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Show WSU getsfivenew volleyball players Ogden musical venues popular for students ...page6 AT A GLANCE EDITORIAL A&E SPORTS CLASSIFIEDS ...page 4 2 3 4 6 7 VOL 81 ISSUE 47 TUESDAY,JUNE21,2011 WWW.WSUSIGNPOST.COM No more free UTA rides? WSU's new contract with UTA might change student price By Cade Hancock news reporter I Ihe Signpost Students who commute to school via bus and the FrontRunner might want to start tak- ing full advantage of the service now, before it's gone. The contract between Weber State University and Utah Transit Authority, which gave students access to free rides on all of UTA's services, expires July 31. It is possible that the new contract will result in students paying for UTA service at a discounted price, instead of riding for free. Gerry Carpenter, spokesman for UTA, said that demand for UTA services has gone up while revenues have not. The number of students who commute is on the rise, meaning that UTA needs more buses running routes more frequently. Students account for more than 20 percent of riders, Carpenter said, which equates to a major loss in profits for UTA. In the past, WSU has purchased the passes for its stuSee UTA page 5 PHOTO BY CRYSTAL CHARR1ERE [ 7/-/£ SJCNPOS7 From Google, for WSU New Google-hosted mail system provides new tools for students at WSU By Thomas Alberts assL news editor I The Signpost ';- •" ' ' Google will be taking charge of hosting as the IT Division replaces Weber State University's aging e-mail system. Resulting from student complaints and glitches in the system, the WSU IT Division will unveil a new Wildcat Mail system hosted by Google. It is expected to provide students with new tools to use in their classes, and solve many of the glitches that have been occurring with the e-mail system in recent years. While there appears to be few downsides, the IT Division representatives said they wanted to emphasize the process of importing old mail into the new system. Recently, the old Wildcat Mail system has been getting on the nerves of numerous students. This inspired the change from the IT Division, which had been receiving a high number q£ calls and messages in regards to glitches in the e-mail system. "I've had a lot of problems with the email," said WSU senior Amanda Gutierrez. "A lot of days you just can't get into it - you click on it and nothing happens - and a lot of times when I send e-mails from there, my professors don't get them. That's my biggest problem with it." Resulting from these complaints, the WSU IT Division reached out to students during this last October and asked for input on what kind of solution should be applied to the e-mail problem. Based upon what students wanted, the IT Division decided that the best solution would be re- •fc placing the current system with a new system hosted by an outside entity - in this case, Google. The transition from the old mailing system to the new one will occur on June 26. The project coordinator for the transition to the new mail™ystem, Nicole Defriez, explained what exactly is new about the system. "It's a lot easier for students to collaborate," she said. "Students can branch out and use Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google sites, and share them with students in their class just by know ing their name." One improvement is in regards to how much storage space students will have. The new system will have 7 GB of space, which is equivalent to two movies and much bigger than what the old system had. Other changes include the ability for students to access their mail via a Google application on their phones. In terms of limitations to the new system, it is only offered to students at the mo- ment. Also, Defriez listed several things that the new system will not have that the old system did. "Frequent downtime," Defriez said with a laugh, "a cost to the university. Once we get this transition made and people get used to the new system, there's hardly any downside to the university." One thing that Defriez and the other members of the project emphasized is the process for importing See Google page 5 'Cats run for the Congo WSU participates in 5K run to end conflict in Africa By Zachary Stickney news reporter I The Signpost The Democratic Republic of the Congo, a large, mostly rural and extremely mineralwealthy nation in the heart of Africa, is also the home to one of the world's longest-lasting conflicts. Since 1998, roughly 5.4 million people have been killed, and untold numbers have been forced to flee into neighboring countries as refugees. Due to the extreme nature of the violence, rape and sexual slavery in the region, the DRC has been called the "worst place in the world to be a woman" by groups such as Human Rights Watch. Saturday, a group of Weber State University students joined in the effort to end the conflict by participating in a 5K run for the Congo at Wheeler Historic Farm in Murray. The race, now in its second annual running, drew a crowd of more than 120 volunteers, runners and supporters from all across Utah. Abbey Porter, a junior at WSU and member of the student council at the WSU Davis campus, helped organize the event with her friend Missy Lambert for the two years it has been in existence. "Missy is very passionate about the Congo," Porter said. "We picked the Congo because we feel that women in the Congo need the most help. The turnout this year has been incredible. The first year we did it, we just sort of had to see how it would go, but this year we'vehad a lot more. But really, any turnout is good when you're doing it for a good cause." See Congo page 5 |