Look Mom, No Wires

Do you ever wish that you could procrastinate on thefacebook.com and AIM from anywhere in the College any time, bed, bath or beyond? Well you’re in luck; the College’s commendable plan to add wireless access points all over campus will give students a new freedom in computing.

An extensive wireless network will be a notable improvement in the quality of residential life, and it is a heartening example of the College operating ahead of the curve on student amenities; even though colleagues at Dartmouth have enjoyed Wi-Fi technology campus-wide for a few years, most colleges limit wireless access to public areas.

Director of Residential Computing Kevin S. Davis ’98, who is also a Crimson editor, didn’t have an exact figure on the cost of the project, but it looks likely that more widespread wireless service will be a cost-effective move for the College. Computer services will certainly spend less money keeping up the fickle wall-jacks—if only because they will be used less often—and on loaning out cords and hubs. Wireless routers will also be more convenient to repair because they will be installed in hallways and not in individual dorm rooms.

While between 90 and 95 percent of College students use laptops for personal computing, most of which are equipped with wireless capabilities, it is important for the College to continue to support the existing ethernet jacks. If installing wireless is meant to increase our computing freedom, then it is important that the college support students’ freedom to opt out of the often-expensive Wi-Fi option.

For those seniors and other upperclassmen who have chosen to opt in, the installation can’t come soon enough. Ideally, when Harvard’s wireless mavens draw up thier time-table for the project, it will bear in mind those undergraduates who would like to enjoy this feature before graduation.

In any case, Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ‘71 and computer services have made the right decision in installing wireless access. We are in favor of anything that gets Harvard students away from their desks—even if only to work or procrastinate somewhere else.