The Collegian

Issue date: 9/6/07 Section: Opinion

Media Credit: Will Olthouse

Jeff Yost, manager of Information Technology Services user services, works in a desk with a sculpted bull paperweight, a family heirloom, on the corner.

"It means the bull stops here," he jokes, but it's kind of true.

His office is far removed from the looney zoo of the technologically illiterate on campus.

Far too often, good technology is wasted or maltreated.

It's time for the monkey business to stop.
Mass e-mail spamming plagues students' inboxes. Professors prohibit laptops in the class and neglect the wireless that could bolster their teaching.

Students and employees alike could benefit if everyone learned the little-known tools provided by the campus' ITS department.
ITS staffers may be the only blameless people on campus.

Yost gathered with Information Systems Manager Kevin Maurer last week to tell The Collegian about the nifty devices ITS supplies to students and employees.

Both men wore green shirts and khakis.

Behind them, neatly arranged bottles of non-diet Coke adorned the bookshelf. It was afternoon, and a fresh pot of coffee brewed just outside the door.

"We run on caffeine," they explained. (And they'd have to, with the giant tasks they've taken on in the past few years.)

Those monumental changes have gone largely unnoticed - and both men are glad, because it hints these were smooth transitions.

But The Collegian thinks those on campus should pay attention. After all, there's a lot of cool technology not properly appreciated or utilized.

Perhaps the worst technology foes are the serial e-mailers, who constantly pile manure in the students' e-mail accounts.

Jemie Hannon sent out at least 32 mass e-mails between Aug. 21 and Aug. 29.
These e-mails badger students with a menagerie of absurdity: Looking for sweeping, mopping, cleaning break room, cleaning restrooms, taking out trash, washing windows, etc! Want three strong men to help with yard work! Recall, recall, recall!

(One could also take issue with the number of exclamation points used in subject line. From August 24-29, Marsha Boehmke used 15. These announcements simply can't be exciting enough to merit their punctuation, leaving students disappointed as well as exasperated.)

To remedy this, ITS created bulletin board-style public folders, a place online where people can post announcements, and interested students can scan them at will.

Continued...

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