Laptops in Lectures

Kevin Corley

Given the large lecture classes utilized to teach mass amounts of students, it is easy for students to go unnoticed and become distracted. Most lecture classes allow the use of laptops during class as they can be useful for note taking and viewing supplementary material. However, a study mentioned in The Chronicle found that students taking laptops to class admitted that note-taking wasn’t the highest priority. Eight-one percent admitted to checking their email during class and sixty eight percent admitted to keeping instant message applications open. The truth is that while laptops can be a useful note taking tool in class, in reality they are more of a distraction than anything. Laptops are harmful to student’s grades because they are too distracting.

A professor, Cynthia M. Frisby, found that by no longer allowing the use of laptops in her class, the grades of her students increased. Personally, I feel that most classes would benefit from not allowing the use of laptops in class. In my own experience, it is easy to become distracted by a computer and lose track of what the professor is teaching. When looking around a lecture hall of students, it is not uncommon to find most other people on Facebook or various other sites. In most circumstances, laptops in lecture halls do more harm than good. They provide too much opportunity for distraction to students. Many students and professors would benefit from a stricter laptop policy in lecture halls. At the very least, schools should make it possible to turn off wifi access in lecture halls. The internet is the most distracting part of having laptops in lecture halls. If professors can control when internet access is on and when it is not, students could be more likely to utilize their computers for note taking. Internet access typically is not necessary for most classes. Overall, schools should enforce a stricter laptop policy in lecture halls, whether it be restricting laptop use entirely or simply access to the internet.

Georgia Tech and the Water Wars

Scott Zadig

In recent news, the three states of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama have been having “water wars” concerning the rights to use Lake Lanier as a source of water. The states of Florida and Alabama have been having issues with the amount of water they receive specifically from the Chattahoochee River. They do not receive enough water to meet their needs and they took the issue to Supreme Court. In the court ruling, a federal judge ruled that Georgia has been illegally tapping water from Lake Lanier and using water that should have gone to Florida and Alabama. Paul Magnuson, the federal judge that made this ruling, ordered that if Atlanta’s allocation of water does not return to what they were in 1970’s within the next three years, then Atlanta’s water will be significantly restricted.

If a solution is not found and the court ruling takes its affect, the city of Atlanta will suffer major consequences. There would be a deficit of approximately 302 million gallons a day and that the deficit would increase to 497 million gallons per day by the year 2035. Not only would this have a significant impact on the city of Atlanta, but also it would greatly affect the Georgia Institute of Technology. Georgia Tech is home to 9,700 students, which is approximately 54% of the student body. The water shortages would make Georgia Tech a difficult place to attend school, specifically to students who are from out of state and have to live on campus in order to attend classes. This fact alone would turn away potential undergraduate students if they do not have the option to live on campus and have a legitimate source of water. Reduction in the student body would most likely result from this court ruling and would in turn hurt the university as a whole. It would not only reduce the number of students, but the diversity of the student population would decrease as well because students from other states and countries are not going to attend a university that is inhabitable. Georgia Tech and its students make significant contributions to the city of Atlanta, the state of Georgia, and the world. A solution needs to be implemented before a ruling of such substantial impact takes place.

Caffeine Abuse: A Growing Addiction

Gregory Micek

Caffeine is a drug that plays a large role in the everyday life of an extremely large number of people. According to Time Magazine, the Journal of the American Diabetic Association notes that about “90% of adults ingest caffeine every day,” and National Geographic “has described caffeine as the world’s most popular psychoactive drug.” Caffeine is an extremely prevalent drug on which anyone can develop a dependency.

The role of caffeine in the college environment is such that it has become a necessity for many students. Students often use caffeine to avoid sleep, to stay awake longer, and to be more alert at night when cramming for exams or rushing late assignments. Time Magazine notes Michael Wood, a senior at Princeton University, who stated that “during reading period and finals week, caffeine becomes [his] lifeline.” Michael Wood also said that a couple of Red Bulls can make “you feel much more comfortable about leaving your semester-long research project for the last weekend before it’s due.” College students use caffeine to cram projects and assignments into all-nighters, rather than taking the necessary amount of time for a few weeks to prepare the project or assignment at a leisurely pace.

Caffeine abuse can lead to withdrawal and dependency. According to Time Magazine, “[a] 2006 study at Northwestern University found that 265 caffeine abuse cases were reported to a local U.S. regional poison control center from 2001 through 2004” and the average age was twenty-one, or an average senior in college. Caffeine withdrawal can cause individuals to feel “headache, fatigue and irritability,” and caffeine can also inhibit study by increasing anxiety rather than increasing alertness.

Gender Bias Awareness in Higher Education

By Rohan Gupta

Throughout the history of higher education in America, the capabilities of women were frequently undermined. In academe, the quality and priority of education for women was secondary to that of men and the acceptance of female professors was met with suspicion and reluctance. Though such times have changed, new stereotypes concerning the capabilities of women are emerging and becoming a major issue facing higher education. Because many members of academe believe that the motherhood of female professors hinders their competence, groups opposed to such criticism are now speaking out to stop such an attitude.

Contemporary critics assert that female professors compromise their judgement and abilities when they have children and believe such professors must not be given major academic duties. The center for WorkLife Law at the University of California's Hastings College developed an online bingo-type game to create awareness about gender bias and help recognize it in academe. The goal of the game is for female or sometimes even male professors with children to identify three types of gender biases in the work place and declare "bingo." The winner of the game receives a free t-shirt by mail. The center hopes that university administrators and other head bureaucrats will visit the website with the game and see the importance of the issue.

The game website also has material that should help female professors survive gender bias. The material includes scenarios, four patterns of bias, and an economic argument for administrators to stop such criticism. Hopefully these efforts by the center for WorkLife can eliminate such discrimination facing female professors and provide them with a more conducive atmosphere at work.

Beer Bottles and Smashed Pumpkins: Frat Parties on Tech's Campus

By Shane Le Master

En route to many of my classes, I often pass by many of the fraternity houses. Frequently, I walk by frat houses with yards littered with trash, beer cans, and broken glass beer bottles. Last week, just in time for Halloween, I saw one frat house yard absolutely covered with smashed, rotting pumpkins in addition to the usual beer cans. This sight, one of utter waste and irresponsibility, would be shameful to see anywhere. But, it is even more shameful to see on a college like Georgia Tech’s campus, an area supposedly dedicated to higher learning, research, and other areas of maturity. Thus comes my question: Are fraternity houses appropriate on Georgia Tech’s campus?

Anybody who knows about college knows what a frat party looks like. They have become the infamous subject of many movies and songs, and they have become associated with the very image of college life. However, no institution needs to carry the image of being a host to wild behavior and excessive drinking (usually by minors). The Idaho State school newspaper even published an article saying that only three of the country’s top ten liberal arts schools even have fraternities. Their lack of fraternities definitely could have played a role in their becoming the top schools in the country. At Alfred University in New York, a student was even found dead after attending a frat party. Fraternities have come to fill a niche for partying on campus that is better left unfilled. If they can absolutely eliminate the crazy, destructive parties and the drinking, then there should be no reason why fraternities should not to be allowed to exist. But if they can’t stop the partying and drinking, then fraternities are not contributing to the high quality learning and research environment of Georgia Tech and consequently should not be allowed to exist on campus. It would be nice to not have to witness anymore lawns trashed with mashed pumpkins and empty alcohol containers.

Zombies: Invading a Campus Near You

by Amber Lee

Everyone is taking advantage of the renewed paranormal obsession that has begun to affect the younger population. This is most evident in the slew of paranormal books, movies, and television shows that have hit the shelves. And one of the biggest consumer groups of these products is found on every campus in America.

With the epic success of Twilight it is no surprise that everyone is giving their products a paranormal twist. For example, we recently had a blood drive on campus and the slogan was “Starve a vampire. Give Blood.” But it's not vampires that seem to be making headlines lately, but zombies. More and more students are organizing "Humans vs Zombies" games on campus with much success.

As one student said, “it’s a great way to meet new people.” The entire ordeal is basically a more complicated game of tag. In a place where maturity growth seems to come to screeching halt.

And some students have even found a way to tie these activities to their studies. A few students, with the help of their quirky professor, have even created a mathematical model of how the world would fare against an actual zombie attack. Models such as this have also been used to determine how to handle real pandemics such as H1N1.

The students here at Georgia Tech are even attempting to have their own zombie invasion this coming February.

Going Home On The Weekends

Scott Zadig

Thousands of students who choose to attend a university close to home go home quite often on the weekends for a number of reasons. Many of these students want to go home to sleep in their own bed, bathe in their own shower, see their family, and eat a home cooked meal after a long without those privileges. Some students suffer from homesickness because they cannot deal with the stresses of having to live on their own, even though they spent month’s looking forward to moving out of the house before college. Another reason why is simply because their parents miss them and want to see them on a regular basis. There is usually nothing wrong with going home every once in a while to get away from your everyday life in college to recharge your batteries and catch up on your home life. However, if a student makes a habit of going home every single weekend, it could end up setting that student back in a couple of aspects.

Students that go home every weekend are holding themselves back from getting involved on campus and developing their social lives as a college student. The weekends are a time to relax, to meet new people, to hang out with friends, to attend on or off campus events, or to finish up studying and homework assignments. For the students that go home every weekend, they isolate themselves from an entire aspect of college life that helps to shape a person in a more well-rounded and balanced human being. They miss out on prime opportunities to get involved in their new community and connect with other college students. From an academic standpoint, students do not have access to specific resources they may need to do their assignments. Also, the home setting may be more distracting for some students to do homework, thus they put it off until they get back to school and this can create more stress. It is very important for students who have the option of going home to find a balance between their college life and home life so they do not hold themselves back from new life opportunities presented to them.