The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, April 07, 2000, Page 3, Image 3
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.”
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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
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HOUSES.!
• o
• Beach Week •
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• Classic Cottages •
I Myrtlebeach *
• tours* com
• Student Beachline •
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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.
' ' >.(*
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more fun than Body Piercing
Special Student Airfares
Great Travel Products
Adventure Holidays
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Travel Insurance
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Student ID's
800-777-0112
ItraveT]
WE’VE BEEN THERE.
mAagiAgdta^iA^AJb^^|
mumii/
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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
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in front of the Russell House :
www.wusc.sc.edu I