Column:

J school student gets by with HP

An Apple every two years keeps the J school satisfied.

By Sami Hall

Published July 7, 2009

The Missouri School of Journalism is famous for its excellence in educating youth in the ways of journalism. It is praised for its commitment to past, present and future students. Those who praise this commitment do not see what is the truth.

The journalism school has instated a requirement that all incoming freshmen must possess either an iPod touch or an iPhone. The reasoning? To allow students to view recorded lectures for the first two basic journalism classes (which can be done without these devices). This new requirement is costly, with the cheapest iPod touch running at $230 and the iPhone at $100 with a two-year contract and a fee of $30 a month. For most families, either of those options might be far from affordable.

There is also the J school's recommendation that freshman purchase a MacBook. The cheapest MacBook will set someone back at least $1,000, but one can purchase a PC with similar capacity for less than half that figure.

Many have criticized the requirement. Most critics have argued that it is deplorable. Although I heartily agree, it is for a different reason that I take up my mightier-than-a-sword pen: As a journalism student, I fear that my school is more concerned with profiting than with affording us the best education (no pun intended). The School of Journalism seems to be looking to profit off education, not to provide for it in the best, most affordable way."

Back to the issue of truth -- the truth is, while the journalism school doesn't require students to purchase a MacBook, it does highly recommend it. They quickly follow up that statement with the fact that 99.5 percent of incoming journalism students have a MacBook.

I am part of the 0.5 percent that doesn't.

I just completed my first year of school with a Hewlett-Packard laptop. Not only is it possible to do what I did, but it is seamless. There was never an instance where I needed a MacBook.

All laptops (MacBooks included) become outdated within two years. Two years is what it usually takes for students to complete their general education courses. By the time students actually enters the journalism school, their once-precious MacBook is outdated.

The journalism school still insists on highly recommending MacBooks and now requires iPod touches or iPhones. Why is that?

Because they make more money this way.

At TigerTech, the purchaser of a MacBook is given a free iPod touch. On top of that, it offers financing that allows the customer to pay off the laptop in (you guessed it) two years. Any checkbook-conscious parent realizes this is financially the best deal in order to buy a MacBook. How convenient. In the exact amount of time it takes to pay off the MacBook, it becomes outdated.

In an e-mail, Associate Dean of Journalism Brian Brooks estimated that only half of the students entering MU as journalism majors graduate with a bachelor's degree in journalism. The bulk of the students who drop do so before completing two years.

The question then arises: If students don't need a MacBook for the first two years, and if a substantial number drop journalism before they even start, and if MacBooks are outdated by the time most enter journalism, and if there is no need for iPhones or iPod touches, and most importantly, if the journalism school is so committed to its students, then why does it insist on making the most taxing choice the most financially appealing?

Hopefully, the truth isn't that the journalism school is more concerned with making money than its students.

Perhaps I am being naive. After all, I am just a journalist making $10 a column.