern - are now using a text messaging system as one way to alert students, faculty and staff of emergency situations.
Here's a good article from the Chronicle of Higher Education on this issue and how the human element in decision making is still critical.

Chronicle of Higher Ed

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

 

Dinosaurs

We like to call him our dinosaur-hunting dean, but Judd Case, the dean of the college of Science, Health and Engineering was interviewed by Smithsonian Magazine for his expertise in this particular area. Read on.

Smithsonian Magazine

Monday, November 26, 2007

 

Eagles Advance

The Eastern Washington University football team has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs. The team handled second-seeded McNeese State on Saturday, and now get to play two-time defending champion Appalachian State.
Wow. Talk about having your work cut out for you. This is the same Appalachian State team that shocked the football world by beating Michigan in the Big House to start the season.
The Eagles are the lowest remaining seed in the playoffs, but you can bet Paul Wulff's squad will be more than a handful when kickoff comes at 9:05 a.m. Saturday in a game that can be seen on ESPN that can be seen on KAYU channel 28.
EWU, in conjunction with the alumni association, will host a party at Wingers at the Spokane Valley Mall that morning so you can cheer on the Eagles!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

 

Are You Thankful?

Or should I say grateful? Since it's Thanksgiving week, a link to a Washington Post article that uses a test created by an Eastern professor to determine gratitude.

start something big.

Washington Post

 

Noisy Tradition

One of the best storytellers in the business, KXLY's Rick Lukens, has this take on EWU's cannon. It first aired several years ago, but the ABC affiliate replayed the story Sunday after learning Eastern made the playoffs. Click on video once inside the link to view the story!

KXLY.com

Monday, November 19, 2007

 

Playoff Bound

Congrats to the Eastern men's football team! After completing an 8-3 season, they've been selected for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs which start this Saturday. And to top it all off, coach Paul Wulff is one of 16 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award - given to the coach of the year.

Here's a quick link on the playoffs and there's more on our sports page.

NCAAsports.com

Friday, November 16, 2007

 

Divided Family

Nice story on a family that must split loyalties between EWU and WSU.

Tacoma News Tribune

Thursday, November 15, 2007

 

Big Weekend

Big sports weekend at Eastern. Men's and women's basketball, volleyball, soccer and of course the last football game that could determine if the Eagles are in the playoffs. Topping it all off, 12 seniors will be honored before Saturday's game.
Here's a story from the SR:

End of the line
Eagles Hanni, Alfred reflect upon career in the trenches

Steve Bergum
Staff writer
November 15, 2007

As a former offensive lineman who played in college and the pros, Paul Wulff has developed a deep appreciation for those big hogs who clock in each Saturday to bang heads and bodies with their fellow behemoths in the obscurity of college football's trenches.

But even Wulff, now in his eighth season as Eastern Washington University's head coach, admits to being a bit blasé when it comes to fully grasping the accomplishments and contributions of Matt Alfred and Rocky Hanni, who will be among 12 EWU seniors playing – in all likelihood – their final game at Woodward Field on Saturday.

Alfred, a 6-foot-3, 300-pounder from Gig Harbor, Wash., and Hanni, a 6-5, 290-pounder from Sumner, Wash., have been mainstays in the Eagles' offensive line since they were redshirt freshmen and have combined for 85 starts in the last four seasons.

Alfred will take a string of 43 consecutive starts into Saturday's Big Sky Conference showdown and regular-season finale against Weber State, which kicks off at 2:05 p.m. Hanni will look to make it back onto the field after missing last week's 52-24 romp past Northern Arizona with a sprained ankle.

"It's remarkable, it really is," Wulff said, when asked about the durability of Alfred and Hanni, who were both named to last year's All-Big Sky Conference second team. "You tend to take guys like them for granted, sometimes, because of their consistency and because you know they're going to be there for the team each and every Saturday.


"It's not an easy thing to do, but both of those guys are tough guys. Both of them had nagging injuries during their careers and continued not only to play through them, but to play at a high enough level to really help our football team."

Alfred, who was named to College Sporting News' preseason NCAA Football Championship Subdivision All-America team, made his first start in the fourth game of the 2004 season, when the Eagles advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs, and has not missed a start since.

Hanni, started 11 of 13 games in 2004 and hadn't missed a game since – until last Saturday.

"It really started their redshirt freshman year when they both got the opportunity to start and prove themselves as young players, which, obviously, they both did," Wulff said.

Both players admitted to taking pride in having become such integral parts of Eastern's program and said showing up for work on such a regular basis has not been as big a grind as it might seem.

"It's all gone by way too fast," Hanni said. "It seems like just yesterday when we were freshmen that our seniors were doing their Senior Day. It's kind of weird, now, to think we're already in our fifth season and going into our Senior Day, and what could be our last game."

With a win over Weber State (5-5 overall, 4-3 in the Big Sky), the 15th-ranked Eagles (7-3, 5-2) could earn an at-large berth in the FCS playoffs, and both Hanni and Alfred seem confident about playing on past Saturday.

Both realize they have precious few game day opportunities – and the chance to pull an Eagles jersey over their heads – remaining.

"It seems kind of strange," Alfred said about the impending end to his collegiate career. "It's one of those things that when you're going through it – especially when you're a first-year or second-year guy out there practicing double-days – where you think,

Friday, November 09, 2007

 

Enrollment

Update on enrollment at the area colleges form the Journal of Business. Nice overview with good insight on how things will be more challenging down the road once all the children of those baby-boomers graduate.

Journal of Business

 

Hoops Season is Here

We're still in the midst of college football, which I love, and Eastern is still gunning for a playoff spot. However, the college basketball season tips off tonight! And Eastern opens at WSU, the first time the two have met since 1998 (what's up with that?!). Anyway, Talk about a tough assignment. The cougars used to be, well, not so good in basketball. Now they're a top 10 team. Tough start for new EWU coach Kirk Earlywine and his team, which is short-handed because of injuries and other issues (remember, Earlywine was hired in June - which is very late for college basketball).
Anyway, here's a little preview.

Tacoma News Tribune

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