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Governance Minutes ArchiveOctober 4, 1989
MINUTES Computer Committee Fourth Floor Burruss Hall Board Room October 4, 1989 3 PM PRESENT: Don Allison, Jim Baranowski, John Burton, John Cosgriff, David Goodyear, Bob Heterick, Katherine Johnston, Tom McAnge, Joan McLain-Kark, Fred Medley, Harlan Miller, Jim Montgomery, Richard Sorensen, Ernie Stout, Jim Thomas ABSENT: Jeff Birch, Darrell Bosch, Randy Crockett, Jim Hicks, Dennis Jones, Jeff Wilcke, Mike Williams, Barbara Young VISITOR(S): Barbara Robinson (for Mike Williams) AGENDA ITEM 1: MINUTES OF THE SEPTEMBER 6, 1989 MEETING It was observed that Dr. Kriz is no longer on the committee and should not be listed as absent. Motion made, seconded and passed to approve the minutes of the September meeting, as amended. AGENDA ITEM 2: COMPUTING CENTER ANNOUNCEMENTS (HETERICK) Dr. Heterick attempted to clarify the relationship of the commit- tee to the University Council. The Self Study recommended that the membership of the University Council be reduced, with each committee reporting to a particular commission. This is still under study. The committee studying the matter was prepared to report when the President's announcement of a new vice presidency for economic development led them to decide to reshape the report in terms of the pursuit of the economic development issue. All commissions are expected to continue to exist. The Extension one will be changed to International Affairs and Economic Develop- ment. There will also be a new one, Academic Support Services. Four committees will report to it, including the committees for CNS, Computing and the Library. The size of the University Council is still undecided. The Com- mission Committee will probably make suggestions instead of a re- commendation. The possibilities include no change, an increase, a small decrease, or a substantial decrease to 21 members. The committee favors the latter, but doubts it would be acceptable to the University. It is the committee's feeling that only a radi- cal change would be worth the effort involved. Dr. Heterick also explained the organizational structure in In- formation Systems. There are three components: computing, the library, and communications. The library's organization hasn't changed much in the past few years, and future changes are expected to be evolutionary in na- ture. The Computing Center has also not changed dramatically. The move to the new building and the growth in the use of PC's has precipitated some changes, however. For example, delivering out- put is now expected to cost the Center as much as $500,000 per year. The library is also expected to become more involved with delivering "mail". Dr. Heterick is discussing the problem with David Ford and hopes to develop rational solutions. The group that has changed dramatically is CNS. Changes have oc- curred in the number and kinds of personnel as they have moved from the design and development of the switch to its operation. They are also involved with integrating their activities with Learning Resource activities. There are now four groups in CNS: 1. The organization that runs the telephone utility, satellite uplinks, and cable TV. They are 100% cost recovery and have a budget of 10-12 million dollars. 2. A network research and development group. They are address- ing the growing desire for high speed networks on campus and off. We have one of the most extensive network testing fa- cilities in the nation and are a principal test site for IBM's high speed network research. 3. A group led by Tom Head is involved with integrating the print shop activities with graphic media services. 4. A group led by John Moore is primarily concerned with tele- vision and dynamic images, rather than the static ones ad- dressed by Tom Head's group. A big issue for Information Systems now is how we relate to na- tional networks. We are currently a member of VERnet, which con- nects six Virginia colleges and universities, along with the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF). The line speeds are slow, however, and we are proposing to NSF that we move to T1 speeds with a fully duplexed interconnected network. If this were accomplished, Virginia would have the largest and most comprehensive network in the United States. Funding is an- ticipated from CIT, IBM, a consortium of Virginia colleges and NSF. The network would provide tremendous opportunities for li- brary and computer research, as well as electronic mail and file sharing. We are also proposing that a backbone node at DS3 speed be in- stalled at Virginia Tech, and are optimistic that the proposal will be viewed favorably. There is also in Congress, supported by the administration, a pro- posal to build a national network, the National Research and Edu- cation Network (NREN). It would provide capacity for contact with all research in the United States. The large amount of traffic, however, can generate problems. Of primary concern is inappropriate or bad traffic, such as viruses and pornographic messages. It is clearly dangerous and will not be acceptable to allow anonymous access to networks, as is possible with terminal servers. We must be able to trace traffic back to its source. A policy is needed, and the committee will have to address the is- sue. There are cases where anonymous access is desirable, as in the library, where individual privacy may be infringed upon if search requests are monitored. That's acceptable only when the local library catalog is involved, and ceases to be acceptable when the user moves to external networks. Some agencies have a solution for inappropriate traffic: propagators of undesirable messages lose their access to the net- work. Such simplistic measures are undesirable. As commercial entities join networks, however, tolerance for inappropriate traffic may decline. The academic community is, however, at- tempting to convince Congress to take a "kinder, gentler" ap- proach. It was questioned whether we have the resources to provide every- one with userids. Dr. Heterick said Information Systems is work- ing on that. They are currently testing a system that will allow logging on to a network rather than a computer. A concern was raised about the possibility of increased monitor- ing of traffic to judge what's appropriate. If messages are screened with an eye toward removing "chit-chat", the network be- comes less attractive. It was questioned whether the issue is more appropriate for the CNS committee. Dr. Heterick said he expects the issue to also be addressed by them, as well as the Library committee. It was noted that one has to be careful not to condemn a network for the unacceptable activity of an individual using the network. Other solutions have to be found. It was also noted that some departments have userids used by de- partments rather than individuals. Even if that were changed, the willingness of individuals to share their passwords would still present problems. AGENDA ITEM 3: SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS The Personal Computer subcommittee will have its first meeting on October 10. The Computer Capacity and Planning subcommittee will have its first meeting October 27. The User Services subcommittee has had some discussion, but no formal meeting. They feel the scope of their potential study subjects is too broad, and expect to narrow it, particularly in regard to the expansion of service to include PC's. The Library subcommittee has no chairman, and one will be ap- pointed before the next committee meeting. They have not met. The committee is expected to meet November 1, December 6, January 10, February 7, March 7, and April 4. Subcommittees were asked to report by the March 7 meeting, in order to allow time for the committee to respond to their reports. AGENDA ITEM 4: ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA None. The next meeting is scheduled for November 1. It is tentatively planned to be held at the new Information Systems Building and will include a tour of the facilities. This is subject to change, however, and the next meeting's agenda should be checked for confirmation of the meeting's location. The meeting adjourned at 3:55 p.m.
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