By Andrea Martinez

(Leonardo Pineda)

By Andrea Martinez

Sheer panic, disbelief, and so much boredom resulted from the temporary loss of Internet here at Riverside City College on March 2. The loss made some of us realize just how much we need the Internet. As college students, we practically live off of Internet use nowadays.

I mean, really think about it. Almost every college student needs the Internet in some way or another, from turning in an assignment to buying stuff; anyone who says they don’t is lying. It has become a necessity. But we can’t just rely on the Internet for everything.

The Internet is one of our primary sources for getting our work done. We use it to research, study, e-mail our work in, communicate with others and so much more.

Nothing really beats having the ability to access information or an on-line article right from your own home. It’s very convenient for us to just jump on the internet for, let’s say, a paper rather than dragging yourself all the way to the library.

Although the Net brings everything to the tips of your fingers, there are still some things it simply cannot offer. There is only so much information a student can get from the Internet, and only so much is reliable.

When you think about it, we’re pretty lazy now when it comes to researching. Many people have lost contact with a library. They see it as a computer lab, but forget that it also contains walls and walls of books. It’s really hard for books to compete against Internet. It’s hard for anything to compete with the Internet.

There are many Web pages that specialize on just the information that you need, making it much easier and more convenient.

Think back to the times when people had to actually go to the library for hours and read through books to find the information they needed.

If we didn’t have the Internet, then we would actually have to start our papers ahead of time, rather than just a couple of hours before the actual due date.

There is so much benefit from both books and the Internet that to not take advantage of both of them would be a waste. It’s difficult not to depend on the Internet, especially when you are a college student.

Not only is it convenient for doing our work, but it’s also convenient to stay in contact with others. I know when I get bored I usually turn to the Internet.

It’s fun to check e-mails, chat with friends, order things off of Home Shopping Network, go on MySpace, play games and order DVD’s online. Heck, you can even order groceries over the Internet.

Society has become extremely dependent on Internet use. The Net can be used for so many things, and it just keeps getting bigger and better.

There is an upcoming “Shutdown Day” on March 24 where people are actually challenging each other to go a single day without the use of a computer. It’s an experiment to see how reliant we are on using computers.

I think that it’s pretty much impossible for people to not use a computer for an entire day. I love the internet, so it will definitely be a challenge for me to participate in this “Shutdown Day.” But, it may be a good excuse to skip doing that homework for a day.