Month: January 2017

During the last week of the semester, students rush around buying everything in sight, trying to burn the money left on meal plans that won’t carry over.

This semester, 875 students, on and off campus, purchased meal plans, said Martin Peterson, director of dining services.

Starting this year, students will be able to carry over unused meal-plan funds to the next semester, including spring to fall semesters, Peterson said.

“We have looked at other schools and found a few that allowed students to carry over a balance,” Peterson said. “This will be the first year that we have done this change.”

Dining services didn’t offer any carry over in the past to encourage students to use their meal plans and have extended the hours of both the cafeteria and the Market to accommodate students’ schedules. Peterson said any money that was left over from the plans was put back into the program and used to give students a wider variety.

“In the past, any balance remaining went into the Dining Services fund, which we used for construction and remodels,” Peterson said.

The money collected from leftover meal plans helped fund the new Subway location and the cafeteria’s latest addition, Estampida, which is set to open in the coming weeks.

DSU is one of the few universities in the nation to offer students the ability to regain the funds spent on meal plans, Peterson said.

Before the dining services established this change, Tatum Scoville, a freshman psychology major from Layton, had over $580 left on her meal plan the last day of the 2016 fall semester.

“I think meal plans are a good resource for people living on campus,” Scoville said. “But if I’m living off campus in the future, I don’t think I will get one again.”

During the last few weeks of the semester, the market is abuzz with students attempting to use up the rest of their pre-paid plans.

“I had Meal Plan B,” Scoville said. “Having roughly $580 left on my card was hard. I practically emptied out the Market.”

Brynna Tanner, a sophomore psychology major from Phoenix, lives on campus and is one of the over 7,000 students who does not have a meal plan.

“I don’t have a meal plan because I feel like I won’t spend that much money on food,” Tanner said. “When I can go grocery shopping off campus, I know what I want and how much I am willing to pay for it.”

With the progress of technology in recent years, everyday life has begun to look like something out of a James Bond movie. Smartwatches, tablets and laptops are in every classroom, giving students a direct link to the outside world.

Sociologists have been observing the effect of technology on the five major institutions — family, religion, government, economy and education — and have found an increasing dynamic between younger generations, technology and education, said Robert Oxley, an adjunct sociology professor on campus at Dixie State University.

“The reason we have [technology in the classroom] is because this generation — the millennials — are accustomed with using media and media devices,” Oxley said. “Wouldn’t it be nice to have them use their expertise?”

Oxley said students are now able to experience historical events and meet people from different cultures without leaving the comfort of their home.

“[We] can give them the standard lesson and lecture in the classroom but also we can have them use social media on their own devices at home,” Oxley said.

Oxley explained how he uses technology to help students express their ideas within his classroom.

“Some of my students are a little apprehensive in a traditional classroom situation,” Oxley said. “If I open up discussion and put questions on our Canvas site, they might be apprehensive in person, but they feel completely comfortable so they write wonderful responses to questions and discussions online.”

Scott Allen, the Center for Teaching and Learning instructional designer, agrees that technology has become a key part of the traditional classroom.

“Social media has changed the world really,” Allen said. “Education, especially instructors maybe, are a little bit slower to adopt it but in order to stay relevant we’re going to have to embrace and support social media in the classroom and outside of the classroom.”

Courses around Dixie State University have already started a transition toward a more group-oriented focus that will allow for more social interaction, Allen said.

“The great things that are happening in the world are spread through Twitter and all kinds of social media,” Allen said. “There’s so much that we can learn through social media that we need to embrace it in the classroom.”

DSU’s goal is to have 15 percent of their classes online within the next three years, said Ryan Hobbs, director of distance and digital learning.

“I think it’s almost exclusively a benefit,” Hobbes said. “I think it creates better access [and] better opportunities. It creates flexibility and convenience in scheduling that is otherwise not available. For some students who are trying to balance work and family and other life experiences it’s the only way to do it.”

Hobbes said online classes aren’t the optimal choice for some students and faculty, and some courses aren’t meant to be taught online.

“I think that if it is used solely and only in certain places then it can be a detriment because I do think we tend to miss out on some of the benefits of face-to-face interaction that I think everyone needs to experience,” Hobbs said.

All three men agree that technology has become the cornerstone of education.

“I think it’s driving how we connect with one another, how we learn perhaps or might learn, how we’re connected and how we might connect with others,” Hobbs said.

Students are also able to see eye-to-eye with professors and administrators on campus in regards to how they want to see education advance, said Ashley Richins, a freshman nursing major from Castle Rock, Colorado.

“When I was in middle school the teachers would never let us use calculators on math tests,” Richins said. “They argued that we wouldn’t always have a calculator with us but now I do.”

Richins said that by integrating technology into traditional classrooms, professors are able to teach in ways multiple types of learners can understand.

“Learning about the human brain is easier for me when I can see what I’m learning about,” Richins said. “It’s not like we have a spare brain laying around to cut open and point to the amygdala or frontal lobe. But there are videos and animations for visual learners like me.”

As DSU evolves to accommodate the younger generations and the progress of technology, students will be able to see a physical change around campus, Oxley said.

“I like the way the whole campus is moving forward,” Oxley said. “I’m having fun watching the transition from college to university.”

Instead of spending spring break on a boat or in another country, some Dixie State University students are opting to do humanitarian work instead. 

As part of DSU’s alternative spring break, students who sign up and pay a fee will get the chance to travel to Portland, Oregon, to complete service through this year’s theme: environmental work. 

Dillon McKinney, a senior mathematics major from St. George and vice president of service for the DSU Student Association, said careful consideration goes into picking the location for the alternative break.

“We want to have ample amount of [humanitarian work] to do, but we understand that students are giving up their spring break as well,” McKinney said. 

Portland has a “luscious environment” and fits well with the break’s theme, McKinney said. Picking Portland as the location will give students who go enough humanitarian work to do and a place students actually want to spend their spring break on. 

Even though the location is set, McKinney said he is still struggling with finding an organization to do humanitarian work for while on the trip. Originally, the plan was to work with the Parks and Recreation department in Portland, but the plan fell through because of difficulty contacting them. 

“After some time of no replied messages, we decided for the sake of the trip to switch the organization we would work with,” he said. 

McKinney said they plan on working with either The Wetlands Conservancy, an organization that conserves Oregon’s wetlands through protecting wildlife and communities from floods, or Friends of the Columbia Gorge, an organization dedicated to conserving the Columbia Gorge by watching construction developments and conserving land. McKinney said they should know which organization they will be working with by the end of the week. 

Doing service away from home brings a new perspective on life, McKinney said. 

Only two students have signed up for the alternative break so far, but McKinney is happy one of them is a “repeater” from the 2016 alternative spring break to New Orleans.

For Kamrie Davenport, a senior human communication major from St. George, the New Orleans alternative spring break trip gave her a new appreciation for things she use to take for granted, and she has since then wanted to attend this year’s trip. 

“I think college students could benefit from getting involved in service,” Davenport said. “It is really easy to see someone in need and think of how you could help them, and it is another thing to actually do something to help them.”

This year’s trip will take place March 11 to March 18, and there are still 10 spots open. Going on the trip is a first- come, first-serve basis and requires an application process and a down payment of $300. McKinney said the trip is $900 total including airline flights, transportation, stay and food. Any student interested in going can visit https://orgsync.com/35438/forms/237564. 

Dixie State University’s business department revealed how to save money effectively Friday. 

Assistant finance professor Helen Saars organized a personal finance conference with a team of students from the DSU Finance Club and the DSU Accounting Club. The annual finance conference consisted of eight sessions, addressing how to save money all the way to how to get in control of your budget and different apps that can help. 

Saars said, “Financial literacy has become a necessary skill like reading and writing, and you can’t survive in today’s society without it.”

We held this conference to get people to start thinking about the value of finance, Saars said. 

“These three hours were definitely not enough to teach everything, but it can give you background information [about financing] to learn more,” Saars said.

Jeff Glines, a Zions Bank sales director, was one of several speakers who shared his story surrounding money issues and how to overcome this obstacle. 

Glines was a self-employed businessman and entrepreneur who had developments throughout St. George and over five million dollars in his bank account. However, when the recession hit in 2008, Glines said he and his family lost everything. 

“I was always like ‘I’m going to do my own thing,’ but I got so depressed because I lost everything,” Glines said. “I was like ‘I have to get a job again.'”

After going into detail about the struggles he faced, Glines said he wants people to truly understand the power of money and savings. 

“Fifty-four percent of Americans have no rainy day fund,” said Kenneth Hart, a senior finance major from St. George.

These staggering statistics are the reason why individuals like author Dave Ramsey have established a saving money program. Ramsey founded Ramsey Solutions to help counsel people facing financial issues through what he calls his seven “baby” steps. During the conference, Glines played a brief clip from Ramsey’s show where he addressed step-by-step how people can get out of debt and “live like no one else, so you can give like no one else.”

Glines said St. George is one of many cities teaching Ramsey’s program at Financial Peace University. 

“I would highly suggest if you want to save yourself a lot of grief like financial pressure and relationship failure, do the Dave Ramsey course now,” Glines said.

Along with this course, Zions personal banker Tia Bithell said it’s important to build that first bit of savings. 

“It’s not just your emergency fund for fun, like ‘oh, OK we’ll put [the money] right back’ because it never goes back,” Bithell said. “It should only be a strict emergency fund.”

At the same time, Glines said you need to set aside “blow” money, which allocates an amount of funds you can spend on whatever you want. 

“In my case, I have $50 a week that I can blow on anything I want, and my wife has the same amount,” Glines said.

However, Hart said peoples’ main goal is to make sure their spending habits don’t exceed what they earn. 

“We see that more than half of the people in the United States spend all, if not more, of their money every year,” Hart said.

Conayn Freebairn, a senior finance major from St. George, said it all begins with evaluating your expenses at the end of each month. There are apps like Mint, where users can even lay out a budget addressing variable and fixed expenses. Variable expenses tend to change every month, whereas fixed expenses are a set price.

It isn’t enough just to set a budget either, you have to continually review your budget plan, Hart said. 

“Ultimately, you have to be willing to hold yourself accountable,” Hart said. “Even if that means telling your parents ‘Make sure I do it, ask me in a month to see where I’m at.”

For those interested in learning more about finance, students can register for finance classes at DSU.