With the start of the new year often come noble resolutions that usually go unfulfilled, and lofty goals that remain unachieved. However, we at The Phoenix find it heartening to see that the college appears to be acting on its commitment to staying up to date with the best technology in an effort to ensure ease of use and efficiency for students and faculty alike.
The replacement of Swatnet with Eduroam was initially welcomed with open arms, but the instability of the network has left students across campus wondering if our old foe has simply undergone a name change. As with most instances of large scale implementation, we do not expect a flawless roll out as new technologies are adapted; Obamacare’s tumultuous initial difficulties serve as a humble reminder of the fallibilities of even the most expensive and highest quality modern technology. Nevertheless, we appreciate the versatility of the network in that students can theoretically travel to any campus affiliated with Eduroam and be able to access the network there, ensuring widespread Internet access for Swatties at several schools across the nation. The concept itself is great, and we hope that with time, any difficulties with the network are worked out to allow the actualization of this vision.
We are also very pleased to see that Swarthmore expects to be switching over to Google in place of Zimbra this coming fall. The cohesion of Google’s system, from Drive to Gmail, will allow for a far more integrative system that should make students’ lives far easier. The slow yet steady adoption of the OneCard system accomplishes this same purpose, by allowing students to use their ID for access to all buildings — he hope is that within the next few years, every dorm will be equipped with this capability.
The active pursuit of initiatives of this nature demonstrates the college’s respect of and attentive listening to student’s desires and concerns. We at The Phoenix are optimistic that campuswide technology will only become better and more streamlined as adjustments are made in due time, and applaud the college for its work thus far.
