The new social network

27 Sep 2011, Posted by Tiffany Lieu and Melissa Dalis in News, 0 Comments

Sophia Palenberg/The Chronicle

On Sept. 30, Facebook will reach an unprecedented level of creepiness when it releases Timeline.

Due to be officially introduced to all users within the next two weeks, the Timeline is an online scrapbook that shows a user’s life story via a visual, scrolling timeline. Everything from status updates, photos, recent friendships, to preset events such as your birth, graduation and first job is displayed. The timeline begins at your birth—there is a box that allows you to post pictures and information—and continues through your most recent activity.

Facebook in its earliest form started out by showing all the information you would share with someone within the first five minutes of meeting.  It was then expanded to all the information in a fifteen minute conversation. Now it has progressed to encompass your entire life story, incorporating all aspects of your life from what you had for dinner to what page you are on in the book you are reading.

Gone is the simple layout of the wall with its organized posts and pictures.  Taking its place is a screen filled with large dialogue boxes and pictures branching off from the central timeline—a line marked with dates.

Displayed and stretched across the top of a user’s profile is a customizable “cover”—a large photo that the user chooses. A sidebar on the right of every profile displays each year since the user has had Facebook. When a year is clicked, the viewer is taken to the part of the timeline for that year, displaying the decidedly most important stories of that year, including all of the friends that the user made that year, all the photos that they were tagged in and the friends that were in the most photos with them.

“I think it’s really creepy how you can stalk people from every year,” said junior Monica Gaines. “It’s organized in a way where people don’t have much privacy, and it is easier to get more information out of somebody than it is now. I don’t like it.”

The Friends page is different now as well, with friends whom a user interacts with most displayed at the top and those with the least number of interactions at the bottom. This is expands the current system in which the 10 friends who view your profile the most show up on the left side.

Facebook users who had the Timeline before Sunday afternoon were also able to view friends who had un-friended them during certain years, but Facebook has deleted the bug. Stalkers can, however, find joy by dragging this link to your Bookmark bar. Just open your Facebook, and a list will appear with a ranked order of who you stalk most. The numbers that appear next to each name come directly from Facebook’s algorithm.

Although Facebook developers claim that Timeline does not reveal any new information about users that was not available on the old interface, Timeline certainly makes stalking easier. Even if you are not intentionally stalking someone, having their entire life history displayed and easily accessible can tempt even the least-likely stalker to peak at what their friends did in ninth grade.

“It’s definitely easier to stalk people,” said freshman Erin Leyson. “Before you had to scroll down and click ‘show older posts’ many times, which was really inconvenient. Now you can just click a button and everything comes up.”

“The layout now is really overwhelming,” Leyson said. “It is definitely less organized. I like the old Facebook better.”

Facebook Timeline is currently available exclusively to “developers” who download it early. Users without the Timeline cannot view developers’ Timelines, but those who have downloaded Timeline can see one another’s new profiles.

Follow Mashtable’s instructions to download the Timeline early:

1. Go to this link.
2. Click “Allow.”
3. Click “create new app.”
4. Name it anything, and check “I agree.”
5. Click “Open Graph” on the left side.
6. Type in anything (it doesn’t matter what you type), and click “Get Started.”
7. Scroll down and click “Save Changes and Next.”
8. Wait a minute on this screen, and then go to your Facebook homepage, where you’ll find an invitation to enable Timeline.

Maybe in a few months everyone will wonder at the primitiveness of the current Facebook, or maybe they will all flee to Google+ and Twitter. But in the meantime, get ready to stalk and be stalked.

Prattstars dial for dollars

27 Sep 2011, Posted by Jacob Zionce in News, 0 Comments

As many of their peers were finishing up their homework in preparation for another week of class, a group of young engineers were hard at work trying to do some good for the Pratt School of Engineering community.

Special to The Chronicle

This past Friday, Saturday and Sunday marked the annual Pratt School of Engineering Phonathon, during which 40-60 undergraduate students, development staff and Pratt Staff members called alumni of the school of engineering to raise money for the school’s general fund..

Jennifer Crumpler, assistant director of annual givings for Pratt said that this phonathon, which is run entirely by volunteers, is the only one of it’s kind.

“We are the only school that does it internally,” Crumpler said. “That’s what makes this [event] unique and different.… The students are great, and the alums love talking to them.”

The approximately 230 donations given through the event all go towards the Pratt School of Engineering General Fund, which in turn distributes the money to “wherever the need is greatest,” Crumpler said.

Although the success of the event was determined through the number of pledges given, the average gift given over the last three years was approximately $250, Crumpler said.

Becca Wilusz, Pratt ’07, is a fifth-year Ph.D. student at Duke who was participating in her 9th phonathon this year.

“You get really good stories from… calling [the alumni],” she said. “Being with your friends and calling and sharing stories is really fun.”

Wilusz said that an alumnus she called her freshman year said he would only pledge if she could correctly spell men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski’s last name. As an alumnus herself, Wilusz always challenges students who call her to name the starters of the 2001 men’s basketball national championship team or asks if they went to the past weekend’s football game.

The volunteer participants do not go home empty handed as well, as they all get free dinner as well as a prize, which this year was a Pratt sweatshirt.

ADPi Waffle Breakfast

26 Sep 2011, Posted by Lia Cromwell in News, 0 Comments

Tori Powers/The Chronicle

The Alpha Delta Pi sorority held its bi-annual Waffle Breakfast this past Sunday on the Main Quad. This philanthropy event raised money for the Durham branch of the Ronald McDonald House on Alexander Avenue.

The event—a tradition at Duke for about ten years now—was an all-you-can-eat buffet of homemade waffles, toppings and refreshments with a $5 entry fee.

Pre-sold tickets for the breakfast were slightly lower than in years past due to impending bad weather—but more patrons appeared as the sun came out, leaving attendance at around 500, Erica Nagi, president of Alpha Delta Pi, wrote in an email.

ADPi supports the Ronald McDonald house throughout the year. in addition to this waffle breakfast. Each week, ADPi sends some members to cook dinner for families staying at the Ronald McDonald House, Nagi said. Additionally, ADPi helped them put on their Winterfest Fundraising Gala last year, she added.

This year, members of the sorority have volunteered at RMH’s charity golf tournament and modeled in a fashion show benefiting the house.

“We are very lucky to have such a close relationship with our national philanthropy here at Duke,” Nagi said. “[We] are proud do donate our time and money every semester to such a worthy cause.”

Editor’s Note: This blog post has been modified to include information from ADPi’s president Erica Nagi.

Politics roundup: Perry, matrimony and crowds gone wild

26 Sep 2011, Posted by Walker Schiff in News, Politics Roundup, 0 Comments

Special to The Chronicle

Rick Perry’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad week

Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s campaign for the Republican presidential nomination took a few hits this week.

After jumping out to big leads in the polls following his entrance to the race, Rick Perry saw his poll numbers fall slightly this week and the gap between him and his main competitor, Mitt Romney, shrink. The shrinking poll numbers are not a huge surprise since the momentum Perry created by entering the race could never last.

That being said, a serious of unfortunate events for the Perry camp could cause even a larger drop in Perry’s popularity. First, on Thursday afternoon, the Justice Department said that the congressional redistricting map that Rick Perry signed into law appears to have been “adopted, at least in part, for the purpose of diminishing the ability of citizens of the United States, on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group, to elect their preferred candidates of choice to Congress.”

Basically, the Justice Department is contesting the redistricting map because they believe it is a deliberate attempt to disparage Hispanic voters. Then, on Thursday night, Perry bombed at the Fox News/Google Republican presidential debate, according to almost every notable conservative pundit. It is extremely uncommon for conservative pundits to attack one of their own but they came out in droves on Friday morning to comment on Perry’s poor performance.

Lastly and perhaps most shocking, Perry came in a distant second to Herman Cain in the Presidency5 straw poll in Florida. This particular straw poll had about 2,000 voters and one had to pay to vote, which is typical of straw polls. Straw polls are an interesting part of presidential campaigns in that they almost never forecast how an actual election will turn out but they have the ability to end campaigns (see Tim Pawlenty at the Ames Straw Poll).

This is by no means a sign that Perry’s campaign is over (or that Herman Cain has any shot in of winning), but it is still very embarrassing for Perry’s camp. The Perry campaign invested a lot of time and effort in this straw poll (unlike other top contenders Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann, who didn’t even officially enter it) and still lost by over 20 percentage points to the CEO of Godfather’s Pizza. Perry is still a contender but he is going to have to improve his debate skills, tighten up his campaign strategy and win over a few conservative pundits if he wants to win the nomination.

GOP Congresswoman to sponsor respect of Marriage Act

Good news if you’re a fan of equal rights: Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL)  will be the first GOP cosponsor of the Respect of Marriage Act, which will repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, commonly known as DOMA. DOMA is a bill passed during William Clinton’s presidency that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. This bill prevents the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages as valid. The Obama administration has already challenged the bill, calling it unconstitutional—but for now, it is still in place.

Another week, another GOP debate, another embarrassing crowd moment

Last week I posted a video in the roundup that showed members of the crowd at a GOP debate cheering for the idea of an uninsured man dying. At this week’s Fox News/Google debate, the crowd booed at a soldier, as seen in this video: GOP Debate.

Soundoff: Parisian prayer ban

25 Sep 2011, Posted by Jack Mercola in News, 0 Comments

Special to The Chronicle

Friday Sept. 2, in France, praying in the streets became illegal. Many think that this law is racist, unfair and ethically questionable. Others believe it simply enforces the secularism of the French state. The Chronicle’s Jack Mercola spoke with the Duke community on this issue.

“I’m not sure if I am able to fully develop an opinion. The issue seems to be between two interpretations of the term ‘secular state.’ One side wants a secular state to be one that disallows no religious practices; the other wants a secular state to be one that displays no religious practices. A definition of ‘secular state’ must be decided on before any further action is taken.”

—Alec Higgins, sophomore

“Interior Minister Claude Gueant’s statement was ‘prayers in the street are unacceptable, a direct attack on the principle of secularism.’ It’s so troubling that it’s not a separation between church and state, but rather a domination of church by state…. If the American government were to ban something that I perceive as a basic human right from the church or from American Jews, etc., I think the appropriate response would be civil disobedience.”

—Drew Tucker, Lutheran Campus Minister

“I lived in France for eight years, so I am familiar with the dynamics behind the cultural clashes France tends to have with Muslims. Parisians are used to seeing many [types] of cultures and customs, like many who live in an urban setting. If we all accept our differences and respect each other, there are rarely any problems…. Religion is viewed as a private matter. [Muslims] were aware of France being a secular state when they moved to France, the ban of the burqa has been very visible in the news, for instance. They know that they will have to adapt to the country and slightly change their customs, as we all do when we are in a foreign country. By definition, religion cannot go above law in a secular state. Since France is secular, I feel that the ban of public prayer is fair and logical.”

—Bernadette Leblond, freshman and French citizen

“If the Muslim population in Paris continues to grow the way it is, perhaps the Parisian officials—working for the Mairie de Paris—should consider building a second mosque or place of worship to allocate all these people. Muslims are not second-class citizens. They are an integral part of the city and deserve to be treated fairly. If France really wants to boast tolerance, it should be prepared to make changes. Paris is such a multi-cultural and cosmopolitan city. They have to make life convenient for everyone regardless of their religion.”

—Sophia Durand, freshman and French citizen

“This issue was raised by the Front National which is a radical section of the right in France—equivalent of republicans in the United States. This section is [as] close to being racist as can be heard from the declarations of several members…. The secularism which is part of French history [is at stake]—the inheritance of France as being the nation of human rights. This is choosing between a society based on the multiculturalism or a society based on a false identity and forgetting about its beautiful inheritance.”

—Tarek Akiri, postdoctoral associate, French citizen and Muslim

“In my opinion, this law is completely unfair. It inhibits the practice of Islam in a public sphere. Unless the Friday prayers in the streets are actually standing in the way of every day life of other French citizens and blocking traffic in the streets, there is no legitimate reason to ban the open practice of one’s religion. The basic human right to practice one’s own religion freely is being prevented in France, with an emphasis on Islam. The French government is slowly taking steps to banning anything representing Islam that can be seen in a public space. First, they put a ban on the veils that some Muslim women choose to wear. The veil is completely harmless and should be the personal choice of anyone regardless of their race or religion. What say does the government have in the clothing styles and choices of it’s everyday citizens? There should not be any! The French government’s constant claims on banning all these Islamic ideals and practices because of a need to achieve a secular state and image is just a cover up for their fear and intolerance of Islam.”

—Ayan Salah, junior and Muslim