Meanwhile, the guy next to me was clicking out an answer on his calculator. I trashed my slide rule that day. Only later would I learn that, had I really understood the physics of it all, I could have done the calculations by hand. Calculators are now built into the software of desktop computers, and every student is computer literate. You can register for classes via computer, do research over the Internet and even keep in touch with the folks back home by e-mail.
Computers are fast and nearly silent.
Today's students don't have to learn how to sleep through the pounding of their roommate's typewriter. Speaking of technology, students are now carrying cellular phones on campus. I saw a fellow the other day standing at the corner of Hutchison and California, right across from Chem 194, making a call to a friend in the library. The library is supposed to be stable, even stodgy, but Shields Library here on campus is the mecca of change. You now enter the library from the west side rather than the east.