The College of Architecture, Design and Construction (CADC) will hold its annual Pumpkin Carve on Oct. 26 in the courtyard of Dudley Hall. The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) sponsors the event, which is in its 19th year and is featured in the October issue of Southern Living magazine.

“The pumpkin carve has grown from a small student competition to a community event that attracts hundreds of people,” noted Dan Bennett, dean of AU’s College of Architecture, Design and Construction. “Each year visitors are amazed at the traditional Halloween and current event themes that are used by our students in their designs for the pumpkin carve.”

This year, more than 400 pumpkins, many with intricate designs and current-event themes, will be judged on creativity, appearance and craftsmanship. Festivities begin at 9 a.m., with pumpkins going on sale for $4 and the carving begins. At noon, hot dogs, burgers, chili and drinks will be on sale and the student costume contest will begin. At 5 p.m., pumpkin carving ends and the pumpkins will be lighted. Face painting will be available for kids and food will be on sale. The children’s costume contest and pictures with Aubie will begin at 6 p.m., with the judging of pumpkins carved by CADC students only beginning at 6:30 p.m. and awards presented at 7 p.m. Pumpkins will be available for viewing until 8 p.m. A live video stream of all the day’s activities will be provided on the Internet at www.cadc.auburn.edu/pumpkincarve/. The college encourages the community and students from other curricula to come out from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to participate in carving; the competition is open to all members of the university. The Dudley Courtyard is located between Dudley Hall and Dudley Commons, which is adjacent to Graves Amphitheater.

Schedule
9 am: Pumpkins and t-shirts go on sale
Noon: Dog Days and Chili available; Student Costume Contest
5 pm: Carving ends, lighting begins, Dog Days Dinner, and face painting
6 pm: Kids Costume Contest
6:30 pm: Judging and announcement of winner follows

The AU College of Architecture, Design and Construction and the Office of the Vice President for University Outreach have announced the creation of the Academic Success Action Program (ASAP) which will provide academic strategies and mentoring to high school minority students beginning in the summer of 2008. The program is designed to bridge the gap between high school and college by providing high school students interested in the fields of architecture, design or construction with the guidance needed to be successful during their collegiate careers. The students will be selected based on need and their interest in fields of architecture, construction and design from high schools in Alabama, Tennessee and Georgia. The ASAP uses four elements (academics, student focus groups/special events, analysis and practice) which engage mentoring and coaching strategies toward academic success. University Outreach contributed $15,000 that will go toward the first three-week program in 2008. Beginning in the ninth grade, high school students will spend three weeks each summer on the Auburn campus with two weeks of calculus, physics and AutoCAD lab work and one week as part of an architecture, design or construction camp. Once students are enrolled at Auburn they will begin their mentorship with architecture, design or construction professionals. During the mentorship process, students will work as interns with area companies and have an assigned mentor to guide them through scenarios which will ultimately prepare them for the professional licensure. For more information, contact Carla Jackson Bell, director of multicultural affairs for the college, at cjj0001@auburn.edu or 844-4549.

“Harvesting Rainwater with Rain Barrels” can be viewed in the Dudley Hall Gallery Oct. 11-22. Collecting rainwater is an ancient and traditional practice, and dates as far back as 2,000 years ago. With the rising price of municipal water and with drought restrictions now facing many communities, more and more homeowners are turning to the harvesting of rainwater to save money and utilize this precious natural resource. Rain barrels are a simple way homeowners can store rooftop runoff for reuse for landscaping and other non-potable uses. The most common approach involves directing a roof downspout to a 55-gallon rain barrel. A hose is attached to a faucet at the bottom of the barrel and water is distributed by gravity pressure. Rain barrels are based on the Low Impact Development approach that treats rooftop runoff as a resource that should be reused or infiltrated. A drawing will be held Oct. 19 at 4 p.m. to give away the rain barrel on display. Sign-up is free. For more information, contact Charlene LeBleu at 844-0192 or leblecm@auburn.edu.