By John Pullano, Managing Editor
As the ball clattered off the backboard and through the rim, the St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team tied the game’s score. Almost in sync with the made basket Bonaventure’s basketball fans rose to their feet in the university’s Reilly Center.
Yet amidst the action, student journalist Jeff Uveino could be found wandering outside the Reilly Center, 50 feet from the building, trying to find a wireless internet signal.
“For posts on social media, I will have to take it [his phone] and then go outside,” said Uveino. “Completely leave the building, take it [his phone] 50 feet away from the building and then it [his social media post] will post, but I have to leave the game.”
Opened in 1966, the Reilly Center measures as the largest building on campus. The building encompasses a 4,850-seat multi-purpose arena, the campus radio station, campus newspaper, the Career and Professional Readiness Center, academic offices, athletic offices and athletic training rooms. The building has 22 wireless access points throughout the building that provide wireless internet to the entire building, the most access points of any building on campus.
On the men’s basketball team’s game days, the Reilly Center can has reached a maximum occupancy of 5,090 persons standing and seated. These game days have presented a challenge for the Wi-Fi and the technology staff.
“Game day is a very unique event on campus when you have so many people in such a small space. Wi-Fi over there right now is not adequate for game day,” said Michael Hoffman, technology services associate provost and chief information officer. [7] “We graph the internet usage and when it starts to look like we are getting to a saturation point we bump it [the wireless internet access] up and we are looking at doing an upgrade in the future.”
Uveino, a junior and editor of The Intrepid digital newspaper, connects to the Reilly Center’s wireless and tries to live tweet, post on Instagram and cover games. Students, faculty and media members, Uveino among them, have used and complained about the Reilly Center’s wireless internet on game days.
Joel Rosencrance, the director of athletic academic support services, depends on the wireless internet in his office to access academic websites on game days.
“Nearly everything [in his job] is done using the internet and technology. Probably 85 to 90% of my job involves electronics and internet in some capacity,” said Rosencrance. “If the internet doesn’t function how we want it to I can’t do my job to the best of my abilities.”
Rosencrance uses a university provided Dell XPS desktop and on game days can’t send Apple’s iMessages using his Apple iPhone 8 or reach the wireless internet.
“I was at the game last Friday and tried to send a picture and message to someone and I couldn’t,” said Rosencrance. “The internet is ok, but if it could be upgraded it should be.”
On game days professional and student media outlets come to the Reilly Center to cover games.
J.P. Butler, writer for the Olean Times Herald, said him and other media members experience similar connection issues as Uveino on game days.
“I know in the past there have been many different media outlets that have had connection issues with it [the wireless internet]. Whether it be The Buffalo News or what, there have been issues,” said Butler. “When the stadium starts to fill, I will get disconnected from the internet.”
Several students working in the Reilly Center’s caféor attending games find issues with the building’s internet.
Perry Wheeler II, a sophomore marketing major, said he attends basketball games and does homework in the Reilly Center during games using his Apple iPhone XR and Apple MacBook Pro.
“I do use the internet in the Reilly Center, and it is all right on the computer but when I use my phone nothing really works,” said Wheeler. “Doing searches for homework it sometimes works, but after a while I usually just get annoyed.”
The St. Bonaventure department of athletics did not provide athletic training or strength and conditioning staff to comment.
Butler has traveled to other schools in the Atlantic 10 conference to cover games and found that other universities find ways to enhance the internet for the media.
“Whether it be another A10 school or whatever,” said Butler. “They are always finding ways to improve the internet to accommodate for the media who are working and finding ways to get their jobs done.”
However, for the Reilly Center’s current wireless internet it has remained the same for students, faculty and media, and as sophomore management major Jamie Bjarnar said, “it is ok, but less than ideal.”
pullanjj18@bonaventure.edu
