PENN PRINTOUT
The University of Pennsylvania's Online Computing Magazine

PENN PRINTOUT February 1993 - Volume 9:4

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Announcements

Wiring the residence halls

Provost Aiken and President Hackney have approved, subject to final Trustee review, a plan to wire every student residence hall room for data, voice, and video. Assuming that bids for construction and operation are within the approved planning parameters, cabling will be installed in five buildings by August, 1993, with connections for all 7,100 students in residence to be completed by August, 1997.

Individual wall outlets for each student will support:

  • PennNet/Ethernet, for high-speed access to the Library, PennInfo, electronic mail and bulletin boards, School servers, and the worldwide Internet. Lower-speed asynchronous data communication will not be supported, except via modem using the voice lines.
  • Telephone service, to be administered by Penntrex, the office that resells local and long-distance services to students.
  • Video programming from both the Academic Video Network (including Scola, C-SPAN, and CNN) and commercial cable TV (local broadcast channels, ESPN, MTV, et al.).
Buildings slated for wiring by fall, 1993 are:
  • High Rise North, 932 residents
  • Kings Court, 221
  • English House ,182
  • Ware College House (Quad), 170
  • Class of 1925, 91
A steering committee representing Business Services, Information Systems and Computing (ISC), and University Life is meeting weekly to carry out this program. The Academic Computing Services Advisory Group will plan the related network and computing support programs, including coordination with the Fall Truckload Sale.

More information on residential networking will be forthcoming in Penn Printout, Almanac, PennInfo, and other media.

--Daniel Updegrove
Associate Vice Provost
Information Systems and Computing
updegrove@dccs


Two new e-mail services offered

Data Communications and Computing Services (DCCS) is now offering two new electronic mail services.

The first service, offered on a cost-recovery basis, uses Elm, one of the standard electronic mail packages that was selected last year by the Electronic Mail Task Force for use by many of the Schools. (See the September 1992 Penn Printout for background information regarding the selection of Elm.) Elm is a terminal-based package that is simple to learn and use. It can be accessed from any work-station on campus via PennNet or from home via modem.

DCCS's Elm service costs $100 per year, including full support from the Computing Resource Center (or $50 per year without support--an option available only to groups or departments, not to individuals). It is available to members of any School or department that authorizes the account and arranges for payment through the University accounting system.

The second service, offered at no charge and subject to policy limitations of Schools and offices, provides a POP (Post Office Protocol) mail server for those who have access to the necessary POP client software for their desktop computer. DCCS distributes the Eudora software package for use as a POP client on IP-connected Macintoshes (i.e., those that have ethernet capability). There is no cost for Eudora software, and DCCS provides support on a "best effort" basis. POP client software for other desktop platforms is available, but it is not supported or distributed by DCCS.

For more information, see Computing/PennNet/Electronic Mail References on PennInfo. For specific questions or to open an account, contact the PennNet Services Center, psc@dccs or 898-8171.