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Show MONDAY • JANUARY 8 • 2007 WWW.NETXNEWS.NET A new dawn, a new day *J*F Old acqaintances may be forgot, but the resolutions should not Staff views J, ,y-.>VM UVIink: sharing in repairing i | [•'• •; Utah Valley State College has come ; a long way from the UVCC days. A ,• growing student body, the constant :;! addition of four-year degrees, and the i expansion of our campus are all proof :; that UVSC has improved drastically .; and continues to do so. Understandably, ; however, there are still things which beg to be improved upon - and at the beginning of the semester, with registration in full swing, the most noticeable of these is UVLink. Though it has much potential, currently UVLink can be as much of a hindrance as a help to the student body. For instance, as students attempt to check their grades at the end of one semester or register at the beginning of the next, they often encounter bottlenecks caused by too many users trying to access the same information at the same time. When that happens, UVLink comes to a grinding halt - and so does the possibility of registering for classes anytime soon. In addition to being frequently overloaded, UVLink also lacks userfriendliness. Registration, emailing and other tasks can be challenging, even for the computer-savvy, and if the bottlenecks aren't enough to discourage students from using UVIink, the fact that the site is difficult to navigate is. It's hard to ignore the fact that the situation with UVLink needs to be improved. Both students and the administration can work together to improve problems with UVLink. On their part, students can do quite a bit in improving the bottlenecking problem. If students were to register before the end of the semester, they would not only avoid dealing with the bottlenecks, but they would reduce traffic on UVLink at the peak of 1 registration, as well. This is only half the solution, however, because even if students register early, they may need to access UVLink later to check grades, deal with class cancellations and communicate with professors. In order for them to do this, UVLink needs to be fully functional in the thick of registration. This is where the administration - and its influence - can help. Administration has already improved upon UVLink from past semesters. Most significantly, most students have been able to access financial aid, grades, registration etc. recently through easy to use links which the administrators at UVLink have provided while UVLink experienced problems. At the same time, however, the website still needs help. Hopefully the administration will continue to make the improvement of UVLink a high priority. Although the Office of the President has invited students (at the bottom UVLink's main page) to contact them with feedback and suggestions regarding UVLink, the administration could more proactively use one of its greatest assets - the student body - as it works to make UVLink more userfriendly. Asking students for more feedback on the website would give the website's overseers an idea of what works and what doesn't. Hopefully the student body would deliver fair, specific feedback and criticism, were the administration to ask for it. It is time for UVLink to undergo the same improvement much of our college has already been granted. By working together, the student body and the administration can bring UVLink to its full potential, making life better for all of us. Jeremy Pettersson Opinions Writer B orrowing my title from Michael Bubo's song "Feeling Good,'1 I welcome everyone to a new year and a new semester at UVSC. It is a perfect time for revival and renewal, "Out with the old, in the with the new'1 as the old adage goes. However, hand-in-hand with the New Year comes the same of old joke regarding New Year's resolutions lost. Most laugh at the fact that despite a planned diet and subsequent weight lost for the year, the scale is slightly higher than before, Others think that this year will be the year to quit smoking forever, until they light up, say, the 300* cigarette out of the 100lh pack for the year1. As the ball drops in Times Square and fireworks are set off across the county, the conscience of certain citizens creeps up as a regretful reminder of unfinished business. As the Roman Marcus Aurelius stated, "A wrongdoer is often a [person] that has left something undone, not always [they that have] done something." Despite requiring a great deal of concentration and resolve to accomplish, it is still no trivial matter to simply leave undone the goals we set for ourselves, goals that will make us happier, live healthier and have meaningful and productive lives. During the much watched Fiesta Bowl, the commercial breaks announcing other bowls featured a video graphic of college football players climbing up ladders in the sky. Finally, a variation of the ad revealed the players at the end of their ladders, reaching towards a giant floating diamond. No, not "bling," "ice," "Lucy in the Sky in With Diamonds," nor the influence thereof, but rather a representation of ultimate success. Similarly, 1 feel every goal accomplished is like climbing another rung of the ladder to success, moving us along to the betterment of self. Not accomplishing goals, on the other hand, is like staying in the clouds and never knowing where we are going or why we are there in the first place. Advice: our commitment to such goals must be absolute, unwavering. An army officer once approached a soldier and asked him to deliver a message. The soldier remarked, "I'll try sir, I'll try." The officer replied, "I don't want you to try, I want you to deliver it." Says the soldier offhandedly, "I'll certainly do my best, sir." The then disgusted officer looked the other in the eye and said, "I don't want you to try, I don't want you to 'do your best', I want you to deliver the message!" The embarrassed soldier straightened up and with a salute magnificently declared, "I'll do it or die!" The officer was irate: "I don't want you to die, try or do the best you can- Look, the request is reasonable, the message important and distance short. You are young and able-bodied, you can do what I have ordered. Get out and do it!" The same is true with goals. Like the request, they should be reasonable; the distance in a year is short. As students, you are also young and able-bodied; get out and do it|p&4png with UVSC's new slogan, I truly believe the words, "Sujtfc&s... it's who we are.1' r i What are the staff members' New Year's resolutions? Staff Infection pt eHarige my major again this year.".. "Learn to cook." - Jamie Teerlinj an t -\>., "Receive letters to the editor that aren't *£ -Jeremy Pettersson arn-xny GRE voca£ularys£that I don't Shop less, save more/' ffornb the test" , * •* ^ ^ • • ; : ; ; , ^ | - J e s s i c a Ellsworth : •-Eleanor Takahashi ^ ^ "Wake up Sridjjo to schod oj^time/V •; "Floss every single night!' -Spencer Shell 1 •,;r Jason Pyles £-,;•« "Get my associate degree? -Justin Ritter "Change the Webster's definition of 'resolution'to 'future failure.1" .... - Jack Jared Waters Letters to the editor { fin Got an opinion? Put a stamp on * E-Mail letters to uvscopinions@hotmail.com ; - ' * The NetXNews room is located on campus in SC220. * AH letters become property of NetXNews and may be edited for content, specifically clanty, length or other concerns at the discretion of the Opinions Edlton * Letters between 50-250 words are encouraged and those letters marked by their succinctness are more likely to be published. * Letters must be accompanied by full name, address, and phone number for verification purposes (contact information wiJl not be published). •• --y.-v-.y.. . . ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ • . • • • v ^ ^ ^ ; ^ i ^ i ^ ^ firm/ / . // y • • • • # > i . . / > . * ' . ; • > / |