A couple of months ago I gave a seminar at Union College.  Since its been a  l-o-n-g time since I was a student in those hallowed halls, I made some observations on how communication technology has changed the college environment.

Back in the day, when dinosaurs roamed the campus, an important highlight for me  was my daily pilgrimage to box 1917.  In today’s lingo it would be referred to as:

box1917@unioncollege.collegecenter.2ndfloor.ontheleft.thirdboxup.edu

The password was “turn twice to the right, then left 14, right 7, left 32, pull.”

Real letters written by real people were, well, real.

It could have been Mom (always) or Dad (sometimes), a sibling (rarely), a girlfriend (hopefully), friends at other colleges (often), etc.  The letters were always several pages long, handwritten, and had complete sentences with good grammar.  The letters would be saved, not in an inbox, but usually a shoebox.  They would be reread many times.

During my seminar, I noticed several students getting text messages.  During the pizza reception that followed (actually, the free pizza was why I had a crowd), I asked some of the students what they were texting?

At first I got “LOL,” then they told me,  “Mom,” “GF,” “BF” and just plain “a friend.” 

I asked them if they ever get a real letter?  The response was, “Oh sure, I get e-mail ... look, here is one on my Blackberry.”  

I asked, what about your mailbox at the college center?

“Dude, I get nothing in there but junkmail -- you know, like, spam.”

Sigh …

More campus observations in my next installment.