continued from page 6.

- from current events in Bosnia to several on Star Trek, JFK conspiracies to current Canadian politics, Ren and Stimpy to Molecular Biology, from various religions to Elvis sightings. There is also a UPEl user group newsgroup that is being read by some people.

To access newsgroups on campus, type “News” at the DOS prompt from a computer that has Internet access. Other Services: There are other services that | haven’t really ever tried and therefore do not feel qualified to explain them. Some of these include the Wide Area Information Server (WAIS) and the World Wide Web

(CUP)

THE MCGILL UNIVERSITY MUSIC department has traded partial control of its curriculum in return for equipment from a major corporation. McGill struck a deal with Sony Classical Productions that guarantees Sony representation on the curriculum committee of the Faculty of Music. In exchange, McGill got $250,000 worth of high-end audio equipment on ndefinite loan and a guarantee that wo graduates would be hired each ear as interns by the corporation. Calling the agreement an nprecedented violation of academic reedom, McGill's senate voted Jan.19 0 condemn any deal which grants a rofit-making corporation a say in the thool curriculum. While the greement with Sony has been in effect nce June 1992, it was a secret to most Enators until last week. It is unclear Ow the senate’s motion will affect the preement. a Instead of including a Sony Fpresentative per se on the curriculum Pmmittee, the Faculty of Music has 'ed an employee of Sony as an adjunct rofessor in the department. Christian Cnstantinov, the vice-president of tio operations for Sony Classical oductions Inc. in New York City, Pw teaches three days a month in the ‘duate faculty of music at McGill. 's gives him a vote on the curriculum Mmittee.

As an adjunct professor who also

Sony trades “

(WWW), both of which allow users to access actual documents on many topics. Other services include “Archie” and “Veronica.” These allow users to conduct Internet-wide searches for particular files or data. Yet another service is Telnet, which allows users to connect directly to host computers without using any other service. Telnet is especially useful for connecting to Libraries.

Accessing the Internet: On Campus: Currently, the only place that students can access the Internet is in the data labs “A” and “B” in Computer Services in the Vet College. Plans are currently to expand access to include the

has another job, Constantinov is not unique in the University. But even adjunct professors who work outside the university are hired as individuals, and not as representatives of corporations.

On behalf of Sony, Constantinov negotiated an agreement that said the university would “appoint a designated member of Sony to be avoting member of the university’s committee for creating and/or approving the curriculum of the university regarding music and sound recording.”

Michael Temelini, post-graduate representative to the university's Board of Governors, said he finds the agreement “completely shocking”.

“Whether Constantinov is eminently qualified or not is not the issue,” Temelini said. “The fact is that they hired this guy totally without regard for regular hiring procedure.”

Sam Noumoff, a senator and political science professor, said the agreement signals a change in the relationship between businesses and schools.

“Increasingly, companies and private foundations are now insisting upon a direct role in the management of monies that they make available,” he said.

Nuomoff said that what Sony gets is essentially a cheap training camp for employees. Considering the high cost of teachers’ salaries and facilities at

computer lab in Room 102 in the Robertson Library and the computers by the stairs in the Library. Information on how exactly to do this should be available via the information gopher under computer services.

Off Campus: A few weeks ago a new service started in PEI. PEINet, as it is known, allows people with a computer and modem to connect to the Internet from anywhere on PEI (including my basement) for a fee. All the above services areavailable, and despite recent problems with the modems on their ends which sometimes result in really bad connections and an inability to

gift” for control over

McGill, even very pricey audio equipment seems like an incidental expense in comparison.

“The public purse is paying for their training,” Noumoff said.

The two graduates Sony has hired as interns last year have since been given permanent jobs in the company.

Since Sony has input at the teaching level in the graduate program in sound recording, they can ensure that McGill grads are well-trained in the types of skills Sony doesn’t want to have to pay to teach for themselves, Noumoff said.

While the high-tech recording equipment may have been a bargaining chip on Sony's part, it was exactly what the music faculty needed.

Raymond Luk, a second-year music student at McGill, said that most students in the department know about the new equipment from Sony. “The general consensus is that it is really a good thing,” he said.

“This is some very, very special equipment,” said Professor Bruce Pennycock. “There are only a few of these machines in the world.”

Pennycock teaches computer application in music at McGill.

Having the Sony equipment has enabled the music department's special graduate program in sound recording to come into the nineties, said John Grew, Dean of Music.

“It's a huge amount of money,” Grew said of the Sony contribution.

| x.press february first 1994 page 7

download files all the way to a users computer, this service. seems really promising

The Internet is vast and it can also be quite confusing. Take time to explore it if you can. Whether you want to know what the latest research in a particular science is showing, what people are saying about last week’s episode of Star Trek, or (just to pick an example at random) why UPEI really should not waste its time with football, you can probably find some relevant information or talk to someone with an opinion.

curriculum

“My capital equipment budget for the entire Faculty of Music is half of that.”

Private funding for the program is not all that unusual, Grew said. Over 75 per cent of the faculty's money comes from sources outside the university.

But the question in this case is not the source of the funding, but what the corporation gets in return, said Noumoff.

“Let Sony or anybody else make a donation to the music school,” Noumoff said. When you give them a position on the faculty in exchange, however, ‘“‘you inevitably bend academic decisions to conform to the donor’s will.”

The apparent secrecy of the deal has raised some eyebrows on campus.

“There are some serious deals that have been made here,” said Board of Governors member Temelini. “If this sets a precedent, then it absolutely should have gone to the Board or to the Senate.”

McGill Secretary General David Bourke said that he would normally go to the Board of Governors for approval of a deal between a department and a private company, but in this case “there was no money changing hands so it was unnecessary.”

Temelini said he wonders how many other similar agreements the university has signed independent of the Board of Governors or Senate.