Efficiency Saves Me Time, or, Why I'm Glad I Don't Have to Write Several Emails When Just One Will Suffice!

Good Things About Luther Seminary Vol. IIVX

"Whether he went on with the diary, or whether he did not go on with it, made no difference. The Thought Police would get him just the same. He had committed--would still have committed, even if he had never set pen to paper--the essential crime that contained all others in itself. Thoughtcrime, they called it. Thoughtcrime was not a thing that could be concealed for ever. You might dodge successfully for a while, even for years, but sooner or later they were bound to get you."*

Lately I've been giving thanks for the Luther Seminary "Wireless and Student Network Communications Policy." Here at Luther we are not only blessed to have access to on-campus WiFi and a fast network connection (I'm told employing so-called fiber optics), but we have an email sharing network that increases my productivity and eases the stresses of having to talk to numerous people over the course of a week while being only one person myself. Under a section of the document I've retitled "Freed to Be, Yes, That's the Info for Me," the Seminary outlines an expectation I thankfully ought not to have, privacy that is:

"Users do not have an expectation of privacy or a personal privacy right in any matter created, received, sent, or stored on a Seminary electronic resource, whether or not the matter is designated as private or confidential. All data sent across our network and on to the Internet is not secure and can be monitored. Never send passwords or any account information through email or documents on the Internet."

The benefits of this policy include:

-Not having to email each of my professors when an absence is forthcoming since once I write of them, the school can pass on the information to the rest of my professors, the various Deans, and my mom, Sandy McCleary.

-If I share any thoughts over email that may question actions taken by the Luther Seminary administration, they can be made aware of that immediately and I can receive the duly deserved proper sauce when ordering a burger in the cafeteria.

-I can stop fearing that my candidacy committee might learn that I prefer to not use the eucharistic prayer during the Lord's Supper. That email I once sent to my friend Ben will surely get into their hands. Thanks Luther!

-Posting a picture of my new daughter as my desktop is a great way of letting everyone on the Luther staff and faculty know what she looks like.

-If my capstone paper is late, all my professor need do is get it herself. This cuts down on the unfortunate circumstances where a professor demands and excuse and the student stumbles to find one. Now days, sounds of "Get it yourself!" ring through the halls of Northwestern and Gullixson.


*Blair, Eric. The Complete Novels. Penguin Books, 1983: 753.