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Karl Marx
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Wiki wherewithal woes

Should Wikipedia bite
the corporate bullet
and stop asking for
individual donations?

By Keating Smith,
Staff Writer

Wire a doubt, every
student refers to
Wikipedia to see what it
has to offer for information
on any subject they are
studying. Although we do
not dare cite Wikipedia as
a source in our work, we
tend to easily fall on the
world’s fifth most popular
website to gain some clarity.
After all, Wikipedia is
generally the first website
that pops up in the list
below the search bar, and
its chronological layout of
subject matter is easy to
read and follow. Early last
month, a dreadful-looking,
brightly-coloured banner
briefly appeared at the top
of Wikipedia’s website

16

(2)

when you buy a breakfast or
regular menu Extra Value Meal’
with your Buck ID.

filled with black and bold
text asking you, the reader,
to donate to the non-profit
website. Although the
website has asked for
donations on an annual
basis throughout the years,
one has to ask whether
Wikipedia should conform
to the standards of many

philosopher, econornist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in
the establishment of the social sciences and the development of the socialist movement. He is also considered one of
the greatest economists in history.!4!92”1 He published numerous books during his lifetime, the most notable being The
Communist Manifesto (1848) and Capital (1867 -1894). He worked closely with his friend and fellow revolutionary
socialist, Friedrich Engels.

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advertising would simply
take away from the aes-
thetics and the objectives
of Wikipedia. Next to your
search results for say, Karl
Marx or Capitalism, you
may find a heart-warming
ad for Kraft peanut butter
or some awe-inspiring ad
from a prestigious univer-

Read View source View history

Karl Heinrich Marx (Berlin German pronunciation: [Karel ‘harnrng ‘mareks], 5 May 1818 - 14 March 1883) was a German

why corporate advertising,
government funding, and
Wikipedia mix about as
well as water and oil?
Wikipedia conducted
24-hour blackouts on their
website in both the United
States and Russia last year
in protest against online
censorship and piracy bills

One could argue that advertising would simply take away from
the aesthetics and the objectives of Wikipedia. Next to your

66

search results for say, Kar! Marx or Capitalism, you may find a
heart-warming ad for Kraft peanut butter or some awe-inspiring

ad froma prestigious university offering a convenient way for
you to obtain your graduate degree.

other large websites and use
advertising on their web-
page. This question is posed
at a time when the number
of advertisements displayed
on several other large
websites is becoming more
and more overwhelming.
One could argue that

sity offering a convenient
way for you to obtain your
graduate degree. Should
we view these ads as
annoying inconveniences,
much like we do ads on
other websites like YouTube
or Facebook? Or is there a
much bigger question as to

both governments had
effectively put in place

or were in the midst of
attempting to put in place.
Hundreds of millions of
people worldwide reacted
accordingly to the black-
out, making it clear that
government funding and

o @ @

$42 S46 543
Click here to buy!

  

Create account @& Log in

Search Q

-

wa

Karl Marx

He
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Photo illustration by Joel McCarthy

Wikipedia does not work.
Large websites operate
like any other corporation,
and creating a growing
profit is the bottom line of
their business mandate.
This is not the case with
Wikipedia; from the very
start, founder Jimmy Wales
and his associates have
made it clear that they
wanted to create the largest
encyclopedia in history,
which they have done.
Whether you feel that
Wikipedia should not get
a dime from you and that
someone else can afford
to foot their operation bill,
or you feel obligated to
contribute but you cannot
as you are a broke student,
understand that the web-
site isn’t asking for your
firstborn child as a form of
payment. A simple five-dol-
lar donation from just a
fraction of Wikipedia’s
users would be enough for
them to pay their bills and
continue being the great
Internet resource that it is.