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Carolina News Students change trend of Internet materialism by Billy O’Keefe College Press Exchange Chicago - Nearly every day, Nathan Mar ^ ting slips out of his dorm room and into a bondi blue virtual living room he’s created for himself on the Internet. Marting’s home page (http://www.pub lic.iastate.edu/~nmarting/homepage.html) is one of thousands on Iowa State Uni versity’s campus servers. Its centerpiece is Marting’s resume, but it also includes family photographs, bios and all sorts of information about the Chicago Bulls, the Weather Channel and Gamavillo High. “Sure, it goes in all directions, and some guy in Italy may not care too much about my family,” said Marting, a junior. “But I enjoy doing it, and I’ll keep it up as long as I can.” ft Contrary to new wives’ tales, not everyone is out to raise money or hell on the Internet. For every Amazon.com try ing to solicit business, there are literally millions of personal home pages that would like just a minute or two of your time. Many, if not most, are maintained by col lege students. Not interested in the life and times of Nathan Marting? That’s fine. More than 10,000 personal student Web sites exist on Iowa State’s servers alone, ranging from Jose’s “Page of Love” (http://www.public.iastate.edu/~off sprng/homepage.html), which is more about music than love, to Dana’s “Wan derful World of Mystery,” which isn’t so mysterious because most of the links are • related to her work in architecture class. School administrators have greeted with excitement and extreme caution stu dents’ rights to do more than surf the In ternet on campus. That’s because students are posting controversial pages all the time and, more recently, clogging campus com puter networks by trading and posting mas sive collections of pirated music, software, games and movies. But the availability of student Web pages, in the eyes of students anyway, is to colleges and universities what air conditioning is to cars: a nice bonus in the past, an essential today. “My older brother goes to DePaul [University, in Chicago], and they gave him his own Web account when he en rolled,” said Marjorie Tomko, a sopho more at Columbia College in Chicago. “I was expecting the same thing when I came f| to Columbia, or at least an e-mail address. I was shocked to find out that they offered I neither.” Natalie Hamilla, whose site, “Natal ’ ie’s ’80s Page” ' (http://www.personal.psu.edU/users/n/x/nxh 158/), is one of more than 26,000 student • home pages on Penn State University’s servers, said that even the simplest home pages make for good practice — and that students need this practice. “Everyone is looking for people who can do this stuff,” Hamiila said. “I don’t care what you want to do with your life. This is the way it’s going, and this is the best way to learn how to do it.” This new necessity is what most motivates schools, beyond all the risks, to include personal pages for their students. “Just like schools want the best books and materials and the best instructors, this is just another way to get ahead,” said John Zimmer, an administrator for Northwestern University’s student pages directory, “Pub web,” which encourages students to ex periment “on a modest scale,” as noted on the site’s main page. Don’t underestimate the weight be hind that “M” word. Schools voluntarily play the honor game with students be cause their technical staffs are often too small to monitor every link and every move on every site. But those in charge, via the front page of the server and/or stu dent handbooks and other literature, make their message loud and clear: You might be our student, but that doesn’t mean we agree, endorse or allow what you’re saying. They’re not kidding, either. Just ask former DePaul student Charles Lowell, whose site, sporting obscene swipes at some fellow DePaul students, was re moved without so much as a notice. “One of the students called and com plained, and poof, it was gone,” said Lowell, a 1999 graduate. “I guess that’s fair, but I would’ve liked some warning. I guess that’s the way it works.” Dejected, Lowell didn’t make a come back attempt on DePaul’s Shrike student pages server, choosing instead to open an account with Yahoo! ’s Geocities, which Lowell thought would give him more freedom to speak his mind. University of Texas student Julie Chen took a similar route, opting to host her “Texas Students for John Mc Cain” page (http://tx-students-for-mc cain.oig) with an independent company, Hypermart, because the University of Texas doesn’t let its students run political pages on its servers. Likewise, students at Northwestern aren’t allowed to use their pages for commercial use. Moonlighting entrepreneurs will have to go elsewhere, school officials said. Still, while ambitious students like Chen are surfacing more and more, the typical student is still getting his feet wet when it comes to untangling the pub lishing intricacies of the Web. “I basically started this page because I wanted to try it,” Marting said. “I have no big ambitions here. It’s just something fun to do.” n k m ■ ■ ■ E ■ m m Jwww.whipped.com! ‘More raunchy fun than a barret of sex toys” -Flaunt Magazine J Census officials discuss Sconcems with students by Brandon Larrabee Associate News Editor Several students expressed concern about not receiving their census forms at a census forum held Thursday at the Russell House. According to several students at the forum, they hadn't received their forms by the time they attended the meeting, which was held from 7 to 9 p.m. in the Russell House ballroom. The taiget date for the censuses to be returned is today. Associate Housing Director Gretchen Koehler told The Gamecock. Koehler said that might not be possible, but she thinks the forms will be returned by Monday. However, students aren’t expected to receive the census one day and return it the next, according to Columbia Cen sus Office Manager DeWayne Crowell, who was on Thursday’s panel. Crowell said that, while he wasn’t yet concerned about the forms, he would return to his office and discuss the prob lem with his supervisors. He also said his office would call the different dorms on campus to “find out what’s going on.” The office likes to allow three to five days to return the forms, Crowell said. “If there needs to be an extended time, we’ll extend the time,” he said. Student Body President Jotaka Ead dy, who attended the forum, said she would have SG Housing Director Lorie Tolbert check with the campus’ resi dence hall directors and remind thereto distribute the census forms. The census forum also dealt with other issues involved in the census, such as a problem with undercounting. “South Carolina’s mail response rate is one of the lowest in the nation," said Susan Hardy, whose jurisdiction as re gional director of the U.S. Census Bu reau covers South Carolina and four oth er states. She said 53 percent of Richland County and 51 percent of Columbia homes had returned their census forms. According to Hardy, the census forms need to be sent to the Census Bureau’s Phoenix office by April 11. She said the latest date for returning the forms should be April 14. According to those on the panel, stu dents shouldn’t fill out the form based on their permanent residence but based on their college residence. “We count people where they live most of the year,” Hardy said. If students don’t return the form, they will be visited by census workers for “non-response follow-up.” Hardy said that involves calling or visiting a home three times. Then, census work ers talk to neighbors in an attempt to find * out how many people live in the home. “\W do know there are"some peo ple that are missed,” Hardy stud. She said the estimated undercount for South Car olina in 1990 was 2 percent. Of those, half were children. Most students will get the “short form” of the census, according to the paneL That form asks reponsdents sev eral questions about information such as respondents’ names, ages, sex and eth nicity. One in six students will get the “long form,” which contains 53 to 56 questions, according to Crowell. The long form includes questions on salaries, the distance respondents drive to and from work, and plumbing. Media Leaders from page 2 Wight as editor. “Martha’s been really involved this past year, and she knows exactly what she’s getting into,” Streyer said. “The magazine has been getting bet ter every year for the past several years, and I know it will continue to get bet ter under Martha.” The Board of Student Publications interviewed all candidates Wednesday afternoon. Each candidate ran unop posed. The Board is still taking appli cations for summer editor in chief for The Gamecock. ••••••••••••••••• ; Graduation 2000; • A Celebration • • for Students j BEACH, j j PARTY.! HOUSES.! • o • Beach Week • • # • Classic Cottages • I Myrtlebeach * • tours* com • Student Beachline • •1.800.7W.8687: • •••••••••••••••• USC awards service, '• leadership on campus V by Charles Prashaw Senior Writer ' The 2000 Leadership and Service Awards were given out Thursday after noon in the Russell House Ballroom. The awards recognized students for outstanding leadership on campus and in the Carolina community. Some of the honors awarded were the Outstanding New Student Award, the Outstanding Vol unteer Award, the Outstanding Oigani zation Award and the Caroliniana Award. Also, various USC clubs and members of oiganizations were inducted into the Hall of Leaders. As membefs of the Hall of Leaders, students’ names are engraved on a plaque outside the Russell House Ball room. The winner of the outstanding new student was Manasi Sinah, who is a mem ber of Freshman Student Council and In dian Cultural Exchange. She also serves as a senator for Capstone, and she was re cently appointed as the Community Ser vice Director for Student Government Cabinet. The 2000 inductees into the Hall of Leaders are Felicia Richburg, for the Association of African American Students (AAAS); Cedric Scott, from Carolina Pro ductions; Kate Stewart, chairperson for Dance Marathon; Stacey Brown, presi dent of Sorority Council; Jason Wade, of the Residence Hall Association; Whit ney Shively, of the Student Government Association; Christine Eggers, of Sports Clubs; Tayor Jones, of the Fraternity Coun cil; Emily Streyer, Editor of the Garnet and Black; Brad Walters, Managing Edi tor of the The Gamecock; Erin de Poix, of WUSC-FM; Ried Sherard, of Gagiet Circle and Erin Foster, for commurflty service. “When you put a lot of work into something and you finally get some recog nition, it’s nice,” Streyer said about the award and the induction into the Hall of Leaders. “It’s a nice reminder that I was here, and what I did was important.” Stewart said she, too, was pleased with the honor. * “This is something I can come back years from now and look at,” she said. Another award given at the event, the Caroliniana Award, is given to studeHts who have worked hard for organizations that benefit the Carolina community.'The names of Caroliniana award winners will also be engraved on a plaque outside the Russell House Ballroom. The 2000 winners of the Caroliniana Award are Jennifer Arp, Christi Boyes, Jasmeet Chawla, Timothy Clardy, Chris Dorsel, Sven Gerzer, Wide Kolb, Gweneth Lazenby, Ryan Lindsay, Julie Reynolds, Michael Williams and Greg Winborrte. The Outstanding Residence Hall award went to the staff of Bates House for en couraging residents to take part in pro grams such as helping to make a World AIDS Day Quilt. ' ' >.(* / uTt Cheaper than Tuition... more fun than Body Piercing Special Student Airfares Great Travel Products Adventure Holidays Beds on a Budget Travel Insurance Eurail Passes Contiki Tours Student ID's 800-777-0112 ItraveT] WE’VE BEEN THERE. mAagiAgdta^iA^AJb^^| mumii/ -pr-- ---|j Moolah for Music I Kickoff FRIDAY, APRIL 7TH • 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM ! HURT REYNOLDS and THE SPEAKEASIES Register to win a bVD player £ from Ford Focus a £ Ford Explorer Sport-Trac Featuring Carolina Productions Alcohol & Drug Awareness and The Gamecock on Greene Street I S in front of the Russell House : www.wusc.sc.edu I