Internet overload

As the number of Internet accounts continue to surge at SF State, Computing Services is scrambling to keep up with the demand.

Over the past 18 months, the number of Internet account holders jumped from 2000 to about 9000, and that number could double within the next twelve months, according to John True, executive director of Computing Services.

True's staff has developed and put into place an automated telephone service which allows students and faculty to call for information and advice in solving problems they encounter. The service is programmed to respond to the most frequently asked questions, but callers can still talk to a real person if they need to. So far, True said, the service has worked well.

"In the first three weeks of operation, almost 44 percent of the callers got information without having to speak with a staff member. We definitely expect to see that number rise as the semester begins," True said.

According to True, the Internet is being used more by both students and staff. "We have departments on campus that are developing their own home pages, and more faculty members are using the World Wide Web to communicate with students from their homes and businesses," True said. "More of our students are commuting, and can't always visit professors during office hours." True pointed out that the Internet helps students keep in touch with their professors at a time convenient for both.

Due to the increasing number of users dialing in to the campus system, it is common to get a busy signal, True said. True hopes to get more funding to increase the number of modems that are available for connection from computer users off campus.

Currently, there are only 160 modems available to link students to the University, and those are often too busy to use, especially during the system's peak hours between 5 p.m. and 2 a.m.

President Corrigan's office has provided $30,000 worth of new adaptive equipment for persons with disabilities. Some labs will have adaptive equipment such as large screen print and speech synthesizers, True said.

Meanwhile, a planning process will be set up to address the issue of student access to computer resources. A committee will be formed to discuss computing in the curriculum. This is the first semester that students at Sonoma State have to have assured access. That means that teachers can give assignments that require a computer. "We and the other 20 (California State) campuses will be developing a similar plan," True said.

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