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Show AQUi YAHORA Las citas y los latinos BY LIDIA ABANTO News Writer Paper textbooks are becoming a thing of the past, as digital textbooks take over campuses nationwide. GILBERT CISNEROS/UVU REVIEW Apple, Kno to change the textbook industry forever BY GIBSON SMILEY News Writer Many say textbooks are ripe for digital destruction, and that's exactly what companies like Kno and Apple are hoping will happen as a result of their latest products: the demise of the textbook. They may even seal the fate of all books in the process. Kno is a digital textbook company offering an alternative to the five-pound book found in the backpacks of most students. Kno offers not only an app for the iPad, but also a web service to access the same material with Android and Windows 8 apps following suit. On Jan. 18, Apple also released their version of the technology represented in Kno's app, as well as myriad other services in hopes of reinventing the way students learn and the way teachers teach. The result of the late Steve Jobs' pet project manifested itself in iBooks 2, iBooks Author and iTunes U. Whether or not efforts of companies like Kno and Apple will really spell the end of textbooks is still yet to be known, but it is clear that the use of books in education will never be the same. In the wake of Apple's big education announcement, Kno also released some findings from a digital textbook pilot program they implemented during the fall 2011 semester in four different California schools. The pilot program included 384 students and 18 faculty members in 27 classes Kno's digital textbooks in place of actual textbooks for the entire semester, and the response was astounding. 95 percent said they considered the Kno app very useful and would use it again, 61 percent said they preferred Kno over an actual book for convenience and mobility. Apple's supporters are Recent software releases from industry leaders point to the digital destruction of physical textbooks. likening their recent release announcement to a similar announcement 11 years ago when iTunes was released, and forever changed the music industry and the way people interact with music. Apple revealed three key products that they hope will create a unique digital ecosystem for textbooks and other educational books to exist online: iBooks 2, iBooks Author and iTunes U. iBooks 2 is an update to Apple's eReader software that adds additional functionality to the existing software. While still being able to read ing thoughts and opinions ebooks through iBooks 2, us- of others studying the same ers can also read and interact material. It's those functionwith the new Apple digital alities, as well as many more, textbooks. that give these new textbooks, iBooks Author is Apple's or smartbooks, as some call new software program intend- them, so much potential. ed to allow publishers and inLooking back at how iTunes dividuals the ability to create changed an industry can help their own books and publish us look forward to imagine them to the iBooks bookstore. how these products might iTunes U, like iBooks 2, change another industry all is a upgrade to an existing the same. Healthy competiservice offered by Apple. tion between companies like iTunes U offers 500,000 lec- Apple and Kno will ensure tures, seminars and videos healthy and speedy changes. from major universities like Kno CEO Osman Rashid Harvard, Yale, Stanford and said in an interview with many more for free. The new Bloomberg News that Apple iTunes U app also offers a joining the digital textbooks service very similar to UVU's market is "a good thing" beCanvas, offering students and cause it will bring more atteachers an online intermedi- tention to the market, spur ary to communicate and see innovation and show publishsyllabi, homework and more. ers the potential of the digital The big draw toward digital textbook platform, and that's textbooks and the reason they exactly what is happening. will likely change the way Although these products and many learn is rooted in the services won't mean the implatform they exist on. Both mediate digital destruction Apple and Kno offer these of books, they will be a large textbooks on the iPad, with contribution to the slow, but Kno expanding to other plat- inevitable decline of physical forms as well. This means the books as we know them. new programs will have Internet access, allowing convergence with video and many other learning tools. All of these capabilities being combined with these new digital textbooks are what sets them apart. Imagine watching a video of a whale in a marine biology textbook, then engaging in a comment thread includ- Link for Osman Rashid interview @ Bloomberg News http://www.businessweek.com . UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY UVU S A Legislative Initiative STUDENT ASS DCIATI ON Get More Classrooms on Campus January 30th-February 2nd Visit any UVUSA booth on campus and find out how to let your representatives know that UVU students need more classroom space. The eating Game Tuesday @ 11:30 a.m. Grande Ballroom FREE The eating Dr. David Coleman Tuesday @ Noon Grande Ballroom FREE Wolverine Wednesday Wednesday @ Noon Centre Stage J Dawgs are $4 or $3 if wearing UVU and/or green apparel Education First Legislative Day on Capitol Hill Friday @ 9 a.m. Please sign up in SC 105 if you are interested in riding up on a bus. The bus will leave at 7 a.m. from the Student Center parking lot. Student Body Officer Candidate packets are available in SC 105. They are due on February 6th @Noon. No late packets will be accepted. Banff Film Festival is coming to UVU on February 14th and 15th. Tickets are $10 per night or $18 if you purchase for both nights. (different films will be shown each night) UTAH VALLEY UNIVERSITY Get your tickets at the OAC (SC 103h). Los rasgos culturales a veces pueden marcar una diferencia. Para los latinos salir en una cita es la oportunidad de conocerse. En una cita los comportamientos culturales y expectativas algunas veces podrian ser diferentes, sobre todo entre latinos y estadounidenses. "Una cita no es una relacion formal. En Mexico es salir y pasarla bien, pero aqui en Utah a veces las chicas piensan que si sales dos veces, ya despues seras el novio, y luego vendra la boda", dijo Alejandro Vasquez estudiante de informatica. Las costumbres y habitos culturales podrian determinar el comportamiento de una jovencita en una cita. "El idioma y rasgos culturales son diferentes, las latinas son mas comunicativas. Las americanas son mas reservadas en Utah. Nunca beso a una chica latina en la primera cita. Las chicas latinas son mas cercanas y cariliosas. Darnos las manos es algo muy normal, pero aqui las chicas marcan su distancia", expreso Vasquez. En algunos paises latinos, la gente es un poco conservadora con las citas. Salir en cita con una jovencita implica primero pedir permiso a los padres. "Cuando estaba en mi pais sail en algunas citas, las chicas eran un poco mas amigables. Podiamos it a ver una pelicula con un grupo de amigos. Yo vivia en Puebla, Mexico, mi pueblo es muy religioso, asi que, si sales con una chica, necesitas una chaperona ose alguien que los acompaiie. A los padres no les gusta que sus hijas salgan solas de la casa", dijo Israel Vasquez estudiante. La educaci6n puede marcar la diferencia, la crianza y los valores son muy importantes para los latinos. "Una chica latina espera que los chicos sean creativos. Nada vulgar o corriente, tan solo divertido. Algunos chicos americanos a veces to quieren dar un beso en la primera cita, pero eso no funciona si salen con una chica latina", remarco Diyandira Aragon estudiante de diseiio. Las citas pueden tomar importancia con el paso del tiempo. Implica interactuar y vivir el proceso natural de una relacion. "En Mexico, si sales en una cita, solo sales con una cola persona. Aqui los chicos salen con varias, eso es diferente. A las chicas latinas, nos gusta conocer y tratar a la gente, necesitamos mas tiempo para conocernos y establecer una relacion" agrego Arag6n. 1.3VUM)SA STUDENT ASSOCIATION BUNNEL FROM Al act and many other codes, the cost of restoration is very high. The Dean of Students and Bob Rasmussen was involved in this decision making process. "It would cost a half million dollars for restoration, and there has never been the support financially," Rasmussen said. "I believe the best decision has been achieved. It has already been moved once so there's nothing sacred about the ground it's on." Frank Young senior director in the Space Management Department, stated the price of moving the house. "The student life center is forcing us to relocate it which will cost somewhere in the $70-100,000 range," Young said. "It will be moved to either Nielsen's Grove Park or Scera Park." Pedersen doesn't think the house will make it through the moving process. "I think it may just crumble when they are moving it, and I talked to some of the facility people and that's their big worry also, but we will find out around May." Current Orem resident Helen Bunnell Weeks was literally born in the house in the 30's. Pedersen has met her and has had tours of the house with her. He believes it will be hard for her to see it go. "For the family, this is their heritage, their legacy. It will be really heard on her," Pedersen said. Students can save hundreds of dollars on software for classes. CONNOR ALLEN /UVU REVIEW Need solware, open source it BY JOHN CARLSEN Science and Technology As students gear up for a semester of studying and endless assignments, a majority of them are doing their coursework on computers. However, there is one problem: the software often required for these activities is expensive. Fortunately for UVU students, there are many options that can cut down on these costs - these are open source software. Intrepid computer programmers design open source software for everyone, for free. An open source programmer sees a public need and fulfills it. Whether that need is photo editing, design, word processing or even an operating system. OpenOffice.org is an example of an open source alternative to Microsoft Office, the world-famous productivity software. "Open Office provides more options than many of the other writing tools that I have used on computers," said Cody Barnes, a PreEngineering student. Many students benefit from open source software alternatives and many more can. There are a bevy of sites that deal with open source software. One of the more popular websites is CNET, which has a wide variety of open source software as well as free trials for commercial software. OSALT.com is overall the best option for open source software on the web. From their homepage, just type in the name of the commercial program needed. The website will bring up all of the alternatives for that program as well as descriptions, reviews, tech specs and download links. Open source software is an effective substitute but it does have some drawbacks. The main drawback comes from its open source nature. With no commercial backing, there may be limited tutorials and the software may be harder to use in general. Luckily, this is the exception rather than the rule. The bottom line is that there is always another way to get assignments done other than commercial software. |