Tide Talks IX kicked off their event Friday night with a pie eating contest among four random audience members. Two participants had to eat an entire piece of pie that was fed to them with tongs from their partner standing behind them. The winning team was awarded the rest of the pie, though neither seemed to want to dig in quite yet.
The first speaker of the night was Matt Lambert, a senior majoring in finance and accounting from Idaho. Lambert addressed the audience on ways to be successful in the real world through branding, high margins and low cost products, referring to Coca-Cola, Walmart and Pfizer as examples. His main point of the night was his explanation of building a moat around oneself so that one can stand out when looking for a job.
“Building your moat, I feel like, it’s really helpful for everybody not just in business,” said Susanna Kaletski, a sophomore majoring in English. “I want to go to grad school, so that’s something I know I really need to get started on doing, getting more involved and working on my resume.”
Franny Kyle, a freshman majoring in engineering, performed a cover “Romeo and Juliet” by Dire Straits in the transition between speakers.
Alex Moffitt, a senior majoring in political science and French, spoke about culture and globalization. Through the study of language and living abroad, Moffitt said she came to understand and respect different perspectives. She spoke about America being a salad bowl where everyone can work together with the United Nations to improve society and promote peace.
Clifton Baker, a senior majoring in theatre, performed a reading of his own poem, “Broken Record.”
Jake Little, a senior majoring in finance and economics, informed the audience on technology and data information. He shed light on the cookies left behind by web searches and what information can be seen by third parties when users log into Facebook and other social media sites.
“All the technology stuff, I had no idea about that,” said Blair Morrison, a freshman majoring in marine science and biology. “I don’t use technology a lot, but that was mind-blowing a little bit. I learned to disable the third party cookies.”
Jason Speare, a junior majoring in computer engineering, performed a cover of “Ain’t No Sunshine.”
The last speaker of the night was Olivia Hodge, a senior majoring in journalism and marketing. Hodge’s mission was to improve health communications. Through her experience with cystic fibrosis, she witnessed firsthand the misunderstandings people have about health. She said open communication and support are the best ways to make friends feel at ease through stress and serious illness. While many are concerned with Ebola, she said they should be more concerned about the thousands of deaths caused by the flu. Hodge encouraged students to take advantage of the Student Health Center and the Women’s Center. She said the Dean of Students is also a great resource for helping students with their health needs.
“I like the whole variety of all the topics,” said Rachel Mears, a senior majoring in communications studies and communicative disorders. “I thought it was nice how they covered personal development to health to technology, all things that are relevant for yourself and for the world.”
