News 12-27-2000
Web-Based Education Commission Issues Report
The Web-based Education Commission recently called for a national effort to
fulfill the Internet's promise to help transform learning and achievement. The
Commission's report conclusively demonstrates that there are serious gaps in
access to the Internet, leaving millions of Americans behind in the Internet
Revolution.
Based on the evidence of hundreds of people who testified, the Commission issued
a recommendation, calling for accessibility and affordability of Internet resources;
continuous and relevant training and support for educators at all levels; the
creation of a research and development framework; development of quality online
content; revision of outdated regulations that impede innovation; protection
of the privacy of online learners; and new and traditional funding measures
to implement these recommendations.
Internet2 Board Names New Chair
Internet2 recently announced that Molly Corbett Broad, University of North
Carolina president, will become chair of the Internet2 Board of Trustees on
January 1, 2001. Broad succeeds outgoing Chair David Ward, chancellor of the
University of Wisconsin. Both Ward and Broad have served on the Internet2 board
since its inception in September 1997.
Led by more than 180 U.S. universities working in concert with industry and
government, Internet2 is developing and deploying advanced network applications
and technologies for research and higher education, accelerating the evolution
of tomorrow's Internet. Internet2 effectively recreates the partnership of academia,
industry, and government that helped foster today's Internet during its infancy.
For more information, visit www.internet2.edu/.
NASA Space Technology Promotes Healing
Using powerful light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, originally designed for commercial
plant growth research in space, scientists have found a way to help patients
with hard-to-heal wounds, such as diabetic skin ulcers, serious burns, and severe
oral sores caused by chemotherapy and radiation. The project includes laboratory
and human trials, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and funded
by a NASA Small Business Innovation Research contract through the Technology
Transfer Department at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
For more information, visit www.msfc.nasa.gov/news.
NASA Coalition to Solve Computer Problems
NASA recently announced plans to join leaders from academia, the government,
and Silicon Valley in a "high-dependability computing consortium" to find long-term
solutions to computing glitches. A dozen high-tech companies and Carnegie Mellon
University have signed on with NASA in a partnership whose terms will be agreed
upon next month.
In the high-tech business world, companies don't often invest the time or money
to study and solve long-term reliability problems, but NASA is reportedly prepared
to spend as much as $10 million a year to bring researchers together to develop
affordable, non-competitive tools that the entire industry can use. NASA's expectation
is that the consortium will design failsafe software that will ultimately drive
successful space missions. Though NASA devotes years of testing to ensure its
computer systems will perform, unreliable computers have derailed two recent
Mars missions.
DISH Network Channel Awarded
The California Community College Satellite Network (CCCSAT) has recently been
awarded a national public interest channel on the DISH Network. The channel
will be launched on December 15, 2000. As a component of the California Community
College system (the largest community college system in the world), CCCSAT has
the distinction of being the first community college to be selected for this
opportunity. Utilizing the vast resources of the California Community College
system, the CCCSAT channel (CCN) (Channel 9405) will provide informational,
educational and enrichment programming airing 24 hours daily, 7 days a week
to over five million households.
