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From: msir@ur-tut.UUCP (Mark Sirota)
Newsgroups: soc.college,comp.edu
Subject: Re: Access to USENET for non-comp sci majors at undergrad institutions
Message-ID: <372@ur-tut.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 31-Oct-87 02:07:59 EST
Article-I.D.: ur-tut.372
Posted: Sat Oct 31 02:07:59 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 8-Nov-87 15:26:23 EST
References: <515@unirot.UUCP> <10480@duke.cs.duke.edu> <568@shamash.UUCP>
Reply-To: msir@tut.cc.rochester.edu (Mark Sirota)
Distribution: na
Organization: Univ. of Rochester Computing Center
Lines: 28
Keywords: USETNET ACCESS
Xref: mnetor soc.college:977 comp.edu:771

In article <568@shamash.UUCP> jwabik@shamash.UUCP (Jeff Wabik) writes:
>In article <10480@duke.cs.duke.edu>, becher@duke.cs.duke.edu (Jonathan D. Becher) writes:
>
>>>Do most colleges and universities give access to USETNET and the Internet
>>>if they have it? Are there any special restrictions that usually apply?
>
>There is SO MUCH out there (here!) in USENET that the thought of
>limiting access to grads and faculty types is rediculous!  I had USENET
>access during my undergraduate work (University of Minnesota, Duluth) ,
>and felt that a good part of my CS education came from exchanging mail
>and news with the rest of the world.

I think Jeff may have been a touch strong, but his point is good.  Although
it costs time, space, and money to provide worldwide network access to
everyone, I still think it's a good idea.

Part of what makes today's world great is communication.  The media is fine,
but it can't provide one-on-one or large group discussions.  NetNews and
electronic mail provide opportunities for people to communicate with an
amazingly large group of people, in a personal, relevant atmosphere.

One of the important points about college is social growth, and that's
exactly what nationwide networks provide.  Seems to me that colleges and
universities wouldn't really want to deny their students this opportunity.
-- 

Mark Sirota
 msir%tut.cc.rochester.edu@cs.rochester.edu (rochester!ur-tut!msir)