During a time where technology giants like Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are front row of the inauguration, it’s important to disconnect from short-form content and to engage with art. On Jan. 19, TikTok was temporarily banned from the United States over speculation that government officials from China were collecting data to influence American users’ opinions by escalating or suppressing certain content. When the ban went into effect, every American user got a pop-up message explaining that TikTok was banned in the U.S., but the last part of the message made me scoff: “We are fortunate that President...

By Aaliah Higareda • February 6, 2025 • Features

Before the orchestra pulls out their sheet music and the actors start putting on their makeup, a very different kind of pre-show routine is taking place behind the curtain at Umble Center: the stage crew presets props and costumes, tests lighting and sound and otherwise prepares for a run of “Into the Woods.” Sarah Bailey, a junior theater major and stage manager for “Into the Woods,” said her job “is really to make sure the ship is running smoothly.” Specifically, Bailey takes notes on blocking, organizes schedules, oversees the other crew members and calls cues from the booth during the...

By Lukas Bontrager-Waite • March 30, 2023 • Features

If you attend guest speaker events, concerts, sports games and everything in between at Goshen College, you may have noticed mysterious people dressed in black pushing buttons in the background. It’s not as scary as it seems. They are trained professionals, making sure all of the audio and visual (AV) elements in the events are running smoothly. ITSMedia, the AV extension of ITS (Information Technology Services), has several key functions on campus, including the operation of Campus Post and classroom technology. What takes up most of their time, though, is the AV and systems support for events and event centers....

By Lukas Bontrager-Waite • February 23, 2023 • Features

A young woman settles down at her computer. She takes the mouse and clicks the icon labeled “Open Broadcaster Software.” After adjusting the lighting and launching a video game, she takes a moment to pause.  Even though she’s been doing this for a year, the nerves still arise sometimes. But she shakes them off, dons a smile and presses the “start livestream” button. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, countless large-scale organizations have had to move operations online: schools, churches, workplaces, etc. But how has the pandemic impacted platforms that were already solely online? A variety of online content-sharing platforms...

By Riley Borntreger • February 19, 2021 • Features

As Goshen College prepares to transition to online classes on Monday March 23, workshops will be available on Thursday March 19 and Friday March 20, to train faculty and students in preparation for the change.  Ann Vendrely, vice president for academic affairs and academic dean, is currently working alongside Erin Milanese, head of learning technologies, to plan for the faculty workshops.  “Moodle will be the primary learning platform for online courses,” Vendrely said. “We will also provide training on Zoom for use in some courses and for advising. Some faculty are already using Google Hangouts and FaceTime, so that will...

By Megan Bower • March 14, 2020 • News

Shortly after noon on Friday, March 13, Goshen College’s Crisis Management Team announced the plan for the college to transition from in-person classes to online instruction on Monday, March 23, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Goshen is joining campuses across the country, including sister school Eastern Mennonite University, in transitioning to online education for the immediate future. Many colleges, especially larger universities, have a somewhat robust digital education system already in place; online lectures and webinars are a regular part of the curriculum at Arizona State University and Pennsylvania State University, and even at regional schools like Trine University...

By Jace Longenecker • March 13, 2020 • News

I have never had Snapchat. Let’s check the list here: never added something to my Story, never shared a hilarious personal video, never even downloaded the app. As for crazy filters on my face? The last time I used those were when I was FaceTiming my roommates over the summer. This might seem strange to the other people in my generation. Most of my friends in high school and college have at least some experience with the app. According to a 2018 study, 186 million people use Snapchat every day. Even though Snapchat’s popularity has skyrocketed ever since its release...

By Cristina Jantz • March 23, 2019 • News

Every once in a while, it’s discovered that a staff member at Goshen College has an alternate identity. Pamela Osborne, the help desk manager at ITS, is one of these people. In addition to saving the lives of people unfortunate enough to encounter the many faults of modern technology, Osborne is the founder and owner of Juxtapose, a vibrant art gallery and shop in downtown Elkhart that displays everything from sculptures and paintings to handmade jewelry and chocolates. Osborne grew up in Upland, Indiana, living there through high school. After graduating, Osborne attended Indiana State University for two years. “The...

By Carter Mckay-Epp • January 17, 2019 • Features

At Goshen College’s Kick-Off, amidst a lineup that included Barnett’s Boys launching themselves in the air, the Great Hughdini reading minds and an electrifying performance of Wheatus’s “Teenage Dirtbag,” was the official launch of a social media app that aspires to compete with social media’s best. During intermission, a short video advertisement played that showcased the application as well as some of its features, marking Blink’s official launch. “It looked interesting, but I wasn’t sure what was going on,” said Reed Yoder, a junior at Goshen College. What not all Kick-Off attendees might know is that Blink is the product...

By Carter Mckay-Epp • October 10, 2018 • Features

While other Maple Scholars worked hard on presentations and experiments, Bryce Yoder, a junior, sat around playing video games. Specifically, Yoder played a video game he created as part of the Maple Scholars program, an eight-week, hands-on interdisciplinary summer research program that encourages applicants from every discipline to participate. With Maple Scholars, faculty members propose their research topic or creative project in early December, after which students apply to work on the projects. Yoder worked under Randy Horst, professor of art. Yoder, who is a computer science major and a graphic design minor, said that his job this summer was...

By Micah Raber • September 12, 2018 • Features

Jeanette Shown, associate professor of computer science and information technology, will tell you that anyone can build their own computer. That’s exactly what she did. As a matter of fact, Shown has been building computers for a long time now. She even built her own telescope at the age of 11. But why build your own computer? “I think someone in the computer science department should have a state of the art computer,” Shown said. “The nice thing about building your own computer is you know exactly what’s on it and you can [use] the software you want.” Her computer...

By Cecilia Garcia • February 1, 2018 • Features

Goshen College became a miniature Silicon Valley for 48 hours as the Global Game Jam took place in the Union building this past weekend. The event started on the night of the 26th of January and spanned until the afternoon of the 28th. Each team of game-creators had 48 hours to plan, build and finish a game, whether that be a board, card or video game. Students and alumni from the college took part in the event, as well as some members from high schools in the area.The Game Jam is in its fourth year at Goshen College and for...

By Admin • February 1, 2018 • News

The future of female computer scientists lays in the hands of Jeanette Shown, associate professor of computer science and information technology, and Meghan Gerke, junior computer science major. This fall, Shown and Gerke will use their $8,500 grant from Google’s IgniteCS program to help spark interest in computer science in young girls at Goshen Middle School. IgniteCS focuses on “[making] a difference in local communities through [computer science] leadership,” according to their mission statement. Last year, Google contacted Shown after the deadline for the grant was due and asked if she would be interested in applying. “I think one of...

By Abby King • September 8, 2016 • Features

This Friday through Sunday, Goshen College will be hosting their second Global Game Jam. Throughout the course of the weekend, up to 40 participants will engage in programming, iterative design and artistic expression in the process of their own game creation. The first day of the event will be held in Umble Center this Friday, from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. At this time, participants will watch a keynote video with advice from leading game developers, and then the secret theme will be revealed. After the theme is revealed, all participating sites worldwide are required to use this theme to...

By Lexa Magnuson • January 28, 2016 • News

Kimberly Glick is a Goshen College professional staff member, working for the on-campus audio visual department ITS Media. She is a Goshen College alum and has been working in audio and the music industry since graduating college. What inspired you to go into audio engineering?  I got into audio because I took a year off college in my sophomore year and joined a band. We recorded an album; the recording engineer was also in the band so I ended up spending a lot of my time with him learning about the recording software and the gear we used. I realized...

By Riley Mills • October 29, 2015 • Features