Rockhurst Sentinel

Issue date: 10/16/06 Section: Commentary

The Rockhurst Points of Distinction, as taken from www.rockhurst.edu/about/distinction/index.asp, opens with the following: "Founded by the Jesuits in 1910, Rockhurst is a comprehensive university that offers more than 50 undergraduate and graduate programs taught by nationally recognized faculty." The Points go on to speak of the University's mission and its various accolades, all of which are very true and commendable facts that any parents would love to read when helping their children decide on a school to attend. Assuredly, it is statements such as the Points of Distinction that are recited proudly during any prospective student's campus visit and we all can find similar items in the many letters that we received from Rockhurst during our final year of high school. Nearly every school in the nation exercises these same methods, and why shouldn't they? Schools should brag about their achievements, their various rankings, their admirable missions in the lives of their students. These are clearly the features that make Rockhurst what it is to any parent or alumni, but what about the students? Are our experiences here built upon the fact that the Jesuit tradition focuses on "individual liberty that runs through the curriculum, which is based upon the seven classical modes of inquiry?" I say doubtful. Our experiences here are based upon something different, something slightly more personal, which perhaps has no place within the confines of any University's official website. However, one cannot deny the relevance that such experiences may have upon a prospective student. So where can Sammy Senior find such information? Where is Sammy to go for the down and dirty facts about Rockhurst? Well, Sammy, Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia and Wikia, has your answer.

According to the Collegiate Presswire, on Tuesday September 26th, Wales created an addition to his successful website empire, one that would provide details about Universities, Colleges, and Schools worldwide, and that would be exclusively produced by students. For those of you unfamiliar with Wikipedia and its numerous sister sites, they are basically online free encyclopedias with content that is entirely determined by inputs from various people around the world. The sites are multilingual and, with their vast sources of information, can be deemed quite valuable. The new collegiate division of Wikipedia, which can be accessed at http://students.wikia.com, allows students to create a collaborative description of their University community based solely upon their opinions. This is the basic informational philosophy of Wales who states "communities should be nurtured, not processed, canned and forced upon people." He claims the websites provide people with a "completely open forum to build communities based upon peoples' interests and passions."

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