Virginia Tech Magazine  Virginia Tech Magazine  Volume 14,
Number 2 Winter 1992    The computer leads stunning changes in
the once Spartan dorm room  by Richard Lovegrove  Only a decade
ago the high-tech dormitory room usually consisted of little
more than a hot pot, a stereo, and the rare refrigerator. Today,
alumni from those days of yore might come away from a stroll
through Ambler Johnston or Pritchard stunned by rooms cluttered
with microwaves, color television sets hooked up to university-
provided cable, refrigerators, and VCRs. The hated community
phone at the end of the hall has been replaced by a phone in
each room.  The change "reflects an improvement in the style of
living across the country," says Phillip Bowden, director of
network research and planning. "Dorm rooms used to be really
Spartan. Now it's really difficult to locate a dorm room that
doesn't have a microwave, a computer, a stereo, fancy-schmancy
television..."  Increasingly central to this technological
tangle is the personal computer,