CENIC Today: Volume 10, Issue 6

Welcome to CENIC Today, the monthly newsletter of the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California. In this issue:

CENIC News:

President's Message: The Broadband Data Improvement Act

Broadband is receiving increasing attention at the national level and many would say it is about time. There are various studies and reports pointing to the United States falling behind in broadband availability and adoption. While CENIC has provided California researchers and educators high-quality, high-bandwidth networking for the last 10 years, we have also been encouraging greater broadband deployment for non-educational communities across the State and the nation at large. This is both because of the belief that economic growth is strongly dependent on broadband and because faculty, staff, and students need better networking from their homes so as to bridge the gulf between on-campus and off-campus access to various types of learning resources. As the nation's economy transforms itself into the information economy, it seems intuitive that high speed networking is an important foundation. In fact as stated in a recent American Library Association (ALA) study on library networking, "There is a growing body of research in the economics community about information and the so called 'knowledge economy'. This research (Foray, 2006) and the policy documents that reflect it (Atkinson &McKay, 2007) assert that investment in knowledge and information communication technologies are key factors in a modern competitive economy."

To address and consider the adequacy of broadband deployment, there are a number of fundamental questions to be considered: first, what is broadband and second, what is the current deployment. Surprisingly enough, 200 kb/s is the current FCC definition of broadband. Fortunately, the Broadband Data Improvement Act (S. 1492), which received approval from the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation on July 19, wishes to update the definition of broadband and to collect better data on broadband penetration. Introduced by Daniel Inouye (D-HI) with the support of five other senators, The Broadband Data Improvement Act recognizes that broadband availability and adoption is absolutely essential if the United States is to remain economically and socially healthy in the coming century, and moreover, as Inouye states, that "the first step in an improved broadband policy is ensuring that we have better data on which to build our efforts."

To that end, the Act proposes changes in the parameters by which data is classified and in the frequency of sampling, and mandates studies by various organizations as well as a 5-year, $40 million program to provide matching grants to state-level nonprofit public-private partnerships with programs to track and identify barriers to broadband availability and adoption throughout their state.

Not only does the Act specify that the FCC conduct inquiries annually, but it also would direct the FCC to reevaluate its 200 kb/s definition of "broadband" and instead consider a definition geared to the transmission of high-definition video. Availability is currently determined within 5-digit ZIP codes, which many experts consider far too broad; the Act would instead direct the FCC and service providers to use the more granular ZIP+4.

The Census Bureau, the Government Accountability Office, and the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy are also directed to harvest demographic data from individuals and businesses, and to develop the metrics by which such data could be analyzed to measure broadband deployment and use throughout the United States.

Clearly, given that this Act has come on the heels of the Rural Broadband Initiative Act of 2007 (discussed in the May 9 issue of CENIC Today and meant to address the issue of broadband availability in underserved rural areas) and the Resolution on Next-Generation Broadband Networks (introduced by Sen. Rockefeller on May 8 of this year to spur the creation of a national broadband goal and strategy), the visibility of broadband penetration for all Americans has become a hot topic at the national level. The weeks and months to come are sure to reveal more activity on this front. Keep an eye out for future issues of CENIC Today to learn more.

-- Jim Dolgonas, CENIC

CalREN Update: Network Projects and Activities

In the May 9 issue of CENIC Today, we reported that several County Offices of Education could look forward to the installation of new Gigabit circuits, specifically the Kings, Monterey, and Santa Cruz COEs and the San Bernardino Superintendent of Schools. Also, a second DS3 circuit was ordered for the Ventura County Office of Education for sorely needed bandwidth relief while awaiting the needed construction work to prepare for a Gigabit fiber connection to CalREN.

We're happy to report that several of these sites are now enjoying high-bandwidth connections to CalREN. On July 12, the Santa Cruz County Office of Education began using their new Gigabit connection alongside their existing DS-3, and on July 24, the site began using its enhanced Gigabit connectivity exclusively.

The Monterey County Office of Education began using their Gigabit connection to CalREN on July 28, and on July 29 the Ventura County Office of Education received the second of two DS-3 connections to CalREN, providing the needed bandwidth relief until work on the Gigabit fiber connection is completed.

Previously connected via DS-3 to the Imperial County Office of Education, the Riverside County Office of Education's Indio office is now connected via a Gigabit circuit to the CalREN Palm Desert node, located at the CSU San Bernardino Palm Desert Campus. Once a maintenance window is scheduled for the migration, the site can begin to enjoy its increased connectivity to CalREN.

Consequently, it's been a busy and productive month for CalREN's K-12 community. Keep an eye out for future issues of CENIC Today for further updates!

-- Ed Smith, CENIC

Sharing Knowledge, Sharing Cultures: UCLA DNA Researcher Seeks to Combine Classrooms for a Second Time

For faculty members who wish to take advantage of the broadband connectivity afforded by participation on CalREN, distance education is often the ultimate "killer app." And yet there are many ways in which this deceptively simple phrase can be implemented. Educators can share the course information at a distance . or they can share the students themselves. In this month's issue of CENIC Today, we'll look at two UCLA educators who have chosen to develop the promise of distance education from both perspectives.

In the Life Sciences Building on the UCLA campus off of Sunset Boulevard . when he isn't traveling, in his lab, or teaching . sits Bob Goldberg, professor in the Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology. But during the Winter Quarter of 2004, Dr. Goldberg could simultaneously be found in a classroom in Kyoto University in Japan as part of the Trans-Pacific International Long-Distance Educational Program (TIDE). The program, whereby a class entitled "Genetic Engineering in Medicine, Agriculture, and Law" was shared across the globe, was a stunning success for Goldberg, his students, and the faculty and students at Kyoto University . so much so that he is eager to do it again during the coming academic year.

"Academically, the class was great for the students, but it wasn't just that," says Goldberg, enthusiastic about what he sees as the real value of the experience. "Culturally, to see how differently the class was conducted in Japan . the relationship between the students there and their professor . was a real eye-opener for them, and for the Japanese students as well, to see how we do things here." The entire course was shared via a high-speed fiber path along CalREN to Berkeley and across the Pacific Ocean to Kyoto, sending video and audio both so that professors and students could teach and learn simultaneously in a combined setting. Supplementing the experience was an exchange program where between 10 and 20 Japanese and American students traded places for a week, experiencing one another's cultures and learning environments directly and participating in the shared class from the "other side."

The process of creating the shared class and bringing the experience to the students at UCLA and Kyoto University will be an easier one the second time around. With the creation of the Pacific Wave distributed international peering facility, a joint project between CENIC and the Pacific Northwest Gigapop sponsored by USC and the University of Washington, crossing the Pacific Ocean will not involve reserving a separate line or connection. Clear fiber paths already exists between California and the various research and education networks of the Pacific Rim to which advanced institutions such as Kyoto University connect. Thanks to national and international peering structures like Pacific Wave and TransitRail (which recently expanded its US footprint with a node activation in Chicago), distributed learning experiences like this are possible for many more California educators. CENIC is eager to learn more about the ways in which Associate researchers seek to use their connectivity to CalREN to enhance distance education.

UCLA's ETC Looking to Design Distance Course to Share Ancient Sites Digitally

On June 11, UCLA's Experiential Technologies Center announced, together with Walter Veltroni, the mayor of Rome, the first public viewing of "Rome Reborn 1.0," a ten-year project initiated at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to rebuild ancient Rome digitally on the computer. Through this project, viewers can fly effortlessly around a painstakingly reconstructed ancient Forum standing again under a digital sun, seen them from perspectives that have not been possible since the first century CE when the Roman Forum was filled with the bustling activity of the world's best-known early Empire.

But the team at the ETC doesn't plan on stopping with Rome. Diane Favro, the director of the Center and a professor of Architecture at UCLA specializing in Architectural History, is eager to design a statewide course, viewable over the web by anyone, by which not only Rome can be shared remotely with classes throughout California, but ancient Egypt and Israel, the early Islamic world, the Romanesque world of post-Imperial Europe, and even Berlin, the turn-of-the-century World's Fair, and modern Los Angeles. With massive and strongly immersive worlds such as Second Life and other non-remote gaming environments already popular among students, the competition to look good in the eyes of viewers is strong, so Favro and Lisa Snyder, the Center's Associate Director of Outreach and Operations, eager to find the best way to share the information . one that maximizes the experience and minimizes the effort in planning and execution.

Various models exist for sharing such high-bandwidth data, together with expert commentary, to classrooms in multiple locations. The data can be shared digitally or converted to a video stream, and Snyder reports that the latter, despite its simplicity, can often be the best method in terms of ROI. "It really was the easiest to set up," Snyder states from a seat in the UCLA Visualization Portal. "Cameras for the students and one for the simulation itself. It took relatively little time and effort, and paid off." Cameras were set up to record the live manipulation of the model in UCLA's Visualization Portal along with the class itself, and the images were transmitted to participants all over the state and made available via webcast. Other more bandwidth-intensive possibilities consist of converting the graphic frames directly to a video stream, and frame-sharing over the network, where the digital information itself is pushed along the network to remote class participants. "Second Life doesn't allow you to import things that have already been built," Snyder reports when the possibility is raised. "You have to rebuild everything within that world."

So UCLA's groundbreaking Experiential Technologies Center continues to investigate ways to bring ancient sites and ancient life to students throughout California, as well as finding collaborators both in the UC system and beyond. CENIC is keenly interested in finding ways in which we can help facilitate this; any Associates interested in participating or who can offer their expertise are encouraged to contact Janis Cortese at jcortese@cenic.org or (714) 220-3454.

Automated Planet Finder to Begin Searching the Skies for New Earths at Lick Observatory

Planet-hunting, according to UC Berkeley professor of Astronomy Geoff Marcy, is a great way to make a living, and last May, it got even better when he and an international team of astronomers reported finding an additional 28 extrasolar planets, increasing the grand total of known worlds beyond our sun to 212, according to exoplanets.org.

Most of the planets found, however, have been brawny giant worlds, larger even than the record-holder in our own solar system, Jupiter, fittingly named after the king of the ancient Roman pantheon of gods. For Marcy, the most important aspect of this search is the far more difficult task of finding worlds like our own, tiny rocky Earthlike worlds. "It's a fundamental need. We want to see ourselves," Marcy states, and he feels that small, rocky worlds are not uncommon, even if they are difficult to find. Larger worlds exert a stronger gravitational "pull" on their stars, tugging the star first to one side and then the other as they revolve around it. Swamped by the glare of their stars, a planet's existence is revealed by these tell-tale "wobbles" induced in stars as they drift through the sky.

But larger planets mean larger wobbles -- smaller planets tug their stars back and forth by almost inconceivably minute amounts, making them far harder to find without a dedicated instrument, designed and optimized for the task. Such an instrument is the Automated Planet Finder, located at Lick Observatory atop Mt. Hamilton near San Jose, California and scheduled to come online sometime during the coming winter. "It will change the kinds of questions that can be asked," says Marcy, continued on to explain that the search for planets requires fixed attention to a given section of the sky night after night for weeks. Most larger observatories dole out time on their schedules closely, and competition among researchers for time on the big scopes is fierce. Not only that, but if the weather doesn't cooperate, valuable time on the big scopes can be spent in frustration at a cloudy night. Consequently, a dedicated planet-finding instrument which does nothing but search the heavens for other worlds can result in enormous strides forward in this captivating sub-discipline in modern astronomy.

Sufficient bandwidth is a challenge. A scope like the APF is set to generate anywhere from 5 to 10 Gigs of data each night, and bandwidth atop the mountain is scarce. Researchers currently have 3 Mb/s links, which must be used for administrative tasks (phones, etc.) as well as scientific ones. Fiber is expensive, and wireless technology can come with limitations, particularly since the best seeing nights on the mountaintop often mean that the nearby valley is filled with fog. As a result, one of the premiere astronomical observatories in the world, near one of the most "connected" areas in the world and with a one-of-a-kind scientific instrument online in months, finds unique challenges in sharing its data with researchers around the world.

Marcy and Bob Kibrick, research astronomer and Director of Scientific Computing at Lick, have spoken with researchers at nearby San Jose State University and UC Santa Cruz with an eye toward increasing the bandwidth on the mountain and have in the past also spoken with the High Performance Wireless Research and Education Network (HPWREN) in San Diego, an extensive wireless network extending throughout San Diego county from the coast clear inland to the Salton Sea. Not only technical details concern them; they are also keen to learn more about licensing and the various other bureaucratic obstacles to be overcome.

Again, CENIC is eager to facilitate this exciting project and to help connect the researchers at the renowned Lick Observatory with others who have faced and overcome these challenges. With hard work and a bit of luck, the APF will not only begin gathering the data that will reveal the existence of worlds like our own, but will also be empowered through high-bandwidth networking to share that data with astronomers, students, and other enthusiasts of the heavens around the world.

National Networking News:

Hispanics' Access to Science Studied: USC receives grant to examine whether community colleges can help minority degrees in sciences

The National Science Foundation has awarded $667,559 to the USC Rossier School of Education's Center for Urban Education to conduct a study to determine practical ways of increasing Hispanics' access to and success in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and computer science.

The study will be conducted by USC Rossier School assistant professor Alicia C. Dowd and professor Estela Mara Bensimon, director of the Center for Urban Education and assisted by doctoral degree candidate Lindsey Malcom.

"Hispanics are the fastest-growing minority group in the U.S. but have the lowest levels of college degree attainment," Bensimon said. "The educational status of Hispanics is of particular concern because the economy and productivity of several states and cities will be affected by the educational preparation of Hispanics."

Source: USC News

UCSD Medical Center Named Most Wired and Most Wireless by Hospitals and Health Networks

For the second consecutive year, UCSD Medical Center is among the nation's "Most Wired" and "Most Wireless" hospitals, according to Hospital and Health Networks, a publication of the American Hospital Association. The magazine ranks UCSD Medical Center as one of the 100 "Most Wired" and one of the 25 "Most Wireless" in its ninth annual survey. Both awards recognize the highly developed technology infrastructure that allows UCSD Medical Center to use multiple technologies to seamlessly connect clinical systems and improve care.

The report credits the top-ranking hospitals with having successfully adopted information technology to improve patient outcomes, streamline clinical practices and decrease the occurrence of medical errors. As a result, these hospitals have improved quality, satisfaction, customer service, and patient care through their use of technology.

Source: UCSD News Center

Wireless victory for tech industry: FCC Vote Sets Rules for Sale of Spectrum

The Federal Communications Commission set the rules Tuesday for the multibillion-dollar auction of a valuable swath of wireless airwaves, starting a process that could dramatically change how consumers access the Internet on wireless gadgets.

In a 4-1 vote, the commission approved rules proposed by FCC Chairman Kevin Martin that require the winner of the auction to allow any device and any software application to run on the new network, a key victory for the technology industry.

Martin compared the vote to the 1968 FCC decision that forced AT&T to allow other phones to be hooked up to its network. "It's important to help spur innovation," he said in an interview.

Source: San Jose Mercury News

CSU Expands African-American Initiative

All 23 CSU campuses were on hand for the first "CSU Super Saturday" a college fair for middle and high school students and their families on Aug. 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at CSU Dominguez Hills.

The college fair is one of the programs that has developed from the CSU's partnership with churches and other organizations in the African American community. The college fair is designed to bring members of the community information on the admissions process, financial aid, degree programs, housing, campus life, and parent involvement.

Organized by CSU's campus outreach professionals in Southern California, the college fair follows the recent "Train the Trainer" workshop held at Cal State Northridge. The workshop was designed to help church educators become familiar with the CSU's practices in reaching out to middle and high school students and their parents on how to prepare for, apply to and succeed in college.

The workshop and college fair are an outgrowth of a series of community meetings that CSU leaders have held to extend their reach to the African American community. Since those initial meetings, CSU's efforts have grown significantly and have helped contribute to a 12.5 percent increase in applications from African American students for fall 2007.

For more information, visit http://www.calstate.edu/impact/.

San Jose Unified School District to Establish Largest K-12 Solar Power and Energy Efficiency Program in the United States

San José Unified School District today announced that it has entered into a unique partnership with Chevron Energy Solutions and Bank of America to establish what is believed to be the largest solar power and energy-efficient facilities program in K-12 education in the United States.

The program, which includes installation of five megawatts of solar power, is expected to provide the following benefits:

• More than $25 million in energy cost savings to the district over the life of the solar power system;
• District budget stability and predictability through known energy costs;
• No district capital investment required;
• 25 percent reduction in the district's demand for utility power;
• Reduction of 37,500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to planting 400 acres of trees.

"This program is the result of years of research and commitment on the part of San José Unified's Board and is living proof that schools can improve their facilities and help the environment without tapping their capital budgets," said Jorge González, president of the district board of education. "It's also an educational opportunity -- it can help teach our school communities about energy efficiency and renewable power."

Source: San Jose Unified School District (pdf)

Four state universities jump into high gear on the information superhighway

Mississippi's four largest universities have upgraded their Internet connections to enable them to significantly expand their research capabilities and access to information.

They now have faster and broader routes to the information superhighway via two national research networks.

Jackson State University, Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi and the University of Southern Mississippi began using the new routes July 1.

The upgrades come via the Internet2 Network and the National LambdaRail.

The Mississippi universities are using the NLR for the first time as part of a collaboration with the Louisiana Optical Network Initiative. This gives the two states' research

universities supercomputing power to link up with the national research networks. Source: The Commercial Dispatch

Ohio Governor Announces 'Broadband Ohio' Initiative

Governor Ted Strickland today issued an executive order announcing the Broadband Ohio initiative to extend the reach of Ohio.s broadband resources, further Ohio.s leadership in network innovation and improve technology access for all citizens throughout the state.

"Ohio's economic future relies on our ability to compete in a high-speed, high-tech global marketplace," Strickland said. "The Ohio Broadband Council will partner with the public and private sectors to help make sure that every Ohioan has viable access to affordable, high-speed Internet service, regardless of where they live, work or learn."

The Broadband Ohio executive order pairs higher education.s OSCnet (formerly the Third Frontier Network) with the Next Generation Network (NextGen Network), a new state and local government network being developed by acquiring available bandwidth from OSCnet.

The order also creates the Ohio Broadband Council to serve as the coordinating body for Broadband Ohio and to provide oversight of the initiative from a policy, procedure, process and development standpoint. The Ohio Broadband Council will be co-chaired by Ohio's chief information officer and the executive director of the Ohio Supercomputer Center.

Source: Supercomputing Online

Transportation researchers to test Toyota plug-in hybrid vehicles

The University of California, Berkeley, has been awarded $750,000 to conduct, along with project partner groups, the first real-world tests of and research with an automaker- produced, plug-in hybrid electric passenger vehicle (PHEV), the campus's Institute of Transportation Studies announced today (Wednesday, July 25).

UC Berkeley transportation researchers will work on the project with the California Air Resources Board, California Energy Commission, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., UC Irvine and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. Researchers will study user behavioral response - including recharging and refueling patterns - to PHEV technology, and conduct technical energy use and environmental and economic assessments.

The effort will be led by co-principal investigators Susan Shaheen and Timothy Lipman, researchers at UC Berkeley's Institute of Transportation Studies (ITS). Funding for the grant comes from the Alternative Fuel Incentive Program of California Assembly Bill 1811.

Source: UC Berkeley News

About CENIC:

California's education and research communities leverage their networking resources under CENIC, the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California, in order to obtain cost-effective, high-bandwidth networking to support their missions and answer the needs of their faculty, staff, and students. CENIC designs, implements, and operates CalREN, the California Research and Education Network, a high-bandwidth, high-capacity Internet network specially designed to meet the unique requirements of these communities, and to which the vast majority of the state's K-20 educational institutions are connected. In order to facilitate collaboration in education and research, CENIC also provides connectivity to non-California institutions and industry research organizations with which CENIC's Associate researchers and educators are engaged.

CENIC is governed by its member institutions. Representatives from these institutions also donate expertise through their participation in various committees designed to ensure that CENIC is managed effectively and efficiently, and to support the continued evolution of the network as technology advances.

For more information, visit www.cenic.org.

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