Hysen says Yale currently has a similar portal called “Yale Station” and that the UC eventually hopes to consolidate its online applications in the same way.

According to Bowman, the creation of “one online place” will help facilitate the accessibility and longevity of the UC’s multiple Web applications.

SMOOTH CONNECTEDNESS

In turning two of their newest online projects into reality, the UC has worked closely this semester with Legata, an independent, student-run company founded by Sasank Konda ’12, Kane Hsieh ’12, and Calvin McEachron ’12.

Legata—whose name alludes to the musical term to express smooth connectedness—currently hosts Crimson Forum, a message board site that aims to facilitate undergraduate discussion on a wide variety of topics, as well as Crimsonlist, Harvard’s version of the online classifieds Web site Craigslist.

Bowman says both Legata and the UC came up with the idea for Crimsonlist and Crimson Forum independently around the same time, but decided to collaborate to avoid competing models.

Legata developed the technology for the two projects, while the UC has primarily worked to generate publicity among the student body, according to UC Student Relations Committee Chair Ashley M. Fabrizio ’11.

The UC also supports Crimson Forum by providing moderators to ensure the accuracy of information and the appropriateness of language on the Web site.

But Konda, who is also a Crimson business editor, emphasizes that Legata is independent from the UC.

“The UC and Legata have entered into a nontraditional relationship, where the former is a nonpaying client of the latter,” Konda says. “We are providing services to them for the good of the student body.”

While the UC did not pay McEachron, Konda, and Hsieh, who is also a Crimson photo editor, the UC hired student programmer Punit N. Shah ’12 to develop a UC Rooms site for $550, which is “incredibly low for a well done Web app like that” Hysen says.

Hysen coded the Harvard for Haiti Web site in February, but adds that while he helps supervise all the projects, he “doesn’t have time to build an entire site from scratch anymore.”

‘A SHIFT IN CULTURE’

Shah says that most student groups have been pleased with the convenience afforded by these new sites.

“If you build it, they will come,” he says. “The technology exists, and there is no reason for students not to have access to that technology to make their lives easier.”