Student Media Culture

  Student Media, the umbrella organization home to Colorado State University’s campus media – which includes the student newspaper The Rocky Mountain Collegian, as well as the campus television station, radio station, and magazine – announced last week that it will soon become a non-profit organization independent of the university. The CSU Board of Governors voted unanimously last Tuesday to replace the university-based Board of Student Communications with a new independent board as early as August 1st. The push for independence began this fall, when the Collegian published the contro

  Following the recent sexual assault of a student, the staff of Trinity College’s newspaper, The Tripod, released a statement calling for the university administration to step up its safety policies and provide students with better, more comprehensive safety on campus. The Tripod staff collected and printed 742 signatures from students who said they were concerned about the current status of safety on campus and even proposed solutions for safety on campus, including relieving the Office of Campus Safety of its transportation duties, increasing the budget for the Campus Safety Departm

  Students overusing the Internet at Ohio University are in danger of losing their access. The accounts of students who exceed a certain data transfer amount will be shut down starting April 27, two months after the recording industry began cracking down on college music sharers. The amount of data transfer deemed excessive was not disclosed, but the University says that only users putting significant strain on the network will be cut off. 4/26/07  Read More from Ohio University

  A Crimson White article explores the University of Alabama's new media relations policy which requires reporters to “touch base” with University spokespeople about their stories before contacting administrative sources.  The editor of the Crimson White (who recused himself from editing the story) says that this new policy is tantamount to asking the University permission to write stories, essentially inhibiting freedom of the press. 3/8/07  Read More from the Uni

  A Yale student and a high school student have teamed up to create TheScoop08.com, a student blog with a staff of high school and college students who are interested in politics. The students hope to provide a medium for their peers to discuss politics and gain information. 4/18/07  Read More from Stanford University

  Former USC student James Miao has started a new music sharing website, thesixtyone.com. The site was launched this past December and is designed to help users share and promote their favorite music. Musicians upload their music to the site, and listeners vote on the song’s popularity, awarding points to favored songs. Unlike other music websites, thesixtyone.com is set up as a game. Each time a listener votes for a song, it costs them points, which act as virtual currency. When others vote for the same song, points are earned, allowing further votes to be cast.

  Students are taking advantage of Apple’s new educational service, iTunes U. Featured on the iTunes store web site, iTunes U gives students access to presentations, performances, lectures, demonstrations, debates, tours and archival footage in the form of MP3 downloads. Read more from the University of Miami

  In response to continuing attacks on students from the Recording Industry Association of America, the University of Wisconsin’s Division of Information Technology has produced an educational video meant to inform students and dispel any misconceptions about file sharing in order to help students protect themselves. UW students are required to watch the video before they are permitted access to the university’s network. Read more from the University of Wisconsin