BY BRONWYN POWELL
WOLLONGONG — On August 31, the University of Wollongong was declared winner of Australia's University of the Year Award for 2000-2001 for "preparing graduates for the e-world". Ironically, the university is considering the introduction of internet fees for students. The final decision will be made by vice-chancellor Gerard Sutton in September.
It is proposed that students be charged fees if they download more than 450 megabytes of information from Australian web pages or 75 megabytes from overseas sites.
Student representative council education officer John Finlayson pointed out that "once the idea of a quota is established, the limit can be changed by the administration without consultation with students, with the justification that it is limiting costs."
The quota would be determined by what the administration deems necessary for academic purposes; students who exceed this arbitrary figure are supposedly using the university's internet access for their own purposes. Finlayson takes issue with this: "They are trying to limit education to what they deem as 'academic purposes'. Their definition though is limited, teaching us not to think for ourselves."
Chris Latham, a Resistance member and Wollongong University's Education Action Collective (EAC) activist, agreed but added that "universities should provide a broad, well-rounded education experience — not one limited to the syllabus of a particular course."
It will be very easy for students to reach the proposed quota. For example, 200 minutes of video footage would use up the quota right away. The Wollongong University Postgraduate Association also points out that the library and many academic departments have replaced hard copy resources with electronic resources, forcing greater dependence on e-journals, remote databases and other educational web sites.
According to the administration's proposal, students who exhaust their quota can apply to the dean of their faculty for additional megabytes without fees. The decision will be made based on whether the student used their quota for "academic purposes".
Latham told Green Left Weekly that this will mean "an increased invasion of privacy, as monitoring of students internet usage will be needed. Already, a log-in system was introduced last year to monitor the number of megabytes individual students download".
The EAC is demanding that there be no fees for internet use and no log-in system. It has organised a rally on September 6, 12.30pm, on the McKinnon Lawn. For more information contact the SRC on 4221 4202.