Students may see the classroom as a place to learn and expand their horizons. However, psychologist and author Timothy Leary said the University's modern buildings are "prisons" that fail to inspire students.

"I don't want to live in a country where from (kindergarten) through grad school the students are trained in a government prison factory," Leary said in an interview.

Leary spoke at the University's annual Microcomputer Information Exchange Conference and told participants he wanted to create a computer system that would take learning out of the traditional classroom setting.

To achieve this, Leary and computer programmer Frode Holm designed Inter-com, a computer software program that can be accessed through computers at home instead of in a lab. The program asks students a series of questions about the previous night's homework and grades the work.

Inter-com is unique because it allows students to challenge professors' answers after they respond to questions, Holm said.

Students must study to answer the questions every class period, Holm said. In a normal classroom situation, students do not answer questions, he added.

University assistant professor of education Kyle Peck, who helped organize the conference, said computer-aided education has been unfairly criticized.

"People picture individual students with pale faces hunched over computer screens," Peck said.

Educational computer programs encourage normally reticent students to participate, Peck said.

Mel Seesholtz, a professor of science, technology and society at Ogontz campus who uses Inter-com in his science and human values class, agreed.