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Volume 67, Issue 11 • Serving The Students Of Mars Hill College Since 1926 • Mar. 10, 1994 • FREE, Please Take One
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Caution, Men Working
Information Super-Highway Under
Construction, Next .Exit - Mars Hill
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By Erik Barlik
Hilltop Staff Writer
Okay, so you’ve heard
that the current U.S.
Highway 19/23 is being
upgraded to become the new
route for Interstate 40 (or is
it Interstate 26?) The
superhighway I’m talkmg
about is not driven by cars,
but by information. This
information superhighway is
called InterNet, and it’s next
exit will be completed in late
March 1994 in our own
Memorial Library.
The initial connections
are being paid for by a grant
fi-om the National Science
Foundation acquired by
Gerald Ball, director of the
computer center here in
Mars Hill. The college also
has a grant of $1.6 milhon
over the next five years from
the Federal Department of
Education wliich will allow
students to use computers to
explore every academic
discipline.
InterNet was started
back in the 1960’s by the U.S.
government. It needed a
way to send information
quickly to its many outlets.
By the 1980’s, research
universities were able to tap
in to share information, and
also have access to public
access government files.
Now, in the early 1990’s,
major businesses havejoined
the fray. The current
number of over one million
PC connections is growing
every day, and is rapidly
expanding into many various
fields.
Basically, InterNet is a
huge network. Any
computer connected to
InterNet can communicate
with any other computer
which is connected around
the world. Yes, around the
world! It is a fiber-optic
system for super high-sp^d
data communication
transfer. This data can be
text, graphics, databases,
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sound, or any item capable of
travel over fiber-optic lines.
One of the major things
which will be within a
student’s realm with
InterNet is a database called
Hrst Search. First Search is
jam-packed with
information which
upper-level students will
need for research papers. If
you can name a topic,
InterNet’s Fu^t Search will
probably have it when it
comes online in late March.
Dean of Learning
Resources John Payne said
in a recent interview that
InterNet (and First Search)
would be a “tremendous
resource for students.” He
also mentioned that five
years ago computer access
and knowledge was a plus,
but five years from now, it
will be a necessity for anyone
in the working field. He also
said that getting to use the
program now will ^ve
students a “real world
opportunity.”
The use of InterNet will
be through a campus-wide
network connected across
the campus from dorm to
library to class lab by
modems. This means that a
student will be able to access
InterNet in April if he/she
has a modem connected to
his/her computer back in the
dorm room. The network
will be protected through the
use of local-specific
passwords (e.g. a student’s
password in Mars Hill won’t
work at UNCA or Western
Carolina).
“Great, but what can I
do?” one might ask. There
are three main things one can
do with InterNet. First,
electronic mail can be sent
anywhere in the world that is
connected to InterNet.
(InterNet passwords for
electronic mail will be
available to all students in
August. Students should
contact John Payne if they
are interested.) Second,
topics from A to Z may be
researched with the help of
databases (such as Hrst
Search). Third, students can
log in to another computer
by remote, and use it as if
they were sitting there in the
room.
What can MHC do?
MHC can: create
opportunities for faculty
m
members to grow
professional circles by
communicating with their
peers; allow students the
opportumty to partiapate m
joint proj6cts made possible
by InterNet; g£un access to
inexpensive (or free)
software applications for
administrative, classroom
lab, or computer staff use;
allow students the
opportunity to use over 200
on-line public access library
catalogues, including one
form the Library of
Congress; provide access for
students and faculty alike to
thousands of manuscripts,
graphic images, databases,
and documents across a
wide variety of subject in the
liberal arts and sciences.
InterNet will not only make
college life easier, it will also
make it more interesting.
Just think - now you’ll even
be able to communicate to
friends in countries whom
you haven’t even met yet.
This could be the beginning
of a beautiful friendship!
SPECIAL
CONGRATULATIONS...
The Staff of the Hilltop is proud to congratulate the
Men’s basketball team on being South Atlantic
Conference Champions.
If you went to the first game of the SAC tournament
Tues., Mar. 1, then you saw the men pulverize Elon
College. The final score was Mars Hill 100, Elon 75.
Congrats to the South Atlantic Conference Coach of
the Year 1994, David Riggins, and to the South Atlantic
Conference Player of the Year 1994, Cedric Mansell.
Also, congratulations to Cedric Mansell and Lamont
Jones on making the South Atlantic Conference Hrst
Team All Conference.
The Lady Lions also deserve congratulations for a
good season.
The final score in their game against Elon College was
Lady Lions 67, Elon 62.
Susie Hopson deserves to be congratulated on making
the South Atlantic Conference First Team All
Conference.
Congratulations also go to Lena Barber for making the
South Atlantic Conference Second Team All Conference.