Subject: NSF anouncment of intrest

From: Jeff Williams <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 12:06:46 +0000

All,

  Here is an NSF announcment that would seem to fly in the face of some
of
the recent news announcments and articles of the past day or so.

Subject:
        NSF Approves 29 New Connections To High-Performance Comp....
   Date:
        Thu, 26 Feb 1998 12:28:29 -0500
   From:
        [email-masked]
     To:
        Multiple recipients of list <[email-masked]>

                    NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION

                                      Embargoed until 2 P.M. EST
Media contact:                                 February 26, 1998
Beth Gaston                                         NSF PR 98-13
(703) 306-1070/[email-masked]

               NSF APPROVES 29 NEW CONNECTIONS TO
                HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTER NETWORK

     The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced today that
29 additional institutions will be connected to the very high
performance Backbone Network Service (vBNS), allowing scientists
and engineers across the country to collaborate and share
powerful computing and information resources.  This latest round
of connections brings the total number of institutions approved
for connections to 92.

     The vBNS is a crucial player in the president's Next
Generation Internet and is the initial interconnect for Internet2
member institutions.

     "By building an Internet that is faster and more advanced,
we can keep the United States at the cutting edge of Internet
technology, and explore new applications in distance learning,
telemedicine, and scientific research," said President Clinton.

     The NSF will make more connections_up to 150
institutions_should the Congress continue to support NSF's role
in the Next Generation Internet (NGI) initiative.  NSF's fiscal
1998 appropriation bill directs NSF to use $23 million of the
domain name intellectual infrastructure fund toward Next
Generation Internet activities.  However a preliminary injunction
in a pending lawsuit (William Thomas, et al, v. Network Solutions
and National Science Foundation) currently prevents NSF from
spending this money.  For FY 99, NSF has requested another $25
million for NGI activities.

     "The vBNS is a facility_like a laboratory or a supercomputer
center_that will accelerate science in all disciplines as well as
push the limits of networking technology and applications," said
George Strawn, director of NSF's Advanced Networking
Infrastructure and Research division.

     The vBNS, begun in 1995, is an investment of  $50 million in
a five-year project with MCI Telecommunications Corporation.
Connections are evaluated by a peer review process and are
approved based on scientific and technical merit.

     The sophisticated telecommunications network currently runs
at 622 million bits per second and is expected to operate at 2.4
gigabits per second (2,400 mbps) by the year 2000.  By
comparison, the average home modem transmits 28,800 bits per
second.  The vBNS is expected to always be several steps ahead of
commercially available networking.

     This large capacity allows scientists to collect and share
large amounts of data, to collaborate better across large
distances, and to run complex equipment from remote sites.  The
ability to share data and equipment helps scientists studying
everything from atoms to galaxies, and  to remotely run
simulations of science from environment to the beating heart.

     Most institutions receive High Performance Connections
grants of up to $350,000 from NSF over two years for their
connections to offset the cost of linking from their sites to the
vBNS backbone. NSF is spending a total of $9,022,859 for this
round of connections grants.

     For more information, see: http://www.cise.nsf.gov/anir/hp-
connections.html or http://www.vbns.net

                              -NSF-

Attachment: List of institutions

NSF is making a transition to a new form of electronic
distribution of news materials, Custom News Service, to replace
the current "listserve." From the toolbar on NSF's home page,
(http://www.nsf.gov), you may sign up to receive electronic
versions of NSF materials of your own choosing.  Also see NSF
news products at: http://www.nsf.gov:80/od/lpa/start.htm,
http://www.eurekalert.org/, and http://www.ari.net/newswise

                    INSTITUTIONS APPROVED FOR
           HIGH PERFORMANCE CONNECTIONS February, 1998

ú    Washington University (St. Louis)
ú    University of Alabama at Birmingham
ú    University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa
ú    University of Alabama in Huntsville
ú    University of Missouri-Columbia
ú    University of Florida
ú    Florida State University
ú    University of Miami
ú    University of Wyoming
ú    Washington State University
ú    Montana State University
ú    California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
ú    California State University, San Bernardino
ú    San Diego State University
ú    University of California-San Diego
ú    Wayne State University
ú    University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
ú    Drexel University
ú    Purdue University
ú    George Washington University
ú    Columbia University
ú    New York University
ú    University of Massachusetts, Amherst
ú    Princeton University
ú    Georgetown University
ú    University of Idaho
ú    University of Nebraska-Lincoln
ú    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
ú    Cornell University

Regards,

--
Jeffrey A. Williams
DIR. Internet Network Eng/SR. Java/CORBA Development Eng.
Information Network Eng. Group. INEG. INC.
E-Mail [email-masked]