Colleges turn to cell phones By The Associated Press July 10, 2006
http://www.qctimes.net/articles/2006/07/09/news/business/doc44b1d0cc1620d468224021.prt CINCINNATI (AP) For Ron Chicken and other freshmen at Montclair State University, the new freedoms that presumably came with college age included a mandatory cell phone with which the school could pinpoint their whereabouts on or off campus. I think some didnt like the idea that they had to have it, and some thought it was a new way to track them, Chicken, 19, now preparing to enter his sophomore year at the New Jersey college. But Chicken said that as time passed, students realized that the voluntary tracking system offered added safety and that the required phone had many useful functions. Most people have adjusted to it, said Chicken, now a fan. With nine out of 10 college students carrying cell phones and many of them using traditional landline phones rarely or not at all schools are seeking ways to maintain a line of communication while deploying technologies they believe students want and need. Some colleges are abandoning the wires and phone jacks in their dormitories. Many of those systems, formerly a source of extra revenue for institutions, now operate at a loss. As a replacement, some are introducing their own cellular services and handsets customized to connect students with campus services and information, while adding security and instructional tools. The University of Cincinnati has begun a voluntary program offering all incoming freshmen a free mobile phone featuring the Bearcat mascot on the welcome screen, while Morrisville State College in New York has replaced landlines in its dorms with mandatory school-issued handsets. Other colleges, however, are sticking with traditional phone service, worried that cellular may not be as reliable in an emergency. Communicating with students on a regular basis has become a challenge, and schools are looking for ways to address that issue as well as safety, said Patricia Scott, a spokeswoman for ACUTA, an association of communications technology professionals in academia. While the phone technology known as Voice over Internet Protocol poses another viable option with the spread of broadband access on campuses, some experts see folly in trying steer a wireless-minded generation of students toward anything but a cell phone. Technology experts and educational groups say they havent quantified the number of schools replacing landlines with other technologies. ACUTA estimates that fewer than half the schools in North America have installed VoIP networks, but more are expected to do so in the future. The University of Scranton in Pennsylvania plans to drop traditional landline service in its dorms this fall, but the school is not providing a wireless substitute. We considered issuing our own cell phone, but that would mean students could end up having two cell phones or having to discard their original one, said Jerry DeSanto, Scrantons chief information technology officer. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
