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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, OCTOBER 21, 2002 High-Tech Work Goes Abroad Software Discounts for Nonprofits Judge Says Web Sites Not Subject to ADA AND University Nullifies Degrees over Distance Education Cheating Study Shows Who Prefers Distance Education Senate Recesses, Copyright Owners Grant Extension Digital Archive Records Defunct Federal Agencies HIGH-TECH WORK GOES ABROAD As the technology sector of the U.S. market continues to struggle, work is increasingly sent overseas, where labor is cheap and plentiful even for high-tech jobs. A report last year by Forrester Research showed that many U.S. corporations save as much as 25 percent by sending work to contract technology firms in countries including India, China, and the Philippines. According to Stephanie Moore of Giga Information Group, about 200 of the Fortune 500 companies send some portion of their software work overseas. Moore said the total revenues from offshore software work this year will be $7.68 billion, 20 percent higher than last year. Some analysts say that the shift overseas results not from increased demand but from heavy marketing by tech firms, especially those in India, where programmers might earn as little as 10 percent of what programmers in the United States make. San Jose Mercury News, 21 October 2002 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/4332783.htm SOFTWARE DISCOUNTS FOR NONPROFITS CompuMentor, a San Francisco nonprofit that has been providing discounted computer consulting for other nonprofits for 15 years, in February launched DiscounTech, a store where nonprofits can purchase software products at significant discounts. For example, Paul Bongiovanni of the Family Stress Center is able to buy Microsoft's Office XP for $60 rather than the $500 retail price. Mark McNeil of the nonprofit Economic Opportunity Council said that with DiscounTech, for every four licenses of Office, they save enough to buy another computer. CompuMentor serves as a single point of donation for software companies that want to make charitable gifts. CompuMentor also receives funding from Microsoft and AOL Time Warner. New York Times, 21 October 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/21/technology/21DISC.html JUDGE SAYS WEB SITES NOT SUBJECT TO ADA In a case involving a blind man and Southwest Airlines, a federal judge ruled last week that the airline is not compelled by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to make its Web site more accessible to those with disabilities. According to judge Patricia Seitz, the ADA applies only to physical spaces, not to "virtual" spaces like Web sites. The advocacy group Access Now had filed the suit against the airline on behalf of Robert Gumson, who argued that, although he was able to use the Web site to buy plane tickets, it was "extremely difficult." The suit asked Southwest to modify its site, particularly the graphics, so Gumson could more easily use the site. The judge's decision presumably has significance for many other businesses, whose Web sites could have been subject to ADA standards of accessibility. CNET, 21 October 2002 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-962761.html AND ***************************************************** UNIVERSITY NULLIFIES DEGREES OVER DISTANCE EDUCATION CHEATING The governing board of the University of Mississippi has nullified the degrees of three students it said had credits for distance-education courses the students did not take. The incident dates to 1999, when evidence of the cheating first came to light. An employee of the university was fired after evidence surfaced that the employee had changed transcripts for eight students. Of the eight, one presented what university officials called a "persuasive case" and was exonerated. Of the others, three were expelled, one lost credit for the suspect courses but did not lose her degree, and the remaining three lost their degrees based on the loss of credits for those courses. Chronicle of Higher Education, 18 October 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/10/2002101802t.htm STUDY SHOWS WHO PREFERS DISTANCE EDUCATION A report from the U.S. Department of Education confirms the notion that distance education appeals to working parents, especially women, more than to other groups. The report is based on a study of distance education during the 1999-2000 academic year. The study data show that of women who took college courses, 8.5 percent did so through distance education, versus 6.5 percent of men. Nine percent of college students over 24 years old took distance courses, compared to 6 percent of those under 24. The results confirm what many have noted: distance education offers those with work and family responsibilities the flexibility to advance their education when they are able. Chronicle of Higher Education, 21 October 2002 http://chronicle.com/free/2002/10/2002102102t.htm SENATE RECESSES, COPYRIGHT OWNERS GRANT EXTENSION After a revised royalty schedule for small Webcasters was left unsettled when the Senate recessed last week, the recording industry and artists granted an extension to the deadline for royalty payments. Small Webcasters had complained that the royalty rates would put them out of business, and a new deal was struck between Webcasters and the entertainment industry for different rates for small Webcasters. The deal was approved by the House, but the Senate recessed for the election without having taken up the agreement. The extension only applies to those Webcasters that the deal classifies as "small Webcasters," and the extension is set to stay in force until the Senate acts on the new agreement. Associated Press, 21 October 2002 (registration req'd) http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/584771p-4556589c.html DIGITAL ARCHIVE RECORDS DEFUNCT FEDERAL AGENCIES The CyberCemetery is a project at the University of North Texas (UNT), in Denton, to archive the Web sites of defunct federal agencies, including the National Bankruptcy Review Commission and the National Partnership for Reinventing Government, an initiative of then-Vice President Al Gore. Several years ago, Congress ordered the Government Printing Office (GPO) to shift its storage to more electronic media, and Cathy Nelson Hartman of UNT suggested that colleges and universities had the necessary computer resources to aid that effort. UNT paid for the development of the CyberCemetary site (http://govinfo.library.unt.edu/) and pays for its maintenance. The GPO identifies materials for archiving. So far, the site includes materials from 15 federal agencies and receives 20,000 to 30,000 visitors each month. The National Partnership for Reinventing Government is the most visited agency at the site. Washington Post, 21 October 2002 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A56970-2002Oct20.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html 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] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EDUCAUSE Quarterly" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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