Although Internet, a major computerized information network, makes massive quantities of information available free to users, there are concerns associated with it, including the lack of permanent storage of information and the need for colleges to recover costs incurred in making information available off-campus. (MSE)

Examines the effects of word processing and pervasive e-mail on quality of college students' writing. Reports on strategies some instructors are using to improve writing and encourage structure, including having students e-mail drafts of papers to professors, requiring student to rewrite papers, encouraging students to review printed out (rather…

Case Western Reserve University (Ohio) is hoping a high-powered campus information system will help diversify its student body and provide innovative education. A new optical-fiber network will connect computers in dormitory rooms, faculty and staff offices, classrooms, libraries, and laboratories and be linked with local, national, and…

Describes efforts at several universities to maintain ongoing contact with alumni through e-mail lists, Web sites and CD-ROM, or on-line alumni directories. Examples of such activities at Stanford University (California), Caltech (California), Dickinson College (Pennsylvania), and Princeton University (New Jersey) are highlighted. (DB)

A study to test whether or not a computer network can be used to ease the isolation of housebound AIDS patients and help them get advice and make decisions about their health care is described. The research is supported by the National Institutes of Health. (MLW)

College alumni associations are providing graduates with such electronic services as bulletin boards, computer mailing lists, online alumni magazines and newsletters, alumni forums on commercial networks, and electronic mail addresses. Other anticipated uses of the technology include fund raising, classes offered on networks, electronic bookstore…

H-NET (Humanities and Social Sciences OnLine) is a new, rapidly expanding international online network of scholars that was established to increase electronic mail communication among individuals. Currently, the program is devoting more attention to World Wide Web-related projects providing information and reference sources. Internal conflict…

Election of a new executive director for H-Net, a humanities and social sciences mailing-list network, is marked by controversy over the large role of Michigan State University in the network, due to the incumbent's faculty status there, and over the extent of his authority. The conflict has extended to how open the network should be to diverse…

Faculty at 11 higher education institutions in California, New Mexico, Texas, and northern Mexico have been experimenting with computer conferencing on the BESTNET (Bilingual English-Spanish Telecommunications Network). The growing system is credited with creating an international student-faculty community that crosses cultural barriers for…

Instead of mailing photocopies of proposed scholarly journal articles to reviewers, some editors are using electronic mail or the Internet to disseminate articles to other scholars to be critiqued. They are then returned electronically to the editors. However, most journals have not yet begun this process due to lack of reliable software or…

A California State University, Northridge mathematics professor divided a statistics class, teaching one group traditionally in class and another in an online version of the course, using a World Wide Web site, electronic mail, and an electronic chat room. On both midterm and final exams, the latter group performed significantly better. Despite a…

Colleges and universities are finding that ways to misbehave in computer-mediated communication come along faster than institutions can create policies to deal with them. Although most schools have acceptable-use policies, technological advances change the environment quickly and require flexible policies. Most institutions have created a mix of…

Santa Rosa Junior College (California) is in dispute with the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights over comments about women students, termed sexual harassment, made in a men-only computer conference. The college is negotiating with the federal agency over what it must do to respond to student complaints. (MSE)

"Chronicle of Higher Education" presents an abundant source of news and information for college and university faculty members and administrators. This November 19, 2004 issue of "Chronicle for Higher Education" includes the following articles: (1) "Mr. Water" (Zaragoza); (2) "Philippine Government Shuts Down 23…

The seventh annual campus computing survey found the adoption rate of high-technology tools for college instruction has slowed. Although technology centers serving faculty are common, most institutions have few formal rewards for faculty use of technology. Data are presented on trends in proportions of courses using technology for various purposes…