Last summer, Tem Tiagha had what he describes as an "unpleasant experience." This negative occurrence, however, led to the creation of www.taqoh.com, a Web site with services dedicated to making sure Penn State students never had to endure the same fate.
"Over the summer, I had to go to Philadelphia three times in two weeks. I didn't know that many people on campus, so my only choice was the Greyhound. Double whammy, it's expensive and you sit next to someone who doesn't shower."
And so Tiagha (senior-aerospace engineering) started up the Web site and its services seven weeks ago. "It's my word, and I'm not telling," said Tiagha, dodging an explanation of the unique word's origin.
The site began with the Ryde Guide, inspired by his not-so-pleasant experiences with commercial buses. The Ryde Guide is a portion of the site where students can post desired travel destinations or locations to which they are traveling to help other students. Essentially, it is an electronic version of the ride boards around the campus commons.
"I figured if I came up with a Web site which kids could all go to and exchange info, no one would have to take the Greyhound again," Tiagha said.
Some Penn Staters said they are in awe of Tiagha's effort to help other students.
"I think it's really creative and pretty amazing that an aerospace major had the time and initiative to do something like that for fun," said Keturah Brown (senior-microbiology).
Also on Taqoh's site is the Hotspots section, a board where students can post various activities and parties going on around the State College area.
Tiagha said Taqoh's most popular aspect is the Pigskin section, a board where people can buy and sell football tickets to all of Penn State's football games. Users have been quite pleased with the ease of selling their tickets online.
"It was pretty easy using the Web site. I didn't have to go outside my room to go to a bulletin board, and I got a lot of responses with the tickets," said Linopaolo Aguja (senior-electrical engineering).
For Saturday's Indiana game, Tiagha estimates more than 100 people will post their tickets on the site.
With the football season near its end and the Web site averaging more than 400 hits a week, Tiagha has plans to make sure taqoh.com still has much to offer visitors in the future. He said he plans to put more emphasis on the often-overlooked Aisle 6, a spot where students can post and sell items online. Students can find a variety of items there, he said, ranging from textbooks to DVD players to bikes to even vacant dorms.
"I think a lot of kids have stuff they want to sell," Tiagha said. "They just don't know about the Web site."
In addition to Aisle 6, the Web site also features a game room, links to other Web sites, polls and occasional essays and rants from Penn State students. The polls are one of Tiagha's favorite parts of the site.
"There are some things that people think, but they hesitate to talk about openly," Tiagha said. "The poll gives them a chance to voice their opinion without being known."
Some but not all of Taqoh's polls are serious: 86 percent of voters agreed that Superman could beat Batman in a fight. Among those who disagree is Tiagha himself.
"The dark knight would kick the crap out of Superman any day," he said.
