DATE: Wednesday, June 18, 1997              TAG: 9706180537

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   31 lines

FACULTY URGES ODU TO PROVIDE INTERNET ACCESS TO ALL STUDENTS

Every Old Dominion University student should be given, free of charge, a computer account providing access to e-mail and the Internet.

So says the university's Faculty Senate, which passed the recommendation unanimously at its meeting Tuesday.

Whether the administration will carry it out remains to be seen.

David R. Hager, an associate vice president for academic affairs who attended the meeting, said he didn't know how much the move would cost or whether the administration could accomplish it.

``We're trying to promote as many (technological) opportunities as possible,'' he said.

David F. Harnage, the university's vice president for administration and finance, who oversees computers, could not be reached Tuesday afternoon.

At the faculty meeting, Mark S. Elliott, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, said the proposal was in step with ODU's goal of preparing students for the 21st century. ``Everyone communicates by e-mail,'' he said. ``Research is done on the Internet.''

Currently, he said, students generally have to get permission from their department chairmen to open such accounts. ``This would provide everybody walking through the door with an account right off the bat,'' he said.

Professors acknowledged that providing students the accounts wouldn't necessarily mean they would use them. ``They could take advantage of the opportunity or let it sit,'' Elliott said.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu