Yalies should embrace the laptop computer revolution

By Melissa Muscat

I worship my laptop. Every morning, I pay respects to her by making sure she's up and running at her shrine on my desk. Every night, I shut her off so she can get her beauty rest. I protect her at all times. When we travel, it is only in style—her apparel is more expensive than anything I own.

Last summer, when the onerous task of choosing a new computer fell upon me, practicality was the ultimate deciding factor in my selection between a desktop and laptop. Picturing closet-sized rooms, a transportable laptop seemed to be a much sounder purchase than an immobile desktop. It was the right decision. Other students have also come to this conclusion, as the percentage of laptops on campus continually increases.

The first and foremost reason is transportability. I take my laptop almost everywhere. When the noise in my suite gets too overwhelming to work on my computer, I take her to a quiet niche in Sterling Memorial Library or an abandoned classroom. Bringing her to the library also means that I can use the innumerable books for research papers without having to lug them across campus to my room.

My laptop also provides many bonuses in the classroom. My handwriting is so atrocious that I usually cannot even read it. With my laptop, I can take more complete, neater notes in class, making studying a whole lot easier.

Although I have yet to use my laptop for an exam, I look forward to the day when professors allow students to do so. During exams, most people write down their answers as quickly as possible in order to finish in time. For many people, including me, this means the deterioration of handwriting. These unfortunates can either finish an examination, writing messily, or write legibly and hand in incomplete tests.

In the few examinations I have taken this year, I have already been penalized for illegible handwriting. Yet try as I might, it is impossible for me to write neatly on an exam and finish all of it. With my laptop, this will no longer be a problem because I can quickly type my answers in a readable form, saving TAs and professors the countless hours necessary to decipher my scrawling.

Along with the increased number of students who worship the laptop computer gods is the increased opposition to the use of laptops in classroom. Many people complain that the noise of people typing in class distracts and annoys them. These whiners must open their eyes to the scholarly value of these machines. Laptops allow neat, thorough notes to be shared through e-mail, thus aiding in student comprehension of the material.

Professors are usually the most vehement opponents against the use of laptops in exams, for two main reasons. They argue that laptops provide an unequal advantage since not all students own one. The truth of the matter is that in most cases it does the opposite. Handwriting is not something that can be improved in most cases. The use of laptops allows all students the opportunity to be judged for the content of their work rather than the form in which it is presented.

As for those students who do not possess a laptop, most could probably borrow one from a friend. And some enterprising person will in all likelihood start renting them out at a low cost for use in exams when the demand becomes great enough.

The second, and very legitimate, concern regards cheating. It is impossible to ensure that students will not access files on their hard drive during exams. The fact of the matter is that people who cheat will cheat no matter what. Whether they use laptops or tiny sheets of paper, they will find some way to cheat. One has to trust that students who are paying over $30,000 to get an education won't resort to shortcuts like cheating.

People must recognize that laptops are here to stay. Don't fight their power—rather, embrace these new deities that promise us nothing but freedom.

Melissa Muscat is a freshman in Morse.

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