Improper behavior

[E.J.]

More news (this is getting interesting)

The Lower Merion School District today acknowledged that investigators reviewing its controversial laptop tracking program have recovered "a substantial number of webcam photos" and that they expect to soon start notifying parents whose children were photographed.

Story Link

The system that Lower Merion school officials used to track lost and stolen laptops wound up secretly capturing thousands of images, including photographs of students in their homes, Web sites they visited, and excerpts of their online chats, says a new motion filed in a suit against the district.

More than once, the motion asserts, the camera on Robbins' school-issued laptop took photos of Robbins as he slept in his bed. Each time, it fired the images off to network servers at the school district.

Back at district offices, the Robbins motion says, employees with access to the images marveled at the tracking software. It was like a window into "a little LMSD soap opera," a staffer is quoted as saying in an e-mail to Carol Cafiero, the administrator running the program.

"I know, I love it," she is quoted as having replied.

According to the latest filing by the Robbinses, officials first activated the tracking software on a school-issued Apple MacBook that Robbins took home on Oct. 20.

Hundreds of times in the next two weeks, the filing says, the program did its job each time it was turned on: A tiny camera atop the laptop snapped a photo, software inside copied the laptop screen image, and a locating device recorded the Internet address - something that could help district technicians pinpoint where the machine was.

The system was designed to take a new picture every 15 minutes until it was turned off.

The material disclosed by the district contains hundreds of photos of Robbins and his family members - "including pictures of Blake partially undressed and of Blake sleeping," the motion states.

Story Link

[Trab]

I have a feeling this one is getting more messy and complicated by the day.

[The Pecman]

Initially, I didn't think the school could possibly be that stupid. Boy, was I wrong!

This is a huge mess. Good piece on CNN about it:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/16/school...cams/index.html

Major lawsuit time...

[colinian]

I read the "Update" document released by the Lower Merion School District. At the top is a shield with this school district's motto. I wondered what the motto, written in Latin, means. If you look at their shield it reads: Corpori menti moribus veritas (though I'm not sure of the word order). I asked Steve (who took a year of Latin in high school) and he thinks it means something like "The body and the mind will die without the truth." I'm not so sure about that translation, and neither is Steve. I guess there's a lot of flexibility when using Latin these days, being a dead language and all that.

There's an article on the Millard Filmore's Bathtub blog that has an amusing dissection of the motto.

Given the academic proclivities of the august membership of AD, perhaps one more learned in the complexities of Latin could provide a more meaningful translation.

Colin

[Bruin Fisher]

It appears it may be a Latin idiom, 'Body, Mind, Spirit', on the logo graphic surrounding Truth, contained in books.

Spirit is a rather free translation of Moribus, which is the Dative or Ablative of Custom, way, pattern of behaviour.

My latin may once have been up to this but no longer. I've just googled it till I gathered the above.

Whatever, the school has been playing fast and loose with its motto, I think.

[DesDownunder]

I'm no Latin scholar, having only read a Teach yourself Latin book back in 1959.

Still, I do remember other hand me down insights into the language, in that Latin sentences generally contain an idea as a maxim or even an axiom.

So if we take my highschool motto: Non Scholae Sed Vidae, and apply this concept we end up with "Not for school but for life."

One might also consider a wider meaning, rather than a verbatim translation as being, "Not just for scholarly endeavours but for your whole life," and with "within this academy of learning," being implied by the fact it is the school's motto, in both examples.

Corpori menti moribus veritas, is fairly easy to translate as body mind truth with the moribus being the varying factor as it has a root of sickness, lack of good health and even death in its definition. Veritas on the otherhand is generally accepted as truth, but does have a connotation of spirit (of truth.) My Google search has yielded slightly different result from Bruin's, but we are in basic agreement.

I would suggest Colin's friend Steve's translation as conveying a very reasonable evaluation of the meaning.

An additional interpretation might be, "The body and mind are unhealthy without the spirit of truth."

I suspect the oratory of ancient Rome would have sought to tie the "body, mind and spirit" in such a phrase, but it could also have been derived form later, Church Latin.

As I understand it, the interpretation of the maxim is as important as the translation of the words, because Latin tries to convey ideas.

My doctor, who did study Latin, is adamant that it taught him to think in terms of ideas and concepts, in a way that is more concise and rational than everyday non-analytical, English, at least as spoken outside the UK.

I agree with Bruin that the school has been molesting its motto, (in more ways than one, methinks.)

For home-work tonight, I want you all, to translate Marcus Aurelius' memoirs from the ancient Latin into Dude-speak.

[Cole Parker]

The interview that's linked in the Yahoo! home page today shows Blake and family discussing this on TV, and the statement near the end by Blake is the one that caught my attention. He says words to the effect of: "It feels strange now when I see my Assistant Principal at school, knowing she's seen me naked."

C

[Drewbie]

Initially, I didn't think the school could possibly be that stupid. Boy, was I wrong!

This is a huge mess. Good piece on CNN about it:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/04/16/school...cams/index.html

Major lawsuit time...

Wow, okay I just read the cnn one, really how dumb can they be, again I'd put something up on the cam or play some horrid videos. especially since it also recorded some of him half naked what if he was fully naked, wouldn't they get charged with child pornography?

[JamesSavik]

At the top is a shield with this school district's motto. I wondered what the motto, written in Latin, means. If you look at their shield it reads: Corpori menti moribus veritas (though I'm not sure of the word order).

I think it means we watch your kids shower.

[colinian]

I think it means we watch your kids shower.

That's the absolutely best definition of all, James.

Colin

[Trab]

Everyone seems to have made the assumption that half naked means shirtless. That is not necessarily correct.

[Cole Parker]

Too true, Trab.

When I saw Blake being interviewed, and he mentioned being seen naked by his asst-principal, he didn't use the word 'half'.

Also, there was commentary in news about school officials watching the tapes and being excited about seeing kids sleep. Now I don't know about anyone else, but I don't find watching someone sleep the most exciting activity going. Yet these people were speaking enthusiastically about it. So one has to think they were seeing more than kids sleeping.

More and more is coming out about this. I think the papers were handling it with kid gloves at first. The gloves seem to be coming off.

Something like those shirts Trab is talking about.

C

[TalonRider]

The report this morning on the news, is that 56,000 pictures have been found.

[The Pecman]

Also, there was commentary in news about school officials watching the tapes and being excited about seeing kids sleep. Now I don't know about anyone else, but I don't find watching someone sleep the most exciting activity going.

Naked, or asleep? (Sorry.)

What I can't figure out is, who would leave a laptop computer turned on and sitting on a desk and not think about it? As far as I know, a computer can't transmit video if it's in sleep mode, or if you just close it.

This sounds to me like a combination of overzealous public officials who never should have activated this mode (until the laptops were reported missing), and kids who don't know how to deal with borrowed computers.

It's for reasons like this that I'm not a fan of video conferencing, instant messaging, and a lot of other stuff. Just too intrusive.

[JamesSavik]

UPDATE

FBI Gets Evidence in Student Webcam Scandal

By David Kravets May 12, 2010

Source Link

A federal judge has granted the FBI access to evidence linked to a webcam scandal at a Philadelphia suburban school district.

Federal prosecutors in Pennsylvania said they were investigating ?possible criminal conduct? in the 6,900-student Lower Merion School District.

U.S. District Judge Jan DuBois is presiding over a federal civil lawsuit alleging the district secretly snapped tens of thousands of webcam images of students using school-issued laptops, without the pupils? knowledge or consent.

The judge had ordered the evidence in the case ? which include the district computers and thousands of pictures of high school children ? sealed to protect the privacy of the students, temporarily frustrating federal law enforcement officials.

But the judge agreed Monday to release the evidence to prosecutors, at the request of U.S. Attorney Michael Levy.

Levy, in urging the judge to lift his order freezing evidence in the lawsuit, said the nondisclosure order ?interfered with the government?s obligation to investigate possible criminal conduct occurring within this district.?

It remains unclear whether under current law the secret and remote filming of anyone, even minors, is a federal crime. A federal grand jury and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are looking into the district?s actions.

The district claimed the cameras were activated a handful of times when a laptop was reported stolen or missing. In February, the district deactivated the LANrev webcam-tracking program secretly lodged on 2,300 student MacBooks.

_______________________________

It might just be me but 56,000 images is more than a just handful.

[colinian]

It might just be me but 56,000 images is more than a just handful.

56,000 pictures to view! 56,000 pictures!

After viewing one of those pictures, 55,999 pictures to go!

55,999 pictures to view! 55,999 pictures!

After viewing one of those pictures, 55,998 pictures to go... (etc. etc.)

Colin

[colinian]

From infopackets, May 17, 2010: School Absolves Itself of Student Spying Laptops; IT Dept Blamed

A ten week investigation into the Lower Merion School District's (LMSD) use of webcams to spy on students with school-issued laptops has found that the school did nothing wrong -- aside from taking 58,000 images without consent....

Don't you just love it when an organization finds a clever way to deflect blame elsewhere? Here is, in my opinion, the best sentence in the article (emphasis mine):

The school-sponsored report places most of the blame on the school's IT personnel....

Oh, my, once again the foxes are assigned to report on what happened in the hen house!

Colin

[JamesSavik]

Those crazy technology people... who knows what they're going to get up to next!

That is so disingenuous that I'm looking for a switch.

[Paul_and_Paco]

This story not only intrigued me, but scared the crap outta me too! So, I asked "a friend who is a lawyer" specializing in Constitutional Law, what the implications of this might be... After reading the stories and posts, he laughed and said, "Wait till the get to the transmitting of children's images, lascivious or otherwise. The real question, though, were the observations made while the acts were being performed, or after the laptops were back on school property? It is only invasion of privacy if the former. The laptops were the propety of the school district, but ipso facto the property of the student while in his/her possesion, if the school gave their permission to take the laptop home."

My other observation... Cole? How come students need their teachers to hand out sheets with homework assignments on them? What ever happened to "Write this down.". I assume the students have notebooks, and the classrooms have blackboards. I do not think our teacher has handed out a single sheet of paper this entire year. He uses a laptop with big flat-panel screen, and a chalkboard to convey what he can not with words.

[blue]

Chalkboard? I haven't seen a chalkboard since my first inglorious run through college. Whiteboards and markers.

I've always seen "copy this down" as well as, "take these handouts." Heck, as a student assistant, I sorted and stapled a lot of handouts.

But to the point of the thread: This topic really bothered me when it first came up. I'm not naive enough to be shocked that it could or did happen, or that the school authorities tried to blame individual staff rather than take responsibility for decisions made at the top. What bothered me was that it had happened, and kids (whatever age) had had their private lives at home, in their own rooms, spied upon. It didn't matter if the kid was doing his/her homework, hanging out doing ordinary stuff alone or with friends...or changing clothes or perhaps engaging in something intimate alone or with someone. What was going on didn't matter. What mattered was the kids had been granted a privilege (having a laptop) and then spied upon for doing so, without knowledge or consent or thought about it, and their right to privacy and freedom from assumptions of wrongdoing had been violated. Heck, if they knew about it, they could've at least covered the lens and mic. But instead...yikes.

I remember how much time as a teen I spent in my room doing homework or other work, versus relaxing, versus anything involving less clothing. (And before you get excited, it's Texas, even conservative boys have to deal with hot weather. OK, yeah, there was also a non-negligible fraction of time on, uh, oh, you figure it out.) And I was one of those conservative boys, but still! -- I would've been embarrassed if a friend had seen me, (one did) let alone someone without permission. And no, I wouldn't have sent pictures of myself. Uh, that friend could've kept looking, though.... (Huh, what were we talking about again? :grin: )

Colin's comments, right on the nose.

[Cole Parker]

Cole? How come students need their teachers to hand out sheets with homework assignments on them? What ever happened to "Write this down.". I assume the students have notebooks, and the classrooms have blackboards. I do not think our teacher has handed out a single sheet of paper this entire year. He uses a laptop with big flat-panel screen, and a chalkboard to convey what he can not with words.

And just where do these notebooks the strdent have come from? If the school can't afford them, and the students' parents won't supply them, then either the students don't have them or the teachers but them for the students with their own money. More and more these days, the latter applies.

Blue is right: they don't have blackboards these days. White boards are everywhere, and in the instant school district, some gret salesmen got the district to have electronic interactive boards installed in all classrooms. These are pretty clever and allow for fascinating functions, but the schools put them in the middle of the current white boards, basically eliminating the wordspace of the teacher on the white boards.

I could rail about how the classrooms are so different from what I enjoyed as a kid, but people are certainly tired of it. The biggest problem in California classrooms today is class size. The normal class is now 35 kids. A few years ago it was 25-27. The difference in trying to control a class and teach it between those numbers is unbelievable.

C

[Cole Parker]

Cole? How come students need their teachers to hand out sheets with homework assignments on them? What ever happened to "Write this down.". I assume the students have notebooks, and the classrooms have blackboards. I do not think our teacher has handed out a single sheet of paper this entire year. He uses a laptop with big flat-panel screen, and a chalkboard to convey what he can not with words.

And just where do these notebooks the students have come from? If the school can't afford them, and the students' parents won't supply them, then either the students don't have them or the teachers end up buying them for the students with their own money. More and more these days, the latter applies.

Blue is right: they don't have blackboards these days. White boards are everywhere, and in the instant school district, some great salesmen got the district to have electronic interactive boards installed in all classrooms. These are pretty clever and allow for fascinating functions, but the schools put them in the middle of the current white boards, basically eliminating the wordspace of the teacher on the white boards.

I could rail about how the classrooms are so different from what I enjoyed as a kid, but people are certainly tired of it. The biggest problem in California classrooms today is class size. The normal class is now 35 kids. A few years ago it was 25-27. The difference in trying to control a class and teach it between those numbers is unbelievable.

C

[Bruin Fisher]

When Oi were a lad.... I had a teacher whose habit was to write a lot of stuff in chalk on a blackboard for us to copy into our exercise books. When he'd finished and we were still working to catch up he would walk to the back of the class and announce 'look up at the board while I run through it.' He never, I think, realised why we all sniggered.

[Cole Parker]

Is sniggering anything like snickering? Somehow, it sounds nastier.

C

[Paul_and_Paco]

The idea that parents can not/or will not supply their children with the basics of a three-ringed binder and notebook paper is to say the least astounding! Then again, I guess their idea is feed information to be tested on later, to prove the students learned something. Administration versus the teacher versus the parents... everybody in their own little world. I am glad I am homeschooled.