Today's number: 56 percent

        How much of the U.S. adult population used the Internet last year, about 104 million adults, the Pew Internet & American Life Project reported.

Today's money tip:

        Student loan applicants should explore programs that can lower the monthly payments, interest rate or fees.

        Most servicing programs — including Sallie Mae and the government's Direct Loans program — offer several repayment options, including those that gradually increase payments as income rises.

        Some lenders also lower the interest rate after a number of on-time payments. Some give similar benefits for automatic payments from a bank account.

Today's career tip:

        Virtual job fairs are an extension of corporate Web sites but provide a face-to-face component, says Rebecca Smith in her book Electronic Resumes.

        With virtual job fairs, you can research participating companies online before attending the job fair in person. They provide a calendar of upcoming fairs for geographic areas and a list of which companies are participating.

        Virtual job fairs are excellent resources for finding out who's hiring and what their needs are.

Today's Company: The Health Alliance

        Anatomy: The Health Alliance is made up of the Christ Hospital, University Hospital, the St. Luke Hospitals, Jewish Hospital, Fort Hamilton Hospital and Alliance Primary Care.

        Emergencies: Health Alliance hospitals registered 251,189 emergency room visits in fiscal year 2000. More than 80,000 of those visits were atUniversity Hospital.

        Births: About 9,800 babies were born at Health Alliance hospitals between July 1, 1999, and June 30, 2000. Christ Hospital led in deliveries with 3,988.

        Heart Healers: According to the Health Alliance, it is the only system in the United States to have all its hospitals that perform advanced heart procedures ranked among the nation's top 100 cardiovascular hospitals.

Today's career move

        Ron Dull has joined Bluespring Software, a Cincinnati-based technology company, as vice president of solutions delivery. Mr. Dull will lead all aspects of deploying Bluespring's software solution, including methodology development, staffing, external partnerships and project management. He holds a master's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California and a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University.

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