Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / April 9, 2002, edition 1 / Page 5
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©l* BaiUj ular Schools Support Use of Web Filters By Lauren Ritter Assistant City Editor Local school officials say Internet fil ters are a valuable tool for protecting children, although the American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union are challenging the constitutionality of the devices. Orange County Schools has had fil ters in place since August of 1999 and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board voted to implement the filters in schools by June. The Children’s Internet Protection Act requires schools to have Internet fil ters in place before they can receive fed eral funding. The ALA and ACLU would like to see this law overturned. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is still shopping for the right filter, and board chairwoman Valerie Foushee said she thinks filters necessary. “As we allow more Internet access in the schools, we should protect students," she said. Bob Stocking, director for instruction al technology and media for the district, said Chapel Hill-Carrboro schools are getting bids for filters and officials are operating under the premise that the courts will uphold CIPA. “We’re going along assuming the law is the law,” he said. The Orange County school system has used filters for the past three years, and board members say they are happy with how the filters are performing. “I think the filters we have in Orange County Schools are appropriate for the students,” said Kathy Osborne, associ ate superintendent for the system. “We feel they offer a benefit to stu dents.” Osborne said that even if the CIPA was overturned, the schools likely would keep the filters in place. The lawsuit, which some speculate Kudzu ( SHE kTEEPS SAYING, ATTwi SST" marriage TO tab IS | NO-BmNER! fejS " Thanh you for voting us: * Best Restaurant for a Healthy Meal .* Best Meal after Midnight * Best Lunch Bargain E • UgcheapJategreat . Jfe-'. . f ~' 1 w quesadilla , I .X-\ y- gQjff chiqken quesadilla a 4 ...and more plus.,. r': : allmexieanbeersi2 OPEN°LATE TIL 4am j||| A content filter is the package of software that is used to rate and \ ffi I then filter information on the Internet. Rating systems categorize I Web sites based on content. These vary from the simple system, such as I allowed or not allowed, to the complex that uses various criteria to B H evaluate content. The content rating must then be examined by the I filtering system. There are two types: stand-alone systems and protocol- 9 Hi based systems. Stand-alone systems limit the users to the decisions I mni made by the filter software vendor utilizing lists of unacceptable sites I and keyword searches for objectionable words or phrases. Protocol- El ba sed systems provide users with the choice of alternative ratings systems, which often rate sites by categories of content description with H I ranges of values within each category. might be brought before the Supreme Court, claims filters limit free speech because they block some Internet sites not containing adult material. One objection is that some Internet filters do not let students search for top ics such as “breast cancer” because the word “breast” is blocked by the filter. But school officials on both sides of the debate said the technology of Internet fil ters is progressing to allow better access for students. “The technology is much bet ter about granting access to ‘breast cancer’ and not granting access to adult sites,” Stocking said. “Our intention is to keep the really egregious stuff from kids’ access. We real ly don’t want to block learning.” Osborne said the filters used in the Orange County schools are able to be updated if teachers want an Internet site off the fist of sites restricted by the filter. “If we have blocked sites teachers feel we don’t need to block, then we can go and put in the address and it will be released from the filter," Osborne said. Stocking said that if the Supreme Court does overturn the CIPA, the school board will have to vote again on whether to continue the use of filters. But until then, district officials say fil ters are better, on the whole, than not having any sort of protection. “I would say we want some sort of fil ter,” Stocking said. “It is getting harder and harder to keep kids from seeing things that are not appropriate for school.” The City Editor can be reached at citydesk@unc.edu. News Activists Dispute Legality Of Public Internet Filters By Christen Broecker Staff Writer An act requiring Internet filters in K -12 schools and public libraries is facing a legal challenge from groups that allege that the technology is flawed. The Children’s Internet Protection Act states that any institution that refus es to comply be denied federal funding. The act was passed by the U.S. Congress in December 2000. The CIPA is being contested in fed eral district court in a lawsuit filed in March 2001 by the American Library Association and the American Civil Liberties Union. Closing arguments in the trial occurred last week. According to a statement released by the ALA in January 2001, the require ment violates the First Amendment. “No filtering software successfully differenti ates constitutionally protected speech from illegal speech on the Internet.” THE Daily Crossword By Eugene R. Puffenberger Candler 49 Less common 50 Without princi ples 53 Support 54 Actress Myrna 57 Woman's career option 59 Equestrian game 60 Sailor's direc tion 61 Art supporter 62 Small whirlpool 63 Bovine bunch 64 Actress Della 65 Mexican money DOWN 1 Roosevelt's ACROSS 1 Prominence 5 Engulf 10 Singer Lane 14 English river 15 Van Gogh loca tion 16 of Gilead 17 Citrus fruit 18 Dogpatch matriarch 20 Brief commer cials 21 Mugs and gob lets 22 Salad leafstalk 23 Three-time Indy winner Rick 25 Siamese 26 Type of daisy 28 Printing plant worker 32 Hamlet's first choice 33 Man and Dogs 35 Freight jumper 36 OPEC product 37 Solo of "Star Wars" 38 "Hallowed be _ name..." 39 On the briny 41 Football kicks 43 Loafer or pump 44 Beauty parlor employees 46 Bigots 48 Gray and l s l E l G l A l L 9°l H l N l°9 M l A l s l K IRA Q TBm O A TBIO GEE :|A | M U S~9a~ l p AAMAAA I T e|r ~sll E L E V F N |S|C|A L E D lljjA L L N E S S cor in na!s l o TpMBB |o M A N|A N Y H O w|d I G RAY EjDiD A R Mslm E L L lelslsJHa AA m a nBo l l a PB9E A A !|Ba AAX A A Iclelc r o p l g a r s a L I c I AM S aIl L O wBM BET A T A£ A AHA —— A A AGE UMt R E ■ NO S IlMr|eßsle|r|aße|a|g|lTe~ t iesclaij, a ri 9 r 8 3 Edward Kidder Graham Awards. 3:30 - 5:00 p m., George Watts Hill Alumni Center Come check out these super seniors, favorite faculty, and awesome advisors-as nominated by members of the Senior Class Top of the Hill, 10 00 p m. - 2:00 a m Come party with fellow seniors on top of the town on a beautiful spring evening! we ne day, a rillC) Climb the Bell Tower, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., the Bell Tower Ever wondered what it's like inside the Bell Tower? Now's your only chance to scale the steps and grab the unique view of campus that's only available to you HMO, PPD, 401 K, 403 B: What Do They All Mean?, 7 - 8 30 pm, Gardner 105 This money management seminar is geared specifically for anew grad's needs and income Learn about budgeting your new income, investing, taxes and more. This program is part of the Senior Success Series and will include dinner, a business folio and business cards (limit one folio and order of business cards per seniorl, compliments of the UNC General Alumni Association t a rilll Senior Class Last Blast, 5-8 p.m., Carmichael Auditorium You don't want to miss this! We'll have a BBQ dinner with all the trimmings, music, give aways, great door prizes, a giant slide and bouncy boxing. First 200 seniors receive a free T-shirt! He's Not Here, 10 p.m. - 2 a m A lot of you remember how much fun everyone had at the Senior Class Luau earlier this year. Enjoy another wonderful evening as you reminisce with your friends. $3 cover charge friday, apri 1 A Carolina Blue Day, 10 a m. - 2 p.m., the Pit A beautiful spring day with Carolina Blue cotton candy-does it get any better than this 7 Saturday, a ri 13 Players Dance Club, 10 p.m. -2 a m 111 11 Seniors are free before 11 p.m. so get here early *ll I H to see your friends and avoid the lines. 1 ~~- J - - more events seniors shouldn't miss wednesdaij, april 17 Saturday april 20 Concert for a Cure, 6- 9 p.m., Union Auditorium Senior BaU, 9:30 p.m - 2 am, Michael Jordan's 23 Tickets for $5 will be available in the pit during Gather with fellow seniors for an awesome finish to Senior Week. our senior year. Tickets are $lO and on sale at the front desk of the Alumni Center from 12 noon - 4 For more information, visit seniors.unc.edu or p m., April 8-19 For more details or to buy tickets e-mail seniorweek@unc.edu, or call 962-7054 online, head to seniors.unc.edu Larra Clark, a spokeswoman for the ALA, said there are many flaws inherent to filtering software that prevent users from accessing legitimate informa tion. “Filters still block ‘breast cancer’ searches,” Clark said. “They are funda mentally over-inclusive in that they block useful information, but under-inclusive in that they let obscene things through.” But some organizations that aim to protect children from exposure to inap propriate material say they are outraged by die actions of the ALA and ACLU. Phil Burress, chairman of Family Friendly Libraries, a grass-roots organi zation dedicated to protecting children from inappropriate material, said he does not think the CIPA violates the First Amendment in any way. “We have not permitted pornography into libraries to date,” he said. “Even with the development of the Internet, there’s still material that we do not want in our public system. Obscenity is not dog 2 Eager 3 Old-time come dienne 4 Wind dir. 5 Japanese war rior 6 Envelops 7 Charity 8 Hebrew letter 9 Spirits 10 Put an end to 11 Oven setting 12 Obscure 13 TV award 19 Affirmative votes 21 Grimalkin 24 Linguistic suffix 25 City on the Adige 26 Greek colon nades 27 Lift 28 Blueprints 29 Bonanza 30 Detest 31 "The Highwayman" poet 34 Closes a 5 6 p Ts [9 ■■'hTTu 12 13 _ is 19 BK £|| 26 27 ■■2 B 29 30 31 32 lUßTrpi t -- jgi; -l 1 1 111 1 I! l 1 Tuesday, April 9, 2002 protected by the First Amendment.” Pat Mullin, associate university librar ian for access services at UNC, said the CIPA does not legally require the University to filter information and therefore it does not do so. Mullin also said he thinks filters are basically ineffective, as is the CIPA “Particularly in an adult reading area, filters are not appropriate,” he said. “They block some things and let others through." Muffin said the University’s best defense against all kinds of Internet abuse is to provide information for both faculty and students. “We need to provide education in terms of the consequences of inappro priate use and plagiarism,” he said. “Filters are unnecessary. That’s why there are librarians.” The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu. (C)2002 Tribune Media Services, Inc All rights reserved 53 Army post 55 GM make, for short 56 Spinning toy on a string 58 Actress Charlotte 59 Get-up-and-go 40 Frightened 41 Church book 42 Fetter 43 Sault Marie 45 Brit's indignant comment 47 Biblical boat 49 Tries to outrun 50 Nanking nanny 51 Sleeper spy 52 Hebrew weight 5
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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April 9, 2002, edition 1
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