THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, June 6, 1994 TAG: 9406040161
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Dave Mayfield
DATELINE: 940606 LENGTH: Medium
That place is education.
{REST} Jones, the nation's seventh-largest cable-TV operator, is one of the most aggressive developers of electronic classrooms - maybe the most aggressive. Its Mind Extension University cable network reaches 26 million households in the U.S. with degree programs from 30 universities.
Last month, ME/U got a toehold in Virginia Beach. Channel 47, a public-access channel operated by the city, began carrying ME/U programming from midnight to 8 a.m., seven days a week.
``There seems to be quite a bit of interest in it,'' said Gwen Cowart, director of the Beach's Video Services Department, who scouted out ME/U and recommended Channel 47 start carrying it. So far, Virginia Beach subscribers of Cox Cable are the only people in Hampton Roads who get the network.
During the period ME/U is carried on Channel 47, mostly master's-level courses are offered. They range from an MBA from Colorado State University to a master's of arts in education and human development from George Washington University. Prices start at $900 a course in the MBA program and about $600 a course in the master's in education program.
Students register through the individual universities, which pay a fee to ME/U for carrying their courses. There is no charge to Channel 47 for airing the courses.
Glenn R. Jones, the chief executive of Jones International, said in an interview that he founded ME/U seven years ago because the nation's education system is ``dropping a lot of people through the cracks.''
Because its courses can be videotaped and replayed at a convenient time, ME/U has appealed to working people or stay-at-home parents trying to get degrees on the side. Jones said people in remote places and folks who move frequently, such as those in the military, also have been intensive users of the telecourses.
While some education traditionalists have argued that ME/U is a ``dumbing down'' step, Jones said test scores for the graduates don't support that claim.
\ Media Access Group, a Virginia Beach company that's plying the waters of interactive TV, home shopping and infomercials, has signed an agreement with WVEC-TV, the local ABC affiliate, to develop local two-minute ads.
In addition, Media Access said the ads, which go under the heading ``Hampton Roads Smart Buys,'' will be inserted on Cox Cable's Prevue Channel. Earlier this year, Media Access developed long-form commercials to run on WVBT-TV, the local Home Shopping Club affiliate. Media Access is headed by Michael Goldberg.
\ The nation's 45th-largest computer-network integrator is based in Virginia Beach: Electronic Systems. That's according to LAN magazine, a trade publication that puts together an annual list of the 100 largest such companies.
Electronic Systems' revenues from systems integration totaled $14.35 million in 1993, up 66 percent from the year before, LAN said. This is the first time the local company made the magazine's list.
\ AT&T has decided to switch a contract to handle its directory-assistance calls in Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia from Bell Atlantic Corp. to CFW Communications Corp. CFW, based in the Shenandoah Valley city of Waynesboro, has been chipping away at Bell Atlantic in recent years.
Bell Atlantic said 280 employees, including some in Hampton, will be affected by the contract loss.
\ Ad revenues for the Daily Press in Newport News rose 3 percent in 1993, according to the annual report of Tribune Co., the newspaper's Chicago-based parent.
by CNB