Freshman to launch new NU website

By the fall semester, Facebook may not be the only website members of the Northeastern community can use to connect to other students.
A new website, neustudents.org, will soon allow Northeastern students to interact with other members of the community.  The site was inspired by the lack of student opinions on the Internet about Northeastern, said creator Nathan Heaps, an incoming freshman who plans to major in computer science.
“When I was applying [to Northeastern] I found it kind of hard to get information from other Northeastern students,” Heaps said.
 Heaps was webmaster for his youth group while in high school in his hometown of New Rochelle, N.Y., and is self-taught in website design, he said. He said he decided to start building the site during the summer, even though he hasn’t come to school yet, because it made sense to debut it at the beginning of the year. He also has more time to design and work on the site while he isn’t in classes.
Heaps said he envisions the site, which is set to launch at the beginning of the fall semester, as a communal site for the Northeastern community. He said he hopes it will act as a message board for the school, where students can voice their concerns liberally.
“Hopefully [the site will be] a central place where students can socialize or talk about certain issues on campus,” Heaps said.
The site will be open to anyone in the community with a Northeastern e-mail address, including  administrators. To keep the site from going the way of other gossip-based sites like JuicyCampus, which eventually closed after failing to make advertising money, Heaps said he plans to have friends from his hometown to help him moderate the site.
“I want simple rules such as not being mean and not posting illegal things,” Heaps said. “However, the site is not responsible for what is put on it because the postings will be user generated.”
Incoming freshman and international affairs major John Hubbard said he believes the idea for a website would be beneficial, but doesn’t know if he would take the time out to register or post issues on the website. Although Hubbard did not try to find student resources while applying to Northeastern, he believes that the website has the possibility to connect students to teachers.
“I’m sure some teachers would find it [the site] a bit entertaining,” Hubbard said. “Some might take offense.”
The site is to be mostly self-sufficient, from the postings to the funding. Heaps estimates his costs to be around $10 a year and plans to keep advertising off the site, but is open to the idea of using advertisements from school organizations if he needs the extra finances.
Although the site only has four registered users so far, Heaps said he is optimistic for the future of the site once it is fully launched, and for his future as a student at Northeastern.
“I’m excited to come to Northeastern,” he said.
 

10 comments

D Senior

Fri Jul 31 2009 10:12

What a joke. I don't know what is worse, this kids idea, or the fact that Huntington News gives this kid the time of day. Why don't you do some real investigative reporting and write about any of the businesses already functioning and profitable that are run by NEU students. Look at any number of good business ideas that are new, not someone trying to rip off a facebook model that we already know won't survive as a single school model. Why not be a little creative and try doing something that hasn't been done, or at least pick a project that you can do better than it is already being done. I'm all for the entrepreneurial spirit, but come on. This makes me sick and embarrassed.

C

Fri Jul 31 2009 09:58

What can you do that Facebook can't? I can give you dozens of already profitable companies that were started by Northeastern students that are worthy of a news article. This is a joke.

Entrepreneurship Student

Thu Jul 30 2009 01:55

Heyyy.... how about meeting friends in person. I know it sounds silly, but it works for most of us at NU. Additionally, the website is awful. Most of that stuff is already published at Northeastern or complementary sites like Coopratings.com. You couldn't go with something easier and better looking like Weebly or Webnode?

And to the Huntington News staff... how about writing about more successful websites like ones students are using with their business startups? Readers get more excitement from successful websites and companies than sophomoric, myopic ones.

The title of this article should have been: "Freshman discovers web publishing, wikis. Cool?"

NU Senior

Wed Jul 29 2009 18:45

IT IS NOT NEU! ITS NU! JESUS. awful.

NU Alum 08

Wed Jul 29 2009 14:23

Why don't you learn NU culture first, then decide whether this makes sense. Bad idea. Also - simple rules such as "don't be mean" mean nothing to this group of students. And most NU students are private and generally apathetic about social involvement. Just sayin.

Your name

Wed Jul 29 2009 12:53

Check out CoopRatings.com. Some other NU students started the site to help students with the co-op process, so maybe you can pair up with them.

Your name

Wed Jul 29 2009 12:26

there have been a number of nu only, student run websites that have failed. this will too. lets check back in a year. prove me wrong.

My Name

Wed Jul 29 2009 10:34

this is pretty cool. i hope it gets relatively big; always wanted a general forums for the school. but i can only imagine all the nu shuffle complaints

Chris P.

Wed Jul 29 2009 09:50

Don't expect this to be another napster, kiddo.

Your name

Wed Jul 29 2009 08:02

i've been trying to get sga to do this all last year. i'm glad a freshman is making it happen! good work

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