美国校园生活

8. The Virtual College

In the fall of 1994, I arrived at my freshman dorm in my old station wagon filled with new clothes, too many shoes, and my proudest possession: a computer the size of a small refrigerator. Fortunately, I only had to lug1 my 50-pound treasure to the second floor; the awkward (but color!) monitor 2 and dot matrix printer3 required two more trips. My gargantuan4, pristine5 machine was good for writing papers and playing solitaire6, and that was all.

By the time I was a senior, my school had become an IBM ThinkPad University. Every dorm, classroom, and office was wired with Ethernet connections, and I was sending homework to my professors in e-mail attachments.

Today, it's hard to go 12 hours without seeing my beloved Hotmail inbox. The transition during those four years was revolutionary. Somehow, though, the whole thing seemed like a magical blur7. It was almost as if the Internet appeared overnight as the undeniably integral8 part of college life that it now is. Once upon a time, professors used overhead projectors without LCD panels and laptops. Once (I think), students led discussions without PowerPoint presentations9. And there was a day that a campus visit was the best way to gather facts about an institution.

Now, virtual visits and web wizards10 are increasingly normal parts of college. The extent to which technology has changed college life and the speed with which it has done so is quite remarkable. Now, my alma mater11 hosts an interactive virtual community, complete with sports scores, activities, a live webcam, preview video, and a spring finals schedule.

E-mail has made faculty easier to reach--we no longer have to wait for their single office hour in order to establish communication. And it's much easier for them to let us know that class has been cancelled. Commuter students live easier lives through helpful computer connections, and distance education is booming12 as technology continues to make astounding advances.

Is there a caveat13 in all this bustle14? Have colleges simply succumbed to15 the mandatory16 technology trend to avoid being buried in the dust of the 20th century? I must wonder how far is too far when venturing into a virtual reality. I sometimes worry that the e-mail culture will injure the important development of writing and interpersonal skills.

The technology influx17 has, most certainly, made college life more informal. Less and less is it necessary to stand in a line or talk to a real person. And while the Internet is wonderful and amazing, I pray that this convenience won't develop into a curse18.

What would happen, for instance, if in 10 years, the college student culture (those current youths who now worship the WB and live in pre-teen chat rooms) were to degenerate into a virtual existence of online communities and cohorts19? I am slightly frightened by the fact that I have myself spent extended moments of silence on the phone with friends while we both wrote/checked our e-mail.

When we consider the distance that technology has come in the past five years, a further drift from classic communication is not improbable. Technology and

“ online-ness” is most certainly an undeniable part of life, and a crucial part of the college experience. But in order to preserve meaningful relationships, I think it's also important for the university to prioritize20 the personal contact and group dynamics that shape student development. Also, students should take initiative to maintain such ties to beings that function sans21 Pentium chip.

Thus, I leave a few important tips: enjoy the Internet, but call your mother. Refrain from e-mailing your roommate. Drop in on a professor. Attend a concert instead of downloading the MP3. And please, please don't get a sunburn from the warm glow of your monitor!

虚拟大学

1994年秋天，我开着一辆老式旅行车到达我的大学新生宿舍，车里装满了我的新衣服、好多双鞋子和我最为得意的一台小冰箱大小的计算机。幸运的是，我只需将我50磅重的宝贝拖到二楼；而搬笨重的（却是彩色的）显示器和点阵打印机还要跑两趟。我那庞大的、早期的计算机只适合写文章和玩纸牌游戏，就这些。

到我四年级时，我的学校变成了一个国际商用机器公司的笔记本电脑大学。每个宿舍、每个教室和每个办公室都与以太网连接，而我用电子邮件附件向我的教授交家庭作业。

而今，要是12个小时看不到我那心爱的电子信箱里的邮件我会很难受。四年中的变化是革命性的。但不知何故，整个事情看起来简直像个奇迹。几乎像是在一夜之间，因特网就变成了大学生活中不可或缺的组成部分。从前，教授们使用高架幻灯机而没有液晶显示投影仪和手提电脑。从前，（我想）学生们进行讨论也不用PowerPoint演示文稿软件。那时要了解一个学校的情况，最好的方法是参加校园游。

现在，虚拟访问和网络天才日益成为大学中通常的组成部分。技术改变大学生活的程度和速度相当显著。现在，我的母校主办了一个交互式的虚拟社区。虚拟社区里有运动比赛、各种活动、实况校园网站、电视预览和春季期末考试安排。

电子邮件使得与老师联系更容易——我们不必为了与他们建立联系再坐等他们那单一的办公时间了。而他们也更容易通知我们哪一节课取消了。通过计算

机连接，往返于学校和住处间的学生的生活可以过得轻松些。由于技术不断突飞猛进，远程教育正在迅速发展。

所有这些急剧的变化有什么警示吗？为了避免被20世纪的尘埃覆盖，大学就这么轻易地屈服于这种咄咄逼人的技术潮流吗？我很想知道当冒险进入一个虚拟的现实时走多远才算不过分。有时我担心电子邮件文化会危害重要的书写和人际交往技巧的发展。

更确定地说，技术的涌入使大学生活更不正规。越来越没有必要排队或与一个现实中的人讲话。虽然因特网很奇妙也很惊人，但我仍祈求这种便利不要发展成一种祸根。

会有什么情况发生呢？比如，10年内大学生文化（目前崇尚宽带并且在少年聊天室生活的年轻人）是否会退化成在线群体和同伴的虚拟存在？我有点害怕这样的事实：就是我与朋友都在忙着发送或查看我们的电子邮件，很少花时间打电话。

当我们考虑过去5年的技术进步时，可以看出进一步偏离传统的交流是完全可能的。技术和“在线”肯定是生活中不可或缺的一个组成部分，也是大学经历中的一个至关重要的部分。但是为了保持有意义的人际关系，我认为大学里把促进学生发展的人际交往能力和团队精神放在首位也是很重要的。而且学生应采取主动保持这种“奔腾”芯片所没有的功能，即人与人的联系。

所以，我在这里留下几条重要的建议：享受因特网，但要给你妈妈打电话。要节制给你的室友发电子邮件。拜访一位教授。去听一场音乐会而不是下载MP3。还有，请千万别让发热又闪烁的显示器将你烤黑。

1.lug[●??]vt.用力拖，使劲拉

2.monitor[ ??????]n.监视器，显示器

3.dotmatrix[ ????????]printer点阵式打印机

4.gargantuan[?????????◆??]adj.巨大的，庞大的

5.pristine[ ????????]adj.原始的，早期的

6.solitaire[ ??●?????]n.单人纸牌戏

7.blur[?●??]n.模糊的东西

8.integral[ ???????●]adj.构成整体所必需的

9.presentation[ ?????????????]n.呈现，演示

10.wizard[ ?????]n.[口]能手，行家

11.almamater[ ?●????????]母校

12.boom[?◆??]vi.繁荣，迅速发展

13.caveat[ ???????]n.警告，告诫

14.bustle[ ???●]n.喧闹，奔忙

15.succumb[??????]vi.(与to连用)屈从，屈服

16.mandatory[ ?????????]adj.强制的

17.influx[ ???●???]n.涌入，注入

18.curse[ ???]n.祸因，祸根

19.cohort[ ??◆????]n.一帮(人)，一批(伙伴)

20.prioritize[ ????????????]vt.优先考虑

21.sans[????][法]prep.无，没有