Like many other ISU students, Poindexter, sophomore in business, has grown accustomed to this technological way of life. When the project is completed, fiber-optic lines will run to nearly every building on campus, connecting classrooms, computer labs and residence halls, said Randy Larabee, the university's chief electrical engineer. The fiber optics will carry much more information at a much faster pace. This faster information transfer is the top reason ISU wanted to update its communication systems. Ron Hartfield, superintendent of Cable Tech, Inc., the contractor in charge of laying the cables on campus, said six to 10 workmen have been working on the project since last September.
Optical fibers are simply strands of glass.
One hundred or more of these strands, each thinner than a human hair, is combined inside each cable. Inc. Eric Stroud, owner of Cable Tech, Inc., said the concept of fiber optics is remarkable. With copper, the wiring system used previously to fiber optics, the data signals weaken, stray and are sometimes lost. Stroud said Iowa is probably further advanced in the use of fiber optics than many other states. He attributed this progress to the Iowa Communication Network, a fiber-optic network linking all schools and state agencies statewide.