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The JMU network

Police release Keatts’ cause of death

GRIFFIN HARRINGTON / THE BREEZE

The death of fifth-year senior and cheerleader Nick Keatts was one of several deaths in the fall semester.

KATIE BAROODY / THE BREEZE

Senior Evan Botello is a co-founder of the social network website Coursetab. Botello and alumnus Andrew Elgert developed Coursetab in the fall to create a free “one-way street” connection between professors’ online research and students.

Student creates social network website to encourage more student-professor interaction By EVI FUELLE The Breeze

What if there was a way to keep in touch with friends, do homework and have access to professor’s research all in one social network? Senior economics major Evan Botello thought of a solution: Coursetab. In the fall of , Botello said the idea behind Coursetab came to him while sitting in class. “My professor was talking about the process professors have to go through here to stay employed at the school, publishing journals, etc.,” Botello said. Botello said he wanted to create a way for professors to share their research without barriers, and the idea for Coursetab grew out of that. “It’s expensive for students to get access to journals where many professors publish their research,” Botello said. “Through Coursetab, professors can share research on an online network, and students can gain free access from that.” He added that many prestigious schools, such as Harvard University, have adopted this free-research philosophy.

“I’ve always thought that knowledge should be free,” he said. Soon after, Botello asked his friend Andrew Elgert to help him. Elgert, an economics and computer science double major, graduated from JMU in May of last year, and now works for the IT Department at Carmax. “It’s really difficult to find a good programmer, so I’m lucky I have Andrew,” Botello said. Elgert soon became Botello’s business partner, and they have been working together since December. “Evan and I have been friends for a while, and when I was in school, he came to me with the idea for Coursetab and asked if I would be interested,” Elgert said. “As a programmer, I’ve been approached with a lot of ideas, but I thought Evan’s idea was really good.” To g e t h e r, B o t e l l o a n d E l g e r t constructed Coursetab. Botello said Blackboard is a “one-way street” and that Coursetab will facilitate easy teacher-student and student-student interaction, allowing for a quicker, simpler communication. “Blackboard is so structured that if

students really wanted to communicate with each other, they couldn’t do it because the teacher needs to OK everything,” Botello said. Coursetab is free and allows students and teachers to register independently. “Teachers host their classes, put their syllabuses up, have discussions and post videos or documents,” Elgert said. “Professors can even exchange ideas about research papers.” Sara Cummings, a junior SMAD major, would use the network if it was more userfriendly than Blackboard. “It seems like Blackboard has all the features that a student would need, but if Coursetab was less complicated [than Blackboard], I would join,” Cummings said. Botello said the main idea is that professors will sign up and invite the students to join their course. “Students can then create study groups and events and communicate easily to catch up on notes,” Botello said. There are many social networking sites today, but Botello and Elgert hope that the

Nick Keatts, a fifth-year senior, died of diabetic ketoacidosis in November, Harrisonburg police department spokeswoman Mary-Hope Vass confirmed. Diabetic ketoacidosis occurs when the body doesn’t produce enough insulin. Fat is used for energy instead, which produces ketones, a type of acid. It’s poisonous for the body if ketone levels get too high, according to the American Diabetes Association website. It was reported by the Daily News Record on Nov.  that the police said they had found suspected drugs in Keatts’ room. HPD has now confirmed drugs didn’t play a role in Keatts’ death. “The investigators have concluded their investigations,” Vass said. Keatts’ friend, fifth-year senior Travis Tucker, and his sister, sophomore IDLS major Lauren Tucker, have been selling bracelets in remembrance of Keatts since his death. All the proceeds from the bracelets, which are available through a Facebook group, are going to Keatts’ family to help with expenses. – staff report

see COURSETAB, page A5

JMU loses professor to cancer Kate Kessler, 56, taught at JMU for 11 years, fought six cancers in lifetime By GEORGINA BUCKLEY The Breeze

After surviving six different types of cancer with a tenacity many called admirable, professor Kate Kessler died of the disease on Sunday. “She was the most resilient individual I ever met,” said WRTC director Larry Burton. Kessler left behind an -year teaching legacy at JMU. “She had beaten it so many times before that we were hoping she would beat it again,” said associate professor Elisabeth Gumnior. Her fight against various types of cancer – fallopian, ovarian, cervical, basal, squamous and melanoma – was well-known. She wrote about it in her blog, “Not Battling Cancer,” was interviewed by NPR radio about it and taught a course about the rhetoric of survivorship. But Kessler would be the first person to say that “battle” wasn’t the right word to define her struggle against cancer. In her blog she wrote, “How can

COURTESY OF SANDRA PURINGTON

Kate Kessler was an avid hiker and loved JMU. “She was constantly looking for ways to make her mark, leave something behind that would be of lasting value and relevance to the school,” said associate professor Elisabeth Gumnior.

you fight something that’s part of yourself and win?” Kessler wrote that she wanted to use a garden metaphor for her body, and by keeping it healthy, she could keep the cancer away.

In her blog she wrote, “I think my job is to keep my garden as healthy a place as possible so that my immune system will keep [the cancer] at bay.” Kessler frequently posted photos of the real-live garden she worked in.

“She was always a very active person,” said assistant professor Jenny Jacovitch. Associate professor Susan Ghiaciuc said Kessler used to park her car up to three miles away from JMU so she could walk the distance to and from school. Kessler had been working at JMU since . An avid outdoorswoman, she taught an honors seminar in , a course that took students out of the classroom and onto the Appalachian Trail – all , miles of which she had previously hiked. “She was constantly looking for ways to make her mark, leave something behind that would be of lasting value and relevance to the school,” Gumnior said. Throughout her career at JMU, Kessler received many awards, including the Provost’s Award for Excellence in Honors Teaching. In addition to teaching, she also spoke for Take Back the Night and was part of SafeZone.

Humpty Hitchens scores in Monday’s game. Dukes look to the future after three straight losses, page B1

see KESSLER, page A5 RYAN FREELAND / THE BREEZE

1/12 INSIDE

NEWS Tuition hikes

Summer tuition rates go up.

OPINION TV show controversy

TLC’s ‘All-American Muslim’ is unnecessarily targeted by fundamentalists.

SPORTS Tebow time?

Mediocre QB performance from Tebow leaves NFL fans skeptical.

LIFE ‘I study dead people’

JMU’s anatomy program offers students access to cadavers on undergraduate level.