An Aug. 20 Metro article about the use of computers by college students incorrectly attributed information to Beth Ann Bergsmark, a Georgetown University administrator. Because of a technical error, quotation marks were placed around a sentence that said computers are students' link to campus maps, course registration, reading assignments, e-mail from home, Facebook and instant messaging.
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3,000 First-Years, All Searching for a Connection
At U-Va. in Charlottesville, David Backer helps Tracy Dunn with her laptop. For the first time, freshman dorms are wireless, so tech squads were nervous.
(Photos By Mark Gong -- The Washington Post)
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When Elizabeth Colonna and her parents got to her third-floor room from Winston-Salem, N.C., her roommate hadn't arrived yet, but their computer boxes were sitting right there on the bed, waiting.
Downstairs, Steve Trombetta was unpacking. It was not yet 9 a.m., but his desktop and laptop -- one for gaming, one for schoolwork -- were on his desk.
When Townsend started at U-Va. 20 years ago, the first computer lab had just opened. Teresa Lockard, director of computing support services at U-Va., estimated that 10 years ago that half the students came with computers, mostly for writing papers.
Now classroom discussions spin out online, students tap into data at the library from their rooms, long-distance relationships flicker on and off computer screens.
Last year, 99.4 percent of new students at U-Va. brought computers. So this is it: almost total saturation.
Nora Phillips was staring miserably at her black laptop. "It just doesn't do anything," she said.
Townsend leaned over, tapping at the keyboard and muttering, "Just need to . . . Did you type in . . . Okay, now let's reboot. Just to be sure."
He straightened up and put his backpack on. "You're good to go."
On the way out, he flipped open his cell. "Any crises? Good."
They were ready for many expected problems -- with passwords, too-short cables and the Dell laptop batteries that were recalled this month. This year, for the first time, the freshmen dorms are all wireless, so they knew there might be some bugs. And there are always a few ornery machines configured in such a way that it takes several hours to wrestle them on to the network.
What really scares people like Townsend, though, is the network vermin they can't predict. There is a whole system of checks and scans before a machine can connect to the network, to try to avoid spreading any worms, viruses or other nasties. But it's not foolproof.
"We worry about some black hat riding into town between the update and move-in day," Townsend said. "There's always that tension."
