Rampway Online

Infobox Website
name = Rampway Online


url = http://www.rampway.org/
location = Atlanta, Georgia
type = Webzine
owner = Georgia State University
author = Georgia State University StudentsOnce the yearbook of Georgia State University, Rampway Online, formerly known as "The Rampway", formed in the late 1930s. It survived for six decades cataloguing the faces and memories that helped to shape the Georgia State University heritage. The annual memoir met its end in 1998 as a result of a conscious decision to pursue new directions in the convergence of technology and media.

From the ashes of the yearbook came Georgia State University’s first online media group. The new Rampway Online, led by Manav Tanneeru, officially took its place in cyberspace on March 20, 2000, and now continues the tradition of shaping the face of community at Georgia State.

The pioneers that have followed him include Bob Eells, G. Carson Kennedy, Steven Ricard, Matt Tanner, Joe Winter, Allison Young, and current director Chelsea Taylor. As the yearbook, Rampway brought students and groups together merely through words and pictures. Today, however, Rampway has expanded that mission to bring them together by providing a place for them to share everything from those original purposes to ideas, experiences, events, as well as audio and video musings of all sorts and kinds.

Organization History

In 2002, the organization's office was relocated to the 4th floor of the University Center from the 2nd floor during renovations for a new University Career Services center. During the transition, the organization was temporarily housed in the 3rd floor of the Student Center.

During the 2005-2006 publication year, the organization went from weekly updates to bimonthly updates due to a shortage of content and writers. The leadership of the organization asserted they wanted quality over quantity.

Controversy

The website featured message boards from 2001-2002 that begot a series of heated discussions about campus life, university politics, and censorship. In the spring of 2002, the message boards were deactivated amidst a judicial review involving controversial postings.

Rampway Online and [http://www.gsusignal.com The Signal] , the student newspaper of Georgia State University, previously had a contentious rivalry with one another centered around allegations of poor journalistic quality. The rivalry perpetuated throughout the first several years of Rampway’s existence as the organization struggled to form its anomalous online media identity.

In the fall of 2005, an article authored under the pseudonym “The Vindicator” was published which made controversial allegations towards Georgia State University Student Government Association members. Judicial charges were brought against the editors and the organization as a whole but were later dropped citing free press and free speech. The identity of “The Vindicator” remains undisclosed.

Trivia

"The Rampway", Georgia State University’s former yearbook, was previously named "The Gateway".

As a periodic tradition, the visual appearance of the website changes to reflect new leadership.

Most of Rampway's readership comes from outside of the Georgia State community and they are recognzied as one of the few online only collegiate publications. Fact|date=May 2007

Rampway Online was the first Georgia State University media group to have an online presence. [http://www.gsusignal.com The Signal] , the student newspaper of Georgia State University, followed suit in the Summer of 2001.

External links

* [http://www.rampway.org Rampway Online]