Coverage of the UD-DSU game see page 28
Student guest stars with Rachel Ray see page 19
The University of Delaware’s Independent Newspaper Since 1882
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Library stays relevant in digital age
Commentary: Think before you use derogatory slurs see page 13
Tuesday, September 22, 2009 Volume 136, Issue 4
University’s Second Life in cyberspace
BY STEPHANIE KRAUS
BY LAUREN SAVOIE
Senior News Reporter
Staff Reporter
Working late some nights, Gregg Silvis leaves his office on the second floor of Morris Library to find the atrium just as it was 20 years ago — packed with students. “It’s always been full, but the difference now is that there are three or four laptops on every table,” Silvis, assistant director for Library Computing Systems, said. The university library, like other libraries around the country, is updating its technology to meet the challenges of an increasingly digital world that has threatened the role of libraries and changed the way people retrieve information. But despite facing budget cuts and the need to move a large number of print materials offsite in recent years, the university library has seen a surge of users — so much so that officials expanded their hours last year to cope with the demand for late night study sites by students like Junior Matt Cunningham, who walks from his residence hall on Laird Campus to study at the library two or three times a week. “The dorms are just kind of full of distractions,” Cunningham said. “So by going to the library I take the time to walk all the way, so it forces me to focus.” Sandra Millard, assistant director for Library Public Services, have also noted the increased need of structured study areas that give students flexibility when they need it. “The new purpose of the library,” Millard said, “is to provide a physical space and an electronic space.” She said areas of the library like the Bleecker Street Café and the Multimedia Design Center were purposely conceptualized as noisy spaces where students See LIBRARY page 10
inside 1 News
H1N1 vaccine to be released next month
Students use software for class, tours Courtesy of Debbie Jeffers
Services department is in charge of the program. She said the university purchased the Second Life Memorial Hall sits on an island with a sandy islands in the summer of 2007 through the New shore. Inside the building are galleries of paintings. Media Consortium for $4,300 each. “By choosing this route, we are guaranteed to Just outside, the “R/V Hugh R. Sharp” research boat bobs on the water, pelicans flap, and university be located within an educational continent, in close admissions officals book campus tours from their proximity to other colleges and universities with similar objectives and goals, creating a greater sense bait stand. of educational community,” she said. “NMC deals These are the university’s Second Life islands. Second Life is an online world in which partic- directly with Linden Labs, the company that owns Second Life, and ipants can create an offers its clients avatar and live a virtual life, interacting with “Second Life is now what the Internet is in the extra support not readily available other virtual people. mid-90’s. A lot of people said, ‘What do I need elsewhere.” Creating an avatar is Sophomore free but Second Life this for?’ back then also. But in 10 years, this Andrew Barroso charges for the islands kind of 3-D, totally immersible internet will be was hired by Jeffers for people to live on and to assist classes in for premade virtual everywhere.” Second Life. He accessories like buildings builds specialty and clothing. Participants can also create their own — Professor Collette Gaiter items for classes as well as wanders the accessories. island, talking to One of the universivisitors and pointing ty’s islands contains teaching spaces where classes can meet virtually. out the island’s features. Because Barroso and There is a large stadium for talks to be broadcast Jeffers build many of the pieces themselves, they while they happen in real life, such as the Global avoid paying fees for downloading game elements. “Some kids think it’s just another World of Agenda series last spring. The other island is everything else: admissions, Warcraft, but there’s no monthly fee for students to galleries, an art conservation display, demonstra- play,” Bross said. “With 16,000 kids here paying tions of research such as the electronic car, and an tuition, this is small for the university to pay for exhibit run by the Women’s Studies department with such an incredible unleashing of imagination.” interviews from real Afro-Latina women. Debbie Jeffers of the IT-Client Support and See SECOND LIFE page 11
12 Editorial
BY CLAIRE GOULD Copy Desk Chief
13 Opinion
17 Mosaic
21 Media Darling
On Sept. 15, the Food and Drug Administration approved the new H1N1 flu vaccine, which is expected to become available within the next four weeks. College students are among those considered the vaccine’s “target population” for H1N1, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services said Friday during a conference call with college newspapers. The H1N1 virus has the potential to mix with the seasonal flu strain and become more dangerous, Sebelius said. Beth Bell from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a change in the virus would not necessarily null the new vaccine. “There’s a spectrum of complete protection, partial protection or no protection against severe disease,” Bell said. “There’s many ways that the vaccine could still provide some benefit, and that’s the sort of thing we can monitor.” Sebelius said the new vaccine is right on target to fight H1N1 because the virus has not changed since April. She said although the virus continues to present itself like the seasonal flu, it will continue to be watched carefully. “So far it hasn’t mutated or become more lethal, but we don’t know that won’t happen next month or next week,” she said. Sebelius said one dose of the seasonal flu vaccine is now considered sufficient for college students. “Now we have a shorter window of worry for college students about how long it would take before people can be vaccinated,” she said. Bell said similar to what happened in the spring, children and young adults are being hit the hardest. The flu is in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, with the See H1N1 page 9
27 Classifieds
28 Sports