Purdue News
Purdue News
At Purdue University, there were 4,261 computers in 6,500 student rooms this year, says Lanny Wilson, associate director of residence halls. Ten years earlier, there were 683 computers in student rooms. This year, student computers are more prevalent than videocassette recorders, answering machines or microwave ovens.
Other colleges and universities throughout North America are seeing similar growth in student computer ownership, says Mike Kinney of the Association of College and University Housing Officers International. Kinney says other universities, including Clemson, Maine and Massachusetts, also are reporting large increases in the number of students bringing their own computers to campus.
Any new student residence hall construction has to take computer connectivity into account, Wilson says. Purdue's Hillenbrand Hall, which opened in 1993, was built to provide high-speed Internet access to student computers. Most Purdue students can connect their personal computers to the university-wide network from their rooms by renting a data-over-voice device that allows their computer to use the telephone lines but does not interfere with telephone calls and is eight times faster than most modems.
CONTACTS: Wilson, (765) 494-1000; Internet, lcwilson@smly-01.hfs.purdue.edu
Kinney, (614) 292-0099
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
