Meredith
October 31, 2001
Hi
ERALD
Volume X¥tt. IssueX ^
TvTTT
New online student portal goes live
Q Say goodbye to
the CamTel. Access
student information
online with new
portal.
Chrbttna Holder
Editor in Chief
Technology Services
launched a new online student
portal on the Meredith website
last week that will give stu
dents access to a searchable
student directory.
The portal, available to
Meredith students alone, will
provide student information
such as phone numbers, grade
classification and campus and
hometown addresses.
Diane Davis, a web pro
grammer in the Office of
Techology Services and the
head designer of the portal,
said that as of Tuesday, 206
studentsiiad.[egt^ered. ,
To register for the portal, a
student will enter her Meredith
email address into the online
registration form. Instantly, the
system will email her a tempo
rary numerical password.
She then can log onto the
portal, change her password
and customize her homepage.
“This gives students the
option of
putting as
much or as lit
tle informa
tion as they
want,” said
Davis.
Other portal
features
include "quick
links." pre
programmed
URL address
es that a stu
dent may click
upon and
instantly view
the page.
Quick links
offered on the
portal include-
-among many-
-Campus E-
News. the
Learning Cen
ter and -the
undergraduate
and graduate
calendars.
A student
can also add
up to five of
her own
favorite links
to her personal homepage. The
portal offers a form to add links
Seniors Mary Frances Vassaur and Molly Jensen register
for the new online student portal.
beyond the Meredith interface.
The portal was built as pan
of a technolo
gy intiative for
use by Mered
ith students
alone accord
ing to Davis
who contends
the portal is
currently
“hacker-
proof.” Davis
and other pro
grammers in
Technology
Services test
ed the portal
"a full month
before it went
live,” she said.
••So if
someone
typed in some
ambiguous
name,” said
Davis, “they
wouldn’t get
Access is
also denied for
Meredith stu
dents who
try to enter
email
addresses
Staff Photo Bv Christina Holoed
Other than Meredith addresses
into the registration form
However, Davis said
whether a student is an active
user of her Meredith email
account does not affect her
ability to register for the portal.
"With the web-based inter
face. if they [students] would
register their Meredith email
account, they can forward all
other mail and never have to
access the Meredith account
again,” said Davis.
Senior Mary Frances Vas
saur, who registered for the
portal diis week, said that it
was an easy process.
“You’re done in two min
utes," said Vassaur
The portal also appealed to
Vassaur because she can access
other students' phone numbers
easily and quickly.
‘That and I can never find
the CamTel,” she said of the
hard copy all-campus directory
whose 2001-02 edition has yet
to -be distributed to students
and staff.
The portal, while new to
Meredith, is a standard concept
See
PORTAL
page two
Black towel collages honor reading program
Kristen Thompson
stall Repoiter
When you walk into die first
floor of Cate, you cannot help
but to look up at the hanging
collages suspended from the
ceiling.
The individual collages were
created by freshmen in connec
tion with the Freshmen Sum
mer Reading Program.
This year’s selection. In the
Time of the Butterflies, by Julia
Alvarez, has provided fresh
men with many events to
express their views on the
book.
The collages, small group
discussions and the movie pre
miere of the book on Show
time Oct. 21 have allowed
freshmen to further enjoy their
summer reading.
All incoming freshmen are
asked to read the same book
the summer before they arrive
at Meredith.
In addition to reading the
book, they receive a booklet
with reflection questions and
N THE INSIDE:
supplemental information such
as a timeline, a map pertaining
to the setting, information
about the author and informa
tion about the related special
projects and convocations that
will be going on during the
year
When the freshmen arrive at
Meredith, they discuss the
book in small groups with vol
unteer faculty facilitators and
upper-class students.
The program is based out of
the Office of First Year Experi
ence, but according to Chrissie
Bumgardner, director of First
Year Experience, “it takes
many members from all over
the community to put it togeth
er”
“Last year we had 36 faculty
and staff to volunteer to serve
as small group facilitators.”
said Bumgarner.
While Meredith faculty and
staff meet regularly to choose
the summer reading book and
plan the events that take place
throughout the year, this year
they will be adding students to
the cormnittee.
Normally, every year there
are special convocations relat
ing to the book, but this year it
happened that the movie In the
Time of the Butterflies pre
miered on Showtime, which
allowed Bumgarner to play the
movie in place of a convoca
tion.
•The Maribel sisters in the
book In the Time of the Butter
flies were brave young women
who ended up giving their lives
to instigate a revolution that
See
IN THE TIME
page two
ON DINNER;
A health consultant to the Congo
shared experiences at
United Nations dinner on campus.
ON STAGE:
Eight plays in one weekend at the
American College Theatre Festival.
ON CORNHUSKIN’:
Our regular rehei>rouser
Joni Smith gets ready
to shuck some com In her
latest editorial.