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BARBARA PIERCE BUSH VISITS GV THROUGH MEIJER LECTURE SERIES
INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD VIES FOR NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
61SYX TEKNIQUE PUTS ON HIP-HOP DANCE SHOW AT GRAND VALLEY
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T H U R S DAY, M A R C H 1 , 2 01 2
UP AND MOVING
GVL / Nathan Mehmed
Handicap help: Grand Valley State University’s Disabilities Support Resources program will have more resources to help students transport more easily around campus next fall.
GV boosts funding for DSR services BY Samantha Belcher GVL STAFF WRITER
GVL / Allison Young
Into the woods: Grand Valley State University students head into the ravines behind Calder on the Allendale Campus. Many professors at GVSU have opted to bring students to the same locations during class times, taking a more fresh-air approach to education and classroom.
Despite unpredictable weather, students take to the woods for hands-on learning BY Andrew Justus
GVL Assistant News Editor
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or most students at Grand Valley State University, going to class means heading to the same room and sitting in the same seat dozens of times throughout the semester, an experience that is monotonous for many. Occasionally, as weather warms, professors take their classes to alternate places both indoors and out.
Allison Burke, a senior biology student, fondly remembers her class last summer on identifying plants. “We hiked around the ravines, collected leaves and identified them,” she said. Burke’s class also traveled to nearby forest and bog areas off campus to check out other plant types. “For our particular class, being out in the elements made the learning much more enjoyable,” Burke said. Being able to see, feel and smell the plants she
was studying made a big difference compared to just reading about the plants, she said. “Sometimes the weather gets in the way,” Burke said, adding that she still enjoyed the sense of adventure she felt during her class last summer. Senior movement science major Hanna Jones said she used to have an English class that used the same outdoor teaching methods. SEE RAVINES, A4
THE FINAL STRETCH BY Lizzy Balboa GVL NEWS EDITOR
GVL / Robert Mathews
System overload: A student squeezes in a last-minute midterm study session at GVSU’s Zumberge Library.
With spring break comes the panic of midterms, but even after the dreaded tests are finished and nothing stands between you and that Caribbean cruise, the anxiety returns in a gut-wrenching realization: you have six weeks to pick up your grades. Around this time, many students at Grand Valley State University stay logged into Blackboard to see if they passed their exams and come up with a strategy to keep up in the class. The prospect of playing catch-up and potentially getting a poor grade can be daunting and stressful, but
associate psychology professor Michael Wolfe said a moderate level of stress can be educationally beneficial and motivational. However, severe stress is often detrimental and counter-productive, Wolfe added. “Too much stress or anxiety can hurt your ability to remember things that you’ve studied,” he said. “Your attention ends up focused on your anxiety. There’s nothing productive about worrying about other classes that you’re not currently studying for.” SEE STRETCH, A4
Grand Valley State University’s Disability Support Resources program received $696,684 for the 2011-12 school year to provide students with disabilities easy transport around campus. GVSU’s Budget Office said DSR received about an $18,000 increase from the last school year, which the office said is probably due to salary increases for employees and the fringe benefit budget. “It’s important that these services are here for academic work and outside activities,” said Kathleen VanderVeen, director of Disability Support Resources. VanderVeen said the service is free for the students who need to be transported, and about 10 to 15 students use the facility each week. The van primarily takes students from their dormitories to their classes and vice versa, but it can also take some students to places off campus and events on campus if arrangements are made. VanderVeen said about 6 to 10 students take turns driving the van and about 20 to 30 students who work in the Disability Support Resources office are cross-trained to drive the vehicle. GVSU’s disabilities program started in 1993 after the federal government passed the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. One part of the act set guidelines for how buildings must be built in order to accommodate people with disabilities, VanderVeen said. The bill was later amended in 2008 discussing employment, public services, public accommodations, and telecommunications for people with disabilities, according to the program’s website. “With accommodations, that levels the playing field so they can succeed and be successful on campus,” VanderVeen said. Since some halls are older and do not provide elevators, the director added that GVSU has moved classes into other buildSEE DISABILITIES, A4