The Omnibus

Issue date: 4/22/04 Section: News

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With the rising popularity of the Internet and all its opportunities for research and communication, one glaring negative has surfaced: Internet pornography. To combat the growth of Internet pornography on the Southwest Baptist University campus, the SBU Department of Information Technology activated a content filter for all network computers in February.

The SBU Administration was alerted to the mounting problem by both campus counselors and the University Technology Council, a representative group of students, faculty and staff who oversee technology usage on the SBU campus. University officials began discussing possible Internet filters three years ago, but at the time, the technology in that area was not as dependable as today.

"Internet pornography has been a problem since we got the Internet in the early '90s," Dr. Bob McGlasson, Vice President of Information and Technology Services, said. "We can see the Web sites people go to and it was pretty evident we had traffic to these sites."

SBU President Dr. C. Pat Taylor asked the UTC to look into purchasing a filtering tool. McGlasson and his staff made a decision to purchase a popular content filter that rates individual sites and includes 68 different categories to block. These categories include nudism, drugs, violence and hate crimes; however, the Information Technology Department chose to block only two categories of Web sites: those classified as pornography or gambling.

The decision to filter sites dealing with gambling came about because McGlasson and others had noticed a high volume of traffic to Internet gaming and betting sites.

When McGlasson activated the filter, as students were returning for the 2004 spring semester, he and his staff monitored the sites being viewed without blocking them. In just half a day, McGlasson, looking at the long list of objectionable sites being viewed, realized the University had a problem.

"We felt, as a Christian higher education institution, we owed it to our students, faculty, parents and trustees to provide clean Internet access," McGlasson said.

While McGlasson worked on the pornography problem from the technological side, Associate Professor of Psychology and licensed counselor Bill Walkup was dealing with pornography users routinely. As the only male counselor for the Bolivar campus, Walkup often saw male students who were struggling with pornography addictions.

Walkup has faced the pornography problem since coming to SBU 10 years ago. In that time he conducted a study that revealed a majority of males on campus had struggled with pornography at some point in their life. The study further uncovered some disturbing trends to Walkup: a number of students had seen pornography for the first time while at SBU and some students had come across pornographic materials on accident. Walkup presented his findings to the Administration.

"I think, at first, the Administration did not understand how deep the problem was," Walkup said. "When they did, they dealt with it."

Walkup feels the filter presents an interesting dichotomy. The side winning out previously believed the filter to be unnecessary because everyone on campus is an adult and people were worried about blocking legitimate research topics such as that on breast cancer or human sexuality. Walkup, however, has seen the pain and damage caused by pornography firsthand. In his time at SBU, Walkup has seen computer science majors who have had to get rid of their room computers and do all work in the SBU computer labs because of pornography addiction.

"My concern is that getting pornography was so easy and that the temptation level was too high," Walkup said. "It was like putting Playboy or Penthouse in the corner of a dorm room and saying 'men, don't touch this.'"

The content filter, however, has come to the attention of many students because it occasionally blocks unobjectionable sites such as hotmail, xanga or even the Omnibus Online. Both McGlasson and Walkup told the Omnibus that the filter is not without fault. According to McGlasson, the filter SBU chose is flexible and allows his staff to go in and unblock certain URLs that were inadvertently blocked.

McGlasson related a story of a professor who, after the Janet Jackson Super Bowl incident, attempted to access the fcc.gov Web site to obtain the ruling on the matter. The filter blocked the site. Information technology staff members then went in and unblocked the site.

By summer, McGlasson hopes to have an on-screen Web form in place that will appear alongside the message stating a site has been blocked. This form, once filled out by the individual who believes they are being unfairly blocked, will be sent directly to Computer Services who will check to make sure the site is not actually pornography or gambling related. If the site is not objectionable, Computer Services will lift the block on that particular site. Also, to allow for any research sites that may be blocked, the six computers in the front of the SBU library, known as the OIC, will be filter free by summer.

"We wanted to get a tool in place," McGlasson said. "We're not interested in super-serious monitoring that would block the casual looker. We aren't trying to play Big Brother, we just wanted to provide a basic service."

Student reaction to the filter has been mostly positive when expressed to McGlasson and Walkup. However, some students grumble about being blocked from legitimate sites.

"Most students have said 'if it will help my brother, it is worth it, but why are they blocking some of these sites?'" Walkup said. "I'm not exactly sure why some sites are being blocked... To me it's a worthwhile annoyance."

On the whole, students seem to appreciate the efforts made to limit pornography consumption on campus.

"I am thankful for the filter," a student who spoke to the Omnibus on the condition of anonymity said. "I have seen a big difference in my life and the lives of many of my friends."

Walkup has had two students who told him that as soon as the filter went up there were moans and groans throughout their halls. According to Walkup, this is good because students are not accessing pornography, but is bad because the students may not be ready to give up the addiction.

"I am hearing from students that it is helping," Walkup said. "Will it cure everything? No. Can students still find pornography? Yes. Are we lowering temptation? Yes."

McGlasson says the UTC discussed first amendment rights at length while deliberating on the issue of obtaining a filter. In the end the council decided "we're not keeping you from doing it," McGlasson said. "We're keeping you from doing it on our nickel."

Both McGlasson and Walkup emphasize that a lengthy, three to four-year process was required and necessary before implementing the content filter.

"This was a several-year process," Walkup said. "I consider that a good thing... This was not a knee-jerk reaction."

SBU has a one-year contract with the company providing the current filter. McGlasson says the University will evaluate the product before deciding whether to retain the current filter or look for a more effective one.

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