THE BG NEWS
FALCON’S LAST STAND BG hockey hosts Northern Michigan this weekend in its last home series. The Falcons have a chance for first-round bye with victories in the CCHA playoffs. See page 3.
ESTABLISHED 1920 | An independent student press serving the campus and surrounding community
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
VOLUME 92, ISSUE 70
Students turn Super Bowl into learning venture
BGNEWS.COM
Eight Sport Management Alliance members volunteer in New Orleans By Noah Jones Reporter
After a weekend full of late nights, early mornings and a roller coaster of surprises and stressful situations, eight students from the Sport Management Alliance returned from volunteering in New Orleans over Super Bowl weekend. Hunter Haas, vice president of the SMA, said the idea to volunteer began when he sent out several emails to find something for the SMA to do. “It started back in the fall,” Haas said. “I wanted to give back to the University and the program because I got so much from the sports management program. I sent some random emails out to people who worked with the Super Bowl, and they wrote back and said ‘If you can get here, we’ve got a spot for you.’” The group volunteered at events such as the DirecTV Celebrity Beach Bowl Saturday, where they took care of celebrities as talent handlers. “As talent handlers, basically we said ‘Hey, here is your bag, we have to go to the blue carpet — which is basically like red carpet — to take pictures, here’s food and your family is over here.’” said senior Josiah Blevins. After seeing superstars such as Peyton Manning, Eddie George, Lil Wayne, Terrell Owens and Tom Arnold at the event, Blevins said he couldn’t help but think to himself, “I shouldn’t be here.” The coolest event, the eight unanimously agreed, was the Beach Bowl. “Working the Beach Bowl was a pretty unbelievable experience. We got to work along side a lot of celebrities so that was a pretty once in a lifetime opportunity,” Haas said. The experience the students had will be remembered for a life time, and helped them realize what their future could hold, Haas said. “It helped open our eyes up to what we could be doing in our future, and how much work we will have to put in if we plan an event as big as the Super
See BOWL | Page 2
MOLLY MCFADDIN | THE BG NEWS
CORY HUBER, junior, member of Pi Kappa Phi, poses with his bicycle outside his fraternity house. He will ride across the country this summer for Journey of Hope.
Pedalling Purpose FOR A
90 fraternity members to bike across country for disability awareness during summer By Geoff Burns Reporter
Instead of a summer job or an internship, junior Cory Huber will be spending his summer break bicycling across the country. Huber and 90 fellow fraternity members from Pi Kappa Phi will be embarking on a 3,900 mile voyage to raise awareness for people with disabilities. The annual event, called “Journey of Hope,” is hosted by the non-profit organization known as Push America, which was founded by the fraternity and held its first official journey in 1988.
The event consists of three different routes They are the TransAmerica route, starting in Seattle, a north route in San Francisco, which also goes through Toledo and a south route in Long Beach, Calif. Each route, consisting of 30-35 riders each, will finish the 64-day journey on Aug. 10 together in Washington D.C. Each member will find out which route they are taking in March. Each member individually is required to raise $5,500 before
See BIKE | Page 6
Canvas 101 | How it will affect students
RHYME TIME
Training specialist outlines attractive features of future web portal By Tyler Buchanan In Focus Editor
As the University looks to fully transition to using Canvas as a web portal, Training Specialist James Tyree helps teach beginner and advanced courses on the basics of Canvas and its various features. Nearly half of all classes on campus already utilize Canvas, while all classes will eventually be switched over by January of 2014. Tyree outlines five ways that make Canvas an improvement over the current Blackboard web portal, for both instructors and students on campus. MOLLY MCFADDIN | THE BG NEWS
ANDREW ART, freshman, reads “Letters from a Werewolf” during Poetry Night in Prout Chapel on Tuesday. The event was hosted by Sigma Tau Delta.
1. Communication and
Student Engagement Professors are able to better interact with students through Canvas, Tyree said. Instructors can more efficiently send out reminders and emails through the new system, as Canvas gives the opportunity to sort a course’s students into different categories. For example, if a professor wants to send out a notification to only struggling students, the new portal will automatically sort the message sending to those with particular class grade. Instructors can also use webcams and media to upload video or audio messages to more personally relay information directly to students, Tyree said.
This “increases the engagement in class,” Tyree said, because students can receive quicker and more direct feedback from their professors. Even in a large class setting, the individualized communication online helps the student be more involved in their coursework, he added.
2. Notification The messaging system itself is more efficient on Canvas, Tyree said. Students will receive notifications when teachers want to send reminders and other messages to their class, but this is not limited to just email.
See CANVAS | Page 6
Student Open Forums for the new MyBGSU portal and Canvas Thurs, Feb. 21, at 2:30 p.m. 113 Olscamp/1011 CPC Firelands Open forum is student focused and all students encouraged to attend to learn more about these new systems and features
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