IUP hates free speech and community service

By Shawn Farner on November 11, 2008 10:14 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
So we've stirred up a little trouble with our shot glasses.

Alpha Phi Omega is a community service fraternity.  Let me repeat: Alpha Phi Omega is a community service fraternity.  We created our shot glasses not with malicious intent, but rather in good fun.  We've seen far more tasteless things sold on campus, so the fact that we were not approved to sell our items on campus property is disappointing, to say the least.  We feel that we are doing a lot of good on campus and around the community - we are actually BRINGING VALUE to this campus - and we are being brushed off.  Fine.  We found sanctuary in the HUB.

So, I sent an email announcing our sale to the Campus Email Bulletin, hoping to draw some attention to our fundraiser.  I read the bulletin today, and, as it turns out, those in charge chose not to include our message.  I would not be so angry about it if we weren't also collecting canned goods for a food bank.  That message didn't make it in there, either.

From the outside looking in, what do you see?  A university that doesn't appreciate its student organizations.

P.S. We'll gladly stop selling the shot glasses if the university would like to buy them at $4 a piece.  It would make up for the funding we've never been able to get.

Social Media U? Not here.

By Shawn Farner on October 6, 2008 11:30 AM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks
Originally posted at ShawnFarner.com

Riddle me this - how does a university celebrate a successful alumnus like Chad Hurley (a founder of YouTube), yet remain completely ignorant as to why he was successful in the first place?

I don't have the answer, though I wish I did.

A quick scan through IUP's Marketing course schedule reveals that the university does not offer an Internet Marketing course.  A similar search through the Communications Media department shows one course called "Internet and Media", though the course description leads me to believe that they've just now discovered those wonderful "web page" doohickies.  Hardly reassuring.

More troubling to me is the lack of early adopters on campus.  There are four or five students on Twitter (including myself and two friends I recruited) and one IT guy.  Not a single professor is on Twitter.  The university has no official presence on the service, either.  I won't even talk about FriendFeed or any of the other lesser-known social networks.  

I'm left with this question - what on earth are the students learning about regarding the internet in Marketing and Communications?

Social media is where the future of advertising will take place.  Social media is slowly changing the game in terms of interaction between media entities and the everyday guy or gal.  Social media is connecting users around the world in a trillion different ways.  College students need to know this - they need to see it, play with it and be taught how it will affect their job someday.

YouTube didn't invent online video - it became wildly popular because it made online video social.  Until this university acknowledges this new medium, they'll be left in the dust as others move forward.

Invisible Blogs

By Shawn Farner on September 25, 2008 12:01 PM | 2 Comments | No TrackBacks
IUP tech service guys, are you listening?

We need a better way to show this content off. I can barely find my own blog and I know what it's called. How are other people supposed to find blogs of interest, or more importantly - how will people know they can create one in the first place?

Link Blogs at IUP to the front page. Show more recent posts.

Or else this is a pointless endeavor.

You're in the way

By Shawn Farner on September 24, 2008 4:27 PM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
I'm talking to you, construction.

I've noticed that, this semester, construction has literally been in the way about 200 times more than in the past. Whether it's the actual construction zones, construction vehicles or just the workers themselves, getting around campus is WAY more inconvenient now.

I walked past a group of older adults who were visiting the university yesterday.  I couldn't help but overhear their conversation - they were in awe about how "in your face" all the construction was.  There was a giant truck blocking traffic on Maple St. and workers banging away at the new Suites building next to University Towers.  Probably not the first view of campus they were expecting.

Next time, it might not be a bad idea to have important visitors take another path onto campus.

EDIT: About an hour after writing this post, I attempted to walk to the library. A large construction vehicle became the catalyst for lawless driving, as it caused cars to quickly try to get through the intersection before it came. One such vehicle was a big red Indigo bus, which very nearly ended my life.  The construction vehicle then went up the WRONG WAY of a one way street (behind Sutton Hall), occupying the pedestrian zone that should have otherwise belonged to uh, PEDESTRIANS.  WTF.

Out on smoke patrol

By Shawn Farner on September 18, 2008 1:52 AM | No Comments | No TrackBacks
Earlier tonight, I got to hear an IUP police officer's view on the new smoking ban instituted by the State System.  What did I take away from it?

The campus police force is too small to truly enforce the ban.

They would need "75 more officers" just for "smoke patrol", as he put it.  And even then, officers do not have the power to do anything but fine those individuals.  They can't be detained, they can't be arrested.  All in all, it seems like a silly job to give men and women with far more important things to worry about, like keeping the campus community safe.

I'm not a smoker myself, but I feel terrible for those who are.  They are now the subjects of a state-run witch hunt - the victims of a badly interpreted law.  How anyone could possibly conclude that an "Indoor Clean Air Act" applies to an entire outdoor campus is beyond me, but some soul with an anti-smoking agenda found a way to do it.

If I were a smoker, I would be fighting the hell out of this.  Then again, I wander campus every day and everyone is still smoking anyway.  Good.  I encourage it.  Change isn't brought about by sitting back and doing nothing.  Force the issue.

You might not be ready for this...

By Shawn Farner on September 17, 2008 12:35 AM | 1 Comment | No TrackBacks
For months, I've lamented the loss of my blogging innocence.  Gone are the days when I would hop on Xanga and rip off a hilarious story about girls, the Philadelphia Eagles or whatever else bothered me that day.  Instead, the real world has appeared on the horizon, and in that blog's place is my-name-dot-com and my thoughts on social media and Web 2.0.  A passion of mine, sure, but also not an appropriate place for me to talk about my personal life and, most importantly, my last semester of college.

And then, I met Blogs at IUP. We spotted each other across the sunflower-filled field and our eyes were instantly locked.  The birds sang.  The butterflies circled carelessly through the air.  An angelic choir descended from the heavens and told us, "Go forth, be cliche!"  We sprinted across the pasture as fast as our legs would allow, crashing into each others arms.

It was blog love.

But seriously, here's what you can expect if you read this - stuff about me, stuff about IUP (I'll try to balance compliments and complaints) and anything else I have on my brain at the moment.  If you want a nicer, more professional Shawn Farner, go here and see if that's your bag.

I'm looking forward to doing this, and I hope whoever reads this enjoys what I throw out there. If not, I'm sorry. You can't say I didn't warn you.
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