By Brent Vogel Jr.
Guest Reporter
Bowling Green State University is the only university in the state of Ohio to have one. In fact, only 16 colleges and universities across the United States have one.
That “one” is the Student Technology Center. Located in room 200 of the Saddlemire Student Services Building, the center is available only for student use. Students have a good chance to see this today from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m., when the Student Technology Center celebrates its grand opening.
The center offers students the opportunity for one-on-one tutoring sessions with other students on software packages including Microsoft, Adobe and Macromedia. Additionally, students can check out cameras, hard drives, tripods and lighting kits through the Digital Video Program.
Any student with an ID can check items out free of charge. The only fee charged is a late fee.
The Student Technology Center also has a financial aid laptop program for those who apply, as well as online tutorials, which are available 24 hours a day.
According to Duane Whitmire, director of the center, they averaged 28 students seeking services each day in the month of February, and 180 students attended 10-12 workshops. Whitmire would like to see these numbers grow.
“If I were a student, I would take advantage of it [the Student Technology Center],” Whitmire said.
Whitmire and Kim Fleshman, assistant manager of the center, are scheduled to visit 22 offices this summer to promote the center. “We want to inform students how they can use the Student Technology Center for advancement of their education,” Whitmire said.
In addition to these visits, campus tours given by the University are now taking visitors to the Student Technology Center.
The center has been around for three years but, the grand opening is the “opening of the new academic emphasis of the Student Technology Center,” Whitmire said.
Whitmire is hoping for a nice day so the grand opening can be celebrated on the balcony located just outside the center. “There will be hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and music,” he said.
There will also be a raffle drawing for students. Those with a student ID get one ticket free. The grand prize is an IBM laptop computer.
Both Whitmire and Fleshman said they hope the event gets students to realize that the center is there for their use.
“I have never heard about the Student Technology Center,” said sophomore Kate Gillespie, one of 30 people in a random survey. “Now that I have, I will use it in the future.”
Officials are not concerned with a lack of rental equipment if more students decide to us the center.
“The main goal is to utilize what exists,” Whitmire said. During the fall semester, there were more camera checkouts than all of last year. Currently, the musical arts, education and family and consumer science departments have their students rent cameras for various projects.
Linda Bringman, a lecturer in the College of Education and Human Development, said she has had her students attend a workshop to receive training on video editing. “I was really pleased with the hands-on training received by the students,” she said.
Bringman said people at the center were very willing to work with her to make the workshop possible for the class. She plans to have future classes attend.
According to Whitmire, the equipment available in the center is in very good shape. Soon the Student Technology Center is going to receive more Final Cut Pro systems, a sophisticated version of film-editing software, with greater capabilities.
