On Mon, 2005-09-12 at 00:06 +0000, Jason Holt wrote: > In this case, BYU is a university, and ostensibly is there to promote > learning > and exploration of ideas. Sure, it's also a private university which tries > to > keep a Mormon atmosphere and spare us the evils of school-sponsored beer > bashes, homosexuality and Democrats. But if you took that part away, BYU > would still be a University, whereas if you took the learning away, it > wouldn't.
The mission of the university doesn't actual say a whole lot about "learning." The mission is more about religion than any other thing. > > So, you won't ever hear me complain that BYU doesn't let people display pr0n > on the jumbotron during football games (although what's with those short > cheerleader skirts, anyway?), or run for-profit websites out of their campus > offices. But if Notre Dame searched everyone's backpacks upon entering > campus > to see if they were bringing in any contraband Book[s] of Mormon[s] (because > really, space on campus is limited and they don't want that space taken up by > such things), I (and plenty of others) would raise the Big Brother cry. I hardly see how this example relates to BYU's acceptable use of IT policies (such as they are). > > Likewise I don't appreciate my TCP connections being searched, not just for > pornography, but for anything which some unknown, unaccountable person has > deemed obscene, offensive, liberal, uncheerful, or whatever else constitutes > heresy at BYU these days. Under a big brother society you don't have a choice as to what you are subjected to. You do have a choice here at BYU. If you need more "freedom," nobody is stopping you from going somewhere outside of BYU to express yourself. I'm taking a very extreme point of view here, just because I get so tired of people talking about how BYU owes them this or that or wishing BYU wouldn't suppress them. As if academic freedom is somehow a basic right that BYU must grant them. > > -J > > -------------------- > BYU Unix Users Group > http://uug.byu.edu/ > > The opinions expressed in this message are the responsibility of their > author. They are not endorsed by BYU, the BYU CS Department or BYU-UUG. > ___________________________________________________________________ > List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list -- Michael Torrie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> -------------------- BYU Unix Users Group http://uug.byu.edu/ The opinions expressed in this message are the responsibility of their author. They are not endorsed by BYU, the BYU CS Department or BYU-UUG. ___________________________________________________________________ List Info: http://uug.byu.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/uug-list
