AMHERST - Do you want to see the vibrating floor? asked Alisa Brewer.

Members of the Amherst School Committee, touring Crocker Farm Elementary School, had just welcomed a latecomer to their group. Brewer pulled the visitor into the computer lab, marched her to a corner and let her listen to the roar of shaking metal.

Brewer then pointed to a chair in front of a computer.

''Can you imagine sitting here to do your work?'' she asked.