Last year, more so than this year, I used e-mail to keep in touch with my boyfriend. However, after 20 minutes there were still some things I wanted to say, or, after hanging up, I would realize there were some things I had forgotten to say. E-mail enabled me to get those things across without having to dial long distance. So, in essence, e-mail was a money saver. To me, email is extemely impersonal.
Nothing can replace actual live communication.
In the above case, lack of computer access seemingly has led to a diminished sense of communication and hence, community. Meanwhile, some students were reaching out to the global community. Kate Ann Westrich, senior magazine Journalism major with specializations in African American studies and sociology, keeps touch with friends in Hong Kong only over e-mail. It would be ridiculously expensive if we were to call each other, but over the phone we can talk about nuances in language, differences in culture, etc. Matt Bifano, Journalism senior, reports that he lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina, for one year.