From: atkinson@csuvax1.murdoch.edu.au (Roger Atkinson)
Subject: Re: Few Surprises in Science White Paper
Organization: Murdoch University External Studies
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 92 11:39:34 GMT

In article <1992Aug19.114556.19993@newshost.anu.edu.au>, pte900@jatz.aarnet.edu.au (Peter Elford) writes:
 
> "Few Surprises in Science White Paper" read the heading on page 16
> of the Canberra Times this morning. But right at the end of the article:
> 
> "Up to $13 million will be spent over the next two years upgrading the
> Australian Academic and Research Network, a computerised link between
> researchers and their colleagues in Australia and overseas."
> 
richard@asis.unimelb.EDU.AU (Richard Begg) commented 20 Aug 92 01:19:59 GMT

>Isn't that nice of them.  But what is the money to be spent on?  Faster links?
>more IP connections?  Does it include any long term financial commitments
>to pay for the "upgraded" phone bills?

Firstly, it's not a great surprise. Below, a bit I sent to another forum on
8 June. Compliments to Aust Campus Review Weekly, a good rag:

>Interesting rumour in Campus Review Weekly May 28 - June 3, page 1 
>headline "Distance educators slate rumoured $30m for QU, Monash 
>university of the air". Not the headline, which is very, very boring, and 
>useful only for locating this interesting sentence:

    Sources say the minister has about $100m to spend to help win the 
    next election and that about $30m will go to Monash and Qld, $40m 
    to TAFE, and the rest to AARNet.

>AARNet's 1992 budget is only $2.8m. Interesting rumour. Throw $30m at 
>AARNet? Why not, we could have the fanciest modems in every telephone 
>district, hosts galore, Megalinks everwhere, more conferences with free 
>booze, people paid to do jobs instead of all this unrewarded overtime. 

That was in the context of a DEET funded project to improve external
student access to AARNet as an alternative to Austpac for long distance
connection to their university of enrolment. Maybe we should complain, AARNet
gets only $13 million over two years. However, the main thrust seems to be
the research scene, and surely that gives much scope. For example, just in
WA alone, the outfits which should be into AARNet Affiliate Membership and
are not include State Gov Depts of Conservation and Land Management, 
Agriculture, Land Administration, Health, Mines, Water Authority and sundry 
others with research connections with the universities; quite a number of
companies in the mining sector; etc. So throwing a bit of the $13 million
at recruiting more Affiliates would be sensible.

If you have more Affiliates needing to communicate to researchers at the
universities, then you'll have to make sure that the researchers are equipped 
so give some of it to institutions to upgrade their LANs (Murdoch's Vet
School for instance - all they have is a few serial connections, no Ethernet).

It seems that some fast planning may have to be done on finding sensible ways
to spend it. What, if anything, are the plans to spend this windfall in a
better planned way than the Government's approach to the next election? Can 
we divert a tiny bit towards the **teaching** scene? How much of it would 
have to go on specialised research into data comms topics in contrast to 
the apparent intention of being a research infrastructure support?

Dr Roger Atkinson
Acting Director of External Studies, External Studies Unit,
Murdoch University, Murdoch WA 6150.
Voice 09 360 2240 fax 09 310 4929  atkinson@csuvax1.murdoch.edu.au

Newsgroups: aus.aarnet