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Show WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2012 5 THE SIGNPOST S enate continued from front to the student body at large during the elections this coming cycle," said Justin Neville, the senate president. The subject was originally brought up last year when graduate students were being denied access to some of the services on campus. "The services didn't know that they paid student fees," Harris said. "That brought up the question, 'Who is representing these people?' We all kind of do, but there isn't really that graduate voice." Harris wrote the bill and is the main sponsor for it, but he is not the only one in favor of passing it. "I think it's a great idea," said David Wilson, traditional student senator. "I think they would be a great asset . . . (graduate students) have a lot of abilities and experiences." Wilson is a co-sponsor of the bill along with Andrew Gardiner, the College of Business senator. "There is some debate between the graduate program boards on what qualifies as a full-time student," Harris said. "The policy that was put in place this year by the faculty senate is that it is nine credit hours, but there is still some debate . . . that nine credit hours might not be enough." The bill has been worded to accommodate this debate. If the program a graduate student is in says he or she is a full-time student, the student can run for office. The senate voted on the bill on Monday, and it was unanimously passed. Now that it has passed through the student senate, it can be voted on by the students. The senate will probably do an awareness campaign in order to let students know about this issue. PHOTO BY TYLER BROWN I THE SIGNPOST Comment on this story at wsusignpost.corn. more flexibility and could adapt to what users want, more than us dictating what users want." The new flexibility features of the portal focus on the tabs and boxes, also known as channels. Users can drag and drop the boxes, such as the Announcements and Today's Events boxes, to different locations around the page or even stack them on top of each other to place favorites in easy reach. The magic wand tool at the top left of the page sets all the boxes back to a grid layout. "When it comes to dealing with layout, the magic wand is your best friend," 4:{p c,„ AND JEWELRY Farr Better Quality....Farr Better Price! Washington Blvd. Ogden Ut (801) 621 7666 wwwfarrsjewelrycom - 10% off on bridal settings purchase upon presentation of valid school I.D. Goldenwest Anytime, Anywhere F EillI WCU Mobile Banking 1:21 IFF mai__ AT&T o 2:43 PM GWCU :::e1a eny nw dee oldeiliwest I Credit Unl Home 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Mobile Banking ATM/Branch locations Free ATMs CU Service Centers Contact us About us Accounts ' U Graphs Q Locations E R A c D F al Z X , C said Nicole DeFriez, project will choose how to allocate coordinator of the IT Divi- the money saved within the sion. "If they get stacked ski- department. The money wampusly, the magic wand saved could possibly be alputs it back together." located to getting more wireUsers can also move less Internet support at WSU channels around to differ- or creating more and iment tabs and create new cus- proving current WSU mobile tom tabs, adjust the width of apps. channels and order tabs, all "We have the mobile webby clicking and dragging. site that launched last fall at Besides the flexibility fea- m.weber.edu that has a coltures, the biggest change lection of apps that students with the eWeber portal is can use now," Waite said. that it is now owned by WSU "We're working now to get and doesn't require licensing those into the apps stores, of a third-party product. so it'll be more convenient "One of the big things we so you don't have to type the wanted to do was to save URL into the browser." some money for the camThe vendor that supports pus," said Ben Barraza, web the current portal has done systems architect. "Big enter- so since 2003. During the prise pieces of software like past nine years, according to portals run into the millions Barraza, the vendor has not of dollars to purchase. We upgraded the system despite made a conscious decision, many changes to the Web with budgets being so tight, and how users connect and that we wanted to put this interact with websites. together in-house and save a "Now we control the rate little to a lot of money." of the updates and the reAfter the initial purchase sponses to the changes in of the software that sup- the Internet world," Barraza ports the current portal, Bar- said. "We can be a lot more raza estimated the yearly responsive, we can be a lot licensing fee was more than more flexible, and we can ca$50,000. If the IT Division ter to the needs of the WSU had not created an in-house community rather than the system, Waite said they prob- industry as a whole." ably would have switched to The eWeber portal will a new vendor. continue to change and, ac"If we would have had to cording to Waite, improve. do that, we would have had "This isn't the end," Waite to petition for funds upward said. "We'll be making increof 250 (thousand) to a mil- mental improvements to the lion dollars," Barraza said. portal from here on out .. . Waite said the vice presi- We like to make them on an dent of the IT department incremental scale, so they'll be less abrupt to users. That's the plan, though, to constantly improve it." Among the new eWeber features is a channel where students can provide feedback to the site developers. "I love the ease and being able to change the layout," wrote one WSU student. "It's so much better, but I think there should be a snap-togrid functionality" Waite said feedback is crucial to the portal's further development. "Part of the reason for the beta was to gather as much feedback as possible, because we think the users are the ones determining the future of this system, whose needs we're trying to meet," Waite said. Barraza said the IT Division anticipates that the system will have a few bugs in it, but that they need feedback to help them fix those bugs now before people have to fully rely on it. "One thing that's true with the Web in general is that modern websites are all about empowering the user and letting the user define their experience in the website," Barraza said. "That's the direction we're trying to move with this portal. It has the potential to be a big part of your electronic life at Weber State, and we want it to address your needs." Comment on this story ai wsusignpost.corn. C apitol continued from front Transfer Mont Welcome to the Goldenwest Cred - The Weber State University Student Senate discusses a bill that would allow graduate students to hold elected student office while enrolled in only nine credit hours. eWeber continued from front n, brother, fight her fire! 2466 "Students need to be aware, because everyone is going to have to vote for this," Harris said. "They'll see it on their ballot, so we'll probably do an awareness campaign to educate the general student body and what they are voting for. It is a constitutional amendment, and I don't want to take it lightly because it governs eve ryb o dy." Voting for student senate candidates and the issues that will be on the ballot will occur in March. "I think typically it's going to be well supported," Harris said. "No one wants to eliminate graduate student representation." V B space Free Mobile Banking Apps Mobile Banking from Goldenwest makes your wireless device even more helpful. All you need is a Blackberry, Android, or iPhone mobile device with online access to discover a whole new way to effectively manage your time and finances. "Part of my major is doors to what things mean. What is this policy? How policy," said Amanda Best, is it paid for? Who funds a WSU junior. "I'm excited these programs? Who im- to meet the representaplements them? How do tives and just get to know we know if it works?" who people are and learn The students also at- what it's all about." tended some legislative Many of the students in sessions, including an ap- the class want to work as propriations committee lobbyists or for organizameeting for higher educa- tions whose funding and tion and saw how the poli- rules are decided by the cies process works. Utah State Legislature. There are certain times your life when everythin needs to be perfect. "In this class, we look at policy and how it affects our field," said Jared Reber, a WSU junior. "We also look at how we can influence these policies." Pressey said this experience teaches students how the system they are going into actually works. Comment on this story ai wsusignpost.corn. TS ARINN DI A M 0 N ID TIMELESS ELEGANCE Your Tsarina Diamond Ring was created to take care of a few of the big ones. 801-621-4550 I gwcu.org I gwcu.mobi NI N Made for BlackBerry visit gwcu.mobi 011DPOID visit android marketplace iPhone visit itunes store Goldenwest n 7 INZIEtt LEWIS JEWELE R S Made for iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G. iPhone is a trademark of Apple Inc. Android is a trademark of Google Inc. BlackBerry is a registered trademark of Research In Motion Limited. We'll take care of you 1917 West 1800 North Clinton, UT 84015 • (801) 773-6558 www.lewisjewelersutah.com Scan to view our website |