Ryerson watches you in the shower

Posted on 03/04/08
Written by John Mather

(The Eyeopener) - Ryerson doesn’t actively watch you shower. But if, for whatever reason, you choose to broadcast your showers live
on the Internet, the school might soon charge you under the non-academic code of conduct.

Even more modest online shenanigans — a blog post about a prof you disslike or MySpace photos of you drinking underage in residence — may soon put your academic career in jeopardy.

In fact, the school’s online Secret Police are already on the hunt for naughty students: Just before reading week,
Ryerson started the process to expel an engineer for starting a Facebook study group for an online exam. Granted, students in this group were sharing answers,
but that doesn’t mean the group’s administrator (who never posted anything) should be kicked out of school.

To make matters worse, this week the administration presented a proposal to the Senate that will enshrine the school’s ability to punish you under the non-academic
code of conduct for things you do online or off-campus. (See Page 3) What does that mean? Well, it’s like
if Singapore police arrested you for spitting on Yonge Street. Or, Scotland Yard came after you for denouncing the Queen.

It is just downright ludicrous. The school has no right, no business and no purpose investigating what students
do off-campus or online. So much for a right to privacy. Or the right not to be policed by a governent-funded public institution.

The Eyeopener urges the school to rethink this policy, and requests students to take concerns to the Senate.

I am not a poetic person, but this is probably the time to make some sort of 1984 reference.