A Little More Snazz

I have been hearing a lot of talk and controversy about the recent technology bill proposing to give students inexpensive access to Microsoft software. So I was not at all shocked to see the controversy over the failed bill and plans to reintroduce it slapped on the front page of this week’s Eagle News this afternoon. The article, titled “Upgrade? When pricey tech bill fails, Senate looks to students for support,” was very informative and quite balanced in my opinion, but after reading about two-thirds of the article, I found it a little difficult to continue reading.

Now perhaps this is simply because I have been raised in a generation with perhaps the shortest attention span in history when it comes to reading the news, but I felt like the story was a little too long and not as attention-grabbing.

However, like I said, the article was very informative and I feel, fairly balanced. The bill, which sounds like a great idea when first hearing about it, has a lot of advantages but also a lot of disadvantages and risks to it. I think that the writer did a great job of presenting all sides of the story, explaining the facts, and leaving the decisions up to the reader. I was only aware of some of the details of this bill, but after reading this article, I feel that I have a good understanding of the issues behind the bill.

At the end of the article, one student is quoted making a great point in saying that Student Government should try to get students more involved and engaged in these sort of issues on the campus. Many students are not even aware that our school Senate is voting over an issue that could greatly benefit many students, but at the same time affect where our tuition money goes. This article, however, is one way of informing the students and I think, does a great job at it. However, perhaps if this article were little shorter, a little snappier and snazzier, and more engaging, many more students would be inclined to finish reading it and be more informed and engaged in issues and politics on the campus.