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Show 4A Emery County Progress Tuesday, July 4, 1995 PERSPECTIVE Technology may be answer to student growth By Gov. Michael Leavitt Guest columnist Today, 80,000 students are enrolled full time in Utah's nine colleges and universities. In 1 5 years, when today's toddlers enter college, projections indicate there will be 150,000 students. If we add traditional classrooms and buildings to our campuses to make room for them all, the cost for the build those coasts if we annually ings alone will be more than $2 billion. Add to that more than $4 billion in identified water and highway development needs, and it is clear that Utah taxpayers face a daunting challenge in infrastructure costs. We will build new buildings, but we don't have enough money to simply build our way out of these challenges. It would take 60 years to pay , devoted a $100 million capital bond (the highest we have ever used) to them. Clearly, we must do other things to provide access to higher education beyond just constructing buildings. Recently I was chatting with a Utah higher education official after a meeting where I had suggested that we could deliver college and high school classes through technology means as a partial solution to the enrollment crunch. He in- formed me that my expectations were overblown, in part because students don't want to give up the campus experience. To illustrate his point, he asked a high school senior: "Would you rather go to class, on campus with other students or take courses alone via computer or television?" "I want to be on campus, go to class, meet people, have fun," the student said. Big surprise? No. But I submit the wrong question was asked. A college student might take four or five classes per quarter, each meeting three or five days a week in a classroom. Some classes will be large lecture halls with 300 other students and little opportunity for interaction with the professor. Others will be smaller and more intimate. The student will be reading textbooks, hearing lectures, writing papers, taking tests and attending labs. Here's the right question: "Would you be willing to take some small part of that mix described above through means? Perhaps one class a quarter or some part of two classes?" It is clear that a great deal of misunderstanding exists with regard to the role of computers and technology in education. Some people think we want all Utah students to get their education sitting at home in front of a computer or television set. Or take all classes via video originating from a remote site. That's not it at all. Our vision of technology-delivere- d education is not about eliminating the campus experience. It is atech-nology-deliver- ed -- about choice, variety and flexibility. It's about accessibility and making some classes, those that fit the proper criteria, available anytime, anywhere. It's about using the incredible advances in computer technology, software, networking, content and telecommunications to enrich courses and curriculum. It's about providing resources to teachers and instructors and empowering them to spend more time with students. Yes, students will still take courses in traditional classroom settings, but also via or floppy disc or distance EDNET our through CD-RO- education network. Some courses will use a combination of learning experiences- - perhaps dissecting a simulated frog at home using interactive one day and doing the real thing the next day in a biology lab. Clearly, the campus experience will not be lost. But it will be enriched, and we will use our campuses more effectively. Some students may not spend as many days as they do now on campus in traditional but the choice will be theirs. We have a diverse student population. Anew college freshman will likely want to enjoy all aspects of campus life. father oftwo But a with a part-tim- e job may want to obtain his education as efficiently and quickly as possible with a minimum number of trips to campus. Some courses, or parts of courses, are best suited to small group interaction with professors in a traditional classroom. A few can effectively be taught over networks with hundreds or even thousands of students participating in many locations via interactive video, using such resources as laser discs, video clips, the Internet and so forth. The goals CD-RO- M class-room- s- -- CD-RO- are quality, accessibility, choice, diversity and flexibil- ity, while avoiding overcrowding in our schools and colleges, and slowing the growth in building construction. Nothing can replace a master teacher. I once watched as the irrepressible Fred Adams of the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City taught a class on Shakespeare to a group of students in the Logan area over our EDNET system. Fred's enormous enthusiasm, knowledge and passion for Shakespeare were clearly transmitted across hundreds of miles of fiber optic cable-a- nd the students were thrilled. They asked questions about characters, costumes, dialogue and symbolism, and Fred's answers were delightful. Real learning occurred. Every Utah students should be exposed to Shakespeare by Fred Adams. And through technology-delivere- d education, we can do it. There will be a flourishing of entrepreneurship." Today's high school seniors will enter the workforce in the next century. Does anyone believe that computer mastery will not be an absolute requirement for g almost all jobs in the new century? The day that homes, schools high-payin- businesses and government are linked with high-spee- d com- puter connections allowing transmission of voice, data, graphics and video, is the day that the world changes. And that day will come sooner than we realize. Many ofthe worlds largest telecommunications and information technology companies are investing billions of dollars to make this our Through happen. SmartUtah initiative, many of these companies have agreed to deploy the first versions of these networks right here in Utah. Our students must be prepared for this future because their career success will depend on it. If we follow this vision, we will continue to have traditional classrooms and campuses and yes, we will continue to construct buildings. Probably even a majority of classes will be taught in traditional classroom settings. But we must take advantage of the wonderful opportunities that are now available to add richness and variety- - and cost savings to our system. We can use technology to make education accessible and affordable to all of our citizens, while at the same time improving the quality of our educational offerings. We must take advantage of the Fred Adamses of the world. We can deliver courses from Pulitzer Prize winners orNobel laureates from world-renowne- d universities; our students can study Japanese with students in Tokyo. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., the chairman and CEO of IBM, has written a book about education reform. In it, he notes that nearly all institutions in society are struggling to adapt to the changes of the late 20th century, many of which are driven by computer technology. "This country has prospered because of change and improvement," he said. "Yet, arguably, in the institution where progress is most critical- educatio- n- it is most lacking." Education has not under- gone this same process of revitalizing change. Gerstner said education leaders must become "entrepreneurs. . . prepared to design and put in place their own innovative and daring programs." We cannot do business as usual. We can't build our way out of our classroom shortage problem. We must We must be and to be innovative and a willing little daring. We can show the rest of the country how it can risk-taker- s, nt be done.. Another key reason we must use technology to deliver and enrich education is that doing so will better prepare our young people for the workplace. In a recent speech in Utah, futurist and computer guru George Gilder warned listeners to expect a juggernaut of technological capacity and power over the next few years that cannot be held back. At the same conference, TCI Chairman John Malone, speaking of technological advances, said, "It is not possible to exaggerate the end game... everything will change. There will be an explosion ofchoice and opportunity. F arm Bureau supports wilds bill A top official of the Utah Farm Bureau has testified in a House ofRepresentatives subcommittee that H.R. 1745, the Utah BLM Wilderness Bill, is the best possible compromise on this important issue, and Thundershowers moved through Castle County over the weekend and into early this week, threatening to dampen the 4th of July festivities. However, the lightning seemed to add to local fireworks as area residents have been given a spectacular show of mother nature. Photo by Larry Davis Emery County iPflrogress Voice of Emery County since 1891 ADMINISTRATION Kevin Ashby Publisher Office Hours: Monday 8:30 to noon; ADVERTISING Jennl Fasselin Vickie Wilbanks Kevin Ashby Display Classified Legal EDITORIAL Larry Davis Shanna Davis Subscription Rates: 50 cents per copy; $21 per year delivered by carrier In Carbon and Emery counties; $25 In Utah; $29 out of Utah per year by mail. Editor closed Tuesday; Wednesday - Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at 190 East Main Castle Dale, Utah. Classifieds Deadline: Monday at 10:00 a.m. for Tuesday's publication. Reporter Telephone: gfJJSE Linda Thayn Marilyn Curtis Vickie Wilbanks Office Manager Circulation Receptionist reserved by the Emery County Progress. All Is property of Emery County Progress. No part herein may be reproduced without prior written consent. All rights (801 2431; Fax (801)381-543- ) Publication No. (USPS Issued once a week at Castle Dale, Utah. Second class postage paid at Castle Dale, Utah. 0747-2129- Postmaster: Send change of ad- dress to PO Box 589, Castle Dale, Utah 84513. should be moved to the floor of the House for discussion and passed as soon as possible. C. Booth Wallentine, UFB executive vice president, said the effort to designate wilderness on BLM land in Utah has for almost 17 years been one of the most divisive public land issues in our state. Testifying on behalf of Farm Bureau, the Utah Cattlemen's Association and the Utah Wool Growers Association, he said misinformation campaigns and distortion offacts in the public record by environmental activists have made it difficult to dispel many of the myths surrounding the benefits of wilderness management on public lands. For instance, Wallentine said wilderness designation is not necessary to save undeveloped scenic areas in Utah from future development or degradation. "We have numerous laws, regulations and court decisions already on the books to protect these lands whether they are designated as wilderness or not. The difference is largely what kind of recreational uses will be made of these areas," he said. Wallentine said the BLM. currently has the authority to do administratively everything which wilderness designation would do with the exception ol permanently preventing mineral entry. But in its environmental impact statement, the BLM found that even if no land is designated as wilderness, under two percent would ever be disturbed for mining pur- poses. "Even if they are wrong, or ii we want to be conservative and triple their estimate, that still means that 95 percent of the land will never be disturbed," he said. "And remember that the BLM can already control National Forest, the language in the bill appears to us to be inadequate to prevent the creation of buffer zones," Wallentine said. "I cannot stress emphatically enofigh how essential it is to U3 that there be iron-cla- d protections in the bill the creation of buffer against zones by any means. We urge and strengthen you to re-dra- ft administratively whether this section." roads, campgrounds and all the other activities which many wilderness advocates hold up as their concerns," he said. Wallentine also warned that several studies show there are high costs in managing land as wilderness. He said a USU research team found that there would be a net economic cost to the rural areas of the state, as well as other, niore beneficial BLM programs. "Wilderness costs more to manage than non wilderness lands. Some estimates in Utah are twice as much per acre, or about $1.50 additional per acre. "Where is that money going to come from? What other BLM programs, most of which are already woefully underfunded, are going to be further reduced?" Wallentine asked. "Can this funding dislocation be justified largely to preserve a specialized type of recreational preference?" Wallentine said rural Utahns would prefer to see a smaller acreage figure than the 1 . 8 million acres in this bill. He also testified that the so called buffer zone language in the bill must be strengthened to prevent such zones from being imposed in the future by the courts. "In light of the recent court decisions on the Wenatchee Wallentine also said roads into wilderness areas certainly violates the spirit of the Wilderness Act if notits intent. He said the rights-of-wa- y granted to the "cherry-stemmin- g" counties by R.S. 2477 are crucial to maintaining the public's access to the public lands and roads for any reason and present language in the bill undermines these county rights. He said the bill has many good features. The protection of state water rights and primacy of state water rights are well protected in this bill. "We like the language protecting access generally and specifically the language which identifies a number of specific water projects and other infrastructure projects which are specifically protected even where wilderness is designated." Wallentine said two land-us- e provisions in the bill were also adequate. He approved of the lands release language, which he said is better than what has been included in some other recent wilderness bills. He also approved of the land exchange provisions, which would exchange state sections within designated areas for federal tracts outside of the wilder ness. "For the sake of our children, we must generate more revenue from these trust lands, and we commend the sponsors of this bill for trying to facili- -' tate that effort." Wallentine said the bill provides good protection for grazing rights, which have not always been respected by land managers even though the 1964 Wilderness Act states that historical grazing can con- tinue. He said grazing rights could be further safeguarded by putting specific management directives in the wilderness guidelines into the law, and by holding periodic oversight hearings on grazing in the wilderness guidelines into law, and by holding periodic oversight hearings on grazing in wilderness areas across the West. He said H.R. 1745 is a "bill we can live with. We are not' totally pleased with it, but we are willing to compromise on many of our concerns if we can get this issue resolved," he said. "It appears to us that this is the best opportunity we have to finally resolve this issue and we encourage you to pro ceed to do that," Wallentine said. Fjij. liii'ffl SiHil a 4 Kin - ilipK?: I'i!!1 'hlTiTIiT' frliM W- T |