USS launches Web site to show students what there is to do around Kent

Undergraduate Student Senate has found a way to help students get out of the residence halls every weekend.

Last week USS launched What2DoAtKSU.com, a Web site that displays on and off-campus events, USS Executive Director Ross Miltner said.

“Anything that’s going on on campus is on there,” Miltner said. “It’s everything short of a house party.”

The site is an interactive calendar where users can search through dates to see what events are posted for a specific day. Users can then click on the event title to see more details about the event, including the event time, description, location, sponsors, contact information and a link to the sponsor’s Web site.

Event types are searchable as well.

“It’s sort of like the FlashLine calendar, only a little more user friendly,” Miltner said.

Unique to What2DoAtKSU are user comments. Users can comment on events before or after. And they can be left anonymously, so there is no need to log in.

Miltner said the reason for creating the site was to put all Kent State and community events in one place. Events had previously been posted and advertised in different places online, and Miltner said it helps students to have all the information consolidated.

“We do really great programs as far as student organizations and student events,” Miltner said. “We’re not doing a good job letting students know what’s going on on this campus.”

For now, the senators are posting the information themselves, but Miltner said a program assistant has been hired to compile all of the events and post them to the site.

Students wanting to have an event posted should contact any senator, but soon, students can e-mail the new program assistant, Miltner said.

Miltner said his biggest goal for the site is for it to become a “way for students to find ways to stay on weekends.”

USS worked on other Web sites over the summer as well, creating a site for students to buy and sell items such as books, iPods or TVs.

USS decided to end its old book exchange Web site and replace it with FlashSwap.com. FlashSwap was launched in July and is a craigslist-type site for students, USS Graphic Designer Matt Stevens said.

Stevens said there is basically no limit as to what items can be posted, and the site is open to anyone with a valid FlashLine account.

Because this site replaces the book exchange site, students can easily re-list book exchange items after logging into FlashSwap, Stevens said.

Contact student politics reporter Kali Price at [email protected].