UU Feedback
I know we’re all doing professor evals in classes these days, and those get annoying quickly, but I’m asking for some help from readers to fill out one more. I’m looking for some feedback about UMBC Underground.
Although I’m getting out of here in… snap! 10 days! … I’d really love to hear what people are thinking about this site because it’ll live on next year and will likely under go some construction and reconstruction this summer.
So. Yeah, what do people think? What did you like about this site this year, and not like? What should be taken out, what should we do more of, or what could be added? Just say whatever you think, if you don’t mind. Next year, this site will be headed by some of the same people as this year, and some new people, too. Whatever thoughts people leave will definitely be taken into consideration as we try to make this site even better for students next year.
Oh, and don’t forget your two-digit major code.
Just kidding.
I think it’s a great thing to have. I enjoy reading all the posts, and comments too. This is the only place I’ve seen at UMBC that has such a variety of folks paying attention to issues that really affect everyone.
And I like being informed of various upcoming events, so the incorporation with a calendar function will be great.
Plus, it keeps me occupied at 3 in the morning.
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What I liked best:
It’s fantastic.
What would I change:
I would change the main page so there is less content showing under each headline. It would allow you to keep more stories on the front page at once. I like this idea because really now once things get bumped from that first page they kind of drop off the radar.
There are a million anon’s, how hard is it to make up a name like anon123 just to tell people apart.
Personal qualities which aided:
Awesomeness, and good job remembering to update the site regularly, and excellent job writing more co-herently than I do.
Personal qualities which hindered:
Not really
Other Comments:
Keep up the good work!
I like your sincererity. Any time I read the posts I feel some kind of connection towards the UMBC community in a way I never imagined possible. UU helps people who ordinarily wouldn’t feel comfortable voicing there opinions to do so without feeling the need to embellish the truth. You guys are great!!!
Good luck Treeveins in all your endeavours!
Theres gonna be a huge anonymous party for treeveins. no one knows where or when, but show up.
@ Anonymous: Very funny.
I love this site, I check it all the time! I have been able to get more involved with this school because of events I have found thanks to this site. I was able to go to the NCAA game because of a article I read on the Underground. So thank you guys (or girls) for all of the great articles you have put up and all of the great coverage of UMBC events. I can only hope that the people that are taking over next year do as great of a job as you guys did this year. Good luck to graduating seniors!
I absolutely love the UMBC Underground because it allows me to ask everyone, every single day….
Why is Walter Sondheim Smoking Cigarettes?
more treeveins……treeveins is hottttttt!!!!!!!!! ow ow!!
This is awesome; I’m really glad we’re getting so much feedback. (I’m reading ‘Eats, Shoots & Leaves’ so I’m working on diversifying my punctuation. I hope I used that semi-colon right.) The site isn’t really changing hands, so don’t worry too much. However, our keystone is leaving and I hope he can continue to contribute from wherever he decides to go.
I’m very excited for the changes we’ll be making over the summer. I’m definitely going to run with a calendar, I really like that idea.
One of my biggest goals for next year is to encourage student submitted articles. We will be setting up an easy place to submit an article in a text field or as an attachment. I think if that becomes a bigger part of the site, the underground has a better chance of sticking around for a long time. The articles will obviously still be reviewed and selected for publishing (I wish publition was a word) by whoever is in charge.
@ Kate—-lolz
Let’s see…I think MLL is 31…
Seriously though, I didn’t start to get really into UU until later this semester (around spring breakish), but I really enjoy it. I think I learn a lot more about the UMBC community this way. TRW talks about events, but, as a newspaper, is largely objective. Here we can say what we want (as long as we play nice). My boyfriend (who does not attend college) loves this site and actually enjoys all the articles I send him and we start lively discussions based on them.
I like how the articles posted aren’t necessarily something we would normally talk about–like the rape posters. Very nice.
Only real critique–All the anonymous postings did bother me, please just add a number!!!! or something….You could just make a up a completely bogus name.
Be more careful with the controversial stuff. Don’t post stuff here that you wouldn’t post under your own name.
23!!
I love this site, but I agree with someone up there that anything not on the front page gets lost. More articles on the front page would be good. But I seriously love everything about this site.
UU is ballin’!
The articles are well-written, the commentators are [generally] intelligent, and the discussions are insightful (when they remain civil anyway).
As far as improvements to the site itself, I’m not very well-versed on WordPress, but I don’t think they’re too terribly flexible. The only thing I can actually really see improved is the moderation of discussion, anyway. And moderation is a grey area.
Basically, UU is awesome as is!
like some other people who’ve posted, i didn’t really get into this site until this semester, but i LOVE it! i love the idea of including more student submitted articles because some of those have been the most thought-provoking that i’ve seen.
and yes, the anonymous posters get annoying, although i’m not sure if there’s a way to force people to use a number too …
keep up the great work next year! i’ll be in iowa city, but i’ll definitely still be checking out what’s going on here at umbc!
Good luck treeveins.
UU is one of the best things to happen to this campus, seriously. I think that more people read this site than read TRW. This site has gotten some very controversial subjects out in the open and allowed students to voice their opinions (although I wish that more of them would give us at least an alias).
All I can really say is congratulations on taking over the information market here at UMBC, and keep on keepin’ on!
@Ralph
Yes, you used the semicolon correctly. And although publition is not a word, publication is. So feel free to use it =]
P.S. I really like UU. One time I got so caught up in reading through posts that I was almost late to class!
Well I do like how it is daily updated. And some of the offbeat news is very useful towards students.
However I do feel as though you could have a very nice working relationship with TRW in the future. Not nesscialty post their stories or whatever, but work in conjunction with the paper to get more ideas for articles or even write some yourselfs.
I think that you both could benifit from working with one another, and you don’t nesscarily have to compromise your identity either. Email is a great thing
But good work.
My mother once said …..don’t write anything that you are not willing to put your name on. I think that this site appeals to cowards and those that are motivated by fear. It goes against all basic moral and ethical standards of journalism and democracy. Free speech is protected in this country. Along with our rights, we are expected to live responsibly. A site where individuals assume secret identities perpetuates childish and adolescent myths of comic book super heroes.
For people who want to make a difference should they not do this as adults who willing to take honest risk.
Be honest with yourselves and be honest with others
Whoever “Silence Dogood” is, you’re a f**king moron. Why didn’t you put your real name on that elitist comment, “coward”?
I really enjoy reading this site. A lot of the articles keep me updated on things about which I wouldn’t otherwise know or encourage me to attend various events. I started going to basketball games this semester because of all the hype on UU. I like reading the opinions of my fellow students and the (mostly) civil conversations that happen as a result of many posts here.
Yes it would be helpful to somehow add some sort of further separation/identification for the anonymous posters, but I don’t know how much control all of you have as regards that. I like the (previously suggested) idea of more student submissions.
@Silence Dogood:
First of all, to criticize someone for writing under a pseudonym while doing the same thing yourself is hypocritical. It’s the pot calling the kettle black if you will. Your criticism as regards the authors of this site writing under pseudonyms loses most of any effectiveness you wanted it to have when you won’t openly identify yourself.
Secondly, if the authors of this site choose to write under pseudonyms, that’s their prerogative. “Free speech is protected in this country”, thus they have the ability to write under whatever name they choose. Writing under a pseudonym does not mean you’re afraid to take credit for what you’re writing, it shows they’re more interested in publicizing information than publicizing themselves.
Treeveins, Short, RALPH?, et. al., Keep up the good work! Can’t wait to see what next semester brings
Can’t remember my two digit major code lol. But yeah, it’s nice to have common place to talk about UMBC issues. At first, I thought Facebook will be able to facilitate that but the anonymity isn’t there so people are more reserved.
The digg.com template is definitely a bit corny/unoriginal and I know web design is difficult so I can understand. But if possible, change the look with some black, red, yellow (school colors).
it might be beneficial to have a breaking news/weekly update email list
Maybe find a way to show like hot topics or something so that if there is one topic (such as the ROTC topic) it doesn’t completely dominate the last 10 posts section so I can see what other posts are getting comments.
@everyone who’s commented on here
Thank you! I just read all these comments - sorry to not be around… at all these last few weeks. Been kinda crazy.
I really appreciate everyone’s two cents (so, 22 comments… that’s 44 cents collectively? holy crap that was nerdy and dumb, haha). The praise, criticism, and thoughts for improvements were all very, very awesome.
I think everyone can expect to see some changes for next semester. I
think we’ll be getting away from the template-y look of WordPress and doing some things to exhibit some more control over our layout (not such a chronological list, more control over list of comments, headline function, etc).
RALPH is right - this site will be in good hands next year. I’m excited to look on to watch what’s going on in here as an outsider for the first time! Whoa!
I’m going to post something in the next few days, a kind of final thoughts piece. I’m not really sure what to say yet, but hopefully it’ll come to me. Want to remind everyone that they can get in touch with me via email wheneva: treeveins [at] umbcunderground DOT com. Alright, really gotta write this paper now!