Did you know that CNR students share a college blog, where they tell the world what it’s like to go to Cal?
Thousands of students who are considering Berkeley (along with many others around the world) read Fresh Faces.
If you think you’d be a great ambassador for CNR – or if you just have a great story to tell – it’s easy to get involved. Any CNR student can post an entry by visiting:
http://nature.berkeley.edu/blognow.
Or, if you’d like to join our lineup of regularly appearing bloggers, email Eva at stclair@nature.berkeley.edu.
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What kind of things can you blog about? Here are just a few ideas...
The transition to Berkeley
•What were you nervous about before you came to Berkeley? What have you learned since?
•What tips could you provide to students thinking of coming to Berkeley?
•What is CNR like? Does your experience at CNR seem similar to or different from your friends experience in other schools?
Academics
•What’s your favorite class? Why? What kind of things are you discussing & reading?
•How much do you study? Where do you study? Where do you go for help with the really tough stuff?
•Have you declared a major? If so, what’s it all about? Why did you choose it? If not, how will you decide?
•What fields are you interested in pursuing? Are your studies opening up new possibilities or reinforcing your existing passions?
•Do you go to office hours? Why or why not? If you have, what did you get out of it?
Life
•Do you use the gym? The library? Watch or play sports or music?
•Can you offer tips for successfully navigating the Berkeley bureaucracy?
•What’s your favorite thing about Berkeley? What stinks?
Lists are super popular with readers …and they’re easy to write!
What are your...
…Favorite (or worst) restaurants in Berkeley?
…Essential tools for student survival?
…Best student groups on campus?
…Greatest movies about Berkeley?
…Weirdest things you’ve seen on Sproul Plaza?
…Most productive places study?
…Etc…
What’s NOT appropriate material for a blogging on the CNR site
Blogging is a great way to communicate, and we’re excited about having you tell the world about your experience at CNR. There are, however, some things that just aren’t appropriate material.
Remember, the stuff you put on the Web today can have an unpleasant way of coming back to bite you in the future. It’s all just a Google search away.
Would you want a potential employer to find your compromising photos from a night on the town? Or a professor who’s writing your letter of recommendation to come across some sarcastic remark you made about her colleague?
We’re not here to censor you, and the great thing about the Web is that we couldn’t if we wanted to – anyone can start their own personal blog for free. But here’s what we ask you not to do while on our site:
Trashing Cal or CNR
CNR bloggers are truly the College’s ambassadors to the world, and we ask that you act as such. No one’s saying you can’t talk about your bad experiences along with the good—but we do ask that when you have negative things to relate, you make an effort to be fair, constructive, and helpful.
Libel
Don’t use the blog to trash specific people. Doing so can get you in serious legal trouble.
Personal information about yourself or others
Avoid creeps: don’t post your phone number or address on the Web, and give some serious thought about any other personal info you make public. Respect your own privacy. Also, respect the privacy of others—for example, don’t tell a story about your roommate unless he or she says it’s okay.
Hate
Hateful material in any form will not be tolerated. ’Nough said.
Plagarism
It’s not okay in class, and it’s not okay on the Web: If you didn’t come up with it yourself, give credit where it’s due.
Self-incrimination
Hey, no one said you were a saint—but this is not the place to confess your bad behavior. Your posts are just a Google search away from parents, professors, RA’s, cops, and future employers. Use common sense.
Off-topic
This is a gray area, because you’re welcome to write broadly about what being a CNR student is all about. To some extent, that includes what you do for fun—but this isn’t the place for a 4,000-word concert review (but a link to one is fine). As a rule of thumb, consider your audience: Would this topic help a prospective student know what it’s like to go to Cal? If not, it’s probably off topic
Inappropriate Links
If it’s not appropriate for the blog itself, it’s not appropriate to link to, either. One exception—it’s fine to include off-topic links, for example, to that 4,000-word concert review you just wrote at RollingStone.com.
