Campus life - Letters from Dartmouth College Blitzmania By Yoko Kubo	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
いつでもどこでもEメール ニューハンプシャー州の田舎にあるダートマス大学は豊かな自然に囲まれています。そのため、「電気が通ってなくて、夜はろうそくの火で勉強してるの？」などと冗談を言う人もいます。しかし、冗談とは裏腹に、ダートマス大学は全米で五指に入るほど、インターネット設備が充実しています。

キャンパスのこんなところからもインタネットにつなげられる。

While these are slight exaggerations, it is easy to understand where such preconceptions come from. Judging from the mountains, trees and the river that make up most of Dartmouth's scenery, it is hard to imagine that we may have any technology at all. However, what most people don't realize is that beneath the college's rustic facade, Dartmouth is actually ranked one of the top five "most wired" universities in the United States.

部屋でごろ寝しながら勉強やメールができる

I opted to buy a laptop, since it is portable and has a wireless feature, which means that I can connect to the Internet from almost anywhere on campus - even from the middle of the central lawn.

Another significant aspect of the college network is its e-mail system, known as "Blitz," which every student is introduced to and hooked on within a few days of arriving on campus. Unlike normal e-mail, Blitz allows you to be notified of new messages as soon as they are received with a box that pops up on your screen along with a "beep-beep" sound. Consequently, the majority of students leave their Blitz on all day, which means that you can be sure of receiving an almost instantaneous reply at almost any hour.

In some ways, the Blitz phenomenon is reminiscent of a drug addiction. For instance, a lot of students cannot bear to leave their Blitz unchecked for more than half an hour at a time, which is why there are several public computers stationed around the campus exclusively for the purpose of checking Blitz (lest one might miss an important message during the 10 minutes it takes to get from class to class). At the busiest times of the day, such as lunchtime, there is a long queue of students in front of these computers, anxious for any potential new messages.

The word "blitz" has become Dartmouth jargon, with people using the word as a verb to say "I blitzed so-and-so" or "Stop blitzing me" and so on. In fact, "blitz" has completely replaced the word "e-mail" in my own vocabulary, with the latter now somewhat tedious and awkward to pronounce.

As you can imagine, Blitz has a disastrous effect on verbal communication, as well as schoolwork. It has undoubtedly surpassed the telephone as the main means of communication on campus, and it is used for even the most minor conversations, such as with the person who lives right next-door. I've heard of people not recognizing their friends' voices over the phone, and others who spend days socializing from within the confines of their own rooms. On the other hand, it is fabulous for procrastination - a trivial blitz conversation can easily go on for hours and may possibly be blamed for many a "below-par" exam result.

Despite the potentially corrupting powers of Blitz, most students come to view their computer as one of their most treasured possessions at Dartmouth. In fact, in a way akin to drugs, a slight malfunctioning of the computer can lead to periods of extreme hysteria, followed by withdrawal symptoms of anxiety and itching fingers as it is sent off to be repaired.

Sad as it may sound, it would not be an understatement to say that the computer serves as the lifeline through which students here at Dartmouth maintain contact with the outside world, as well as with each other.

Shukan ST: Nov. 8, 2002

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