(Erin Mitchell | Student Life

Several years ago, I came across a very interesting Washington Post editorial by Michael J. Copps, one of the commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission. The article was entitled “America’s Internet Disconnect” and was a scathing criticism of America’s Internet infrastructure. Copps points out that America lags far behind other developed countries in terms of Internet accessibility, speed and cost. America’s deficit in this area is so deep that “we pay almost twice as much for connections that are one-twentieth the speed” when compared to many Asian and European nations. The question then becomes, what is the importance of America’s “Disconnect?”

The answer is that much of America’s economy these days is dependent on the Internet, and by having slower and more expensive Internet, America is at a competitive disadvantage to many of its competitors in the global economy. This brings me to the main point of my article: Just as America is at a competitive disadvantage due to the state of its Internet infrastructure, Washington University students are put at a competitive disadvantage due to the sorry state of Internet access on campus.

Right now, as I sit in my room writing this article, my University-provided wireless Internet has a download speed of 243 kilobytes per second (according to a speed test run by dslreports.com). This is simply atrocious. I can barely watch YouTube videos, and multimedia-heavy Web sites like ESPN.com take ages to load. In fact, according to the FCC, 243 kilobytes per second is less than a third of the speed that qualifies as broadband Internet. I could, of course, plug in my Ethernet cable and get faster Internet, but that defeats the point of having a laptop.

In addition to slow connection speed, I have also experienced difficulties connecting and staying connected to the multitude of wireless networks that Wash. U. provides. My (correct) password has been rejected numerous times, and I have been inexplicably kicked off of the WUFI-S network more times than I can count. Having talked to my friends and classmates about my struggles, I have learned that this is not an uncommon experience.

In addition to being fun and allowing social networking, the Internet is now an essential part of the educational experience. Syllabi, old exams, assignments and even video lectures are all put online by professors with the assumption that all their students will be able to access them. The fact of the matter is, with my current Internet speed, I would probably not be able to watch an online lecture. I know for some language classes, online multimedia is an essential part of the course. I have seen a friend trying to listen to his Spanish homework online only to encounter halting and poor-quality audio, making it impossible to do his homework. There is no question in my mind that the poor Internet access on campus is a barrier to learning for many students.

If America as a whole is lagging in its Internet infrastructure, Wash. U. is lagging behind America. This problem needs to be addressed. There is simply no excuse for a school that costs more than $40,000 to have such a problem. Few would argue that it is a bad thing that the Internet has become an integral part of a university education. Given this, students should be provided with access to the resources they need to succeed. I hope the school is aware of this problem and will take the proper steps to address it.