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THE DAILY ILLINI
THURSDAY October 31, 2019
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 149 Issue 20
AKI AKHAURI THE DAILY ILLINI
People board the 6 p.m. Bestway Shuttle outside of Illinois Street Residence Hall on Friday. Bestway Charter opened new routes to and from the University campus, Oak Brook Mall, Old Orchard Mall and Woodfield Mall.
Bus company strives to be “Bestway” BY DIANA ANGHEL CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Bestway Charter, a transportation business founded in 2002, published a new website last week under the URL of www.bus2champaign.com. Students quickly found this website, along with advertisements and fliers about the transportation system that piqued their interest and curiosity. Bestway Charter opened new routes for the University campus, transporting passengers from Urbana (the front of the ISR) to Oak Brook Mall, Old Orchard Mall and Woodfield Mall; Bestway also offers routes to get back to campus from these locations. All departing trips are
offered on Thursdays and Fridays while returning trips happen on Sundays and Mondays. A price difference can be seen between Bestway Charter, which currently sells oneway tickets for $19.95, and its competitor Peoria Charter, which sells one-way tickets for $31. Mike Becker, general manager of Bestway Charter, commented on the condition of the buses the company uses. “(The passengers) have wifi on the vehicles; they have monitors for DVDs,” Becker said. “They’re nice vehicles. They’re all 2010 or newer.” Because of its sudden AKI AKHAURI THE DAILY ILLINI installment on campus, stu- People wait for the 6 p.m. Bestway Shuttle outside of Illinois Street Residence Hall on Friday. Mike Becker, general manager of SEE BUS | 3A
Bestway Charter, said the company has no affiliation with Dennis Toeppen, owner of Suburban Express.
Virtual reality remains inaccessible BY LASZLO RICHARD TOTH CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Virtual reality technology is rapidly being integrated into classroom learning, but it may still be inaccessible for people with disabilities. Laura Shackelford, associate professor in LAS and Medicine, is one of the professors at the forefront of experimenting with and implementing virtual reality technology in an educational setting. “Education was the one place that was truly resisting implementing (VR) technology,” Shackelford said. “That’s actually why we started this project, to try to figure out how it can help and if it does improve learning.” The research appears to point to potential benefits for the implementation of VR technology in an educational setting. According to a literature review conducted
at the Institute for Educational Technology, it appears that from around middle school, the use of VR tech combined with the presence of a teacher may help students grasp less concrete subjects. Shackelford, who uses VR technology in her ANTH 399: Virtual Archaeology class to help give students the experience of archaeological fieldwork, has noted how the technology has helped break down potential barriers in the field. All archaeologists must attend a field school to learn necessary skills, but since field schools are expensive, so many potential students may be discouraged from exploring archaeology as a career. However, through the use of VR technology, students can get a feel of what it is like to actually be an archaeologist without first having to commit to field school. This
BY ALIZA MAJID STAFF WRITER
BRIGIDA DOCKUS THE DAILY ILLINI
Nancy Torres, junior in Business, explores the capabilities of the virtual reality headset as she plays one of the interactive games on the computer in the Virtual Reality Lab at the Armory on Oct. 2. It is being debated whether VR technology assists in learning and should be implemented in classrooms.
technology does not, how- on Merrill, graduate student ever, remove the necessity to in Engineering, collaboratattend a field school, Shack- ed to create the VR program elford said. SEE VR CLASSES | 3A Shackelford and Camer-
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Busey-Evans plans to close dining hall
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As students think about where to live for the next school year, they should take into consideration the new developments at BuseyEvans dining hall and Illinois Street Residence hall that will be in place by fall 2020. “The Busey-Evans dining hall is being closed because we’re preparing to open the new Illinois Street Residence hall dining center in August 2020,” said Chelsea Hamilton, senior assistant director of Communications and Marketing for University Housing. The renovations for ISR have been in process since spring 2018, and the con-
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