Because the benefit in question doesn't have diddly to do with the mission of the university.
Avoid direct and indirect lawsuits by offering a free and legal alternative to piracy, and thereby helping students afford to continue their education has everything to do with the mission of the university.
If they plan to improve the environment on campus they have to do that for EVERYONE, not just the people that fit a certain status quo.
So if they want to add a wing to the computer science building, they must also add one to the communications building, the business building, etc., because just adding that one building only benefits the computer science students, not EVERYONE.
Your argument is flawed, horribly.
Why should a mac or linux user have to pay extra for something they can't utilize simply because they have the "wrong" OS.
Everyone pays a price to attend the university. Each person utilizes different resources. Not everyone uses the same resources. Your argument is the equivalent of saying *MY* tuition shouldn't help pay for the university's swimming pool because *I* don't swim. How obnoxiously self-centered.
Music is very distracting, for some it isn't so. Yearbook is what we would call having pride in our school Which is a good thing.
There are studies that show that music enhances concentration. And yearbook is a much, much larger time drain and distraction than music ever will be -- work on a yearbook committee sometime and you'll know that I'm telling the truth.
I do not want a service to be appended to a fee that is ment to keep the computers updated/administered.
It's an information technology fee. It doesn't say "fee meant for keeping computers updated and administered." Whoever is in charge of that budget decides what it is for, not you.
Oh lets append to a fee so our students won't do something illegal. Wait thats assuming that someone is going to do something wrong.. Wait thats a bad assumtion. To go ahead and add a fee, a fee that isn't even education centralised is idiotic.
If a student gets sued / jailed for copyright violation, they lose that student's tuition, and that student can't be educated.
You can pretend to be naive all you want, but you know as well as I do that most students with computers and high-bandwidth connections on campus are pirating songs and movies. And if it helps the school avoid lawsuits directly or indirectly, it's a wise investment. And hey, the kids get something they can use.
You know, antivirus software isn't geared towards education either, but it's included in that IT fee. Should they not have antivirus software?
Now I will admit that maybe I shouldn't of said I can be distracted easily in the way I said it, but that gives you no right to then insult me and my intelligence. You looked to far into that one. Made too many assumtions.. Now I am done with you..
I was just addressing the post in the way I felt was appropriate. Sorry for the flames.
Yeah, dude, it's total bullshit. So next time you go over the credit minimum for your tuition, I expect you to pay the overage at the regular credit hour rate. That's right, YOU'RE HARDCORE!
My point is: if you're going to bitch about something, bitch about something that actually costs you money. Like PSU football, that costs PA taxpayers way more than Napster ever will.
I get distracted easily. I don't want to have to pay for something that is potentialy going to distract me.
OK, so you think schools shouldn't have any activities outside of class? Get rid of the student newspaper, the yearbook, and the college radio station! We don't want headbulb getting distracted! He might stop studying if he finds something else to do!
Now what else does this fee include?
IT fee? Sounds like it would go towards running the computer labs and the computer network to me. Unless you're so paranoid that you actually think all $160 of that is going to Napster, in which case you don't deserve to go to college in the first place.
The way I would like to see it setup is for the school to make a deal that would make the music cheaper but without having the school shell out anymore money.
PSU is doing this so the students can do it and not get in trouble. The reason people pirate music is because it's free and because they can. If PSU gives them an alternative that they cannot opt-out of, they will use that rather than break the law. What is so bad about that?
Besides, obviously, singling you out and distracting you from your classes?
What is the point of this drivel? Seriously, where do you think the VAST MAJORITY of money goes at Penn State, or any other college for that matter?
EDUCATION. It's the reason they're in business. There's lots of educating going on. Lots of research.
By the way, not every student there needs Nittany Lions football, and the amount of money PSU spends on that compared to Napster is insane. So if you're going to complain about priorities, talk about the football team, this Napster thing is a drop in the bucket.
Yeah, the taxpayers also help pay for Nittany Lions football (which not everyone watches), concerts at the stadium (which not everyone attends), etc. etc.
Tax money goes to pay for stuff. That's how it works. Not everyone benefits from every single tax expenditure. GET OVER IT.
"There will be no additional costs to students for this service," Spanier said, adding the program will be funded under a $160 information technology fee paid by students each semester that Penn State already had in place.
They are paying an IT fee. The school decides how that is divvied up, not the students. Part of it is going to Napster. What's the big deal?
Some of the students' money goes to paying the salary of a professor that will never teach them, too. Some science students pay lab fees, but might not be taking lab classes that semester.
Lots of your tuition money goes to pay for lots of things that you never use or that will never benefit you. This is no different, and it's nothing to whine about.
Slashdot Mirror
Because the benefit in question doesn't have diddly to do with the mission of the university.
Avoid direct and indirect lawsuits by offering a free and legal alternative to piracy, and thereby helping students afford to continue their education has everything to do with the mission of the university.
If they plan to improve the environment on campus they have to do that for EVERYONE, not just the people that fit a certain status quo.
So if they want to add a wing to the computer science building, they must also add one to the communications building, the business building, etc., because just adding that one building only benefits the computer science students, not EVERYONE.
Your argument is flawed, horribly.
Why should a mac or linux user have to pay extra for something they can't utilize simply because they have the "wrong" OS.
Everyone pays a price to attend the university. Each person utilizes different resources. Not everyone uses the same resources. Your argument is the equivalent of saying *MY* tuition shouldn't help pay for the university's swimming pool because *I* don't swim. How obnoxiously self-centered.
It could also help fund the research that makes things like the Internet and cures for diseases possible.
Universities are where these things happen.
Things that benefit society are infinitely more important than giving students a refund.
Why shouldn't they spend that money on things that benefit the school? It's not the students' money anymore.
Seriously, you are making no sense.
If you are going to protest something that benefits the vast majority of students and doesn't harm you at all, please consider your need to shut up.
Nothing necessarily has to be cut. They could have a budget surplus, you know.
Music is very distracting, for some it isn't so. Yearbook is what we would call having pride in our school Which is a good thing.
There are studies that show that music enhances concentration. And yearbook is a much, much larger time drain and distraction than music ever will be -- work on a yearbook committee sometime and you'll know that I'm telling the truth.
I do not want a service to be appended to a fee that is ment to keep the computers updated/administered.
It's an information technology fee. It doesn't say "fee meant for keeping computers updated and administered." Whoever is in charge of that budget decides what it is for, not you.
Oh lets append to a fee so our students won't do something illegal. Wait thats assuming that someone is going to do something wrong.. Wait thats a bad assumtion. To go ahead and add a fee, a fee that isn't even education centralised is idiotic.
If a student gets sued / jailed for copyright violation, they lose that student's tuition, and that student can't be educated.
You can pretend to be naive all you want, but you know as well as I do that most students with computers and high-bandwidth connections on campus are pirating songs and movies. And if it helps the school avoid lawsuits directly or indirectly, it's a wise investment. And hey, the kids get something they can use.
You know, antivirus software isn't geared towards education either, but it's included in that IT fee. Should they not have antivirus software?
Now I will admit that maybe I shouldn't of said I can be distracted easily in the way I said it, but that gives you no right to then insult me and my intelligence. You looked to far into that one. Made too many assumtions.. Now I am done with you..
I was just addressing the post in the way I felt was appropriate. Sorry for the flames.
Yeah, dude, it's total bullshit. So next time you go over the credit minimum for your tuition, I expect you to pay the overage at the regular credit hour rate. That's right, YOU'RE HARDCORE!
You're absolutely right.
PSU would never do something like this to give their students a legal alternative to piracy and avoid lawsuits.
It's always about Microsoft.
Linux is my lord and savior.
Baaaaa!
Then you shouldn't be bitching at all.
Why should you pay them for the president of the university's Mercedes when you never get to drive it?
My point is: if you're going to bitch about something, bitch about something that actually costs you money. Like PSU football, that costs PA taxpayers way more than Napster ever will.
Yeah, sue the school for spending their own money! You will win!
If the fee is going up $160 per student to pay for this, they're being ripped off.
READ THE FUCKING ARTICLE. The fee hasn't changed. Your stupidity is the stuff of legend.
I get distracted easily. I don't want to have to pay for something that is potentialy going to distract me.
OK, so you think schools shouldn't have any activities outside of class? Get rid of the student newspaper, the yearbook, and the college radio station! We don't want headbulb getting distracted! He might stop studying if he finds something else to do!
Now what else does this fee include?
IT fee? Sounds like it would go towards running the computer labs and the computer network to me. Unless you're so paranoid that you actually think all $160 of that is going to Napster, in which case you don't deserve to go to college in the first place.
The way I would like to see it setup is for the school to make a deal that would make the music cheaper but without having the school shell out anymore money.
PSU is doing this so the students can do it and not get in trouble. The reason people pirate music is because it's free and because they can. If PSU gives them an alternative that they cannot opt-out of, they will use that rather than break the law. What is so bad about that?
Besides, obviously, singling you out and distracting you from your classes?
What is the point of this drivel? Seriously, where do you think the VAST MAJORITY of money goes at Penn State, or any other college for that matter?
EDUCATION. It's the reason they're in business. There's lots of educating going on. Lots of research.
By the way, not every student there needs Nittany Lions football, and the amount of money PSU spends on that compared to Napster is insane. So if you're going to complain about priorities, talk about the football team, this Napster thing is a drop in the bucket.
Yeah, the taxpayers also help pay for Nittany Lions football (which not everyone watches), concerts at the stadium (which not everyone attends), etc. etc.
Tax money goes to pay for stuff. That's how it works. Not everyone benefits from every single tax expenditure. GET OVER IT.
A better question is: Why should Penn State not do something that benefits 95+% of their student body just because they can't offer it to another 5%?
Read the article:
"There will be no additional costs to students for this service," Spanier said, adding the program will be funded under a $160 information technology fee paid by students each semester that Penn State already had in place.
They are paying an IT fee. The school decides how that is divvied up, not the students. Part of it is going to Napster. What's the big deal?
Some of the students' money goes to paying the salary of a professor that will never teach them, too. Some science students pay lab fees, but might not be taking lab classes that semester.
Lots of your tuition money goes to pay for lots of things that you never use or that will never benefit you. This is no different, and it's nothing to whine about.
Pristine quality == lossless compression == too much bandwidth.
I don't know if enough people care about the quality to keep buying CD's, but I know at least I do.
My favorite line in that article: "A period of relative calm is now expected on the solar surface. But another round is possible."
Reads as: We have no fucking idea what's going on.
My guess would be... TERRORISM.
Recorded history.
What if you forgot your fob?
You could just buy a CD...