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Harvard University Debates the Distribution Of Class Notes On WebSomeone, apparently one of his students, had paraphrased McNally's lectures and sold them to Versity.com, an online "knowledge center" that collects lecture notes from colleges across the country, then publishes them on the World Wide Web. "It's news to me," McNally says. McNally says he had heard of services like Versity, but didn't know his own course, Psychology 1, "Introduction to Psychology," was online. "I'm not pleased." Versity pays students for their notes on 24 Harvard classes, in spite of a long-standing Harvard ban on the sale of lecture notes. For their risk, the note-takers receive about $8 per lecture. According to Freshman Dean Elizabeth Studley Nathans, selling notes is a serious offense and could mean disciplinary action and a meeting with the Administrative Board. "Any Harvard student who is employed by or who uses the services of Versity.com or any similar organization, is in violation of College rules regarding the integrity of academic work," Nathans says. Charles Berman, chief executive officer of Versity, says college administrators have misconstrued the company's mission. "I think that Versity is dramatically misunderstood. We are focused on being a learning center," not a path-of-least-resistance for students too lazy to wake up for lectures, Berman says. "But if it's used properly, we can create a great product. And that's clearly what we're trying to do." As of Wednesday, Versity had set up Web sites for two dozen Harvard classes ‹ mostly Core classes and popular large lectures‹but only 14 of the sites include synopses of lectures. Versity is recruiting note-takers for another 70 or so more. According to their Web site, Versity covers 3,500 classes on 88 campuses. They do not charge money to view the notes, but they do require that users register for a username and password. |
Family Of Rape Victim Sue Yale UniversityIn court papers, the family's attorney alleged that the University knew or should have known the geology professor "had the propensity and profile of a pedophile." The New Haven boy, unidentified because of his age, and his mother filed suit Sept. 24 in Connecticut Superior Court seeking unspecified damages in excess of $15,000 from the three defendants. In Connecticut, plaintiffs need not request a specific dollar amount in damages. Lasaga has previously been indicted on state charges of sexually assaulting the boy and on federal charges of downloading child pornography from the Internet and storing it. He is awaiting trial on all charges. The civil lawsuit alleges that the boy suffered psychological injury and trauma as a result of Lasaga's reported actions. "There are photos of my young client floating around cyberspace, and you'll never get those back," said Frederick J. Trotta Sr., the attorney for the boy and his mother, who were identified in the suit as John and Jane Doe. The lawsuit also charges that some of the assaults occurred on Yale property and that images of the assault were transmitted and stored using University computer equipment. Trotta said Thursday that the University had the capability to monitor Lasaga's use of Yale facilities and equipment and was negligent in not alerting authorities to Lasaga's actions earlier. The suit charges that the University should have known that Lasaga, misidentified in the complaint as "Victor Lasaga," had a "propensity" toward pedophilia and that he used "his position as a mentor to cultivate his perversion." The University has not yet filed a legal response to the suit, although one should be forthcoming, spokesman Tom Conroy said. A response is due by Nov. 19. Conroy said it would be premature to elaborate on the school's response to the lawsuit at this point. Officials in the general counsel's office would not discuss the case. |
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