Computer Gurus
Computer Technology
Question & Answer
SEPTEMBER 11,1998 — THE DECREE — PAGE 3
aptop or desktop best?
led Q-1 am a college student and
arrant to purchase a computer. I
)nim a little confused as to what I
Ihould buy: a laptop or a regu-
gJar PC? I am also wondering
li]iow much “speed” is enough
;o that it isn’t obsolete in a
ear?
A. Consider what you are go-
1 ng to do with your computer first
I icfore buying. Laptops were de-
^ned for people on the go and
■fer great portability. Desktop
^mputers were designed to stay
one place and are not as deli-
as the laptops. The big dif-
4%nce is the price. Laptops cost
m ">roximateIy 50 percent more
1 a desktop or tower PC.
''or normal college work and
jects such as word processing
Internet connectivity, I would
:est a 233 MHz system with
.'icgabytes of RAM. You may
■ider it obsolete in a year, but
‘Vjiig as it is doing what it is
upposed to do, then you can hold
It to it. The term “speed” usu-
illy refers to the processor speed
n MHz. However, a system func-
ions on a total sum of all the
lardware components such as the
notherboard, memory, hard drive
:eek times, etc.
Q. Are there any beneflts to
Juying a custom built system
versus a name brand systems
ike Dell, Gateway, and Packard
Bell?
A. The brand name of a com
puter is the least important thing
r’ou should consider when buy-
ng a computer. Buying locally
issembled, custom-built comput-
rs have some benefits and pit-
alls. First, these computers are
elatively cheaper than brand
name computers. Secondly, they
are easier to upgrade on hardware
components.
Brand name computers, like
Packard Bell, use “proprietary”
hardware, which means you have
to buy a motherboard, or some
other hardware component, from
their company. A generic
motherboard will usually not fit
into any of these cases. On the
other hand, custom-built comput
ers usually do not come with
“bundled” software, so you may
have to buy them separately (soft
ware such as MS Office ‘97 are a
bargain at the college bookstore!).
The most important things to
considering when buying a com
puter is service and support. As
long as you can get a one-year
parts and labor guarantee, you
may save up to $500 for a custom
built system. Shop around and get
a price comparison, you’ll see
what I mean. Gateway and Dell
are direct-order companies and
have good reliability ratings and
technical support.
This week's answers were sup
plied by Arne I Orig, a Systems
Consultant for ABACO Interna
tional Group, Inc. Arnel is also a
1997 CIS graduate of North Caro
lina Wesleyan College. He cur
rently resides with his family in
Carrollton, Ga.
"Ask the Computer Gurus" is
a regular feature. If you have a
question you would like us to sub
mit to our Computer Gurus,
please send your question via
email to Thedecree@ncwc.edu.
Please be sure to put Computer
Gurus in the subject bo.x so it can
be submitted to them.
1
Religious Life busy
Religious Life’s upcoming ac
tivities...
•Celebration! — A weekly
'vorship experience celebrating
he life of the spirit at work in our
ives. Celebration! will be led by
1 student based worship team in
e Hartness Center and will in
clude music by local artists, lots
singing, and fellowship. Cel
ebration! will start Sept. 13 at 8
5 m. Rev. David and his band Pe
culiar People will join us!
* Franklin Graham Crusade —
vill be in Greenville on Monday,
>ept. 28. We will be having a van
caving around 4:30 p.m.
In the hopper, with more in
formation forthcoming....
• Faith for the Journey Fall
Retreat — Oct. 9-11 at the Outer
Banks.
• Concert on campus — Com
ing in December.
Regular, weekly activities...
• Chapel Service — Wednes
days, Noon-12:30 p.m. in Russell
Chapel.
• Celebration of Mass — Fri
days, Noon-12:30 p.m. in Russell
Chapel.
If you have any questions, con
tact Rev. Kirk Oldham at
koldham@ncwc.edu or call him
at 985-5181.
Reasons for skipping class
rarely good, experts advise
By ELANA ASHANTI
JEFFERSON
Some students sleep through
morning classes because they
worked or played too hard the
night before. Others skip lectures
to chum out what they hope will
be a tip-notch paper. And still oth
ers need nothing more than a
warm, sunny day to lure them
away from what they’re sure will
be a boring, repetitive lecture.
“All of my friends skip
classes,” says Tim Wang, a first-
year student at Columbia Univer
sity in New York. “It’s no big
deal.” Or is it?
Robert Mattox, a counselor at
Kennesaw State University in
Georgia and president of the
American College Counseling
Association, says that skipping
classes leads to troubles just about
any student could predict: bad
grades, low self-esteem, and, in
some cases, grounds for dropping
out of school.
“In certain subjects, you could
get so far behind that it’s difficult
to catch up,” he said. “You sit in
the next class and realize you’re
lost.”
That makes sense to Oliver
Jardine, a second-year film stu
dent at Columbia. “Something in
me justifies not going to class
when I haven’t done the read
ing,” he said. “Why sit there and
not know what’s going on?”
There are plenty of reasons,
Mattox said. Among them, he
added, is that if students sit in
class often enough, they will
know what’s going on. And be
ing on the ball in class, he said,
cuts down on student’s stress and
anxiety.
It also earns them the respect
of their classmates, said Sunny
Reisenauer, a senior at Washing
ton State University, who said she
strives to attend every single lec
ture, regardless of whether it’s in
her major.
“(Classmates) know I was
there,” she said. “They really look
up to me, and that’s a good thing.”
Even chronic ditchers say they
make it a point to attend classes
required for their major. Zach
Get well soon!
Everyone at The Decree
would like to send our very
best wishes to Mel Oliver and
Dr. Dale Therrien.
Here’s hoping that both of
you are feeling your best very
soon and that we will once
again enjoy your presence
here at Wesleyan.
Question...
We would like to know
if you feel as though skip
ping classy is okay? Why
or why not? If you feel it is
okay, how often do you
skip?
Please email response to
Thedecree@ncwc.edu. We
will compile the answers
and include them in the
next edition.
Miller, a third-year student at the
University of Wisconsin who is
majoring in computer science,
said he’ll “ditch to watch a movie
if I know the class is going to
suck.” But miss a computer graph
ics course? Never, he said.
“Once you miss a class, it’s
easy to think you don’t have to
go to other ones,” he said. “You
have to be careful about that.”
Counselors at colleges across
the country suggest that students-
ask themselves a few questions
before they ditch their next class:
Would I be doing this if I were
paying for my education? Stud
ies show that older, no-traditional
students who are working to pay
for books and tuition don’t skip
as many classes as the just-out-
of-high-school crowd.
“They’re more task oriented
because they’re spending their
own money,” Mattox said. “They
have less time to waste.”
Reisenauer agrees. “I had strep
throat once, and 1 still made it to
class,” she said. “1 pay so much
money, why would I want to miss
out? I just don’t think it’s worth
it.”
How will I feel about myself
if I miss this class? Is what I’m
doing now more important than
going to class?
“Students need to look at the
long-term cost from the short
term benefit of staying in bed,”
Mattox said.
How will missing this class
and others affect my grade?
Wang, Jardine and Miller said
they skip classes and still have at
least B averages to show for it.
“We all tell ourselves things
that contribute to our habits,”
Mattox said.
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