Softball Bears win final home series; McPherson breaks home run record. See page 6.
THE
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
M I S S O U R I
S T A T E
U N I V E R S I T Y More than 100 years in print
Volume 108, Issue 29 | the-standard.org The Standard/The Standard Sports
TheStandard_MSU
@TheStandard_MSU/@Standard_Sports
MSUStandard
issuu.com/TheStandard-MSU
Graphic by Rebecca Biundo/THE STANDARD
Mobile App updates put more info at your fingertips
By Nicole Roberts The Standard @NReneeRoberts
Not many students know Missouri State University has a mobile app. Students who do have the app now mainly use it to track the Bear Line or look up MSU news, but that is pretty much it. The Student Government Association wants to change this. SGA will be adding five updates to the mobile app that will allow students to see more student and school information, such Bear Bucks balances, dining hall menus and more. The first update will allow students to access their Bear Bucks and Boomer Meal balances through the app. Lindsey Kolb, the student government association director of administrative and
information services and a senior socio-political communication major, originally wanted to add not only students’ Bear Bucks and Boomer Meal balances to the app, but also students’ Bear Passes. She said adding the Bear Passes would not be possible at this time, though. “It’s not feasible with the Blackboard transact technology that is incorporated into all the vendors, dining halls and scanners on campus that connects to your student account,” Kolb said. MSU Chief Information Officer Jeff Morrissey said the Computer Services Department will continue to look into the possibility of adding students’ Bear Passes to the app. One of the main problems the department will have to address is the security issues. “There are several protections provided by the physical card, and we’d want to ensure
that we continued to protect student information regardless of card form,” Sara Clark, the director of web and new media, said. Students might have the option of getting Bear Pass stickers instead. A Bear Pass sticker could be placed on the back of a student’s cell phone and would be like a mini Bear Pass, according to Kolb. The sticker could be tapped on the machine, similar to how students’ Bear Pass cards are tapped at dining halls and Plaster Student Union venders. App update No. 2 will make dining hall and PSU vender menus viewable on the mobile app. There is currently a separate app, App on Campus for Chartwells – the company that provides food for the dining halls and PSU – but very few students use the app. Update No. 3 will connect the new Bear Park North parking counter to the mobile app. This will help students to find parking spaces
faster and easier. Update No. 4 will provide a filterable MSU calendar. Through this update, students will be able to sort events by academics, athletics or other events. Update No. 5 will incorporate a safety tab into the mobile app. Students will be able to call the Safety and Transportation Department or the safe walk service. The safe walk service provides security escorts for students when they are walking to their campus destinations. Kolb said she thinks students will enjoy the new updates to the mobile app. “(The app) is going to give the students the convenience of and access to seeing things that are traditionally just on the MSU website in the palm of their hands,” she said. Students should be able to access all of the app updates at the beginning of the fall semester.
Murals promote public affairs mission By Myesha Smith For The Standard
Emily McTavish/THE STANDARD
Many students painted sections of the Grand Street underpass tunnel to represent their respective organizations.
Students have finished painting the Grand Street underpass after about two weeks. Information about sign ups, paintings and judging went out, and it took about two and a half months for everything to come together, said senior psychology major Kirby Williams. Williams is the director of university advancement for the Student Government Association and the coordinator of the project. The organizations involved were Alpha Delta Pi, Phi Gamma Delta, Pi Kappa Phi, Delta Sigma Phi Fraternity, Fraternity and Sorority Life, Students for a Sustainable Future and Hibernotes. The criterion given to the students was to create relevant panels to the public affairs mission. Each organization was given one panel randomly placed by the committee, and it had to be finished within two weeks. These organizations were competing for cash prizes provided by the College of Arts and Letters. First place went to Students for a Sustainable Future with a prize of $300. Second place was given to Alpha Delta Pi with $200, and third place went to Delta Sigma Phi with a $100 prize. Judges were coordinated by Carolyn Cardenas, head of the Art and Design Department, and Gloria
Galanes, dean of the College of Arts and Letters. Several other faculty members from the department participated, and Jordan McGee, senior organizational communication major and president of SGA, and Grace Chang, president of the Student Activities Council and a junior public relations major, judged as well. Painting the Grand Street underpass tunnel had been discussed about two years ago, Williams said. The SGA cabinet, the university advancement committee and Williams were passionate about pursuing it because of its focus on public affairs, she said. The tunnel was dedicated and installed in 1981. Williams said there has been a lot of positive feedback on the murals. If anyone has any feedback or concerns about the murals, students or faculty can go to the SGA office in the Plaster Student Union. There may be more opportunities to come for projects that pertain to the values of Missouri State like the public affairs mural. The underpass now promotes the public affairs mission and showcases the talents of students. “I hope that when students pass through it, they will be reminded of the public affairs mission and the impact they themselves can have on and off campus,” Williams said.
See every organization’s mural by walking through the Grand underpass tunnel.