"Why buy more computers?" asks a concerned student
Wendy Chan
Issue date: 2/26/10 Section: Opinion
Why does the school feel like it needs to replace the computers that were working perfectly fine? Even if the school is collecting the money from the Student Tech Fee to buy newer and better technology, we are facing budget cuts and a recession. Smarter ways to go about spending the money would have been putting it towards other needs like keeping our classes or keeping campus faculty and staff. SUNY Potsdam is losing its professors and custodial staff due to budget cuts. We need these professors to spread their knowledge and to stay in the classrooms and offer courses that have been cut. Yes maybe that's what the fee is all about in the first place, but do we really need these new fancy computers when the school is cutting classes and potentially delaying the graduation time of many of its students? Many students cannot even graduate on time without taking extra winter courses, extra summer courses, and overloading during the regular fall and spring semesters. This is extremely difficult for those who are double or even triple majoring and those who are minoring as well. Without these courses that are being cut, many students are unable to complete what is necessary to complete their major, thus delaying the graduation time of students.
Did the school really relocate all the old computers that were working fine or did they decide to just keep a select few "good" ones and toss everything else out the window? There are many third world countries who would love to even know how to work a computer. Places where students aren't as fortunate and cannot afford laptops. Students aren't getting the most updated information because they don't have the technology to do so. These people are still being taught that Pluto is a planet. I feel that the school could've saved that money for other more useful things. Yes, new, brighter, fancier computers are nice, but we need to learn how to appreciate what we already have.
Wendy Chan
Did the school really relocate all the old computers that were working fine or did they decide to just keep a select few "good" ones and toss everything else out the window? There are many third world countries who would love to even know how to work a computer. Places where students aren't as fortunate and cannot afford laptops. Students aren't getting the most updated information because they don't have the technology to do so. These people are still being taught that Pluto is a planet. I feel that the school could've saved that money for other more useful things. Yes, new, brighter, fancier computers are nice, but we need to learn how to appreciate what we already have.
Wendy Chan
Be the first to comment on this story