Universities Weblog

Ticktock, ticktock, ticktock….

The end is near for Larry Summers, the embattled president of harvard university. Tomorrow, June 30, marks his last day in office. Derek Bok, Harvard's president from 1971-1991 (and a former professor of mine), assumes responsibilities on an interim basis until the Harvard Corporation finds a permanent replacement.

Look here for a Q&A between Summers and an AP reporter, and here for deeper review of his tenure.

Good luck to Larry. May he find a path more suitable for his talents and his temperament. Perhaps he'll remain at Harvard as University Professor. Or not.

(Photo Source: AP)

What college student couldn't use some extra money? This may be the easiest way you've ever made any.

StudentLoanConsolidator.com, a service of the Student loan Network, recently announced exciting news: the implementation of StudentATM (Student Affiliate Tracking and Monitoring), their new affiliate program.

Members earn money through completed consolidation applications. By helping your friends, colleagues, and others embark on student loan consolidation, you earn money for every referral.

The program is currently paying $100 per completed/returned application with no maximum limit of applications or caps on earnings. A simple to use program, members are provided with a unique link that directs their customers to an application form on StudentLoanConsolidator.com. Jonathan Rudy, director of StudentATM sums up the simplicity of the program. "Affiliate members can post the link we provide anywhere they want - in their
blogs, email signatures, on their myspace page, or even on personal websites. The more links that are posted, the more borrowers apply, the more money is made - it's that easy."

Signing up is amazingly simple and quick. Members are even provided with free tips about loan consolidation, as well as guidelines for increasing trafficking and creating effective marketing.

With no cap on your earnings, you could make thousands of dollars with little effort. You don't want to miss this opportunity!

Please go to http://www.StudentATM.com immediately to find out more about becoming an affiliate…you could be making money right now!

(Source: Harvard Business School)

That's the question behind a documentary on Harvard Business School graduates. The film aims to track HBS alums, visiting them every few years to chart their progress, their happiness and their feelings about career choices.

Here's a bit from the New York Times story:

Read the full article here.

Every year, commencement speakers across the country try their best to say something original, something inspiring, something memorable. They most often fail. Commencement speeches, as a result, wind up sounding awfully similar, though a few have their moments.

Here, courtesy of the new york times, is a roundup of this spring's commencement addresses. Same old tripe, perhaps, but at least it's fun to see who spoke where.

Students arriving at Stanford Business School next fall will discover a new philosophy of curricular freedom and individual choice. Consider this from the Boston Globe:

Starting in the fall of 2007…Stanford's curriculum will be tailored to each student. Students will have no required courses after a common program in the first quarter. Instead, they'll be able to choose from a menu of courses in traditional core disciplines such as finance, operations, and marketing. Students new to the business world can learn the basics of financing in one course, for instance, while hedge fund veterans can explore higher-level issues in another.

"This is clearly a very thoughtful program," said Richard L. Schmalensee, dean of the MIT Sloan School in Cambridge. "We expect to learn from it. Who knows? We may copy some of it."

A freewheeling attitude in California. Whoda thunk it?

Some students attend college for the richness of experience; others go in order to set up a promising financial future. Whatever your motivation, you're going to need a good job when you graduate. But how in the world will you be able to find one? The answer: with JobCast.

The Financial Aid Podcast, a free and invaluable resource for students and graduates that offers financial aid, scholarship, and personal finance help, has recently launched a new service: JobCast.

This service helps anyone–students, their families, and the general public–greatly improve the likelihood of finding just the right career. If you've been discouraged with job searching, and fear that your dream job is forever out of reach, then JobCast will help you regain your confidence and enthusiasm.

"One of the most overlooked facets of financial aid for students and graduates is the income side of the equation. So many specialists focus exclusively on saving money and reducing costs, but few talk about how to bring in more money. The Financial Aid Podcast tries to balance the expense side of personal finance with more attention given to the income side. After all, the easiest way to pay all the bills every month is to have enough income to meet your needs, and for most of America that comes from your career choices," remarked Financial Aid Podcast host Christopher Penn, a former technical recruiter and financial aid expert.

As a college graduate and long-time member of the work force, I can attest that this approach is both innovative and absolutely necessary. In fact, I often recommend JobCast, and the entire Financial Aid Podcast, to my students who are desperate for help and valuable information.

JobCast is unique in that it also offers user submissions, audio feedback, e-mails, and on-the-air resume consultation, free of charge. That's what's called a no-brainer, even for you smart college types. How could you not take advantage of this amazing free service?

Whether you want to learn more about managing personal finances, paying for college, or building the perfect career, a free subscription to the Financial Aid Podcast is an invaluable resource. Learn more about your options, and about subscribing using the free iTunes software from Apple Computer, Inc. by visiting www.FinancialAidPodcast.com.

(Source: UCLA)

Startling news from UCLA, courtesy of the LA Times:

This fall 4,852 freshmen are expected to enroll at UCLA, but only 96, or 2%, are African American - the lowest figure in decades and a growing concern at the Westwood campus.

He and other officials at UCLA and elsewhere said the problem of attracting, admitting and enrolling qualified black students is found at competitive universities across the country and that its causes are complex. In California, the problem is rooted partly in the restrictions placed on the state's public colleges and institutions by Proposition 209, the 1996 voter initiative that banned consideration of race and gender in admissions and hiring.

Read the full article here.

With the Internet encompassing so much of our lives these days, providing our entertainment, valuable information, and pathways to exciting careers, the quality of your web development software is critical. You need the latest developments at your fingertips, easily accessible and never outdated. Who can you depend on to deliver all this, and more? BoonEx Group.

Long known for its quality products and exceptional customer service, BoonEx Group is quickly establishing itself as one of the industry's leading innovators. Professionals and consumers alike were thrilled to learn of new products developed by BoonEx Group, all part of the aptly named 'Predators Unleashed Initiative':

1. Barracuda 2.0 Traffic Development Software. This is a new version of the company's long-revered directory script. If you liked the first version, you'll love version 2.0. Improvements include a "threefold application" of a links directory, links exchange, and traffic analyzer.

AJAX-backed features allow the links directory option to create a Yahoo/DMOZ type directory with a capacity for unlimited links and categories.

Gaining valuable links to your website or online business has never been easier than now, with Barracuda 2.0's link exchange feature. Now you can automatically request reciprocal links, and even enjoy an e-mail template that will gather the links for you. It doesn't get any easier–or effective–than this.

As any Web professional knows, your site is nothing without traffic. Barracuda 2.0 helps conquer this crucial aspect with its traffic analyzer. Now you can accurately track your site's position in directory powerhouses such as Google, Yahoo and MSN, with unlimited Keyword capability. It has long been said that directories must contain original content, and this is easily achieved with Barracuda 2.0. The 'listing information' feature adds more related content pages to directorys, and allows directory visitors to add comments containing original content and related links. This feature also provides automatic Alexa and Google PR information.

Best of all, this new version of the Barracuda Traffic Development Software comes with a new approach to support : the BoonEx Club. This is not simply a forum where support is offered. BoonEx Club is a community of professionals that include both supporters from BoonEx Team and experts in various online business fields such as SEO, e-marketing, hosting and others. The community creates collaborative technical documentation, participates in discussion boards with tips and hints, develops additional Barracuda modules, language files, plugins and design templates. All these services make BoonEx Club membership a must have for serious users of Barracuda Traffic Development Software.

This wonderful software must be experienced in order to be believed. You can view an online demo at the BoonEx Group website, or visit the Dramba.com web directory.

2.dolphin Web Community Software. One of the best opportunity the Web offers is the ability to communicate with the entire world. This amazing new software enables you to form a popular web community offering forum, chat, IM, dating, news, blogging, media gallery and events services. This new software is an updated version of the famous dating script, aeDating, from AEwebworks Dating Software Development Ltd. now owned by BoonEx Group.

Web community software Dolphin 5.0 ushers in a new era of convenience and fun. Dolphin 5.0 is the first web community software that allows you to easily create any sort of online community: a gallery, dating service, forum, blogging network, and more. With universal web community software Dolphin 5.0 you are now limited by your imagination only.

Would you believe that Dolphin 5.0 comes with an amazing 300 features? Just a small sampling of these include personal blogs, a media gallery, 'shout-box', friends list network, customizable profiles, hot listings and black listings, profile and photo ratings, a zip code locator, profiles browsing, moderators, multiple languages options, events and speed dating, an affiliate system, membership types management, a more than one payment provider system, e-commerce possibilities, a mail box and more.

Administrators will be highly pleased with a user-friendly administration panel that allows management of literally everything on website, so well-designed that even the newest software administrators will find using it a breeze. Dolphin webmasters can work on unique profile fields, customize website colors and styles, do mass mailing, approve members profiles, build unique index pages with modern Drag-&-Drop technology, and manage events, feedbacks, articles, payment providers and other features.

Dolphin 5.0 is an updated version of the famous dating script aeDating 4.1 IQ from AEwebworks Dating Software Development Ltd., which now is owned by BoonEx Group. Dolphin 5.0 incorporated and enhanced all of aeDating 4.1 IQ functionality. Unlike aeDating, which offered a commercial license for 690USD, the Dolphin 5.0 license is absolutely free!

BoonEx Club now hosts all support services for Dolphin 5.0 web community software. Professional support by the BoonEx team and other members of the BoonEx Club enables collaborative technical documentation development, presents discussion boards with tips and hints, provides additional Dolphin modules, language files, plug-ins and design templates. All these make BoonEx Club membership a must-have for serious users of Dolphin community software. Anyone can join BoonEx Club now. All these perks are 100% free.

3. Ray Web Multimedia Software Userplane Alternative. The Ray audio/video instant messenger, chat and web server are based on flash technology. Ray web multimedia software comes with two applications: Ray Chat and Ray Instant Messenger. Ray Chat offers the best web chat capabilities supporting several simultaneous audio/video windows, and web video conference for 4 users. Large and resizable windows allow users to modify their chats as they wish. Users can change text, style and color, add fancy smiles to live text, and see users' details in the same window without reloading the page. Ray users can easily pick a room to join, see how many people are inside, and who's broadcasting their video. Finally, users can also create their own rooms.

Ray IM offers private one-on-one conversations for site members. Ray IM includes all the features of Ray chat and can be easily called for from general chat rooms. When integrated separately, the summoning of Ray IM requires one single click to start tête-à -tête conversations with any online member, and gives the receiver a window asking to accept or decline the conversation. This allows site members ultimate convenience and discretion.

Always the innovators, BoonEx Group plans to release Ray Recorder soon as well. This will offer users the ability to record audio and video messages for site members. Profile owners can record up to three messages and post them for their friends, other members, and visitors to listento and watch. A/V message authors can name each file with unique name. This much improves on the UP webrecorder that offers only one file to record and a file name given by script only.

Ray is based on the Ray Multimedia Server, an alternative of the Flash Media Server, that was developed specifically for Ray. This empowers Ray Web Multimedia Software to offer billing plans with much less expense for end users. The Premium plan now lets you pay nothing for connections or load-dependent access. You pay only for the Ray license (198USD flat fee), which comes with unlimited simultaneous connections. Each license is offered per one domain/database or per network for intranet applications of Ray Multimedia Software.

"Now, one does not have to pay 5000USD for Flash server or for monthly connections fees, you have your own server and application, both for the 198USD one time flat fee," says BoonEx Group general director, Andrey Sivtsov.

Users can also choose the basic plan, which includes a free version of Ray for unlimited simultaneous connections.

The focus of BoonEx Group on open source principles makes it possible for Ray to offer customized templates of chat, IM, and recorder, much better than the option of only one standard template used by all Userplane clients. In addition, this allows main clients of Ray to integrate their dating websites, forum communities and weblogs. Ray is already integrated with such popular online scripts as aeDating, SkyDatePro, Dolphin and Shark. Such communities as 4ppl.com and 0dating.com were enjoying this product even before it was released for wider public. Ray adds life and online experience to a website. Now site owners can provide their members with an Userplane alternative chat, IM and audio/video profile features.

Ray web multimedia software comes with a new approach to support : BoonEx Club. This is not simply a place where support is offered. BoonEx Club is a community of professionals that includes both supporters from BoonEx Team and experts in various online business fields such as website promotion, programming, and web design. The community creates collaborative technical documentation, participates in discussion boards with tips and hints, develops additional Ray modules, language files, plugins and design templates. All these services make BoonEx Club membership a must have for serious users of Ray Web Multimedia Software.

Whether you are interested in one or all of these fabulous products of the 'Predators Unleashed Initiative,' your satisfaction is guaranteed.

BoonEx Group was founded on December 15, 2004. It was initially organized from group of smaller companies and attracted professionals with experience in software development, web-promotion, marketing, and management. BoonEx group is gradually implementing a long-term plan of company development on the market of Information Technologies. BoonEx Group runs several commercial websites and serves customers from all over the world. BoonEx Group has over 50 full-time employees, all with impressive professional backgrounds, education, and experience. Currently, BoonEx Group has announced four innovative softwares : Ray, Shark, Barracuda and Dolphin.

We all get them-those pesky dinnertime phone calls from people asking us for money. We're annoyed, and our meal's getting cold. So we mumble something obscene into the phone and abruptly hang up.

Even when our alma mater rings, and it's a student calling.

Well, now that I've been on the other side of the phone, I'll be nicer. My latest Chronicle of Higher Education column details my experience as a phone-a-thonner.

Have a look here. And from now on, be nice.