VCRs can record shows and automatically skip commercials during playback. Microwaves have buttons that automatically reheat a piece of pizza to perfection. The Internet can be enjoyed in the warm sun instead of a sterile, heavily wired cubicle. Cars sometimes know more about how to get somewhere than the person driving. And even lights can turn on with a clap of the hands.
But all of this new technology to make life easier hasn't come without a price -- especially for college students trying to keep up with all the latest creations and the latest increases in tuition. College students are spending more time than ever working. They work not necessarily to pay for tuition or room and board, but to afford technological gadgets to satisfy two masters: electronic toys to impress their friends or electronic tools required by their departments. The money has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere is a part-time job for many students. Unfortunately, a part-time job can often cut into schedules more than planned and lead to less time to do anything other than study, work and go to class.
A record-high number of incoming freshman in Fall 2005 plan to work while attending school, according to a study by the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA. Of 300,000 incoming students surveyed, nearly half said there was a good chance of working while at school. Half of students already enrolled in a university do work during the school year, the highest number yet, and work an average of 20-30 hours a week.
NEED: THE SUBJECTIVE WORD
CD and DVD burners, new laptops, flash drives, portable hard drives, iPods, PDAs, cell phones, mp3 players and digital cameras are just some of gadgets that students need or feel that they need to survive school and life outside it.
However, the electronic products that students use for class or for entertainment are not needs in the traditional sense, said Shaheen Borna, a professor of marketing at Ball State University who studies consumer buying patterns.
"Needs are things that keep us alive," Borna said. "These are wants. But advertising can certainly change what is considered a need."
Peer pressure is a major drive for undergrads to buy the new electronic products, he said. Before students enter college, parents normally influence spending; once away at school, friends have more influence than anything.
Keeping up with friends influenced Adam Brown, a senior who worked for two years so he wouldn't be left in the technological dust.
"I didn't want to be the only person at a friend's house who didn't know how to play Halo or the newest basketball or football game," Brown said.
Brown didn't have to work to pay for school; he wanted money to keep up with new releases of movies, video games and CDs his friends also were buying. He finally quit working because he said that it was taking too much time away from school and he needed to focus on his studies before graduation.
WIRED OR UNWIRED?
But students aren't just spending time working so they can buy toys. Some are working to buy equipment to meet class requirements.
Chris Bronstrup, a senior telecommunications major, works on the weekends so he can afford to buy devices for school as well for himself. An external hard drive, expensive headphones, digital videotapes and burnable CDs and DVDs are all on his list of necessities for classes.
"It's not like I enjoy working on weekends when I could be with friends on campus or doing something else. But these are the things I need and will hopefully have a need for when I'm done with school," Bronstrup said.
Telecommunications majors aren't the only ones affected by the need of technology.
In Fall 2004, Teachers College began requiring all students to own an Apple laptop computer and specific computer programs for classes. Until last fall, it was only recommended that students have a laptop, but now they are required because of their necessity, Brent Todd said. Todd runs the iCare Corner on the first floor of Teachers College.
These laptops can cost from $1,200 to $2,200, depending on how many accessories the student chooses to add, Todd said.
Universities in Minnesota, California and Florida also require undergraduates to have a laptop and in some cases a printer for class work.
Benefits from technology aside, this generation also lives more for instant gratification versus previous generations that would save money and postpone buying things that are enjoyable until a time when they will mean more, Borna said.
However, he said this spending pattern is beginning to change and revert to the way it was. So although technology's role in life will probably not decrease, people may start spending more on long-term investments than something that's fun for a short time.
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