Students' views mixed on proposal to ban sites

Youtube, Facebook and MySpace are three social sites that are visited by thousands of people everyday, many of them students.

These three sites, however, may soon be blocked to students if the Student Government Association approves a proposed resolution to block access to these sites on all Dean B. Ellis Library computers on the second through fifth floor for seven days prior to finals and through the seven days of finals.

Student reactions are mixed, though some students said they are in favor of the resolution.

"I think it's a good idea. During that time everybody needs to be studying. If they want to do that, they can go to their dorm," Casey Jones, a freshman pre-professional biology major of Stuttgart, said.

Jones said he does use the library computers to check those sites but only on rare occasions. He will also not be using the computers for that purpose during finals.

Jones is not alone in his assessment of the situation.

"I think it's a good idea. I was a little ticked off at first, until I read the reason behind it," Sara Graves, a mass communication graduate student of Piggott, said.

Graves said she uses the computers to check those sites on a daily basis and said she would probably use the computers for nonacademic purposes during finals if she could.

But while these students are in favor of the resolution, others are against it for a variety of reasons.

"I don't think it's a good idea because I use both Facebook and MySpace, and it doesn't take much time out of my studying," Erica Bettis, a freshman psychology major of Marion, said. Bettis said she uses the computers for that purpose on a daily basis.

Scott Gilliland, a junior history major of Memphis, said it was a bad idea because some people use social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to organize their study groups by posting meeting times and locations.

But what does the Dean B. Ellis Library staff think of this?

Dr. George C. Grant, dean of the library, said he thought there was "ample reason for restricting social network sites."

"We have already restricted some of it. If the resolution passes, we will comply with it," Grant said. "I think students use the computers for social networking too much anyway. If that's what needs to be done to make information available and to provide students with access to the computers for their academic needs during those critical times, then that's what should be done."

However, not all staff members shared Grant's view.

"I guess I can see it being a good idea, but at the same time, I don't think it's appropriate to police the online activity of students who have paid tuition to be here," Ashika Harris, a circulation supervisor, said. "As a tuition paying student, that's their decision."

Both Harris and Grant said there is a much heavier need for them during those particular weeks. Harris also said the library's printer activity almost tripled during finals and midterms.

Currently there are approximately 30 computers available for use on the Dean B. Ellis Library's second floor, and Grant said they plan to add eight more computers due to rising demand for computer usage.

SGA Chief of Staff John-Scott Caroll, who presented the resolution Oct. 28 along with Senior Sen. Ikemba Balogu, said the resolution was produced at the request of students. He said the reasoning behind it was several people had attempted to use the computers for research and found no computers available, with the majority of the users surfing social networking sites rather than working on academic projects.

Other campuses have instituted policies similar to this one, Caroll said.

If approved, it would begin this semester and would still allow access to the sites on first floor library computers.

SGA will vote on the proposed resolution Tuesday. Kyle Fulton, SGA public relations director, said if approved by SGA, the resolution would also have to be approved by university officials and Information and Technology Services.