January 10, 1994 The Other Press NEWS © Censors have a hard time slicing up the Internet VICTORIA (CUP) — Erotica- Animals, Erotica-Children, Erotica-Male, Erotica-Female, Erotica-Gay and Erotica-Bi- sexual are yours at the push of a button. Press a few keys in the Internet com- puter network, and you are invited to look through this file area, Erotica. For some, it's a garden of delights. For oth- ers, it’s a field ripe for the censor's blade. Internet's ostensible function is to exchange academic and scientific infor- mation around the world. But it also in- cludes files on alfhost anything imagi- nable, including the stuff that drives puritans mad. “It's sex education of the worst kind for our kids,” says Dolina Smith, presi- dent of Canadians for Decency, who de- mand the removal of erotic material from the Internet. “T think we have a responsibility to the society.” With the growth of Internet, the ability to access such files has sparked a debate over the propriety of computer files. One question is whether the elimi- nation of these files is a breech of free dom of speech and information, pro- tected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. “T think this freedom of speech thing has been carried. far too far,” argues Smith. “Our families are going down, all in the name of freedom of speech.” Internet proponents and civil liber- tarians would like to allow users access to all files without restriction. A six-member University of British Columbia task force on the Appropriate Use of InformationTechnology last Sep- tember looked into the pornographic contents of Internet. “I don’t think that it’s a particular problem,” says task force member Shirley Marcus. “If you don’t like it you don't have to look at it.” “If you went to turn on your com- puter it wouldn’t be sitting there,” she adds, noting that users must actively search out such information. And people are tapping in. Boardwatch magazine ran a reader's poll of the best computer boards. Three of the top ten were “ExplicitAdult” sys- tems —including Pleasure Dome, based in Tidewater, Virginia. Pleasure Dome offers electronic ac- cess to networks like ThrobNet, SwingNet, StudNet and KinkNet, ac- cording to a recent article in Time. Internet is designed for the free flow of information, but another B.C. uni- versity has decided to restrict some con- Computing science celebrates big finish (Simon Fraser WEEK) — A team of undergraduate stu- dents is celebrating a second place finish in the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) Pacific regional contest held in Oregon November 20. SFU computing students finished ahead of 34 universities, including Stanford University. The finish qualifies them for an international meet in March. "It also shows the high quality of stu- dents in SFU's computing science pro- gram," says Arvind Gupta, professor and computing ‘coach.’ "We've got some great undergradu- ate students in computing science - this proves the point," says Gupta, who coached two teams along with PhD stu- dentValerie Summers. The students were chosen from a computing science class that focuses specifically on problem-solv- ing The contest challenges students to tackle a series of nine problems, to be solved using a computer, over a period of five hours. Problems ranged from * writing a nrnoram that keens track of bowling scores, to creating useful new ways to compress and translate data. Despite spending less time than other teams preparing for the event, SFU managed to solve the first four problems before any of the other teams, They were edged out by Berkeley, who finished the fifth problem in the final moments of the competition. Winning students were Matthew Spears, David Bullock and Erick Wong. Their efforts were paid off with a plaque, but Gupta says the real victory is in the honour it brings. "The ACM sets out to bring more recognition to undergraduate programs, and contests like this show just how talented our stu- dents are," says Gupta. Ombudsoffice Continued from page 1 student (and pays their stipend), sup- plies materials, assistance from DSCC Office Managers and Executive, and re- cently an Apple computer. This office is an imitation of the clas- sical Ombudsman. The most important elements of an Ombudsoffice are confi- dentiality and autonomy: autonomy is guaranteed by the by-laws and consti- tution of the Student Society. This allows the Ombudsperson to give advice and make recommendations that are free from political self-preservation, and therefore more likely to be based on the ideal, The ideal for the Ombudsperson is that persons receive fair and just treat- ment, whether during individual con- tact, like the teacher-student relation- ship, or more impersonal interaction of college policy and student. The classical Ombudsperson is empowered with the ability to make recommendations to Par- liament regarding a law or policy of gov- ernment, and the power to investigate (including the ability to subpoena witnessses and documents). Some colleges and universities in Canada have been given these privileges by their Board. This office, however, is as yet much more limited by its re- sources and lacks formal mandate from the College Board of Directors and Ad- ministration. During the term of office of this Ombudsperson, however, both faculty and administration have recog- nized and assisted the Ombudsoffice. The power of this office lies in the perception of the community that the Ombudsperson is unbiased and fair in her treatment of issues and the people surrounding them. She determines the situation as clearly as possible and ad- vises the student what course to take, trying to take into account the perspec- tives of all involved. Therefore, while in this case the Ombudsoffice is pro- vided for students, the Ombudsperson is an advocate for fairness, not a stu- dent advocate. Often the Ombudsperson becomes an advocate for the student, but not necessarily. These roles are quite differ- ent in perspective, and are normally treated quite separately. (i.e. The Uni- versity of Manitoba has both a full-time Ombudsperson and a Student Advo- cate.) Carla Alexander is the Ombudsperson for Doug- las College. Her number is 527-5016. You can also see her in Room 1242, next to the Campus Deli tent. “Tt is intended to be open to encour- age people to do different things,” says Worth Johnson, manager of network operations at Simon Fraser University. “The nature of Internet is to allow any- thing to go on.” SFU decided to exclude anything from their system that was not “schol- arly,” said Johnson. Sam Scully, a University of Victoria vice-president, said Internet should be wide-open for the general transmission of information. UVic supports the “general right of access of any kind for academic research versus the collective right to protect peo- ple from offensive and repugnant things,” he says. There is no test to prove the academic merit of material on the system. If there was, it would likely entail much time to keep up with the rapid input — and much controversy over its interpreta- tions. In Canada, there is a six per cent growth in the Internet system every month. “There is no controlling what's get- ting trafficked,” said Johnson. “Over the upcoming years will be a period of cre- ating new processes and rules.” Internet is the “only working anar- chy in the world,” said Richard Pitt, sys- tem administrator for Wimsey, an elec- tronic bulletin board based in Vancou- ver. by Scott Simmer Here Ye, HereYe! The students of Doug- las College now have a new place to create written works of art: the DC Li- brary's new Mac Word Processing Lab! The DC Student Society has pur- chased eight Apple Macintosh Classic Il Personal computers to replace the ag- ing typewriter room on the top floor of the library, which had become out of date. The new computers are easy to use, fast, and quiet; making even the New Mac lab for students longest and ugliest of school reports most beautiful (especially due to the laser printers, the only ones available for student use). The lab is staffed by a Lab monitor to assist students in using the computer writing systems. The lab is now open, and is available every day during library hours. Remember to bring a 3.5 inch (small and hard) com- puter disk (available in the bookstore) to save your work and your student card. Bnitish Isles still in ecological danger London (GP) — A year on from the Braer disaster, nothing effective has been done to safeguard Britain's coasts, fish- eries and ecology from the threat of yet more and more serious tanker disasters, Greenpeace said in a press release. On 5 January 1993, the Braer oil tanker lost power and foundered on the rocks at Garths Ness, Shetland, spilling 85,000 tonnes of light crude oil into the water and onto the coast of Shetland. “While the ecology of the Shetland Islands seems to have escaped this time from a major ecological disaster, the UK Government has done little to prevent any future accidents around this fragile coast,” said Paul Horsman. “Meanwhile tanker owners and the oil industry are cutting more corners than ever, and the likelihood of more accidents rise with an increasingly aging tanker fleet.” In a letter to Shipping Minister, Lord Caithness Greenpeace said that little has been done to stop tankers using the Fair Isle channel south of Shetland or the much narrower and ecologically vulner- able Minches between the Outer Heb- rides and the west coast of Scotland. “The Government's policy of volun- tary measures (1) and laissez faire is wholly inadequate to protect Britain’s coastline and is simply courting disas- ter,” said the letter. Greenpeace and other organisations have called for man- datory tanker exclusion zones near en- vironmentally sensitive areas. The UK Government's voluntary measures con- trasts sharply with stricter measures ap- plied in other parts of the world. Fol- lowing the Haven oil spill in the Gulf of Genoa, the Italian Government es- tablished a mandatory exclusion zone in the Strait of Bonifacio. This prevents laden tankers and ships carrying other hazardous cargoes from passing through this area. A combination of extreme storms ‘and the light oil dispersed the Braer's deadly cargo and prevented the sort of acute wildlife deaths seen with heavier oil in disasters such as the Exxon Valdez. Greenpeace research begun imme- diately after the disaster and continued at Plymouth University shows that oil was taken up by species of marine life, including some of those living at the bottom of the sea. “The research we have undertaken is a small part of what still needs to be investigated” said Horsman. One area would be followup on in- formation in an interim report by the Scottish Office released last May, which said that 30-40% of the oil from the Braer ended up in a basin on the sea bed about 50 miles south of the Shet- lands. “The lesson of the Braer disaster should be that Governments must take effective action to control the oil indus- try by putting sensitive areas off limits - but sadly it looks as if the UK Govern- ment lost interest once the television crews went home”, Horsman said. The oil industry must realise that the oil they produce and distribute is pol- luting at every stage in its life cycle, from its extfaction and transport, through to its eventual use when the carbon diox- ide (CO2), produced from burning oil, is pumped into the atmosphere, threat- ening the climate. The only way to prevent the mas- sive environmental damage from oil is to begin now to work towards a future where oil is replaced by alternative re- newable energy supplies. Note: Following the Braer oil spill, after first stating that it would be un- workable to have exclusion zones, the UK Government entered into a volun- tary agreement with the British Cham- ber of Shipping. This agreement declared certain areas to be avoided. However, it is well known that vol- untary agreements do not work. Any vessels that actually comply are likely to be from reputable tankers owners with well trained crews, thus missing the very ships which need to be con- trolled. 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