Remaking Penn, one byte at a time

Zoom in on the 'LOVE' statue. Double-click on Van Pelt.

Then build it all over again.

Google Earth - a computer mapping program through which users can view satellite images of Earth - recently launched a contest in which college students can design a virtual campus to match their own school's.

Google's "Build Your Campus in 3D Competition" will accept student applicants through June 1, giving contestants ample time to design realistic, computerized versions of their campuses.

The first applications are already trickling in: Over the weekend, a team of PennDesign students in the City and Regional Planning Department signed up, joining a roster that ranges from prestigious technology institutes to state and community colleges.

Leading Penn's team is doctoral candidate Khaled Tarabieh.

Tarabieh said he has been wanting a model of Penn's campus for a while, and he even started working on one several times.

But whether Penn will take home the prize - a trip to the Googleplex, the company's Southern California headquarters and a mecca for techies everywhere - is still up in the air.

"We have a shot," Tarabieh said.

This contest permits multiple teams from any college and judging will be done by a range of architecture and graphic design experts based on the overall functionality in Google Earth, according to the contest's Web site.

It comes on the heels of the Jan. 8 release of Google Earth 4, the revamped version of Google Earth that allows users to create lifelike campuses with the design program SketchUp.

"It's a way to view the world as you've never viewed it before," said Mark Limber, the product manager for Google Earth.

But despite the excitement generated by the contest, some are skeptical about the program that it is promoting.

Ann Dapice, who organized the Oklahoma-based Stop Stalking Conference that was held last October, said that stalkers are often particularly good at using computers and Web sites to aid them.

"Stalking has to be increasing by leaps and bounds just because of the ease that the technology allows," said Dapice, who will be coming to Penn on Thursday to talk about campus stalking.

Architecture experts, however, are mainly concentrating on the program's perks.

"In our profession, it's an amazing tool to be able to have that information on your desktop," said Amie Leighton, an architect at the Philadelphia firm Daley + Jalboot Architects, which specializes in educational facilities.

Limber warned that too many details can interfere with a design's functionality.

So much for zooming in on the contours of the Ben Franklin statue.

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