> But I thought Alister Air said:
> >
> > You would know that the Australian Vice Chancellors' Committee will
> > implement a "user-pays" system of charging for the use of AARNet as from
> > next year. What concerns me is how the University will come up with the
> > money.
>
> > He also mentioned that the University most likely crack down on
> > "non-academic" use of the Internet. To be exact, students found using
> > Internet for non-coursework related things (such as reading this letter,
> > for example) will be CHARGED WITH ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT (*really* heavy shit).
>
> I think all we agree this is a pretty dumb idea for an educational
> institiution. I personally learn more by reading and playing around
> with things on the net than I did from the entirety of first year
> computing science. In fact, than I did in all of first year plus
> all the SoCS ITU subjects.
>
I think this sort of thing was inevitable, considering the
'popularisation' of the net. But think about it, those of us doing
Comp.Sci. and related degrees are really getting a free ride here... and
at whose expense. Sure, we are all going to say that we use the Net to
help our degree, but what it comes down to, is that those of us in
Comp.Sci can browse the Web, read News, d/load the latest Doom .wad, etc
for free... while all other poor schmucks have to pay anything from 15
bucks a month, to 5 bucks an hour. I think the real issue here is that
most of us (not ALL...) simply don't want to lose this meal ticket
(myself included). But is it fair on the rest of the population. I mean,
who pays for the Net anyway? Yes it is a point of much contention, some
say it's the taxpayer, some say it's the student via HECS, others say
it's both. The fact is, and everyone is going to have to wake up to it,
that the Net is changing, maybe for the worse, maybe for the better, but
there is little we can do about it.
And yes, that is a defeatist attitude.
L8tr,
James 'Woody' Webster
jrwebste@nospam.socs.uts.edu.au
woody@nospam.ftoomsh.socs.uts.edu.au