THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 1, 1994 TAG: 9411010286
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: FAIRFAX LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
George Mason University students will have access to various high-tech services as part of an $11.8 million communications project to be installed beginning next month.
The university hopes to build a massive new communications infrastructure by mid-1996, said George Mason telecommunications director Keith Segerson. The advances include electronic mail systems, cable TV, computerized lecture halls and an improved emergency phone system.
The project also involves installing 588 miles of underground fiber-optic cables to connect voice, video and data activity at every building.
The main campus will gain two electronic lecture halls, which can transmit lessons to satellite sites. One of the halls will have a computer terminal at every desk.
Segerson said the infrastructure will be a base from which George Mason can install equipment as technology advances in the 21st century. ``This is the facilitator. . . the highway. What cars we put on it will come down the line.''
The project will be financed by loans and school-backed bonds.
The contract, awarded to Bell Atlantic, includes installation of a new university phone system on the main Fairfax campus and on the Arlington and Prince William campuses.
The phone system will improve 911 service by automatically identifying the building and room location of incoming campus calls to police.
Installation of the new system requires rewiring all of George Mason's buildings with fiber-optic and high-capacity copper cables.
That network will give dormitories access to both cable television and George Mason's local educational programming, Segerson said.
By next fall, students will be able to hook up their personal computers to access a variety of online systems. by CNB