Caucus

Caucus is a message board system developed by Screen Porch and licensed by Carleton. Students, staff, faculty, and alumni all have Caucus accounts.

Access

Students, staff, and faculty can access Caucus using their Carleton NetID. Alumni can use their alumni account.

http://caucus.carleton.edu/

Caucus is categorized into independent message boards called conferences (also called "confs"). Each conference can define which groups have access to it. For example, the SCIC conference is accessible only to SCIC workers. Within each conference are several items, with subject names such as "Star Wars" (on the Science Fiction and Fantasy Alliance conf), "Linux Games?!?!?" (on the Videogames conf), and "Chemical Enhancement" (on the Sex conf). The creator of an item may choose to make it anonymous. Otherwise, all posts have the name of the poster attached, as well as the date.

Uses

Occassionally, a professor for a class will set up a Caucus conference for it. However, most conferences are created by students, and are dedicated to a specific topic or activity. Access to some conferences, such as Review (see below), is limited to students.

There are also more restricted conferences for very specific groups. For example, the SCIC conf is limited to current SCIC workers.

Notable conferences

Some of the largest and most well-known Caucus conferences include:

Review (Student-only): A conference for discussion of professors and the classes they teach. Frequently consulted by students prior to registration as a vast source of information.
Sex (Public): An anonymous conference for the discussion of all matters sexual, encompassing both technical and ethical discussions. There is also a less carnal spin-off, Love and Relationships.
The User Files (Public): The most active of all conferences, the User Files consists entirely of self-devoted items created by various Caucus users. Other people can comment on these items, and discussions/flames (see below) follow.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I log-in to caucus?

Can you see any conferences, or are you locked-out from your caucus account as a whole? In the latter event, you probably are locked out of your Carleton account, in which case you should call the SCIC at x4040. If you can see some conferences, but not others, talk to the moderator of that particular conference--you are probably trying to access a restricted conference and do not have permission.