YOU CAN'T BEAT THE TECHNOLOGY AT FLORIDA STATE
By Franklin D. Murphy
Director of University Communications
When it comes to information-age education, Florida State University now can make the strongest of claims that it is the new No. 1. We have yet to be designated No. 1 by Wired magazine or anyone else. But for now, we want our Florida State Times readers to know why we make this claim.
HERE'S WHY:
No university provides more to its students, faculty and staff in terms of free access to the Internet and its World Wide Web sites, with dial-up capability from any computer through telephone lines anywhere in the world.
And all courses offered by the university are in easy-to-navigate web format.
No other university offers free e-mail accounts along with free access to the most comprehensive array of electronic libraries at any higher-education institution. Nearly 30,600 people now have FSU Internet and e-mail accounts.
With Provost Larry Abele and others guiding the way, Florida State has taken the lead in providing the tools for the best in information-age education. If you want to see how this comes together, point your Internet browser to "www .fsu.edu. Click on "Academic Resources." After you have reviewed that material, go back and click on the "Connected to Learning" icon at "www.fsu.edu."
The "Connected to Learning" site will tell you about the university's high-tech, information-age capabilities and how they combine powerful online research tools to set Florida State apart from any other university such tools as LEXIS-NEXIS Universe, FirstSearch, Britannica Online, Congressional Compass, Web of Science and others.
The "Connected to Learning" array of services with its Netscape interface helps students find it fast and quickly print or download to a computer disk. Need to find the complete text of an article published in a major newspaper or magazine yesterday or 15 years ago? Can do. Need the text of a transcript for ABC's Nightline show the other night? You've got it. Need to find an influential research piece from the Institute of Scientific Information? OK. Want the full text and the status of certain proposed legislation in Congress? No problem. Want quick access to the world's most comprehensive reference pro-duct, Encyclopedia Britannica? It is just a mouse click away. Another mouse click away is WebLuis, which offers the catalogs, databases and gateways of the libraries of the entire State University System.
This amalgamation of services is an important part of why we say students are "connected to learning" at FSU. But you might ask: What good are these services if you don't have a computer? Good question. Florida State understands that computers aren't just an option. In today's information-age society, they are a necessity.
Recently, FSU opened another all-student-access computer complex on campus, adding 122 powerful new microcomputer stations for students. They're on the third floor of Carothers Hall. They bring the total number of all-student-access computer stations to 550.
Other computer facilities are located in the Strozier Library and Oglesby Union.
The new computer complex, a-long with last year's computer upgrades and an aggressive project to wire student residence halls for the Internet, brings the two-year expenditures on this aspect of the "connected to learning" project to $5 million. FSU's goal is for no student to wait more than 15 minutes for a computer.
AN ONLINE CONTEST FOR HIGH-TECH GUNSLINGERS
While the university continues to provide greater access to computers, surveys of incoming freshmen show that more than 70 percent are high-tech gunslingers. They come to the information shoot-out here with their own desk-top or notebook-style computers. They are immune to cyberphobia; they have an insatiable desire for immediacy.
There are more of them out there. And FSU has launched a new, nationwide effort to get out its "Connected to Learning" message. With its partner LEXIS-NEXIS, the university helped develop LEXIS-NEXIS UNIVerse, the powerful research service now being used campus-wide and spreading rapidly to campuses throughout the state and the country. Simply said, LEXIS-NEXIS UNIVerse provides students with more information for term papers and the like than all the websites on the Internet combined.
Florida State University wants students everywhere to know why we say we are No. 1 in information- age education. So, we teamed up again with LEXIS-NEXIS to offer an annual contest, called The Great Online Research Challenge, to high school juniors and seniors around the country.
This contest is underway now. It is an entertaining and educational information scavenger hunt that offers contestants an opportunity to compete online for nearly $100,000 in prizes, including four-year tuition scholarships to Florida State University for the members of the winning team and LEXIS-NEXIS UNIVerse subscriptions for the high schools they represent, as well as other prizes.
After only a month of contest promotion in January, nearly 900 students from 39 states and Puerto Rico are using the "UNIVerse" service to compete online in the Great Online Research Challenge. On April 3, the five two-member teams that survived the semifinals are scheduled to compete in the finals at the new computer lab of the FSU School of Information Studies. The competition will be reported in the next issue of the Florida State Times.
We want thousands of juniors and seniors in high school to join in this competition every year. That's why we are beginning to promote next year's competition now. We hope our Florida State Times readers will help spread the word about The Great Online Research Challenge to high schoolers, their parents and teachers everywhere. Encourage them to go to either the "www. fsu.edu" or "www.fsu.com" web sites.
INTER-NET ACCESS: A LOCAL CALL FOR MOST SEMINOLES
Under an agreement with IBM Global Network, FSU alumni, students, faculty and staff can purchase ICE (IBM Internet Connection for Education) at the discounted monthly rate of $17.95.
This Internet connection service was rated "A+" and named "Best Buy" by PC World magazine. It provides unlimited access to the Internet via local calling all over the world , including numerous sites in Florida. In the very few places where local-call access might not be available, IBM offers access via 800-number calling at a rate of $6 per hour. There is an initial $10 registration fee.
These prices are very competitive, but what might make ICE particularly attractive to Florida State alumni is the e-mail account that accompanies the service, along with five additional e-mail connections for family members. Also, you will never feel locked in because the credit-card billing for ICE is a month-to-month commitment.
Alumni can subscribe to the ICE service by calling IBM Higher Education Alumni Fulfillment at 1-888-865-1654, or by downloading the Internet Access Kit directly to their computers from http://www. ibm.net/access. In either case, they would need to provide the appropriate registration and credit card information.
Distance-learning students or others who already have an Internet connection on their computer can register at http://config1.il.us.ibm. net/svc. IBM also offers special prices for Basic service at $4.95 per month for three hours access each month or Campus service at $12.95 per month for 50 hours of access each month. Access hours can be added to these packages at additional fees.
In the final analysis, the ICE service is a cool way to get connected, with the warm and friendly aspect that 50 cents of each monthly fee goes to Florida State. We'll use it to keep you connected to the best.