Thank you for your interest in the Resident Assistant Staff positions for the 2005-2006 academic year. Our selection committee was very impressed with the high caliber of the group interview candidates. With only a limited number of openings, our final decisions were extraordinarily difficult this year. At this time, we are not able to offer you a spot in the next step of the selection process.
We hope that the selection process was a positive experience for you and we appreciated your willingness to be honest and open. We hope that you will continue to support the efforts of the Student Life Staff.
Again, thank you for your participation in the selection process and your interest in Residence Life. Best wishes for the remainder of Spring semester.
Very sincerely,
Barb Morgan � Director of Residence Life
Alex Holtzapple � Weaver Towers West Hall Director
This was in the the Garlic section1 of the February 2nd issue of The Oredigger.
United States Military Upgrades Weapon Reticules
Luther Sloan (AKA Andrew Ferguson)
United States Military officials have announced that new weapons are currently being distributed to military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The new weapons were designed after several soldiers complained that after playing Halo 2, they thought the reticule on their real assault riffles should also light up red when an enemy combatant was in their sights.
Department of Defense officials agreed and fast tracked the technology to get it in the field as soon as possible. Master Chief Andrew Collins, based out of Fort Lewis, Washington, said, “These weapons are awesome! I can practice my skills on Halo when I’m at home, and then use my newly acquired skills in the field. It totally rocks!”
Department of Defense officials are hopeful that the new reticules will help eliminate so-called “friendly-fire” incidents. Some reports estimate that had Bungie released Halo 2 last year, when they originally planned, up to 2/3 of the deaths since then could have been avoided.
In addition to making combat safer, some officials predict the new assault riffles will help keep the United States Military strong by recruiting current Halo fanatics who want the exhilaration of firing the real weapon. And that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
1 The Garlic section is like The Onion. That is, it’s satire.
For those of you not in the “know,” I am the current News Editor and Webmaster for Colorado School of Mines The Oredigger. I usually try and write at least one article for every issue. This week I was able to write two very good articles. So enjoy what’s going on at CSM:
TheFacebook.com Coming to Mines
Andrew Ferguson
Editors Note: This is part one of a two part article. Part two will follow shortly after CSM’s official release on TheFacebook.com.
In case you have not heard of TheFacebook.com, it’s the latest tool in social networking for college campuses. Chris Houghes, co-founder and “Press Guy” for TheFacebook, describes it as, “an online directory that connects people through social networks at colleges and universities. We wanted students to have control over what information they would like to provide to their peers’ screen names, favorite movies, classes, and friends. Thefacebook [sic] is a resource for both information and communication, but at the same time, is fun to use.”
Already implemented at over 370 schools nation-wide, including CU Boulder, CSU, Colorado State, and DU, Facebook boasts almost 1.75 million users, not bad for only being active for just over a year. Perhaps even more interesting is how fast Facebook is growing. With a quarter million new registered users each month and an additional 50 schools added, it’s only a matter of time before Facebook incorporated into the lives of all 16 million estimated college students. With all their growth, it’s no wonder Facebook has topped almost a billion-and-a-half visitors in the last 30 days. Quinn McGinnis, a Freshman at the University of Washington, estimates he spends about an hour a week on Facebook. However, McGinnis also admits that his time is atypical, with many friends he knows spending in excess of 10 hours a Facebook.
In a recent interview with MSNBC, Mark Zuckerberg, co-founder and self-proclaimed Master and Commander/Enemy of the State, briefly talked about the origins of the site, saying, “The idea for the website was motivated by a social need at Harvard to be able to identify people in other residential houses — Harvard is a fairly unfriendly place.” One week later, Facebook was born.
The premise of Facebook is simple, make finding people at your college easy. Once you find them, you can then create social groups, such as “1.50 Hotdogs at Costco” or “Do Better Things Than Watch the OC,” which should be pretty self explanatory. You can also “poke” people, which Facebook describes as a feature with “no specific purpose,” and leave comments on a users “wall.”
Within the last few weeks, rumors about Colorado School of Mines addition to TheFacebook.com have been growing. This may be part to email sent out my Freshmen Class President Spencer Alexander urging all Freshmen to email Facebook for CSM’s addition. Alexander’s reason for adding the Facebook comment in his email echo those of many other students campus wide: my friends are on Facebook and I want to be too!
Fear not, Orediggers! In a recent email correspondence with Houghes, he wrote that “CSM should be added within the next 30 days.”
So, within the next 30 days, you should be able to logon to http://www.thefacebook.com and register your account. Here is what you need to know:
When registering your account, you will need to use your @mines.edu email address. This is the way that Facebook validates the fact that you actually go to Mines. Once you’re registered, you can begin updating your profile. Basic profile information includes your Mines status (student, graduate student, alumni, faculty, or staff), year of graduation, concentration, what on-campus building you live in, birthday, home town, and high school. Extended info delves into more persons areas such as screen name, sexual interests, relationship status, political views, interests, hobbies, and the likes.
Once you begin to find friends, you can begin to leave messages for them, either in their mailbox or on their wall. You can also begin to join groups, such as the aforementioned “1.50 Hotdogs at Costco.”
Part two of this article will cover, in part, student reactions to the Mines addition to Facebook. If you have a comment or question regarding CSM’s Facebook addition, email aferguso@mines.edu.
And now about CSM’s new broadcast club:
CSM Radio in the Works
Andrew Ferguson
Three weeks ago, Justin Regina had a great idea, start a CSM radio station. Within a week, Regina had over a dozen responses. The first meeting was very informal and went something like, “Hi, my name is Justin Regina and I want to start a radio station. What are your thoughts?” Things took off from there.
Two of the attendees immediately offered to broadcast CSM sports. Others offered to help with the technical and managerial aspects. Things were shaping up nicely for Regina’s concept. Then Stephanie Savage, a Mineral Economics graduate student, stepped into the picture and everyone turned to listen to her infinite wisdom. Between 1997 and 2002, Savage actually worked as a radio station DJ and later hosting her own show, “The Hangover Brunch,” on Saturday mornings, which even won a few awards. However, Savage did not work at just any radio station, she work at CU Boulders KUCB-FM, which later became KVCU-AM 1190, just a stones throw away from Mines.
With that, things began rolling, fast. Regina changed the focus from what the group wanted, a radio station, to what the group needed, organization. Regina suggested that the group file for status as the official CSM Radio Club. By forming a club, Regina felt that the station would have a better chance of getting off the ground. In addition to funding provided by ASCSM, a club would also be able to leverage the fact it wasn’t just a fly-by-night concept.
Next, attention turned to what to actually do when the club was finally formed. It would be far to expensive to jump straight into an over the air broadcast, thus the decision was made to start with an Internet-only broadcast. This would allow the club the iron out all the kinks while still having a far-reaching audience. The Internet-station would be run just as an over-the-air station would be, so that when the time did come to go on air, it would be a relatively seamless transition.
Regina has already made contact with several sports’ coaches who have expressed interest in a CSM radio station. Regina has also been in contact with several administrative and technical officials who, while not explicitly agreeing to the project, have indicated interest. Furthermore, Savage believes that it is reasonable that Mines could be broadcasting on the Internet within the year, however, she noted that getting on the air will prove to be a much trickier, and expensive, endeavor.
If you are interested in the CSM Radio Club, please contact Justin Regina: jregina@mines.edu
Long story short, Heidi, Dan Hough’s girlfriend, contacted my last week. She is coming out tomorrow to supprise Dan for Valentine’s Day (or Singles Awareness Day, depending on how you look at it). Anyways, she’s employing me and Eric Belcher to ensure that Dan goes to Chem at 11 tomorrow, instead of 4. Then they’re going to go out for dinner.
Note: This blog was originally encrypted and will be decrypted around 5pm MST, February 14th, 2005.
I only had one class today, Chemistry Recitiation at 8am, done by 8:50. Mom and Wendy picked me up and we headed up to Broomfield. I attempted to run some errands in Boulder. It took me an hour just to find REI, but I found it. Then I went to FedEx Kinkos which I found by accident. However, they couldn’t handle the RMA return for my Kingston 64MB SD Card, so I had to go to one over on 55th and Central. I tried to find US36, but to no avail. So I just drove South and West until I hit something I knew, which just happened to be Broomfield. So I really hate driving in Boulder now.
On a somewhat related note, I tried looking up Austen Holman on the CU site, but she’s not there anymore. She was listed earlier, so if anyone knows what the 411 is, that would be much appriciated.
Well, I managed to type my paper for NHV two hours before class, take a Calc test and actually do well, and watch Lader 49 which turned out to be a very good movie, very emotional. But I’m glad the day is over.
Mom, Dad, and Brian flew into Colorado today and stopped by my dorm. Dad is flying out tomorrow to Orlando for business, but he’ll be back Friday night. I have two classes and a test tomorrow and then just Chem II Recitation on Friday at 8. Then I’m free. Hopefully we’ll go skiing this weekend.
So while Mines is not yet on The Facebook, I did receive an email from a recent Mines graduate who wrote that a:
really close high school friend of mine is good buddies with the creators of TheFacebook, so I told him to make CSM a special request. Keep an eye out on the site for the next month or so�hopefully CSM will be added.
This is rather interesting because I contacted The Facebook not even a week ago to see if I could time an article about The Facebook with the possible release of CSM on The Facebook. Chris Hughes, Co-Founder and Press Guy, informed me that:
I don’t know when CSM will be added to the network, so I’m not sure I’ll be able to give you the information that you need with enough advance warning.
So, stay tuned, both here and at TheFacebook.com to see what happens!
