THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512220531
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALEX MARSHALL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines
Diving into the internet is akin to diving onto a trampoline.
You don't splash. You bounce.
From Chuck Robb to Lottery numbers to General Assembly bills, you'll find yourself bounding from one to another and back again with as much thought as clicking the channel button on a TV.
Just within the limited universe of Virginia politics, you can bounce around related sites for hours. Certain large sites, like the Virginia home page for the whole state, act as centers of gravity, pulling you in from various other sites you visit.
A good place to start browsing is:
Project Vote-Smart: http://www.vote-smart.org/
This is a wonderful site to learn about national presidential politics with links that flow into Virginia-only matters. During last November's legislative races, the web pages provided a slew of information.
On the 1996 presidential race, you can learn how presidential candidates stand on everything from foreign policy to abortion to state block grants. The page has a link to the Virginia home page.
Another good place to start is:
Virginia Online, (http://www.infi.net/pilot/extra/vaonline.html), a category set up under Pilot Online that groups home pages related to the state. To get there without typing the long address, go to Infinet, then go to Newsstand, then to Pilot Online, then to Extra and then to Virginia Online.
Under Virginia Online are multiple listings for both politics and government.
Whichever way you start, you'll probably find yourself popping up at:
The Virginia home page.(http://www.state.va.us/)
This bright page has links to a visitor guide, government, education, weather and other subjects.
The education site will take you to specific sites on every state-supported college in the state, from the University of Virginia to the local community college. Many private schools are listed.
The Virginia Government page has listings for Gov. George F. Allen, Lt. Gov. Don Beyer and other subjects. About two dozen individual departments and agencies have home pages that can be accessed, including the Housing Development Authority and the Lottery.
The government page will take you to the General Assembly's home page.
The General Assembly home page provides information on both the legislature and legislators. Want information on what bills a legislator has authored? Del. Glenn R. Croshaw, for example, has been the chief patron of more than 30 bills, including HB 1726, which has something to do with regulating menhaden fishing.
Other good spots for Virginia politics include:
Virginia Voter Net, part of Infinet, will be a forum for discussion and information about presidential politics in 1996. The page is largely dormant now, but you can still see the results from November's legislative races.
Cyberdemocracy (http://www.infi.net/roatimes/cyberdemocracy.html): A useful page run by The Roanoke Times and available through Infinet, it not only lists multiple sites available for the politically inclined but gives you a saucy commentary on how fun a site is.
Set up by Sarah Huntley and Dwayne Yancey, Cyberdemocracy will take you to the home page of politicians and various political parties, including the Democratic party, the Libertarian Party and the Socialist Party.
It will link you up to a variety of political groups, from the National Rifle Association to the Christian Coalition to United We Stand. ILLUSTRATION: [John Earle]
Color photos
Project Vote-Smart, a good starting point, deals with national
politics and has links to local matters, including...
The Virginia home page, with links to nonpolitical and political
pages, including...
The General Assembly home page, with information on legislators and
legislation.
by CNB