2
THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 2004
Software hunts
illegal sharing
BY AMY THOMSON
STAFF WRITER
The popular practice of file
sharing on college campuses cou
pled with the recording industry’s
increasing pursuit of copyright vio
lators has pushed some campuses
to take the file-sharing issue into
their own hands.
The University of Florida has
employed the most aggressive tac
tic so far in the war against file
sharing with its tracking program
known as ICARUS.
ICARUS, an acronym for
Integrated Control Application for
Restricting User Services, is
designed to scan the university
network looking for certain types
of computer activity.
If a student is sharing illegal files
for more than 20 minutes, ICARUS
will pull him off the network. On
the first offense, the student is cut
off for a half-hour. The punish
ments escalate until the student
loses all his network privileges.
The implementation of pro
grams such as this allows adminis
trators to view all user activity on
the network. “Basically anything
you do when you’re using a UFI.
account is available for the univer
sity to look at,” said Kyle Jones,
UFI. student body president.
But the software isn’t stopping
students from sharing files.
According to an article in the
Chronicle of Higher Education, stu
dents at the university discovered
ways to modify file-sharing pro
grams such as Kazaa that prevent
ed downloads from being detected.
When the university’s program
mers updated the ICARUS pro
gram to detect the modified file
swapping software, students began
sharing files through AOL Instant
Messenger.
While many students have
raised an outcry against the soft
ware, which they call invasive,
administrators claim the program
will protect students from lawsuits
by the recording industry and will
keep the network from becoming
clogged with downloaders.
Sirring T/kmcw tow/
Benefiting the NC Children's Hospital no
Hosted by celebrity stylist
Carla Blizzard who has outfitted
Charlize Theron, Jennifer Aniston &r Cameron Diaz
Sunday, April 18th • 2:oopm &4:oopm
Tickets: $lO
Door Prize: One Year Supply of Klrastase
SPACES LIMITED
Call 942-9000 to reserve seats
At Caju Salon &• Apothecary
Meadowmont Village, Chapel Hill
Sponsored by: Caju. Fleur. Monkee's. SOHO Shoes. Uniquities.
General Alumni Association
.SSSg
p *3yeroftfl r C, ,9s 4; '* ln nina ia n the of TftT/ Star
made th?& '985 "'omen's'? 9 ' us ?? a y
up- *s? i|
nflilPT a,"?™ '" ,S7 ‘>. u.?- o*"'°' 0 *"'°' mev r '96
nil ii I
IIUII I
■■ICO “"<£*, * 0 ,„y "'“"'C,
MISS
OUTin
W ■ ■ ■ ■ \*?2Z^V7B*S£}
Graduating Seniors:
Join the GAA today
as an alumni member ■sSs
for HALF-PRICE, $17.50. ii£S~9?SS
Anril 1■? Jr &^mU 11 .'-. ’ 9 i7?>> **
Mprll I 3 197> . S ? 9. ’956 Cfo ftm Gn'n, 994 ' North
10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Polk Place
WJU/&9
ak vi 0 " r 8om. *!*!. Cha "ce/ to 7‘ f • m**£2f*ww ,„
X;
•vs'® £oV ir
General Alumni Association
According to UFI. Provost
David Colburn, the peer-to-peer
sharing took up enormous
amounts of bandwidth and pre
vented students from using the
network for legitimate purposes.
“(ICARUS was implemented) so
the university can do its business
and the students can do their busi
ness,” Colburn said.
But most universities aren’t
using such strong methods and
prefer to educate network users on
potential copyright violations.
N.C. State University only acts
against illegal file-sharing when
administrators get complaints.
“There are potential legitimate
uses for using the technology
appropriately,” said Jeff Webster,
IT Security Administration
Manager for N.C. State.
The school has gotten only one
subpoena so far and mainly deals
with cease and desist notices sent
by representatives of various music
and entertainment agencies.
UNC-Chapel Hill has a similar
policy, which doesn’t track stu
dents’ network activities.
“Every campus does something
to try to keep their networks
healthy and viable,” said Jeanne
Smythe, director for computing
policy at UNC-CH. “ICARUS is
another depth beyond that.”
The UNC-CH Res Net center is
hosting a “music day” Wednesday
from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Great
Hall. Students will be invited to try
out legal music downloading soft
ware and portable music playing
devices.
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
(Mp iaihj (Tar MM
P.O. Box 3257, Chapel Hill, NC 27515
Elyse Ashbum, Editor, 962-4086
Advertising & Business, 962-1163
News, Features, Sports, 962-0245
One copy per person; additional copies may be
purchased at The Daily Tar Heel for $.25 each.
© 2004 DTH Publishing Corp.
All rights reserved
News
Charity seeks UNC houses
Intends to create low-income housing
BY ERIN GIBSON
STAFF WRITER
Pine Knolls Community Center
hopes to obtain three houses from
University land to help house low
income families in Chapel Hill who
are losing their homes because of
increasing rent and an expensive
standard of living.
The University purchased a plot
of land at the corner of Cameron
Avenue and Merritt Mill Road
with plans to convert it into a
parking lot. Asa result, the three
houses on the land must be
removed.
Bruce Runberg, associate vice
chancellor for planning and con
struction, said die University must
first formally advertise the plan
with a request for proposals.
“We are asking for proposals
that will relocate the houses,” he
said. “Demolishing them is a sec
ond option.”
Theodore Parish, Pine Knolls
Community Center board mem
ber, said the board already has ten
tative plans for the houses.
If Pine Knolls’ proposal is cho
sen, the homes would be relocated
to the 21/2 acres of land the center
owns near, the First Baptist and
Manley Estates at the comer of
Park Road and Merritt Mill.
“We are in the business of pro
viding low-income housing,”
Parish said. “The University would
be doing something for the com
munity by letting us have them at
no cost.”
He said there is a three-story
Princeton to tackle grade inflation
BY DORA P. GONZALEZ
STAFF WRITER
Princeton University faculty will
discuss this month the possibility
of establishing a common grading
standard across the university that
would cap the number of A’s a pro
fessor can give in a class.
Grade inflation is not a contro
versial issue at UNC, administra
tors say, but some faculty and stu
dents disagree with Princeton’s
proposed system.
The Princeton proposal was
introduced by Nancy Malkiel, dean
of the undergraduate college, in a
memo to faculty.
Packing up for the summer
& leaving campus life behind?
f Don't throw K all away!!!
{Mj
Donation Stations
m/1 are located in the * *** what you can
1F ) lobby of a residence * "ease recycle
V / hall near you! • Donate your unwanted
L items (clothing & shoes,
non-perishable food,
www.fac.unc.edu/Wasteßeduction
Teh 919-962-1442 furniture and appliances)
ySTOCK
FEXCHANGE
ltems JList In!
Nanette Lepore
' Lilly Pulitzer
Chettaß
\° 0 Tessuto
BCBG
H Tracy Reese
’ Micole Miller
° -bhnson
Guinness
All Items 50% Off Retail
431 W. Franklin Street,
across from the Curolinu Brewery
919-967-4035
house that would make a great
group home for homeless adoles
cents in the area.
Parish also said the other two
houses have two and three bed
rooms that could work for two low
income families.
Pine Knolls has seven other
houses in the same area The hous
es were acquired from Durham
Public Schools in 1994 to make
way for the future Eastway
Elementary School site.
The group obtained five of the
houses for free and two for $1 each.
After fixing them up, the board
chose families to move into the
homes.
The families in the existing
houses work in the community as
firefighters, house cleaners, roofers
and child-care providers. “These
residents are real assets to our
community,” Parish said.
Volunteers do most of the work
renovating the houses and profes
sionals are brought in to do elec
trical and plumbing work. A sub
sidized mortgage, paid by the
occupants, covers most extraneous
costs.
“We work on a very low budget,”
Pine Knolls treasurer Anthony
Garchie said. “Sometimes the
money comes from our own pock
ets.”
Garchie said he hopes to get the
houses for free because Pine Knolls
is a nonprofit organization with
tight finances.
There are at least six groups,
both profit and nonprofit, that are
The April 26 meeting will focus
on the establishment of a stan
dardized grading system and the
definition of the meaning of letter
grades. Malkiel stated in the pro
posal that it is designed to bring
grade inflation under reasonable
control.
UNC Provost Robert Shelton
said that grade inflation is not a
hot topic at UNC but that it is dis
cussed in academic departments
year in and year out.
He said each department should
be responsible for how professors
grade their students whether it
be on a scale or on a curve.
St.' / ZjjgKmWßk
DTH/KATHY SHUPING
Pine Knolls Community Center hopes to obtain and relocate three
houses currently on University land to help house low-income families.
interested in removing the Chapel
Hill houses.
Runberg did not comment on
which groups have expressed
interest in the houses.
Runberg said that within a
month state officials in charge of
“Faculty have control over their
class.... The watching has to occur
among the department members,”
Shelton said.
Attached to Malkiel’s memo are
details on how the new system
would work. “With strong encour
agement of the department chairs,
we chose 35 percent A grades in
undergraduate courses and 55 per
cent A grades in independent work,”
Malkiel stated in her proposal.
But for the plan to work,
Malkiel added, it is essential that
the remaining grades not all be
bunched in the B range.
Shelton said the grading system
at UNC still depends on a student’s
performance and each depart
ment’s policies. Faculty in science
departments have no grade infla
tion; humanities department pro
fessors tend to grade on a curve.
Shelton added that some facul
m Mill Creek £
CONDOS
Great Location
Popular Student Rentals
4 & 2 Bedroom Units
Pool & Tennis Courts
Walk to Franklin/Downtown/Campus
Parking Space with Each Bedroom
www.millcreek-condos.coin
Breaking News From ...
\HknmmssMms
APARTMENTS
BRAND NEW OPTIONS
JUST ANNOUNCED!
2 bedrooms, each with private
study and private full bath
SBSO per person per month
3 bedroom with study, 2 baths
S6OO per person per month
4 bedroom, 2 baths
$520 per person
We'll match you with roommates.
You sign an individual lease.
GRAD STUDENTS
ENCOURAGED!
One quad is dedicated to grad students
and upperclassmen!
Call Cindy at 929-8020 or visit for details!
316 West Rosemary Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516
iaily (Ear MM
surplus land and University offi
cials will review the proposals and
pick the one that is most advanta
geous for the University.
Contact the City Editor
• at citydesk@unc.edu.
ty members agreed that students
have been entering the University
better prepared than students 10
years ago.
But UNC students say that hav
ing a system in which students
have to adjust to a specific grading
system is unfair.
Shelley Basinger, a sophomore
journalism major, said a students
should be given an A if he has
worked for it. “If getting too many
A’s. is. a problem, then professors
need to revise their (grading sys
tems) or how hard their exams are.”
Other students added that a sys
tem like Malkiel’s would only
increase competition among class
mates rather than motivate stu
dents to really gain knowledge on
a subject.
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.