Published in the UNO, August 23, 1998
By Christina Kadlec, Features Editor
If you’ve been scanning the bulletin boards on campus, sorting thought all sorts of loose papers to find opportunities on campus, there’s a paper-free way to do the same functions. CollegeSide.com is the invention of Creighton student Yu ching Chiang and UNO student Frank Mitchell. “We like to think of ourselves as yahoo for college students,” said Mitchell. The most popular feature of CollegeSide is the book exchange program. Mitchell explained this is a way for students to buy and sell books to each other. In this way, a student who would not get very much back from the bookstore for a used book can sell it to another student for a better price. The buyer is still able to obtain the book for a cheaper price than the bookstore’s used book price. Another popular item is the professor evaluations. Here, students can post their experiences with a certain professor to advise or warn others in their scheduling decisions. “You can post comments, but if you want to get back at a professor, this is not the place to do it,” Chiang said. He said they have begun to edit some of the comments because of problems they’ve had in the past. Chiang and Mitchell have also developed a virtual office for professors. “This is really popular at Creighton but it hasn’t really caught on yet at UNO,” Mitchell said. The virtual office is basic page for professors’ use. On this, a professor can post his/her syllabus, test reviews, post-test answers sheets for students to review, and other information. The site also includes a classifieds section where students can sell cars, find roommates, or post other ads. CollegeSide offers internet service to students for $14.95 per month, or $12.95 per month for students who pay the year in advance. The site began during Chiang’s freshman year as residence floor hall site. Content included humor and photos for students to peruse. In 1997, the site officially launched as a service to students of Creighton and UNO. Today, both juniors, Chiang and Mitchell are hoping to expand their site’s reaches to UNL and UNK. “Right now, it’s just in Nebraska, but we’re looking forward to expanding,” Chiang said. Recently, the site was discovered by someone in India, encouraging students from University of Madras. CollegeSide has also worked up an affiliated program with Amazon.com where they received 5 to 8 percent of any sales made through the side. For more information, check out CollegeSide at www.collegeside.com
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