Wired for Safety Late Night Snacks

Enlarge Rave Wireless Rave Guardian alerts police if a student on the way to somewhere doesn’t check in when expected.

And when Maria Emerson needs to find washing machines for four loads of laundry, the junior at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh heads for her laptop.

They are among a generation of college students that is increasingly reliant on new technologies and Internet services to stay socially and academically connected. And from late-night snacks to listening to lectures, colleges and universities are modernizing to make a student’s every need available online.

This fall, Montclair State University will be one of 15 schools using Rave Wireless, an application that allows students to view campus information and more from their cellphones. Rave can be used with any phone carrier, though six schools will give students identical phones.

Rave Wireless can be used to access assignments and grades, and it can receive automatic schedule updates from professors. Students also can create personal profiles, blogs and groups specific to their schools. They can check study room availability, train and bus schedules and campus events.

Using a feature called Rave Guardian, a student can set a timer if he or she feels unsafe en route to any destination. If the student does not turn off the timer or answer resulting calls from campus safety officials, a built-in GPS system tracks the phone. The student’s locations, medical information, photos and emergency contacts are sent to the police.

Rave Wireless president Rodger Desai says 100 schools expect to be using Rave Wireless by next fall.

The company also is looking to implement additional features in fall 2007 that will allow students to not have to carry their keys and wallets. A chip on the phone’s battery cover will allow students entry to all campus buildings; another feature will make it possible for students to pay each other or campus vendors via their phones.

Rave is available now only for college campuses, Desai says, but retirement communities, military bases, hospitals and some cities also have expressed interest.

Other online services also are making student life easier:

•Laundry. A service called E-suds is putting laundry online. Students can see which laundry machines are available in their dorms and are alerted via phone, e-mail or PDA when their laundry is done. E-suds began as a pilot program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Boston College four years ago and will be available at as many as 30 colleges and universities this fall.

•Lectures. Podcasting is becoming more widespread, allowing students to download audio of class lectures and listen to them whenever or wherever they want. University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Arizona State University in Tempe and Temple University in Philadelphia will be able to podcast every lecture in every classroom this fall using software company Anystream’s Apreso Podcast.

• Foodand more. At DCsnacks.com, students at George Washington University and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., can order Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, DVDs, condoms or any other late-night needs with the click of a mouse. The items are delivered to their doorsteps in 30 to 45 minutes. CUsnacks.com provides a similar service to students at Columbia University in New York. Campusfood.com is another food ordering site, where students can view menus of local restaurants, place orders and pay for food online with a credit card. It is available for about 1,500 chain and independent restaurants on more than 300 college campuses around the country.

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