Students wandering in the halls may or may not notice a stash of desks, chairs and computers set in the corners of the hallways. These office supplies usually have a label stating they are surplus, meaning they are to be auctioned or sold. Along with desks and chairs, computers, vehicles and even office furniture have been given to surplus.
David Tobler is the Senior Director of Technology Support Services. Tobler said that many students don’t know that they can take place in these auctions and sales.
“Once per quarter they have a surplus sale. Some stuff is auctioned off or recycled in other ways. It is regulated by the state,” Tobler said. “I don’t know how much students are aware of it.”
Computers are one of these hot items for sale. Most computers are on a four-year cycle, meaning on average, four years is how often technology is replaced. According to Tobler, this is the goal and is sometimes not met since it often takes longer than four years to cycle through technology. This is the case for Personal Computers and Macintosh alike.
Kevin Young is the Area Information Technology Director for IT Support Services on campus. He works in the CS building, and has his opinion about Macs and PCs.
“Video editing is more Mac oriented, animation is more PC oriented,” Young said. “It’s dictated by the needs of the program. We have a lot of Macs in use.”
Young said the cost difference is $800 each for a PC, and $1,400 to $3,000 for a Mac.
The Mac is widely respected is the creative arts industry. Tobler doesn’t see the value of a Mac being greater than a PC since he said they are on the same cycle.
“A computer is a computer and technology is always improving. I don’t see much of a difference there. They have the same cycle,” Tobler said.
By Tiffany Thatcher
Asst. News Editor
