ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 190 / C&RL News W ashingto Hotline n Lynne E. B radley HEA reauthorization The Higher Education Act (HEA) will expire in Septem­ ber 1997. The leadership o f the House Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities (renamed the House Committee on Edu­ cation and the Work Force) and its Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education, Training and Lifelong Learn­ ing sent a letter to the higher education community asking for input and participation in the reauthorization process. Specifically, the letter asked for “proposals to maintain and ex­ pand access to higher education, promote qual­ ity educational opportunities, address the ris­ ing costs o f higher education, simplify student aid and institutional aid programs, promote stu­ dent academic preparation for postsecondary education, and prom ote savings for post­ secondary education.” A broad coalition o f higher education orga­ nizations has organized task forces to consider current HEA programs, which ones are likely to receive serious consideration in the current political climate, and what changes the higher education community should jointly recom­ mend. The American Council on Education co­ ordinates this effort, which concentrates on HEA student aid provisions, plus selected other titles o f HEA that have received significant funding in recent years. Congress is expected to con­ tinue its recent trend o f not renew ing pro­ grams with little or no recent funding his­ tory. Consistent with this trend, the parts o f the HEA Title II library programs that were con­ tinuing to receive funding (some research and demonstration projects plus a small amount o f fellowship and training assistance) w ere in­ cluded in last fall’s Library Services and Tech­ nology Act as part o f a new national leadership program in the library field (along with preser­ vation and digitization and joint library/museum projects). At the same time, HEA II was re­ pealed, so it will not be among the parts o f HEA in the reauthorization process, nor is it the subject o f an HEA task force among higher educa­ tion groups. The ALA Washington O f fice has been monitoring or participating in task force meetings as appropriate, es­ pecially on the College Work Study Program, and expects to be supporting the higher education com m unity in joint recommendations. The American Council on Education (ACE) includes a list o f task forces, their ef­ forts, and contacts for them on its W eb site: h ttp :/ / w w w .acen et.ed u / P rogram s/ D G R / taskforces.HTML. Librarians are encouraged to call any or all o f these individuals with ideas or suggestions for reauthorization proposals, or contact ACE at One Dupont Circle, Washing­ ton, DC 20036. INTERNET II The Next Generation Internet and Internet II represent a very important and evolving policy area especially for the academic and research communities. There have been many policy concerns directed to the limitations and strains on the current Internet and three related devel­ opments are being watched for increased con­ gressional attention: First, a number o f research universities an­ nounced the formation o f a consortium to de­ velop and implement Internet II. Second, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has announced the expansion and redi­ rection o f its vBNS (very high speed backbone network services) program. And third, President Clinton has announced a Next Generation Internet (N G I) initiative (he mentioned this in his recent State o f the Union address). The three efforts are closely related, although precisely how they will evolve and coordinate is still under discussion. The con­ gressional science authorization and appropria­ tion committees are likely to follow these de­ v e lo p m e n ts c lo s e ly . W h e th e r any n ew legislation will be introduced is less clear. In­ ternet II and the NGI developments are impor­ tant areas for academic librarians to monitor and about which to inform other campus offi­ cials. ■ Lynne E. Bradley is deputy executive director o f A LA’s Washington Office; e-m ail: leh@alawash.org. http://www.acenet.edu/Programs/DGR/ mailto:leh@alawash.org March 1997 / 191 C&RL N ew s 30th anniversary quiz Here is the next install­ ment o f the C&RL News 30th anniversary quiz. Test your recollection o f events that have been reported in the News since 1966. 1. What was the A IA ’s 1992 campaign slo­ gan prom oted during National Library Week? 2. Name a science fiction writer whose photo appeared on the cover o f C&RL News. 3• The world’s largest collage is located at which university library? 4. What library acquired the papers of Nobel Prize-winning author Isaac Bashevis Singer in the mid-’90s? 5. In the 1960s the Library o f Congress acquired an unknown and unpublished autographed letter o f Benjamin Franklin’s in which he refers to a musical instrument that he invented. Name the instrument. Answers: 1. The slogan was “Your Right to Know: Librarians Make It Happen” (February 1992). 2. Author Kurt Vonnegut appeared on the cover of the News (July/August 1978). 3. The world’s largest collage is at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas (October 1984). 4. The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin acquired Singer’s papers (May 1994). 5. Franklin invented the armonica, also known as the glass harmonica, from which sound was produced by the friction of wetted fingers on the rims of a set of tuned glass bowls (December 1968). 192 / C&RL News March 1997 / 193 W h y d o 6,000 lib r a r ie s i n 44 C o u n t r ie s u s e O C L C F ir s t S e a r c h ? 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