I voted for the old way and here's why: the current way is nice and uncluttered, true, but with the rep counter clearly displayed and a number nearby with a label noting that this is in fact the user's "reputation" score you're more likely to have new users get curious enough to go looking to learn about the system and start using it. It was a bit of a mystery to me when I joined but I figured it out quickly thanks to the explicit way it was noted and went looking for the FAQ. There are so many icons on the Web that I'm becoming somewhat inured to them - twitter, stumble, bumble, fiddle, giggle, et. al. are all over every tidbit of info on the Internetz and I just don't have the time or inclination to go finding out what they are all about. Maybe I'm becoming a fogey though...darned kids.
M