MassMedia’s own John Mazz Comic

The new Network Access Control at UMB has a few glitches. It times out if you actually spend time reading the access terms and conditions, so you need to reload your browser to get on. It’s excessively choosey about what computers it allows on the network. It blocks many flash websites, probably on purpose, so no students can access Facebook games, the Daily Show, or CSPAN online on campus. Plus we now have to download the ads for this paper on our Internet connections at home, because the site we download them from is randomly prohibited. It’s irritating that so many applications are blocked at UMB, certainly. But it goes beyond annoyance–it is a little distressing that so many things would be prohibited from the campus. While wanting to prevent people utilizing resources simply for time-wasting activities is somewhat understandable, at the same time, students pay a technology fee. If we are paying for technology, we should be able to use it in whichever fashion we care to. We are not freeloading the internet from the school; we’re paying for it. So why is the campus choosing what can be shown at school? Furthermore, what if the download we need is necessary for a paper or research? Students write copious amounts of papers and do plenty of projects involving television shows, documentaries, news casts, advertisements, and online applications that may be blocked. Just because it doesn’t “seem” like it is a good use of resources, it is not really up to UMB to decide that. We have more students on campus than ever before, and there are lines everywhere for services here. Using the internet is no exception. There are too many students, and not enough bandwidth, UMB does not seem to be interested in matching the amount of resources necessary to sustain the campus with the growing amount of students. The fact is, if a university is going to try to expand, they must be willing to expand their resources as well. We’re paying for them. It’s time for them to step up.