Xref: utzoo alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk:62 comp.admin.policy:276 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!aplcen!boingo.med.jhu.edu!haven.umd.edu!mimsy!mojo!russotto From: russotto@eng.umd.edu (Matthew T. Russotto) Newsgroups: alt.comp.acad-freedom.talk,comp.admin.policy Subject: Re: Ohio State University CIS Policies Message-ID: <1991Jun5.143100.21423@eng.umd.edu> Date: 5 Jun 91 14:31:00 GMT References: <1991Jun3.232500.24850@ms.uky.edu> <1991Jun4.160947.7193@eng.umd.edu> Sender: news@eng.umd.edu (C-News) Organization: College of Engineering, Maryversity of Uniland, College Park Lines: 54 In article ef1c+@andrew.cmu.edu (Esther Filderman) writes: >Excerpts from netnews.comp.admin.policy: 4-Jun-91 Re: Ohio State >University C.. Matthew T. Russotto@eng. (2734) > >> I got sick of the obvious runaround, and went and applied for a number >> of new accounts under phony names. Eventually, they brought me to the >> judicial programs office or having all those accounts, and I was found >> responsible for 'theft of services'. > >> If there had been some sort of due process in the first place, perhaps I >> wouldn't have had such trouble. > >You're kidding, right? You wouldn't have broken the rules if they >hadn't given you so much trouble, is that what you're saying? Had there been a way I could have gotten my own account back, the one I am entitled to as an undergraduate at this school, I would not have applied for any phony accounts. That is what I am saying. >> Informal stuff only works when both sides are >> trying for a real solution-- not when the side with more power only wants to >> avoid what they percieve as a problem by getting rid of the student involved. >Did you ever consider finding someone else to help you? The system >administrator and the accounts administrator each have a boss. The >words, "I want to speak to your supervisor" can get you places if you >feel that you're being unjustly treated. Maybe. Probably not. I tried that sort of tack in a similiar situation at a different office which was giving me trouble, and found myself in a nice little loop-- a bigger runaround. Only thing that worked was writing a letter to the director of the office-- with copies to everyone from the governor of the state on down. It also took quite a bit of time, something that I didn't have in the other situation (try doing CS classwork without an account). >Part of gaining maturity is learning that when you seem to be stuck in a >bad position you should look for alternate solutions, not break the >rules. Yes, you were unjustly treated by having your account turned off >without warning and then given the run around, but you played right into >their hands by then breaking the rules. I see no need to be constrained by any rules when the other side is not. From a practical point of view, attempting to play their game their way may have saved me some trouble with the judicial programs office-- but it also would have caused me to fail my class. It's all fine and good for you, when you make the rules but don't necessarily have to write them down or follow them yourself, to claim that informal procedures are enough, or that students when wronged by you should follow the rules you set up. It's a different matter for a student with his account cut off, projects due, confronted with sysadmins working against him, who are apparently responsible to no one and need to follow no rules. -- Matthew T. Russotto russotto@eng.umd.edu russotto@wam.umd.edu .sig under construction, like the rest of this campus.