Recording not always allowed in class
Month: February 2017
Seniors cross off bucket list activities
Fall graduation is right around the corner and senior semester is wrapping up for many.
For some students going to university is about the overall college experience. Dixie State University has a Dixie Traditions application available to students for download in order to help students accomplish their bucket list goals.
The list has over 45 activities on it, and once the traditions are completed, a free medal is given. This gives seniors the opportunity to make the most out of the DSU experience.
Some of the seniors at DSU have different unique goals set for accomplishing their bucket list and some seniors are sticking closer to the DSU traditions list.
“Going to the Wednes-D activities is one of the things everyone here at DSU should do,” said James Peterson, a senior communication major from St George.
Peterson said his favorite Wednes-D activity was attending the movie showing of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. DSU rented out one of the theaters in St George specifically for students. One of his other favorite Wednes-D activities was the Mr. Dixie pageant.
Peterson also wants to accomplish whitewashing the ‘D’ on Black Ridge and painting the ‘D’ on 700 E 400 S at DSU. He also said that attending sports events is a must.
Chase Hermansen, a senior criminal justice major from St George, said, “My top three bucket list items are to stay on the dean’s list, graduate and buy a house before I graduate.”
Hermansen said he is currently working on his top three bucket list goals. He also said hiking in the St George area and visiting national parks like Zion, Bryce, and the Grand Canyon was part of his bucket list and should be a part of all students who attend DSU before they graduate and leave the area.
“My bucket list is to keep my GPA up, finish university, finish at least 10 hikes in the year, and see different plays and go to the film festival.” Teresa Willie, a senior integrated studies major from St George, said.
Willie also said every student should attend sports events on campus. Her favorite is to go to football games.
Mark LaVoie, instructor of media studies said,”All students should visit the library and while your there, talk to the librarians. The librarian’s job is to help students learn how to use the library and incorporate the materials provided by the library into their research.”
Humor, faith, prayer help DSU student face tragedy
DSU professors decide when students can record
Many students record teachers’ lectures or test reviews to aid in their study, but not every teacher feels comfortable allowing electronic devices in his or her classroom.
Teachers at Dixie State University addressed different issues concerning recording devices in the classroom, and the university has guidelines established to make it clear what is and isn’t OK. DSU General Counsel Doajo Hicks said the university applies the principle of academic freedom as well as state and federal laws when interpreting the rights of both students and faculty.
“Most policies in institutions, it’s the academic freedom of the professor to determine whether or not he or she wants to give the student permission to record,” Hicks said. “If there’s an [Americans with Disabilities] issue, so a student with disabilities and things like that, then the professor’s rights are trumped by that.”
Utah is what is known as a “one party consent” state, which means that nearly any form of communication including classroom lessons and lectures, can be recorded as long as one person in the conversation agrees to the recording and participates in it. This includes faxes, texts, emails and even Skype conversations.
However, Hicks said it has yet to be determined in the courts on the academic side.
“I would say all of the states more or less look at it as academic freedom where the professor can say what you can do or cannot do,” Hicks said, adding that it was still a legal gray area.
One issue that arises with students recording has to do with information also depends on the class being taught, Young said.
“When I’m in a class that gets into direct application of theory, say visual communication, I’m not getting off on much in terms of personal opinions and politics or philosophy or things along that line, so that class I really have no hesitation,” he said.
However, other classes that he teaches, such as social media, look into issues such as how social media influences human communication behavior, and the inherent nature of the discussion involves a lot of opinions on both his and his student’s part, so a recording presents more risks.
“Another class I teach is interpersonal communication, and I use my life experience to teach there,” Young said. “What I say in the room stays in the room. I make that pretty clear to them, so at that point, you can record it, but I’m going to trust you not to distribute it, which hasn’t happened.”
On multiple occasions, students at colleges across the country have recorded teachers who have been venting about politics or have become verbally abusive and then the instructor has lost their job. A recent example of this lead to Orange Coast College, California, banning students from recording in the classroom. A teacher at the school was recorded comparing people who voted for Donald Trump to terrorists. When the student posted the recording of the teacher, the professor received threats and went into hiding after it went viral.
Professor of communication Dennis Wignall said while he does allow students to record lectures in his classroom if it facilitates learning and success in the course, he does ask students to refrain from the use of all other forms of technology.
“There are a number of factors — distraction being one of them,” Wignall said. “Unequal ownership of technology puts lower-income students at a disadvantage, and it is difficult to tell what students are doing with their technology if they are using it in class.”
Wignall said technology isn’t an appropriate tool for some classes, such as non-verbal communication.
“How can that be taught using technology?” Wignall asked.
One further reason not to use recording devices in the classroom is that science has shown that deeper learning is accomplished if done in a tactile manner, Wignall said.
“Learning is enhanced by physical engagement,” Wignall said.
Casey Kinross, a sophomore general studies major from Beaver, said she uses the recording app on her phone to help her on days when she feels unfocused.
“Somedays when I’m not all the way paying attention like when I am tired, I just record their voices,” Kinross said. “It’s easier for me to listen to them later when I’m in full focus or doing the homework. It’s easy for me to just listen to them and have them right there.”
Most teachers are accommodating about being recorded, she said.
“There’s this one teacher who’s really strict on having cell phones out, and if you tell her you’re just recording the lecture, she’s fine with it,” Kinross said.
Kinross admitted she does not always ask permission before recording a class.
“I just put the phone on the desk,” she said. “It’s not really noticeable because I’m not playing on my phone or anything. I don’t really tell them. I feel like if they did know that they would be fine with it. There’s only one teacher that has asked about it.”
Young said when it comes to a bottom line, the student should do what he or she needs to do to help them succeed.
“If you need to record it, record it,” Young said. “Use that for your amelioration or understanding of what’s going on.”
File, Hilty shine in sweep of Yellowjackets
Dixie State University pitchers were striking out batters at a career rate over the weekend.
Senior pitcher Mason Hilty and junior pitcher Dylan File each recorded career-high strikeouts against Montana State University Billings. The Trailblazers swept the three-game series in their final games before entering Pacific West Conference play.
“[For our pitching] to get hot, it gets us excited going into conference play,” head coach Chris Pfatenhauer said. “We haven’t pitched as well as we should have to this point. Having them get going, as well as a great bullpen, gets us excited.”
DSU entered play Friday riding a three-game winning streak. File took to mound for the Trailblazers in his fourth start of the year. He was lights out as he struck out a career-high 11 Yellowjackets.
File walked just one batter and scattered three hits on his way to pitching a complete-game shutout. He picked up his second win of the season as DSU finished on top, 6-0.
“It helps to have a pitcher pitch like that,” said redshirt senior shortstop Tyler Baker, an integrated studies major from Las Vegas. “As long as we stick to our approach in everything that we do, it will end up good for us.”
Redshirt senior outfielder Trey Kamachi went 2-4 and drove in one run on a triple in the first inning. Redshirt junior first baseman Logan Porter recorded three RBIs, two of which came on a blast over the left field wall in the fourth inning.
Kamachi would also record a hit in each of the final two games of the series as well. With that, he has hit safely in 13 straight games.
Game two of the series Saturday saw both teams hit a combined seven home runs. MSUB did most of its damage in the first three innings, jumping out to a 7-3 lead.
Redshirt senior Reece Lucero and redshirt senior second baseman Drew McLaughlin both homered in the fourth and cut the lead to just one.
DSU put up four runs in the sixth inning behind homers from Lucero and Porter, giving the Trailblazers a 10-7 lead.
DSU added some insurance runs and finished with the win, 12-8. Seven starters in DSU’s lineup had two hits in the game. The first four in the lineup combined to go 8-18 with six RBIs and seven runs to aid the Trailblazers in the come-from-behind win.
Hilty was the focus in the rubber match of the series Sunday. He stuck out a career high nine batters with only one walk. He also carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning.
“I was really happy for [Hilty],” Pfatenhauer said. “He takes pride in his craft and preparation and what he does.”
After recording the first two outs of the seventh inning, a ground ball up the middle found a hole and gave MSUB its first hit of the game. The hit would be the only one Hilty would allow as he pitched a complete-game shutout earning his third win of the season.
“I honestly didn’t know I hadn’t allowed a hit,” said Hilty, an early childhood education major from Richland, Washington. “I was just trying to stick to who I am, and the defense definitely helped out a lot.”
Baker went 2-3 with two RBIs and scored one run. Behind Hilty’s performance, the win was never in doubt as DSU cruised to the win, 5-0.
DSU now sits at 11-3 on the season and will begin PacWest Conference play next weekend. The Trailblazers will host Holy Names University Saturday in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. at Bruce Hurst Field.
Trailblazers ground Hawks
Dixie State University hosted Holy Names University in the final game of the regular season Saturday. The Trailblazers nearly led wire-to-wire and took down the Hawks, 78-60.
Junior guard Brandon Simister led all scorers in the game with 14 points including 4-6 shooting from beyond the arc. Simister also dished six assists to help DSU as it assisted on 23 field goals throughout the game.
“It helps when we have guys hitting outside shots,” said Hunter, a finance major from American Fork. “It just opens up everything and that’s why we are able to run our offense so well.”
Junior guard Trevor Hill stuffed the state sheet as he flirted with a triple double, recording eight points, eight assists and six rebounds. DSU had a very balanced scoring attack as 12 Trailblazers scored at least two points.
DSU got off to a quick start against the Hawks jumping out to a 23-7 lead within the first ten minutes of play. The Hawks used a 19-7 run in the final seven minutes of the first half to cut the lead to one going into halftime.
“Coach got on us at halftime,” Hunter said. “We let up at the end of the first half, and he wanted us to play like we wanted to play next week in the tournament.”
The Hawks scored the first basket of the second half to take their only lead of the game. The advantage lasted less than a minute as DSU went on a 10-0 run and would never trail again.
The Trailblazers continued to shoot well from the field as they torched the nets at a clip of 63 percent in the second half including 80 percent on their 3-point attempts. DSU led by as many as 20 points before finishing on top, 78-60.
“We struggled a bit in the first half,” said junior guard Daylor Youngblood, a finance major from South Jordan. “In the second half we picked it up, and we know that when we defend and rebound we are really good.”
Alongside Simister and Hill, junior forward Zac Hunter finished the game with 12 points. Youngblood and sophomore forward Austin Montgomery each recorded eight points to aid the Trailblazers.
With the win, DSU finished the season with an overall record of 19-7 and a Pacific West Conference record of 16-4, which was good enough to land them a third-place finish in the conference standings.
The Trailblazers enter the PacWest Conference tournament as the three seed and will play Point Loma University in the first round of the tourney, which will take place in Irvine, California.
This will mark the third time this season DSU and PLU will face each other. The two teams split the regular season series. The Sea Lions enter the conference tournament as the five seed and were the victor in the last matchup with DSU Jan. 14.
DSU struggled in that game shooting just 41 percent from the field and 21 percent from deep. Head coach Jon Judkins said his team will need to make some adjustments in order to win the rematch.
“We’ll watch film and show them what we need to change,” Judkins said. “Our guys will be ready because they were pretty upset when we lost to them last time.”
DSU and PLU will square off in Irvine, California Thursday at 3:45 p.m. with the winner advancing to the conference semi-finals Friday.
DSU student turns to humor to overcome tragedy
After losing his dad at an early age, a Dixie State University student was inspired to go into the medical field.
Micah Anderson, a senior biology major from La Verkin, said he was only 9 years old when a gang member murdered his dad.
“It was one of those CSI moments where he ran off and it was like ‘who did it,’” Anderson said. “The crazy thing was his mom found out and turned him into the police.”
When the police asked Anderson’s family if they wanted to pursue the death penalty, they immediately argued against it.
“We didn’t want to take another life, so we said he could be in jail for life,” Anderson said. “You know it’s hard [because] everybody goes through those hard times, but I think time heals wounds.”
Anderson said he will always remember this traumatic event, but he learned early on that he wanted to do something good with his life. He said he wanted to be involved in the medical field because medicine has saved millions of lives, which encouraged him to pursue a career in pharmacy. After Anderson graduates from DSU this semester, he is attending Campbell University School of Pharmacy in North Carolina.
“I always joke and say, ‘I’m going to be a legal drug dealer’ which is pretty much what a pharmacist is because we deal with drugs legally,” Anderson said.
Although Anderson jokes about his future career, he said his dad also inspired his comedy.
“I like to laugh [because] laughter just seems to help you forget those bad moments,” Anderson said.
Jimmy Fallon has also promoted one of Micah Anderson’s jokes, which led him to create his own Instagram page. He said it all started after he tweeted at Jimmy Fallon. On “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” Fallon has the hashtag of the week segment where people can tweet funny things that may air during the show. Deciding to contribute to the segment, Anderson tweeted that once he got stuck in trampoline springs and his dog tried to hump his leg as a result.
“I sent that in just as a joke, but it actually got on the show,” Anderson said. “I watched it live and started freaking out.”
After seeing his submission broadcast on television, it inspired him to start writing jokes and share his comedy with others through his Instagram page, @stg_jokes. Although he didn’t expect his Instagram page to become very popular, within a year he gained over 7,000 followers.
“I don’t think I’m that funny, but apparently other people do,” Anderson said.
Sydney Anderson, Micah Anderson’s wife, said people would be surprised by the amount of time and effort he dedicates to @stg_jokes.
“I can’t help but laugh at his silly little jokes and there are high school kids who will randomly see him and want to take a picture with him,” Sydney Anderson said. “He’s famous.”
Falcon Parker, Micah Anderson’s childhood friend and senior exercise science major from Hurricane, said he has also added to the humor on the Instagram page.
“We will be hanging out and laughing and he or I will come up with something so funny and he will reword it into a joke for @stg_jokes,” Parker said. “It’s all his work [but] I just call myself inspiration.”
Aside from Micah Anderson’s Instagram page, he also made a YouTube channel called STG JOKES . So far, he has uploaded four videos to his channel.
After this the spring semester ends, Micah Anderson said he plans to keep the Instagram page running even though he will be moving across the country to continue school.
DSU women victorious on last game of season
A season bursting with highs, lows and 21 loses ended Saturday with smiles all around for the Dixie State University women’s basketball team.
DSU won its final game of the season against Holy Names University 79-65. It was senior night for guard Cassidy Carrillo and Center Hannah Roberts of the Trailblazers.
“We really wanted to get it done for the seniors tonight,” said redshirt sophomore guard Tramina Jordan, a communication major from Las Vegas. “Our defense and our ball movement tonight was the key to getting the [win].”
Jordan scored a career-high 21 points for DSU en route to the team scoring a season-high 79 points. The Trailblazers also assisted on 80 percent of made field goals in the game.
“We wanted to leave it all out on the court tonight since it is the last game of the season,” assistant coach Brennon Schweikart said. “We forced a season-high 18 turnovers and changed the pace of the game like we wanted to.”
The Trailblazers raced out to a six-point lead in the first quarter before HNU could cut it to 16-14 after the opening quarter.
Junior guard Matti Ventling buried back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second quarter to help build a 30-24 Trailblazer lead. Both teams traded baskets as the second half winded down. DSU was up 40-32 with only one half left to play in the season.
The Hawks would try to close the gap over the course of the second half, but never could. Then Ventling hit her fourth 3-pointer of the game to give DSU held a 47-35 advantage.
After DSU took a 57-44 lead into the fourth quarter, HNU put together one final run. The Hawks cut the lead to 60-54 with under eight minutes to play, Jordan and the Trailblazers showed enough moxie down the stretch to seal the victory for the Trailblazers.
DSU shot over 42 percent from the floor and 82 percent from the line. DSU also outrebounded HNU 32-25.
“When we [halted HNU’s comeback] it showed our ability to battle through adversity, which is something we have dealt with all season,” Schweikart said. “The players came together and it was a great chance to show everyone how far we have come as a program.”
As the game dwindled down cheers echoed in Burns Arena as seniors Carrillo and Roberts were able to celebrate their final game as a Trailblazer with a victory.
“I was mentally prepared for tonight,” said Carrillo, a communication major form La Mirada, California. “We were really young this year, but experience and chemistry will help this team be better next year.”
DSU finished the season at 5-21 overall and 5-15 in Pacific West Conference play.
DSU take 2 of 3 from No. 9 Adelphi
The weekend was a hit for the Dixie State University softball team who took two out of three from No. 9 ranked Adelphi University.
The No. 20 ranked Trailblazers shut out the Panthers 10-0 Friday and then split the remaining two games Saturday.
“Our fielding was really solid and consistent this weekend,” said junior outfielder Kenzie Sawyer, a biology major from Cedar City. “Our energy was fantastic, and we just want to keep the momentum [rolling].”
DSU had outscored AU 16-0 through the first 13 innings of the game but defensive lapses near the end of the final game prevented a three-game sweep.
In the opening game against AU, the Trailblazers were able take advantage of some untimely errors by the Panthers and also ride the arm of senior pitcher Brooklyn Beardshear.
Beardshear only allowed five hits and did not give up a run. She was aided by a solid 10-hit, 10-run performance by the Trailblazer offense.
Sophomore shortstop Bailey Gaffin scored the first run of the game after Sawyer doubled to left. Sawyer was waived in later in the inning after junior outfielder Jenessa Bassett laid down a successful bunt.
DSU tacked on two more runs in the third inning thanks to an RBI triple by senior catcher Arista Honey and a rare stolen home base by freshman first baseman Riley Tyteca.
Already up 5-0 heading into the fourth, the Trailblazers put the game away for good after senior outfielder Shelby Yung singled down the left field line to score one run. Tyteca got walked to send another DSU runner home. A couple of errors later, DSU held a commanding 10-0 lead that caused the game to end after just five innings.
The two teams played twice again Saturday, and the first game emulated the Friday game almost perfectly.
Beardshear pitched another six-hit shutout victory for the Trailblazers.
“I have a lot of great players behind me,” said Beardshear, an exercise science major from Tucson, Arizona. “When we field the ball well, we have a great shot to win the game.”
Gaffin drove in sophomore catcher Jessica Gonzalez for the first run of the game in the second inning.
DSU continued to build its lead in the third when sophomore outfielder Taylor Godfrey was waived home following a sacrifice fly by Bassett. An AU wild pitch had the Trailblazers up 3-0 after three innings.
A couple RBI doubles in the fourth inning and another Panther error in the fifth allowed DSU to extend its lead, and won, 6-0.
The final game of the series did not go quite as smooth for the Trailblazers.
DSU had its chance to score in the first inning, but stranded two on base after first baseman Mallory Paulson popped out.
AU put its first points on the board in the second and third innings to take a 3-0 lead.
DSU bounced back with three runs in the fourth fueled by a two-run shot to center by sophomore second baseman Dani Bartholf.
“That was my pitch, high and inside,” Bartholf said, a business major from Gilbert, Arizona. “Overall, we hit really well as a team and brought a lot of energy.”
The game remained tied 3-3 until the Panthers put three more on the board in the sixth.
DSU loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the sixth, but failed to score after two players struck out and another popped up to third.
AU extended its lead to 9-3 in the top of the seventh after hitting a two-run home run and using a DSU wild pitch to find home again.
Honey doubled to left to open the bottom of the seventh inning. A Gaffin double drove Honey home and a Sawyer blast to left-field cut the Panthers lead to 9-6.
DSU did not score the remainder of the game and lost only its third game of the season 9-6.
“We would have liked to have won all three games, but made too many mistakes [down the stretch],” head coach Randy Simkins said. “But overall we swung the bat well and I really liked what we got [out of Beardshear].”
At 14-3 overall, DSU opens up Pacific West Conference play at home against Holy Names University. The first game of a four-game series begins Saturday at 12 p.m. at Karl Brooks Field.
Seniors count off bucket list goals before graduation