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ACADEMIC COMPUTING and COMMUNICATIONS CENTER | ||||||||
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A PC in Every Pot! (A Chicken on Every Desk?) | ||||
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| The Network Initiative, Take II | ||||
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We were quite pleased to announce the Network Initiative last June. As
you probably know, this is the program, initiated by Provost and Interim
Chancellor David Broski, to provide a free ADN-ii connection to everyone
on campus who can use one, and to back this action with enough routers
and fiber-optic cable so the network will not be saturated with all the
new connections. We started in July and have several hundred new connections
installed now. Sure, it would have been nice to throw in a few personal
computers and some software. But the emphasis on the network was a solid,
reasonable step. And besides, every initiative has to have its limits.
Well, maybe this one doesn't. Free Personal Computers!We are now triply pleased to announce that free personal computers are indeed added to the mix -- roughly 1,000 new machines for faculty and 80 new machines for the ADN public labs. Clearly Dr. Broski believes that computers and network services are essential to the fulfillment of UIC's mission, and he is not shy about finding the means to provide this.Pentium or PowerPC?Don't think this is just a numbers game. The free computers are substantial machines a Dell 75MHz Pentium, a Dell 90MHz Pentium, or an Apple PowerPC 7200. Each will have 16Mb memory, a 500Mb hard drive, a CD-ROM drive, and a 15-inch monitor. All brandname equipment, Novell certified, with a three-year warranty. A personal computer like this ought to amply cover your needs for several years. If you have special needs -- for more memory, for more disk space, or for other peripherals -- you'll have to add them yourself through regular channels.And Free Software, TooAnd that's not all. After all, what good is a desktop computer, even one that has a network connection, if you don't have software? And what could be more convenient than to have our site-licensed software appear on your screen through the magic of networking, without your having to install it -- or even to provide the hard disk space for it? The Network Initiative will enable the Computer Center to purchase six additional LAN servers, so we can offer our Server Services to more people. Local Area Networks (LANs) and ADN Server Services in particular were described in The ADN Connection in January/February 1995. (It is available online at the URL http://www.uic.eduhttp://www.uic.edu/depts/accc/newsletter/ , and we might have a few back issues in hardcopy still available.)ADN Server Services brings some LAN services to individuals in a department that might not have its own departmental LAN. Normally we charge a one-time fee of $50 to connect to Server Services, and $7 per month for the basic access to our site-licensed software. (Disk space for shared files and support for sharing departmental printers are extra.) These charges cover the hardware, software, and personnel costs involved. Even at these prices, this is quite a bargain, considering you get access to many hundreds of dollars worth of software and don't have worry about installing or upgrading it. But since we're getting additional LAN servers under the new Network Initiative, it's only fair that we pass along the good news. The free computers handed out under this initiative will come equipped with: Free basic ADN Server Services for one year! Such a deal! |
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| What About the Students? | ||||
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Students are very much at the center of the current initiatives. What good
is computer-aided education unless the students benefit? Last year, well
before the current programs, Dr. Broski found the funds to rehab most of
the public student labs and to buy icarus, our central student UNIX server.
That was an excellent start, and the new machines are heavily used.
This process will continue under the new network initiative with $250,000 allocated to replacing the remaining old machines (mostly in BGRC and the Library) and to open another PC lab in SEL. Of particular interest to any west-side Apple fans, this means Macs in BGRC. We will continue to open new labs, to maintain the quality of PCs, microcomputers, and to upgrade our network and central UNIX capacity. Our students will have even better access to their teachers and to the fruits of their labors than ever before. |
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| Want to Get in Line? | ||||
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Free personal computers, free Internet connections, free software -- it
doesn't get much better than this! Please realize, though, that ordering,
organizing, and installing computers on this scale will take time. So,
if you are interested in any or all of these offers, here is the first
rule:
Don't call the Computer Center. If we have to take individual calls, it will only slow down the process. We need to deal with a department as a whole to increase our installation efficiency. So: If you want a free PC with a year's worth of free ADN Server Services: Talk to your department head. Academic Affairs will allocate money for the purchase of personal computers to the dean of each college, based on the number of credit hours offered by the college. (This particular formula, by the way, sends a message that teachers and students are sure to appreciate.) The college dean, in turn, will suballocate the money to the departments; the free personal computers will be distributed at the department level. What's in this for the rest of us? Of course, everyone is not going to get a free PC; there aren't enough of them. But as you can imagine, the vendors are very willing to give a good deal to anyone who orders 1,000 personal computers from them. So, even if you aren't selected to receive a free computer, you are welcome to buy a personal computer at the prices we've negotiated. But we need to order them in large groups, so let your department head know of your interest soon. Also, because of the volume involved, you must select one of the three basic configurations. But please keep in mind that it is impossible to buy a machine today -- at any price -- that won't be obsolete in four or five years; continual advances in computer hardware and software will guarantee that. Computers are a recurring cost. The current program will jump-start the process, but it is only prudent for each department to budget about $500 a year per machine to replace each personal computer when the time comes. |
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| What's Next? | ||||
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We are going to try to coordinate the delivery of PCs and the installation of
network connections as best we can. We want to do this both because PCs and connections
are much more valuable together than separately and also because it's more efficient
for us to install networking software on a computer right out of the box than
to retrofit an existing PC. So please order your connections before you order
your PCs, or at least at the same time. Of course both orders need to be placed
on a department-wide basis.
The increased computer power on campus and the opportunity to help more people get the most out of their machines is certainly exciting for us. But the real importance for UIC is the new ways these computers will help us achieve our academic mission. Like a telephone, the networked computer on your desk increases in value as more and more of your colleagues acquire networked computers on their desks. And the notion that you can reach everyone with email is only the beginning -- shared whiteboards, video conferencing, group scheduling, classroom discussion groups, multimedia presentations, self-paced instruction, distance learning, intelligent literature searches, virtual reality, self-publishing, and who knows what other networked services will change the face of the 21st century university. The Network Initiative is an excellent start down that path. Comments are appreciated; please send them |
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| The ADN Connection, Sept/Oct 1995 | Previous: Sept/Oct 1995 Contents | Next: Schedule Your Meetings on the ADN |
| 2000-11-3 connect@uic.edu |
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