My Computer Crashed... Do I Get an Extension?
15 Jun 2000;
by Dennis G. Jerz
In this day and age, computer problems
are really no excuse for falling behind in your work -- you might just
as well say, "My dog ate my homework."
Anyone who writes must face technological imperfections. In the olden days, people's pencils got dull... or their inkwells dried up... or the Visigoths burned their libraries. Ideally, all our tools would work perfectly all the time. I realize that not everyone has a computer, but that's what the public labs are for. I realize that not everyone is familiar with all the software we will use, but that's what the exercises are for, and that's why I hold office hours. Early in the semester, before you get bogged down, take the time to learn how to use your tools properly.
The network is never down for more than a few hours at a time. If one crash means you are completely unable to turn in anything at all -- not even a rough draft -- then it's not really a technological problem; the real issue is probably procrastination.
Cheer up... if you were a medieval scribe, and you wanted something to write on, you'd have to go out and kill a sheep, drain its blood, cut off its skin, soak it in a vat of lye, scrape it, sand it, cut it up, and dry it. One animal for every eight or ten pages.
