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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, JULY 12, 2004 Admissions Software Aims to Preserve Diversity African School Computer Project Faces Challenges FCC Proposal Criticized by DHS, Wireless Carriers Lawsuit Against Diebold Unsealed ADMISSIONS SOFTWARE AIMS TO PRESERVE DIVERSITY In response to two Supreme Court rulings concerning the use of race in admissions decisions, an assistant professor of computer science and software engineering at Auburn University has designed software that allows admissions officers to comply with the rulings while maintaining diversity among student bodies. The Supreme Court ruled that colleges and universities can use race on a limited basis but cannot impose quotas or award extra points to certain ethnic groups. The application developed by Auburn's Juan E. Gilbert groups applicants with similar qualifications and backgrounds, allowing admissions officials to select students from the various groups. Gilbert said the approach allows colleges and universities to select heterogeneous groups of students. Gilbert acknowledged that the system could result in fewer minorities chosen than if the application were not used, but he said that is preferable to deciding not to consider race at all in the admissions process. Chronicle of Higher Education, 16 July 2004 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/weekly/v50/i45/45a02702.htm AFRICAN SCHOOL COMPUTER PROJECT FACES CHALLENGES Computer maker Hewlett-Packard has developed a multiuser desktop for a school project in Africa, but the computer's future remains uncertain. Called the 441, HP's new desktop is a single processing unit that uses the Linux operating system and can accept up to four sets of keyboards and monitors, allowing four students to use the computer simultaneously. The company estimates savings of up to 60 percent from the new device. Only enough of the 441 machines have been manufactured for school districts in South Africa, however. Although competitors such as IBM applauded the technology from HP, analysts question whether a commercial company can support a product that may eat into profits. Sara Kyofuna of SchoolNetAfrica, a nonprofit aiming to bring computers to classrooms in Africa's poorest nations, said her organization would be very happy to have access to technology such as the 441 for other developing countries and wondered why HP has not made the computer available for other markets. HP said it hopes to expand the program by the end of the year, though a schedule has not been finalized. Reuters, 10 July 2004 http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=5634993 FCC PROPOSAL CRITICIZED BY DHS, WIRELESS CARRIERS A proposed rule change by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) concerning public outage reports has met opposition from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and from wireless carriers. Currently, phone companies are required to submit public outage reports to the FCC when a significant landline outage occurs, allowing regulators to know how it happened and how it can be prevented from happening again. The FCC has proposed extending the requirement to file such reports to include wireless phone service. Phone companies oppose the change, saying that because the market is sufficiently competitive, they do not need an incentive from the government to provide the best possible service. Phone companies also contend that an existing, voluntary system of sharing information about outages is effective. Objections from the DHS concern the availability of the reports, which the agency considers potentially useful to terrorists. DHS officials argue that the reports should be submitted to one of its own branches and not be available to the public. In addition, voluntarily filed reports are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Wired News, 11 July 2004 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,64168,00.html LAWSUIT AGAINST DIEBOLD UNSEALED A lawsuit against Diebold Inc., maker of electronic voting systems, has been unsealed in California. The suit was filed in November 2003 by two individuals seeking to have Diebold reimburse the state for money spent on voting systems alleged to be faulty. Officials from the state have not decided yet whether to join the suit. Plaintiffs contend that Diebold sold systems with untested hardware and software that introduced a risk to the state for inaccurate election results. According to Jim March, one of the plaintiffs, the lawsuit concerns financial compensation because "laws on voting products and processes are unfortunately unclear." Laws about defrauding government, on the other hand, are "really, really clear," according to March. San Jose Mercury News, 11 July 2004 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/9131675.htm ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/ 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/ ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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