By ETHAN HOGAN
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Information Technology Staff put on an IT Fair in the big white tent on Thompson Hall Lawn on Tuesday. The tent held six stations that showcased the new technologies available to students this year.
Katherine Durby, a manager for IT Communication, helped organize the event. Durby explained that while attending orientation meetings for the new technologies, she and her colleagues wondered why students weren’t being told about all the new technological advances.
“We’re letting the students know about what we know about,” Durby said. She added that the fair was a “fun and interactive” way to show students the new tech.
Mike McIntire of the Parker Media Lab at the Dimond Library had two tables set up at the fair. The tables showcased everything from a 3D printer to virtual reality goggles.
“We want to make sure kids know about it, it’s paid for by the student tech fee,” said McIntire on the new offerings of the Parker Media Lab. Students were encouraged to try out the virtual reality goggles and could also see various objects that the 3D printer had made. McIntire wanted to make sure that kids knew that this technology is available to them whenever they need it.
At the other end of the tent was a row of smashed-up or otherwise destroyed laptops. The computer store located in the MUB set up the display of disheveled laptops.
Dennis Laclair, a UNH IT specialist explained, “You can’t always control what happens to your computer.”
Some of the computers on display were smashed, while others had coffee stains that damaged the computers internally. In dealing with students’ broken computers, Laclair stressed how UNH IT can make “really fair recommendations,” adding that the labor costs are very low, and that most of the repair costs come from having to order new parts.
“We’ve found that Mac users are much more willing to buy new parts,” Laclair said.
According to Laclair, Mac users are often relieved to see the repair cost in the hundreds because they have already spent over a $1,000 on the computer. PC users are more likely to simply by a whole new computer.
Matt Conners, an Information Technologist at UNH had a table where he explained a new IT service called Box. Box is an unlimited cloud storage service that is free to students starting this year. Students can save their work anywhere on campus to the cloud and have access to that work wherever they go.
“Students can get to their stuff wherever,” said Conners about the convenience of Box. Box also has an app for smartphones and is integrated with myCourses.
Throughout the fair, students could enter a raffle for a chance to win a new MacBook Air. Students could either collect a single raffle ticket at each table or spin a wheel to win up to three tickets.
Grant Mauer, a senior majoring in nursing attended the IT fair and said he was impressed with the technology.
“I didn’t know about myCourses or that the computer store was as cheap as they are,” said Mauer. “It’s not my realm but it’s good to know and it’s important.”
