I’m Richard X. Thripp, a current DSC student in computer science and creator of DaytonaState.org. On this blog, Daytona State College News, I write news and opinions on the college. Enjoy! Comments are always welcome.
The Daytona State College forum is a great place to connect with friends. Log in on the right, or post anonymously.
Remember last week’s voting event for the new Daytona State College logo? The winner has been announced as the logo with the college seal, but without shadowing. Out of 2718 votes, 1500 students and faculty chose this option:
If you’ve forgotten, these were all the options. The winner is third down:
I wanted the bottom one, with the shadowing, to win. It didn’t look good on the voting page (all blocky because of the way they scaled it). That’s why it lost. The one you all picked would’ve been my second choice, though. 
Hi everyone! I’ve been busy on my personal development blog, the Tweet This plugin for WordPress I made, and my Daytona State College classes. But I want to share these photos from the DSC welcome party last week (August 27).
People at the party, enjoying the cool Florida weather. 
Dr. Michael Flota (left) and Steve Pruitt (right), of Phi Theta Kappa. Pruitt is the student president of the Daytona State’s Mu Rho chapter, and Flota is on the board of directors. Dr. Flota teaches sociology (fall) and economics (spring) at QUANTA.
Professor Frank Gunshanan says hello. He teaches English in QUANTA, and does a bang-up job of it.
Random people!
I forget this fellow’s name. He’s preparing the Phi Theta Kappa dunk tank.
The army recruiters are active on campus. I told them I couldn’t join because of my overwhelming cowardice. 
A near hit! The dunk tank was a fund-raising event: each person donated $1 while throwing three balls at the button.
Who is this person? If only I knew.
Dr. Casey Blanton, Chair of Learning Communities and Humanities professor at QUANTA, and another gentleman whose name I can’t remember. He’s the president of the Student Success dept. I think. A great speaker.
People other than me taking pictures! I always take pictures of people taking pictures.
More of Flota!
At last, Dr. Flota gets dunked! Dr. Blanton (above) is also one of the advisors for the Mu Rho chapter.
Our host, who blasted us with entertaining music.
Miss Cariann and friends, getting the word out for the American Medical Student Association. She was in QUANTA 24 (last year).
A poster advertising the welcome party.
It was a fun event, lots of people shuffling about, great food and music. I got a couple hot dogs and some sodas. The only problem was the terrible heat! Too bad they couldn’t have done it indoors. The spring event (January) ought to be cooler.
I saw this on the Daytona State College home page when I went there today; an event called Pick Our Logo:
“DAYTONA BEACH, FL (Aug. 25, 2008) – Pick Our Logo is a unique opportunity for Daytona State College students, faculty, staff and the community to have a voice in our new logo.”
The college is allowing students to vote their favorite from one of four prototypes for the new DSC logo.
Click the image above to see a bigger version, or go here on the college’s website to see them all.
The immediate problem on the college’s website is that the images are about 1000 pixels wide, but they’re set to be 500 pixels wide in the HTML source code. Many browsers, including Internet Explorer 7 which I’m using now at the college computer lab, use “nearest neighbor” interpolation to scale images down. It looks nothing short of awful.
That’s exactly what logo 4 looks like on my screen. See all the jagged edges? It shouldn’t look like that. How are students supposed to make an informed vote when they’re seeing bastardized versions of the logos?
I know logo #4 is the best and most appealing choice, so I voted for it. It won’t win though because it looks the worse when scaled with the nearest neighbor algorithm. Hopefully some of the students use the newer Mozilla Firefox 3, which has upgraded to bicubic resampling.
Another problem is that the logos say “Option 1,” “Option 1,” “Option 4,” and “Option 4,” when it should be 1, 2, 3, 4. Everyone makes mistakes, but this is plain sloppy.
Either way, I’m glad that the college is going to its students for this decision. Vote here now; the opportunity ends in 27 hours (2008 August 28 at 5 P.M. Eastern).
Unfortunately, your vote may count for nothing, because the site says this:
“Vote as many times as you’d like for your favorite logo”
There’s nothing to stop you. You could just vote for the same one, over and over again, to skew the system. I could easily rig up a script with IMacros to vote for the 4th logo, thousands of times, if I was so inclined. Hopefully no one will do this.
I was at the welcome party in the courtyard at the Daytona Beach campus, which ended an hour ago. I’ll post my photos when I get back to my office this evening.
What did you think of the party? Comment now, and I’ll include it in an article later today.
MVSmith asked this question over in the Daytona State College forum:
Virtual College
Where did it go?
I’m signed up for Sociology via online with the VC and not only have I not yet heard from the professor, but the links I have to the VC no longer work. On top of that, I’ve been searching the new site for DSC and there’s nothing there (that I’ve found anyways).
So, if we have a class online, how do we get to it?
It’s a good question. The new virtual college is confusing. My Physics professor, Dr. Gajendra Tulsian, asked a student to log in to his account on Monday for a demonstration. He didn’t know how, the next student didn’t either, and the system wasn’t even working for the last one. Barring problems on the college’s end, here’s the reply I wrote detailing the steps:
They do make it confusing, I know. Here’s what to do:
1. Go to class.daytonastate.edu.
2. Enter your user name as first initial, last name, last three digits of student ID. Mine is rthripp658, for example.
3. Enter your password. I think this is your Falconmail password. Use the Forgot Password link if you need to, and the system will email your password to your Falconmail account.And to log in to your Falconnet account, click the “Falconnet” button at the top of the daytonastate.edu home page, log-in with your Student ID and password as birth date (081791, for example), click the big “Check Email” button toward the top-right, click “Continue…”, and finally, click “Inbox.” Too many steps, I know.
Once you’re in at class.daytonastate.edu, there are even more steps. Under “My Courses,” you may have to click the little plus sign to the right of “FA08″ (for Fall 2008) to get your course list to appear. Then, click the course you want to go to in the list. Then you’re at the course home page, where everything happens. There should be links at the top-left, below the college logo, which may say “Content Discussions Links Quizzes” (it varies by course). “Content” is where all the class material will be; mandatory reading, study guides, etc. Discussions are private, online forums for the class students. Participation is often mandatory; check the home page or Content pages to find out. “Links” are just links to other online resources. “Quizzes” aren’t just quizzes; they’re where you’ll be taking all your full-blown exams.
Good luck with your course, and let me know if you need help with anything else. Check out my article, How to Ace a Daytona State Online Exam; I’ve written some good tips there.
I was thinking why all the faculty say “Daytona State” rather than DSC, and why the website is daytonastate.edu rather than the shorter dsc.edu. I think it’s because this leaves the opportunity open to change the name to Daytona State University. You don’t have to change the website address again or many of the forms and paperwork, because they say or abbreviate the name as “Daytona State,” which works for both.
This change could be years or decades off. Universities generally offer Master’s and Doctoral programs. But this page, Colleges vs. Universities, has something interesting to say:
Don’t assume that all universities are large disciplinary institutes. In all but three states (New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey), any college can rename itself a university regardless of size or academic offerings.
If that’s true the college could change it’s name now. “Daytona State College” may just be an interim measure, because “Daytona Beach University” doesn’t have a nice sound and moving from “Daytona Beach College” to “Daytona State University” is too big a shift at once. That’s what I’m thinking.
Is Daytona State University in your future?
Yesterday, 2008 August 25, was the first day back to class for thousands of Daytona State College students. I was amazed by how busy the campus was, but it was likely because I only saw it between class periods when all the students and faculty were shuffling about.
A sign in the courtyard out front of the theater (building 220), welcoming the students.
The college’s new and improved parking lot. All this land used to be just grass, unused, and the parking situation was horrendous. Over the summer workmen replaced it with hundreds of spaces.
Building 410, for science. This was my first visit to the building, way at the back of the campus, for Physics I and Biology. Very nice; I like all the glass panels.
My first day was a lot of fun. I think I like Physics the most, though it’s probably the hardest. My speech teacher, Dr. Kenneth Walker, is a very good speaker. No umms or uhhs or kindas or likes in anything he says, always quick and to the point.
The biology class is really big, and I was impressed by Dr. James Backer’s work and resources on the website. The first day of class, we had a test, though it was just for statistical collection (how much we know about biology before biology class). That was interesting.
For calculus, we started off reviewing algebra / trigonometry / pre-calculus. Since I don’t use any of it in my daily life, I’ve already forgotten most of the concepts, so I’m working on re-learning them for the duration of the course (and Calculus II and beyond).
I got the wrong book for Calculus (MAC2311). The right one is James Stewart’s Single-Variable Caclulus, Early Transcendentals Version, 6th Edition. I have Edwards & Penney’s edition. The wrong one was only $3.57 from Abebooks with free shipping (how can they afford that). I called Dr. Benjamin Landon to get the ISBN of the right book. It is 9780495385592 (ISBN-10: 049538559X). I ordered it from Amazon.com for $47 with shipping. He gave me the ISBN for the teacher’s edition, but it’s actually much cheaper than the regular one (compare to $130).
I’d been wondering why all the faculty home pages were gone. No one told me. They’ve been moved to class.daytonastate.edu. Yes, they’re using the same system for offline courses as online courses now, Desire2Learn. So all the information has to be added by the faculty there, and you log in with your username (first initial, last name, last 3 #’s of student ID) and password to see your courses.
Also, my paper said my speech class was at building 220 with Mary Hemmelgarn, but it was in fact with Kenneth Walker at building 520. I was with two other students in the wrong class room, before they noticed the sign on the door. I’d seen it first but thought it was for someone else because it had the wrong room number on it and the name of a different teacher. We had to run a half-mile across campus and we got to class late. I printed my schedule up a couple months ago; they must’ve changed teachers for the course in the interim.
Why wasn’t I emailed about the move to class.daytonastate.edu, or the different teacher, or the moving of / typo for speech class? I certainly get a lot of other emails from the college, but when it comes to the important stuff, Daytona State often has no communication. It’s a shame.
Overall, it was a good day, though. The physics book is 1600 pages and weighs 8 pounds, and the other books are only slightly better. I just have a bag I carry them in; no backpack. It’s undoable in the heat and with the long jogs between buildings (building 520 to 410 mainly). So I bought a luggage suitcase with wheels yesterday. That should make things easier.
Physics class is 4 days a week, so I’m going in at 10 A.M. (it’s 8:20 now). I’ve read the first chapter. It’s an introduction to scalars, vectors, precision and accuracy, units of measures, the components and products of vectors, operations with them, the theory behind physics, and more. Lengthy and complicated, though it’s the shortest chapter in the book.
For the first day, I gave out a 4*6 copy of Glass Rain to all the students in every class except Speech (because I was late). The rest of the semester I’ll be exhausting the old stock; a lot of classics and my best work from my portfolio. I can’t get them printed cheaply anymore, so new stuff is a no-go. Fortunately, all of my work is new to most of the students, except a few friends who I was in the same classes with before.
Simplicity is the piece for today’s Physics class. I’m going to make a chart up for the next two weeks and post it here tomorrow.
I was reading some of the comments on Daytona State College’s buy-out of the News-Journal Center. These ones were the most biting:
If you are sick and tired of this topic and want to voice objection to the Daytona State take over of the N-J Center, contact your State Representative and State Senator to block Florida legislative approval. With the cut backs in state funding for public safety and education, the $700,000 of state funding can possibly be blocked. Daytona State does not need to assume responsibility for this project. They already have a fine facility. Show me another community college with a theatre the size of the N-J Center. If Daytona State wants to spend tax dollars, it would be better spent on campus in student related matters.
Sharples just doesnt want to be outdone by Bethune Cookman. His ego is ridiculous. The college could use that money in other areas of the college.
Let me get this straight. Tippen Davidson used company money to support this money losing endeavor, of which he only controlled 51% so his minority partner’s involuntarily paid for 49% of his generosity. And of the 51% that he did control I am sure he used his charitable donation tax deductions to reduce his tax bill thereby allowing tax payers to help foot the bill. Now a judge says the News Journal can’t do this anymore SOOOO the thearter decides to dump the whole thing on the nit wits that run Daytona Beach College and allow the state to foot the bill for this money pit and they gets to keep his company name on the building!! WHAT DEAL or BOONDOOGLE
I’ve been to the college’s theater at building 220 at the Daytona campus. It’s beautiful. Hundreds of seats, great acoustics, lighting, and layout. Does a “community college” need a huge theater? I agree with the first comment, in that I haven’t heard of any others with a theater as grandiose as the News-Journal’s.
We know Sharples wants to shed the community-college roots. All the press releases brag that the school is getting bigger, expanding, growing, becoming ever larger and more bureaucratic. Does that really benefit the students? Does moving the theater three miles from the campus benefit the students?
Sometimes I wonder. Leave me a comment and tell me: are you for the News-Journal Center acquisition, or the college’s continued expansion in general? Why or why not? There are plenty of good reasons from either side, but we’ll get a much better general opinion from blog comments than press releases.
An update on the News-Journal situation: it’s getting closer. Daytona State’s board of trustees has said yes to leasing the News-Journal theater center from the Lively Arts Center for one year.
The Lively Arts Center is giving $800,000 to the college, but I suppose the college will pay even more back. However, the state has to match this gift, so the college will get 1.6 million dollars. That should help a little.
The transfer is in fact mandated by a judge, because the Seaside Music Theater isn’t paying for the center anymore. The News-Journal won’t either, and the land is the city’s, so a profitable tenant must be found. Enter Daytona State College.
Kent Sharples (DSC president) says the state legislature needs to vote too, because they’ll be paying $700,000 per year toward the operating costs if the transfer goes through.
Clay Henderson of the Lively Arts Center’s board of directors said something interesting:
“We all are trying to keep everything going in the same way Tippen Davidson envisioned. Because that could not happen, this is the best way.”
Tippen Davidson was the News-Journal president till his death in 2007 January. He was the “driving force” behind the News-Journal Center, says the News-Journal. Apparently, he’d be rolling in his grave now, because Daytona State’s acquisition of his center is repugnant to his beautiful vision.
Either way, I’m excited that the college’s classes resume tomorrow at 8 A.M. My schedule: Calculus I 8-9 A.M., Speech 9-10, Physics I 10-11, and Biology 11-12. I wish my bag had wheels. The books are so heavy.
I’m posting this with the new write posts from home feature, so you can post simple updates to your DaytonaState.org blog right from the home page, rather than in the slower backend. You set the title, content, and tags, and the post is set to your default category. Get your DaytonaState.org blog so you can start using this feature.