All the News that is Fit to Print

As long as there has been a Yeshiva College, there has been a stereotypical Yeshiva College student. This YC Everyman has endured a myriad of indignities and affronts. However, one characteristic that the YC student has never been accused of lacking is a tenacious willingness to express a personal opinion.

With this consideration in mind, it is not at all surprising that the newest addition to The Commentator website (www.yucommentator.com) is a message board. Brainchild of Co-Editor-in-Chief Ari Kahn, the message board was created in order to provide a medium for students to easily and publicly express their assessments of classes and professors they have taken. Nevertheless, since its inception on February 12, the messages posted have occasionally crept outside the bounds of mere course evaluation.

The Commentator site was developed, and continues to be maintained by webmasters and YC computer science majors Ben Sandler and Josh Yuter. They explained that having a Commentator online is important not only in order to expand readership; it also acts as a vital complement to the official Yeshiva University website. “For someone searching for information about YU,” Sandler said, “the [newspaper] site probably has more useful information than the official website does.”

Since its introduction in November 1997, the virtual home of the newspaper has proven to be immensely popular. Total monthly hits hover around 4,000. As can be expected, peak visitation occurs on the days immediately following the publication of a new issue. For the first day alone of the last issue, the site registered 544 hits. Additionally, the online version of the paper is complete and available to its readership earlier than the printed version, as it is spared the time associated with physical printing. This benefit is enhanced by the recent introduction of a Commentator mailing list - members are notified via e-mail as soon as a new issue is introduced.

Webmasters Yuter and Sandler have access to a wide variety of statistics regarding how many hits the site gets, where they are coming from, and when they are received. They report that The Commentator Online entertains numerous guests from other colleges with large Jewish communities, including Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania. Many other visitors find The Commentator through search engines such as Yahoo and AOL. These include computer users from Israel, Canada, Hungary, Belgium, Germany, and Italy. Nevertheless, most of the hits originate in the various computer labs on-campus (i.e. Gottesman Library, Belfer Hall, etc). This occurrence, Yuter explained, is due to a lack of publicity: “ The only people that know about the website are either people who found it by accident, or who get the printed edition of the paper, where it is advertised.” The Commentator staff is presently exploring the possibility of advertising in Jewish community newspapers, such as the Jewish Week and the Jewish Press.

One is tempted to predict that the new message board will help stir up some additional hype. During its first ten days of existence, almost forty messages have been posted. The self-description offered by the message board reads "This is an open forum for YU students to post their opinions of courses and professors at YU." Questioned as to how this arrangement differs from the evaluations conducted by the Dean's Office at the end of each semester, Sandler explained that the "Scantron" evaluations purposely avoid asking "dangerous" questions. The message board, on the other hand, allows more freedom for students to fully express their opinions. Sandler also raised the benefit of widespread and immediate availability to the student body, as opposed to the secrecy that shrouds the official evaluations.

An interesting feature of the message board is that it offers the option of posting messages anonymously. Although the ‘anonymous option’ may help contribute to the honesty of the evaluations posted, the webmasters acknowledge that it also facilitates the posting of "some pretty colorful stuff." Some of the evaluations have been rather brutal and even vulgar, with references to various professors' sexual preferences. In fact, the crudeness of the material posted caused one visitor, who identified himself only as a "former student," to question whether the students posting some of the messages are truly "Torah Jews." Nevertheless, the webmasters explained, there is no real way to force people to reveal their identities. Even if a name was required, people could post messages using other people's names. Curious messages have been posted under the names of Rabbi Lamm, Sy Syms, and Dean Jaskoll. When asked if he was surprised by the seeming impropriety of some of the messages, Yuter replied, "I am annoyed that it happened, but not surprised that it did."

In reaction to flagrant abuses of the message board, Editors-in-Chief Ari Kahn and Noah Streit have created an official set of guidelines. In brief, students are asked to provide constructive criticisms and praises of professors. Any vulgar or insignificant statements will be deleted before they have an opportunity to enter the webpage, as all messages will be seen by the webmasters before they go up.

"I am disappointed that such a useful opportunity has already been maligned by students exercising their destructive natures," said Streit.

What else is in store for The Commentator Online? Possible future enhancements include an expanded message board, perhaps linked to specific articles; a chat room; a search engine for the Commentator site; and in the very near future, public opinion polls on issues relevant to Yeshiva University students and the Jewish community at large.