inet
Intt tnet,
p oj)uate
By Greg Cox
Daily Staff Reporter
Like the chars ters in "Green Acres,"
peooje living i i rural areas usually
don't have all he amenities of city-
slickes.
Among othe things, local Internet
r ice provide are non-existent in
many of Mici gan's less-populated
areas - that i t until MichNet came
along.
The Universi , along with 10 other
publicly suppor ed state universities, is
proiding covet' local Internet access
to geographical remote parts of the
state through M hNet, a project orga-
nized by Merit f twork, Inc.. The dial-
in service allow K-12 schools, com-
*Wity colleges d public libraries as
well as interested consumers and busi-
nesses in rural ars to finally go online
without dialing ta long distance num-
ber.*
Gregory Mark Merit Network asso-
ctats director fo :online services and
dialin project le ler, said the program
has- already s en a tremendous
response.
"We have had y heavy use in loca-
where Inte et access was previ-
sly unavailable Marks said. "The
response has beenf ;very positive."
Sptarsely populi ed regions of the
states don't attre kt major Internet
Service Provider,, and high-speed
Internet connectiihs are not economi-
cally viable for ma iy communities. For
this reason, manyjt s of the state pre-
viously had to diai in to long-distance
connections, makit g users responsible
, standard long-t istance charges, in
dition to any fec s for accessing the
Net itself.
This additional c large drastically cut
into Internet usag : in, these regions
before MichNet's expansion, Marks
said.
"To help manag the transition, a I-
800 number was e tablished allowing
educators and libra ans to access the
Internet from anyvm ere in the state"
orks said. "There was flat out, solid
on those lines I hours aday until
local:-numbers repla ed them.'
Thanks to a $4 ml lion grant from the
Michigan Public S4 rvice Commission
and the cooperation of various organi-
<Is
LOCAL/STATE
The Michigan Daily - Thursday, March 27, 1997 - 9A
brings
to less-
areas
zations throughout the state, Merit is
adding more than 90 new MichNet
local dial-in sites and upgrading 40
additional locations.
After the expansion, more than 95
percent of the state's topography will be
able to access the Internet through a
local phone call to a dial-in site.
Marks said Merit Network is deter-
mined to provide an unrestricted win-
dow to the Internet, much like the inter-
face available to University students.
"The dial-in systems throughout the
state look the same as the system users
in Ann Arbor experience," Marks said.
"We wanted to avoid the limited
options that arise from a system like
that used by America Online.'
Northern parts of the state are.
already reaping the benefits of the
MichNet expansion. More than 600 dif-
ferent cities and towns experimented
with the service during the trial period
alone, and the infrastructure is in place
for future expansion.
"Once a dial-in line is installed in a
community, the cost of adding addition-
al dial-in lines is one-fifth to one-tenth
the cost of the first line," Marks said.
Users from rural areas are excited
about the new opportunities that
MichNet now makes available to them.
"Because it's here, all kinds of things
are happening," said Becky Cawley,
director of the nine-county Northland
Library Cooperative, which is head-
quartered in Alpena. "There is a
biweekly newspaper column in the
local paper about the Internet and many
small businesses are going online."
Cawley added that because the area
is somewhat of a retirement communi-
ty, a significant portion of Alpena's
senior population now is buying com-
puters for theffirst time since they see
the benefits of Internet access.
Sara Behrmcan, Cawley's counterpart
at the Flint installation of the library
cooperative, said residents in her area
are still learning about the new oppor-
tunities the Internet is bringing to them.
"Most of the public is still trying to
find out what the Internet is," Behrman
said. "They are delighted that they can
access the Internet at libraries and find
information there with the help of
librarians.'
I
NAMES
Continued from Page 1A
pate in this particular event,' said LSA
first-year student Evan Minskoff, the
fraternity's philanthropy chair.
Minskoff said the vigil was meant to
be a poignant expe-_
rience at any time
of the day.
"I think that any-
time you do such a back ..
thing, whether it's
one o'clock in the there A
morning or the
afternoon, it's still names,
going to be just as
solemn an event,'
Minskoff said.
LSA first-year
student Beth Shyken, who passed out
fliers as names were being read yester-
day afternoon, said she wondered why
students who refused to take fliers were
so indifferent. "I've asked myself that
over and over because to me, the
Holocaust is something that needs to be
remembered," she said.
"Maybe they don't have time, but I
really don't understand why they don't
want information on it," Shyken said.
As volunteers took turns reading the
names under a blue canvas tarp, sever-
al passers-by stopped to listen or just
see what was going on.
"We have
to teach peo-
y
p ie sat
that's why
re so many
- Tamar Lipof
LSA sophomore
ple every
year ... that
these types
of things do
go on and
you should-
n't just sit
back and let
it happen,"
said LSA
sophomore
Tamar Lipof, who took a few moments
to listen to names.
Lipof said the tragedy of the
Holocaust is a testament to the harmful
effects of human apathy.
"People sat back for too long and
that's why there are so many names that
we read off."
JEANNIE SERVAAS/Daily
Ernest Heppner, a Holocaust survivor, spoke at Hillel last night as part of the
18th Annual Conference on the Holocaust.
HILLEL
Continued from Page 1A
savior?"
LSA junior Marisa Rothstein said
it is especially important to remem-
ber the Holocaust today as the num-
ber of living survivors gradually
diminishes. Rothstein said she didn't
previously know about Jewish migra-
tion to China as a way of escaping the
Holocaust.
"I wasn't familiar with the fact that
Jews found refuge in Shanghai to
escape the Holocaust, so that was
very interesting to me," Rothstein
said.
Heppner told how the Jewish peo-
ple lived with the Chinese in crowded
Shanghai ghettos and missed the
household accouterments of Europe.
Crime was rampant, and many casu-
alties resulted from American bomb-
ings against the Japanese military
officials who stored munitions in the
ghettos. Most of the Jewish refugees
survived the ghettos to witness liber-
Work Across Differences
ation by American soldiers, Heppner
said.
"It was no doubt the greatest
moment in my life when we saluted
the American flag as it was raised
over our compound," Heppner said.
Heppner, who was deprived of an
education after being expelled
from a German school in 1935,
told the crowd at Hillel last night
that he enjoys speaking with young
people.
"I'm fascinated to be here because
I enjoy discussing issues with stu-
dents and I envy every student for the
opportunities that you have - the
opportunity to study, which was
taken away from me," he said.
Business graduate student Fei
Hsieh, who once worked in
Shanghai, said the lecture will help
her relate to Chinese history when
she returns to the country.
"The speech was very enlighten-
ing," Hsieh said. "I think it will be
beneficial for me to relate to Jewish
people in Shanghai."
Dialogues among different groups:
- Women & Men
- People of Color & White People
- Lesbians, Gay Men, Bisexuals & Heterosexuals
- Jews & Christians
- Women of Color & White Women
Intergroup Dialogues are face-to-face meetings of individuals from a
variety of identity groups. Dialogues, readings, experiential exercises
and journals are incorporated into the process of working across and
within lines of difference and similarity.
Have you participated in an Intergroup Dialogue or a
FIG Seminar? Do you want to know where to go from here?-
Friday October 24-Sunday October 26
Applications available at the IGRCC office, due April 9
For further information contact.
The Program on Intergroup Relations,
Conflict and Community
3000 Michigan Union
936-1875 / IGRCC@umich.edu
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