Daryl Hixenbaugh: Baseball Expert

     Daryl Hixenbaugh, 70, has been coaching Bellevernon High School baseball for three years, but he previously spent 26 years as a Major League Baseball scout. He has worked with the Cardinals, Pirates, Yankees, and currently works as a part time scout for the Kansas City Royals, as well as head coach at BVA. Some of the responsibilities that a professional scout has include attending high school games, high school summer league games, college games, and college summer league games. 

     "When I was scouting full-time you were on the road from the end of February to early October," Hixenbaugh said. "It was to see as many players as we could see."

     Scouts look at all positions, and the organization's philosophy determines what types of tools to look for in players, Hixenbaugh said. For example, the Pirates were an "arms and legs" organization, so Pirates scouts looked for strong pitching and positioned players with speed. Once a scout finds a player with projectable tools, they report to their superiors that they found a player with promise. The superiors include the organization's scouting director, assistant scouting director, and the national cross checker. 

     "I saw a lot of kids I wanted to draft, but they got drafted before we could get to them," Hixenbaugh said. 

     Some of the players that Hixenbaugh had scouted and convinced the organization to draft included Neil Walker and David Wright. Hixenbaugh has helped around 20 players get drafted, and ushered four to the major league diamond. Since Hixenbaugh currently works part-time with the Royals, he has time to coach Bellevernon High School too. The drills and training that these high school students receive is straight from a major league team's workout program. These players are pushed and trained to be the best baseball players they can be each and every practice. 

     The BVA High School baseball team has a rented spaced in a coffee warehouse, which they have turfed and evolved into a great space to work out during the off season. Daryl has put a lot of time and money into the facility to help these players advance their skills. These players have a very knowledgable coach, that will get the best out of all of them.

                              

BVA baseball players doing box jumps drills to stimulate fast twitch muscle fibers.

                                                                             BVA Baseball doing mountain climbers to strengthen their cores.

BVA students work on hitting mechanics with soft toss.

     Head coach Hixenbaugh and assistant head coach, Nathan Raffle, put their athletes through extensive conditioning programs in the offseason. Some of the baseball drills and conditioning programs are shown in the videos below. The baseball drills are used to perfect fundamental aspects of the game, and the conditioning is used to build the players' endurance and strength.

BVA baseball doing drills and conditioning

Slippery Rock University Lip Sync Battle Championship

The Slippery Rock University Lip Sync Battle Championship took place in the Smith Student Center on Nov. 23, 2015, at 12:30 p.m. Winners of the previous Lip Sync Battle faced off in a winner takes all competition.

Class Proposal

     Slippery Rock University is holding the Lip Sync Battle Championships in the Smith Student Center on Tuesday, November 17, at 12:30 p.m. Winners of the previous Lip Sync Battle are scheduled to face off for one hour on the first floor of Smith Student Center, to determine who is the Lip Sync Battle Champion. This has been an on going event at SRU, and many students are interested in this entertaining event's outcome. 

     The Lip Sync Battle Championships has news value to students of SRU, because many students have been to a previous competition, and want to see a winner. Watching this event is fun and entertaining for everyone in attendance. The 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. time allotment is the best time for exposure to students, and the location is ideal. Students will be entering Smith Student Center at a rapid pace to get their lunch during common hour. 

     Having the event right in the middle of the Student Center will result in everyone on campus seeing or hearing about the Lip Sync Battle Championship, which might spark readers' interests. Student will be participating in the Lip Sync Battle Championship, so their friends and aquaintences will want to see them perform. This may not seem like it has much news value on the grander scale of things, but it is entertaining and interesting to students on Slippery Rock's campus.

SRU Food Show

     Students filtered in and out of the Smith Student Center on Slippery Rock University's campus to attend the SRU Food Show. The Slippery Rock University Food Show started at 11 a.m. in the Smith Student Center to give students and faculty the opportunity to vote on foods to have in Boozel Dining Hall. Some of the companies presenting products included Pepsi, Vie Di France, Schwebel Baking Company, and Schneider's Dairy. The presentations varied from pasta, chicken, croissants, and egg nog. In other words, the foods varied from breakfast foods, lunch foods, and dinner foods. Students were given paper handouts with instructions on how to cast their vote for best dish. The handout instructed students to follow @SRUDining and tweet at them with their favorite vendor's name. 

     My personal favorite vendor was Vie Di France. They offered chocolate filled croissants that tasted a lot like the chocolate toaster strudels you can buy from Pillsbury, although Vie Di France's take on the product has a much more appealing presentation. The croissant is sprinkled with powdered sugar, then the vendor slowly drizzles chocolate sauce on top. I asked some of the students what their opinions of my favorite vendor's product was, and everyone seemed to like it. Some people told me they weren't big fans of chocolate, but they still enjoyed what Vie Di France had to offer. 

     After all the votes have been tallied by SRU Food Show faculty, the winning vendor's product will be displayed in Boozel Dining Hall. The SRU Food Show is an annual event, and it's a great way for students to get out and state their opinion on what they would like to incorporate into their diets.

Pepsi

Concept

Vie Di France

EFD Associates

Schneider's Dairy

Ritchie Marketing

Acosta

Key Impact

ASM/Waypoint

Great Lakes Cheese

Sirna and Sons Produce

Schwebel Baking Company

Concept dishes out some of their product for two SRU students.

Students and faculty swarm the product tables to try produce and products

Slippery Rock faculty member discusses what is to offer at SRU Food Show

ASM/Waypoint representative Robert Ashbaugh talks about what his company has to offer SRU students

SRU Geology Seminar

The Geology Department of Slippery Rock University held a seminar with guest speaker Dr. DeGraff of the Association of Environmental & Engineering Geologists. Slippery Rock students filled an auditorium on Slippery Rock's campus to learn about mudslides, wild fires, and many more geology related topics. Almost every faculty member of the geology department attended the seminar, and the majority of geology, GIS, and Environmental Science majors were in attendance.

Timeline Of Off Campus Housing in SRU

     Slippery Rock University has a lot of off campus housing options. Slippery Rock didn't always have this many options, but throughout the years Slippery Rock has been introduced to many different apartment complexes. Some of the major housing options include University Village, Campus Side, The Grove, and South Side. The prezi below has some of these apartment complexes placed in order of their construction.

State and County Parks College Students Should Visit Over Fall Break

College students usually go on fall break in early October, and there's a lot of places they can visit during their time off. With fall setting in it's the perfect time for students to enjoy the changing of the leaves, chilled weather, and sights within state and county parks in south western Pennsylvania. This time of the year makes for a beautiful environment for students to relax on their break, and enjoy what these parks have to offer.