How does Saint Anselm College balance the benefits of technology with the potential risks to its campus culture and high quality academics?

Counting the Minutes
Walking from one class to another, Katie Doyle might call as many as four people on her cell phone.

"I have 400 daytime minutes and it seems like nothing. When you’re on that 399th minute, you know it," says the nursing major. "You know exactly when your new minutes start and you can make that next call." She calls her mother, grandmother, friends, roommates, and classmates. Millennials (also known as Gen Y) are used to being able to talk to anyone, any time. It’s not uncommon for students to go over their limit, to the tune of hundreds of dollars.

In addition to phoning, Doyle sends text messages to friends on her cell phone and sends them real-time messages via IM (instant messaging) whenever she’s at a computer. On IM, users create lists of welcome guests and are alerted when one of them sends them a message. It’s a virtual private chat room, quicker and easier than regular (old fashioned) e-mail, and a way to avoid using cell phone minutes to have a conversation.

The connection is constant. "I’m on the phone with my mom and I’m IM-ing five people," says Doyle. "You IM the person right next to you," adds her classmate, Jess Burns.

When they leave their computers, IM-ers post away-messages, like "At the caf, back in half an hour" so they won’t have to answer a dozen messages when they return. Doyle admits, though, to sometimes feeling overwhelmed by "too much information." And, she observes, "It cuts down on seeing people. You don’t have time to go have coffee with someone, but you have time to send them a message."

One question, then: does the quick and easy connection strengthen relationships, or make them more superficial?

Another question might be: can quick access to support people interfere with developing a sense of independence?

"Students have to be connected to certain people at all times," says English professor Ann Norton, noting that the greatest change has been in the last three years. "They’re more dependent on friends and family to get them through the little crises of the day."

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