Re: [PLUG] Drexel's Windows requirements

["Christopher M. Jones" <cjones@partialflow.com>]

Yea, I get it. 

Admitted:
1. I read the statement and I agreed, but I did not take it seriously. 
2. I made an erroneous assumption about what the statement meant,
because I didn't take it seriously.
3. I don't blame my professor, and I agree that it is my responsibility
to live up to the TOS, whether I understood them / took them seriously
or not.

No problems there. I'll fire up my VM, if I have to. 

But I was surprised at the requirement. Drexel is a leader in it's
field. It does great things, and it advocates great things. As an MLIS
student, I'm proud that its Drexel people who started the Internet
Public Library, for example. I care about technology, I think everyone
should have access to it, and I think Drexel university should be clued
in enough to be a bit more progressive in this very prominent respect. 

So I'm not angry at anyone for enforcing the clearly stated TOS to which
I agreed. I'm upset that BB seems to be so obviously defective, upset
that Drexel, and every other U that uses BB seems to accept it, and I'm
disappointed that Drexel can't or won't bother figuring out how to
deploy more inclusive technologies.

But all this assumes that I'm sane and the problem isn't that I just
can't figure out how to submit my assignments properly.

On Thu, 2008-06-05 at 13:07 -0400, Michael Leone wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 5, 2008 at 12:22 PM, Christopher M. Jones
> <cjones@partialflow.com> wrote:
> 
> > But now my professor has written me a very scathing note informing me
> > that none of my assignments will be graded unless I submit them
> > "properly", and she quoted me chapter and verse of the "Computer
> > Requirements" specification:
> >
> > http://www.ischool.drexel.edu/PS/GraduatePrograms/MSIS/ComputerRequirements/
> >
> > Now, I read this when I signed up at Drexel, but I've always interpreted
> > "not supported" as 'we're not going to help you with it.' But in this
> > case it seems that "not supported" means 'required to run Windows.'
> 
> "Not Supported" = You can use it, but it if causes us any problems (as
> in: makes us accept your work via email, or yanking them out of a
> comment box, or in any other way that makes us to perform work
> specifically for you, because of your choice of OS), then we won't
> help you at ALL. Period. End of Statement. Next!
> 
> > This doesn't seem right to me
> 
> Look at it from the point of view of the University - you agreed to
> the conditions (including having a Windows PC available as a backup,
> in case of problems).  You are admittedly *NOT* in compliance with the
> requirements:
> 
> Computers without a MS Windows operating system are not supported by
> the iSchool, and students must have access to a Windows PC as a
> backup.
> 
> Note *MUST* have access to a Windows PC as a backup.
> 
> > I'm angry at the moment, and I feel like writing someone a nasty note,
> > organizing petitions and protests, etc. Of course I won't, because I
> > don't know who to write and I doubt anyone would listen.
> 
> Will you get a massive enough student protest because you won't use
> WIndows, enough to force the University to change their rules?
> 
> > Comments? Advice?
> 
> Submit your assignments from from a friend's Windows laptop, if you
> won't or can't run Windows (perhaps in a VM) on your own laptop?
> 
> That would be easist, especially since others have posted that not
> every professor is so strict about enforcing compliance. When the
> course is over, this issue will go away for you, right?
> 
> And yes, this sucks, and Drexel shouldn't be so draconian (heh) about it.

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