s u l y t S e h T
Volume 127
ISSUE
2021-22
Visit stylusonline.org for online news and student blogs
A student publication of Park University since 1895
First snowstorm of spring semester shuts down Parkville campus Jaylynn Tucker Reporter A snowstorm on Feb. 2 shut down much of Kansas City, including Park University and most other schools in the Kansas City area. Park University canceled in-person classes. Although official school guidance was for instructors to hold classes on Zoom, some chose to give students a day off. Park students enjoyed this day in many ways. Faith Williams, a freshman social work major, said, “I used it to catch up on some schoolwork and to catch up on sleep.” She felt that it was very useful and nice to have a break from in-person classes to take care of herself. Many other Park student shared Williams’ feelings, including Jasmine Banks, a junior criminal justice major. Banks said that she also took the chance to catch up on homework and sleep for longer than usual. She said she did not get to enjoy the day as much as some students did though because she still had virtual classes. Banks missed the traditional snow day format, adding that, “I wish they never found out about Zoom.” According to the National Weather Service, between 3-4 inches of snow fell in Platte County.
#2
FB: ParkUniversityStylus stylus@park.edu February 18, 2022
Are snow days a thing of the past? Skyler Jensen freshman English student, said that he is glad about the change. “You’re getting the class time that you paid for in a different Editor-in-Chief On Feb. 2, Park University had a snow day, but it wasn’t a traditional snow day. Now, instead of giving students a day off of classes, Park encouraged instructors to have virtual classes, which received mixed reactions from the Park community. Chelsie Shepard, junior communication studies major, was not happy about the change. “I miss the whole snow days just being a snow day experience,” she said. Instead, she wishes that Park had a certain amount of traditional snow days before turning to virtual school. She struggles to pay attention to Zoom classes and wishes that the school would have just given students the day off instead. However, not everyone shares that opinion. Simon Hamler,
way that might not work as well, but you still get a learning experience,” he said. He agrees that Zoom is not the best learning experience, especially compared to normal classes, but it’s better than no classes at all. Ahmed Zlitni, junior information and computer science major, agrees with Hamler’s opinion. He feels safer with the school opting to switch to having virtual days instead of traditional snow days. He said that because he is a commuter student, he struggles to get to class when there is snow. He continued, “having things on Zoom makes it feel way safer for me.” He said that he is glad that the school is taking advantage of the virtual day option because otherwise he wouldn’t risk it to go to class. Patricia Ryberg, Ph.D., associate professor of biology and Park honors academy director, said she can see both positives and negatives to having virtual days in place of traditional snow days. She said that the negatives are especially seen in hands-on classes like labs for science students. She continued that the same is true for art students because the professors can’t have them paint a subject if they do not have paint or a subject in front of them. Ryberg also found benefits in the situation. She said one benefit is that classes won’t fall behind like classes have in years past. Opinion..................2 “We can ensure that everyone gets the Campus Life..3-4, 8 needed information-
In This Issue:
PHOTO/Jaylynn Tucker The entrance to Millsap Foyer sat empty while the campus was closed because of the snowstorm. Instead, classes were held virtually or canceled.
See Virtual snow day on page 3
Features................5 Sports................6-7