🚀 go-pugleaf

kadie@herodotus.cs.uiuc.edu (Carl M. Kadie) writes:

> In <1991Jun1.164136.4553@herald.usask.ca> lowey@herald.usask.ca (Kevin Lowey)
> [...]
> >The UNIVERSITY bought the equipment.  The UNIVERSITY owns the equipment.  Th
> >UNIVERSITY gets to say how the equipment is to be used, who can use it, and 
> >what rules these users have to follow.
> [...]
> 
> I would only add that it is the policy of most universities to create
> and administer rules with the participation of faculty and students,
> to respect the privacy of faculty and students (by, for example,
> allowing searches of office space under certain very controlled
> conditions), to make rules clear and specific, to give students
> accused of violating rules a formal hearing (if the student so
> wishes), to promote free expression by saying that "[t]he
> institutional control of campus facilities should not be used as a
> device of censorship."

        But, that contradicts the prevalent attitude that mainframe
        access is a privelege that can be granted or revoked with no
        explanation.  Even .edu sites do this sort of thing quite
        regularly (& I'm not referring to my own case, but to others
        I've seen first-hand, or heard of).

> In my opinion, any university employee who violates this policy should
> be disciplined. For example, a sys admin who expels a student from the
> general university computer system without recourse to a formal
> hearing should find him or herself subject to a formal disciplinary
> hearing.

        Pity that isn't the case.  The University holds that it's not
        obligated to give computing resources to anyone, & can therefore
        revoke account priveleges without resorting to higher authority.

> And, of course, any university computer policy that contradicts
> general university policy (i.e. almost every university computer
> policy I've ever read) is null and void.

        If that be the case, then why haven't more students challenged
        their Universities academic computing policy?  Simple.  Like
        trying to turn the flow of a tsunami, students will accomplish
        very little, & most likely be swept aside.  Some organizations
        are just too large to rein in, even if they are "guilty" of
        wrongdoing.



===========================================================================
Steven S. Brack     sbrack@bluemoon.uucp        The Ohio State University
sbrack%bluemoon@nstar.rn.com                        sbrack@isis.cs.du.edu
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