Computer access provided by PUCC

By Brad Ramsay
Summer Reporter

The Purdue University Computing Center (PUCC) provides students with access to labs around campus and Internet services.

Scott Ksander, associate director of PUCC, said incoming freshmen should have received a letter that contains information about their career accounts with their password and directions about how to set up their career accounts from home.

The students will also receive a card during their Day on Campus that they can swipe at the instructional computer labs to set up their career accounts then if they choose to do so.

Ksander said during Day on Campus students will be able to visit the computer labs. There will be a short meeting to learn where available labs on campus are located, how to use e-mail and acquire some reading material about what PUCC offers.

Starting in the fall of 2000, students will be able to store five megabytes of memory or more on their career account. This is contrary to the 2 megabytes in the past, said Ksander.

In the computer labs students have access to several types of programs which include Microsoft Office 98, Adobe PageMaker, Netscape Communicator, telnet, etc.

Students also have access to a computer at any time of day. Ksander said, "No single lab is open 24 hours a day, but someplace is open 24 hours a day." This means that primary lab hours are from 7 a.m. to 2 a.m., but when they close, night labs in different locations open until the primary labs reopen.

If students bring their personal computer or laptop with them to Purdue they can also get access to the Internet depending on where they live.

In the residence halls, students can sign up on either their housing application or in their residence halls to receive ethernet access.

The ethernet is a direct connection to the Internet. To receive it the student must purchase a network interface card to utilize this feature. Because the ethernet is the standard way to connect computer networks, it does not tie up phone lines. A network interface card is available at any office supply store, said Ksander.

If a student chooses to live off campus, they can access Purdue's off-campus dial-up network. This is a free service and allows students to access the Internet. However, this service is only accessible for increments of 90 minutes before the student is disconnected.

Off-campus students who wish to have a faster connection may, wish to sign up with GTE, but this is not a free service.

Ksander said, information will be mailed out of the students fee statement.