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FEBRUARY 21, 2019 • VOL. 96 NO. 13 • EST. 1924
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REGION
OP-ED
SPORTS
ARTS & LIFE
Lt. Governor John Fetterman visits to discuss recreational marijuana legalization.
President Trump declares national emergency to fund his promised border wall.
WU's Line is it Anyway cast prepares for first performance, director reflects on impact.
SEE B1
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Men's basketball eliminated after first round in PAC tournament. SEE C1
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Switching over
Admitted Student Day to ‘seal deal’ GRACE HUTCHISON Arts & Life Editor
Illustration by Mattie Winowitch
Dept. of Communication launches campaign to improve technology DYLAN CLELAND
Assistant Sports Editor
Last Thursday, Feb. 14 the Department of Communication coupled with the Office of Institutional Advancement to launch its newest fundraising campaign, “COM 3:1,” in an hour-long event of communication-themed activities on the fourth floor of Buhl Hall. The fundraising campaign is an effort to raise an appropriate amount of funds to assist the department in its efforts to upgrade the television and remote production broadcasting equipment. Stacey Brodak, vice president of Institutional Advancement and University Relations attended the kickoff event and has played a key role in working towards making the upgrades possible for the department. “In leading our Institutional Advancement Depart-
ment, we’re largely in charge of looking at development and fundraising for the university,” Brodak said. “From the time that I started, we’ve always had a wish list of things that we would like to raise funds for priority projects and needs for the university. The Department of Communication’s upgrades for equipment has been on that [to-do] list from the time I arrived in 2017.” Throug h Insti tutional Advancement, the Department of Communication and President Douglas Lee, a proposal was designed and presented to the Stover Foundation. Brodak said a lot of talking amongst the parties went on before the proposal was finalized. “After a lot of discussion and preparation, [President Lee] had a proposal for them,” said Brodak. “When they funded it, it really gave us an opportunity to see how
we could fulfill, and they came back with the challenge grant and the good news was it left us a smaller piece to raise but we still have an effort to put forth.” Richard Krause, chairperson for the Department of Communication, said he is excited about the program and believes the kickoff event, planned by communication students exemplified the community-like feel that he sees on the floor every day. “I was very pleased with the student participation, we had a very good turnout despite having a couple conflicts in schedule,” Krause said. “Our fundamental goal for this was creating awareness among the student population within the department, it wasn’t a day to raise money. It was a day to develop a sense of community and team that we’re all working together towards
a common goal and we had to do something that had a speaking portion to it, but the activities were the most important part. We wanted the students to have fun and I think we achieved that. I was pretty happy with the way the day had gone.” Krause also said he is enthusiastic for the campaign itself and the impact it will have on the department. He said that a three-to-one match in a fundraising campaign is unique, but something the department is thankful to both the Stover Foundation and President Lee for. “The way the process will work is that we’ve established a goal of $125,000 to raise, raising $125,000 means that the Stover Foundation will contribute $375,000, hence our $500,000 goal,” Krause said. “I had some 3-TO-1 >> A3
The university will be hosting an admitted students day Saturday, Feb. 23, to give over 170 accepted students the opportunity to ask questions, learn more about various college-related topics and potentially officially commit to attending. Though the day will focus on Waynesburg University, it’s mission and resources for students, Admissions Counselor Emily Smelley, who has been heavily involved in planning the event, recognizes other potential benefits for those who attend. “They’re going to be surrounded by other admitted students,” Smelley said. “They could be potential classmates, roommates, best friends and teammates. I just think it is really cool.” The main goal of the event, says Smelley, is to invite students back to campus to answer any questions that may not have been resolved yet. To assist in this goal, an event schedule has been individually tailored for each attendee based on their personal interests and curiosities about Waynesburg. . This customized touch was to ensure every student learns everything possible about the campus. “This is gonna be their temporary home. They’re just passing through. This is gonna be the building STUDENTS >> A3
Honors Program, Waynesburg signing out of Blackboard Bonners join for ‘Poverty, Inc.’ event EDWARD BOICE Op/Ed Editor
EDWARD BOICE Op/Ed Editor
Waynesburg University is focused on serving with organizations like the Bonner Scholar Program serving wi th non-profits around the tri-county area. While willingly serving what the university wants to teach students, wariness also must be utilized to avoid irresponsible non-profits. To teach this wariness, the Bonner Scholar Program and the Honors Program are presenting a screening of “Poverty Inc.” and a discussion panel. “A lot of quote-onquote ‘aid organizations’ are in fact running operations that are beneficial to themselves, but not really beneficial to the people they are supposed to be aiding,” William Batchelder, director of the Honors Program, said. “When
you have a school such as Waynesburg that is so focused on faith, learning and service, it’s really important for us to be smart about what service looks like.” “Poverty Inc.” is a documentary focused on the effects of fraudulent aid organizations and their effect on the people they are supposed to aid. “These are essentially real-world case studies,” Batchelder said. “A lot of the time, the result is not what people hope or think. It’s worse.” Last year, Batchelder reached out to Adrienne Tharp, coordinator of the Bonner Scholars Program, about joining forces. For both programs, Tharp said, education on the topic is essential to what the Bonners Scholars and Honors Programs do. POVERTY >> A3
Waynesburg University’s three-year contract with Blackboard Learn will expire this coming June. Instead of renewing the contract, the university decided to change to a new learning management system, Canvas. Waynesburg’s senior staff appointed Jessica Sumpter, director of online programs, to gather a team consisting of faculty from the Information Technology Services, administration staff and instructors. The team’s goal of the team was to find a better LMS than the one Waynesburg currently was in contract wi th. David Patton, director of applications support, said the team found what they were looking for in Canvas. “We were able to test both systems,” Patton said. “Ease use of the tools that were available, what we use, everything worked out a lot better with Canvas compared to
Mattie Winowitch, The Yellow Jacket
Starting this upcoming fall, students and faculty will leave Blackboard behind and adopt a new online learning system called Canvas. the Blackboard product.” One of the factors the team looks for is the mobile device viewing compatibility with the system. What the team found, said Sumpter, is that Canvas surpassed Blackboard in this area as well. “It’s responsive in de-
sign that you can use it on any browser on your phone or tablet, but you could also download the app, which is a little bit more robust than what we are currently experiencing with our current learning management s y s t e m , B l a c k b o a r d ,”
Sumpter said. “You could do your entire class from your tablet or phone.” IT will have an icon for Canvas to the quick launch panel programmed into myConnect April 1. An MBA graduate course CANVAS >> A3