From the Editor

I don’t think there’s a discipline, a major or a career out there that hasn’t been changed significantly in the last decade by the advent of the computer. Step onto any university campus and you will see how understated that claim really is. Step into the communication department and that goes doubly, triply, or more.

When I joined Southwestern Adventist University in 1998, one of my first responsibilities was as general manager of radio station 88.3 KJCR. Within two years of my arrival, we went from reel-to-reel tape recorders, cart machines, phonographs and CD players in the on-air studio, to having everything—and I mean everything—done on computer. Computers—and the support of our listeners—made it possible for the station to begin broadcasting 24 hours a day in 1999. Now all the editing, scheduling of spots, programs and music, as well as the music itself is on the flatscreen monitor in front of the student announcers. And the old cart machines are gathering dust in a closet somewhere.

I don’t take credit as some sort of visionary because I pushed for this to happen. It was just the obvious next step in the station’s evolution. Now computers are the hub of the radio station, the TV station, and even print journalism.

One of the department’s recent innovations is the school’s first online newspaper, The Southwesterner, which can be found online at southwesterner.swau.edu. Students are responsible for adding stories, photos and video to the news website several times per week. And now the Southwestern Spirit has added an online counterpart. There’s even opportunity for you to post your comments after each article. Take note of the ad accross from this page and come visit us online.

Technology can be exciting as you see the possibilities, both in the classroom and as students take their places in the world. Technology is also challenging. One of my biggest challenges as a teacher is simply keeping ahead of my students, making new software and programs accessible to all, while still keeping it interesting for those who’ve already mastered the program on the first day of class.

But one of the realities of technology—especially computer technology—is that it is here to stay. And if you want to retain credibility as a professor and as an institution, you’d better provide the industry standard to your students so they’ll be ready when they leave Keene.

It’s all around us.  But a mastery of technology doesn’t mean anything unless we’re willing and able to give students a philosophical grounding that helps make sense of this mass of information rushing their way.
I’m proud that Southwestern is able to teach technology. I’m even prouder that we help students develop a practical Christian context for that technology and the world they’ll be living and working in.