New company splinters from TutoringZone

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Not officially associated with the University of Florida
Published by Campus Communications, Inc. of Gainesville, Florida
We Inform. You Decide.
VOLUME 105 ISSUE 84
THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2011
New company splinters from TutoringZone
StudyEdge wiil offer free reviews during Summer B
By KIMBERLY LINTON
Alligator Contributing Writer
A new study center could create competition for TutoringZone.
Nine tutors from TutoringZone in
Gainesville have left the company to
form a new academic study service called
StudyEdge.
The decision to split was announced at
the beginning of the break between Summers A and B, said Margaret Kelsey, director of communications for TutoringZone.
While the permanent location is under
construction, StudyEdge will be offering
live review sessions for Summer B at UF
Hillel, located at 2020 W University Ave.
The tutors held their first review session Tuesday.
The new location is anticipated to open
Sept. 1 at the former Goerings Book Store
location, 1717 NW First Ave., behind Ti-
juana Flats and Jimmy John’s.
StudyEdge will offer free review sessions on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at Hillel during
Summer B.
StudyEdge tutors are trying to be more
accessible to students, said Graham Rees,
co-founder of StudyEdge. He said they
want students to be well-acquainted with
the tutors so they will feel comfortable
asking questions.
StudyEdge tutors started a new company because they were tired of TutoringZone repeatedly ignoring student
concerns, Rees said. They wanted to offer
quality reviews with proficient tutors.
TutoringZone would “plug holes” with
unqualified tutors to make money, he
said.
TutoringZone is being affected by the
loss of its seasoned tutors. When its physics 1 with calculus tutor left, the company
was left without anyone else to teach the
summer review sessions. Preregistered
students have to get their money refunded
and take their business elsewhere.
“For students, we would have
loved to have been training
someone for Physics. We refuse
to throw anyone who we haven’t
trained into the mix.”
Margaret Kelsey
director of communications for TutoringZone
“For students, we would have loved to
have been training someone for physics,”
Kelsey said. “We refuse to throw anyone
who we haven’t trained into the mix.”
Jess Bodzo, 19, a sophomore computer
science engineering major, said he didn’t
know this course was no longer being offered until he went to TutoringZone this
week.
He was told he will get his money back
but was not given an explanation. After
contacting his physics tutor on Facebook,
he learned about StudyEdge.
Kelsey wants to squash rumors that the
new company is a switchover. There are
two different companies now, she said.
Francesca Dickhaus, a 19-year-old
sophomore biology major, was a regular
at TutoringZone her freshman year.
She took reviews for organic chemistry 1 at TutoringZone the first half of this
summer. Now, she said, her tutor works at
StudyEdge.
Like many of her classmates, she has a
tough decision to make — deciding which
review service is better for her.
As a student, the most important thing
is who is teaching the material, she said.
“I don’t care about being loyal to one
company,” Dickhaus said.
UF obtains $5.5
million in grants
n THE MONEY WILL FINANCE
EDUCATION RESEARCH
By ERIN JESTER
Alligator Writer
Aundre Larrow / Alligator Staff
Monkey Business
Mojo, a common marmoset, sticks out his tongue while inside a runway that connects him
and 25 other marmosets to their outside-inside habitats at the Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary. See story, page 4.
n Florida was
swept by South
Carolina in the College World Series
Finals, losing 5-2
on Tuesday. But UF
returns the bulk
of its team and is
already eyeing a
return to Omaha.
See Story, Page 18.
Atheist billboard removed from church land in Ohio
UF education researchers have
received two federal grants totaling
$5.5 million for studies focused on
reducing behavioral problems that
disrupt the learning environment.
One $4 million grant will fund
a study on behavioral intervention
techniques in preschool-aged children, headed by Maureen Conroy
of UF and Kevin Sutherland of Virginia Commonwealth University.
Another $1.5 million grant will
support the research of UF special
education faculty members Stephen Smith and Ann Daunic into
developing curricula to help control behavioral issues in grades six
through eight.
Conroy and Sutherland’s research will examine their BEST in
CLASS intervention program’s ef-
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — A billboard supporting
atheism has been taken down from property owned by an
Ohio church after the pastor complained.
The ad put up in Columbus by the Freedom From Religion Foundation featured the beaming face of a local nonbeliever and the man’s message: “I can be good without
God.”
The sign had upset Rev. Waymon Malone of Christ Cathedral Church. The church owns the land where the billboard went up.
— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
n A runner on UF’s
cross country and
track and field
teams was
arrested Tuesday
and charged with
sexual assualt. Turn
to page 18 to read
the full story.
fect on preschoolers in the classroom.
The program teaches teachers
behavioral intervention strategies,
such as using rules and routines,
providing specific praise and encouragement and keeping children
engaged, Conroy said.
Next year, she will be collaboratively working with Alachua County Head Start.
“We want to prevent those behaviors so that when they go to
school, they can
be successful,” she
UF
Research said.
Conroy noted
that preliminary research has shown
that BEST in CLASS techniques are
both successful at increasing engagement in children while decreasing disruption and aggression.
Smith’s research, on the other
hand, will lead to the development
of an entire curriculum for middle
school students in specific programs
with emotional and behavioral disorders.
Today
FORECAST
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6
THE AVENUE 8
CLASSIFIEDS 12
CROSSWORD 17
SPORTS
18
Thunder
storms
84/71
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