12002

ditorials and Opinions

Over The Edge Page 5

Not Faster, Just More and More

By David Mahoney

The quality and quantity of
computers at this university
have always been a con-
tentious issue. In my first years
here, | wondered why it should
take five minutes to login in the
general purpose labs. Later,
when the Imac lab opened, it
seemed that the problems
were at least partly fixed. | was
sorely disappointed when |
arrived at school last
September to find that the
Imac lab was closed and the
slow but generally reliable
Windows NT machines had
been replaced with new
Windows 2000 boxes that are
pretty, but flaky at best. My
highly unscientific and subjec-
tive analysis says that at any
given time, about 25% of the
new computers are not func-
tioning. The outcome is that
there are fewer computers ata

time when there are more stu-
dents than ever before. |
recently participated in a lab
for a fourth year course where
there were 150 students slat-
ed to use 20 computers, 18 of
which were working. One
group had to use the profes-
sors personal laptop, and
another had to use a terminal
in the high-performance com-
puting lab. | had a vision of
future classes looking less like
an organized computer lab,
and more like a LAN party,
with students expected to
bring their own computers and
networking equipment.
Perhaps this is the reason that
tuition did not increase by a
larger margin. The students
have to supply their own com-
puters. Maybe next year we'll
have to bring desks from home
too. From the sublime to the
ridiculous.

This problem of overcrowd-

ing in the computer labs is not
without its solutions. Some
students have access to other
labs, like the computer science
labs and the GIS lab. For oth-
ers, it would be of great bene-
fit to have the Mac lab re-
opened. Not all students bene-
fit from lack of choice of com-
puters. The ten or so extra
workstations would certainly
come in handy around exam
and final project time. Another
inexpensive solution would be
to convert some of those older
PC computers that cannot run
Windows 2000 to a small gen-
eral purpose Linux lab. The
point is that students do not
care what kind of computers
they type their essays on, as
long as they are reliable, run
Microsoft Word, and allow the
students to check their e-mail.
Fancy bells and whistles are
not required.

Good Bye and Thanks For All the Fish

By Colleen O’Grady and Kevin
Milos

We get to graduate! Yea!
We both do not want to admit
how long we’ve been here, but
it has been an interesting road
to travel.

We both have different
majors, have faced different
challenges, but have both
been editors at Over the Edge.

Colleen (Me!) majored in
forestry and learned many
things at UNBC including that
some bureaucracy is neces-
sary, politics and science are
always inter-twined, and pro-
duction night is always longer

when nothing is written. | have
met very inspiring people with
different perspectives, espe-
cially in a newspaper office
that contains no journalism
school. We are definitely a dif-
ferent bunch and hopefully
more weirdoes will join. Kevin
and | have been two of many
people fighting to keep the
newspaper running. Next year
with new students, the news-
paper will change to reflect the
ideas of those who choose to
participate. | hope that our
contributions have made some
difference in how people view
UNBC students and how we
as students view the world

(hopefully with a sense of
humor).

Good luck,
inspired me.

Kevin (me!) will graduate
with an arts degree in
Geography. Although | have
been at UNBC for more years
than | would like to admit, |
don’t regret any of the years
that | have been here. | want to
say thanks to everyone who |
have met and had the privilege
to know throughout my studies
here and although | am glad to
move on, it is difficult to leave.

Thanks for the great times!

you have

Diminishing Student Space

By Colleen O’Grady

Recently, a partition was put
up on the upper floor of the
cafeteria to create a staff and
faculty lounge. This area was
formerly used by students as a
place to study, meet for group
meetings, and eat lunch. This
one project is not unique in
diminishing publicly accessible
space for students. UNBC has
been getting a larger student
enrollment every year. Other
space changes include the
conversion of the math help
lab into the Scientific
Visualization and Data

Analysis Laboratory; the
changing of library area into
further office space; and the
non-existence of the Mac Lab
this year, which would have
been greatly used during
papers time when the windows
labs were all booked for class-
es. There used to also be con-
ference rooms available in the
Lab building. Again these
places were used as quiet
places for group meetings.
These would have been more
readily used as classrooms
become busier with more class
use schedules.

Graduate students and fac-

ulty all need space for offices,
labs, and places to socialize,
but planning for the growing
undergraduate students popu-
lation needs to be taken into
account.

Media relations were not
available to comment on the
future plans for student work-
spaces. Some students spec-
ulate that with the opening of
the new lab building there will
be some relief from over
crowded computer labs, class-
rooms, and conference
spaces.

No More Fees
Please

To Whom It May Conern:

Without NUGSS apparent
interest or participation
(Impromptu meeting held on
March 26, 2002, between
myself and some members of
the office staff of NUGSS), |
would like to act solely on
behalf of the entire student
body in requesting that the
Fee Committee consider the
following fee structure re-
assessments and concerns.

On page 21 of the 2002-
2003 Calendar (as well as
being indicated in the past
2001-2002 UNBC Calendar),
all fees are assessed on a per
semester, intercession, or
credit-hour basis.

Upon receiving my Spring
and Summer Intercession
invoice, it came to my attention
that | was being invoiced twice

for Athletics ($10), and
Building ($15); once each for
Spring ($25 total), and

Summer ($25 total). This is
double the normal amount
paid in a 4-month semester,
and is also contrary to what is
written on page 21 of the cur-
rent calendar for the upcoming
year. Intersessions are clearly
laid out in the appropriate
places, especially where the
calendar wishes to differenti-
ate between intersessions and
semesters.

(NExTUP OV BAVVEWS...

Another item of contention
is the full assessment of fees
(building, athletics, and fitness
center) to the student that is
only enrolled in Internet or
web courses. If the student is
taking these courses (and only
these courses) because he or
she is outside of the region or
country, it is unlikely that they
will be able to make use of
these facilities, and therefore
these fees appear to be more
of a cash grab than a user fee.
In the past some of these fees
have been reduced or elimi-
nated for outlying campuses,
and it would seem appropriate
that web courses also have
their own free structure (or
restructuring).

| would ask the Fee
Committee to eliminate the
double-billing practices and
implement a fee structure that
is equitable to web course stu-
dents; and | ask for the elimi-
nation or reduction of such
fees to include retroactive
repayments to all students
who can prove they have
affected and unable to use
such services during the past
2 or more years.

Sincerely,
Jeff Hughes

eee |

AA 3 ——-
KRY

re.