Skip to content

Posts tagged ‘twitter’

Apr 1

2 Comments

Middlebury Class of 2016: Accepted, rejected, waitlisted

Middlebury’s acceptance, rejection, and waitlist letters have gone out and the class of 2016 is coming together. Below is a look at how high schools seniors react to the news. First, acceptances:

Read more

Jan 15

2 Comments

Life Skills: Keeping Up With The News

This post is part of the “Life Skills” series by former MiddBlog editors. 

Creative Commons / Jessamyn

In my previous post on being an active consumer of the news, I discussed how to assemble the sources one needs for a media mix that will keep you informed.  In this post, I’ll  provide advice for keeping up with these sources.

Make Twitter work for you

There are a lot of reasons people stay away from Twitter.  People see it as being too turbo, too nerdy, too much of an obligation for their careers or too superficial.  Twitter may not be for everyone, but I believe most people can find a way to make Twitter work for them.  The key is to assemble a list of followers you find compelling and to think of Twitter as a tool for keeping up with your interests and for sharing.  Twitter can easily become a natural extension of one’s interests and one’s desire to share.

Creative Commons / Matt Hamm

If you’re new to Twitter, create an account and find users to follow.  When looking for feeds, I recommend keeping in mind the Media Mix I suggested: you want a cross-section of news sources ranging from the hyperlocal to the international.  Also, one of the great things about Twitter is that you can follow people and organizations that you’re interested in without getting information through a filter.  If you want the latest on Tebow, go straight to the source.

As you choose whom to follow, it’s important that you assemble a feed you’ll find compelling going forward.  Especially if you’re just starting out, be wary of accounts that are too prolific and don’t double up on accounts that essentially do the same thing.  This means not following too many sources for breaking news, for example.  To keep your feed organized, make lists that create new streams with a combination of accounts you chose, including accounts you don’t follow.  You can also subscribe to other users’ lists.

Many users like to download applications that run Twitter on their computers and mobile devices.  There are many options out there, but the applications made by Twitter itself work quite well.

Finally, Twitter is also about leaning forward and interacting with other users (more on this in my post next week). This friendly introduction to Twitter includes a glossary and will help you get started. Read more

Oct 27

4 Comments

A Guide To Middlebury’s #Anonymous Tweeters

The Middlebury twittersphere is vast. With accounts for the college, administrators, dining halls, professors and friends, it can be hard to keep up with the latest and greatest micro-bloggers. We’re always trying to make your life easier at MiddBlog, so we’ve rounded up Middlebury’s funniest anonymous Twitter accounts. Did we leave anyone out? Let us know in the comments section below.

@middtwitt: The infamous and the original. Tweeting about personal issues and current and upcoming campus events, Midd Twitt is the most active and reliably humorous account on our list, making it a must-follow for all Middlebury students.

@NickJansenMidd: You might recognize him from Twilight desk graffiti and writing on various bathroom walls. This mysterious Middlebury character has been known to converse with middtwitt, vent about campus events and air his dirty laundry to the masses.

Read more

Oct 8

1 Comment

The Bunker is Back- or is it?

After being shut down early spring semester last year, the Bunker- Midd’s student-run sketchy dance club- returned to Middlebury last night.  The night, billed as “Friday Night Blackout,” ended early after several students allegedly attempted to break into windows to get in.   Should be an interesting semester. The evening, however, sparked a series of entertaining tweets from Midd’s most loved anonymous tweeters:

Feb 12

18 Comments

President Liebowitz Delivers Address on the Future of the College

President Liebowitz outlined a sober vision of the future of the College in a speech delivered in Mead Chapel today, assessing how the College cannot continue to operate as it did during better economic times, while maintaining that the College’s most important priorities will not change.

The speech, which received a lengthy ovation after its conclusion, was also notable in that it offered solemn assessments of various issues in higher education. Liebowitz proposed lowering expectations for profits on the endowment, and also explained that families would stop investing in institutions like Middlebury if comprehensive fees continue to increase at present rates. Faculty, students and staff filled Mead Chapel for the speech, which had been publicized through campus-wide emails.

Stay tuned for more in-depth coverage from The Campus in the coming days, but here is an overview of the some of the policy proposals outlined by Liebowitz:

  • There will be no staff layoffs barring a severe economic downturn. Liebowitz praised the early retirement program and staff restructuring as successful in averting the need for layoffs.  Liebowitz’s announcement of this news was met by applause.
  • The current financial aid policy will remain the same. Admission will continue to be need blind for domestic applicants and need aware for international applicants.  The stated policy of meeting demonstrated need for admitted students will remain in effect.
  • Enrollment will increase to 2,450. Liebowitz cited the financial advantages of increasing enrollment, and acknowledged that he had previously hoped to decrease the size of the student body.
  • The student-faculty ratio will remain the same. Liebowitz also explained that plans to implement senior work for all students will continue.
  • The Monterey Institute and Middlebury’s language programs will be developed to further their profit-making potential. Liebowitz outlined how both programs already make a profit.  He also made an effort to present the decision to expand on these programs in terms of major decisions in the College’s history.
  • The comprehensive fee will increase at a slower rate. The speech outlined how tuition has increased at a faster rate than the consumer price index, and how President Liebowitz sees this as an unsustainable practice.
  • Expected revenue from the endowment and gifts will decrease. In planning future budgets, expected profits from the endowment will decrease to 5%. During better economic times, budgets functioned based on 9%-11% profit margins on the endowment.
  • The freeze on faculty and staff salaries of over $50,000 will likely be lifted in the next fiscal year. Raises will first go to faculty who have been promoted.

The Campus also covered the event through its Twitter account, and I once again recommend staying tuned to the paper’s coverage in the coming days for more analysis.

UPDATE: Read a transcript of the speech HERE.

Campus News Editor Anthony Adragna contributed reporting to this post, and for full disclosure, I am also on The Campus Editorial Board.

« Older Entries
%d bloggers like this: