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Multnomah's computers keep up-to-date

The Information Services Department made significant developments to Multnomah's main computer system this year, including a new mail server, broadcasts of basketball games over the Internet, and a monitor of the construction site for the anticipated men's dorm.

The ISD installed new mail server software on Feb. 9. Students and faculty could not access the system for 20 minutes during the installation process, but now they "should notice an increase in the speed of mail transfer," said Art Thompson, network administrator.

Jeremy Ross, who maintains Multnomah's website, said the transition between mail servers was smoother than the ISD expected. He said the system is much more secure now and will not allow hackers to bounce messages off of MBC's system to other users, making the messages look as if they came from Multnomah.

MBC installed new server software partly because of a recent spam attack. Spam means unsolicited bulk e-mail. One hacker used the MBC computer system to send 20,000 e-mail messages to Notre Dame. "The messages advertised some kind of herbal aphrodisiac," Thompson said.

Multnomah deals with about five hackers a week, Thompson said. "People try to modify our web pages," he said. "We've got it set up so they can't, but they don't know that."

Some hackers also send mail bombs, e-mails with huge attachments which cause the receiving computer to crash. The new mail server software has security features that will help keep hackers at bay, or at least keep the college one step ahead of them, Thompson said.

Earlier this calendar year, the ISD began broadcasting basketball games over the Internet. The broadcasts were limited to sound; Multnomah does not have the technology yet to display video images of the game, Thompson said. Users could listen through the college's main website, . Andrew Johnson, a junior at Multnomah, announced these Internet broadcasts.

A picture of the construction site for the new men's dorm is available through Multnomah's website, also. The ISD placed a camera in the Commons building that updates the image on the computer screen every 10 seconds.

Two minor developments happened recently. Ross just redesigned the main page of Multnomah's website. He said the page is now simpler, more relaxed and interactive.

The journalism department placed its own site within the college's site on Feb. 24. Ross said the other departments should create their own sites, too. "You could have a lot of information that is specific to each program," he said.

The ISD has several ideas to keep Multnomah up-to-date with the computer world:

- Networking computers campus-wide. Professors could give Powerpoint presentations in class by accessing the computers in their offices, Thompson said.

- Providing distance learning via the Internet. MBC has the capabilities to do this, but the actual program is not developed yet, Thompson said. Distance learning would be a big expansion of the college's ministry and the opportunity to receive an online degree is just a matter of time.

- Providing online class registration. Right now, Multnomah uses the No. 2 pencil method. "It's a two-day carnival where everyone is running around trying to get things done, and even then we make mistakes," Thompson said.

- Updating the online tour. Ross said the online tour is the most popular part of MBC's website. He said he would like to see the tour shorter and more systematic, with better information and links to other pages within the site. Ross laughed and said, "First of all, get my picture out of there!" - Developing a recruitment video. This would be displayed on the website, much like the video offered on Moody Bible Institute's site.

ISD has analyzed the effectiveness of Multnomah's website with a minicomputer used for registration data. Thompson said that from the time they began compiling statistics to the end of 1998, 751 people contacted admissions through the Internet. Multnomah sent information for 482 Internet requests and received 50 applications. Out of those 50 people, 28 are registered this semester.

Thompson said he finds these numbers encouraging. "The website virtually outstrips any other form of advertising," he said. In addition to monitoring the number of hits to the website, ISD can find out where those hits came from. Especially when The Voice covers topics like homosexuality or features a well-known person like Randy Alcorn, The Voice Online gets hits from all over the world.

The ISD also monitors what MBC students search for on the net. The college uses Surfwatch, a program that blocks access to inappropriate sites. "We have records of what everyone does on this system," he said.