the wheel, volume 78, issue 6

St. Catherine University student newspaper November 22, 2010 - Volume 78, Issue 6 thewheel-scu.tumblr.com This newspaper, like many other things, is recyclable. ›› pg. 4 Thanksgiving unstued A closer look at an American h oliday . On high alert The Department o Public Saety at St. Catherine University (SCU) issued a crime alert on Nov. 5, in response to events that occurred involving men trying to lure SCU students. T wo o these incidents happened just outside o campus, in the area around Randolph and Fairview. The third incident took place within SCU grounds, near the tennis courts. All three o the incidents involved men who attempted to lure SCU students; however, none o the cases involv ed the same man. Since all three o these occurrences happened within a short period o time, Public Saety released a crime and saety alert to ensure that the SCU community is aware o recent events regarding personal saety. Laura Goodman, the director o Public Saety, addre ssed the importance o issuing a crime and saety alert in a timely manner. “An alert is posted to provide current inormation to the campus community so that community members can act to protect themselves against the threat o crime,” Goodman said. “Equipped with timely, relevant inormation, people can change their behavior or routines to decrease their chance o being victimized. ” The recent events are only one type o oense that can result in a crime or saety alert being posted on campus. Oenses that could potentially result in an alert being posted include crime trends that may aect members o the SCU community. “ An alert is a major incident, usually involving a crime on or nea r campus, where a suspect or suspects have not been identied or arrested. This means that the threat still By Alexa Chihos sta writer • Recent incidents leave SCU students wary exists,” Goodman said. None o the oenses that occurred in and around the SCU grounds involved an actual crime. However , an alert was posted due to a rash o similar incidents across St. Paul in recent weeks. “These incidents would generally be an advisory because a crime did not actually occur . The Public Saety Department raised it to an alert in this case because o other incidents in the City o St. Paul where girls 12-16 years o age had been attempted to be lured into a vehicle, ” Goodman said. The recent crime and saety alert does not exclude any member o the SCU community and particularly aects those who are a part o the smoking community. In accordance to the tobacco-ree policy that became eective at the beginning o this semester, students are required to go o campus to smoke. However , Goodman refects that this does not exempt the other members o the community rom potential oenses against them simply because they do not smoke. “Members o the campus community are adults who make decisions every day about how they manage their lives. As a university, we hope to help guide students and provide tools they can utilize or the rest o their lives, including tools o r sel-protection. Crime happens everywhere. No community is exempt,” Goodman said. Sophomore Emily Monson believes that students who smoke are at a higher risk o potential threats to their personal saety. “I think that students who smoke at St. Kate’ s are at a higher risk or saety intrusions because o the new tobacco-ree policy which exposes them to outside threats. ..Since they cannot smoke inside campus, they are exposed to a broader range o criminal activity,” Monson said. Members o the SCU community are encouraged to incorporate sa ety steps provided by Public Saety in accordance with a daily routine. Public Saety has made these steps available both through an announcement on Kateway , and on their department website inside o Kateway . Ashley Skwiera, a rst-year resident student, thinks that the crime alerts issued by Public Saety only aect students on campus or a brie time. Although she is personally acquainted with one o the students involved in the crime alert, Skwiera still eels completely sae living on and walking around campus. “Only so much can be done beore it becomes over-the-top protective. No one wants to be questioned every time they enter campus, ” Skwiera said. “The view o my saety hasn’t changed, but I have become more aware o it. I’ve heard about this kind o stu happening on the news, but it’s only when it happens to you or someone you know that it makes you second-guess your choices.” The SCU community could be at risk or an intrusion on their personal saety, both on and around campus. However, Goodman stresses the importance o everyone in the SCU community working together to help the occurrence o crime at a minimum. “As a community, it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure the saety o the community . As such, we all need to be aware, to report suspicious people or events promptly, and to assist others who need help,” Goodman said . “All members o the community are the eyes and ears or public saety on campus. We cannot be successul in preventing or defecting crime i we do not work together.” Visit the Public Saety department website or urther inormation on ensuring your personal saety. http://minerva.stkate.edu/o ices/ administrative/saety.ns Alexa can be reached at [email protected]. Arica night On Saturday Nov. 19,the SCU community gathered or Arican dance, music, and ood as part o International Education W eek. The popular event is held annually at SCU. Above: Students from Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Kenya, Pakistan, and Burma attended and helped to plan Africa Night, which was held on Saturday, Nov. 19. Left: Themed seating at Africa Night. Photos courtesy of Leslie Muzulu. The Academic Resource Committee (ARC), in conjunction with the Academic Technology Team and inormation technology specialists, recently outlined the signicant problems with the 8.0 Blackboard Basic. These issues, the expansion o the St. Catherine University (SCU) community, and the phasing out o 8.0 Blackboard Basic by Blackboard itsel, are prompting the change or an updated primary ourse management system (CMS). “The committee eels it is important to provide consistency in the CMS experience, so students can ocus on their learning and not on the organization or unctionality o the system,” Nancy Hendrickson, Assistant Director o Academic Computing, said. By Becky Doucette sta writer • IT looks to upgrade online system Not your mother’s Blackboard desktop tools, the inclusion o higher quality images, videos, and audio, wikis and blogs, ability to access inormation on a mobile device, and the ability to create ePortolios. It willv also include updated “web look & eel,” choices or quiz and test delivery, and more customizable options or students and aculty to organize, access, and view inormation. The decision o which primary CMS to use will be based on the needs o aculty and students. I the 9.1 Blackboard Enterpris e is not sucient towards these needs, other CMS options include the ollowing: Design2Learn, eCollege Learning Studio, WebStudy , Connected Learning, Moodle, Sakai, and Claroline. “Choosing a course management system is not a decision that can eectively be made by just one part o the university community. ” Hendrickson said. “We need to work together to choose a system that meets [all o] our needs.” Having a CMS allows students and aculty per day. 8.0 Blackboard Basic has remained the primary CMS at SCU, although Moodle and Connected Learning are also used. Blackboard was ocially introduced at SCU in 1995. When it was released, only 16 aculty members attended the initial training sessions or Blackboard, and only 25 courses were actively enrolled in using this (CMS). Hendrickson refected on Blackboard’ s enhancement o education on campus. “Blackboard remained on campus and has grown to support ace-to-ace courses, blended courses that include both in-class and online components, the university’s ully online courses and its two onlin e programs.” However, the overall usage o Blackboard has produced mixed results among SCU proessors. “The biggest problem or me is when I really need it or a time constraint assignment; oten it does not work,” theology proessor Chris Franke said. Proessors who nd the program useul tend to praise the way it broadens accessibility to critical course materials. “I do use Blackboard because I nd it to Students also nd that the use o Blackboard is helpul in their academics, particularly in the non-traditional classroom setting. “Overall, I think the school should i nvolve more actively in Blackboard or any other CM. It is a way to get interactivity outside o classroom,” senior Chi Huynh said For the remainder o the 2010 calendar year, the ARC and the CMS Choice Committee will be collecting data on the needs o SCU through surveys and ocus groups. From December 2010 to January 2011, the inormation will be analyzed and compared to the CMS eatures and oerings. From January to April 2011, multiple trials will be perormed, with a inalized report given to the decision-making groups by May 2011. Summer and all o 2011 will see the initial system installation, aculty trainings, and course migration. The complete cut-over to the new system will happen in February 2011. “Moving to a new system will require signicant eort by all aculty and sta who work with the CMS. However, the improved unctionality and additional eatures will make

the wheel, volume 78, issue 6

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