European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 28, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Wednesday March 282007 stars and stripes Page 17 ant Wikipedia does away with anonymity by Brian Bergstein the associated press in just six years Wikipedia has Mush roomed into one of the webs most astonish ing successes with articles in English alone the Downside is that the free encyclopedia has its share of errors and juvenile vandalism and sometimes the writing is incomprehensibly arcane to Wikipedia fans these blemishes Are an unavoidable and relatively Small Price to pay for the dazzling breadth spawned by its anyone can edit open design but Larry Sanger Doest buy it to Sanger who was present at the creation of Wikipedia in fact Call him a Confounder although that like Many things within Wikipedia is disputed its charms seem to outweigh its warts simply because it has no Competition and that precisely what Sanger Hopes to change this week Sanger takes the wraps off a Wikipedia alternative citizen drum his goal is to capture Wikipedia Bustle but this time avoid the vandalism and inconsistency that Are its Pitfalls like Wikipedia citizen drum will be non profit devoid of ads and free to read and edit unlike Wikipedia citizen Drums Volun Teer contributors will be expected to provide their real names experts in Given Fields will be asked to Check articles for accuracy if theres going to be a free encyclopedia id like there to be a better free encyclopedia says Sanger 38 who has a doctorate in philosophy and Speaks slowly As if cautiously choosing every word it has bothered me that i helped to get a project started Wikipedia that people Are Misus ing in this Way and yet the project itself has Little Chance of radically improving Stephen Ewen an adult education in Kiichiro Larry Sanger who worked on the Early Days of Wikipedia has started a Wikipedia alternative citizen drum Flap Over founder is years old the nascent web encyclopedia citizen drum Springs from Larry Sanger who counts himself As a Confounder of Wikipedia the site he now Hopes to usurp the claim Doest seem particularly controversial Sanger has Long been cited As a Confounder yet the other founder Jimmy Wales int Happy about it Sanger has assembled Many links at his web site appear to put the matter to rest among the citations Are Early news stories and press releases that say Wikipedia was founded by Wales and Sanger it was an offshoot of Nup Edia an encyclopedia project for which Wales hired Sanger to be editor in chief and there is evidence that it was Sanger who proposed augmenting Nup Edia with flexible open wild software the Wikipedia entry on Wales also holds that Sanger played a sizable role even giving Wikipedia its name without a doubt Sanger was an Early Community Leader on Wikipedia but Wales insists that Sanger was a subordinate employee of his and by that measure 20 other people would deserve Confounder status Wales claims Sanger wrote those Early news re leases to inflate his role Sanger responds that Wales approved the releases in a lengthy instant message Exchange about citizen drum and other topics Wales raised the subject of Sangers role when you write this up please do not uncritically repeat Sangers absurd claim to be the Confounder of Wikipedia i know of no one who was there at the company at the begin Ning who would think it anything other than laughable he added Struc Tor in Jupiter Fla gave up on contrib uting to Wikipedia and plans to work on Cit in Indium he believes the Quality of Wiki Pedia entries often degrades Over time be cause someone inevitably comes along to express a counterproductive viewpoint contributors Are free to hash out such changes on the discussion pages that accompany every article but Ewen believes Wikipedia anonymity reduces the accountability that stimulates healthy exchanges to some dissidents Wikipedia seems an inscrutable world unto itself not unlike the Devotion inspiring virtual environs of role playing games when you put everybody in a system that is Flat where everybody can say yes or no without any sense of authority what you get is tribalism Ewen says what has gone into the article creation is very often the result of this dysfunctional sys tem it presents itself with this Aura of authority whereas what goes on behind the scenes is anything but even when everything is in the open the chatter int always Collegia its a Well known problem shrouded online peo ple often write provocative things they never say to someones face because the sign up and other Steps Are the Antithesis of Wikipedia Brazen ease its hard to imagine citizen drum garnering 3 million accounts like Wikipedia has then again Many of those accounts sit unused lets say we Only have on equal Ter of the contributors of Wikipedia Sanger says would we be Able to create a credible competitor for Wikipedia within riot too Many years yes i think Dave liberian refugee Mohamed Saramay left gets help completing a form from Myca International services cultural orientation instructor Jean Francois Mukendi at the workforce a Job placement Center in Houston earlier this month the Saramay family immigrated from Liberia on feb 7 and were participating in the Myca program to ease the transition to living in the United states from the Myca to Walmart class teaches new immigrants the basics of american life by Monica Rhor the associated press Houston the Creaky Van rattled past pakistani food stores the Principe Azul disco and stores with saris in the window giving the Saramay clan a 45mph View of their new Home towns diversity every so often the Van stopped and out climbed the six Young men two teenage girls a Little boy and their Mother refugees who had arrived from Liberia Only a few weeks earlier the women wore sheer head scarves in delicate prints and some of the boys donned shirts with French slogans the ride was part of a three Day cultural orientation to introduce the basics of Houston life it is very different from Afri Ca said Abdurahman Dara May 17 but everything is of to me Stop no 1 the work source an employment Agency that helps place refugees and katrina evacuees the men who speak Only rudimentary English gather at one table to fill out Job applications with the help of the orientation teacher Jean Francois Mukendi City h0uston state Texas Job Hunting is a priority for adult refugees whose govern ment assistance runs out four months after arrival but Fatuma to 18 and her Mother Kaba Mak Indian sat quietly at another table Only waiting unlike the men they cannot write or speak any English the family got a Pep talk from employment Counselor Naji Abdelsayed who arrived from Egypt in 2000 and went through Mukendi orientation himself i was one Day sitting in a class like any one of you he told the family there is a lot of Opportunity Here no lie about 50000 refugees come to the United states every year and although All get a Brief cultural instruction before arriving Only about 40 percent get training like Mukendi class at the Myca even that number May fall be cause the Federal funding has been steadily dropping Myca officials said Over the last six years Money for the program has been Cut in half Stop no 2 Walmart Here Mukendi told the group As they stood in front of the sliding doors they could buy anything food clothes household goods school supplies this is my first time to enter this kind of store said Abd Uraha Man Saramay As his relatives filed Down wide aisles bursting with Bright colors bold designs and signs boasting in English and Spanish always Low prices is Empire precious Bajos i How Are yall doing asked a Blu vested worker with a Grin the Aramays spent three years at a refugee Camp in Guinea before entering the us with the sponsorship of a sister Al ready living Here before you came Here what was your idea when thinking about America Mukendi asked his students during the two Days of classroom lectures that preceded the Van tour the answers flew America is a Good place to be Here you can have a Good life Here you must be punctual Stop no 3 Jerusalem halal meat Market there the family which is Muslim can buy meat slaughtered according to their religious beliefs so you dont miss anything from Back Home you can come to this store Mukendi told his Stu dents As they squeezed past the fava Beans and Hookah pipes halal Lamb and cow Tongue an Al Cove near the front offered prayer rugs and music from India and Africa Houston is a very big City observed Nova Bury Saramay As the family piled Back into the Van i like it its the place to be