Vol. 19, No. 25

March 23, 2000

86 percent of UD students
have their own computers

An annual survey of student computer use at the University of Delaware conducted by User Services reports that, as of last fall, 86 percent of the student body owns computers, 98 percent uses computers for papers and reports, 96 percent uses e-mail and 93 percent browses the web. “Students are very much prepared to embrace technology and these trends are increasing,” Elizabeth (Betsy) Mackenzie, System Security Access and Help Services, said. The survey is part of the decision-making process that helps the University plan future technology needs, she said. According to the survey, PC ownership, computer use, use of the online library and web browsing all are trending up. The only downward trends are in use of campus computing sites, computers in teaching and students sending e-mail to professors. Even with a slight downward trend in these areas, usage numbers are still between 44 and 90 percent, she said. “We have to provide support for these services and all of that means that bandwidth needs are only going to increase,” Mackenzie said. Bandwidth is the amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed amount of time. For digital devices, bandwidth is usually expressed in bits per second(bps) or bytes per second. With an increasing number of people on campus using computers and computer-based services, the number of bits traveling through the network on existing bandwidth is causing congestion. And that can lead to errors and slowdowns in data transmission. Planning is already under way for an upgrade to the campus network, Mackenzie said. It will involve replacing all devices in the network infrastructure–such as routers, switches, hubs, and repeaters–with a new generation of equipment that will expand bandwidth to meet current and future needs. But, Mackenzie said, it won’t be noticeably disruptive and it’s a must if the system is to adequately serve a growing online population. –Barbara Garrison