Bell Atlantic Awards Marshall University $150,000 for Distance Learning Projects

Bell Atlantic Awards Marshall University $150,000
for Distance Learning Projects

Bell Atlantic and the Bell Atlantic Foundation
will award grants to Marshall University totaling
$150,000 to help the school make wider use of
video conferencing and interactive distance learning.

November 19, 1998

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Bell Atlantic and the Bell Atlantic
Foundation will award grants to Marshall University totaling $150,000 to
help the school make wider use of video conferencing and interactive
distance learning.

"These grants are the latest evidence of Bell Atlantic's long-standing
record of support for education in West Virginia," said Dennis Bone,
president and CEO of Bell Atlantic - West Virginia. "We're delighted that
Marshall is taking a leadership role in harnessing telecommunications
technology in the pursuit of educational excellence, and we're happy to
help."

Marshall University President J. Wade Gilley said he was grateful to
Dennis Bone and Bell Atlantic for their support of high-tech programs at
Marshall. "Marshall's investment in high-tech infrastructure over the past
few years is paying off, making it possible for this university to take the
lead in working with firms, such as Bell Atlantic, on exciting,
technologically advanced projects," he said.

Interactive distance learning allows a professor in one location to teach
classes at various remote sites. The students can communicate with the
teacher and each other as if they were in the same room, using TV
monitors and voice-activated microphones.

A Bell Atlantic grant of $65,000 will help equip a state-of-the-art distance
learning center at the Marshall University Graduate College in South
Charleston, and a $35,000 Foundation grant will help fund distance
learning programs at the center. In addition, a second Foundation grant of
$50,000 will help fund Marshall's unique "One-Room School -- 2000"
project, which will use digital video distance learning to enhance
educational opportunities for communities in southern West Virginia.

Marshall First University on 'WEST VIRGINIA 2001' Network

Earlier this year Marshall became the first institution of higher learning in
West Virginia to link to Bell Atlantic's highly regarded WEST VIRGINIA
2001 network. The advanced network , gives Marshall more flexibility in
managing telecommunications services at its Huntington and South
Charleston campuses, while also providing for widespread digital video
conferencing and distance learning opportunities.

The $20-million WEST VIRGINIA 2001 network was launched by Bell
Atlantic one year ago. The network combines fiber optics and the latest
ATM digital technology to transmit voice, data and video at extremely
high speeds over a single line. WEST VIRGINIA 2001 offers state
government agencies, colleges and universities and health-care providers a
wide variety of high-speed uses, including video distance learning,
videoconferencing and data sharing among network users.

Bell Atlantic broke ground on WEST VIRGINIA 2001 late last year. In
January, Gov. Cecil H. Underwood announced that West Virginia would
be a national pioneer in the use of ATM technology in the judicial
process.

The "Courtroom of the Future" project uses the WEST VIRGINIA 2001
network for remote initial court proceedings, parole board meetings and
training of correctional officers. Initial participants in the project include
Bell Atlantic, the West Virginia Supreme Court, the West Virginia Jail
and Correctional Facility Authority, the Governor's Office of Technology,
Marshall University and the counties of Kanawha and Cabell.

The Bell Atlantic Foundation supports a variety of projects domestically
and internationally, with an emphasis on new technology applications in
education, health and human services, the arts and humanities, and civic
development in the communities served by Bell Atlantic. For more
information, visit www.bellatlanticfoundation.com on the Internet.

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and
information industry. With 42 million telephone access lines and eight
million wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are
premier providers of advanced wireline voice and data services, market
leaders in wireless services and the world's largest publishers of directory
information. Bell Atlantic companies are also among the world's largest
investors in high-growth global communications markets, with operations
and investments in 23 countries.