A week before the first day of classes, Slippery Rock University's computer system was shut down from one of the dreaded "worm" viruses unleashed on the Internet, while Grove City College also experienced some minor setbacks.

Of the many worms that came out in August, "Nachi" arrived on the Internet at noon Aug. 18, "and in 18 minutes it had our network down," said Dean Lindey, director of information technology at SRU.

"This was one week before school," he added.

The same day, Grove City College began keeping an eye on its computer system as students were arriving on campus.

"By 7 p.m., there was increased volume and we saw it happening," said Lee Wishing, head of public relations at GCC.