UC protects student rights
Thumbs up to UCLA for refusing to restrict student access to
Napster through campus computer networks. Letters from Howard King,
attorney to musicians Dr. Dre and Metallica, encouraged several
universities to block access to the site, but UC refused. The
university should not censor the Web or abridge students’
access to the Internet unless the state legislates it. The freedom
of a student at an on-campus network should be equivalent to that
of a student across the street using their computer, as long as the
activities are legal. Though we believe in the importance of the
copyright law and think that artists should be recognized for their
work, students should not be prohibited from an activity that is
not defined by law as a violation of copyright. It is the duty of
the state ““ not the university ““ to determine what
infringes on copyright laws. Students are adults and should have
the freedom to choose what to see and download from the Web,
regardless of content, so long as it’s legal.
Bill fails to note professors
Thumbs down to the state of California for passing AB 1773, a
bill that makes it illegal for companies not affiliated with the
university to publish lecture notes. This new law applies to all of
California’s public colleges and universities. Thus, at UCLA,
only the Associated Students of UCLA lecture notes will be
available for student purchase. Though this legislation attempts to
protect professors’ intellectual property, it also limits an
instructor’s choice to have the information circulated.
Rather than banning outside companies from distributing lecture
notes, the law should have centered on giving professors the
ability to control what they want published and by whom. Protecting
the professors from exploitation should not involve limiting their
ability to choose the right note-taking service for their class.
Those in favor of banning lecture notes produced by outside
companies argue it protects students from poor quality,
unauthorized note services, but it also eliminates competition
between note-taking services, which could have encouraged higher
quality and less expensive notes for students. Professors should
have the freedom to decide which company provides the most suitable
note-taking service for their classes and students.
Forum stifles free speech
Thumbs down to UCLA for allowing Iranian foreign minister Kamal
Kharrazi to speak on campus in a forum closed to opposing
viewpoints. Members of the state department and administrators,
including Chancellor Albert Carnesale, stated that the closed forum
represented an effort to maximize the dignitary’s safety and
to prevent embarrassing situations for the diplomat, especially
amid the scheduled protests. Kharrazi spoke about Iranian-U.S.
relations and oil to faculty, students and guests invited by the
foreign minister’s office. While it is reasonable to expect
that foreign dignitaries be protected from possibly violent
opposition, it also reasonable to demand that persons holding other
points of view be allowed to attend and express themselves.
Outside, people protested human rights violations in Iran and the
decision to allow the foreign minister to speak at a closed meeting
at UCLA, a public university with an Iranian population. Allowing
people with opposing ideas to speak at the forum does not
jeopardize the minister’s security. Rather, it ensures that
freedom of speech is extended to people on all sides of an
issue.
ThumbsUp/Thumbs Down represents the majority opinion of the
Daily Bruin editorial board. Send feedback to [email protected].