Archive for the ‘Student Life’ Category

For those students who populate Missouri Western’s food court in Blum Union on a regular basis, the most striking of the latest renovations have been Burger Studio, the new, technologically advanced replacement for the Grill Works.

Aramark, having recently signed a new contract with the university, wanted to keep the grill concept as part of the latest round of renovations in the food court.

“Of everything we do at the food court, the grill concept will always be the mainstay,” said Campus Dining Director Jim Maides.

According to Brian Tarr and Laura Eisenbaum, retail managers for Aramark, the ideas and concepts that shape Burger Studio came not from the company, but from student input.

“It came from the Dining Style Survey,” Eisenbaum said. “Aramark gathered students from various institutions and asked them, ‘if you could have one concept campus wide, what do you really want?’ This is what the students came up with. The students even picked the name.”

While the menu might still have the same basics such as burgers and fries, what makes Burger Studio unique is the way students can order. Instead of telling the person behind the counter what they want to order, students are now able to order their meals on one of two ordering kiosks. There, students can also customize their burger with the build-your-own concept.

“If you want a fried egg on your hamburger, you get a fried egg on your hamburger,” Tarr said. “They’re in control of what they can get.”

Furthermore, Burger Studio doesn’t skimp on freshness; everything they serve is fresh and made to order for the customer.

“There are so many different options,” Eisenbaum said. “That’s very unique for this type of concept. Everybody does [burgers and fries] from McDonald’s to an upscale restaurant, but we’re really fresh.”

While the Burger Studio is clearly being noticed, there is one aspect of this burger and fries shop that has gone unmentioned. Burger Studio is a pilot program; that is to say, a brand new, undeveloped concept that is being tested out on different institutions across the country.

“It’s a test to work out all the kinks and the bugs and when it goes live to various institutions in the future, they’ll know exactly what to look for…,” Eisenbaum said. “We’re the guinea pigs basically.”

Missouri Western is one of four institutions that are currently using Burger Studio, along with Middle Tennessee State, University of Hartford and University of Delaware; the Western Burger Studio, however, is the only one located in the Midwest.

“The fact that we are the only one in the Midwest means we’re the only university ready to make that jump,” Maides said.

In recent weeks, Maides and his staff have been working to smooth out the kinks that students were raising at the beginning of the semester. While they feels things have improved, issues such as speed of service and the complexity of the ordering kiosks remain potential problems.

“Although the kiosks are very techno savvy, if the printer decides to stop working that means there’s only one kiosk left for all the students to order on,” Eisenbaum said. “Whether that takes 20 seconds to fix or 20 minutes, that’s a big problem.”

Nevertheless, things are looking up for Burger Studio. Student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive of late; whether it be the techno savvy ordering kiosks, the ability to personalize their burger or just the overall rise in quality, students seem to love their new burger and fries shop just as much as the people who are making it work.

In fact, there are already ideas floating around for expanding the menu, as Tarr explains.

“We’re discussing regional favorites and currently working with Aramark to add them to the menu,” Tarr said. “That would depend on what student feedback is. If they say, ‘hey we really, really want this,’ then that’s what we push to get on for regional favorite.”

Among some of the food items being mentioned are mozzarella sticks, jalapeno peppers, philly cheese steaks, and a wider variety of sauces and seasonings for fries.

Furthermore, the company is already planning to expand the Burger Studio concept all across the nation; according to Maides, 38 universities will be prepared to put Burger Studios in their food courts within the next two semesters. And as Burger Studio is in the very early phases of development, there’s no telling what the future holds.

“I really think that Burger Studio is here to stay,” Maides said.

For many college students, the task of getting out of bed and going to classes for five hours straight can seem challenging. Imagine doing it while also holding down two or more jobs, raising a family and having to commute 40 miles to class everyday. Luckily, those students dealing with these kinds of situations have an alternative.

In an increasingly digital age, online courses are becoming more and more commonplace with each passing year. National trends at both traditional and non-traditional campuses are showing that the chance to take online courses is becoming more popular with students nationwide.

“It’s an opportunity for them to enjoy higher education,” President Robert Vartabedian said. “The key word is access. They can sit in comfortable clothes at home and work on their education.”

Western began offering online courses during the administration of former President Janet Murphy who pushed hard for their inclusion. More than a decade later, Western now offers 33 different online courses.

Vartabedian states that Western has set a goal to offer 100 online courses within the next three years. While not all departments on campus offer online courses, Vartabedian hopes that they will move in that direction within the near future.

Michael Flowers is an instructor in the Department of Education. Over the last three years, he has personally taught over 200 students in online courses and he sees the online course option as a great opportunity.

“The convenience really attracts students,” Flowers said. “They can work wherever they decide to set up shop. There’s also a time element; you have your own time to work at your own pace. You’re not confined to 60 minutes.”

Vartabedian couldn’t agree more, arguing that online courses can be a perfect fit for today’s technologically savvy generation.

“Many students today are technologically inclined, so it’s a chance for them to use their technical skills,” Vartabedian said. “A really well taught online course should provide gateway to bigger things.”

Furthermore, Vartabedian feels that the addition on online education is consistent with the university’s mission to provide access to quality education for everyone.

“I always like to say that online courses are not always appropriate for everyone, but for some, it can be very beneficial,” Vartabedian said. “I’ve run into a number of students who said, ‘I wouldn’t have finished my degree without online courses.’”

Kelsey Corzine is a junior at Western. Starting this semester, she began taking an online course, Secondary Reading Techniques. She feels that the option of taking online courses is a great benefit for busy college students.

“I’m taking 16 credits and I’m really busy otherwise,” Corzine said. “This way, I can do them when I want to. You don’t have to worry about slowing [other students] down or vice versa; you can go at your own pace.”

Despite such success stories, Vartabedian cautions that online courses don’t allow for active university experiences and therefore shouldn’t become the norm over traditional classroom courses.

“I wouldn’t want to be known as a purely online university,” Vartabedian said. “Western will always be a traditional university, but we want the best of both worlds.”
From Flower’s perspective, it’s important for students to have face to face interactions with their instructors, which is something that online courses lack.

“When students have concerns, they have to call or e-mail whereas in class we can nail the problem down right there,” Flowers said. “Being able to [talk] eyeball to eyeball is a definite advantage in students’ favor.”

In an age where technology has become part of everyday life, the growth in online courses at universities and college campuses across the nation is bound to have success with those students who need such opportunities to complete their education and go on to bigger, brighter things.

Students, faculty and members of the community gathered in Blum Union on Thursday, Oct. 1 to attend the 13th annual Reading of Banned and Challenged Books.

This event is put together every year for people to listen to excerpts from some of the most banned and challenged books of all time.

Michael Cadden, chair of the English, Foreign Languages and Journalism department, organizes the reading every year and believes it to be an important event.

“Sometimes we think that living in America means freedom of speech happens automatically everywhere and that’s not the case,” Cadden said. “It’s important to keep reminding people that even if there isn’t a case going on in the community, it’s important that they know that there are cases in other communities that could affect them at some point.”

English professor Bill Church believes the reading is important because of what certain books can provide to certain readers.

“Books allow us to travel without going anywhere,” Church said. “They take us into the geography of other people’s lives, minds and experiences in ways we might never get.”

Church thought this year’s reading was impressive because of the diversity of the texts that were chosen by the readers.

According to Cadden, the key to the success of this event is not to read the controversial parts of the books. The key to success is in the hands of the readers and the material that they choose.

“People were choosing things that they cared about which was the goal,” Cadden said. “It was to get people to share the parts of those books that made them think and care.”

Various excerpts were read throughout the night from works such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.

The room in Blum Union was not completely packed. However, there was a good number of people in attendance for the event.

Cadden and Church both believed the attendance would have been greater if the semester was not so close to midterm and there was not so much going on.

Cadden still believes the event was a success and looks forward to doing it all again next year.
“We’re gonna keep doing this until they tell us we can’t,” Cadden said.

In total, there were eight readers during the course of the banned book reading. The readers included people such as Missouri Western professors, local high school teachers, local librarians and Missouri Western students.

The banned book reading started at 7 p.m. and lasted a little over an hour.