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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 4, 2000)
AGGIELIFE lue Jay, April 4. 20(K) THE BATTALION Page 3 Camera Shy BY KELLY PREISER The Battalion A dvances in technology are quickly changing the way we communicate. The introduction of the WebCam is one of those items that have changed communication and pose new questions to people who use the Internet. WebCams can be bought at retail computer stores or over the Internet and attached as peripheral devices to a personal computer. This innovation has lead to a fad for people with Websites to connect their cameras to specif ic sites like CollegeClub.com and post their camera footage on the site. Visitors to the site can also peek into the donn rooms of others. There are many reasons col lege students might be interested in participating in this type of interaction. “I think college students are interested in WebCams just to have something to play around with. But on the oth er hand, some people are exhibitionists; especially in to day’s society,” said Jeremy Carpenter, a junior industrial engineering major at Texas A&M. “I think there are various reasons a person would do this. Maybe they’re starving for attention, looking to meet new people, or maybe just for fun and games,” said Jody Detmer, a junior theater major at the Univer sity of Massachusetts, who has her own “DormCam” footage posted on a site. Eric Swarthout, a junior computer science major at Pace University, said he thinks meeting new people has been one of the most interesting tilings he has encountered since he posted his footage on the Internet. “I met a lot of really cool people because of it. Of course, there are strange people out there, but I actually still talk to several people who first saw my Website over a year ago.” “It also encourages you to design and maintain a Web site, which is a skill in high demand in today’s job mar ket,” Swarthout said. When a student is thinking about posting footage of the dorm, there are a few things that should be considered: privacy and decency. “I would recommend putting it on a Website to any one who doesn’t mind sharing a peek into their life with strangers,” Swarthout said. “DormCams are great if you want to ‘oooh’ and ‘aaaah' your friends, but nowadays they are pretty useless unless you are planning to show a nice view out your win dow or strip in front of them for cash,” Detmer said. “If you wanted to put a cam up for other reasons, expect a lot of jerks.” Nancy Amato, professor of computer science at A&M, said there are still other reasons people may post footage on a Website. “You have to decide what your purpose is. If your family lives far away, you can use it to communicate with them [similar to the old videophones], or parents might want to talk to their child and see them in their donn room,” Amato said. “It can also be used for pro fessional purposes such as for meetings, or even for stu dents who want to study together and show each other their work without having to walk across campus at two in the morning.” “It’s a cool and fun idea, but you need to consider pri vacy and security and remember to turn it off when you don’t want people seeing all this. One needs to ask one self, Do I really want people to see into my donn room?” Amato said. The introduction of WebCams has had positive and negative repercussions. “I think it has been positive for people who don’t have anything better to do, or another way to meet people. But a negative aspect is that people in general are forgetting how to communicate person-to-person; this is just con tributing to that fact,” Carpenter said. “WebCams have an advantage over phones and video phones in that only one person has to have one for two people to communicate. I also think it’s more feasible eco nomically. It can be beneficial for business and even for education. Right now I think it is more of a fad to have WebCams, but eventually it will be a more productive means for communication,” Amato said. Detmer said there are advantages to hosting a Website with footage and offers a word of advice to people who are considering starting their own. “The biggest positive aspect of having a DormCam is meeting new people.... If privacy issues bother you, don’t bother doing it,” Detmer said. A computer science professor who wishes to remain anonymous said there are still other tilings one should con sider before making a decision. “One thing to consider is that now you can have a bad hair day over the phone. You never had to think about that before.” CODY WAGES/The Battalion APRIL 6TH RING DELIVERY DAY BEGINS AT 3:00PM WITH CARNIVAL GAMES, FREE FOOD AND LIVE ENTERTAINMENT Plus a chance to win hundreds of prizes, including free diamonds for your Aggie Ring! Delivery of Rings will begin at 4:00pm. Festivities will continue until 7:00pm. SO SLEEP IN, AND WE LL SEE YOU AT THE CLAYTON W. WILLIAMS, JR. ALUMNI CENTER SPONSORED BY The Association OF FORMER STUDENTS lA/bawTltb Aggie, NeJtuJ&tlc!
