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Keating Signs Technology Initiatives
by Liza Porteus
Republican Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating has signed two technology-related measures aimed at integrating technology into the classroom and boosting the state's image as a high-tech gold mine.
One bill, S.B. 595, allows schools to give students attendance credit for off-campus Internet courses or other forms of remote instruction if their district school boards have approved that type of instruction. The measure calls for the state board of education to adopt rules no later than July 1 to implement Internet-based distance learning.
"There are many rural schools where a specific course may not be available on campus but where a student can take it through an area [vocational technical school] or by the Internet," Keating said in a statement. "Learning is learning, and the school should not be penalized with any loss in state aid funds just because a students is away for an hour or two taking advantage of a new learning opportunity."
Keating also signed a measure, S.B. 694, that establishes the Oklahoma Institute of Technology with a $1 million trust fund designed to establish the state as a premier information technology and biotechnology center. The bill seeks to expand opportunities for Oklahomans via those industries and by strengthening the infrastructure in the state.
Through public-private partnerships, the institute will create endowed chairs, scholarships and research grants in biotechnology, information technology and engineering. Its goal is to attract and retain faculty and graduating students at Oklahoma colleges.
The institute also would use distance learning to provide engineering and technology courses to state colleges. And it would work to develop a strategy for training tech workers and enhancing the rural technology infrastructure.
In Indiana, meanwhile, the legislature recently approved a $50 million appropriation over the next biennium for the state's 21st Century Research and Technology Fund, which supports the development and commercialization of advanced technology.
Making Good On Your Promises
California voters now have an online way to determine whether politicians keep their campaign promises. The California Voter Foundation (CVF) on Monday added to its Web site a new "Archive of Campaign Promises" that features vows from state and federal politicians elected last year.
The archive includes promises made on seven "quality of life" issues: affordable housing; clean air and water; jobs and the economy; neighborhoods; parks and open space; schools and education; and traffic and transportation. Voters can check the records of 31 elected officials, including 16 state legislators and 15 congressmen. CVF plans to expand the archive in future elections to include more candidates, contests and issues.
"We're very excited about this new opportunity to use this new technology to do something that's never really been done before," CVF President Kim Alexander said.
Supreme Court To Hear Maryland Telecom Case
The Supreme Court agreed Monday to review the role of state and federal governments in resolving disputes between telephone companies when it accepted a case involving a recent decision by the Maryland Public Service Commission, reports The Washington Post.
The case involves the reach of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, which sought to open local telephone markets to competition. It will be heard in conjunction with a similar dispute involving the state public service commission in Illinois.
In the Maryland case, the state commission ordered Verizon to pay WorldCom for calls terminating on WorldCom's MCI network. Verizon disputed that order in federal court, but the Maryland agency said the 11th Amendment protected it from a federal lawsuit. Verizon argued that the regulators' position potentially left telephone companies with no way to appeal rulings.
The Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments in the case this fall or winter.
Verizon's Long-Distance Ambitions
Verizon, meanwhile, plans to request authority to offer long-distance phone service in New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont before the end of the year, reports The Boston Globe. FCC approval of the plan would expand the company's long-distance reach to every New England state except Maine. Verizon hopes to appeal for approval in that market sometime in 2002. Last month, it filed to enter the Connecticut market.
Verizon also said it will seek long-distance approval in New Jersey this year. In the other places where Verizon offers local telephone service -- Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington, D.C. -- it will seek long-distance approval in 2002.
Once Verizon is cleared to offer long-distance service throughout its local region, it could reclaim majority ownership of Genuity, the Burlington, Vt.-based Internet carrier it was forced to divest as a result of the Bell Atlantic-GTE merger that created Verizon last year.
Massachusetts Vehicles Department Goes Mobile
The Boston Globe also reports that the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles last week began offering wireless Internet users estimated waiting times at registry offices. Massachusetts is the first state to offer such information to users of portable technology, said Registrar Dan Grabauskas. The system even estimates the wait for both license and registration transactions. Grabauskas said he also is considering providing the information by telephone.
Virginia Teachers Get Tech Aid
Virginia Gov. James Gilmore this week announced the receipt of a three-year, $3.6 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to promote the effective use of technology by school administrators and principals.
The grant will fund the Virginia Initiative for Technology and Administrative Leadership (VITAL). Matching state funding will result in total spending of $7.2 million over the next three years to assess and enhance the ability of principals, superintendents and other administrators to use technology.
Gilmore also announced last week that the state Social Services Department has established a new Internet feature that provides information on child-support cases to custodial and non-custodial parents.
University of Minnesota Builds Research Portal
The University of Minnesota has built a new research and technology portal as part of an effort to create a "front door" for the private sector to gain access to the university's licensable technologies and research capabilities.
The portal aims to provide easy access to the information and to serve as a focal point for comments and suggestions for improvement. Portal users will find: a database with information on faculty and their research; licensable technologies; research from campuses at Crookston, Duluth and Morris; information on university research centers; and links to organizations associated with research and technology transfers.
North Dakota Pursues Economic Mix Of Old And New
North Dakota business leaders are pondering ways to modernize the state's economy via a New Economy Initiative (NEI), reports The Bismarck Tribune.
The newspaper said the NEI seeks to foster more economic growth in North Dakota's already successful industries -- tourism, aerospace, flexible food manufacturing, information technology, energy and the environment. NEI officials intend to cluster the businesses together to create a groundswell of business activity.
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