Giving Day 2023!

Posted on | by Connor Hayes

Giving CMU day is here and there is no better day to support your favorite sport. This year the BAA has been supporting multiple new and refounding organizations, exploring options for enhanced safety in the sport and investing in a timing and data system that can be utilized by each organization during rolls and by broadcast during raceday.

CMU will be matching donations throughout the day which can allow us to invest even more in these initiatives and further uplift raceday events.

Here’s our official Giving Day donation link: https://givingcmuday.cmu.edu/campaigns/uni-buggy-alumni-association

Additionally your donations will count towards your membership for this year if they exceed $20. Learn more on our membership page.

BAA Beanies are Here!

Posted on | by Sam Connor

As promised, BAA’s fall buggy beanies are here – but it’s for a limited time only! These fleece lined knit beanies are a great way to show your buggy spirit while staying warm this winter. Embroidered with the BAA logo, they’re available for purchase in two colors: maroon red and classic black.

Order yours now at https://cmubuggy.org/merch, but hurry! The fundraiser ends on December 2nd, and barring any major delays, the hats will be shipped in time for the holidays.

BAA News, Now direct to your Inbox!

Posted on | by Rob Siemborski

Based on the results of our user survey earlier this year, we found that one of the most popular ways people would like to hear about BAA news is directly into their inbox. We’re pleased to announce that this is once again possible — in a way that you can control yourself via Google Groups.

News posts should now be automatically forwarding to both the new mailing list as well as our Discord.

If this sounds like something you might want, head over to https://groups.google.com/g/baa-news to sign up.

Web Site Redesign Interviews

Posted on | by Rob Siemborski

One of the things the BAA has been thinking about for a while is how we can make the web site more useful to all of its various users. While we’ve done a lot of improvements over the last few years, we’ve also been thinking about what a larger overhaul might look like.

To do this, we’re planning a partnership with current students in the IS class 67-240, Mobile Web Design & Development. We’ll be working with several teams of students to come up with ideas for what a redesign might look like. To that end, the students will need to work with current or potential users of the site to understand their needs better, through interviews.

So, we’d like to gather a variety of people — current alums, current students, and others with an interest in Buggy to help give them feedback. If this sounds like something that might be interesting to you, please sign up at the form below. We might not contact everyone, but having a variety of volunteers is important to us.

Sign up here: https://cmubuggy.org/2023designvolunteer

Thank you!

BAA Election Results

Posted on | by Jeremy Tuttle | 1 Comment on BAA Election Results

Congratulations to our newly elected BAA Board members:

Rob Siemborski, Webmaster

Sam Connor, Graphics Chair

And congratulations to Connor Hayes on his reelection as President!

The BAA Board has also voted to create the position of Events Chair, and has appointed newly graduated alum Sam Thompson to that role for a term of one year. Events Chair will be responsible for planning, organizing, and holding any official BAA-sponsored events, such as Happy Hour, Buggy Bash, and any other official social gatherings or info sessions throughout the year.

Nominate your friends to the BAA Board!

Posted on | by Jeremy Tuttle

Raceday is over, May is almost here, and BAA elections are right around the corner. But before we can have elections, we need candidates! This year, we will have elections for President, Graphics Chair, Reporting Chair, and Webmaster.

Click here for the submission form, and for details about the roles. Nominees can be any graduated CMU alum who has not already served two terms in that position. Nominations will be accepted through May 5th.

Current BAA officers and chairs can be found here if you have any questions.

Raceday is Coming! WRCT 88.3 FM Preview Broadcast Tonight at 6 PM

Posted on | by Matt Gallabrese

WRCT BROADCAST

Tune in tonight at 6 PM EDT for a preview of Sweepstakes 2023. Moderated by our long-time play-by-play commentator Will Weiner, current students will discuss all things buggy to get you hyped for Raceday.

Introducing our on-air talent:

  • Elena Harllee – She first witnessed buggy as a high school student, when she visited CMU during Raceday 2019 and fell in love with the spot. She joined Apex Buggy as a freshman and was build lead in 2022-2023, where she built Apex’s first forward trike. This year, she is a part of Sweepstakes as the Design Comp chairman, while still maintaining her status as an active mechanic for Apex.

  • Ethan Husted – He is a current MechE masters student and resident old person on CIA. He held a number of roles in the org from 2018-2023, including the hill 5 pusher dubbed “Long Chungus”, build lead of Kingfisher, chair during the mid-COVID RD that never wasn’t, and reluctant head mechanic. He is now obsolete and has thus been allowed to leave the yellow tent to enter the broadcasting tent. He will be moving to Baltimore this summer to work on medical devices at Key Tech.

  • Julia “Juju” Nieto – A PiKA driver and this year’s Buggy Book Chairmen, she is a School of Drama grad (dramaturgy), currently working on her MEIM at CMU’s Heinz College. In her words, “Buggy has been one of the best things I could have ever gotten out of my time here. What I thought would be a short-lived attempt at becoming an athlete, quickly turned into an unexpected gift. Over the past four years, I have developed a deep love for this sport and a deep admiration for those crazy enough to be involved in it. Being able to make this year’s Buggy Book was a joy and in the words of Jon Hua, ‘the jacket is always a plus.'”

  • Elizabeth Zapanta – A buggy legacy herself, she has been watching buggy for as long as she can remember. The first-ever Sweepstakes Marketing and Communications Chair, she is excited to help coordinate and participate in this year’s broadcast.

Moderator:

  • Will Weiner (DC’13) – He got into buggy through doing sports broadcasting with WRCT as a freshman at CMU. Somehow, he’s stayed in the play-by-play role for the races ever since. He now lives in nearby Braddock, PA, and runs a company called Xpogo, which manages the top athletes in the sport of extreme pogo sticking, which was a clear next step after buggy.

You can find the broadcast on air locally in Pittsburgh at 88.3 FM or stream it online from wrct.org! Join in the conversation via the BAA’s CMUBuggy Discord (cmubuggy.org/chat). Have any questions for the broadcasters? Ask them in the #wrctracedaypreview channel under Raceday-Specific Channels. You can also send any questions via comments to this post.

After what will be a great conversation, there will only be 17 hours left until Buggy Showcase (Thursday, April 13, 2023, at noon EDT) in Weigand Gym in the CUC. And, don’t forget our Prelims Lead Truck Auction, ending tomorrow night at 11 PM, so get your bids in while you can!

And, if you aren’t a member already, join now to receive this year’s Raceday Preview featuring MechaJockey! Learn more at cmubuggy.org/membership.

See you on the course!

 

Election Results for the 2022-2024 Term

Posted on | by Jeremy Tuttle

Hey everyone!
At long last, here are the results of our 2022 elections, with six officers set to begin their first elected terms:

Vice President: Diya Nuxoll
Secretary: Sydney Baker
Treasurer: Wade Gordon
Quartermaster: Jeremy Tuttle
Broadcast Chair: Matt Galabrese
Communications Chair: Bethany Bauer

Additionally, the Executive Board has created the appointed (non-voting) role of Producer for Rachael Schmitt, so she can continue her work creating our beloved Chute the Sh!t podcast with host Will Weiner.

Thank you all for participating in the elections!

BAA Board Elections – Polls close May 29!

Posted on | by Katelyn Smith

It’s time to vote in the new BAA board!
This year we have 3 no-contest races, and 3 contested. All terms are for two years with potential for one re-election to the same position for a second term.

Each position requires at least 20 votes or votes of confidence. Additionally, each position will have a write in option. For the Secretary position, we will use ranked choice voting per the new Constitution standards.

NO-CONTEST RACES:
-Treasurer – Wade Gordon (1st term)
-Vice President – Diya Nuxoll (1st term)
-Broadcast – Matt Galabrese (1st term)

CONTESTED RACES:
-Communications: Katelyn Smith (2nd Term), Bethany Bauer (1st Term)
-Quartermaster: Jeremy Tuttle (2nd Term), Katy Zapanta (1st Term)
-Secretary: Katy Zapanta (1st Term), Dave Singh (1st term), Sydney Baker (1st Term)

Cast your ballots here: cmubuggy.org/vote
Polls close at the end of the day on May 29, so make sure to get your ballot in!