Focuses on the economic, social, and legal aspects of copyright issues that need to be addressed by rightsholders and users in a computer networked environment. The Electronic Copyright Management System, a project that demonstrates procedures for handling copyright works, is described. Key sections of the copyright law are reviewed. (Contains six…

This article examines what risk management is, how the personnel officer can impact risk management, and personnel officer responsibilities for risk management. It is concluded that the time, effort, and commitment required of the personnel director to implement an employee risk management program is well spent to save (scarce) human and financial…

Seven qualitative issues associated with randomization that have the potential to weaken or destroy otherwise sound experimental designs are reviewed and illustrated via actual field experiments. Issue areas include ethics and legality, liability risks, manipulation of randomized outcomes, hidden bias, design intrusiveness, case flow, and…

Discussion of hate speech on college campuses focuses on whether the concept of hate speech encompasses expression deserving full First Amendment protection and thus virtual immunity from college regulation. It is argued that the Supreme Court could sustain some form of hate-speech policy on campus based on precedent elsewhere. (MSE)

Because of the influx of immigrants, colleges and universities are increasingly burdened with policy and administrative issues concerning employment of foreign nationals. University attorneys must develop a basic understanding of institutional responsibilities and liabilities in employment of aliens, including employment of students, faculty, and…

Describes how and why enemies are created in pursuit of school security. Shows how administrators, with the judicial system's assistance, have applied that process to certain types of students to justify school officials' increasingly intrusive searches for a wide range of infractions. Suggests alternative approaches. (25 references) (MLH)

Discusses disciplinary actions against the principal of a small, suburban elementary school in Westchester County, New York, from several vantage points: the legal story, the whole-language story, the leadership story, and the school in the community story. Discusses the struggle of public schools both to constitute and to relate to the policies…

Argues that First Amendment rights are not possible without the grant of public access to information provided by the doctrine of fair use. Notes that, with digitalization and electronic transfer, many corporate intellectual-property lawyers are pressuring for tightening public access. Argues that educators must understand that the existence of…

Examines existing copyright law, the ambiguous case law concerning copyrightable material and educators; university policies toward patent and copyright law; and the changing nature of educational institutions in the 1990s. Considers the question of who "owns" an online composition course. Outlines issues that composition instructors need to…

Argues that, by approaching conventions of citation and prohibitions against plagiarism in the classroom from the perspective of copyright issues, students can come to a greater understanding of the nature of scholarship. Makes recommendations for teaching students about the issues involved, and suggests ways that authors, teachers, and…

Examines three cases of same-sex sexual harassment claims recognized by the courts under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including both heterosexual and homosexual incidents involving men and women. Focus is on common threads in the three cases, arguments of the traditional courts, and college and university management of same-sex…

Finds that most journalism and mass communication programs integrate legal and ethical issues surrounding cyberspace and interactive media into existing courses, especially into ethics and communication law courses, but also into introductory survey courses, communication technology, and reporting classes. Details reasons why some programs do not…

A 1998 court decision ruled that a recent Virginia law requiring official approval for state employees to put materials with "sexually explicit content" on the Internet was unconstitutional. However, the extent to which the First Amendment will protect academic freedom in cyberspace in this case and for other issues is not clear. (MSE)

Examines the law for libraries, i.e. potential risks and liabilities of regulating, or not regulating, Internet access and use. Discusses the Communications Decency Act, use of filtering software, Internet policies, liability under local criminal statutes, ordinances for disseminating child pornography, obscene material, and hostile work…

The basic premise of the common-school movement survives today: A well-functioning democratic society requires a well-educated citizenry. Public schools should not try to convert children to beliefs and values that contradict parental teachings; however, schools are responsible for letting kids know such values exist. (MLH)