Wednesday, October 31, 2001

Computer labs should be first priority
Mandatory ownership plan unnecessary waste of already-established resources
Commentary by Bethany McCormack

Eventually students coming to TCU may have to add a computer to their list of school supplies, next to textbooks, notebook paper and highlighters. That’s if TCU begins requiring incoming students to own computers, which the university is in the early stages of planning.

Rather than mandate computer ownership, the university should improve computer labs. Computer labs benefit all students. Mandatory ownership of computers only benefits the university by passing the cost of computers onto students.

Dave Edmondson, assistant provost for information services, said that with the computer requirements, labs will probably have less of a role in student learning.

“I think that when we do this, we will probably eliminate some labs and not have to continue to maintain them so much,” he told the Skiff.

Students at TCU are at a disadvantage now if they don’t own computers. They don’t have the convenience of being able to use a computer whenever they need one.

However, mandating computer ownership is not the solution. TCU should improve computer labs so all students have equal access to computers.

One reason students who don’t own computers are at a disadvantage is because they must work around the hours of the computer labs. TCU has no 24-hour computer labs.

The library computer lab closes at 12:45 a.m. during the week and at 5:45 p.m. on the weekends. Students who have a paper due the next day and aren’t done by 12:45 a.m. are out of luck.

It’s not asking too much for the university to provide 24-hour computer labs. Other similar sized schools, such as Southern Methodist University and Southwestern University, have 24-hour labs. Students would be able to work on the computers any time and not be restricted to working only during certain hours.

Also, the locations of the computer labs are inconvenient for students in the dorms.

The closest lab to most of the dorms is in the Student Center Reading Room, which is on the same side of the street as the dorms. However, the lab contains only eight computers, which are usually occupied.

The Student Center lab should be expanded to benefit the students in dorms. An alternative would be installing computers within residence halls, which would also benefit students within those halls who do not own computers.

Computer labs are important for all students and not just those who don’t own computers. Computers malfunction. Printers break. Printers run out of ink. There is always something that can go wrong. It’s important that all students have access to computer labs when inevitable computer problems arise.

Many students who own computers use the labs in the library when they are there studying between classes. Students who live off campus use computer labs when they are on campus rather than going back and forth between school and home.

Computer labs should not be eliminated because they are important for all students.

Regardless of whether or not computers become mandatory, TCU should improve rather than eliminate computer labs.

When students (or parents) pay tuition money, they expect certain things from a university. They expect professors to be knowledgeable, they expect their majors to prepare them for careers or graduate school, they expect the library to be of a certain size and quality.

Shouldn’t computer labs also be a part of those services that students have a right to expect from TCU?

Opinion editor Bethany McCormack is a junior news-editorial journalism major from Dallas. She can be contacted at (b.s.mccormack@student.tcu.edu).