Altoona proposal aids lab crowding

Beginning Fall Semester, Altoona College computers will be placed in dorm rooms to solve overcrowding issues.

To ease the overburdened computer labs, dorm residents at the Penn State Altoona College will have computers in their rooms starting Fall Semester.

"The genesis for this came 18 months ago when several commuter students came to me about computer lab concerns," said Allen Meadors, dean and chief education officer of the college.

Commuter and other off-campus students were having trouble getting time in the crowded computer labs because dorm residents were using the labs, Meadors said. Of the 3,700 students enrolled at the campus, 2,400 are off-campus students, he said.

Converting existing classrooms into computer labs would not solve the problem, Meadors said, therefore placing computers in dorm rooms was the logical solution.

The Altoona College is the first Pennsylvania university to implement this computer plan, according to a news release.

Funding for the computers will not be taken out of student room and board fees, but rather through a "cooperative partnership," Meadors said. The cooperative partnership is among current student computer fees; the Altoona College, Housing and Food Services; and private donations, he said.

Although the new computers may ease the burden of crowded computer labs, some students are skeptical of the project.

Kyung Oh Baek (sophomore-electrical engineering technology), who lives off campus, said putting a computer in every dorm room may be a good idea, but he said there should be flexibility in the program.

"Students living in the residence halls should have the option of having a computer in their rooms because what if the students don't want one or won't use it? It would be a waste," Baek said.

Gary Augustson, executive director of Computer and Information Systems at the University, said people should reserve their judgment about the Altoona computer project until time has proven whether the project is effective.

"This program ought to be watched because it's a brand new approach for the Penn State system," Augustson said.

Whether such a project could be instituted here at University Park remains to be seen.

"The Penn State colleges and Commonwealth Campuses sort of serve as a testing ground for certain things," Augustson said. "If the Altoona computer project proves to be effective, then maybe a similar program for University Park might be considered. However, many variables would have to be worked out for a campus as large as ours to adopt such a project."