Prezi.com, a tool that allows presenters to display ideas the same way they would show friends a set of sketches, was awarded as the second best Internet startup company in 2009 at the Next Web Conference in the Netherlands.

The online starting companies presented their new products or services to 900 Internet professionals at the conference, according to Thenextweb.com.

In addition to winning this startup award, Prezi has also received reviews, such as "Coolest online presentation tool I have ever seen," from Techcrunch.com and "Incredibly intuitive," from the New York Times.

The Prezi team also includes media moguls Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter.com, and Peter Arvai, launcher of several online services.

As a presentation tool, Prezi allows users to create a large map of ideas, instead of using slides like PowerPoint does. Once the map is created, the presenter can travel across the presentation and zoom into more detailed ideas.

Despite a team of experienced online developers and a string of good reviews, Prezi drew mixed opinions from the students and faculty of K-State.

Richard Baker, news director of K-State Radio Network and associate professor in the Department of Communications, said one of the criticisms of PowerPoint is that it makes people sleep. He also said that often people forget that PowerPoint and Prezi are both just tools.

"How you use them is entirely up to you," Baker said. "I've seen some absolutely terrible PowerPoints done by people who ought to know better. Prezi is just another tool, so, in the hands of the wrong person, it's going to be a real pain. If you know how to use it and use it well, you can be extremely effective, but the same could be said for PowerPoint."

Phyllis Epps, graphic artist and co-manager of the Media Development Center in Hale Library, said her primary complaint with Prezi was that it was not as polished as PowerPoint.

Epps ran into glitches with uploading video clips, but still found it to be an "interesting concept" with several possible uses — from showing maps of buildings and universities, to explaining one big idea, as opposed to a traditional three-main-point speech.

"I think with some creativity, you could do something quite interesting, but it does take some thinking," Epps said. "You have to think globally, as opposed to progressively, like you do in a Powerpoint presentation."

The global thinking concept is made possible in Prezi by showing larger circles or words, and then zooming in on details, which may be written inside circles or drawn next to words, for example.

"I like how you can zoom in and out and all that — I thought it was pretty cool," said Jenna Southerland, senior in interior design. "It seems like a good tool to use, and I would definitely want to take the time to learn it, to try it out."

While responding to a reported rollover accident, the RCPD car struck the vehicle sitting across the lanes, according to the release. The report listed four factors that contributed to the accident: darkness, the speed of the RCPD unit, the previous rollover accident, which resulted in a vehicle sitting across lanes of traffic, and a decision by the driver of the vehicle involved in the rollover accident to turn off its headlights after the accident.

The Kansas Highway Patrol has forwarded its report to the Riley County Attorney's Office for further review, according to the release.

An officer and an auxiliary officer were in the RCPD car, and neither were wearing seat belts, according to the release.

Officer Tony Apodaca, the driver of the RCPD unit, was released from the hospital Friday. Auxiliary Officer John Dulaney was still hospitalized. His release is expected later this week.

international opportunities that await graduates.

"That experience is transformative," she said.

Grasso said the role of land-grant institutions has left an impact on her, a first generation college student. Increased involvement with the land-grant mission led to greater education of the power of the experience, she said.

"The land-grant mission is the backbone of higher education," she said.

Shared governance was also emphasized during her presentation. Grasso said she had experienced this through her role as chair of the Faculty Senate at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro from 1997-1998. Making sure faculty remain engaged is important because of the wealth of knowledge and information, she said.

Dena Bunnel, senior in agricultural communications, journalism, international studies and political science and chief of staff for the student body president, said she is interested in what students' role in the shared governance structure might be.

"It's very, very important to maintain that level of student input on the decisions that are made on this campus," Bunnel said. "That's a tradition of excellence we have here at K-State and it's very important we continue that."

The importance of the freshmen and first-year experience played a prominent role in Grasso's presentation.

"We can lose them if we are not careful," she said.

Grasso extolled Georgia's Freshman Seminar course in the process. At Georgia, the whole faculty is involved she said and is able to share their passion with undergraduates.

"I love the science of chocolate, it's a food science one and I'm ready to sign up," she said with a laugh.

Resource management took a central role in light of budget woes throughout higher education. Grasso explained the various approaches the Graduate School at the University of Georgia had undertaken. Included were partnerships with companies and looking to private dollars to expand professorships. Along with this, she emphasized the importance of transparency.

"So that there are no questions about how decisions are made," she said.