Students overload CougarNet

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    By ED SANCHE

    More than 5,200 BYU students are hooked up to the Internet via CougarNet accounts, but few more will be able to sign up this semester.

    Due to an overloaded system, BYU is no longer selling CougarNet Remote accounts, which allow students to browse the Web from their off-campus homes, said Iva Lou Redd, a computer support representative.

    The three servers used to provide Internet services are “maxed-out,” Redd said.

    CougarNet basic accounts, which allow access through BYU labs, are still available.

    Redd said BYU Computing Services is hoping they will be able to sign more people up for remote accounts after Winter Semester when many seniors will probably cancel their accounts.

    Students who previously had remote accounts that have been canceled will also be affected because they cannot reinstate their accounts.

    CougarNet was established Fall Semester to “enable students, faculty, and staff to enhance education through computer technology,” said Amy Goeckeritz, CougarNet business manager.

    This new technology has given BYU students an upper hand over many of their peers at other universities.

    “BYU is ahead of a lot of colleges in many respects,” Goeckeritz said.

    The major services of CougarNet are e-mail; Internet and World Wide Web access, which allow students to browse worldwide databases; and software applications such as spreadsheets, databases and wordprocessing software.

    “I signed up for the CougarNet mainly for e-mail. I use it daily to communicate with my parents and friends around the country,” said Eric Fotheringham, an 18-year-old freshman from Martinez, Calif., majoring in humanities.

    “We have tried to make the CougarNet as cost effective to students as possible,” Goeckeritz said. The basic account is $3 per month with no time limit for Internet access.

    When CougarNet remote accounts were available, there was a $15 one-time set-up fee. Thereafter, the cost was $5 per month. Prices will likely be the same when remote accounts are available again.

    The accounts provided 50 free hours of connection per month. The overtime rate was $1 per hour.

    “Other colleges provide e-mail as part of tuition, therefore, giving the appearance that the service is free,” Goeckeritz said.

    Most accounts can be set up in one day. To hook up one must be a current BYU student or a current or retired employee and have a signature card, since all billing will be charged to thecard sometime during the first week of each month.

    “If there is no money in one’s signature card at the time of billing, their CougarNet account will be suspended until funds are available,” Goeckeritz said.

    Responses from students indicate that they are satisfied overall with the services rendered by the CougarNet accounts.

    “We are working as quickly as possible to expand to meet student demands,” Goeckeritz said.

    Problems can be addressed to the Student Computing Support Center in 156 TMCB at 378-3699.

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