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Date:         Fri, 7 Jan 1994 14:03:37 CST
From:         Ken Furuta Government Documents
Subject: File 7--Congressperson's Gopher in Arizona

I went to a press conference at Arizona State University this morning.
In it Representative Sam Coppersmith of the Arizona First
Congressional District announced a gopher server containing his
position papers and press releases (including the one I got this
morning announcing the server). The gopher also has connections to
other governmental servers.

To see it, point your gopher to Arizona State University. Once here,
select "Arizona Statewide Information" from the first menu. Next
select "U.S. Rep.  Sam Coppersmith."

Rep. Coppersmith may be the first Congressperson to offer such a
service - they checked but did not find anyone else with one. He is
also one of those first 12 members testing e-mail. In addition, he has
a listserv based at ASU.  Both addresses are in the press release on
the gopher.

When asked why do it, Coppersmith said: 1) It is useful as a learning
tool to try out the Internet and see what's out there and; 2) It is a
way to re-connect people with the government.

He talked a bit about the "Information have nots." I was glad to hear
him say that Public Libraries are taking a leadership role.

My feeling is that even though parts of the Federal Government
developed the network, the rest are finally discovering it. Every time
I look there is a new server from a different agency. It is exciting
to watch the progress while hoping that additional agencies join the
trend. With any luck, Rep.  Coppersmith's example will spur them on.
Heck, if it does I promise to actually read his mailings I get at home
even if my name is not constituent.

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