Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!ncrlnk!ncrwic!wsucsa!hammer From: hammer@wsucsa.uucp (Tim .D. Hammer) Newsgroups: comp.edu Subject: Re: The ethics of dribble files Message-ID: <12769@wsucsa.uucp> Date: 8 Feb 90 19:56:49 GMT References: <1691@skye.ed.ac.uk> <11184@thor.acc.stolaf.edu> Organization: Wichita State Univ., Wichita, Ks. Lines: 39 In article <11184@thor.acc.stolaf.edu>, pritchaj@agnes.acc.stolaf.edu (John Pritchard) writes: > > There is a good article in the Higher Education Chronical (I believe it > is the latest issue) which discusses the rights of a teacher, computer > center, student with respect to sending mail or posting of information. This is another issue that occasionally arises when discussing the ethical/legal ramifications of computing, not only in academia but in business as well. How much "Big Brother" activity will be tolerated. How do we react to the knowledge that **someone** can review our activity and decide whether we are productive or not. In a school setting we worry about the teacher being able to check on our progress, this could be a useful item and in the right situation could lead to better work and more interaction on a project. But used improperly leads to paranoia and resentment. Another thought that has been posted is that of how resources are used- the REXX programming example. Have we become so cost-oriented that, as a colleague of mine (reading over my shoulder) said, "God forbid that the student learn more than they should!" I encourage my first-semester students to experiment and learn on their own because chances are they can learn things better that way as well as useful things that I might miss. Somehow we need to return to the Hacker Ethic as described by S. Levy in _Hackers_, open systems that encourage learning. Tim .D. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tim .D. Hammer BITNET: TDHAMMER@TWSUVAX Research Assistant UUCP: uunet!ncrlnk!ncrwic!wsucsa!hammer Computer Science Dept. INTERNET: tdhammer@oz.wsu.UKans.EDU Wichita State University Wichita, Ks. 67208-1595 TalkNET: (316)689-3156 #include #define VIEWS_and_OPINIONS MY_OWN /* no one else would admit to them */ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "A little learning is a dangerous thing." Alexander Pope