a
Surfing The Information Superhighway
Students connect tomorrow’s technology with the campus of today
■MB first time I remember
■ Uj^ feeling old, reullv old,
ft ■ ■ U w as during high sdiool
I II utter a friend’s
microwave broke
down. I remember his 8-year-old brother
looking distressed. “What are we going to
do without a micrtmuive}” he asked, visibb
shaken.
CYBERADMSSIONS OFFICE: THE REVOLUTION BEGINS
Ihc campus of the future starts at the admissions
office Some universities, including the l . of
Southern California, are moving to a paperless appli
cation process And before you sa\ “lla1 .\1\ S.-VI
days arc over," keep in mind the pastime displacing
alcohol as evcrylxxly's favorite form of escapism: grad
school,
\ new version of the (iraduaic Record I- sains will
lie administered this month Called computerized
adaptor tests (C \ I s), they adpist to the test taker’s
ahilitv
lit- acted like ( olumbus discovered th
murimivc I rcmcmltcr a time »lu-n it
took 10 minutes to l>oil a hot dog and |
we roasted |w>|h orn over an open flame
I'm teelmg even older now l he wav
he felt about that oven is the wav our
future
\nswer eas\ questions correct I \
and you gel more difficult ones.
■Vnswer east questions incorrect
Is and the computer feeds you
less difficult ones. If mo CiRI
kuls mil feci .iliout e-mail. I lie most sophisticated
pieee of W equipment at my school was the over
head protector. But all that is changing
America's campuses are at the forefront of a tech
nological revolution, and lest you think the changes
taking place won’t affect your soon-to-graduate
In-hind, think again. The information superhighway
running through our schools, homes and offices
will affect us all.
I hanktulh. universities around the country are
lumping on the high-tech bandwagon, and with good
reason. If universities are going to train us how to
operate anything more advanced than a deep-fat
trier, they had better take notice. Hie technology on
today’s campuses will become the tools of tomorrow s
work place.
takers have the same number ot correct answers, the
|»erv)n with the more challenging questions gets a
hurher score.
1 hey'II uun .ts you tell them how \ou had to walk to
class, m the middle ot winter, two, sometimes three
times a day. \nd it vs as uphill Imth ways.
CONNECTING TO THE INFOMMTION SUPERHIGHWAY
H here were you 'when you first heard 'Rush lashstcr?'
I lira' was your hair days’
(.hit hen WeXiijigets H hat hind of satire s’
In'i talh Madonna
It you're surfing the Internet, an electronic com
purer network subsidized h\ surprise the
National Science foundation, you too can Ik- privy to
meaningful discussions like those listed aliove You
can also discuss camel research with a Finnish si icn
tist, converse with a best-selling author or engage
Hilly idol m a rousing disputation.
I ake your pick W ith the recent explosion ot elec
tronic communication, the possibilities tor students
are unlimited.
“Uc .ire going to phase out paper ami pencil ® \nvone with a phone line tail tap into the
|CiKl s| complcteh in the next tour or five sears, B Internet and eoiunuinieate tor little or no cost
as we will S \ I s eventually," sa\s ke\in < >on/jlc/ B with other users from around the world
ot the i dueational I'esting Service, which admin B Students can share software, “talk" in real
tsters f>oth tests. tune by splitting the screen, or access the
(ir.uiu.itc school hopefuls who take the C'.-VI* can
receive their scores immediately. (iraduate school
not-so-hopetuls can choose to delete the l!A 1 Indore
seeing their scores.
Sotnedac you’ll tell your grandkids how your hand
ached from painstakingly filling out scantrons.
B\ Paul Hclt/cl, 1 ditor on Icllowsliij
I il*r jrv cit Congress or the libraries at liars aril l
and Johns 1 lopkins L
“The Internet is the best resource I'se found at
school," says Rachclinc Maltese, a senior at I he
George Washington L\ “I hast- learned more on the
’net than I hav e in a lot of classes.”
Fleet ronic communication isn’t a ness technology
the Internet started with ties to the Department of