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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 24, 2006 Report Warns of Rising Phone, Internet Costs Admissions Sites Growing in Importance VA Slow in Reporting Data Theft REPORT WARNS OF RISING PHONE, INTERNET COSTS A group called Keep USF Fair Coalition released a report that warns of possibly rising costs for colleges and universities to provide telephone and Internet services on their campuses. The Universal Service Fund (USF) is a tax on phone lines, currently based on the number of long-distance calls made. Under a proposal by the Federal Communications Commission, USF fees would become $1 or $1.50 for every phone line or Internet access point. A recent study by the American Council on Education estimated that such a change would cause most institutions' USF fees to rise by nearly 900 percent. Wake Forest University, for example, said its phone bill would increase from about $400 a month to about $7,000. The coalition's report argues that if the change is made, colleges and universities will likely either cut back services or pass the costs along to students. Martin Ringle, chief technology officer at Reed College, agreed, saying that in the event that the fee is changed, Reed might consider ending phone services to dorms, given the growing numbers of students who have cell phones. However, "students without cell phones," he pointed out, "would quickly become a disadvantaged class." Chronicle of Higher Education, 26 May 2006 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i38/38a03702.htm ADMISSIONS SITES GROWING IN IMPORTANCE New data reveal that college and university Web sites are the second most important component of recruiting efforts, behind campus visits by prospective students. Specifically, online tools such as blogs are attracting growing numbers of high school students to help them decide what institution to attend. Other institutions offer different kinds of online resources. North Dakota State University, for example, lets students find others with similar interests and exchange e-mail. Reflecting the inclinations of today's college-bound students, unedited online resources have become important offerings, despite grammatical and spelling mistakes, according to several higher education consultants. Steve Kappler, an executive director at consulting firm Stamats, said that the informality of such tools is appealing to students. He encouraged colleges and universities to let all but "egregious" content be posted in such venues. Many see the emergence of Internet resources as a way to give prospective students the opportunity to talk to current students, bypassing what they might see as the sales pitch of admissions officers. ABC News, 22 May 2006 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=1990599 VA SLOW IN REPORTING DATA THEFT The theft of personal data on U.S. veterans has caused an uproar after federal officials learned that the Veterans Affairs (VA) Department did not disclose the incident until two weeks after it happened. A VA employee took a number of computer disks home, against agency policy, and they were stolen from his home. The disks contained names, Social Security numbers, and other information on 26.5 million veterans; little else of value was taken from the employee's home. The theft occurred on May 3, but VA officials did not notify the Department of Justice or the FBI for two weeks and took several days more to notify affected veterans. Officials from the VA said representatives of the Justice Department and the FBI were very upset at the way the VA handled the situation, costing investigators valuable time to try to identify those responsible. Veterans, too, were disgusted with the VA's delay. The Senate will hold a hearing on the incident, and it is not clear what actions the government will take to address the problems. New York Times, 23 May 2006 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/24/washington/24identity.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE RESOURCES The EDUCAUSE Resource Center is a repository for information concerning use and management of IT in higher education. 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