Some Gotta Have 'Em Computers, that is. And they can bring people together, as well as help with homework. I knew the computer age was here when my 70-year-old grandfather enrolled in a computer class and started e-mailing me. The prevalence of computers in our household was painfully obvious when my father announced he planned to purchase another Gateway 2000 for our house — our third. Apparently he didn’t like having to fight my mother and siblings for computer time. I survived four years of college without my own personal computer. But each year, I see more and more students come to Ithaca College with brand-new computers. Some spend hours surfing the Web and frequenting chat rooms, while others just want to be able to compose papers in the comfort of their rooms. David Weil ’87, assistant director of Academic Computing and Client Services, came to work at the College in 1989, when computers weren’t really a necessity. "But now," he says, "if it’s [computer access] not available, it will really have an impact on many students, staff, and faculty and their ability to do work. Computers are becoming an integral part of the college experience." ACCS provides a Web-based Educational Purchase Program (www.ithaca.edu/epp) that allows current Ithaca College faculty, staff, and students to purchase Apple and Dell computers at special educational prices. Although one would think the need for labs would decrease as more students purchase their own computers, Weil says students actually use labs just as often, if not more. "When you get your own computer, you tend to become more dependent on it. Students will use labs to check e-mail between classes, or they’ll use the higher-end equipment available, such as laser printers and scanners." To some extent, the level of computer dependence varies according to major. As a journalism student, I always had plenty of papers to type. However, my friends in the music school and in health sciences and human performance spent their time practicing sonatas in the basement of Ford Hall or memorizing human anatomy in the library. But e-mail and the Internet have had a large effect on students’ use of computers — especially since access to them is offered free to every student. After the second phone bill during my first semester at college, my father decided e-mail might cut costs. I’m not sure it did, but I certainly didn’t feel so far away from home anymore. Without e-mail, my family and I would miss out on the small details of each other’s lives, like what’s happening on a day- to-day basis. Instead, we’d only talk about the major stuff — my grades, weekend plans, my great-grandmother’s 100th birthday party. Some 21,000 e-mail messages, on average, are sent and received each day at Ithaca College. The number leaps during midterms and finals — showing that human contact, in whatever form,is always important, especially in times of stress.