Computers crash at Chadron State -- literally
There was a big computer crash at Chadron State College on Monday. But it wasn’t the kind that shut down the campus-wide network or disrupted final exams for the first semester.
Instead, three 40-pound computers were dropped off the roof of the Administration Building. The machines, which had been discarded by CSC after becoming unusable, crash landed on the pavement in the parking lot some 60 feet below.
What was going on? Another college campus stunt similar to crowding 30 people into a Volkswagen or swallowing goldfish?
Not exactly. Instead the drop was filmed by the College Relations Department to be used in a video that Chadron State’s Students In Free Enterprise group plans to enter in a contest sponsored by the Motion Picture Association of America.
Dr. Rick Koza, CSC associate professor of business and sponsor of SIFE, said the motion picture industry is fed up with having copyright laws violated and its movies copied illegally. Thus it is sponsoring a contest among college organizations to develop a film that will demonstrate the seriousness of such activities.
Koza said it may be that the movie industry is promoting the contest on college campuses because it is suspicious that some of the illegal activity occurs on them.
Prior to the computer drop, the director of computer services at CSC, Ann Burk, spoke about the problems downloading of illegal material causes computer networks and serious consequences that can result.
Burk’s statement indicated that those at the controls of computer networks can detect who is using large amounts of bandwidth, or the volume of the downloading that is occurring. She urged the approximately 100 students and staff members in attendance to become familiar with CSC's acceptable use policy and not to violate it.
Koza said the SIFE students have until Feb. 1 to complete their video. He added that the footage they obtained from the several cameras that were set up in the parking lot was sharp and should provide a dramatic opening on the dangers of “downloading” for the CSC contest entry.
About the only disappointment was that the computers didn’t “splatter” as much as anticipated when they crashed onto the concrete, he said.
“Those computers are really solid. We even took the screws out before we dropped them, but they still didn’t break into a million pieces like we were hoping,” Koza noted.
Category: Campus News