Not so long ago, Amherst College still had the Athenian Society, a legacy of the Alexandrian and Athenian social-literary societies that were founded in 1821. The Society offered a public space for on campus discussion but has since lost popularity as the Internet took over much of face-to-face student interaction.

The New Athenian gives back some of what was lost, by taking advantage of the Internet's social potential. After all, the necessity of using email demands that people be online, so why not meet there? Every day up to 1,300 nodes browse the New Athenian for a total of 10,000 hits. These averages suggested that most students at the very least glance at the front page daily to read the event calendar and announcements posted there by students and faculty.

For a few years now, the Daily Jolt, a commercial company, has provided a similar, more limited service, but because it allows anonymous posts, students are not accountable to their neighbors. True to its name, it is a space for daily jolts of mutual abuse. The offline analogy is a community of people hiding under white sheets, with small holes for their eyes. The Jolt has cost us: in depth, in dignity, and in friendship, but despite its nihilism, some students (yours truly included) have used the Jolt as a way to reach many classmates as quickly as possible. This is no longer the best option. The numbers clearly show that, now two years running, the New Athenian is at least as popular. Note that there are plans for an anonymous moderated forum on the New Athenian.

In light of Lauren Sozio's column two weeks ago, I hope this space will be used to follow-up on and instigate face-to-face conversation, in clubs, in lectures and even (gasp!) in classrooms.

Tal Liron '03