The complaints with student-issued laptops seem endless, yet senior and technology assistant Tristan Hintz said the technology assistants rarely receive visitors with malfunctioning computers during lunch.
Hintz applied as a technology assistant due to an elective in his schedule to fill and because of the position’s positive appearance on college applications.
“I had to fill out an application and interview, so if you put that on college apps
that looks good,” Hintz said.
Though they said they do not receive any visitors, Hintz said the technology assistants are always at the tables to help when people have technology issues.
“We had a lot of problems in the beginning of the year, but now that people actually have their stuff working properly […], on average, we get like zero people per day,” Hintz said.
According to an unscientific Rank&File poll of 200 students, 68 percent reported issues with their laptops, yet only 23 percent of those students said they went to the technology assistants.
“I have had problems with my computer,” sophomore Dylan Halderman said. “I heard that you can go there during lunch and [the assistants] can help you fix your computer [but I have not gone] because I am lazy.”
Technology specialist Kimberlee Shahin said the technology department has made efforts to promote awareness about the assistants.
“We have a couple slides that talk about the availability of the technology assistants in the cafeteria,” Shahin said. “I am open to suggestions.”
Technology assistant and sophomore Sanjana Pandeti said she often helps the technology department by delivering laptops the technology office has fixed.
“Other than that, we mostly just sit here and wait for people to come up with problems,” Pandeti said.
Students encounter issues with their laptops every day but even then, the number of laptop complaints do not correlate with the rare visits to the technology assistants.