Judy Roberts, IST–CNS
The campus AirBears network will almost quadruple in size over the next few months, thanks to a Hewlett-Packard (HP) grant recently awarded to a faculty group led by Professor Philip Stark. The Hewlett-Packard grant, given to study the effect of wireless Internet access on student learning, provides the equipment for 160 new wireless access points to be used to incorporate wireless technology into the redesign of large undergraduate courses — among them Chemistry, Anthropology, and Statistics.
The first 100 connections are being installed over the summer in libraries, general-assignment classrooms, campus cafes, and other public spaces. Equipment for the remaining 60 access points was offered earlier this year to campus departments and organizational units willing to pay the installation costs. There was a great deal of interest; requests are being filled based on the size of the student population that will be served by the access points, and their locations on the campus. It is expected the access points will be installed by the end of 2003.
The equipment given by HP has been allocated, and the grant has helped expedite building the campus wireless network. But more remains to be done, and CNS is still working diligently to expand the availability of wireless on campus. Anyone interested in installing wireless access points at their location should contact
For more information, see the AirBears Wireless project website (http://airbears.berkeley.edu/).
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