“The goal is to have two-thirds of the campus completely wireless by the end of this school year.”
– David Crass, director of Network and Operations Services for Information and Media Technologies

A University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee student shoves a muffin in her mouth with her left hand. Her right hand scrambles across the keyboard of her Vaio.

She is typing her e-mail address into hotmail.com. She is checking up on the last- minute instructions from her professor about a lab paper due at 2 p.m.

Without wireless hotspots, she would have had to wait in line to use the Union computer lab or a kiosk. Eight other students wait like vultures to use the school computers. With a class at 10 a.m., there’s no time to wait for eight people to finish. All the kiosks are full.

Students who take advantage of the hotspots are grateful for them, and they say the improvements are greatly appreciated.

Amie Segal, a senior, uses wireless access on her laptop on campus at least three times a week.

“They are extremely convenient and definitely worth it,” she said.

Others see room for improvement.

“The connection is better in some places than others,” said Keith Wick, a senior.

Wireless hotspot locations have been popping up all over campus this past year and there are still more to come.

The EdTech Committee provided $97,000 to fund the increase in hotspots across campus. Between July to next June, about 100 to 120 new hotspots will be added.

“The goal is to have two-thirds of the campus completely wireless by the end of this school year,” said David Crass, director of Network and Operations Services for Information and Media Technologies (IMS).

Right now many buildings are completely wireless, such as the Architecture and Urban Planning building. The Business Administration Building is almost covered, and the Engineering and Mathematical Sciences building is in progress as well.

John McCarragher, deputy chief information officer for IMS, said that IMS would eventually like to see the entire campus be completely wireless.

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