While the Fishbowl in Angell Hall seems to be the only computing site on campus, 45 other computing sites offer access to students who would otherwise end up waiting in line for a computer.
“It’s rare that I ever go to the Fishbowl and jump onto a computer without having to wait for at least five minutes. It’s really annoying having to wait in line just to be able to check my e-mail,” LSA sophomore Shelly Kitain said.
LSA senior Jonathan McDonald, who works for Information Technology Central Services, said there would be more available computers if students were aware of the other computer labs around campus.
Manager of the Angell Hall computing site Robert Jones, said he acknowledges that there are usually more students than computers during the day. Jones said students would be more satisfied if they were aware of the other labs.
“We want as many labs as we can get. The problem is space,” Jones said.
LSA freshman Kelly Strauss said she uses computers at the Michigan League and the Shapiro Undergraduate Library to avoid waiting in line at the computing site in Angell Hall.
“I like going to the Cyber Lounge in the Michigan League because not many students know about it. The UGLi is never really that crowded either,” Strauss said.
Due to the vast number of classes held in Angell Hall and central location on campus, many students find themselves going to the Fishbowl out of convenience.
LSA sophomore Dave Weinberg said the problems go much deeper than having to wait for a computer. “With the recession our economy is going through, fewer families are able to buy their kids a computer, so more and more students need to resort to campus computing sites for their computing needs.”
ITCS received $1 million for its annual budget last year. Steve Sarrica, manager of Campus Computing Sites, said the money was used to replace 740 computers on campus. Other expenses were used to refit the computers in Angell Hall with wireless Internet. Due to these replacement expenses, no new computing sites can be expected in the near future.
Aside from the 135 Macintosh computers in Angell Hall, there are 42 in the Learning Resource Center, 26 in the basement of the Michigan Union, 70 in the School of Education Building and 29 in the Shapiro Undergraduate Library. Other lesser-known computing sites are located in the Art and Architecture Building, the School of Music, Caident in the Dental School, West Hall and the School of Natural Resources. For a complete list of general online campus computing sites, log on to www.umich.edu/~sites/map/general.html.