Student creates iPhone app for W.Va. Wesleyan
Davin White
Over a few months, West Virginia Wesleyan College student Benn Linger created a unique senior project.
Linger designed an iPhone and iPod Touch application for students and alumni where they can get the latest campus news and sports, check their course schedules and link up to their grade point averages from past semesters.
Working alongside the college's Webmaster, Linger decided to develop a senior project that would come in handy for students and alumni. Last month, Wesleyan sold the "app" to Apple, the maker of the iPhone, which will make it available to all.
The app features a campus directory with some contact information for faculty and students, a campus map, emergency contact numbers and schedules for sports like football and basketball, which Linger expects to be pretty popular among alumni.
"That makes it very easy for alumni to stay in touch with the schedule," he said.
Linger got his first iPhone about a year ago, and his parents have even bought in and purchased their own iPhones. His father is Wade Linger, a state Board of Education member from Marion County.
"It's only becoming more popular, so that's always a benefit," he said of the iPhone.
In designing the app, Linger wanted to make sure it looked clean and was easy for users. "If it's not convenient, it's not going to get used," he said.
On Tuesday, he scrolled over features of the app on his iPhone. He typed in the first two letters, "c" and "l," of his computer science professor's name. Professor Richard Clemens' name popped up, along with another teacher's.
He scrolled through a campus map, which focused on the chapel at the center of the Buckhannon campus and showed the viewer the buildings surrounding it.
He scrolled down his own list of courses this semester. Most of his classes are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Linger also highlighted his class schedule, and grades, from previous semesters.
His cumulative grade point average, along with each semester's GPA, is also available on the app. On Tuesday, Wade Linger joked that if the GPA is low, "does it flash and a siren goes off?"
Apple, the maker of the iPhone, makes it feasible for developers like Linger to create iPhone applications, and the company advertises ways to develop apps on their Web site.
"They make it really easy to use the same kind of interfaces that you use," he said.
Students and alumni at West Virginia University, for example, also have their own iPhone app.
Linger encourages Wesleyan students to try out the new application. Because he created it for his senior project, he won't receive any money from its sale.
"It's tough to convey the value of an app like this without trying it," Linger said. "It's something you really need to check out for yourself."
Linger, who ultimately wants to own a small business that creates computer software, believes a lot of companies could benefit from the type of iPhone app he created for Wesleyan.
"It's something I really enjoy doing," he said.
Chris Dorst | Gazette photo Benn Linger, a senior at West Virginia Wesleyan College, developed an iPhone application for students and alumni which they can use to catch up on campus news, course schedules, sports and more.
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