Campus computers under watchful eyes

Aside from logging into campus computers under a valid user name, Pitt students have… Aside from logging into campus computers under a valid user name, Pitt students have seemingly unrestricted private computer access in campus computer labs.

Staff in the Hillman Library claim that computers in the library are unfiltered and people can browse the Internet as they please.

The director of Computing Services and System Development, Jinx Walton, said that they have never had a policy to block any sites and never imposed any kind of restrictions.

But do students really have that much privacy?

Over the summer of 2007, CSSD removed the barriers between computer desks on the third and fourth floors of Hillman Library, allowing others to more easily see what users are doing on the computers.

Walton stated that the decision was strictly a furniture issue and that many of the barriers were broken. “By removing the barriers CSSD was able to fit more computers in the area and increase the number of computers in the library to 150.”

Sean Sasso, manager of CSSD and the Off Campus Student Computer Assistance and Resources Center reiterated that taking down the barriers was strictly tactical and represented a smarter use of existing furniture. “We didn’t want anyone to get hurt, they were fairly rickety.”

Sasso said that there are no plans in the future to reinstall the barriers.

The elimination of the barriers isn’t the only thing that limits students’ privacy in the library.

“If you access a website logged onto your university user name, everything you look at will be tracked.” said Hillman Library’s Coordinator of Communications, Crystal McCormick Ware.

But although the University has the ability to track student’s Internet activity, there is little room for reprimanding someone browsing an inappropriate website.

According to a Hillman librarian who did not wish to be named, technically students could look at anything on the Internet from obscene material to pornography. A staff member is only permitted to force a patron to log off a site if someone complains – a circumstance that could constitute sexual harassment.

Student Derek Goodrich said that he expects his Internet usage to be tracked whenever he is logged on at a public place. Goodrich also said that looking at pornography would be awkward in a library setting, although he would be hesitant to report another student who he witnessed browsing this type of material.

Students are given the freedom to browse the Internet without restrictions because there have been very few incidents where obscene material was viewed on campus computers.

“We expect everyone to act like adults,” the librarian said, adding that he believes that the viewing of inappropriate material decreased when students were required to log in under their user name.