The bankruptcy of Excite@Home has left many Penn State students who live off-campus without Internet service since early Saturday morning.

"A significant number of Penn State's students have been affected by this," said Howie Weiss (junior-finance and accounting).

Weiss said that he has been very happy with his AT&T service up to this point. Though having no Internet service is an "inconvenience," the company should not be blamed, he added.

"The company has covered their bases," Weiss said. "They've provided excellent service up to this point."

Elizabeth Engelbret (junior-education) has also been without Internet access since Saturday, when she received an automated voice message from AT&T explaining the situation. AT&T said Internet access would be restored within seven days, she said.

Kim Pranton (senior-sociology) is another disappointed AT&T customer. Pranton said that she is displeased with the way that AT&T has handled the situation.

"I really did wish they gave us more warning about this so we could make arrangements and find a new service," Pranton said.

AT&T didn't give customers a chance to have their questions answered, she added. After this, Pranton said she plans to find a new Internet service provider.

Penn State staff members have also been affected by the lack of Internet service. Paul Kellermann, a lecturer in English, has been having difficulties staying in touch with his students from his computer at home, he said.

"I can't be without my e-mail," Kellermann added. "It's easier to contact me by e-mail than phone. I always answer my email; I don't always answer my (home) phone."

Kellermann said he has had to make extra trips to campus to check his e-mail, especially due to the fact that it's the last week of classes.

Some students who are without Internet service also have been checking their e-mail and accessing the Internet in on-campus computer labs.

"I'll be spending a lot of time in computer labs this week," Engelbert said.

Weiss agreed. "(Going to the computer labs) is the only way to deal with it."

On-campus computer labs have also been more crowded than usual, due to the many off-campus students without Internet service, Pranton said.

"I've been making more late-night trips to campus labs. They're definitely more filled," she added.

Excite@Home advised customers to call their provider to receive Internet access. AT&T customers will only hear a recorded message telling them that there is a problem with their Internet service that they are trying to fix as quickly as possible, according to its Web site (www.excite.com).

Excite@Home said that it is working on negotiations with all of their cable customers, excluding AT&T, to keep its Internet service running. More than 4 million people subscribe to Excite@Home, and approximately 16 percent of these customers are without Internet service, the Web site said.