ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 5 0 0 / C&RL News Senate conducts hearing on NGI and Internet 2 On June 3 the Senate con­ ducted a hearing on Next G eneration Internet (NGI) and Internet 2 with a num­ ber of representatives from higher education. Senator Conrad Bums (R-MT) chaired the Communications Subcom­ mittee of the Senate Com­ merce, Science and Transpor­ tation Committee and clearly expressed concern that rural communities and all types of academic institutions must be involved with the development of the NGI and Internet 2. Bums criticized the makeup of the administration’s re­ cently appointed Advisory Committee on High- Performance Computing and Communications, Information Technology, and the Next Gen­ eration Internet. Burns argued that there are not enough representatives from rural academic institutions with only eight states represented on the advisory committee, including eleven individuals from California. Witnesses from Oregon State, Montana State, and North Dakota State Universities emphasized that rural institutions of higher education, not just the national “top 100,” should be involved with the development and utilization of Inter­ net 2. Other witnesses at the hearing described the process for the development of the NGI by the federal government, the involvement with universities and colleges, and the coordination needed between the federal government’s NGI project and the development of the privately initiated Internet 2. Additional oversight hear­ ings are expected. Congress continues discussion on HEA reauthorization Congress continued periodic hearings on the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA). These hearings targeted financial issues and the high costs of postsecondary education looking primarily at three main topics: 1) how to help students pay for higher education; 2) the price of higher education; and 3) how W ashington H otline Lynne E. Bradley L yn n e E. B radley is d e p u ty e x ec u tive d irector o f A L A ’s W ashington Office; e-mail: leb@ alawash.org. access to higher education is affected by the president’s tax proposals. Congress will exam ine many issues in the context o f the reauthorization in­ cluding the administration’s proposal within the college w o rk s tu d y p ro g ra m to w a iv e th e in s t itu ti o n s ’ m atching requirem ent for those that provide reading tutors to elementary school students. Congress remains concerned about how various student aid and other financial programs can be simplified and consolidated. At one recent hearing before the House Education and the Workforce-Postsecondary Education Training and Life-Long Learning Sub­ committee, chaired by Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon (R-CA), Stanley Ikenberry, president of the American Council on Education, testi­ fied about five areas of concern: 1) technology cannot substitute for the interaction between students and faculty as higher education is a labor-intensive industry; 2) the exponential grow th of both scientific an d technological know ledge; 3) a lack o f su p p o rt from any aspect o f the partnership b etw een students and families, governm ent, and higher educa­ tion institutions to finance college; 4) the pres­ sure on institutions to increase financial aid; and 5) issues regarding state and federal regu­ lations. Congressional representatives are discuss­ ing which federal regulations should be elimi­ nated, the definition of remedial education, what cuts in college expenses the panel rec­ ommends, how to help middle class families that do not qualify for aid, the apparent rela­ tionship between increasing financial aid and increasing tuition, the average level of debt for graduating students borrowing money, and if any public policies steer lower income students away from private institutions. FCC makes universal service ruling On May 7 the Federal Communications Com­ mission (FCC) com pleted its rulemaking on universal service which includes the implemen- (Washington cont. on page 504) mailto:leb@alawash.org 5 0 4 /C & R L News Biographies of Western Photographers, by Carl M au tz (601 p a g e s , May 1997), provides biographical information on some 15,000 p h o to g ra p h e rs w h o w ere N e w Publica George M. active in the western states and territories and western Canada prior to 1900. Infor­ mation on early photogra­ phers is often difficult to find; thus some entries are limited to “Active in Virginia City, 1895." Mautz provides an in tro d u c to ry o v erv iew of how he obtained information about photogra­ phers from cartes-de-visite, cabinet card im­ prints, and antique photographs. $85.00. Carl Mautz Publishing, 228 Commercial St., Suite 522, Nevada City, CA 95959. ISBN 0-9621940-7-7. The Changing Face of Reference, edited by Lynne M. Stuart and Dena Holiman Hutto (238 pages, February 1997, vol. 37 of Founda­ tions in Library and Information Science), goes beyond the reference desk to explore the shift from providing collection-based information to service-based information. Contributors address changing user populations, changing technolo­ gies, and online services. One interesting essay by Catherine A. Lee describes the differing world (Washington cont. fro m page 500) tation of the telecommunications discounts for K-12 schools, libraries, and rural health care providers. Citing what it believes to be the origi­ nal congressional intent not to include higher education institutions of any kind in this new policy, the FCC narrowly defined eligible li­ braries to be primarily public libraries and in­ dependent research libraries. Libraries that do not have a separate budget and that are part of another education institution may not apply for discounts. Thus, it appears that academic li­ braries, because their budgets are part of a larger academic institution, will not b e eligible for the discounts. ALA, having previously argued that all libraries that are eligible to apply for Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds and/ or are part of state library telecommunications plans should be included in the discount pro­ gram, will seek further clarification. ■ view of Generation-X stu­ dents. $78.50. JAI Press, 55 Old Post Road No.2, Green­ wich, CT 06836-1678. ISBN 0-7623-0217-8. Vol. 36 of the same series is Chinese A ca­ tions dem ic a n d Research Librar­ ies: A cq u isitio n s , Collec­ tions, a n d Organizations, b y P ris c illa C. Yu (177 p a g e s , F e b ru a ry 1997), which describes the history Eberhart and structure of the Peking, Fudan, and Nanjing univer­ sity libraries, as well as the National Library of China. $78.50. ISBN 0-7623- 0171-6. Countdown: A History of Space Flight, by T. A. Heppenheim er (398 pages, May 1997), presents a post-Cold War overview of the space programs of NASA, the Soviet Union, Europe, and America’s Central Intelligence Agency. In recent years, not only have the records of the Soviet space agency opened up, but the CIA’s role in the forefront of the American space pro­ gram has also come to light. H eppenheim er begins with the rocketry efforts of Hermann Oberth in Germany, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in Russia, and Robert Goddard and others in the United States at the end of World War II. He brings the space story up to date in the 1990s and beyond with plans for m anned and un­ m anned flights and space stations. In space, politics is paramount; this book explains why. $30.00. John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, NY 10158. ISBN 0-471-14439-8. A shadow figure in the Soviet space program for more than 30 years, Sergei Pavlovich Korolev is now recognized as the mastermind behind the launch of Sputnik, the first intercontinental ballistic missile, Yuri Gagarin’s space flight, and the Soviet race to the moon. Korolev, by James Harford (392 pages, May 1997), is the first book in English to detail the life of this engineering genius, from accused spy exiled to a Siberian gulag in 1938 to director o f the Soviet space program. $30.00, also published by John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0-471-14853-9. George M. E berhart is associate ed ito r o/‘American Libraries; e-m ail: geberhart@ ala.org. mailto:geberhart@ala.org