Vol. 41, Issue 2
I
ethodist College, Fayetteville, NC
Wednesday, October 2,2002
Established 1961
No more Instant Messaging at Methodist College?
By iohn W. Arnold III
Opinion Editor
Since school began on August
20, the Methodist College server
has been running at maximum ca
pacity. Students, faculty, and staff
have experienced first-hand the in
convenience of slow speeds when
trying to reach a website of any
kind.
in past months, it has taken
as long as 15 minutes to simply
download the opening site of a web
page, this does not include the
hours it
could take
to explore
a web site
and get in
formation
on a topic.
However,
the speed
of the
schools
server, and
the way
“This action to
PUT LIMITS ON
PROGRAMS LIKE
AOL Instant
Messenger does
NOT INFRINGE ON
STUDENTS
RIGHTS.”
you use it is all about to change.
There is not a simple expla
nation for the sluggish speed, and
unreliability of the school’s internet
server.
Tom Marthers, from the
Methodist College Institute of
Computer Science explains the
problem. “There are two T1 lines
for the school server. What is hap
pening is that the amount of band
width students download is caus
ing a back up to the T1 lines and
slowing everything down,”
Marthers said.
If you are confused, that’s
ok. Mr. Marthers explained, in so
many words that bandwidth is con
sumed by programs like AOL In
stant Messenger and music shar
ing programs like kaZaA. Now,
imagine the server as a river that
runs smoothly back and fourth
through a pipe. On one end of the
pipe is the crystal clear ocean wa
ters of the internet. On the oppo
site side is the murky lake of
Methodist College.
At first, the MC server was
clear, and things could move back
and fourth through the pipe at light
ing speeds. As students began to
consume hordes of bandwidth
(through instant messaging, etc)
there becomes a dam on the MC
side of the pipe that holds
up everything.
Therefore, very little
information is able to get
into or out of the college
server; when information
does manage to get
through it, it is at a snails
pace.
In order to solve the
problem of bandwidth,
Marthers says the Institute
of Computer Science has
purchased a machine called a
“racketeer pocket shaper.” What
the racketeer packet shaper does
is enables the sever to isolate
bandwidth being used and put a
limit on it by tracking each indi
vidual users bandwidth consump
tion that is linked to the schools
network.
Sam Clark, also from the
Institute of Computer Science was
quick to point out, “We are not
blocking sites, but we have reached
a point where the Internet is im
possible to use and we have to set
limits. The amount of bandwidth
being used by each person has
caused serious problems; the finan
cial aid department is a great ex
ample. People who need to apply
for loans over the internet are not
able to because they are not able
to get through. I would rather have
some people be mad because they
cannot get music than a lot of
people mad because that cannot
get what they desperately
need.”
This action to put
“limits” on programs like
AOL Instant Messenger
does not infringe on stu
dents rights.
An unnamed source
working for the office of
institutional computing
said, “First of all, if you
read your terms of service
you will find that certain
programs are not to be
used. This includes instant messag
ing programs and music sharing
programs. It is obvious that lots of
students broke this term due to the
amount of bandwidth being de
tected. Also, this does not touch
student’s computers; it stops at the
network card. The only way you
could detect if someone is using
something illegal is if they are
acutely using it and it’s on the net
work.” The ■
racketeer
packet shaper
will not go
onto the stu-
dents’ sys
tems and find
out anything
about their
systems. If
you are using
something on
the network, the racketeer packet
shaper will detect on the network
and shut it down.”
Though technically the sys
tem may be legal, students still feel
as if their privacy is being invaded.
“We had this system at my old col
“We ARE NOT BLOCKING
SITES, BUT WE HAVE
REACHED A POINT
WHERE THE INTERNET IS
IMPOSSIBLE TO USE AND
WE HAVE TO SET
LIMITS...
It IS OBVIOS THAT
LOTS OF STUDENTS
BROKE THIS TERM
DUE TO THE
AMOUNT OF
BANDWIDTH BEING
DETECTED
lege, it was horrible. Forget trying
to use instant messages to save on
long distant phone calls or keep
ing in contact with friends from
home. I
■* also think
that the
school is
violating
my consti-
tutional
rights to
privacy.
They are
being re
ally unfair
in their
decision
here, they could have at least
asked the students what they
thought first before instituting this
new system,” transfer student.
Brad Colt said.
The packeteer packet shaper
will have no effect on download
ing information such as jpeg’s (pic
tures and text) from e-mail’s. The
system set in place will enable the
server to run at a faster capacity
than it has previously because
students will only have access
to the Internet rather than
previously utilized software.
Also, it will not be completely
impossible to use instant mes
saging, but the amount of
bandwidth that a user can
consume will be drastically
decreased.
It is rumored, but not
confirmed, that the amount of
money spent on the racketeer
packet shaper was well into the
thousands. Sources from the office
of computer science would not
comment on the subject but did
say the machine was paid for with
funds from the Office of Computer
Science.