{ title: 'The Concordiensis. (Schenectady, N.Y.) 1877-current, May 18, 2000, Page 13, Image 13', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn96027707/2000-05-18/ed-1/seq-13/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn96027707/2000-05-18/ed-1/seq-13.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn96027707/2000-05-18/ed-1/seq-13/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn96027707/2000-05-18/ed-1/seq-13/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
Image provided by: Union College
OP/EO C1!.ottt:orhlmGi6 • May 1 &, 2000 · Page 11 ...•. :~--~ _:_· __ :_·~-----··· ·····.!Jpiif~~s·tt:-edii~;L;;JS-·\·-··'··· .............. ,_\.- .. ,_ .... ,,._., .. ,_ ...........___.------------~ ·Technology Can Not Replace Personal Contact by Brooke M. Barylick . Editor-in-Chief Emerita counter substantial amounts of cations. The Internet is not ideal for data on the subject that he or .she situations 1:hat require explanations is researching. of complex ideas because it does Because .of the Internet, people not 111low for interactive colill:nuni- The Internet i:s a valuable re- can obtain _current information cation between. tbe parties that are sourceformodemconununications. vecy quickly. Before the$e pro- exchanging the information. Con- Many have grown dependentupon grams engulfed our-$ociety,. we versations dea 1 ingwith ccrnplicated itintheirdaily lives. Its ease of use, had to wait for the next news ideas sometimes need to alter their ever increasing speed, the rang'e of broadcast ()f the next morning's tone or wording to express th.eideas information avaiJahle and the im- newspaper before we could up- clearly and accurately. This cannot . proving accessibilitY ensure that date ol:lliselv~s on current events, be done through a computer. Ideas the Internet wi11. contiriue to play such as news, weather and sports. are~best expressed in person where an integral role inour 1ives. Now; we Cpn team about breaking each individual involved can more Becauseofthe development and news &Imost instantaneously. accurately gauge the reactions of expansion of the I:n~emet techno1- For example, we can watch Con~ those involve~. Despite the speed ogy, cornrnunic:!ttLons between gress debate issues by logging ~defficiencyofthe Internet, it can- people all over th.e world can be onto the C-Span Web site. Fur- not replace face to face conversa- conducted with the dick. af a but• thermote, we can tune into the tion. ton. Through innovative technolo- Web sites of local television sta- As mentioned earlier, one of the gies, we are afforded quick and easy tions to discover the regional news benefits of the Internet is the end- access to global communications. and we can '!lso search for infor• less supply of information that it The almost instantaneous co!ll).ec- _ mation on regions outside of our offers. Unfortunately, there is no tion between computers. :facilitates own. regulation of such information: a rapid transfer of ideas, which With all of the benefits that the Anyone can establish a Web site, leads to a more efficient method ·of Internet provides, one might think which leads to questionable con- both personal and professional that it is flawless. Although! have tent and ideas on the Internet. Al- communication. only mentioned some of the ben~ though I support freedom of This system of commun).cation is eficial aspects .of the Internet, the speech, some o.f these ideas and idealfor minor issues, such as spe- problems that the Internet craze concepts extend too far and pro- cific details about a meeting time has already caused have the po- . vide false information. Those who and location. E-mail is also an effi- tentialof developing into more se- deny the existence oftragic events, cientmethodofinfonningrecipients rious issues in upcoming ye11rs. such as the Holocaust, or those about upcoming events, factual in- To begin, although the Internet who publish hate messages, such formation and simple items that do boasts quick and easy access to asanti-homosexualpropaganda, do not require much detailed ex _plana- infinite amounts of inforn1ation, not deserve space on the Internet. tion. various obstacles arise for some This information is hurtful·and with- The Internet also facilitates iu- who try to utilize this database. out purpose. I disagree with those formation gathering. The World Many people are not afforded the who argue that it is freedom of WideWebplacesa.ninfiniteamount luxury of asing the Internet be- speech. . of information at th.e fmgertips of cause they do not have access to Another issue with the Internet the user. Many are able to obtain a computer <>r they are unsure of deals with its readily accessible complex data and facts quickly and how to operate it. Because the nature. As mentioned e(!rlier, the efficiently ~ecause of its rapid pace Internet is not a universal com-. Internet provides a wide range of and ease. In addition, one can lo- modity, many feel inferior to those infonrtation and, as explained in the cate data on all topitcs,. ranging from who enjoy its benefits. previous paragraph, thi~ is not regu- books to research. md colleges to Anothe1 problem that arises lated. Children have the ability to and hate groups. Although some regulatory software exists, it is ex- pensive and contains flaws that allow children to by-pass its at- tempt at censorship. Children should not have access to such information. My final dissatisfaction with the Internet stems from the de- pendence on it that has emerged. Because ofthe easeofwriting E- mails, m3:ny have reduced their direct personal commuuication with friends and co-workers. For instance, phone conversations between my friends and I have decreased significantly. This is apparent even on Union's cam- pus. We do not have to call long distance to speak with friends, yet we .still send E-mail rather than calL Businesses also rely on the In_ternet as a primary source of communication. This detracts from the personal aspect of the work place and it also creates a detached atmosphere in which to conduct business. Through my college years, I have learned that personal con- tact with both professors and peers is essential to the educa- tion process. Conversations with these people have enlightened my years here, which I assume is true for many of you. Without con- versing with my professors, my education would have lacked an essential aspect of the learning process, which is explaining my ideas and defending my positions on issues. Furthermore, because of deep and complex conversations I have developed strong friendships that will last the rest of my Hfe. The countless hours spent dis- cussing relationships, courses, fu-· ture plallS and life's problems would nothavebeen as meaningful if they were conducted over E-mail. I would not :have known nearly as much about my friends ifi had only communicated with them through a computer screen. The Internet provides unmatchable amounts of informatioll. It has facilitated glo- bal and national communication, This superhighway of information should not, however, become our primary source of interaction with friends and co-workers. We should limit the ex. tension of the Internet so that we can still socialize with others. Human interaction is a phe- nomenon tlhat we should all take advantage ~Df as often as possible because impromptu conversations can be some of the most memorable ones we have. I support the continued devel- opment ofbothtechnology and the Internet. I hope that it facilitates the future of g;lobal communications and commerce, b11t I do not want it to dictate our relationships. I have learned through my time at Union College that relationships with friends, professors and family are essentialto ,.growth and maturation. Alth:ougld value the benefits the Internet hav.e provided us, I fear that this phenomenon will escalate to situations that will severely cur- tail personal interaction to a level that is practically non-existent. I would hate to see it reach the point where our children and grandchil- dren sit in front of a computer in- stead ofattellding classes with their peers. Our children should not he stripped of their communication and interac1ion with other people and neither should we. countries through &earch engines. from this technology deals with log on to the Internet and find in- With minimal eff.Ort, one will en- the increase oflnternet connnuni- formation about sex,. pornography · ~-iT -~~__;_------__,__..::~=..;;...;:..===:..:..;:_==;:::;~-~--~--=--=~ '2..L- nnen r b i:e n sis Student Voices Not Heard TheStut:~!~e;;S:c?~;;tu\ion DearEditor, Schenectady's Oldest Newspaper I have been coming to Union all my life. Beginning with my stepfa,.. ther, class of '72, who brought us to reunion picm.ics and lacrosse games, to visitin,g my brother, class of'OO. I have always loved Union, and when I bega11 to look into all it had to offer as .a perspective< the perfect picture I had of the school remained untarnished. Union had it all, every option ttnd opportunity I could think of, a11d topping it all off, an administration which seemed willing to work with the students. lt is two years later. As a sopho- more I will still say that I love Union, but will also say that I have become shockingly aware ·of how well the school is at painrting the perfect pic- ture I fell in love with. Painting a perfect picture that does not exist. There have been the littlt? things that I just wasn''t expecting such as dinner not being :served past seven and how hot the donns could get with no possible way to cooi them off. But these are just things we all complain about andat the same ti.Ine accepted because they aren't that big of a deal. TheH~ will always be those things we just have to ac- cept in life. B-ut this past week I was shocked and let down at the proposition the school gave my sotQrity, Tri-petta, Nextf~ we have eleven members going on a term aware of these stipulations and abroad. This means that we have complications until this past week. http://concordy.union.edu that many Qpen beds in our house. We were all of a sudden thrown into MichaelS. McGuire·_ Katrina IL. Ten tor The schoGl allows for 10% le- the possibility of loosing our house EDITORS-!N-CHJEF niency in :filling the house which if we could not find a solution, a means that we would have to fill house we worked very hard to get at least five of the eleven open back. Our meeting to discuss the beds. So our choices were to 1nake situation was stressful, but we de- next years seniors fill the spots, cided that we would come together let the school fill them with non- as a house, as students with no members of Tri:.Delt, or to pay other choice but to bow down to $5.000 the cost minus board fees the administration, and pay the for those beds) in order to ]J.ave · money. Fivethousanddollars. We those beds remain open and have raised the money in four days. We more singles in the fall. Seeing as W<:!re fortunate enough to pull it off. all of the senior had signed expen- But we never s:hould have had to. sive leasesto live off campus back We were not asking for special treat- in the fall, making them move back ment because we.are greek, only did was not <~n option. Allowing we think that the school would take Union to fill the rooms was not out .situation into consideration. something we wanted to do either. The situation being that for fall te:rrh SowedeCidedtluitwewouldcome we would have empty spots be- together and raise the money in cause of term abroad. We were order to keep the rooms open. wrong; though. And I was wrong Union has admitted that this situ- when I though I was coming to a ation is p:urely fmancial, and the school where the administration dorms need to be full next yeat. and the students worked together We have been willing to wor~ with and compromised. We compro- ~e school, and are able to fill our mised sure, compromised five thou- house, but did not expect that such sand dollars. And for all the listen- a large nwnber of members would ing to the students that Union does, be going away next fall. No con- lam left questioning whether or not sid~ration has been given to the they choose to hear what we say. fact that the house will be full win· ter and spring terms. And. more than that w:e were completely un- -Jesse Welsh & the members ofTri-Delta Mary Felton Kristen Zadourian NEWS EDITORS GinaL. Campanella OPINIONS EDITOR Rachel M. Bukowski SPORTS EDITOR DanCenti A&EEDITOR Kaelyn South PROMOTIONAL MANAGER Sloan Miller Aaron Seliger PHOTO EDITORS Jason Putorti WEBMASTER Jessica B. Zuehlke FEATURES EDITOR Sloan E. Miller SCIENCE & TECH EDITOR Steph;en N~rneth WORLD MEWS EDfTOR Brooke M. Ba,·yiicli. COPY EDITOR EugeneD. Schultz DISTR!BUrJON MANAGER David C. Brooks, Jr. Elizabeth llaigle ADVERTISEMENT COORDINATORS Erika Maneini EDITORIAL CARTOONIST Scott Scullion FACULTY ADVISOR · PHOTOGRAPHERS: Calvert Crary, Aaron o• Allldario, Elizabeth Daigle, Megann Denefrio, Katie James, Dave Megnertdichian, Jeremy Messler, Alex Militello, Rebeeea Walsh. STAFF: Matt Aron~witz; Steve Ayers, D.J. Booll, Jessica Brtarton, Beth Brogan, Rachel Burke, Clare Canal, Michaela C:alltela, Meridith Chace, · Philip Cho, Laura Cotton, Jim DeWan, Kristi11a I>orne, Steve Eiehfeld, Frank Filic::iotto, Stephen Fla-herty, Hanna11 Gaw, David Gruner, Deric Harrington, Brian Kern, Cory Kiefer, Dan Kil\~eh Allyson Kohlmann, Alexaodra Lohse, Dave Martin, Alex Militelllo, Faltim Noor, Kayla O'Brien, Jeff Silver, Jessica Stephens, L.ee Steve11s, Brian Terlinsky, Sanskriti Tlaakur, Charles Tuthill, Vinod V oleti, P~trick Wendell, Luke W~tcbensky. .. ... !
