Fall 1999

This newsletter is designed to outline events and happenings in the Arizona State Public Information Network and throughout the State of Arizona. If you would like to submit an article to be published in ASPIN News please contact:

Jim Casey
jim.casey@asu.edu
(602) 965-8437

Scottsdale ArtWalk On-line Forum

ASPIN is sponsoring an on-line chat forum, open to the public, with various Western artists, held in conjunction with the 10th Annual Western ArtWalk. The ArtWalk, sponsored by Mindspring, is held Oct. 21-23 in the Scottsdale Arts District. The Scottsdale Gallery Association's (SGA) yearly round up features some of the West's greatest art galleries open to the public.

The chats are scheduled for October 21, 1999. For more information...

Kids Voting USA 1999 CyberCelebration of Democracy

On September 28, 1999, 1:30pm EST, Presidential candidate and U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) will join Tempe-based Kids Voting USA and high school students from 30 states in an online dialogue from the U.S.S. Yorktown in Charleston, SC.

The first-in-a-series of online "CyberForums", created and hosted by the Arizona State Public Information Network (ASPIN), links students in 30 states in a lively direct dialogue with prominent leaders who can impact their lives. This celebration of democracy kicks off the National Kids Voting Week - Campaign 2000: Our Freedom Our Future, slated to include a yearlong series of activities. Identifying issues of importance to American youth is a Kids Voting initiative.

Kids Voting social studies educators from around the country selected student participants. The Kids Voting USA staff will moderate this national CyberForum from the Computing Commons building at Arizona State University. The high-tech command center will receive real-time questions from high school students and forward them to Sen. McCain for his response.

Two weeks prior to the event, CyberForum students participated in a Pre-Forum Issues Survey designed to identify top youth issues in the 2000 Presidential campaign. The results of this survey will be posted on the Kids Voting USA website at http://www.kidsvotingusa.org.

Community and school-based KidsVoting USA is unique, virtually replicating the official voting process for youth. Students go to official polling sites on election day, accompanied by parent or guardian, to cast their own ballot in their own voting booth. High school students vote independently. Results are reported along with official results. Kids Voting USA preserves a tradition of civic involvement and voting by engaging families, schools and communities in the election process.

Technical support for this event is provided by ASPIN, and the Instruction Support Group, Information Technology, Arizona State University.

Kids Voting USA receives funding from the private sector. Corporate partners include America West Airlines, Blockbuster Entertainment, and JCPenny. Original funding was received from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation

For information about KidsVoting USA, or if you are interested in observing the event, contact Cynthia Dunne at (480) 921-3727. For technical information about the CyberForum event, contact Jim Casey at (480) 965-8437.

ASU Connects to the vBNS/Abilene High Speed Research Network

Since its inception in 1987, the Arizona State Public Information Network (ASPIN)-led by ASU in collaboration with the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University-has provided essential electronic connectivity to the Arizona community. It completed the first successful linkage among multiple Arizona universities, community colleges, government agencies, and high-tech industries in 1991. In Spring 1999, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded ASPIN a grant to develop a very high speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS), a research network for applications requiring high speed/high bandwidth connectivity. On August 25, 1999, ASU officially connected to the vBNS Abilene research network through an OC3 connection to Qwest Communications. Click here for more information.

Conexiones Summer '99
This summer, Conexiones embarked on its second Lego(tm) Robotics workshop for middle school students. Eighty students from five school districts-Mesa, Dysart, Peoria, Chandler, and Queen Creek-are enrolled for two intense weeks of hands-on, problem-based learning that culminated with student-created robotics. For more information, visit the Conexiones website or contact Andy Wasklewicz, Project Director.

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