OPINION

For Campus IT: Early Lessons From Katrina

By Rich Seeley

Disaster planning will undoubtedly be a hot topic for campus IT, following Katrina. What lessons can be learned? What can be done differently? Is it possible to be prepared for every contingency?

Some lessons may be fairly obvious. Coming up with better plans and being able to execute them may take more time. Here are a few preliminary thoughts about what we’ve learned from Katrina so far.

IT NEWS

Free Phones, Buses, Web Assistance for Katrina Victims

Cell phone and other high-tech communications companies are engaged in an effort to bolster communications among those displaced by Katrina. Turns out that if you want to use FEMA's online aid request form, though, you'd better not be a Apple user. (USA Today) Read more

Outside of the 'Mainstream' But Helping Out in the Gulf

More about what people are doing to try to restore networking to the New Orleans area: "the ad-hoc culture of open-source wireless, mesh networking and free mumicipal Wi-Fi" is playing its part. Read more

Despite Overseas Outsourcing, Community Colleges See Help-Desk Support as a Growing Career

So many community colleges, like Northern Essex Community College, in Massachusets find the need to create or grow pre-existing training programs. Read more

Supremes Don't Scare Music File Swappers

Despite high-profile court cases, including the recent US Supreme Court ruling, on any given day as many as 9.6M people are logged into file-sharing programs, up from 6.8M last year. (USA Today) Read more

RESOURCES

Universities Hit by Katrina Tap Technologies To Stay Afloat

"In spite of a lack of electricity, a hugely damaged telecom infrastructure, and increasingly explosive civil unrest, university staff and students in Louisiana are applying what technology they can use to communicate with each other and helping in the arduous process of rebuilding their state," writes Dian Schaffhauser in CT exclusive Web coverage. Read more

DEALS, CONTRACTS, AWARDS

Sacred Heart University--Campus IT Pioneer --Takes Another Step Forward

The on-campus "actory," houses a notebook service and support center and IT call center on campus, offers Lenovo-certified technicians that provide over-the-counter repair services for greater flexibility and decreased costs." (Sacred Heart Pioneers) Read more

Swarthmore Revamps IT Support System

Among other changes, it is using a local outside vendor to supplement the pre-existing but overworked and often unavailable 'dorm consultants.' (The Ph'enix, Swarthmore College’s Online Student Newspaper) Read more