11.4) Issues arising from the use of personal computers at King Hall.
Description
This article is from the King Hall Law School FAQ, by David F. Prenatt, Jr. NetEsq@dcn.davis.ca.us with numerous contributions by others.
11.4) Issues arising from the use of personal computers at King Hall.
The recent dramatic increase in the use of personal computers at King
Hall has given rise to some novel issues. For example, you will
probably notice a number of your classmates use laptop computers in
class. This prompted the law school administration to post
"unofficial guidelines" for computer etiquette. Similarly, Cecilia
Wong, King Hall Class of 1997, asked LSA to impose a "30 minute
courtesy time limit" for the computers in the LEXIS/Westlaw room so
that people could check their e-mail without being inconvenienced by
the people who monoplize these computers.
IMHO, these measures were (at best) misguided attempts to enforce
the personal values of a few uninformed individuals upon the entire
law school community. Accordingly, I complained to the powers that be
at King Hall when the guidelines for computer etiquette were posted on
the dayboard. Similarly, I was present on other business at the LSA
meeting where the "courtesy time limit" was proposed; when asked my
opinion, I spoke out against it. In both cases, I was ignored.
As there was no official enforcement of these measures during my
tenure as a law student, I ignored them (which seemed like an
appropriate quid pro quo), and I recommend that you do the same. If
someone has a legitimate gripe arising from a breach of etiquette,
there is no reason why it cannot be resolved privately. Someone who
types on a laptop in class is no more offensive than someone who wears
too much perfume. The offended party can either speak up or move to
another seat. Similarly, if a person wants to check his or her e-mail
when all of the computer terminals are occupied in the LEXIS/Westlaw
room, that person can simply ask for permission from someone who is
already seated or wait his or her turn.
People can check their e-mail at hundreds of locations on the
U.C. Davis campus, some as close as the basement computer room at King
Hall. And in comparison to most other computer applications, e-mail
is nothing more than a frivolous use of computer resources. I'm sure
that some people would like to issue a sidearm, tire chalk, and a
citation book to Computer Specialist Steve Langford so that he can
enforce the tyrrany of a few uninformed student leaders. However,
Steve probably has more important things to do; I know that LSA does.
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