Those who surf the web in search of hot websites needn’t look far; Iowa State’s home page has been ranked 23rd by Web21’s “Hot 100 colleges.”

The rankings are based on Web21’s studies of web traffic on the Internet.

During spring semester 1997, ISU’s home page averaged between 250,000 and 350,000 hits per month. A hit is counted anytime someone lands on Iowa State’s home page, which means a lot of web traffic is surfing through Iowa State, said Diana Pounds, who runs the page.

The top three universities, according to Web21, are the University of North Carolina, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Michigan.

“We are very pleased,” Pounds said. “Literally thousands of people are being taken care of. Iowa State is very technologically literate and very interested in the web.”

ISU has been maintaining its website since March of 1995. Since that time it has been an informative source for Iowa State students, faculty and alumni, Pounds said.

“One of the most important things to us is that if you want to get something, whether it be your transcripts or information about the English department, you can find it on the Iowa State home page,” Pounds said.

Students who frequent the home page tend to agree.

“If you need it, you can find it,” said Jeff Aronow, a computer science major. “I mean, right now I’m looking for jobs on it.”

Pounds said a current project to reorganize the home page is underway.

“We are continually trying to make it easier to find what you need,” she said.

As for easiness, Bea Wendel, a participant in Sci-Tech and a high school student at West Waterloo, found it a snap.

“It looks inviting. Things are calling to you, ‘click me,'” Wendel said. “I like the campus camera. We have one in our classroom. You can download the clips into quick-time movies,” she said.

The campus camera is a special feature that takes random pictures of the campus for display on the ISU home page.

“The web camera seems to be the most popular with alumni,” Pounds said.

Pounds said alumni have written letters telling her that seeing the campus on the web has sometimes cured homesickness.

“I think that it’s exciting and I think that the web is exciting. It has a lot of potential and to get recognized in this way is a credit to our students,” Pounds said.