Section A · Page 6
The University Daily Kansan
Monday, October 9, 2000
Unique class studies Internet interaction
Course focuses on how the Internet is helping harming modern society
By Jennifer Valadez
writer@kansan.com
Kansas staff writer
The entire world is virtually a mouse click away, and with 55 million Americans using the Internet daily, a whole new system of communication has been established.
As this Internet community continues to grow, the problem of social isolation has become the center of numerous surveys and studies.
A June 2000 CNN.com article cited a 1999 American Psychological Association survey on Internet isolation. Six percent of the 1,700 surveyed Internet users fulfilled the following criteria defining addiction: feeling a building tension before the act, a rush of relief afterward and distortions of mood and bingeing.
The same article cited a Feb. 2000 issue of American Psychologist as stating many people found counsel in anonymous discussion groups, which are in abundance on the Internet.
Nancy Baym, assistant professor of communication studies, said Internet isolation and its validity were discussed in Coms 460, a course that was started at the University of Kansas last spring on a trial basis.
"It's a topic that carries a great deal of controversy," she said.
Baym said the studies conducted on Internet isolation included an atypical population which was not necessarily an accurate example of the overall population of Internet users.
"My experience is that people automatically assume it," she said. "Every student in my class uses the Internet, but they surely don't become socially isolated as a result of it."
Keith Yuen, St. Louis senior, took the class last semester and said he enjoyed it.
"I liked the information because it's a new subject," he said. "It gets away from traditional classés because it deals with communication on a modern basis."
Yuen said he had benefited from
- 24 million have used the Web and e-mail to locate or hunt for long-lost family members or friends.
Internet usage facts
- An average of 55 million Americans log on to the Internet each day.
- 84 million Americans have used e-mail.
Kyle Ramsey/KANSAN
- 63 percent of Internet users have gone online just for fun.
Source: www.cnn.com
learning how the Internet effected culture and the everyday atmospheres of Internet users. He said the class looked at possible online-inspired ways of life, such as online presidential elections.
"For the way that society is heading, it's important to have this class for the future," he said. "Society is moving toward technology and the class will teach how it will effect it."
Robert Rowland, chair of communication studies, said the course had received approval College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and would be offered as Coms 320. Rowland said he was unsure if the course would begin being offered next fall.
"The teachers have not assembled their work loads for next year," he said. The course introduces social and communication issues in the context of online interaction.
Baym said the course discussed some of the social aspects of online relationships, including numerous ways in which Internet users identified themselves online, the online community and the possibility of a digital divide that could be created by online interpersonal communications.
Baym said the course, the only one of its kind at KU, offered students a different perspective.
"It is something different that makes people more aware of what's online," she said. "It may find students spending more time online and becoming more involved in online relations."
— Edited by Casey Franklin
Committee seeks guidelines for allotting computers
By Kursten Phelps
writer@kanson.com
Kanson staff writer
Student organizations that want their own computers may soon find it easier to obtain Student Senate financing.
A finance subcommittee has developed a series of recommendations which could lead to a set of guidelines for financing computers and technology for student organizations. Such guidelines would make it easier for Senate to determine which groups should get computers.
The subcommittee determined that instead of allocating money to groups for purchasing computers. Senate should purchase up to four new computers a year for the Organizations and Leadership Development Center in the Kansas Union. All student organizations will continue to have access to the computers in the workspace.
With the addition of new computers, a registered student organization could request a computer for its exclusive use. Senate would then determine which groups would receive a computer, and
those groups would get a computer for four years, said Lisa Braun, a member of the Technology F u n d Subcommittee.
The subcommittee
The subcommittee was commissioned in the spring, in part because of a conflict that arose last year. OAKS, a non-traditional student organization, requested funding to purchase a computer. Korb Maxwell, then-student body president, vetoed the bill granting the money.
Braun said the new proposal represented the best possible compromise.
"In the best-case scenario, we would have an infinite budget, and everyone who wanted a computer would come and get their own." Braun said. "Since we don't have an infinite budget, this is our best scenario."
The recommendations would also require an organization requesting a computer to have occupied an on-campus space or office for at least one year. The group also must be able to keep the computer in a secure location. Using a
professor's office would not qualify, however.
Justin Mills, subcommittee member, said the requirements for obtaining a computer weren't intended to exclude organizations that didn't have an office.
"I'm sure some groups won't be happy about that, but there has to be some accountability and some compromise." Mills said. "We don't want to give a computer to the office of a professor because it could be used for other things. For the most part, groups that need a computer are going to be larger groups that already have space in the Union or other departments."
Mills said he thought the recommendations, if adopted, would benefit students.
"I definitely believe it will be more productive. Before, there was no policy, and a lot of times it was cause for debate." Mills said. "With OAKS, part of the problem was that there was no real guideline for the funding of technology. The proposal given to Finance should alleviate most of the problems we have with groups wanting technology."
Other recommendations proposed by the subcommittee included contracting
STUDENT SENATE
What happened: The Student Senate Technology Fund Subcommittee proposed recommendations to the Finance Committee regarding financing computers for student organizations.
What it means: Registered student organizations may be able to request computers from the Organization and Leadership Development Center as they become available.
What's next: Senate will introduce legislation in the future to implement the recommendations.
with the Union so registered student organizations could use Union audiovisual equipment for free, establishing a storage server for the Organization and Leadership computers, and hiring a computer support person.
braun said the next step was for the Finance Committee to address legislation that would put the recommendations into effect. Bills dealing with the issue could come as early as next week, she said.
— Edited by Erin McDaniel
Some airlines hoping to add Internet access
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Hoping to soothe delayed passengers, several airlines want to install wireless Internet access in airport terminals that will allow travelers to work, surf the Web or even watch digital movies to pass the time.
Delta Air Lines is already offering the service at its terminal in Vancouver, British Columbia, and plans to have it available by the end of next year in its main hub cities Atlanta, Cincinnati and Dallas-Fort Worth.
United Airlines, which had the worst on-time performance in August among the major carriers announced plans to start its
announced plans to sell its own Internet service next year at 30 airports.
ON THE NET
Passengers will need only a computer with the right wireless modem — the latest laptops are equipped — and a few dollars to pay for access.
Frequent filers will be able purchase an unlimited access account for $40 to $60 a month. David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, a travel advocacy group, said he saw the
On the Net: Aerzone:
http://www.aer-
zone.com
United Airlines:
http://www.unitedair-
lines.com
Delta Air Lines:
http://www.delta.com
American Airlines:
http://www.aa.com
move as a panacea for growing bottlenecks at America's airports.
"As passengers experience more delays and cancellations, they find themselves in the waiting areas longer than they're used to," he said. "Clearly, to make that time more productive, it's a tremendous benefit for passengers."
Some travelers agree.
Some travelers agree.
"Wireless access would be dynamite," said Derrick Gurski, a national sales manager at a Chicago lighting company, while he waited for a flight at Washington's Reagan National Airport. "The more I can stay in contact with my factory and my sales people, the better it's going to be."
Delta and United are partners with Aerzone, a San Francisco company backed by major electronic industry players like Nokia and Cisco, to provide wireless local area networks, or LANs, at airport lounges, gates and terminals.
With a properly equipped computer, travelers will be able to connect to their office computers through the Internet, check and send e-mail or shop on the World Wide Web.
For those looking for something a bit lighter, the wireless pipeline to the Internet is expected to be large enough to allow passengers to download a DVD movie in three minutes or watch full-screen television.
The plans come at a time when relations between airlines and travelers are frayed over delays. Only 70 percent of planes are making their schedules, the Transportation Department said. United Airlines came in last among the 10 large carriers in August, with just 42.7 percent on-time arrivals.
While the new technology promises possibilities for passengers, it will not erase all their problems.
passenger, say, "Who's worried about e-commerce on an airplane when they don't even have seats that are comfortable?" asked Jim Janson, a traveler from San Francisco.
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SCIENCE AND THE RETURN OF THE GOD HYPOTHESIS
Chapter, interviews Rev. Thad Holcombe Director of Ecumencial Christian Ministries "The University Under Fire".
Leonard Magruder, President of Sons and Daughters of Vietnam Veterans-KU
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