Pens, pencils, folders and notebooks – all standard supplies for having a successful semester. Journalism students at EIU, however, will need a notebook that isn’t found for 88 cents at Wal-Mart.

Beginning in fall 2009, all incoming journalism majors at Eastern Illinois University will be required to purchase Macbook Pro notebook computers when they enter as freshmen.

James Tidwell, EIU’s journalism chair, explained that the technology fee assessed to all students just wasn’t enough to cover upkeep in the computer labs used by the journalism department.

“The university said that they cannot maintain the computer labs like they used to, so the journalism students will be maintaining their own computers,” Tidwell said. He also emphasized the need for journalism students to keep up with the technology surrounding the journalism industry if they want to be successful.

A simple, effective solution for an obvious problem, right?

Until the students get to the checkout.

According to Apple’s Store Web site, a 15-inch Macbook Pro with minimum capabilities goes for $1,999, but Mac offers students a discount. That’s a large chunk of change for a college freshman to throw around, especially when it falls right on top of other expenses, such as tuition and housing charges.

“College students don’t necessarily have the money to spend on a computer,” said Kevin Murphy, a junior journalism major at EIU. However, colleges are faced with more expenses than they can handle, and students should expect to treat the cost like a required textbook or technology fee.

At NIU, students enrolled for more than seven hours per semester are currently assessed a $100 technology fee, according to the Office of the Bursar on the NIU Web site. In order to relieve the stress of providing everyone with department-specific updated technology, it may be beneficial to take a page from Eastern’s book and look at options that will not cost the university so much money.

“It will just be another expense that the students have to deal with,” Tidwell said. “They should be able to use student loans [to help purchase] the computers, just like textbooks, since they are now required for their major.”

He also said the technology committee at EIU is preparing a formal rationale to present to students and parents that will explain the department’s reasoning for the requirement.

Although the price seems steep, and the notion of owning a computer when there are labs available for student use may seem redundant, this initiative was obviously developed with the students’ best interest in mind.

It’s hard to ignore the recent shift that news media has made, embracing whatever new technology becomes available. EIU’s new requirement shows that the department wants to help its students adapt to the fast-paced industry.

“Ninety-five percent of students are coming to the college with a computer anyway,” Tidwell said. “We decided that the [journalism] students need to be really cutting-edge, so the laptop initiative was the way to go.”

When it comes to finances, there is never an easy solution. But journalism and technology are becoming more and more synonymous and it is invaluable for students hoping to break into the field to have access to what they need.

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