Archive for May, 2019

The clock struck midnight a bit early for the GCU varsity Overwatch team in its Cinderella run at the ESPN Collegiate Esports Championship this weekend in Houston. The team, the underdog of the tournament, beat No. 2-seeded University of California, Irvine, in a shocking win to make it to the ESPN event. But GCU lost in its first match in Houston, against Orange Coast College, in a close game that many said was the most exciting of the tournament. “No one expected us to be here. But we were. … We still lost, but we did give it our best, and it did show on stage,” said team member Oscar Esquer.

GCU’s Varsity Overwatch Team never expected to topple one of the top-seeded teams in their esports Tespa league, but that’s exactly what the team did, beating No. 2-ranked University of California at Irvine. Now the team, which ESPN calls the underdogs of the Overwatch games in the midst of a “Cinderella run,” is in Houston playing in the most high-profile tournament ever for GCU esports, the ESPN Collegiate Esports Championship.

Dr. Gary Osmundsen and Dr. Rich Holland both teach philosophy, which they view as a subject that has practical implications across a variety of subjects that confront students. But they also teach about life through their own examples — Osmundsen has completed four marathons, including Boston twice, and Holland recently was interviewed on a national podcast regarding his book, “Good Arguments.” “Philosophy is really practical,” Osmundsen said. “Good critical thinking generalizes in all domains, not just sports.” Holland calls philosophy “the Christian’s best friend.”

By Connie Colbert Director, Canyon Health and Wellness Clinic You may have heard the term IBS (which is short for irritable bowel syndrome), however, many may not know the symptoms or its prevalence. According to the International Foundation for Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD), “Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) affects up to 10-15% of adults. It has a significant worldwide prevalence. Although IBS is not associated with an increased risk for life-threatening illness, it is associated with a significant health care and economic burden. Studies have shown that IBS patients have an increased number of outpatient health care visits, diagnostic tests and surgeries. IBS also can severely compromise a person’s quality of life. IBS is second only to the common cold as a cause of absenteeism from work.” IBS is described as a long-term and often intermittent disorder that involves a disturbance in the motility or sensation in the small and/or large intestines. The function of the intestine is regulated by the brain, thus this disorder is often called a brain-gut disorder. To learn more about this fascinating connection, see this article by Harvard Health. The symptoms of IBS include abdominal pain or discomfort, bloating and change in bowel habits. For some, it can […]

Students at Victory Collegiate Academy wanted to build a tiny house as a project. But they wondered, how would a tiny house help their community? So, instead, they decided to tackle a problem they discovered at their school. They found out 30% of the students at the academy, which is in the heart of Maryvale, do not have access to running water. Their solution was to build the first free, mobile, laundry. The project won the school the Canyon Challenge Grant, presented Tuesday at the Canyon Showcase by K12 Educational Development. The school received $11,000, including last night’s $2,000 grant. It was just one of 20 projects by eight schools who participated in the Showcase in a “public display of learning” from three of the department’s education and STEM initiatives — the STEM Impact Grant, STEM Ready 1 and Canyon Inquiry.

By Dr. Deb Wade GCU Vice President, Counseling and Psychological Services Where does your mind go when you think of home? Whether the reference is the home you currently live in or the home of your family of origin, are your thoughts positive, reminiscent of happy times, or are they painful, reminiscent of harsh and difficult times? There is an abundance of snappy and sappy phrases that relate to Home: “Home is where the heart is.” “Home is where love resides, memories are created, friends and family belong, and laughter never ends.” “Home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling.” “Home is where you hang your heart.” “Home – a place your feet may leave but your heart will always be.” Although these phrases may sound nice on a wall hanging or printed in a greeting card, for some people the home represented in these phrases is completely false and/or foreign. The family of origin home may have been wrought with conflict, with negativity, with condemnation, with anger – and the result was a conditioned response of staying out of sight, hiding, feeling fearful and shutting down. A child in this type of environment may have a low sense of personal […]

It seemed like a half-baked idea: Build a bridge using … potatoes. But Sevilla West MESA Team students did just that at the first Engineering Shops Tour and Workshop in GCU’s Engineering Building. It was the first tour of its kind and the neat thing about it — it was student-conceived (by recent electrical engineering graduate Michael Erisman) and student-led.

The Collegiate DECA chapter in the Colangelo College of Business came through with another outstanding finish in the competition at the recent International Career Development Conference in Orlando, Fla. For the second time in three years, a GCU student — freshman Noah Schultz this time — took first place, and the chapter had three other top-10 finishers. Co-advisors Dr. Kelly Damron and Marnie Davis also were honored.

There was one more order of business in the celebration of Jesse Dalla Riva’s amazing transformation from drug addict to GCU graduate: His Phoenix Rescue Mission co-workers wanted to throw a surprise party for him. They pulled it off in grand style Thursday afternoon at a celebration attended by a large group from the University, led by President Brian Mueller. “This so much reinforces my faith and what I believe about the God who created this,” Mueller said.

By the time computer programming majors graduate from GCU, they’ll do so with a multitude of apps in their arsenal. They start building their first web applications the first semester they’re here and don’t stop until their yearlong senior capstone project. Not only that, but they learn not just the standard two computer languages, instead delving into three primary computer programming languages. Few colleges, if any, break computer programming into its own discipline, separate from computer science; GCU does. Said Computer Programming Faculty Lead Mark Reha, “Here we have a nugget right in the palm of our hand because there’s no programs that I’m aware of — bachelor programs — in the entire United States that has this focus.”