Current Release: April 28th, 2009 | Vol. XXX Iss. 10

Illustration By Andrew Foster

Freshmen deal with  Inconvenient Wrinkles.

By rachel satterwhite

rachelsa@verizon.net

After arriving at school and moving into to the dorms, many students turned on their laptops and attempted to get online. Only to find out they were not connected. Without internet there was no Facebook, e-mail, or AIM. In a technology oriented society with a large amount of communication through the internet, this cut-off came as a shock and to many an inconvenience.

During scene one orientation, students were given a paper instructing the basic procedure to get onto VWC s network. Without wireless in the dorms, students had to buy Ethernet cords for their rooms. Old anti-virus programs had to be deleted and the computer had to be told not to check for the server s certificate revocation under  Advanced Internet Properties before the rest of the process began. The students were to get onto the internet browser where they had to continue onto a second page despite the computer advising against it.

This second page contained the link to download Smart Enforcer. It is a required download for students on campus to connect from their private computers to the school s network. Once the Smart Enforcer is downloaded you are provided a link to the college s website to download Symantec Client Security s Antivirus to protect the computer. At this step many students encountered confusion. The download page for the Antivirus had a clear link for installation. However, students with Windows Vista who did not read the entire screen before proceeding found that they could not successfully complete the download. Had they read the screen, they would have discovered a separate link at the top for Windows Vista. After the installation was complete, the program s definitions would take 20 to 30 minutes to update and then the computer would be good to go.

The process did not work for every student. Some had issues with their passwords. Other students came to school with 64 bit computers instead of the typical 32 bit; so the computer center in Pruden Hall had to find them larger applications for their computers.

Jack Dmoch in the computer center in Pruden Hall encourages students to call the help desk when they are experiencing problems with their computers.  Every year there are a few wrinkles, he said.

The process to connect to the network may seem simple though lengthy. But many students found themselves lost, especially those without the paper from orientation or some prior experience of dealing with computers. As students moved onto campus and found themselves without a clue of how to get onto VWC s network, they took their laptops and desktops over to Computer Services in Clarke Hall. Computer Services quickly became over whelmed with the number of computers and began turning people away, telling them to return early the next day.

Freshman Emma Richard said,  I felt as though our needs to get into the network and start classes were not on the top of their list. It inconvenienced me because I needed to get online for school and do work using the internet, but they were leaving it to me to get by this problem that I knew nothing about.

The network issues were the most inconvenient to the already somewhat confused freshmen trying to figure out college life and balancing a hectic few days of orientation.

Some students, like freshman Luke Blum, managed the absence of internet easily.  I didn t really need it because classes hadn t started yet, and if I needed internet access I could just go to the computer lab, Blum said.  Internet access from my room would have just been more convenient, but I had my cell phone for communication purposes.

My own experience with trying to connect to the network was slightly different than most students. As a student-athlete I arrived on campus several days before the rest of the freshman class. I knew that computer services would get swamped so I went before everyone else arrived. I spent an hour in there with Jim Baker as he walked me through what I needed to do. In the following days I used what I learned and helped nine friends get connected to the network. One girl even paid close attention and helped out some guys on her floor. Through the process I made some new friends and was able to help people out of those inconvenient wrinkles in the network process.