OPINION

Is Campus IT Ready for Rita?

By Terry Calhoun

For some reason I cannot get the Beatles song, "Lovely Rita Meter Maid," out of my head this week: “Lovely Rita meter maid. Nothing can come between . . .” --between Rita and Galveston, is what it’s looking like. (Now you can blame me for getting into your head, while you ponder the possibility that Rita and her ilk have come to collect the payment due for the sloppy way that humans have been parking on mother Earth.)

Even as everyone engaged by Katrina is still, slowly, realizing the dramatic complexity of the circumstances from that storm, yet another handful of higher education institutions are preparing for a major hit. And the folks in the Galveston area are taking this seriously. After all, the hurricane there in 1900 is still considered the largest hurricane disaster in United States history, with 8,000 dead. Will some of the lessons recently learned be put into play? Can some of the aid mechanisms already in place be shifted to assist Texas schools?
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IT NEWS

We Are in the Midst of a VoIP Revolution

Concordia University in Montreal expects to reach 5,000 voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) phones soon, despite an initial infrastructure implementation cost. (Globe and Mail Online) Read more

Chemistry 101 Meets "Millionaire"

The University at Buffalo (NY) is issuing nearly 4,000 "clickers" (Audience Response Systems) to students this year. (University of Buffalo Reporter) Read more

Students "Stuck in a Loop" at Truman State University

Staff unfamiliarity with the new Cisco Clean Access software cause a small problem for a few days at Truman State University (MO)--students could log on to the network for no more than 30 minutes at a time. (College Publisher Network) Read more

U Colorado Planning Major Network Security Changes

They'll be working through a multi-layered approach, that will start with assigning every computer used on campus its own, specific IP address. (Colorado Daily) Read more

RESOURCES

Buildings Designed for Technology

College and university IT managers struggle to teach campus planners and architects how facility design can help or hinder emerging technologies. (College Planning and Management) Read more

DEALS, CONTRACTS, AWARDS

Oberlin Springs for New Macs

Despite budget issues, computer labs on the Oberlin College (OH)campus have been updated with the latest in work stations, and the option for color printing has been added, as well. (The Oberlin Review) Read more

Bowdoin G'es Blackboard Without Pain

A variety of class websites have now been replaced by Blackboard, with the wide acceptance of faculty and students at Bowdoin College (ME). (The Bowdoin Orient) Read more

iPods Help Drill U Michigan Dental Students

Students have been experimenting with it and now they can download and listen to their dental school lectures via Apple's i-Tunes online store. (The Ann Arbor News)
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