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By Noah Grand
Daily Bruin Reporter
In an attempt to expand student publishing, UCLA Student Media
is investing in programs which will put student-run media on the
Internet at one-tenth the cost of print alternatives.
The UCLA Communications Board has given $47,000 to an area
called “new media” that was formed two or three years
ago to establish an infrastructure that would make it easier for
students to put media online, according to Student Media Director
Arvli Ward.
“This is a Comm Board area because all media benefits from
this,” Ward said. “It’s a beginning, but who
knows where it will lead.”
Last month, Student Media joined a partnership with Specter
Interactive AS, a major Scandinavian Internet publishing company.
Specter will construct a program for Web publishing similar to the
program the Daily Bruin uses for print publishing.
“This technology will replace all the ad hoc systems we
use now,” Ward said, calling the partnership
“groundbreaking.”
Student Media, a division of the Associated Students of UCLA,
includes the Daily Bruin, seven newsmagazines, BruinLife, UCLA
Radio and UCLA TV. Because of their partnership, Student Media will
not have to pay Specter for the technology, Ward said. Specter
would gain a showcase for their products and entry in the U.S.
market from the partnership, he said.
Ward said it will probably take a month for Student
Media’s current Web sites to move to the Specter technology.
He said new sites will be much easier to integrate, helping to
reduce costs.
“Supporting a new (print) publication is so costly that
we’ve only had one new magazine in the last 10 years,”
Ward said. “The Web is so cheap that it offers new
opportunities.”
Ward plans to advertise these new opportunities through existing
student media, and expects to see more ideas for student
publications after the infrastructure is in place.
One Student Media site that is currently under construction is
kerckhoffhall.com, a forum where students can discuss political
issues, though the site is nonpartisan. Ward plans to have links
connecting the forums to Daily Bruin stories and UCLA TV video
content.
“I hope that all our publications have a significant
ping-pong effect, where users go back and forth between Student
Media sites,” Ward said.
Bruinwalk.com, a portal site launched last week, provides links
to Student Media sites such as the Daily Bruin Online, UCLA Radio
and UCLAProfessors.com. Links to Web sites for UCLA newsmagazines
and other sites are in development.
“I would use bruinwalk.com,” said Steve Coy, a first
year music student. “If I was looking for information, it
would have a link to where I could find it.”
Despite the prospect of cheap online publishing and access to
other student publications, some students doubt the usefulness of
portals such as bruinwalk.com.
“I was on bruinwalk.com two nights ago. I went on to get
to UCLAProfessors.com, but I also checked out their user
boards,” said Richard Hilman, a third-year sociology and
economics student. “I probably won’t go on again,
because I don’t have use for it.”
Users now must log in at bruinwalk.com in order to rate
professors at UCLAProfessors.com. This ensures that only students
vote, and that they only vote once.
“I think making students log in is good, because it
prevents duplicate ratings if a student has a vendetta against a
professor.” Hilman said.
Avishai Shraga, bruinwalk.com director, said he does not think
bruinwalk.com will compete with other UCLA Web sites, such as
My.UCLA.
“There are always things that we can’t do, such as
the online gradebook and course planner, that my.ucla is better fit
to handle. I feel that a student-run Web site gives features that
have less to do with academics,” Shraga said. “I hope
that there is less competition and students will have to use both
to get the most out of their academic career.”