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abusive, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, in violation of copyright, trademark or other intellectual property rights, [will] be in violation of this Agreement or to be unacceptable to MTVU Channel or the Parent Companies or Affiliates (The Volante), for any reason or for no reason whatsoever; provided, however, that MTVU Channel shall have no obligation or liability to you for failure to do so or for doing so in any particular manner.

The above legalese comes from the User Comment Submission Agreement located on our Web site here. When you register with the Site, you agree to these terms. You also agree to the more general use terms under the Terms of Use Agreement.

Our Web site allows any user to register and post anonymously. There are many individuals who want to comment on an article or column and register as John or Jane Doe with an email address such as test@test.org. For obvious reasons, we are unable to verify that you are registering with your real name and valid email address. Therefore, you are able to comment completely anonymously at VolanteOnline.com.

However, you are able to register under your real name and valid email address and still post anonymously (or using any name you choose). The only people that see your real name and email are the Online and Management staff of The Volante. We do not share this information.

We firmly believe in the right to freely express yourself, in this case, by speech online. It is your protected right to publish comments completely anonymously, but that does not protect you from using defamatory language. It also does not allow you to to inflict harm in any way.

The Volante wishes to provide a platform for all to converse, but the moment that discourse becomes libelous or slanderous or becomes abusive, we must take action. Initially, that will involve removing the comments from the Web site. If we find the comments to be a clear violation of the current User Agreement, then we will bar your use of the Site.

This is a policy which we will adhere to. It is a policy that is spelled-out in the above two policies and will be further defined in policy exclusive to “The Volante.”

Please use the First Amendment to its fullest by expressing your views at VolanteOnline.com. Do so anonymously, if you chose. However, for the First Amendment to be enjoyed by all, we must be responsible in our speech.

New website … still coming

You’ll notice in this week’s print edition, an In The Know says The Volante has a new Web site. Well, if you’ve been to VolanteOnline.com, you’ll notice it is the same old site. Rest assured, there is a new site on the way. We were truly hoping to show off the new digs on Wednesday, but as anyone may know, things can go awry in the world of technology. So, our staff is working diligently to get the new site out there. Sometimes it’s difficult to but a definite time on such things, but our plan as of right now is to have the site online in time for our next print issue — Wednesday, Sept. 24.

In the meantime, we will still be covering the news as it happens at VolanteOnline.com.

Saturday full O’ journalistic fun

Not sure what you did with your Saturday — sleeping, shopping, homework, watching football, sleeping — but many of us here at The Volante took the day to gather insight about the practice of journalism from a couple members of the profession and to share with each other knowledge many of the Volante veterans have accumulated over the years.

Taking time out of there busy day were Keloland.com’s Web Producer, Jonathan Garcia, and the new Managing Editor of the Argus Leader, Patrick Lalley. These are two gentleman with unique insight into the world of journalism and they chose to impart some wisdom upon members of The Volante today. A big thanks to both of them!

A lot of what was discussed dealt with the nuts and bolts of journalism and would bring you to tears, I’m sure, however, the reason for this post is to simply make the statement that we take very seriously what we do at The Volante. Besides SGA, we tend to generate a large amount of hate mail for one reason or another. This is a relatively large community and you cannot please all the Yotes all the time. It is important to remember however, that The Volante is on-the-job training. We are a serious news organization, but there are some who are new to the journalism fold and they are learning as they go, therefore errors will happen.

Part of what today was about, was a chance to provide even more training that cannot always come from the classroom or the reporter’s beat. We are here to serve the community of USD and also that of Vermillion as a whole. Beginning this fall 2008 semester, The Volante began reporting on day one through our Web site. We will not publish our first print issue until this Wednesday, Sept. 17, but we have already been out there covering the events of USD, trying to better serve the students and live up to our motto: “The students’ voice since 1887.”

We intend to make our print issues even better than years past. Part of that improvement w

holding pattern

Tonight/later this morning we will have an online edition of The Volante. Right now (8:10 p.m.) we are on hold as each of the sections edit their stories. No surprise, but the bulk of our first batch of stories will be construction related. Nick Woltman will have an interview with President James Abbott regarding all of the construction projects on campus, especially that of the student center. The biggest addition to our web content this year will be video, and we have Abbott’s interview available in three parts, plus comments from SGA President Ryan Budmayr, and a guided tour of the MUC — Muenster University Center — AKA student center.

That is all for now, we’ll see you at volanteonline.com.

Online issue coming tomorrow

Now it starts… the first official day of classes is today. There are a number of campus events happening today, such as the Freshman Convocation, the SAC Fair, and yes, classes begin at 4 p.m. this afternoon.

The Volante will be back on the beat today preparing an abridged online edition which will hit the Internets tomorrow morning. We’ll have an unique look at the under construction student center, an interview with President Abbott, plus Verve, and Sports will tackle the start of the D-1 football season for the Yotes.

The Volante is online all the time and we’re back in print on Sept. 17.

smooth as silk

By all accounts, Move-in Day 2008 at USD has been a calm and ordered affair, making the day (at least until this moment) a success. Check-in at the Dome was relatively smooth, getting each dorm resident their packet which contained their Coyote Card (for freshmen), a checklist and their room key. No one had to get out of their cars and traffic was maintained by Vermillion Police and USD Public Safety.

A Public Safety worker helps a student find their way through check-in line at the DakotaDome.

At the dorms, all the greek houses were on hand to help unload and carry students belongings to their rooms. Many parents appreciated the help and commented about how easily it made moving their kids into the dorms.

Later today we’ll have video and an audio slide of Move-in Day 2008, and tonight we’ll have full coverage of USD’s first football game of the year.

Let the new year begin

Starting today, USD officially begins the Fall 2008 semester as students begin moving into the residence halls. The Volante will have video, photos and more on VolanteOnline.com throughout the day. But this is just the tip of the iceberg for the day. Tonight, the Coyotes turn the page and start of new chapter — division one athletics. The football team takes on St. Ambrose University at the Dome. Game begins at 7:00 p.m. and we’ll have full coverage of the tailgating, the game, and of course, the new D-I atmosphere.

It will be a busy day, and certainly a busy week for The Volante as we will do something we’ve never done before, release an all online issue of The Volante on Wednesday. Our first print issue will be Sept. 17, but as of today, and more so the third, we will have news, sports, verve, and opinion at VolanteOnline.com. Keep your eye on the Web site, as we’ll have a completely revamped site in the next couple weeks!

Welcome back my fellow Yotes! Let’s have a great year.