WHAT University of Oregon President Dave Frohnmayer will call attention to the potential and challenges offered by new technologies in higher education, during his address entitled "Tech Wars Part 1: The Real Phantom Menace." Frohnmayer’s talk is the keynote address at the Northwest Academic Computing Consortium’s (NWACC) regional information conference.

WHEN 8:45-10 a.m. Thursday, May 6

WHERE Salon F, Marriott Hotel Downtown, 1401 S.W. Naito Parkway, Portland

In his keynote address, Frohnmayer will speak to the NWACC conference theme, "Information Resources for the 21st Century: Content, Access, and People." He will caution against seeing new technologies, especially computer technology, as a substitute for higher education’s historic role as a creator of new knowledge and a forum for the discussion of all ideas.

"Information technology is only a tool," Frohnmayer says. "Our challenge is how to make the right investment to empower our faculty to use this tool to improve the quality of the learning environment. Lesser goals should be unacceptable."

A native Oregonian, Frohnmayer is the 15th president of the University of Oregon, the state’s 123-year-old center for liberal arts, science and professional studies. He assumed the presidency on July 1, 1994.

The conference runs May 5-7 and is a joint effort of NWACC, EDUCAUSE (formed in 1998 with the merger of the former Educom and CAUSE, both dedicated to sharing advancements in technology in higher education), the Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), and the College and University Personnel Association (CUPA). Representatives of more than 40 public and private colleges and universities, and other organizations from Northern California and the Pacific Northwest are attending the conference. They will be examining a number of technology-related issues including technology initiatives already underway, such as the Internet2 project, and newly surfacing issues surrounding ownership and intellectual property rights that are affecting relationships among faculty, administration and technology. For more information on the conference, go to http://www.educause.edu/conference/regional/nwacc/1999.

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