Members of Washington University Technology Entrepreneurs (WUTE) are behind business ventures including the Greenvelope virtual invitation service and Cloudy, a social application.

WUTE was formed over the 2009-10 year. Its purpose, as listed on its website, is to encourage and train students to pursue business ventures related to science and technology. It primarily brings together students in the School of Engineering & Applied Science and the Olin Business School.

“It’s a small group of people who are very interested,” senior Phips Peter, co-president of WUTE, said. “It’s a focused space to start stuff up. It’s mainly a group to exchange ideas and get help and feedback.”

Peter said that the majority of the ideas flowing through the group are being pursued as personal projects. Most of the projects the group has discussed center on social media and online content.

“WUTE has a couple of projects we’ve worked on for fun, but [mostly] they’re their own individual projects,” Peter said. “The projects in WUTE are mainly websites—they’re a lot easier for people to break into the market.”

Freshman Adam Cohen, the WUTE’s director of communications, credits the group’s growth to the addition of an office space for its members on the third floor of the DUC, which they refer to as the “WUTE Lounge.”

“It gives us an actual space to work on programming and projects with each other,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity for collaboration.”

The office has also allowed WUTE to launch a speaker series, which the group is hoping to make a weekly or bi-weekly occurrence. The series has been successful to date, featuring speakers from the St. Louis tech entrepreneur community, including Jim Brasunas of the Information Technology Entrepreneur Network (ITEN).

Cohen explained that bringing in speakers is advantageous for the WUTE members.

One speaker came from Capital Innovators, a St. Louis-based group that gives out over $50,000 in seed funding to tech companies every semester. After the speaker came in, one of WUTE’s co-presidents and another member applied for the seed funding for their own company.

“If it weren’t for the space to put on the event, we wouldn’t have heard about this opportunity,” Cohen said. “It’s opened up a lot of doors for our members to get involved.”

The group also hosts peer talk sessions called WUTE Whatever Whenever, or WWW. The sessions allow members with programming or social media marketing skills to share their knowledge with members who aren’t as familiar with the technologies.

While entrepreneurship groups aren’t new on campus—the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial studies, one of WUTE’s sponsors, aids other groups—Cohen says WUTE is unique for being tech-oriented, which he believes is crucial for college students interested in the world of entrepreneurship.

“The fact that we collaborate on programming projects and teach each other tech skills instead of just entrepreneurial skills make us very different,” Cohen said. “In today’s market it’s a lot more important to know tech skills, especially for college students.”

Senior Justin Ross, a member of the group since its founding, finds the new lounge useful.

“I go at least once a week to work on projects, either personal or for other people,” he said. “It’s great to have a space to meet up, bounce ideas and pick up skills.

Cohen and Ross agreed that the group’s focus on collaboration is one of its strengths.

“We’re aiming to maximize on the different types of education members have in programming,” Cohen said. “If one person knows a language and another doesn’t, we’ll hold a WWW for it. We’re all about collaboration.”

Ross said that the group has facilitated his meeting like-minded people.

“WUTE has helped me find people at Wash. U. who were passionate about building things and pushing themselves,” he said.

I went to the article link and started reading. I had to see what was up. I waited… I waited… so…what’s wrong? After reading this all I could do is laugh. This article turned out to be a very well-written op-ed piece, by an astute freshman simply explaining some keen observations she’s made in her two months or so at Washington University.

Whether we agree with Claire’s observations or not, she brought to light something that is quite obvious at Wash. U. People group themselves by comfort and affiliation. If you’re of a certain race, you likely hang around with a lot of people of that race. If you’re from a certain geographic area, you may choose to affiliate with people from that location. If you’re part of a certain club, Greek organization or team, chances are you like to be with those people. Nothing is wrong with this; it’s natural. People like being comfortable, and being around those similar to you is comfortable. How I interpreted this op-ed is that here at Wash. U. we may be taking this to an extreme, and when someone chooses to expand past this comfort zone they don’t feel like they can. Not enough people share this desire to expand past their comfort zone. Hence, we limit ourselves and divide ourselves.

I understand some people or groups are all up in arms about this column because nobody likes being called out. But the point is: it was an op-ed, which means it was an opinion. In America, you are allowed to have those; get over it. And the article was very thought-provoking. In America, you are allowed to do that; get over it. And lastly, Claire is right. As a black male on this campus, I have constantly felt like people segregate themselves. Would you feel comfortable going to a Korean Students Association meeting? I sure wouldn’t. And I know plenty of people who wouldn’t feel comfortable going to an Association of Black Students meeting. But understand that this isn’t simply a race thing. It’s a comfort zone. I am not defined by my race; I have several different affiliations. I also segregate myself by plenty of them. The op-ed was challenging me to not do so.

In response to those who threw an elementary school fit about this piece, shame on you. Read it for what it is, not what you want to accuse it of being. For those who went further and sent Claire Ferguson accusatory and aggressive emails, trying to curb her boldness of thought, shame on you even more. Grow up and realize that in life you won’t always agree with people’s opinions, but you should respect them. I applaud Claire for her column, and hope more people on our campus will challenge the social boundaries we create.

Jonathan Howard is a senior in the Olin School of Business.

When we first start off as freshmen at college, we are forced to face a completely new environment. Every day brings about countless little decisions and challenges. This leads to a transitional period that should not be taken for granted in its ability to decrease our senses of stability and self. This unsteadiness is what enables us to learn, with the typical notion of “venturing outside a comfort zone.” However, this process is only made possible with the knowledge that a comfort zone does in fact exist and is there for us when we feel the need to return.

Wash. U. tries its best to establish these comfort zones for us from the time we step foot on campus, as we are handed t-shirts that enable us to identify with a residential college. We are then encouraged to bond with those who live on our floor, and so on. Although these traditions enable us to create a sense of who we are here, the beauty of the cultural groups and opportunities to spend time with those from similar backgrounds is that they allow us to additionally hold onto where we come from.

Perhaps for the 58 percent white majority of the student body, maintaining one’s cultural or racial background may not seem like a primary objective in adjusting to life at college (which would explain the lack of a “White Students Association”). It is understandable then that a white freshman may experience a sense of shock when exposed to seemingly exclusive cultural groups at the activities fair or when walking through the “segregated” tables at Bear’s Den. To settle this alarming sensation, all that is needed is a change in perspective.

A typical student walking through Bear’s Den at the beginning of freshman year may have a thought akin to, “Wow, I couldn’t even sit there if I wanted to because they’re all speaking Korean. Why don’t they try to make some different friends?” Perhaps these thoughts would not occur, however, if he or she knew what was going on inside the minds of the students sitting at that table. For some of them, these first few weeks at school may have been their first few weeks in the United States. They have to adjust to an entirely new culture while simultaneously striving to succeed academically. This dinner table therefore transforms from an unfortunate display of self-segregation into an oasis for cultural identity; it allows for a connection to Korea in the middle of a university cafeteria in Missouri.

These cultural outlets allow for students to recharge, and ready themselves to make the most of whatever ventures outside the comfort zone that the next day will bring. As the uncertainties of freshman year fade away, students will gain a firmer sense of their identity on campus as well as a firmer sense of where they came from.

So don’t give up hope on the “progressiveness” of Wash. U. students. Friendships shouldn’t be forced, and luckily we are in an environment with enough curious students to ensure that these friendships will naturally occur over time. Diversity has much to offer, and sometimes it has to be fostered by these notorious Bear’s Den dinner tables in order for it to thrive. As long as we are not forcing the “segregation,” it serves a critical role in the growth of each individual student.

These are all true, but they are not the full story. For example, the ResLife staff has worked heroically to negotiate workable rates with individual student groups. On the flip side, ResLife spends the equivalent of twice the cost of these rooms on free housing for Event Assistants.

But as compelling (and confusing) as all the talk about money is, it only obscures the larger issue: These new fees cripple student groups where it really counts—where they serve students, especially underclassmen, who have not yet found a place where they belong.

As President of WU-SLam, I can only look at this through the lens of our history. From the earliest days of meeting in common rooms to our expansion into Ursa’s Fireside, WU-SLam has relied on luck, charm, and whatever we could get for free. We held our first Grand Slam on a budget of zero dollars, and pulled five hundred people into Tisch Commons, which had never held a major event before. In short, we have always been a truly grassroots organization.

As a grassroots organization, we have been sustained by the consistent support of the student body, who have packed out show after show, workshop after workshop. And we have been sustained by the many opportunities available for student groups for free.

Without these opportunities, we would have had nowhere to hold our first workshops or slams. More specifically, under the new fee structure, we could never have moved our weekly meetings out of the Gregg common room and into Ursa’s Fireside, a move which has created a greater sense of legitimacy and a boom in attendance—from five or ten people attending each week to thirty or forty.

If the fees remain at their current level, we won’t be able to use Fireside anymore. Next year’s freshmen will have a harder time finding workshops, and fewer of them will make the effort to find us. We’ll lose membership, and they will lose the life-changing experience that WU-SLam has represented for so many.

But this isn’t really about WU-SLam. We’ve been incredibly fortunate in the amount of support we’ve received for workshops and slams alike, and as much as it will hurt us to move out of Fireside, ultimately we can survive it.

What I’m worried about is the next WU-SLam. The next group that starts off the sweat and dedication of a few students, with the potential to captivate the whole campus in a matter of a few years. The next group with so much raw talent it could change the conversation on a national level. The next group that brings students together across racial, cultural, academic, and other demographic lines, uniting people who otherwise would never have met.

Will that student group be stuck in common rooms because it can’t afford to move into Ursa’s or other well-known, central spaces? Will the loopholes and opportunities that allowed WU-SLam to become successful be bricked up by fees and red tape?

As students who care about the future of the Wash. U community, we have a responsibility not to let that happen. To say that on the 40 of all places, where people are finding and inventing themselves, we should be rewarding innovation and grassroots organization, not establishment or money. That every new student group deserves the opportunity for a space like Fireside, even if they can’t budget for it. We have a responsibility to email and talk to ResLife over and over until they realize that this is not something we are willing to accept.

In my three years here, I have seen WU-SLam born and struggle to find its legs. I have seen us become popular beyond anyone’s wildest hopes, and pack out Edison in only our third year. I have seen us gain national recognition, including ranking fifth in the nation last year. I know how much of that is because of luck, and because of the opportunities that were available to us.

Seeing how far we’ve come in such a short time is heartbreakingly beautiful. Even more heartbreaking is the thought that our success might never be repeatable.

Earlier this week, Student Life reported that the Mock Trial team, which currently receives all of its funding from the College of Arts & Sciences, was aiming to become an SU student group to make up for its decreased funding from Washington University, as budget cuts take place across the University.

At the meeting, Mock Trial President Ben Graham clarified why their group was seeking classification as a student group.

“The primary reason we want student group status is not just to appeal funding, but to have an account that we can put fundraising into that would qualify us for tax-free donations,” he said.

Graham also noted that recognition from Treasury would allow the group a greater consistency in leadership.

Treasury representatives, however, questioned the necessity of funding when Mock Trial was already receiving funds from Arts & Sciences.

They also debated their role in funding competitive teams, such as the Academic Team, the Debate Team and Model United Nations.

“These types of groups…have very, very, very high costs to serve about five or six students on the team,” said Treasury Representative Julian Nicks, a sophomore.

Other members also noted that granting Mock Trial Category II designation would ultimately make them responsible for funding the entire organization.

“If we accept them for Cat. II, that’s setting the precedent that we will accept them for Cat. I because we become their funding source,” said Treasury Representative Daniel Bernard, a junior. “And I’m not sure if we’re ready for that at this point.”

Treasury representatives went on to discuss future plans for such competitive student groups. The Student Group Activities Committee (SGAC) plans to switch them all to Category II.

Some Treasury representatives expressed interest in approving Mock Trial as a Category III student group, however, they were unable to do so because only SGAC may approve Category III groups. Category II student groups may request a semester budget of up to $500 from Treasury and may appeal for any additional expenses, while Category III groups can raise money tax free but cannot appeal for Treasury funding. Mock Trial still has the option of reapplying to become a student group next semester.

The group, called the Washington University Medical Brigades, set up medical clinics in three villages.

Each clinic was divided into several sections. The Medical Brigades first set up a triage where University students and faculty took vitals and reviewed patient history. The workers then set up a consultation room for diagnoses and medication prescriptions where University students could shadow doctors leading the local health care efforts. At the pharmacy station—the busiest of the three—locals received medication.

The group also provided the Honduran village with sustainable care.

Different chapters of the Medical Brigades often return to the same village, allowing the workers to keep long-term records of local patients. Villagers have returned to the clinics with the same problems making long-term care possible, according to Silvia Kim, one of the founders of the University chapter of Medical Brigades.

“We were also doing public health programs where we actually built latrines ourselves and improved their chimneys to improve their cooking environment,” Kim said.

Not only did the students learn about medical practice from this trip, but they also improved their Spanish speaking abilities.

“The students would come and join with the physicians and shadow them, so they got a lot of hands-on experience,” Kim said. “We were able to use our Spanish skills too to explain to [the patients] how to take medicines and how many dosages per day to take.”

This is the first year that the University took part in a trip like this because Kim, along with Bo Lee and Seonha Park, started the chapter of Global Medical Brigades last February.

This year’s trip to Honduras, they said, helped more than 1,000 patients. Normally the Medical Brigade trips help approximately 2,500 patients, but since many villagers go to work in the mountains in January, there were problems attracting patients this season.

According to Kim, the University is going to continue its work with Medical Brigades. In the future, Medical Brigades hopes to host speakers on campus from the national organization to discuss public health programs and different brigades that students can become involved with. In addition, the group would like to hold awareness events on campus and workshops where students can learn vitals and medical Spanish for future involvement in Medical Brigade programs.

The University’s chapter will continue to collaborate with the national Global Medical Brigades.

Global Medical Brigades’ Web site describes the organization as an “international network of more than 50 university clubs and volunteer organizations that provide communities in developing nations with sustainable health care solutions.”

Global Medical Brigades is focusing on Honduras, but it later plans on expanding to more countries. In 2007, the organization facilitated more than 1,000 volunteers to take part in programs and help more than 40 communities and 40,000 patients.

“I believe this is the very first attempt by Wash. U. students to plan out a clinical mission trip abroad from scratch. I know of other mission trips abroad, but they are usually not student led or clinical,” Kim said. “Our group is special in that we also provide hands-on experience to the massive pre-med population of Wash. U.”

Lisa Clark, a Student Health Services physician who accompanied Wash. U. Medical Brigades to Honduras, said she was amazed with the success of both the students and the program.

“The students were absolutely amazing,” Clark said. “They organized, fundraised and got all of the information. They worked together really well and managed to do all this while they were going to school. It was really impressive.”

The experience that this trip gave to the students allowed many of them to realize that they want to pursue careers in medicine in the future.

“A lot of people confirmed their desire to pursue either a field of medicine or a field of health care,” Kim said.

Although that number is higher than the 68 percent that was expected earlier this year because of money reclaimed after fall semester, it is still down from fall semester’s 93 percent allocation ratio.

The funding percentage, which applies only to Category I groups, correlates to the amount that student organizations are expected to fundraise on top of their allocation.

“Historically, [the funding percentage] is actually pretty high,” said sophomore David Cohen, chair of the Budget Committee. “The thing is, the funding percentage varies from semester to semester just depending on ideally how much.”

Some student groups, though, have found this change in funding to have a significant impact on their group’s activities. Spires, a literary magazine on campus, consistently publishes every semester but finds its funding changed due to the funding percentage.

“It has kind of put us in a somewhat bad spot. I think we can raise the extra money. The decrease in funding has made it so we don’t have enough money to publish, so we’re trying to find ways to make up the deficit,” said senior Peter Billings, former treasurer of Spires.

The funding percentage has been as low as 51 percent, during the spring 2006 semester. The Budget Committee derives the funding percentage by dividing the total SU budget—which the Senate and Treasury approve at the end of each year—between the fall and the spring semesters.

“If you’d like to allocate—I’d say this is a pretty good number,” said Cohen
Coming into each semester, SU reviews each student group’s submitted budget and decides which programs they want to fund. The body then looks at how much money those programs would cost, divides it by the amount of money available from the budget and comes up with the funding percentage. The rest of the money needed for those programs must come from the groups’ independent fundraising, or from SU’s appeals budget.

“Looking at the percentage alone can be a little misleading,” Frank Beling, speaker of the Treasury, said. “If you look at how much money is allocated to the groups, it hasn’t varied that much, but depending how much the groups require the percentage will be higher or lower.”

The funding percentage affects groups in different ways. While some groups such as Dance Marathon request the majority of their funding in the fall semester, other groups request the majority of their funding in the spring semester, sometimes not even requesting an allocation for the fall.

“We’re not necessarily allocating less money than we have in the past,” Beling said. “Historically groups have required more one semester than they have the other semester. We try to allocate in a way that will best benefit the groups.”

Beling said that groups request more money in the spring and that SU did account for that when dividing the budget. He added, however, that several special programs occurred in the fall needing money—such as events surrounding the election and the opening of the Danforth University Center, each of which mandated a special fund, surpluses of which have been rolled over to the spring.

Discussions on how to adjust the semester-by-semester allocations are ongoing.

“What Treasury talks about all the time is how to balance spending throughout the year,” he said. “It is a year-long account. One thing that Treasury tries to do is allocate money… in order to create as much programming spread out over as much time as possible.”

According to Billings, however, that the low allocation percentage may prevent the group from publishing the magazine.

“We could potentially work something out with our printer, but that would be undesirable,” Billings said. “Worst case scenario would be the magazine wouldn’t be printed. We would do all the work for it, and it wouldn’t be printed.”

Student Union (SU) groups will now each have a Gmail e-mail account, while at the same time retaining their @su.wustl.edu address.

The Google Apps suites offers Gmail, Google Calendar, Talk, Docs and Sites and will have slightly more than six gigabytes of storage. This switch to Google Apps will not cost the University any money.

“It is hard to construct a true collaborative tool from scratch in our Unix environment. We want groups to be able to share calendars and documents to enhance productivity and collaboration,” junior Jeff Nelson, SU vice president of administration, said. “Switching to Google allows us to do these types of things for free.”

SU announced the decision to switch to Google Apps on Dec. 15 after a survey conducted by the SU Technology Resources Committee found that 57 percent of students were in favor of outsourcing student e-mail and 79 percent of students were in favor of Gmail in the event that student e-mail was outsourced.

So far student reaction has been positive. Senior Kathleen O’Malley, president of Association of Latin American Students, likes how Google Apps is a familiar system.

“With the current e-mail system, I only really knew how to use the listserv and send out e-mails. With Google, I know how my Gmail works so I think this new system should be better,” O’Malley said.

So far, no plans have been made to switch the entire student body’s e-mail accounts over to Google. But at the same time, Student Union has called this program a “pilot and a proof-of-concept for a potential student-wide switch to a commercial e-mail service” in a press release.

“Right now, there are no plans to move all student e-mail accounts to Google or any other provider. There are some preliminary discussions going on, but nothing has been decided at this point,” Nelson said.

The University would not be the first school to consider this switch. Much larger schools such as University of Virginia, University of Florida and Arizona State University, with 20,258, 51,413 and 67,082 students respectively, have switched to Google Apps already. St. Louis University implemented Google Apps last year.

In order for the University to outsource all student e-mail accounts, many things would have to be considered, Nelson said. How students in different schools of the University use e-mail services, how Washington University will provide support for an outside program and how to ensure that student information is secure and not used inappropriately by Gmail or given to another company are just some of the questions.

Nelson hopes that this pilot program will help answer some of those questions.

“We hope that student groups’ use of Gmail will provide us with information that will be useful in making e-mail outsourcing decisions in the future,” Nelson said.

Not all student groups, however, will have to pay to use the space in the Danforth University Center (DUC).

“Any student group recognized by Student Union would not have to pay. There are a couple of regular, credit-bearing classes that occur in here, and the University’s practice is not to charge [for] space for classes,” Bill Darby, director of the DUC, said. “Everybody else pays.”

As the building is used daily by crowds of students, it will require regular upkeep which these fees will help cover.

“The building does not pay for itself,” junior Jeff Nelson, Student Union (SU) vice president of administration, said.

“[Imposing the rental fees] is not something anyone wants to do. But I think the expectations are that this is a space that the entire campus can be proud of using,” Darby said. “I hope it’s that way now, but it’s going to cost money to keep it that way.”

According to Darby, the global economic situation has influenced the decision to charge fees for using the DUC.

“I think the struggling economy has an impact on absolutely everything having to do with Washington University,” Darby said. “I don’t think anyone is exempt from making some economies, and frankly, I don’t think anyone should be exempt.”

The fees will range from $25 to $150, depending on what space is rented. According to Darby these amounts are negligible compared to the costs of the DUC’s upkeep. The fees collected will be set aside to be spent as needed.

According to Nelson, SU already pays the DUC a flat fee of $100,000, which means its groups will not have to pay a per-use fee to rent its space.

The large contribution comes from the student activities fee—an annual fee that all students must pay along with tuition to support SU and its endeavors.

Nelson said there are two principle reasons why SU has chosen to pay a large flat fee over a per-use charge.

“It’s a lot more expensive to do it on a per-group basis, so with the amount of use that we anticipate the facility having, and we hope groups will be doing a lot more if we funded money to groups to rent the space, so having a flat rate is cheaper,” Nelson said. “It’s very inconvenient whenever people feel like they’re being nickeled and dimed.”

Although non-SU recognized groups are expected to pay the fee, they have other options. Darby encourages groups with limited funding to contact him to discuss possible alternatives, while Nelson suggests that the groups apply to join and become recognized by SU.

Once a group is recognized by SU, it will no longer be charged for using the DUC and would receive a number of other benefits.

Darby said he is aware of the potential problems caused by the DUC’s charges for non-SU groups and hopes their use of the DUC will not be hindered by the fees.

“The vast majority are recognized by Student Union, and for all of them, nothing changes,” Darby said. “What happens to other groups, I think we’re just going to have to monitor very carefully.”

Both Darby and Nelson support the implementation of these fees for the spring 2009 semester, with the option of revising the policy for the following semester if needed. They encourage groups from the entire community to take advantage of its facilities.

“I think with SU groups, they will continue to use the space a lot, but I do know the University wants this to be more than just a student center. They want it to be a university center where you have different departments holding meetings here [and] people in the community using this space as well,” Nelson said. “It will be interesting to see how that works out.”

Recently, Filmboard was able to obtain 350 tickets to the new James Bond film, “Quantum of Solace,” which were distributed to students outside of the Danforth University Center on Thursday. Obtaining these tickets, for a movie that opened the next day and would likely sell out, was no small feat; distributing these tickets to students in an efficient manner was a commendable feat as well. In the past, Filmboard has also screened many free films on campus, providing a fun and valuable on-campus social experience for students; this year the group experienced a rough start with a small membership and little funding, but was still able to match their past successes. Events like these are easy to take for granted, but they require the effort of other students in order to function, and these students deserve our gratitude.

On a more serious note, we would also like to congratulate another group of students. Homelessness Awareness Week, led by the Alliance of Students Against Poverty (ASAP), is part of a nationwide effort to increase awareness about the issues of homelessness, poverty and hunger that many in the world face today.

The groups that contributed to this effort spent the week collecting canned food and holding cardboard signs that described shocking statistics about poverty in visible campus locations. They also held many speaking engagements and events designed to appeal to a broad range of audiences, such as those interested in medicine or education. Their activities concluded with service trips to locations in St. Louis.

Everyone who contributed to HAW on campus deserves to be recognized for drawing attention to this persistently important issue. Poverty and homelessness are not particularly exciting to confront. Endemic to our society and often lacking any clear culprits to blame, these issues often lack the appeal of protesting other injustices that are more short-lived and affect us more directly. By standing up for those who are most vulnerable among us and least able to communicate their grievances, the organizers of HAW have performed an admirable service.

These student groups have shown how important it is for students to participate in groups like Filmboard and ASAP. They provide an invaluable service to our campus and community, and they should be commended.