“Stupid computer!” The curse reverberates down the hallway. This is the fourth time that poor soul has needed to restart the gray box of microchips and wires. Although technology, such as computers, has brought measures of convenience to life, it also has been known to cause loads of stress.

General technology problems occurring on campus do not normally deal with hardware.

“Most common technology problems are user-related,” Dave Martens, campus technology director said. “Problems happen with things breaking or not working when users change the settings.”

Some schools do not provide the privilege of technology.

“Other schools teach technology and have classes that do that,” Martens said. “We give students here the freedom to do that.”

Most of the larger technological difficulties, on campus, take place in computers.

“Our biggest problems are the filter issues and not allowing students to go on bad sites,” Martens said. “We are in the process of installing a new, better program.”

Computer owners with cable modems have various options of filtering out inappropriate sites.

“There are several ways of doing this, none are very effective,” Martens said. “There are software packages, but they are unreliable. They can over-or under-block. There is the router program to filter on a list basis. That is server based. We use a server proxy modem.”

Other schools encounter different problems with technology.

“Our server goes down, but that’s fairly rare,” Trevor Reis, a technology leader at Clovis East, said. “The laptops in the classes are old. We have problems with them being up to date and keeping them running.”

Occasionally, some students log on to Internet sites they should not be on.

“Students check their e-mail, look at sports websites, or play games, but that’s rare,” Reis said. “Students don’t really connect to inappropriate sites. The district puts up a firewall so it’s hard for kids to get to anything inappropriate.”

Teachers try to help every student benefit from using technology.

“We try to expose as many students as we can to technology,” Reis said. “Technology doesn’t run what we teach, it’s used as a tool.”

Many students believe that computers are not the only got-to-have gadgets.

“I don’t think that I could live without my cell,” Kristin Dunne, ’04, said. “It helps me keep in touch with people when I’m not home. I love the computer and AIM too!”

Dunne finds that technology assists in school classes, like yearbook, too.

“We take all of our pictures digitally so it helps the quality and speeds up the process of placing them on the page,” Dunne said. “I don’t think that making a yearbook would be possible without computers or cameras.”

Sometimes, though, the equipment we have come to rely on, revolts.

“Sometimes we can’t find pictures that we are looking for on the computer,” Dunne said. “Or, a yearbook page that we are working on corrupts and we have to start the page all over?it’s frustrating sometimes.”

Molly Sargent, campus yearbook advisor, believes the profits of learning to use technology now add up when it is time to get a job.

“For one, you have an advantage when seeking employment,” Sargent said. “Computer and electronic skills are needed. Imagine a business that doesn’t need computers. You should not be intimidated by technology.”

Computers with the Internet provide even better advantages.

“You have greater access to information,” Sargent said. “You should, if you have e-mail, have access to the world. You can access companies, even the Library of Congress if you want to! There are ridiculous amounts of information you should be able to access.”

Sargent, though, does not always view technology as a plus.

“Sometimes, I think it’s a curse,” Sargent said. “I want to throw the computer out the window. They always break down on a deadline day because we’re always using them. They don’t save time, but it gives us a lot more control and makes the product look better.”

Technology has improved incredible amounts over the years.

“There is no comparison from today and twenty years ago,” Sargent said. “Products are more creative and cost effective. You can put your vision on paper. The only thing that limits you is your knowledge of software.”

Technology is the source of good and evil in today’s society. A failure in technology can be a huge loss, causing many people to lose connections. However, the triumphs accomplished with technology continue to ease some of life’s burdens.

For more information on technology, visit http://www.acm.org/education/hscur/.
” “[Courtesy] www.newcybertech.com/ computer_repair.html” “Often in life, computers can cause immense frustration and make one wonder, is it really worth all the trouble?” “” “” “Association for Computing Machinery Homepage