They can’t cure empty-nest syndrome, but campus Webcams are at least doing their part to alleviate its symptoms, reports The Christian Science Monitor. A growing number of colleges are making a point to put the cameras in public spots — often for the expressed purpose of letting students wave to their parents back home.
The University of Rochester, for example, has Webcams rolling at three spots in the student union: the “Hi, Mom! Balcony,” the “Hi, Mom! Bridge,” and the “Hi, Mom! Closeup.” Other institutions are a bit less explicit about what their public cameras should be used for, but students and parents are taking it upon themselves to schedule “visitations.”
Rochester is one of the few institutions that has been willing to install a Webcam that offers close-up footage. Most colleges still think grainy, long-range views are, well, a bit less ripe for abuse: “If there are guys out there mooning people or something crazy, and some parent is on there,” says one campus official, “that’s the last thing you want.” —Brock Read
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