Dean Terry, the director of the emerging media programat the University of Texas at Dallas, and graduate research assistant Bradley Griffith have released a free Facebook plug-in called EnemyGraph with the ability to establish "enemies" as well as "friends," The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. Facebook and other social networks create an artificially nice environment, which is a "social-media blasphemy," according to Terry. Through EnemyGraph, Terry and Griffith encourage people to confront their negative relationships, The Chronicle reported. In response to some concerns about increased cyberbullying, Terry said the feature would not spark more hateful speech but instead facilitate more dialogue. So far, "trending enemies" include Rick Santorum, the band Nickelback and racism, according to The Chronicle.
Beginning in fall 2012, first-year students at Princeton University will be prohibited from attending any activities that affiliate freshmen with Greek organizations, including formal and semi-formal events, according to The Daily Princetonian. The university released a report compiled by the school's Freshmen Rush Policy Implementation Committee last Sunday, which enumerated the details of the ban and the consequences of violations. The report recommends the suspension of freshmen found to have knowingly joined, pledged or rushed a Greek organization and older students that allow these events to occur, according to The Princetonian. The report contends that severe punishment is necessary when "institutional values" are at stake, though the committee has conceded that punishments will vary case by case, The Princetonian reported.
Blackboard Inc., the company that provides and manages many of the online educational services used by the College, announced on Monday that it has acquired two companies that support Moodle, the leading rival of Blackboard's online learning platform, according to Inside Higher Ed. Blackboard recently bought Moodlerooms, an open-source support provider in North America, and NetSpot, a provider for Moodle users in Australia. Blackboard has also begun to embrace the open-source movement with its launch of an Open Services Support Group under the guidance of Charles Severance, a prominent figure in the Sakai Foundation, according to Inside Higher Ed. The Sakai Foundation and Moodle are open-source advocacy communities that offer source codes for free and provide an alternative to buying a full-service license for Blackboard's product, Inside Higher Ed reported.
