Campus briefs
'You bid, they win!' auction selling tickets this week
A hot air balloon ride, the new iTouch iPod, and signed memorabilia from the San Francisco 49ers and San Jose Sharks are among the items up for auction at the 20th Annual Winter Benefit Auction on Feb. 1.
Hosted by the Santa Clara Community Action Program, the auction has become a Santa Clara tradition to support the Special Olympics Northern California program, said event organizer Amanda Sobrepena.
The semiformal event, open to the public, begins with a silent auction, followed by a live auction conducted by Santa Clara alumnus Rob Slawinksi, who Sobrepena said she believes has served as the event's auctioneer since 1980.
All items up for auction have been donated, and all proceeds go toward the 30th annual Special Olympics games hosted by Santa Clara University on April 5 and 6.
The auction begins at 6 p.m. on Feb. 1 in the California Mission Room of Benson Memorial Center. Tickets went on sale yesterday and will be sold through Jan. 31 from 12-2 p.m. and 5-7 p.m. in Benson. Student tickets cost $10 in advance or $15 at the door, and general admission is $25.
New library, technology task force reviews student input
When the new Learning Commons, Technology Center & Library opens this spring, staff members want to make sure that students have played a part in shaping its services.
"It's sort of like an iterative and very organic vision," said Instructional Technology Resource Specialist Gloria Hofer, "and the students and our people that are consumers of information -- they're the ones that are going to define what we're going to be like in the end."
To gauge the expectations and needs of students at the future Commons Service Desk, the Public Services Task Force sent out a short Web survey to the campus community in December.
The results, released yesterday in a university-wide e-mail, confirm much of what the task force had suspected, according to Hofer.
"Not surprisingly, a lot of them wanted help with books and basic search assistance," said Hofer.
For example, more than 70 percent of those surveyed listed "basic library help assistance" and "research assistance" in the top five services they felt were essential at the Commons Service Desk. Sixty-five percent listed directional questions and referrals as essential. Respondents included 434 undergraduates, 163 graduates and 196 faculty and staff.
The Public Services Task Force began meeting weekly in September. University Librarian for Public Services Brigid Welch and Information Technology Manager Lai-San Malmquist co-chair the task force, which includes an additional four members from media services, information technology and the university library.
From staff reports. E-mail news@thesantaclara.com.