While some students may spend more time at the TECH Center than at home, they shouldn’t treat the study facility as if it’s their living room couch.
I’m totally going clubbing tonight – but I’m not going to Shampoo or Woody’s. I’m heading to Temple’s most popular club, “Club TECH.” The first time I heard someone call the TECH Center this, I thought it was hysterical. But I’m not laughing anymore. 
Some students take advantage of the TECH Center and treat it like an actual nightclub rather than a study facility. The stress of classes is enough to deal with; the environment we study in should not add to that.
One day, during peak afternoon hours at the TECH Center, I was lucky enough to land a Mac in the blue section. As I worked on whatever assignment was due within the hour, I got distracted by the train of people circling the room, waiting to pounce on an open computer. While watching the hawks waiting to swoop in on their prey, I noticed a guy a few computers down from me, sleeping. He wasn’t resting his eyes or having an excessively long blink – he was out cold.
School is exhausting, but how could anyone sleep with the guilt of hogging a precious Mac that houses necessities like Final Cut Pro and Photoshop?
“If a student is sleeping at a computer station, a manager will wake them up and say, ‘Hey, maybe you should take a rest outside,’” said Joe Williams, manager of system of operations at the TECH Center.
The chairs scattered throughout the TECH Center are a much more appropriate place to nap, not to mention much more comfortable. I would know, considering the hours of slumber they have given me.
I cannot decide which is worse: drooling on the keyboard or abusing the acceptable amount of time spent on Facebook in the labs. We all need a break while studying, but playing FarmVille in a public area is annoying and downright embarrassing.
“I hate it when people are at the TECH Center using a computer but are only using Facebook,” junior art major Kate Coxx said. “They are just taking up space.”
There is an Internet lounge that is pretty hard to miss, considering you have to walk past it to get to any other computer. These computers are dedicated to providing the Internet. Please realize this. and help them with their mission, or at least think of those who need to print.
“It is always hard to tell if a student is actually working, and we try to enforce common courtesy with the signs and automated recordings,” said Gene Mayro, the director of the TECH Center. “Students come to us saying they need a computer, and we do our best to get one for them. Always let a manager or a student-consultant know if there is an issue.”
At least one manager is available at all times, but students who are trying to focus shouldn’t have to depend on watchdog managers to calm the wildness that sometimes ensues after dark at the TECH Center.
“This computer lab was designed to house collaborative work, within reason of course,” Williams said.
Some people do not understand “within reason” and feel the need to raise their voices beyond the level an iPod can drone out.
“It is always so crowded and noisy,” Rana Shenawi, a sophomore art major, said. “It is too much of a hassle to go to the TECH Center.”
“People will be people, and some of them are always just going to do what they want,” Williams added.
What needs the most improvement at the TECH Center is the maturity level of some students. So, while we wait for some of our peers to grow up, don’t be afraid to be a bit of a tattletale and let a TECH worker know someone is boiling your blood.
Samantha Krotzer can be reached at samantha.krotzer@temple.edu.
So you’ve never been guilty of going on facebook in the tech center?
One of the best reasons to go to the tech center is to sit and relax for a while.. The lounge computers are in a high-traffic area, and very lackluster for the typical tech center goer.(so that’s a no brainer)
It sounds like you just had to rant because obviously it seems as if you want the ‘big brother’ Temple University to impose strict regulations, whereas you could just ask someone who is on facebook if you can use their computer for something important.
Should we start kicking stupid people off of computers because they’re taking up valuable time other people could use?…. I hope so
lul.
farmville is the best game ever and this is the best blog post!
I hate it when I am looking for computers and people bring their laptops and work on them instead of the actual computers available. If you have a laptop, sit in the comfy chairs or go home and work. Leave the computers for people that need them. The same goes for people that just sit at the computers and read. You should read your material at home or read while you use the computer. There are other study centers like the ones in the library where you can sit and read. I go on facebook occasionally to distract myself or give myself a break from work, but you have to agree that during crunch time at finals, people shouldn’t be on facebook on the printing computers, they should be on the lobby ones like you said. I don’t think that the computer techies should have to enforce things like this, I think that people should realize how inconsiderate they are.