BOSTON (May 21, 2018) – Cengage, an education and technology company, and VitalSource^®, the leading Inclusive Access provider for higher education institutions nationwide, announced today that they are expanding their existing collaboration to support the distribution, fulfillment and marketing of Cengage Unlimited.

Cengage and VitalSource work together to provide affordable and accessible learning materials for students nationwide. In 2017, more than a million students in the U.S. used VitalSource to access Cengage content. Beginning in August 2018, Cengage Unlimited will be available through the VitalSource E-commerce solutions and onsite campus stores, as well as through Cengage.com and numerous other channel partners.

Cengage Unlimited is the first-of-its-kind subscription service for digital higher education materials that gives students complete on-demand access to all Cengage digital resources for $119.99 per semester or $179.99 a year. The expanded collaboration with VitalSource will make Cengage Unlimited available to hundreds of thousands of U.S. students through www.vitalsource.com, partner campus stores, and VitalSource’s Inclusive Access model, which provides students immediate access to all required course materials on the first day of class at affordable prices.

In addition to distribution, VitalSource will power many of Cengage Unlimited’s 20,000 plus eTextbooks. The VitalSource platform gives Cengage Unlimited students both online and offline access to textbooks and course materials on all major operating systems and mobile devices, with the best accessibility and student ratings in the industry.

“At Cengage, we’re disrupting the traditional textbook publishing model with a focus on providing affordable access to high-quality digital learning materials for students,” said Todd Markson, Chief Strategy Officer at Cengage. “In working more closely with VitalSource, we will be able to reach even more students with our comprehensive subscription service. The collaboration with VitalSource continues the brisk momentum behind Cengage Unlimited.”

Students and faculty at more than 7,000 institutions will have the opportunity to access Cengage Unlimited.

“Ensuring students, stores and instructors have access to the best educational materials and experiences at more affordable, competitive price points has been the VitalSource mission for over twenty years, “said Pep Carerra, president of VitalSource. “This collaboration is the next generation of innovation in educational materials, reaching students where they are, and helping to provide options the way modern consumers expect and deserve. We couldn’t be more excited to distribute Cengage Unlimited and support it with our eTextbook platform, bringing both worlds seamlessly together for hundreds of thousands of students.”

For more information on Cengage Unlimited visit www.Cengage.com/unlimited. To learn more about VitalSource, visit get.vitalsource.com.

About VitalSource | get.vitalsource.com

VitalSource Technologies LLC, part of Ingram Content Group, is improving the learning experience by making it easier to create and deliver effective and affordable content. The preferred choice among educational institutions and companies for digital learning materials, VitalSource® helps over 1,000 educational content providers create and deliver seamless interactive learning experiences through its exclusive Bookshelf® platform to millions of learners at 7,000 institutions. Bookshelf users opened more than 20 million digital textbooks last year and read more than 3.4 billion pages. Follow VitalSource on Twitter at @VitalSource.

About Cengage
Cengage is the education and technology company built for learners. As the largest US-based provider of teaching and learning materials for higher education, we offer valuable options at affordable price points. Our industry-leading initiatives include Cengage Unlimited, the first-of-its-kind all-access digital subscription service.  We embrace innovation to create learning experiences that build confidence and momentum toward the future students want. Headquartered in Boston, Cengage also serves K-12, library and workforce training markets around the world. Visit us at www.cengage.com or find us on Facebook or Twitter.

Media Contacts:
Lindsay Stanley
Cengage
203-965-8634
lindsay.stanley@cengage.com

Erin Shannon
VitalSource
617-314-3789
erin.shannon@vitalsource.com

Two quadruple bogeys, two triple bogeys, five double bogeys, 14 bogeys, 10 birdies and the rest pars.

“The Adventure Zone” is a Dungeons and Dragons podcast brought to you by the McElroy family, the same people who make “My Brother, My Brother and Me.” Originally a one-off episode released with MBMBaM, everyone decided it needed a little more. So, that’s how we got the 70 episode quest to find the grand relics and save the multiverse. Now that we’re going into a new season with all new characters, it’s a great time to recommend this to you. Don’t get turned off by the fact that it’s a D&D podcast, it’s more or less a comedy storytelling podcast that will, at times, make you cry, using the framework of the Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition.

Previous Season “Recap:”

None of the seasons are connected, so don’t worry if you just want to listen to the current season, “Amnesty” — you’re not missing anything by skipping the first season, “Balance.”

Season one is set in a fantasy setting like you would see with your average game of D&D, Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, just with a few more elevators, robots and battlewagons. The cast of main characters includes Magnus Burnsides, the fighter, played by Travis, Taako, the Wizard, played by Justin and Merle “Hightower” Highchurch, the Cleric, played by Clint. They are all led by their game master and youngest brother Griffin, who acts as everyone else.

After a tragic event wiped out an entire city, the three adventurers are inducted into the Bureau of Balance. Where — with the leadership of Lucretia, the director — they must save the world from itself, collecting the eight Grand Relics, which each have control over an aspect of magic. Trudging through the evils of Wonderland, competing in the Gold Cliff Battlewagon races, or stopping the apocalypse in an hour, the adventurers will find a way to save the day.

The second season, “Amnesty,” is set in the fictional town of Kepler, West Virginia, shying away from hard fantasy and bringing in more real-world aspects with underlying cryptid horror. Think “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” mixed with “Gravity Falls,” but instead of Dungeons and Dragons, the boys are playing a game called “Monster of the Week,” which is based on episodic hunter shows like “Supernatural.”

To Binge or not to Binge:

This is a heavily story-driven show that is essentially improv, which won’t be a huge surprise if you’ve played before. That being said, you’ll have to start with arc one, “Here There be Gerblins,” and trudge through the slight awkwardness of feeling it out, but it still has good moments that make it easy to get through. It begins to take off during “Petals to the Metal,” dips during “The Eleventh Hour,” then hits its highest quality at “Crystal Kingdom.”

The narrative is easy to spoil, though not extremely important. It makes the story stronger if you don’t know certain details.

“The Adventure Zone” has a fantastically artistic tone that invokes and deserves praise from its fans. The loose play with the rules leads to fantastic moments, and even outside of them playing the game, the narrative that is weaved throughout is touching and hilarious, whether it is Magnus’ love story, The Town of Tom Bodettes or Arms Outstretched, it’ll change the way you think of narrative and comedy. Beware, there is the chance you will cry or laugh in public. 

Music is also something you don’t usually think about when it comes to podcasts, but music plays a big role in “The Adventure Zone.” All of the tunes match the story arc. The music is written and produced by Griffin McElroy, with some tracks supplied by Mort Garson and his album, “Ataraxia: The Unexplained.“ The music can be heard on YouTube or on his SoundCloud. My personal favorite songs are “The Diary of Shariff Isaak,” “Robot Rematch,” and “Wonderland: Round Three.”

This is definitely a commuter podcast. I usually listen to it during my walk to and from school or while doing mindless work. Like I mentioned before, since it’s Dungeons & Dragons, you don’t need to know how to play to enjoy it — but if you do play the game, you’ll appreciate it a little bit more.

On another note, “The Adventure Zone” promotes a great amount of diversity without praising itself in that regard, depicting two or more gay/lesbian relationships, one canonically trans character, as well as mixing real-life race and fantasy races. 

Best Episode:

Choosing a favorite episode is difficult for a show of this length, but my favorite arcs are the “Crystal Kingdom,” “The Suffering Game” and “Story and Song.” This is when the show really gets good, as the music and character building become the strongest around these arcs of the show.

Similar Shows:

“Hello from the Magic Tavern,” “Critical Role,” “Dungeons and Places.”

Trigger warnings:

Fantasy/Cartoon Violence, Mild Sexual Content, Profanities, Drug and Alcohol References.

Rating 4.75/5

“The Adventure Zone”

Available to stream on Apple Podcast, Stitcher, Google Play, Soundcloud, and MaximumFun.org.

70+ Episodes, ~70 hours of content with a new episode coming out every other Tuesday.

m.falkner@dailyutahchronicle.com

@TheChrony

The post Binge Bytes: “The Adventure Zone” appeared first on Daily Utah Chronicle.

The Bruins are in second place after three rounds at the NCAA championships.

No. 3 UCLA women’s golf made the tournament’s first cut by more than 30 strokes Sunday at the Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The 24-team championship field was reduced to 15 teams after the first three days of stroke play, and the Bruins will need to finish in the top eight after Monday’s final round of stroke play in order to advance to match play and have a shot at their fourth title in program history.

At 6-over par, UCLA trails No. 1 Alabama by eight shots and leads No. 15 Kent State, the current eighth-place team, by 21 strokes.

A trio of Bruins will head into Monday’s round among the top-15 individuals.

Junior Lilia Vu is tied-seventh at 1-under par after shooting 3-over Sunday. Vu’s 4-under in round two tied for the best round of the day, and she is six shots shy of the individual lead after 54 holes.

Sophomore Mariel Galdiano recorded UCLA’s best round Sunday at even par, and she is currently tied for 10th, one shot behind Vu. Freshman Patty Tavatanakit was under par each of her first two rounds and is tied-13th, one stroke behind Galdiano.

Rounding out the Bruins’ five, junior Beth Wu is tied-35th at 6-over par and sophomore Clare Legaspi is tied-83rd at 14-over.

UCLA was 6-over par in its first round Friday, good for third place, but the Bruins’ 9-under in round two was the best of the day and propelled them into first. However, only one team in the top-10 shot worse than UCLA’s 9-over in round three.

Still, the Bruins have a comfortable 21-stroke lead on eighth place heading into Monday. Following Monday’s final 18 holes of stroke play, the top eight teams will be seeded for match play, which takes place Tuesday and Wednesday.

Should UCLA move on to match play, the Bruins would need to win three matches to claim a national title. The match play quarterfinals and semifinals will be played Tuesday, followed by the championship match Wednesday.

Berkeley disability rights group alleges mental health discrimination by Stanford

A Berkeley-based disability rights advocacy group filed a lawsuit against Stanford University Friday, alleging discrimination against students with mental health issues.

Disability Rights Advocates, or DRA, filed the lawsuit on behalf of three Stanford students and the Stanford Mental Health and Wellness Coalition — composed of more than 20 student organizations on Stanford’s campus — according to a press release. The lawsuit alleges that Stanford discriminates against students with mental health issues by evicting them from campus housing and pressuring them into taking leaves of absence, thereby violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“Despite being a highly selective university regularly ranked in the top five nationally and globally and charging tuition in the range of $50,000 per year, Stanford maintains antiquated policies, practices, and procedures related to mental health that violate anti-discrimination laws,” the lawsuit alleges.

One student, referred to as Jacob Z. in the lawsuit, struggled with suicidal tendencies in early 2018, eventually checking into a hospital for treatment. The lawsuit alleges that while Jacob was at the hospital, a residence dean visited him and stated that Jacob had “caused his dormmates psychological harm” and “been a disruption to the community.” Jacob was allegedly threatened with legal action and a ban from his dormitory. 

“Throughout this process, Stanford has treated Jacob more as a legal liability than as a student,” states the lawsuit. “Stanford has aggravated Jacob’s stress with vague, incomplete information and complicated processes which he must navigate without assistance or explanation.”

Another student, referred to as Tina Y. in the lawsuit, was sexually assaulted during her first quarter at Stanford and diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result. The next spring, Tina was allegedly asked by a residence dean to avoid interacting with admitted students and their families during Admit Day, or risk being forced to take a leave of absence “if she was perceived to be too much of a liability.”

After receiving a medication adjustment for her anxiety symptoms while studying abroad, Tina was allegedly required to stay at an on-site clinic against her will. Tina was placed on an indefinite leave of absence from the university five days into Stanford’s mandated 30-day treatment, according to the lawsuit.

“During Tina’s three-hour video conference to appeal the leave of absence, the administrators asked Tina how she would remedy the damage she had done to the community, despite the fact that she had not harmed anyone,” the lawsuit states.

Monica Porter, an attorney and the Equal Justice Works Fellow at the DRA, said the DRA was looking into campus mental health statewide and nationally. She added that the group’s advocacy is informed by the needs of the community, and that the DRA launched an investigation after learning about Stanford’s mental health policies.

“In a mental health crisis, Stanford should be working with students and their doctors, not making students apologize for being ill,” Porter said in the press release.

Rather than seek monetary damages in the lawsuit, the plaintiffs want to change Stanford’s leave of absence policy and improve access to Stanford’s housing services.

According to Stanford University spokesperson E. J. Miranda, Stanford is in the process of reviewing the complaint.

“The University cares deeply about the health and well-being of our students and has focused on making robust programs, facilities, and services available to them,” Miranda said in an email.

Revati Thatte is an assistant news editor. Contact her at rthatte@dailycal.org and follow her on Twitter at @revati_thatte.

The Daily Californian

Now living in London, Hilal Koc (03C) applies both her passion for startups and her experiences living around the globe in cities including San Francisco, New York City, Istanbul and Buenos Aires as a product marketing manager for emerging markets at Facebook. She graduated from Emory in 2003 after double majoring in political science and economics and minoring in Spanish.

Koc has also worked as an advocate to empower women in the technology industry, investing in startups founded by women and working with international organizations such as Girls First Code UK and Women in Tech UK.

The Emory Wheel spoke with Koc about how her time at Emory taught her to “focus on learning and think globally,” which later informed decisions throughout her successful career in the tech industry.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

I was involved in a number of activities. I studied abroad in Argentina. I was very passionate about helping international students. I travelled a lot as a child before going to Emory, so I was very sympathetic and empathetic to people’s experiences coming … to the U.S.

[Those years] were pretty formative years in my life. It was the first time I had lived in the South. I am originally from California and had lived abroad for quite a bit, and it was a very interesting and different experience for me to be exposed to a different American culture, as well as all the different nationalities and personalities at Emory. I was in [Kappa Alpha Theta] sorority as well, and that was important for me in terms of building a community and making good friends.

The main function of college, especially at a liberal arts college like Emory, is to learn how to learn. I think the way to do that at Emory is to have an open mind and expose yourself to a lot of different types of classes, because, later on in your career, your goal is for you to become flexible and just really good at adapting and implementing different ideas and concepts.

If I [were] just focused on a specific skill set or passing a specific class while I was at Emory, not on how to learn about people’s interactions or how to learn about basic economic principles around pricing, then I wouldn’t be able to apply [that] today.

I really love the idea of empowering emerging markets … I am a part of the development of the product from the early ideas to the technical engineering, implementation, testing, launching and the growth planning. The reason I can apply myself in multiple areas is because my journey to this job has been quite varied across a lot of different industries. I think it is very difficult to get that [expertise] without having different experiences and learning how to do different functions.

In short, take risks, focus on learning, and think globally. When I was at Google, one of the executives I worked with said it really well. He said variety is a good thing. You should build a mosaic of a career. Essentially, a Monet [painting] is better when you stand back and see all the different colors, and nobody wants a one-dimensional person. They really want people who have seen a lot, done a lot [and] made a lot of mistakes, but have had a lot of successes as well. The only way to do that is to take the risks and focus on the learning.

Elon Musk has this term: “expert generalist.” That is exactly what I try to be in my career, and that is what I recommend to all students, [especially] women. Essentially, by studying widely in many different fields, you better understand principles more deeply and you understand what connects those fields.

Never define yourself by your particular company or your particular role. I think that is extremely limiting and I think a lot of women do that. … You should always have something that is an interest on the side outside of your existing role. I love my job at Facebook, but I have always had a passion outside of my day job, which is working with startups. Just make sure one specific job does not define you or be the only factor that makes you proud of yourself.

The post Balancing Facebook and Startups: Koc Credits ‘Mosaic’ Career appeared first on The Emory Wheel.

A University of Oregon student died Saturday morning at Shasta Lake in Northern California, Shasta County Police confirmed. Authorities have not yet provided a cause of death.

The student was a sophomore affiliated with the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, commonly known as Fiji. He was at the lake with hundreds of other UO students for the annual Shasta weekend event that goes Thursday to Sunday. Students at the lake told the Emerald that almost everyone left Saturday after the student died.

The Emerald is waiting to identify the student so there is time for friends and family to be notified.

Several students have died at Shasta Lake in recent years. A UO student and an Oregon State student both died in May 2005, and another Oregon State student died in 2001.

UO spokesman Tobin Klinger said the university is looking into the incident and wouldn’t release any information until notifying the person’s family.

Update at 5:30 p.m.: Shasta County Sheriff’s Office released a press statement this afternoon saying that the cause of death is pending post mortem exam and that they have no reason to believe foul play was involved.

The post UO student dies Saturday at annual Lake Shasta weekend appeared first on Emerald Media.

Jeremy Ydens had a career day Saturday.

The sophomore left fielder hit two home runs, tallying five RBIs en route to a 15-1 victory for No. 18 UCLA baseball (34-17, 17-9 Pac-12) over Oregon (25-26, 11-15). The righty had two homers his freshman year, and had three on the season coming into Saturday’s game. His two homer day carried the Bruins to their third win a row, with just four games left on the slate this year.

Ydens knocked a solo shot to left field to lead off the first inning, putting the Bruins up 1-0 early. In the fourth, he came up with two men on base and drove them all in on a line drive that cleared the right field wall to give his team a 6-0 lead.

Ydens didn’t carry UCLA on his own, however. A two-run second inning put the Bruins up 3-0. Junior center fielder Daniel Amaral drove a double deep off the left field wall, and was driven in on an infield single by freshman right fielder Garrett Mitchell three pitches later.

The Bruins were able to hold on to their early lead thanks to freshman right-hander Zach Pettway, who pitched six innings and racked up seven strikeouts. It was his seventh game with six or more strikeouts this year, and he allowed just four hits, the first time since Feb. 25 he has allowed four or fewer hits in a start.

The solo home run Pettway allowed in the seventh ended his shutout bid, and it was the 14th homer he has allowed in as many games this season. He was able to drop his season ERA to 3.42, a return to form after his 4 1/3 inning, 7 earned run performance against Washington last week.

Pettway had some help from his fielders as well, with Mitchell ranging across the outfield to make a reaching grab to prevent an extra base hit in the third. Amaral caught a hard-hit line drive and turned a double play, catching the lone runner tagging at first base.

Amaral had a home run of his own in the seventh inning, knocking a solo shot to left to bring the Bruin lead to 9. It was his third home run of the year, after hitting one each in his first two seasons at UCLA.

After hitting a two-RBI double in the sixth, sophomore first baseman Michael Toglia had another in the seventh. Sophomore catcher Will McInerny also added a two-RBI double in the seventh.

The Bruins broke double-digits in runs, hitting that mark in their third game in a row.

UCLA and Oregon will close out the series Sunday at 12 p.m., as the Bruins have a chance to complete a sweep in-conference for the first time since April 22.

University Day is the longest standing tradition at the University of Oregon. On May 17, over 700 students, faculty and community members participated by offering an hour or more of their time to help beautify the UO campus in preparation for commencement ceremonies that will take place June 18.

This year the main projects mostly included spreading mulch around campus and planting flowers, as well as bee-friendly plants — the UO is making a much more concentrated effort to save the bees, according to Wallace.

“It’s thrilling to see students and staff both — and sometimes community members — participating and giving back,” said Jane Brubaker, the landscape designer for Campus Planning and Facilities Management.

The event was put together and executed by students. Rachael Wallace, a senior at UO studying Political Science, is the University Day Coordinator. She is a part of the Emerging Leaders Program through ASUO, which is how she met a friend who told her about the event coordinator internship. She’s been planning University Day since Fall term and tried to put her own spin on it this year.

Each day of the week leading up to Thursday’s campus beautification event, Wallace chose to plan mini-events that modeled UO spirit. Focus was placed on loyalty, enthusiasm and overall dedication to UO students and the well-being of campus.

Wallace said the event was impactful, but also stressful at times.

“It was almost like a huge sigh of relief,” she said about finally being done with the planning process.

Many students who participate have never done any planting or outdoor work before University Day, Brubaker said. She added that it warms her heart to know that this event gives people their first landscaping experience.

“If they plant an area like Hayward Field or the big Oregon sign, they become part of that place, to watch things grow,” she said.

Junior Javan Bennett finished a midterm for his public relations class and decided to volunteer for an hour before his second midterm later that day. He was by himself pulling weeds between Fenton and Allen Hall.

“I just figured that cramming an hour before the test wouldn’t do anything anyway, so I might as well just hang out here in the sun,” he said. “It’s a beautiful day.”

Bennett wasn’t aware the event was happening until he saw some of his friends wearing University Day T-shirts and noticed the tent on campus. He’s from Eugene and grew up around UO, so he said he’s happy to help out and be involved.

The volunteer tent was located on the lawn outside the Collier House, below a rainbow balloon arch and surrounded by hula hoops and staff wearing vibrant event t-shirts.

Students signed up with the staff at the tent and were then assigned to job sites that were scattered around UO.

The projects done by volunteers make a noticeable difference in the beauty of the campus landscape. Brubaker said walking around the day after the event is always amazing. She thinks it helps people notice the work that the UO grounds crew does year round.

“I think sometimes they’re a little invisible,” she said. “You appreciate what they do, but you don’t always see them or know what they do until you go out and try to dig in the soil.”

Sophomore Amelia Hylton had the chance to talk to some of the grounds crew during her hour of work. She said that interacting with them gave her insight on the behind-the-scenes work done at UO.

Hylton is an RA on campus and gets plenty of emails with opportunities to be more involved at UO. She chose to participate in Thursday’s event because she felt like it was especially important to give back and help beautify the place that she will be spending four years of her life.

“Any opportunity to serve campus and make it a better place to be,” said Hylton, “is one I should take.”

The post Students help prepare UO for commencement on University Day appeared first on Emerald Media.

Kick your summer off right with the largest outdoor arts festival in Utah. The Utah Arts Festival has won awards for its production each year in downtown Salt Lake City on local, national and international levels. The festival’s attendance hits record numbers of 80,000 a year when it comes to town in the last week of June. With over 160 visual artists and 100 performing groups, the UAF committee promises that this year will be “the best yet.”

The Utah Arts Festival is a multidisciplinary festival, meaning all types of art are promoted there. A quick glance at the festival website shows some of the art types you will encounter at the festival include: culinary art, jazz, film, visual arts, dance, music, performance art and chamber ensembles. At last year’s festival, there was a whole section dedicated to graffiti art. The UAF is a non-profit organization committed to enhancing Utahns’ lives through the sharing of art.

Taking place from June 21-24, there is a never-ending variety of booths, activities and arts-related things for patrons to do. This year the festival has added a summer concert segment titled “Amplify your Utah Arts Festival Experience.” All of the concerts will take place on the Amphitheatre Stage. On Thursday, Americana artist Ron Pope and indie rock band Gomez will perform. On Friday, hip hop DJ A-Trak will take the stage. On Saturday, Los Angeles native duo People Under the Stairs will perform hip-hop music. On Sunday, soul-infused rock band St. Paul and the Broken Bones will end the festival. Tickets for each day are priced $25 and include same day festival admission. 

Additionally, BANDALOOP — a group of dancers based in Oakland, California — will perform each night of the festival. Their stage will be the ceiling of the downtown library. BANDALOOP performs complex choreography while suspended from ropes.

On the last day of the festival, there will be a Big Deal Brunch to kick off funding for next year’s event. The brunch will consist of culinary goodies like fresh juice and a breakfast buffet. There will also be live entertainment. Tickets for the brunch are priced at $35 and include admission into the festival for the day. Brunch will last from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The true heart of the Utah Arts Festival is not something that can be described in a preview. It’s something you need to see for yourself. There is something for everyone at the festival, no matter what type of art you enjoy or how old you are. Don’t miss the chance to see what artists here in Utah have created with their brilliant minds in 2018.

You can buy general admission tickets to the festival at the door as well as online, for $15 per ticket. Tickets for specific events can be purchased in advance on the UAF website. The festival is located at Library and Washington Square. The festival will last from June 21 to 24 and will be open each day from noon to 11 p.m.

p.jayswal@dailyutahchronicle.com

@palak_jayswal

The post Appreciate the Arts this Summer with Utah Arts Festival appeared first on Daily Utah Chronicle.