I recently sat in the Bechtel Audio Visual Room in Gault† Library waiting to watch a movie for my dance class and the projector didn’t work ó surprise.† After moving over to the Nesbitt Room we found that this projector didn’t work either.† To my frustration, the College struggles with keeping up-to-date with technology.
When I walk into the Wired(less) Scot, I move a mouse to use one of the five computers, something I’m sure has happened to the others, and after a few seconds I realize this computer is not going to turn on.† I move onto the next one and by the time I’ve found one that works, it is apparent that about half of the computers in the Wired(less) Scot are not actually functioning.
In the Andrews Library, a computer has had an “out of order” sign on it for multiple weeks now.† The Voice staff’s printer has been malfunctioning for almost the entire year; even after it was looked at, more glanced at than anything, and it still isn’t working.
As a student, it is incredibly frustrating having to go from computer to computer, trying to find one that works or to have to wait in an extensively long line for the two computers that are working.† The computers seem to be in existence mostly for the convenience of the student or college patron, and right now they are not serving that purpose.
In addition, it looks unsightly and haphazard when half of the computers are out of order or non-existent, an important thing to take into consideration for the large amount of perspective students always circulating the campus.
I don’t know if these problems are a matter of the Office of Information Technology or if there is some sort of disconnect between whoever informs IT that the computers aren’t working and the actual department itself, but I feel as though this problem is something that needs abatement immediately.† Independent Study is getting underway and more and more seniors will be printing out two 80-page copies more frequently.
Lastly, as a liberal arts college that prides itself on being a technology forward Macintosh campus, the College should keep up with the maintenance of their computers if they wish to keep that reputation alive for prospective students and first-years alike.