This report is the result of a nationwide survey conducted in March 2008 of student life officers and campus safety directors to assess the impact of the April 2007 shootings at Virginia Tech on campus safety and security policy and practice. Discussion areas include: (1) Student Privacy vs. Need-to-Know; (2) Prevention, Mitigation and Recovery;…

The study of writers and writing in digital environments raises distinct and complex ethical issues for researchers. Rhetoric theory and casuistic ethics, working in tandem, provide a theoretical framework for addressing such issues. A casuistic heuristic grounded in rhetorical principles can help digital writing researchers critically…

This article interrogates the relationship between technology and law enforcement and how changing police surveillance techniques have influenced Western expectations of privacy from the mid-19th century to the present. By examining the evolution of telecommunications devices in particular, the author identifies a diffuse and publicly inclusive…

In May 2006 administrators in the Austin, Texas, Independent School District learned that Tamara Hoover, an art teacher at Austin High School, was the subject of several explicit photographs that had been posted on Flickr, a public photograph-sharing website. Purportedly these photographs were posted on Flickr by the teacher's partner without her…

This issue of "Legislative Review" takes a look at the news in higher education from March 02 to 06, 2009. This Legislative Review reports that: (1) HB 1487, a bill prohibiting expenditure of federal economic stimulus funds unless appropriated by the Legislative Assembly, was heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee Monday, March 2;…

Issues of confidentiality in educational data collection and access are examined in this paper, with attention to the treatment of confidential data. Confidentiality problems faced by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) are discussed in relation to the 1988 Hawkins-Stafford amendments, which protect the privacy rights of…

The right of publicity is based on an individual's right to be free from the appropriation of his or her name or likeness by another for the other's financial benefit. As the courts' conception of the right of publicity was exapnding, so was the development of newsworthiness as a defense for media defendants. In "Zacchini v.…

A libel suit for which the ruling hung on determination of the plaintiffs as public or private figures is described in this paper. First, the paper describes the case, in which an Oregon newspaper reported that an antique dealer and the local bank president had systematically swindled a citizen out of several hundred thousand dollars, and for…

Responding to the needs of children, particularly juvenile offenders, requires both good judgment and good information. Knowledge and awareness of a child's background and problems gives teachers, counselors, administrators, police, and other legal professionals guidance in developing proper education, programs, and counsel for the child.…

As computer databases become more publicly accessible through public networks, there is a growing need to provide effective protection for proprietary information. Without adequate assurances that their works will be protected, authors and other copyright owners may be reluctant to allow the full text of their works to be accessed through computer…

The proposed legislation--S. 2281--would amend federal laws to provide additional penalties for fraud and related activities in connection with access devices and computers. The complete text of the bill and proceedings of the hearing are included in this report. Statements and materials submitted by the following committee members and witnesses…

Since state laws prohibiting identification of rape victims were struck down in a 1975 United States Supreme Court ruling, the media have been reconsidering their traditional policy of preserving victims' anonymity. Explaining their decision to begin naming victims in rape trials, several newspapers cite the press's responsibility to provide the…

To delineate the ideas of newsworthiness and consent as they apply to journalism and private facts lawsuits (those in which plaintiffs seek to stop publication of facts about themselves), this paper covers key areas of dispute. Various sections of the paper discuss (1) the definition of newsworthiness, (2) consent as a legal defense, (3) the…

Arguing that the threat to privacy in the new technological era of information processing and transmitting via cable television is a real one, this paper proposes that the threat can be minimized through effective legislation. The paper first looks at cable television privacy concerns and examines several studies concerning privacy, then reviews…

The regulations of the New York City Board of Education which spell out an individual's right to have access to Board of Education records are given. The regulations reflect the Board of Education's attempt to meet the requirements of the New York State Freedom of Information Law of 1977. The regulations deal with the following topics: (1) the…