.net (French) 1996 November/.net Magazine (FR) - Issue 01 - Nov 1996.iso/mac/Courrier/Pegasus Mail v2.1.2 Folder/Mail/P5E3E0.CNM

Text File | 1996-05-15 | 26KB | 497 lines

Status: R
Return-Path: <[e-mail]>
Received:  from VM1.NoDak.EDU by typhoon.dial.pipex.net (8.7.4/)
    id IAA15883; Tue, 7 May 1996 08:07:22 +0100 (BST)
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
Received: from VM1.NODAK.EDU by VM1.NoDak.EDU (IBM VM SMTP V2R2)
   with BSMTP id 5171; Tue, 07 May 96 00:03:41 CDT
Received: from VM1.NODAK.EDU (NJE origin LISTSERV@NDSUVM1) by VM1.NODAK.EDU (LMail V1.2a/1.8a) with BSMTP id 6941; Tue, 7 May 1996 00:03:34 -0500
Date:     Tue, 7 May 1996 00:03:27 -0500
Reply-To: Network Newsletters <[e-mail]>
Sender: Network Newsletters <[e-mail]>
From: Automatic digest processor <[e-mail]>
Subject:  NEWSLTR Digest - 5 May 1996 to 6 May 1996
To: Recipients of NEWSLTR digests <[e-mail]>

There are 2 messages totalling 470 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

  1. EDUPAGE> Edupage, 5 May 1996
  2. RPTCRD> DAILY REPORT CARD

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date:    Mon, 6 May 1996 13:36:51 -0500
From:    Gleason Sackman <[e-mail]>
Subject: EDUPAGE> Edupage, 5 May 1996

Date: Mon, 6 May 1996 09:20:45 -0400 (EDT)
From: Edupage Editors <[e-mail]>
To: "EDUCOM Edupage Mailing List" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Edupage, 5 May 1996

*****************************************************************
Edupage, 5 May 1996.  Edupage, a summary of news items on information
technology, is provided three times each week as a service by Educom,
a Washington, D.C.-based consortium of leading colleges and universities
seeking to transform education through the use of information technology.
*****************************************************************

TOP STORIES
        No Merger In Cards For British Telecom And Cable & Wireless
        The Selling Of Ada
        Pentium Pro Prices Poised To Plunge
        EU Takes A Closer At The Internet
        $500 Internet PC Won't Fly, Says Forrester

ALSO
        The PC's A Printing Press, Not A TV
        Chipping Away From Within
        Canadian Satellite Targeted
        "The Floppy Is Obsolete Technology"
        Payment By The Word
        Digital's New Servers Dish Up A Challenge
        LCD TVs

NO MERGER IN CARDS FOR BRITISH TELECOM AND CABLE & WIRELESS
Abandoning merger talks that would have created the world's fifth-biggest
communications group in terms of revenue, British Telecommunications and
Cable & Wireless said that financial and regulatory obstacles were too great
to overcome.  However, a business partnership between the companies will
continue, and the chairman of C&W said that "you can do a lot of things
without mega-mergers."  (New York Times 3 May 9 C4)

THE SELLING OF ADA
The U.S. Department of Energy is committing $2 million to promote commercial
software products written in Ada 95, a programming language developed with
substantial government support.  (Computer Industry Daily 6 May 96)

PENTIUM PRO PC PRICES POISED TO PLUNGE
A senior Intel official predicts deep cuts in prices for computers powered
by Intel's top-of-the-line Pentium Pro microprocessor, from an average of
$4,000 now to about $2,500 by the end of the year.  This trend is expected
to spark a new round of corporate upgrading, augmented by new Intel
motherboard and chip set technology that are both cheaper and easier to
maintain than current models.  The new technology, called Desktop Management
Interface, uses hardware and software standards designed to facilitate
remote diagnosis of PC problems and reduce repair and maintenance costs.
(Wall Street Journal 3 May 96 B4)

EU TAKES A CLOSER LOOK AT THE INTERNET
European Union culture and telecommunications ministers met last week to
discuss ways of controlling access to the Internet to prevent criminal
activity and protect children.  "Many member states perceive the need now
for some discipline, some kind of regulatory framework or code of ethics,"
says the Italian telecommunications minister.  Some European governments,
such as Germany and Great Britain, have already adopted Internet-related
laws and others are considering it.  (Wall Street Journal 3 May 96 B5B)

$500 INTERNET PC WON'T FLY, SAYS FORRESTER
A new report released by Forrester Research predicts that the $500 Internet
PC "won't deliver" and aren't cheap enough to qualify as a successful
consumer electronics product.  "The technology is not good enough, the
content will be inadequate, and distribution will pose a substantial
hurdle."  Forrester says that low-cost full-feature PCs priced in the $1,000
range will present a more viable alternative.  (Investor's Business Daily 6
May 96 A6)

======================================================

THE PC'S A PRINTING PRESS, NOT A TV
Jonathan Wallace, co-author of "Sex, Laws and Cyberspace," (Henry Holt,
1996) thinks Congress made a mistake in its attempt to ban "indecent"
content from the Internet:  "If Congress had taken a deep breath, it would
have realized the correct analogy for the Net is the printing press.  Every
computer can be used as a tool to create text or redistribute text created
by others.  The analogy is so exact that there's no justification to apply
laws that are different than those for the printing press.  What Congress
did instead was to treat the Net like broadcast TV -- a grievous mistake."
(Information Week 29 Apr 96 p12)  The Communications Decency Act is now
being challenged in court by the American Library Association, whose
legislative counsel Adam Eisgrau notes, "Fear plus ignorance shouldn't equal
public policy."  (Business Week 6 May 96 p58)

CHIPPING AWAY FROM WITHIN
The problem of microchip theft from high-tech industries is so widespread
that law enforcement officials estimate it adds about $150 to the cost of a
personal computer system.  Though an increasing number of chip thefts have
taken the form of violent armed robberies, the majority of such thefts are
accomplished by company insiders.  A 1994 survey released by the American
Society for Industrial Security indicated that employees were responsible
for 57% of all component thefts, with vendors and independent contractors
accounting for another 13%.  (San Jose Mercury Center News 5 May 96)

CANADIAN SATELLITES TARGETED
The race into space with direct broadcast satellite TV has created a
regulatory black hole that the U.S. government is struggling to fill.  A
plan by Telesat Canada to finance its $1.6-billion satellite program by
leasing capacity to American broadcasters has prompted the Federal
Communications Commission to hold special hearings in Washington to
investigate whether it can regulate the use of Canadian satellites.
(Toronto Financial Post 4 May 96 p1)

"THE FLOPPY IS OBSOLETE TECHNOLOGY"
Kim Edwards, CEO of removable-disk-drive-maker Iomega, says the days of the
floppy drive are over:  "We believe that the floppy disk is essentially
obsolete technology.  It isn't big enough to do anything with, and it's
very, very slow.  Software is all shipped on CD-ROM.  In fact, it's really
shipped on the hard drive.  Gateway 2000 Inc., for example, preconfigures
their machines with software right on the hard drive.  Microsoft Crop. has
announced that they're going to stop providing software on floppies.  I
think that's a huge signal.  But to make the Zip the floppy for the
multimedia age, we're going to have to do more than just sell the drive as
an external box.  We've got to get inside the computers."  The Zip drive,
which sells for $200, uses special removable disks that hold 100 megabytes
of data, compared with 1.4 megabytes on a conventional floppy.  Iomega's Jaz
drive stores one gigabyte on each disk.  (Investor's Business Daily 6 May 96 A6)

PAYMENT BY THE WORD
James Gleick reports that some Web-searching services will now let
advertisers sponsor an individual word.  For example, if you search for
"golf"at Yahoo, an ad for golf offers to let you win a set of clubs, and a
click on "golf" at Lycos gets you an ad and a contest offer from Cobra Golf.
Another example:  AT&T and Sprint both have bought the word "telephone" from
various search services.  (New York Times Magazine 5 May 96 p32)

DIGITAL'S NEW SERVERS DISH UP A CHALLENGE
Digital Equipment Corp.'s new line of computer servers, with prices starting
at $50,000 each, are taking aim at the lucrative mid-range server market now
dominated by Sun Microsystems, IBM and Hewlett-Packard.  "This finally gives
Digital a workhorse in the midrange," says an industry analyst, who predicts
that "within an 18-month ramp-up period, they could be doing one billion
dollars of business with this machine."  The new products can handle large
memory and database functions previously available only on Digital's
high-end Turbolaser machines, which start at $100,000 each.  (Wall Street
Journal 3 May 96 B4)

LCD TVs
Sharp's new 43-inch rear-projection TV uses a liquid crystal display panel
to display images.  The system is nearly as slim as a conventional 14-inch
CRT TV, and is about 1.5 times brighter than conventional rear-projection
TVs.  The TV is currently sold only in Japan (for about $3,600), but will be
available in the U.S this fall.  (Popular Science May 96 p12)

Edupage is written by John Gehl ([e-mail]) & Suzanne Douglas
([e-mail]).  Voice:  404-371-1853, Fax: [phone].

Technical support is provided by the Office of Information Technology,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

***************************************************************
Edupage ... is what you've just finished reading.  To subscribe to Edupage:
send mail to: [e-mail] with the message:  subscribe edupage
Smokey Robinson (if your name is Smokey Robinson;  otherwise, substitute
your own name).  ...  To cancel, send a message to: [e-mail]
with the message: unsubscribe edupage.   (If you have subscription problems,
send mail to [e-mail].)

Educom Review ... is our bimonthly print magazine on information technology
and education.  Subscriptions are $18 a year in the U.S.;  send mail to
[e-mail].  When you do, we'll ring a little bell, because we'll be
so happy!  Choice of bell is yours:  a small dome with a button, like the
one on the counter at the dry cleaners with the sign "Ring bell for
service"; or a small hand bell; or a cathedral bell;  or a door bell; or a
chime;  or a glockenspiel.  Your choice.  But ring it!

Educom Update ...  is our twice-a-month electronic summary of organizational
news and events. To subscribe, send mail to: [e-mail] with
the message:  subscribe update Marvin Gaye (if your name is Marvin Gaye;
otherwise, substitute your own name).

Archives & Translations ...  Edupage is translated into Chinese, French,
German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Romanian, and
Spanish.  For translations and archives, see  < http://www.educom.edu/ >.
Or send mail to [e-mail] for info on subscribing to any
of these translations.

Today's Honorary Subscribers ...  Smokey Robinson (b1940), soul singer whose
hits included "Tracks Of My Tears", "Oooh Baby Baby", and "You Really Got A
Hold On Me";  and Marvin Gaye (1939-1984), soul singer, who achieved
international success with his recording of "I Heard It Through The
Grapevine" in 1968.

*******************************************************************
Educom -- Transforming Education Through Information Technology
*******************************************************************

------------------------------

Date:    Mon, 6 May 1996 16:24:09 -0500
From:    Gleason Sackman <[e-mail]>
Subject: RPTCRD> DAILY REPORT CARD

Date:         Mon, 6 May 1996 16:37:47 EDT
From: Daily Report Card <[e-mail]>
Subject:      DAILY REPORT CARD
To: Multiple recipients of list RPTCRD <[e-mail]>

       --- Monday --- May 6, 1996 --- Vol. 6 --- No. 42 ---

D   ####  ##### ####   ###  ####  ####    #####  ###  ####  ####
A   ## ## ##    ## ## ## ## ## ##  ##     ##    ## ## ## ## ## ##
I   ####  ####  ####  ## ## ####   ##     ##    ##### ####  ## ##
L   ## ## ##    ##    ## ## ## ##  ##     ##    ## ## ## ## ## ##
Y   ## ## ##### ##     ###  ## ##  ##     ##### ## ## ## ## ####

    THE NATIONAL UPDATE ON AMERICA'S EDUCATION REFORM EFFORTS
         A service of the National Education Goals Panel

                                   __________         __________
CATCH THE SPIRIT                  |          SPOTLIGHT          |
  The Prudential Insurance        |                             |
Company of America and the U.S.   |    RACE AND ACHIEVEMENT     |
DoEd produced a booklet           |                             |
designed to explain the "many     |   Reams have been written   |
benefits of volunteer             | about the gap in achieve-   |
experience" and suggest various   | ment levels between white   |
community service options for     | and minority students.      |
young people (Prudential press    | Couple this concern with    |
release).  "Catch the Spirit:     | the renewed interest in     |
A Student's Guide to Community    | quotas, and you have a      |
Service" also includes advice     | storm brewing over American |
on how to pick a volunteer        | education.                  |
activity and lists sources of     |                             |
additional information.           |   Boston Latin illustrates  |
  Prudential decided to develop   | the heat generated when the |
the booklet after conducting a    | two debates collide.  The   |
nationwide survey of high         | public school requires an   |
school students last year on      | entrance exam.  One white   |
the subject of volunteerism.      | student who was denied      |
Survey results revealed that      | admission sued the school,  |
while 95% of respondents          | claiming reverse            |
believe in the importance of      | disrimination.  Boston      |
community service, few know       | Latin Headmaster Michael    |
where or how to get information   | Contompasis defends the     |
about community volunteer         | school's policy of setting  |
activities.                       | aside 35% of placements for |
  Copies of the booklet can be    | minority students.  He      |
ordered free-of-charge from the   | claims teachers, most in    |
Consumer Information Center;      | subtle ways, hold lower     |
Department 588C; Pueblo, Colo.    | expectations for minority   |
81099; or at the World Wide Web   | children, which translates  |
sites of Prudential               | into a self-fulfilling      |
(http://www.prudential.com) and   | prophecy.  (#3)             |
the Consumer Information Center   |_____________________________|
(http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov).


         ==============  QUOTE OF THE DAY  ==============
   "Its study should not be a boring recitation of facts from a
  textbook." --  Anne Petersen, deputy director of the National
           Science Foundation, on the study of science. (#1)
  _______________________________________________________________
|      A service of the National Education Goals Panel          |
|         Published by the Education Policy Network             |
|    1255 22nd Street NW; Wash, D.C.; 20037; 202/632-0952       |
|     The DRC hereby authorizes further reproduction and        |
|           distribution with proper acknowledgement.           |
|                 Publisher:  Barbara A. Pape                   |
                  Staff Writer:  Elizabeth Gage                 |
|_______________________________________________________________|



        ==============  TABLE OF CONTENTS  ==============

 GOAL FIVE:  MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE
  HANDS-ON SCIENCE:  Better than reading it in a book. (#1)

STATESIDE
  IN VIRGINIA:  A surprise resignation. (#2)

FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE
  QUOTAS AT LATIN:  Judge ready to rule. (#3)
  STOP DESEGREGATION:  Nixon on the warpath. (#4)

PRIVATE EYE
  THE TROUBLE WITH TURNER:  An uphill battle for APS. (#5)




       =====   GOAL FIVE:  MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE   =====

*1   HANDS-ON SCIENCE:  BETTER THAN READING IT IN A BOOK
     A survey of principals and personnel officers found that
hands-on science education is preferred to the traditional
textbook and lecture approach (Riechmann, AP/PITTSBURGH POST-
GAZETTE, 4/24).  "When it comes to teaching methods, hands-on
science is the favorite -- hands down," said Margo Barnes, senior
vice president of the Bayer Corp., the Pittsburgh-based company
that commissioned the survey.
     According to the paper, about 60% of the 300 human resource
directors and 301 elementary school principals surveyed said
students are not prepared in science to compete for current
entry-level jobs.  Seventy-five percent of respondents agreed
that students will not be prepared for such jobs 10 years from
now unless teaching methods are overhauled.
     About three-fourths of both groups said "inquiry-based
learning, hands-on experimenting, solving real problems and
encouraging critical thinking are becoming more important in
succeeding in the work world," writes the paper, according to the
report.  However, the groups disagreed over the quality of
schools:  75% of principals ranked their schools as "good" or
"excellent" in teaching students these skills; while only 32% of
the human resource officers ranked the schools as high.
     The POST-GAZETTE notes that hands-on, experiment-based
teaching is recommended as part of the science standards released
last year by the National Research Council, an arm of the
National Academy of Sciences.
     "Science is such a stimulating source of continuous
exploration and discovery," said Anne Petersen, deputy director
of the National Science Foundation.  "Its study should not be a
boring recitation of facts from a textbook."

                     =====  STATESIDE  =====

*2   IN VIRGINIA:  A SURPRISE RESIGNATION
     Va. school superintendent William Bosher last week announced
that he will leave his post to accept the job of running the
schools in a suburban Richmond district (Hsu, WASH POST, 5/2).
According to the paper, Bosher has been a key player in Gov
George Allen's (R) education team and has "loyally defended" many
of Allen's controversial proposals.
     Bosher and Allen made clear that the resignation did not
signal any difficulties in their relationship.  "I'll always be
indebted to the governor for giving me the opportunity to work
with him," said Bosher.  "I believe strongly in our efforts to
identify higher academic standards and in developing assessment."
However, he added that his as new job as superintendent of
Chesterfield County schools moves him closer to the classroom,
writes the paper.
     Allen praised Bosher for his leadership in moving "the
debate forward from a simple hue and cry for more money to a
well-focused plan for accountability."  However, there were
"echoes of discord in the background," reports the paper.  A
former school board member remarked that Bosher had grown tired
of clashes with board members, particularly with Allen appointees
who made "derogatory comments about the public schools,"
according to the POST.
     Board Vice President Lillian Tuttle, an Allen appointee,
challenged that notion.  "I'm a little stunned," she said.  "The
notion Bill Bosher was running away from this board ... is more
than laughable, it's wrong."
     An Allen aide said a permanent successor for the post will
be named soon.

          =====  FROM COURTHOUSE TO SCHOOLHOUSE  =====

*3   QUOTAS AT LATIN:  JUDGE READY TO RULE
     Minority quotas for admission to Boston Latin was defended
last week by the school's headmaster, Michael Contompasis
(Rakowsky, BOSTON GLOBE, 4/24).  According to Contompasis,
elementary school teachers hold lower expectations for minority
children than for white students.  "I have seen how some teachers
can communicate lower expectations to minority students than
white students," even if it is unconsciously, said Contompasis.
"Students of all races have a tendency to live up or down to
those expectations."
     Lower expectations are communicated to students in "subtle
ways," which may explain why minority students are
underachievers, writes the paper.  For this reason, minority
students score lower on the entrance exam for Latin School, "the
city's most prestigious public high school," the paper reports of
Contompasis' argument.
     Contompasis included his comments in an affidavit to U.S.
District Judge W. Arthur Garrity Jr. defending the use of quotas
at Latin and other schools that require an entrance exam, writes
the paper.  Garrity is overseeing a reverse discrimination suit
filed by Julia McLaughlin, age 13, who challenged Latin's policy
of setting aside 35% of the school's seats for minority
enrollment, according to the paper.  McLaughlin was denied
admission to the school "despite a higher exam score than some
minorities who were accepted," notes the paper.
     Earlier this month, Garrity said McLaughlin probably will
win her "trailblazing " legal suit, although it may take years.
     Superintendent of Schools Thomas Payzant responded to the
case by insisting that it is "not acceptable" for teachers to
communicate lower expectations for students, whether or not in a
subtle manner.  He pointed to the city's new learning standards:
"The goal is for all children to achieve to higher standards."
     Garrity intends to review why minority students from Boston
public schools tend to score lower on the entrance exams than
minorities from private and parochial schools, writes the paper.
Paul Parks, former chairman of the school board, places the blame
on inadequately prepared teachers.  "I've always said the problem
with Boston public schools is a teacher and principal problem,
because they are not trained to teach in an urban setting."


*4   STOP DESEGREGATION:  NIXON ON THE WARPATH
     Mo. Attorney General Jay Nixon recently filed a request in
federal court requesting an end to the desegregation program in
the Kansas city School District (St. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 4/27).
"The state's only obligation under the court order has been to
fund the buildings and programs," said Nixon.  "The state has met
this important prerequisite for ending court control."
     According to Nixon, the state already has paid the district
more than $1.1B, including $540M for buildings and equipment.
Larry Ramsey, acting chief executive officer for the district,
said the district will oppose Nixon's request, writes the paper.
"We believe there is still some improvement that can be made,"
said Ramsey.  He pointed out that a gap still remains between
white and minority student achievement levels.  "There are still
old vestiges of segregation found in the school," noted Ramsey.
     Nixon also is attempting to halt desegregation plans in St.
Louis by asking a federal judge to order "unitary" status in the
St. Louis schools.  Nixon is dismayed that U.S. District Judge
George Gunn appointed WIlliam Danforth, former chancellor of
Washington U, to help  mediate a settlement in St.Louis, writes
the paper.  Nixon's concern with Danforth:  In Dec., Danforth
urged Gunn to maintain the city-county busing program in St.
Louis.

                    ====  PRIVATE EYE   ====

*5   THE TROUBLE WITH TURNER:  AN UPHILL BATTLE FOR APS
     Critics and supporters of Alternative Public Schools Inc.'s
management of Wilkinsburg, Pa.'s Turner Elementary school agreed
that the firm's takeover of the school would be difficult at best
(Haynes, Pittsburgh POST-GAZETTE, 4/26).  And both were right,
according to the paper.
     The community, neighboring Pittsburgh, has remained
"bitter[ly]" divided over the Nashville, Tenn.-based firm's
presence in the school, reports the paper.  The state Supreme
Court in Oct. remanded a teachers union lawsuit challenging the
APS management to Common Pleas Court in order to hold evidentiary
hearings, which have yet to be scheduled.  An arbitrator in Jan.
ordered the district to return furloughed teachers because their
termination had violated the union contract.  The district
appealed, and a hearing is set for next month, writes the paper.
"Right now, this is a very tense time for us," acknowledged
principal Elaine Mosley.  "We get beat up on pretty bad outside
the school, but we encourage each other."
     Another obstacle for the school centers on special
education.  The school was found to be in violation of several
special education regulations, which the school's special-
education coordinator said began long before APS was in charge.
     Parents are split over the decision to bring in an outside
firm to manage the school, notes the paper.  For example, parent
Tarue Watson detects a positive change at the school, where
children are much better behaved and have higher self-esteem
since APS arrived, writes the paper.  But Robin Hurt expressed
concern that the company is not always responsive to parents'
concerns.
     One parent, Spencer Craig, attributes much of the school's
problems on disruptive students and what to do with them.  He
added that some parents disagree with Mosley's philosophy that
every child can be saved, reports the paper.
     Mosley points out several of the strong points of Turner
since APS took over:  three computers are in each of the school's
17 classrooms and each student receives daily computer time; some
classrooms got new desks, while all received new carpets; and
there are a "host" of after-school activities including a chess
club, school choir, and student council, writes the paper





                              -30-

------------------------------

End of NEWSLTR Digest - 5 May 1996 to 6 May 1996
************************************************