Work will start this summer on installing connections to MIT's computer network, MITnet, in every dorm room in MacGregor and the other undergraduate dorms.  According to James D. Bruce '60, Vice President for Information Systems, network services should be available sometime later in the 1993-94 academic year to students who have computers with ethernet cards (which cost from $150 to $250.)
MITnet is connected to the same network that Athena workstations are connected to and is a part of the world-wide Internet.  Students should be able to use such services as telnet, ftp, zephyr, electronic mail, and more from their personal computers without logging into Athena.  The speed of the connection will be hundreds of times faster than what is available over a telephone line..
The wiring leading up to and inside of MacGregor is already in place.  What still needs to be installed are the electronics which control the flow of data.  Two students from each dorm will be hired to set up and maintain the network.  According to network support services manager  JoAnne Costello, it will cost $500 thousand to install the network in all of the dorms.  After this, it will annually cost over $31 thousand per dorm to maintain the equipment and pay for network access fees.
Send suggestions to <resnet@mit.edu>.
_ Erik Nygren