TrinTalk

The library consortium between Connecticut College, Weselyan University, and Trinity College was apparently hacked into by people looking to either set up chat servers or send spam e-mails. The servers, which are located at the consortium’s hub at Weselyan, contain the names, addresses, social security numbers, and other valuable information of approximately 2,800 ConnColl library patrons, 28 Weselyan library patrons, and three Trinity library patrons. While they say the data wasn’t accessed, they are mailing information to those whose identities could be at risk.

While it isn’t a widespred issue for Trinity, as only 3 names were housed on the server, I still find it somewhat disconcerting that there hasn’t been any attention drawn to this from the administration or the SGA.

The Courant article directs people with questions to see:

Individuals with questions may contact Ruth Seeley, manager of computer support services, at ruth.seeley@conncoll.edu or 860-439-2052.

The Hartford Courant is the publisher that broke the story, and we subsequently picked it up from Weselying.

The Bristol Press reports that a Bristol, CT man has been charged with the May 5th assault and shooting of a Trinity College student. The male, 27, named Edwin Daniel Vega was caught and arrested on July 13th after police used witness reports in conjunction with surveillance footage from an apartment complex.

Police are still looking for Vega’s accomplice and are asking for help identifying a potential witness. Chances are none of our readers would know her, but here is a website the police are providing. Of course contact HPD if you know anything about the case. 

I missed hearing about the July 13th arrest, but judging by the charges brought against the fellow he’ll have a fun time ahead of him assuming he’s found guilty. 

Vega, 27 of Bristol, CT

Link to the full article at The Bristol Press.

Update 2: Eh maybe not, all I ever see is the new Facebook still…who knows, if it works for you leave a comment. 

Update: Facebook has apparently updated the site to have the new design by default. You should be forwarded to http://new.facebook.com automatically when you visit http://facebook.com

While I know this isn’t exactly “Trinity news” I figured it pertains to most any college student out there, especially Trinity students. There has been a lot of talk recently about the new Facebook and what it will look like, well, guess no more because you can now try out what the new Facebook will look and feel like.

Instead of visiting facebook.com as usual visit http://new.facebook.com instead and it should bring you to the new Facebook, completely functional. It worked for me and for others, although it didn’t work for my friend at Georgetown, so it might not work for everyone.  It’s pretty cool anyways. Here is a picture of the new profile page for those of you that are curious:

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This is the second post in the Prefrosh FAQ series, the first post can be found here: Prefrosh FAQ Part I.

I’m looking for more questions that anyone might have and would like to see posted here. If you have any, please feel free to contact us via the contact form, or post in the Anonymous Confession Board. I’ll try to go through the ACB and post some of the best threads that people might find useful in the near future. 

5. Is keeping a decent GPA difficult?

Most people say that if you do your work, go to class, and study at least a little bit you should do fine at Trinity. I think its pretty much true, it really can also depend on what kind of classes you’re taking and who your professors are. It’s always a good idea to check out RateMyProfessors.com to see what past students have thought about a particular professor. 

Niki Albino ‘10 says, “No I don’t think it’s difficult- you just need to put in the work.”

6. Laptops? 

Mac or PC will do, but I’d absolutely have a laptop at school. There really isn’t any advantage at Trinity to having either a Mac or PC as kids seem to have a pretty good mix of both on campus, and there are both in computer labs at the library, etc. The library and quads are wireless (although not always the best reception) so make sure you have a WiFi enabled laptop. 

7. How often do people leave campus?

Surprisingly little. Trinity is by-and-large not a “suitcase” school, meaning that the majority of students stay on campus through the weekend. This makes for a very large social scene and fun parties with most of the school out. People do often leave campus for errands and meals though, most students find having a car or a friend with a car more than handy. 

8. Can you have a microwave? 

Yep, and unlike other schools I don’t know of Trinity having a requirement on size of either microwaves or mini-fridges. Both come in very handy and are highly recommended. Target and Walmart sell both at pretty good prices if you’re in the market.

I noticed a lot of questions flocking into the Anonymous Confession Board regarding what to expect at Trinity, what to bring, etc. I had been planning on doing a “prepping” for college series to help new students learn from our mistakes, and at the same time help returning students remember things that might have been forgotten…again. I’ll do four questions a post, feel free to respond in the comments with questions you’d like to see in a future post, or with any questions about the answers.

1. Is the Trinity health plan really useful?

It is if you currently don’t have health care. Trinity requires that every student have health insurance and while most kids do, those that don’t have a low-cost insurance plan that is also pretty comprehensive from what I remember. It’s something that your parents would know more about, and probably something to consider.

2. Is diversity a huge issue at Trinity? As in, is segregation by background that apparent?

As a freshman last year I didn’t notice any intentional segregation based on race or economic class. Sure there were clicks, often times people of the same economic class or ethnicity, but that generally tends to be natural in my opinion. Of course, this is looking at it from the perspective of a white male, so others on campus might see things differently. I don’t think it’s anything to be concerned about, if you look and scrutinize the social culture at Trinity who knows, maybe you’ll see something you don’t like. John Poleto ‘11 agrees saying:

“Just because there may exist different groups based on race or class, it doesn’t mean that people are working to perpetuate existing racial or socioeconomic divisions; these probably just exist because people with common backgrounds tend to gravitate towards each other and form groups.”

Also check out the ongoing discussion about Racial/Class Divide at the Anonymous Confession Board.
3. Meal plans, should we trust that the quality of what we were fed during Registration weekend, will always be offered?

Ha! Food tends to get better on occasions that involve prospective students/potential donors, it’s the sad truth. As far as meal plans go, get flex either option, but flex none the less. I found that I usually didn’t spend all my meals on the 19-flex plan, and could have easily gotten away with 17-flex. Having the option of going somewhere other than Mather is so nice though, because the food isn’t always the best and there are usually huge lines.

For those of you who have been following along with us for at least a day will notice that we’ve launched a very big redesign of the site. It’s a bit more simple, easier on the eyes, and helps us manage the content a lot better. It also allows a large amount of room to add features on later.

I’d love to get some feedback though, please feel free to comment, participate in the poll, or smash the redesign on the ACB.

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Unlike “New” Mather it looks as though Jarvis and Seabury will be right on time to open when we go to move in this fall, a huge relief for those of us living there in the fall. The Hartford Courant is currently running a great article on the renovations Jarvis just went through, as well as a brief history of the building and its significance.

Thanks to this poster at the TrinTalk ACB for the link to the article!

Our beloved Trinity College isn’t the only new appearance on Facebook, the lovable President Jimmy Jones now has his very own Facebook Page as well. I’m not sure if this is a Trinity Communications endeavor again (props if it is) or if it’s a student, either way it’s entertaining at the least.

I wish I had known about this earlier, considering there is only one day left in this year’s Henley Royal Regatta. It appears as though some of the men from the Trinity Crew Team have started their own blog, capturing the events of their summer training as well as their races and other various updates about competition at the regatta.

Check the blog out here.

Jay Monahan, Trinity College class of 1993, has been appointed Exectuive Director of THE PLAYERS Championship. Monahan has a pretty decorated track record, and is currently leaving the Fenway Sports Group (FSG) for the Executive Direcor’s position.

From the article:

Monahan comes to the PGA TOUR from Fenway Sports Group (FSG), where he served as executive vice president since October 2005, leading the sales and business development team for FSG’s property ownership and representation divisions. He played an integral role in the Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton, Mass., one of the four events in the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup, working with IMG Worldwide and Deutsche Bank to implement and expand the tournament sales and marketing efforts. - PGATour.com

Once again a display of Trinity’s athletic prowess.