Information Technology on Ashland University’s campus is often the butt of several jokes and vicious rumors. Many students lash out when something goes wrong with their Internet and say that IT is bad at their job. We disagree. IT is not bad at their job; IT needs to work on their communication.

Recently, a computer in our office suddenly caught a virus and needed fixed. IT was made aware of this problem on Friday. The friendly man who answered the phone even made a note saying that the computer needed fixed promptly because it had important information on it. We received two ticket updates that night showing who had been assigned the problem.

Monday rolled around and the computer still wasn’t fixed. However, we had received a ticket update on Sunday saying that another person had been assigned the ticket. We phoned IT again, explained the situation and soon received another ticket update with a new assigned worker. We assumed that the computer would be fixed by the end of Monday night.

So when Tuesday rolled around and the computer still wasn’t fixed, frustration was allowed to show as we called IT again. We finish the paper on Tuesday nights and needed information locked on this particular computer’s desktop. A few irritated remarks and three ticket updates later, a young, helpful man stood in our office and promptly and professionally fixed the computer, wiping the virus out. He was great at his job and extremely helpful.

Is IT bad at their job? No. The young man who helped us out knew exactly what he was doing and fixed everything in a timely manner. Is IT bad at communicating the severity of a problem or finding a tech. free to help? Seven ticket updates and five assigned workers later, it sure looks like it to us.

The saddest part is that we felt like we got no response until we were rude and mean the third time we called. Imagine if we were all four year olds. What would we be learning? Be nice = sit around and wait for nothing to happen. Be mean = get instant results with a helpful employee immediately at your service. Imagine the lessons we just learned. When teachers don’t nip problems in the bud, the playground gets rough.