Q&A WITH
CO-FOUNDER OF
BEN & JERRY’S
PAGE 16
The next Mark Zuckerberg?
Casey Prather/ The Towerlight
Towson University senior and computer science major Steven Weinstein has spent the last 10 months developing the new
social networking website Before I Graduate College, which allows users to publicly list all of their pre-graduation goals.
Towson senior creates goal-based social networking site
College
Park may
leave univ.
system
Flagship university
considers benefits of
breaking from USM
ALISSA KATZ
Staff Writer
Maryland Senate president Mike Miller pro¬
posed a plan in late January for the University of
Maryland, College Park to split from the University
System of Maryland. But USM chancellor William
"Brit" Kirwan is against the idea, and there is
no written plan for College Park to disassociate,
according to USM media relations spokesman
Mike Lurie.
The USM was drafted upon the insistence of
Donald Schaffer, governor of Maryland from 1987
to 1995, according to the Senate president. Miller,
who has held his current position since 1987, was
also involved in drafting the original language that
created the USM.
‘‘[The USM] wasn’t drafted because it was good
or cost saving, but because the governor wanted
to be able to push one button and have everybody
jump,” Miller said. "I knew the University of
Maryland, College Park was doing fairly well, and I
was afraid it would get lost in the system."
Miller said since they've added so many new
campuses to the system, it has held back College
Park.
"All of the new campuses wanted to catch up
and grow, which is a natural inclination. Including
See UMD, page 10
DANIEL GROSS
Editor-in-Chief
Social networking as we know it took off
when Mark Zuckerberg sat in his Harvard dorm
room writing countless lines of code and map¬
ping out the layers of Facebook.
That scene isn’t too far off from the last
10 months of current Towson senior Steven
Weinstein’s life.
Weinstein has spent nearly all of his life sav¬
ings building a new social networking website
called Before I Graduate College.
Before I Graduate College is a goal-based
network that promotes social interaction, meet¬
ing up, and helping others cross off their goals
before they graduate.
"I had always been interested in trying to fig¬
ure out that million dollar idea," Weinstein said.
Last April, the computer science major was
sitting in a networking class and talking with
one of his best friends. He said she was explain¬
ing what was on her "bucket list," so he began
to think of his own.
He said he realized all of his goals could be
in two distinct categories. One was for lifelong
goals, like having a successful job and marrying
the love of his life.
"The other was everything I wanted to do
before I graduated college. So right there in class
I bought the domain beforeigraudatecollege.
com. Interesting
class, but I wasn’t
paying attention
that day. And I’m
glad."
From that point
on, the New Jersey
native spent most
of his time in his
Rodgers Forge
apartment in
front of his com¬
puter, writing code
and scheduling
meetings with investors and Web designers.
Originally, he took the idea to a close friend,
Wesley Green from New Jersey, and another
computer science major at Towson University,
Joseph Furches.
Furches was quick to react when he was first
told of the idea.
"It was obvious to me that beforeigradu-
atecollege.com was a site idea that could really
take off and flourish," he said in an e-mail. "I
wanted in so I could be a part
of the effort to help people
reach their dreams."
The three quickly found
that the greater their imagi¬
nations grew the greater and
more difficult their project was
to complete So Weinstein con¬
tracted Baltimore-based com¬
pany Emagine Web Consulting
to complete the design, devel¬
opment and functionality of
the site.
In addition, Weinstein
sought legal counsel, first hiring an attorney
and later forming Before I Graduate College into
a Limited Liability Company.
See GOAL, page 8
So right there in class
I bought the domain
beforeigraduatecollege. com .
Interesting class, but I wasn’t
paying attention that day.
And I’m glad.
STEVEN WEINSTEIN
Senior , computer science major
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