By SHANNA GHAZNAVI
Students can get wired on campus through e-mail, software applications, Internet access and AIM services.
“We’ve tried quite hard to increase the access this year more than last year,” said Kelly McDonald, executive director of University Computing Services.
McDonald said more than 40 of the computers in the Harold B. Lee Library will be upgraded by Fall Semester. The labs in the library will also become open labs, meaning use of the computers will be free and untimed. Prints, however, will still cost seven cents each.
McDonald also said the easiest way for new students to find their way around BYU’s computing services is to look up the CougarNet homepage at cougarnet.byu.edu.
BYU’s Internet pages also include a page designed for freshmen and their specific needs. The freshmen page, at www.byu.edu/students.freshmen, covers questions from academic advisement to writing centers on campus.
Any student who is unable to access the Web pages should ask a librarian for assistance, McDonald said.
Owen Witesman, an employee of University Computing services, said the easiest ways to get wired at BYU includes e-mail, computing labs, kiosks and laptops. Witesman, 21, is a junior from Brigham City majoring in philosophy.
All BYU Students have a Route Y account. To access this account students must go to ry.byu.edu, take a drivers test and log on to the service. Instructions can be found at cougarnet.byu.edu/routey.
On-campus students can access e-mail through Ethernet and Route Y by calling BYU Telecommunications Services, Witesman said.
Off-campus students can also access e-mail through Route Y and various remote access services from their homes. Details on how to get remote access can be found at cougarnet.byu.edu/flyers/remote.
Computing labs are available in many buildings on campus including the HBLL Cannon Center, Morris Center, N. Eldon Tanner Building, Wilkinson Center, James E. Talmage Mathematical Sciences/Computer Building, Heritage Halls, Herald R. Clark Building and the Knight Magnum Building. Maps of the labs’ locations are available from University Computing, 156 TMCB; kiosks are also available in these buildings.
Other labs exist for the use of students from specific departments so that students can get access from their individual departments.
For students with laptops, Witesman said, the ESC, Wilkinson Center and HBLL all have access ports.
The HBLL also offers a learning resource center on the fourth floor. The Learning Resource Center, where the freshmen library tour starts, has more than 7,000 CDs, 1,400 videos and some computers for word processing available for students to check out within the center, said Jennifer Sommerfeldt, 21, a senior majoring in elementary education.
