In the past few years, social networking websites like Facebook and MySpace have brought together millions of people around the world. At Cornell, the Facebook phenomenon is widespread, with more than 52,000 active users in the Cornell network. Everyone from alumni to incoming students have found their places within Facebook’s groups and forums; even President David Skorton has a profile.

Tommy Bruce, vice president of University communications, appreciates the influence that new Internet technologies present. “It is very important for any institution, Cornell included, to participate in the Internet world,” Bruce said. “However, all Cornellians should behave without violating the rules.”

This is from an anonymous person, named Rebecca Weiss.

9:43 a.m. — Wake up. Find inexplicable patches of dry skin on arms when I get dressed. Think they may be from cold weather shock after coming home from California. Find one in particular on inside of left elbow. Consider that someone may have injected heroin into me in my sleep. Continue getting dressed.

All that time you spent on Facebook when you should have been studying may not be a waste after all. In a recent study, Prof. Jeff Hancock, communication, found that use of information on Facebook can be harnessed to gain influence and popularity amongst peers.

Hancock’s study paired participants who had not met each other over instant messenger. Some were asked to look at the opposite person’s Facebook profile before the conversation.

Those who looked at their partner’s Facebook beforehand were able to use the information obtained to ask questions and make themselves seem more similar to their partners. Hancock found that the more people used the information found out beforehand through Facebook, the higher likelihood that their partner would like them.

Last Friday, a group of NYU students took over a building in hopes of gaining a laundry list of demands from the university. While the NYU protest was less than successful, Cornell has its own history of student protests. While most students have heard of the Straight Takeover in 1969, read about a host of other student protests and the history of activism on campus in this week’s Daze feature.