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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 8, 2008
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME120ISSUE35
WEB SITE
JuicyCampus.com offers forum for anonymous gossip
BY HALEY JONES
hjones@kansan.com
A Web site called JuicyCampus.com is raising concerns on college campuses across the country about where to draw the line between harmless discussion and malicious gossip.
The cyber gossip grapevine reached the University of Kansas on Sept. 2, when JuicyCampus, which allows students to post unfiltered and anonymous comments, added a page for the University. Since then people have started 368 threads about the University.
The year-old JuicyCampus, which is owned by Los Angeles-based Lime Blue Inc., allows anyone who claims to be at least 18 years old to enter and post comments
with no registration or e-mail verification required.
The site had pages in the beginning of September this year and added its 500th campus Monday.
but students such as Molly Hawthorne say it does harm without doing any good.
for 63 campuses
JuicyCampus allows visitors to view and discuss comments tagged with keywords such as fraternity, sorority and basketball. Users can dish freely by individual students or campus organizations while remaining completely anonymous.
Hawthorne,
The cyber bulletin board of provocative gossip has captured attention nationwide,
"It is a place where people can feel safe gossiping about other people, maybe even their best friend."
MOLLY HAWTHORNE
Lenexa freshman
Alexa freshman, said her friend posted Hawthorne's name on JuicyCampus last week tagged with the name of her sorority Delta Delta Delta and the subtitle, "Thoughts Anyone?" She said there was a reply within 30 minutes.
The first response read "total whore." The next two defended Hawthorne's reputation, but the subsequent replies slandered her with malicious and accusatory name-calling. As of Tuesday night, the post had
668 views, 21 replies and seven votes.
Despite this, Hawthorne said she didn't take the site too seriously.
"It is a place where people can feel sage gossiping about other people, maybe even their best friend," Hawthorne said. "The people that spend their time commenting on other people and what they do or who they are have nothing to do with their time."
On Oct. 6, the official JuicyCampus blog quoted Matt Ivester, Founder, president and chief executive officer of JuicyCampus, saying that nothing was more American than the right to freedom of speech. The blog also quoted Ivester as saying he hoped that JuicyCampus would overcome resistance from campus administrations so that students could be free to discuss topics that interested them most.
The site has caused an uproar at universities such as Pepperdine, Texas Christian and Villanova. The controversy has spread through student governments, university administrations, the Greek community and those labeled as "GDIs," or goddamn independents, which refers to students who aren't involved in the Greek community.
Kara Rowlen, Wichita junior, said she was shocked when she saw all the offensive comments people wrote on the site. She said it frustrated her because it was all based on stereotypes.
"I can't believe people would sit and talk crap about other people online," said Rowlen, who is a member of Kappa Delta sorority. "Yes, there's freedom of speech,
SEE JUICYON PAGE 4A
ECONOMICS
MUSICOLOGY
Accounting field stays strong in hard times for economy University program remains steady
Despite the languishing economy, the University's accounting department is still going strong.
Students in the accounting program credit the steady demand for accountants in any economic climate with the program's success.
Enrollment in the masters program has grown 50 percent from last year and the program itself is ranked among the top four in the nation according to average CPA test scores.
FULL STORY PAGE 3A
TECHNOLOGY
Google's 'Goggles' to prevent drunk e-mail Users must do math to get Gmail access
Google has invented a new program for e-mail accounts aimed at preventing drunk e-mails. The program requires drunk users to pass a series of math questions before being able to send messages.
FULL STORY PAGE 5A
Dr. Roberta Freund Schwartz, KU professor of music, has received the Association of Recorded Sounds Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research. Her book, titled "How Britain Got The Blues: Transmission and Reception of American Blues Style in the United Kingdom," won the yearly award given to books dealing with recorded sounds in the category of Blues/Soul R&B. Freund Schwartz is also teaching classes in Jazz and African American music as well as the popular "History of Rock and Roll."
Alex Bonham-Carter/KANSAN
Musicology instructor awarded for her book about the history of blues
Bringin' the blues to bookshelves
BY SACHIKO MIYAKAWA smiyakawa@kansan.com
Schwartz, associate professor of musicology, recently received the 2008 Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research for her book about the transmission of American blues to the United Kingdom in the 1960s. The Association for Recorded Sound Collections awarded her publication with first place in the category of research of recorded blues, rhythm and blues, and soul music.
Not many people get to do what they love for a living. Roberta Freund Schwartz does. She turned her passion for blues music into a career.
Paul Laird, professor and division director of musicology, said honors such as this were not awarded frequently.
"I'm especially passionate about African-American music and how strongly that has impacted all the music of the world," she said. "I like its focus on rhythm."
She published her award-winning book, "How Britain Got the Blues," in 2007.
"People decided it's something worth considering." Laird said. "It's wonderful."
Schwartz said her interest in the blues began in her teens, tracing back to her
and Robert Johnson.
"I love music and love to share knowledge of music if I can get people to understand it at more depth."
"Learning about the music that inspired my favorite group, that got me interest.
ROBERTA FREUND SCHWARTZ
Professor of musicology
favorite band, Led Zeppelin. She listened to American blues artists whom Led Zeppelin referenced, such as Howl'Nolf
ed first in the urban blues," Schwartz said. "The blues of the 1950s and 1960s, then, led me back father into the very early history of the blues."
Chicago and Delta blues style influenced many British invasion rock bands, including The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. Her book focused on how
those blues records became popular in the United Kingdom and were accepted by young Brits during the 1960s, when
Some of her main sources of information were jazz publications printed in the United Kingdom between 1929 and 1970. She said she also interviewed people who were around the music scene in the U.K. in the 1960s. She traveled the U.K. twice to collect information. She said it took her six years to finish the book.
the popularity of the genre had declined in the U.S.
"A lot of this was extremely unsexy." Schwartz said.
She said her research revealed that the blues had a niche appeal to some in Britain.
"To the British, the blues were emotional in ways to which they were unaccustomed," she said "Blues became the music of the non-conformist — people who didn't fit in,
index
SEE MUSICOLOGY ON PAGE 4A
Classifieds...3B Opinion...7A
Crossword...6A Sports...1B
Horoscopes...6A Sudoku...6A
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