[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 190 (Thursday, November 30, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S17859]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  HIGH SCHOOL COMPUTER USE IN VERMONT

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I have spent a great deal of my time in the 
U.S. Senate working on telecommunications issues, and studying how 
changing technology is having an impact on our Nation. In particular, I 
have been interested and concerned about the effect of the so-called 
information superhighway on rural States like Vermont.
  With this in mind, I asked a young student at Champlain Valley Union 
High School to take a broad survey on computer use in his high school. 
What I will include in the Record is the report that this student, 
Steve Waltien, sent to me recently.
  I find his results fascinating and encouraging. You will see the vast 
majority of high school freshmen and seniors are familiar with 
computers, and use computers whether in school, at home, or both. Now, 
I realize that Champlain Valley Union High School is not necessarily 
indicative of the rest of Vermont or the Nation. It is no doubt on the 
cutting edge of new technologies, and is led by one of the finest 
principals in the country, Val Gardner.
  But Mr. President, this study shows just how dramatically our lives 
are changing; in particular, it shows how dramatically our children's 
lives are changing. The decisions we make on issues affecting access to 
telecommunications issues will have a direct impact on our children, 
especially in rural areas like Vermont.
  I am grateful to Steve Waltien for his well-written and thorough 
study. He and I have e-mailed each other on this subject, and am 
delighted to share his work with my fellow Senators.
  I ask that a study on high school computer use be printed in the 
Record.
  The study follows:

                          Computer Use Survey

(By Stevenson H. Waltien III)

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