Vermont

Online Chats

[LukeAlbee] Who else has a question?

[MikeM] So, you are against the CDA?

[RobP] What's the docket look like for remainder of the session?

[LukeAlbee] mike first. then bor.

[PatLeahy] I am against the CDA.

[PHLIP] taxing TV could be a help to our budget problem too.

[LukeAlbee] rob, not bor

[PatLeahy] I think parents ought to take responsibility for their children and not ask the government to do it. PJL

[LukeAlbee] pjl will answer Rob P. now.

[PHLIP] but most parents won't do that

[PatLeahy] The Senate session will be very political this year.

[LukeAlbee] more coming.

[PatLeahy] With the Senate leader - Sen Dole- running for President part of the battlefield will be the

[Steve] But to take the devil's advocate position -- which I don't support -- most young children know how to use computers better than their parents. The argument could be made that parents don't know how to restrict their childrens' access.

[PatLeahy]Senate floor. I do think we will pass a farm bill

[PatLeahy]and more budget reform.

[LukeAlbee] steve -- we'll get to your point next.

[RobP] Senator, Adam from the BFP says "hi"

[PHLIP] most I know whose children watch TV are not to responsible about what they watch

[RobP] When do you think the budget will be passed, and _signed_?

[PatLeahy] Hi Adam - wish I was there.

[LukeAlbee] he will answer steve. then rob.

[Mike] Relating to farms, etc: I haven't been able to find any information regarding the work you've done to reform the USDA..

[Steve] Perhaps the Senator would like to ask _us_ some questions?

[Mike] I was curious about that

[MikeM] Me too.

[PHLIP] what an Idea

[PatLeahy] Steve you are right but there are programs which could allow parents to look back at what their children see or do.

[PatLeahy] It could help communication by having parents take an interest

[Mike] Surfwatch is actually pretty popular right now, and AOL has parental control..

[Steve] So does CompuServe.

[PatLeahy] Being against the CDA doesn't mean you are in favor of child abusers - heck I sent

[PatLeahy] them to jail when I was a prosecutor PJL

[LukeAlbee] pjl will now ask a couple of questions to you.

[PHLIP] fine

[Steve] That's what frustrated me about Exon -- that he labeled those who voted against the CDA as people who support child abusers. Now to the questions. (Sorry.)

[PatLeahy] You are all part of ;the most computer literate generation.

[MikeM] Proud to be!

[PatLeahy] What do you see as the most benefit you will get from computers

[PatLeahy] during the next 5 years.

[LukeAlbee] take turns. don't all tyope at once.

[PHLIP] there was the Agricultural Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and now the Information Revolution

[Steve] I wondered that when I visited an inner-city school. There were no computers, and I wondered if it affected their education. The research seems to be inconclusive.

[MikeM] I think that we will get things done better and faster being computer literate.

[PatLeahy] Should we work to get all Vermont schools

[PatLeahy] to the internet? PJL

[Steve] Faster, perhaps. But better -- it's hard to say that the output from WordPerfect is better in content than what one gets from a typewriter. A lot of hack writers can now hack easier.

[PHLIP] like net day?

[RobP] In the last year, the availability of research materials via the Internet (namely, the World Wide Web) has greatly increased my ability to find more conclusive, global, and detailed information.

[PHLIP] In California?

[PatLeahy] I read newspapers from all over the world on the NET

[Mike] For me, WAIS and gopher have also been very helpful in research

[Steve] When Clinton wired up the California schools, I thought, "What a waste of money." Why not repair walls, rather than install networks? It's hard to argue that the latter are more important than the latter.

[Steve] Than the former, rather.

[Mike] When I had an exchange student this summer, we were able to surf the web to find a newspaper from his hometown.

[Mike] (in basque)

[PatLeahy] I went to a tiny high school in Vermont.

[Steve] The world connection is important, but I don't think it helps students learn much in school.

[PHLIP] CVU?

[RobP] I believe that Burlington recently passed a "technology tax" to raise money for compurs.

[MikeM] I think that if more schools has possibly a few computers with internet access - it would be equal to having any library in that school.

[PatLeahy] Our walls were falling down but we had the books we needed.

[Steve] They become more world-aware, but not much more literate.

[PatLeahy] I would go with the tools over the building PJL

[Mike] I believe that the Internet and other large networks can take the place of school in many areas.

[Steve] Mike, when I walk into the Bailey-Howe library at UVM -- with a million books -- I have a resource that is more organized, and therefore more useful, than the Internet. Perhaps in the future the Net will be as useful as a library, but not yet.

[RobP] Mike, that is almost a corollary or off-shoot of VT Interactive TV and Satellite courses.

[PHLIP] Leahy?

[PatLeahy] I grew up in a family of printers and newspaper publishers. I do like to hold what I read.

[MikeM] Well, if you think about it, a huge amount of information is a lot better than ONE book.

[PatLeahy] What kind of jobs do you look for when yu hit the job market? PJL

[Mike] Steve, I find that it does not take a lot longer to search and find

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[23;1H+much more vast wealth of information using the Internet. Especially with AOL, which is highly organized, it is much more valuable, and of greater diversity, than anything I'd find at the UVM library.

[Steve] Mike, the Net is good, but not better than one full library. Money is tight -- priorities are important.

[Steve] "Of greater diversity"? Doubtful.

[PatLeahy] Job market? PJL

[PHLIP] I don't really know what I'll look for

[RobP] Regarding a job, I believe that so many jobs incorporate computers that I would be hard pressed to find one that did not utilize some aspect of "high technology."

[Mike] In terms of cost, however, a simple Internet connection, which will only become cheaper, a full library is not as cheap..

[MikeM] Exactly

[Mike]

[Mike] and I could never find a Basque newspaper at UVM.

[Steve] If one is looking for a job in Taiwan, the next is perfect. :]

[PHLIP] maybe something in Toys, Music, or as a teacher of something else

[Steve] That is, the "Net" is perfect, not the "next"

[Mike] but anyway.. we should talk about this later, amongst ourselves =)

[RobP] Actually, I used E-mail to contact a person who advertised a position in the classified and left an email address, regarding summer employment.

[Mike] And this year's phonebook is offering to put in email

[PatLeahy] The Net is very helpful. Last month my home page got 21,000 hits. Not bad from a small state and shows the interest. PJL

[RobP] Do you have links to the Greatful Dead and Batman?

[PHLIP] Two of those were mine

[PatLeahy] I didn't know about the phone book. We'll put ours in. PJL

[MikeM] Yeah, I'm going to be setting up a webpage in the future.

[MikeM] What was that?

[PatLeahy] I do have bookmarks on my computer to several Grateful Dead sites and several Batman sites. PJL

[PHLIP] is it messing up on your site?

[Mike] Last month your page was at the top of many people's link lists. When web pages were turned black, yours and the blue ribbon anti-censorship campaign web page were at the top of my link lists.

[MikeM] Something's wrong with our connection I think...

[LukeAlbee] we are going to have to end this in a couple minutes, any final thoughts?

[Mike] And I would also like to commend you for blacking out your own web =)

[PHLIP] link

[PatLeahy] Mike many thanks. I do use the page a great deal to get input from everying ranging from censorship to landmines.

[Mike] I never saw an answer relating to your work with reforming the USDA.. did I miss it?

[PHLIP] Well it was fun, but I will be getting off

[PatLeahy] Thank you for joining me. I have to go to a caucus meetin now but this is by far the most fun I have had this week

[RobP] Good luck on your landmine bill.

[LukeAlbee] mike, he did pass sweeping reform of usda.

[MikeM] Goodbye Senator Leahy, nice chatting with you.