Abstract

We propose the use of student technology fees to purchase a Tandberg 8000 videoconferencing unit and related support devices. This would be used by and for students upon their initiative, and implemented through a videoconferencing program coordinated by students from JSSA and the DIALOGUE Project, and in conjunction with the Office of Undergraduate Education, Classroom Support Services, and the Carlson Center for Leadership and Public Service.

Background

Our proposal responds to a current communication problem inhibiting the kind of student development and growth possible through challenging international and multicultural experiences. This is evidenced by the low number of students who take advantage of travel abroad programs at the UW: many students would travel abroad if they could overcome certain constraints (funding expenses, and life-circumstances such as single-mom families and work commitments). Another more pointed example of this communication problem was revealed last autumn when students began to plan a videoconferencing series with students in Beirut, Lebanon, and Cairo, Egypt in order to expose themselves to the perspectives of Middle East youth on the War on Terrorism. The students in these countries had access to teleconferencing, and in Cairo, videoconferencing equipment. The students at the UW did not. Instead, they discovered it would cost them in excess of $350 for a 2 ½ hour session in the Health Sciences facility. So far, there have been no videoconferencing events between UW students and students in Cairo or Beirut.

The lack of opportunities for UW students to engage in multicultural and international communication impacts their worldview, and denies them a necessary ingredient for becoming more globally aware.

About this proposal
Students have continually expressed their interest in videoconferencing throughout our consultations on campus dating back to autumn quarter of this academic year. We have taken this initiative as a response, and also because we believe strongly in its potential to overcome the communication problem. Our selection of equipment is grounded in research into the equipment options on the market, a cost-benefit analysis of these options, and a survey of the present videoconferencing applications and potentials. We conducted our logistical feasibility study in consultation with the Office of Undergraduate Education and Classroom Support Services. Our findings indicate that acquiring this technology now is a moderate-cost, high-return investment with long-term application. If funded, this equipment would provide a vital communication solution, at no charge, for students seeking to maximize their educational and extracurricular potentials through experientially based international and multicultural exposure.

Concluding remark
Our proposal is based on a high level of support expressed by the general student community at the UW and by the members that comprise our organizations. These students seek to augment their curriculum-derived knowledge with personal, inter-cultural communication experiences. Our initiative aims to deliver the technology that will make this possible. It is feasible, and therefore realistic, to consider implementing a videoconferencing program run by and for students at this point in time.

Benefits

Videoconferencing is a communication solution to the present situation at the UW. While several departments at the UW do have videoconferencing equipment, students currently lack the opportunity to initiate access to these facilities without incurring substantial costs on a per use/time basis. Our solution is to purchase videoconferencing equipment and run a program to support its use at no charge. We have evidence that many students would put it to use. Furthermore, a videoconferencing community already exists that UW students would be empowered to tap into; many other students, professionals, political processes, and civil society leaders use videoconferencing equipment as a standard medium of interpersonal communication over long distances. Thus, students could extend their presence into the world around them and engage in various communities, as well as bring distant places, events and people to the UW campus.

Highlighted benefits and applications:

· Students would be assisted in their efforts to transform the way they see themselves and others and have a positive impact on students in other nations.

· Students learning a foreign language would be able to master the proper regionally-specific dialect and terminology by conversing with students from these areas.

· Students could participate in discussions or meetings that they would otherwise not have the ability to attend due to cost or distance. For instance, student "field trips" would be possible with videoconferencing. Even global "field trips" would be possible, allowing UW students to transcend geographic, financial, and social barriers.

· Students involved in foreign education and research programs would have one of the most powerful tools at their disposal for continuing the relationships they forge upon return to the UW, and to share this experience by bringing other students to participate in their dialogues.

· Many students who do not study abroad or travel due to the common limitations (e.g. lack of financial resources, particular life-circumstances, or other constraints, would have a vehicle for exposing themselves to other cultures.

· Students could conceivably set up videoconferencing with professionals in fields they wish to enter.

· Students could attend videoconferenced governmental processes and intergovernmental decision-making. An example would be the first meeting of the Codex Task Force on Foods Derived from Biotechnology held in Japan in 1999. At this event, videoconferencing was experimented with as a solution to the problem of transparency and civil society participation in intergovernmental deliberations. This United Nations agency and others are planning to use this communication medium as a way to include greater publics in the future. By acquiring the technology now, UW students would be poised to take advantage of such extraordinary opportunities and lead the way for others.

· Students could enter into thematically structured collaborative relationships with other students in different parts of the world. One of the videoconference ideas discussed during our proposal preparations was to hold sessions with students at the American Universities in Cairo, Egypt, and Beirut, Lebanon. Students in Cairo apparently already have videoconferencing equipment, while students in Beirut have teleconferencing capabilities.

· Students could use videoconferencing to build relationships with local organizations and participate in local events in a “virtual” setting.

Logistical feasibility and operations plan
To manage the equipment and hold videoconferencing events, students must meet several needs. In terms of equipment management, the needs are equipment storage, maintenance and repair, and technical support. As outlined below, these needs have been addressed. The following outlines how our videoconferencing program will meet each equipment management need:

· Classroom Support Services (CSS) will store the equipment in the basement of Kane Hall.

· CSS would provide back-up technical support and initial guidance to students in using the technology.

· Primary technical support would be provided by student videoconferencing liaisons from JSSA and the DIALOGUE Project. These students would transmit operational knowledge to students wishing to use the technology, and provide web-based as well as printed step-by-step instructions.

· The aforementioned liaisons would process surveys given to students who use the technology and build upon the successes and failures to bring the videoconferencing forward to a high level of operational efficiency and high rate of success and satisfaction.

· Maintenance and repair costs will initially be covered through insurance and an extended warranty. We are looking at funding sources to cover these potential costs once the warranty expires. We are currently discussing possibilities with the Office of Undergraduate Education and the Carlson Center.

The logistical needs for holding videoconferencing events are entirely secured by the following:

· CSS will provide rooms for videoconferencing events. These rooms are located in the basement of Kane Hall, in close proximity of the storage area where the equipment would be kept.

· In cases where the rooms for videoconferencing are booked for other events, interested students could go to the JSSA and DIALOGUE Liaisons or the OUE to receive assistance in planning their event to take place in an alternative room on campus.

Student Access

The portable videoconferencing equipment will be available to all UW students for use at no cost during CSS’s hours of operation, and by appointment. Students will be able to view room and equipment reservations online via the Office of Undergraduate Education (OUE), CSS, JSSA, and the DIALOGUE Project websites. As previously mentioned, JSSA and the DIALOGUE Project will provide videoconferencing liaisons to assist students, and remain in close correspondence with the above mentioned administrative offices to develop their capacity to serve students accessing the videoconferencing facilities.

Videoconferencing events would be arranged and executed by, and for, students at the UW without preferential treatment, and on a first-come first-serve basis. If awarded, UW students would all have equal access and we would work to see that interested students could begin videoconferencing by the first part of summer quarter.

Students choosing to access this equipment presupposes they know about the equipment and their right to access it. JSSA and the DIALOGUE Project place a premium on getting students connected to resources on campus that allow them to internationalize their experience, and we will take on outreach responsibilities to make all departments and as many student groups aware of this opportunity. We will coordinate our outreach efforts with the OUE and the Carlson Center.

Available Resources

Logistical feasibility and operations plan
To manage the equipment and hold videoconferencing events, students must meet several needs. In terms of equipment management, the needs are equipment storage, maintenance and repair, and technical support. As outlined below, these needs have been addressed. The following outlines how our videoconferencing program will meet each equipment management need:

· Classroom Support Services (CSS) will store the equipment in the basement of Kane Hall.

· CSS would provide back-up technical support and initial guidance to students in using the technology.

· Primary technical support would be provided by student videoconferencing liaisons from JSSA and the DIALOGUE Project. These students would transmit operational knowledge to students wishing to use the technology, and provide web-based as well as printed step-by-step instructions.

· The aforementioned liaisons would process surveys given to students who use the technology and build upon the successes and failures to bring the videoconferencing forward to a high level of operational efficiency and high rate of success and satisfaction.

· Maintenance and repair costs will initially be covered through insurance and an extended warranty. We are looking at funding sources to cover these potential costs once the warranty expires. We are currently discussing possibilities with the Office of Undergraduate Education and the Carlson Center.

The logistical needs for holding videoconferencing events are entirely secured by the following:

· CSS will provide rooms for videoconferencing events. These rooms are located in the basement of Kane Hall, in close proximity of the storage area where the equipment would be kept.

· In cases where the rooms for videoconferencing are booked for other events, interested students could go to the JSSA and DIALOGUE Liaisons or the OUE to receive assistance in planning their event to take place in an alternative room on campus.

Installation Timeline

The JSSA-DIALOGUE Project group would purchase the videoconferencing equipment immediately. If the award is announced during spring quarter, 2004, our goal would be to have the equipment in place and ready for use by the beginning of summer quarter, 2004.

Departmental Endorsement

Student Technology Fee Committee

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to express my enthusiastic support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project proposal for videoconferencing equipment to help students gain international and multicultural experience.

The 1995 UW Task Force on International Education recommended increasing international learning opportunities through a combination of strategies, including: curriculum enhancements, increased language instruction, support for research initiatives, funding initiatives, and the creation of an international campus climate. This last, while the most elusive to capture and measure, is possibly the most thoroughgoing change that can be wrought. The proposal before you speaks to that vision in important ways:
· The portability of the equipment makes it flexible, creating maximum access for student groups to utilize the highly networked nature of the campus to connect with people in other parts of the world for a broad range of purposes
· It is an economically smart approach: cost is moderate, utility and applicability are high
· Most important, this proposal reflects student desire and initiative, arguably the most potent force for shaping the culture of any university, and it comes to you from a highly organized and committed group of students who already have helped shape curriculum and education at UW

Had I not had an opportunity to witness firsthand the role of information and communication technologies in internationalizing learning, I would be skeptical of this approach to deeper educational and institutional change. However, students and faculty involved in the Office of Undergraduate Education’s Global Classrooms Project over the past three years have proven the value of using the web, email, and especially videoconferencing for fostering meaningful interaction and collaboration with people in other parts of the world on shared questions and projects. For example, a videoconference organized to foster conversation between students, faculty, and community members in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and students and faculty in UW’s Program on the Environment about issues raised at the August 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg quickly opened onto stunning mutual discoveries about differences in cultural and regional meanings of “endangered”. In turn, these insights led students to hard questions about poverty, health, humanitarian conditions, and the ethical dilemmas inherent in policies that while galvanizing intense debates between livelihoods and environments in the US, may cost lives in stressed countries or regions.

Intercultural communication, the heart of international learning, presented the greatest challenges and brought the greatest gains in all Global Classrooms course partnerships. In learning to communicate and work together across cultural, geographic, and linguistic contexts, students gained more interconnected views of human experience. They gained understanding of perspectives that differ from their own and the value of different perspectives to solving problems and creating new possibilities. When participating students did travel to their partner university, they moved forward on their shared work and learning as if they had been together all along.

With a modest investment, the Student Technology Fee Committee can make a significant impact on the quality of UW students’ international and multicultural experiences, and it can leverage student vision and leadership to help the University meet the educational demands of an interconnected world.

Sincerely,



Kim Johnson Bogart
Assistant Dean, Undergraduate Education
Director, Global Classrooms




STF Committee

Classroom Support Services fully supports the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project proposal to purchase a Tandberg 8000 videoconferencing unit. CSS is willing to serve as the physical custodian of the videoconferencing equipment, thus, ensuring its requirement for security while not in use. In addition, CSS will offer the use of three media classrooms in Kane Hall basement, as classroom schedules permit. This will allow students to reserve a room to hold videoconferencing with the additional benefits of:
1) reducing the risks associated with moving the equipment long distances across campus.
2) adjacent technical assistance for students in operating the equipment on their own.
3) allow for our technicians to oversee the maintenance and ensure its continued reliability.
4) a central location with close proximity to the existing STF Equipment Loan Program.
5) reserve a room that has more time flexibility than a regular campus classroom.

Through the process of collaborating with a core group of students who have elected to take on leadership responsibilities in facilitating UW student use of this equipment, CSS would be a back-up support for students if they run into trouble and are unable to overcome them independently through web based FAQ's. CSS expects this turn-key arrangement will work well for students while eliminating students having to pay for on-site technicians at events and will increase its use.

If you require additional information please feel free to contact me.

Patrick Roberts
Associate Director
Classroom Support Services
patrickr@u.washington.edu

Student Endorsement

Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Paul Javid. I am a sophomore in the Computer Science department. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Human achievements in this century far surpass the achievements of any previous century before it. There have been discoveries in every realm of human endeavor; the once invisible is now made visible with newly devised scientific instruments and the unimaginable has now become reality with space and deep sea explorations. The foundation of human society is changing, and it is in the effort to learn to utilize technology to the benefit of our world and our students that we will find more provocative ways to connect people, countries, and cultures.

Sincerely,

Paul Javid
pjavid@cs.washington.edu
0231113





Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Brita Fisher. I am a Junior in the Comparative History of Ideas department. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Sincerely,

Brita Fisher
Student # 0124195
bff@u.washington.edu





Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Keith Hiatt. I am a Senior in the Law, Societies, and Justice department. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I'm writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project's joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

I believe that the massive advances in telecommunications are largely wasted if they are employed only in commercial endeavors. Communications technology should be embraced by academia, as a means of making regional and global connections between people. Imagine the possibilities of a university that not only reads law journals to study comparative legal institutions, but hosts Q&A sessions with international legal students and scholars, where learning is bilateral.

In addition, such a facility would be a selling point for the University, and further evidence of the UW's commitment to cutting edge technology in the social, not just the physical, sciences.

I urge you to support this initiative.

Sincerely,


Keith Hiatt
St# 9711067
Keithhi@u.washington.edu





Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Cameron Herrington. I am a Senior in the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Sincerely,


Cameron Herrington
0123010
cameronh@u.washington.edu






Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Jennifer Wyeth. I am a senior in the CHID and French departments. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Wyeth
0310945
wyethj@u.washington.edu







Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Joanne Ho. I am a senior in the Jackson School of International Studies. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Sincerely,


Joanne Ho
0021119
jjho@u.washington.edu





My name is Kathryn Didenhover. I am a junior in the International Studies department. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Sincerely,


Kathryn Didenhover
Student # 0126277
kad4@u.washington.edu






Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Nick Nimick. I am a junior in the Jackson school. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Sincerely,


Nick Nimick
0350037
stikygum@u.washington.edu






Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Summer Starr. I am a Senior in the Jackson School of International Studies department. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Sincerely,


Summer Starr
9921971
sstarr@u.washington.edu





Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Elham Simmons. I am a Senior in the Comparative History of Ideas, French and International Studies departments. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and so am writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It is essential to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. With personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop understandings of ourselves and others that are relevant, useful and applicable in our changing world. The University of Washington is just beginning to provide select students with opportunities to become aware of our place in the global community, and to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire can be dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders, but could have the possibility of truly preparing us through real interactions with the world we live in now and will be leading in the not too distant future. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Many thanks for your consideration of this proposal.
Sincerely,

Margaret-Amelia Elham Simmons
9923924
elham@u.washington.edu






Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Kianna B. Bradley. I am a Senior in the Jackson School of International Studies and I am specifically interested in issues regarding sustainable development in impoverished countries. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. As the world becomes more interconnected, the need for understanding the diverse cultures and experiences of others is an increasingly vital part of our education. I personally believe that such understanding is imperative to counteracting divisive forces that have the potential for destroying the beauty that is inherent in our differences. The Jackson School has long been committed to increasing the awareness of the “global community.” This is not only important for local students attending the University of Washington, but also for the world as a whole. Thus, while recognizing the benefits that access to technology in the JSSA-DIALOGUE project would have for UW students, it is also important to consider the benefit for foreign students and people in general. Utilizing this technology will help UW students to become ambassadors who demonstrate the University’s commitment to global understanding.

Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Sincerely,
Kianna B. Bradley
kiannabradley@yahoo.com
0250211





Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Jackie Schultz. I am a Senior in the Jackson School of International Studies department. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Sincerely,
Jackie Schultz
0052679
keygbeh@u.washington.edu






Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Dafny Sibay, and I am a junior in the Jackson School of International Studies department. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. In a world that is becoming more globalized rapidly through technological innovations and international trade, I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Sincerely,


Dafny Sibay
0334676
dafnys@u.washington.edu




My name is Hannah Cavendish-Palmer and I am the founding president of JSIS Alumni. I graduated from the Jackson School in June of 2003. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Sincerely,

Hannah Cavendish-Palmer
Founding President
JSIS Alumni
hacp@u.washington.edu





Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Nicholas Everist. I am a senior in the Jackson School of International Studies. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

Sincerely,


Nicholas Everist
00262226
everist@u.washington.edu




Dear Student Technology Fee Committee,

My name is Maryam I. Trout. I am a Senior in the Philosophy and the Comparative History of Ideas department. I understand that I have some discretion over how the tech fees I pay every quarter are used, and I’m writing to express my interest in using these tech fees to acquire videoconferencing equipment. In writing to you now, I am stating my support for the JSSA-DIALOGUE Project’s joint-initiative to fund this important acquisition.

It’s important to me that students have access to multicultural and international experiences. Without personal experiences and intimate exposure to the world, we learn skills and develop an understanding of others and ourselves that is limited and abstract. It is dangerous to assume that this prepares us for interacting appropriately with people from other cultures, or to locate our place in the world. The University of Washington does not provide many students an opportunity to become aware of our place in the global community, nor to develop compassion for the rest of humanity. The knowledge and skills we acquire are dangerous in the absence of this compassion for others and an awareness that transcends national borders. For many students, videoconferencing is the only chance they will have during their time at the UW to grow into more culturally-sensitive human beings. I urge the Student Technology Fee Committee to award us the resources that will help us transform ourselves by engaging in dialogues with other students in the world community through videoconferencing.

As a student planning on becoming a future educator in America’s elementary school’s this is the sort of education I want to see implemented as one of the basics in our school’s curriculum. It is important that America start molding future “global citizens” to participate in our changing world. As a role model and central grounding institution in Seattle, I feel that it is the responsibility of the University of Washington to be a leader in this area for such student services. Videoconferencing among schools nationally or internationally is not science fiction. Many schools all over the country already support programs of this sort. It is time for our university to be welcomed into the future for the incredible possibilities of videoconferencing.

Sincerely,


Maryam I.Trout
0137739
mreid31@u.washington.edu

Items

Below are the items making up the current proposal. The asterisk (*) beside items signify that they were approved by the committee. This however was not implemented correctly for our database before 2005, so earlier years may not show this.

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