The Online Reflector

By Mandy Weber | Staff Writer

Facebook, a worldwide social networking Web site, has become so popular at the University of Indianapolis that according to Jeff Russell, chief information officer, that the site is contributing to the slow internet connection students and faculty may be experiencing.
Students and staff were notified of this issue via e-mail on Jan. 13. The e-mail stated that 25 percent of the total campus bandwidth is used for Facebook. According to Russell, the Information Technology Department’s  goal is to make students and other staff aware of the problem. IT wants to alert students of the reasons they may be experiencing decreased internet performance and ways they can help remedy the situation.

According to Princeton University’s WordNet (wordnet.princeton.edu), bandwidth is a data transmission rate; it is the maximum amount of information that can be transmitted along a channel. Russell described bandwidth with a metaphor.
“Bandwidth is not only how fast a car can go down the highway, but how many lanes wide the road is,” he said.  “The data is like one suitcase in that one car. You can arrive at your destination faster if the road you are driving on has a large amount of lanes. Consequently, a larger bandwidth allows for the data to be sent faster, allowing more people to surf the Internet at one time.”
Russell said steps are being taken to increase space on the university server.
“I-Light is a statewide initiative to get more bandwidth to all college campuses, both private and state,” Russell said. “The current schedule is that our campus will get that bandwidth in April.”
Other universities are experiencing the same problems, and some have taken measures to tackle internet issues. Taylor University and Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis have blocked Facebook entirely.
“We feel it is not necessary to take the same approach,” Russell said. “We have the philosophy that our students are adults. They can determine their own limits.”
The UIndy community needs to do what it can to help out as well and be conscious of Internet usage, said Russell. Kory Vitangeli, dean of students, also offered a few suggestions to students.
“Be more conscious of the time you have a window open,” she said.  “This will help free space for others and increase speed. When you are not using Facebook, close the window.”
According to Russell, the campus bandwidth is saturated from 10 am. to 2 a.m. every day.
“Our plea is to encourage people to not leave applications like Facebook, MySpace and YouTube running while not in use,” said Russell. “This would help an enormous amount.”
Facebook is especially prone to slowing the system down compared to other sites, because it is constantly updating and incorporates video streaming, graphics and chatting.
“We all recognize that Facebook is a common communication tool,” Russell said. “We just need everyone to be good campus citizens in how they use their bandwidth, including Facebook.”