IT Trends :: Thursday, April 13, 2006
IT News
Amidst concern about Internet security, the University of Idaho advises students against using ad hoc networks that are not monitored by the school's information technology staff. The associate director of ITS acknowledges security weaknesses in the school's own wireless network, but says the system was set up that way "on purpose" to allow students more freedom…(The University of Idaho Argonaut)
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Seattle Pacific University, where a young Bill Gates once programmed, is considering phasing out its computer science program due to decreasing student interest and unaffordable costs. In the mid- to late-1990s, there were often 125 or more undergraduate majors in the discipline. That has now fallen to 24 undergraduate majors, supported by four faculty members. The program is undergoing a complete review twice this year and SPU President Philip Eaton will likely make a final decision this summer…(The Seattle Times)
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Faculty at Pasadena City College got a little upset when they found out that routine monitoring was going on using software that looked for who was doing nasty stuff but without any kind of initial "reasonable suspicion" based on individuals. PCC President James Kossler said it's a balance between the need to honor academic freedom and manage the public's resources. Student computers were not monitored. Faculty leaders asked that the issue be addressed by the board, which agreed that the routine monitoring be stopped for at least six months while policy is discussed...(Pasadena Star-News)
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A short editorial by a University of North Carolina senior tells of his experience being busted by the FBI for illegally sharing music on his dormitory computer. Nice start: "I thought that anything would be better than my early morning Spanish class, but I realized I was wrong on that day two years ago when a campus police officer pulled me out of class to inform me that an FBI agent was waiting for me at my dormitory room."...(Los Angeles Times)
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