this isn't good

For some undisclosed reason, we've been having "network outages" on campus off and on, starting yesterday afternoon. They're continuing this morning.

Normally, this would not be a big deal to me - I already submitted the early-semester reports I had to submit, my course webpages are updated. But. I just had a student in with questions on the paper due tomorrow, and they noted they "could not get to JSTOR last night." (This is a brief, 3-5 page paper)

Crud. So I'm probably going to have at least one "I couldn't finish my paper because the Internet was down" complaint. I never know what to do about this. My natural inclination is to go, "You had two weeks plus to do this. I told you to start early because you never know what obstacles lurk." When I was a student - well, when I was a student there WAS no JSTOR, as I've said, so I budgeted a couple of library days to just FIND and PHOTOCOPY the resources I needed. But I started early!

But I get so many sad faces. And reminders about work, family, all that. And of course, when I was a student, I was in the rare, privileged position of being single and living more or less alone and when I worked, it was only a few hours a week in the cafeteria and that was to have money to go to the movies and stuff. So I don't know if I'm just being unsympathetic.

I really really really don't want to sigh and go, "okay, they're due MONDAY then." I did that once before, when we had a snow day, but I made a Big Fat Deal about how I then expected them to be ERROR FREE. (I should not have to specify that, I really should not). I've budgeted Friday afternoon to grade them. Monday I have to write an exam and it's long-lab day and I have CWF in the evening, and and and.

But, augh. I hope the "intermittent network outages" are done with. Because then the people who do things at the last minute can get their resources from JSTOR tonight.


As I said elsewhere, it's too early in the semester for me to be this discouraged already.