An SIUC professor is encouraging students to participate in an upcoming multimedia Internet documentary about the effects of online technology on individuals all over the planet.

Fern Logan, assistant professor in cinema and photography, has registered SIUC as one of more than 100 schools across the country participating in, 24 Hours In Cyberspace, which will go online Feb. 8. Logan said this is an opportunity to represent the College of Mass Communications and Media Arts to the University and the world as an excellent communications school.

Logan said the documentary will include stories and photographs by hundreds of students and journalists. She said she wants SIUC students and faculty to participate to let the world know how SIUC is affected by cyberspace.

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Especially in a college of mass communications and media arts, we need to set an example of what can be done, she said. This gives us a chance to utilize our resources to stretch our capabilities and talents.

Logan said students should contact her if they are interested in writing or taking photos to be published in the project, a multimedia online documentary on the effects of cyberspace in the lives of people throughout the world.

Rick Smolan, head of Against All Odds Productions, the producers of documentaries including A Day in the Life of America and A Passage to Vietnam, said in an online introduction to the program that this documentary is unique in its scope.

It is the participatory aspect of (the documentary) that sets it apart from our previous projects, he said. For us, cyberspace is another culture and a place to visit, but this time around, because of the nature of the new medium itself, people around the world can take part in the project and respond with their own point of view.

According to an information packet provided by the program, journalists and students around the world are covering stories for the documentary, including:n Elephants in Malaysia being tracked online to stop poachers.

n A global e-mail effort led by a Siberian resident bent on saving the last Amur Leopards.

n Online cemeteries where users can post pictures and stories of deceased loved ones.

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The project has a web site located at http:// www.cyber24.com/ where students can learn about other participants, and submit articles and photos for inclusion in the Feb. 8 online report.

For more information, contact Fern Logan at 453-5693.