I Am Sorry, MCOM Students

By Maria Phillips
SC Forum Editor

I have one MCOM class. Having this one class, I have to use the MCOM computer lab every once in awhile.

If you haven’t had the experience, let me fill you in on the pleasures. I sign on. As I sign on, I read an article on my phone about Obama’s Jobs Act, I take my turn on Words with Friends, I check my email, I take my turn on Scramble with Friends (two minutes), I text my friend about how long the computer is taking, and, oh, a nap. Then! Viola! The computer is done signing on! At a speedy three and a half minutes!

Once signed on, I click “My Computer” in search of the of the MCOM drive. Gee, it’s not there. What a surprise. I turn to the person next to me, ask them if they have the MCOM drive, they nod, and then tell me “Oh! The last person on had that issue too!” A professor recommends using a Mac. So then, at the Mac, I click the MCOM drive, my user name and password doesn’t work. Up I move again to another computer. The MCOM drive is there and it let me sign on! NO WAY ! I click on my class folder, and the Mac freezes, because “everyone is using the computers.”

I have experienced these issues with the MCOM computers many times. As a department that relies on computers, shouldn’t they have better and faster computers than the rest? Shouldn’t all the computers be connected to the drive for that department? I must be honest and admit I did just learn there is a way to find the drive if it isn’t showing up on the computer. It’s call “map network drive.” I’m assuming most students don’t know this secret. Actually, I know most students don’t know because I asked and no one could help. I’ve taken one MCOM class every semester, and I just learned. The computers should have the drive ready for us to use. In any case, it’s not an answer for the long, wasteful process of logging into the network.  I’m also a little confused why there is a room full of computers if all the computers aren’t expected to operate at once. I mean, Macs are pretty, but not THAT pretty.

My heart goes out to the MCOM students at ESU. When I do have to deal with those computers, usually first thing in the morning, by the time I’m finished, I can feel the nerve that just exploded in my head from frustration. To rely on a sub-par system on a daily basis to finish your school work must add a lot of unneeded stress to your workload.

Other computer labs have similar issues, like the computer lab on the third floor of Stroud Hall. The internet connection in that lab is so slow, ESU email doesn’t even load. I sit there for minutes clicking “refresh” trying to get the “page cannot be display” notice to go away. I have a class that relies on the internet in that room. Colleen Rupp a frustrated sophomore here says, “I can’t stand using these computers. You can’t even log on without any trouble! Then once you do get on, it takes forever just to get the internet up and nothing will download. If we have a computer class, the computers actually need to work. What is the point of having it when the computers don’t work. It is so frustrating to have to wait to do anything on these computers.” I guess expecting a classroom with computers to work is expecting too much. It’s been inadequate for semesters.

So the headaches aren’t only in MCOM, but considering the hours they spend on the computers, it’s definitely a huge burden. Luckily, your teachers are nice people and try to be as helpful as possible with the unreliable technology. After all, they deal with it too.

Email Maria at:
mack34z@yahoo.com