Editorial | iTunes is a distraction

Miss a class? Not a problem - it's recorded on iTunes.

Sounds like a great idea, right? Well, not quite.

Last week, the Undergraduate Assembly introduced their latest project: iTunes U, a program that allows students to download lectures onto their computers and iPods.

Giving students a back-up plan if they need to miss class sounds like a good idea, but it is ultimately problematic.

To start with, it is unclear how the technology will be installed or paid for.

While the actual program will be free for students to use, the UA has set no definitive plan for installing the necessary technology. With only three lecture halls outside of Huntsman Hall equipped with the necessary technology, there will certainly be costs.

Issues of student privacy are also paramount. The classroom, and even the lecture hall, is a place where students can freely share ideas with one another, and the knowledge that their seminar or lecture is online for public viewing could make students more hesitant about speaking up. Furthermore, such a program could give students an excuse to simply skip class in the first place.

Sure, there are ways to solve such issues, but there is still a much larger problem to consider.

The UA went ahead with this proposal without any formal request from the student body and without any student feedback. Whether or not the students will make use of this technology seems to ignore the glaring fact that they were never even asked.

With student complaints abundant, the UA has an extensive list of things to direct their energy toward before they work on other, loftier schemes. And as long as students are complaining about laundry machines, bus services and Penn InTouch, to name a few, that's where the UA's energy should remain focused.

The UA is charged with the task of representing student interests and needs. It should be dealing with things that are of the utmost importance to students before they decide to go ahead with their grandiose (and perhaps problematic) proposals.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.