Ghost in the Machine

By Cody Quinn

Editor-in-Chief

HCC’s Computer Monitoring Tools Help or Hinder Students.

I was sitting in front of the screen in the computer labs at HCC idly reading an article on espn.com, when my mouse’s arrow flashed. Startled, I checked the position of my arm to see if I had accidentally brushed the mouse. I hadn’t.

I went back to my reading when the arrow flashed again. It then proceeded up to the “x” on my window and closed it out.

My first thought was, “Holy crap! My computer is haunted!” However, upon further investigation, I learned that the computer labs are not a haven for poltergeists, but actually monitored by HCC Information Technology (IT) staff.

“I was clicked out of the Internet because I was using Google to find pictures for a Powerpoint presentation,” one student said.

The Phantom Cursor, as some students have come to call it, is a tool the IT department uses to cut down on unauthorized computer usage. When a student is performing an activity deemed inappropriate by the IT staff, they close the program out remotely.

The staff declined to comment on the specifics of how they monitor the computers due to fear of students finding ways around their tactics.

Any student familiar with the computers at HCC has seen the list of rules for usage every time they boot up. The rules include prohibiting food and drink in the computer lab, using chat rooms or IM functions, using myspace or facebook, and using online stores, such as eBay, among other things.

According to the HCC Student Handbook, “Any unauthorized or illegitimate uses of IT resources may subject the user to disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal or expulsion, as well as loss of computing privilege.”

“All computers are monitored except those not needed to be monitored,” said Chris Currivan, an IT tech here at Housatonic.

In order to understand the limits of our IT department’s efforts, I tested some of the rules.

Aside from the aforementioned incident with espn.com, I was able to go through the process of buying an item on eBay in one computer lab, signed up for an account on eHarmony (a forty-minute process) in another and able to check out pictures on maximonline.com without trouble for approximately ten minutes.

I wasn’t able to log onto myspace.com, but I was able to go on to facebook.com, a similar site.

“There was a method by which we were able to [block myspace],” said Currivan.

He also said that although no measures were in place to stop people from using similar sites, they were working on ways to block students from accessing those sites.

“We are not aware of all the social sites,” said Jesse McAllister, another IT technician at HCC, when describing the difficulty in monitoring what are and aren’t appropriate uses of school computers.

“The worst part is I get in trouble for doing legitimate school work; I’ve seen people on recreational sites countless times without penalty,” one student complained.

Some infractions are easier to spot.

“Porno is porno,” McAllister said.

He added that Instant Messaging, AOL, and shopping are much easier to spot, and, therefore, deal with.

Yet one student was not so sure. “I was sent an angry message to stay off of instant messenger, when I was clearly using the thesaurus is Microsoft Word,” she said.