Remind me to never enter the computer lab hungry, because I just might starve to death trying to get anything accomplished-if I get anything accomplished.
The Mac Labs in the School of Communication are probably the worst you can find on campus besides the library. The wonderfully sophisticated technology probably functions for about one in two computers, and out of that group, you might find one connected to the network, and out of that group, you might find one that actually prints. So a projected 30-minute job might actually take you two hours or more (not that you had a life or anything) if you don’t by then toss the computer off the third floor. Best of all, I love how there is no one ever there to help you with any problems you may encounter. Oh the beauty of technology! Instead of making our lives simple, it looks like we have to get another major in computer information systems just to complete our first major.
However, I know that a huge part of the problem is not the lack of maintenance, but the computers themselves. Supposedly Macintosh computers are a gift to the designer, but if you ask me it was a man-made nightmare-you are lucky if you make it through one sitting and the computer doesn’t crash or that you won’t receive an error message saying that you will lose all your information that you spent ten hours trying to create, in just two seconds. Although I learned how to use a computer on a Macintosh, I am a diehard PC fan-but then again I am diehard for anything that works more than 50% of the time.
It is already bad enough that the labs have limited hours, but having to allot twice the normal time to a project just to complete it on time is insane. Maybe I should just sacrifice all of my studying time to wrestle with the computers-I didn’t really need that extra A.
Marquita Bell is a sophomore majoring in print journalism and political science. She can be reached at m_bell01@hotmail.com.