The Skyliner

Issue date: 2/22/06 Section: News

Jesse Lee
Staff Writer


Computer Services installed SurfControl, an up-to-date Internet content filter, this summer to replace the obsolete filter program the North Greenville network was running.

Initially, some prominent pages (such as AOL Webmail) were blocked entirely until Computer Services was able to go through and modify the filter's settings.

SurfControl, which costs the school about $2 per student per year, works on a relatively simple concept: a blacklist of permanently blocked sites, and an active filtering system which works on a database of keywords. Any sites on the blacklist or containing certain flagged terms are automatically blocked, as well as most advertisements and pop-ups. The filter is responsible for blocking millions of ads and pop-ups per month - around 163,000 in one day, according to logs provided by Computer Services.

Brian Charland, senior intercultural studies, said he wasn't able to get to a map of South America on the Internet due to SurfControl. "I do think there needs to be a filter, and I do like it, because you do have instances where you could accidentally stumble upon something. It's nice to have [SurfControl] pop up instead of something else. It can be kind of frustrating sometimes, but overall I'm glad it's there," said Charland.

Enrique Pizzati, sophomore intercultural studies said that SurfControl blocks his Yahoo e-mail account sometimes. "It blocks really random stuff sometimes, but I'm glad it's there," said Pizzati.

"It's not that frustrating because it's not stuff I have to be able to see. It is kind of odd though that it blocks some things and not others. I grew up with an Internet filter at home, and it was helpful," said Gregory Suits, senior music composition.

"I don't run into the filter that much," said Dr. William Stuermann, head of the language department. "Unfortunately, I do think there is a need for the filter. There are any number of people on campus who would abuse the Internet otherwise," said Dr. Stuermann.

"I have not heard any general comments firsthand," said Dr. Tim Carnes, assistant director of Computer Services, regarding how the filter is currently functioning. "I assume since we have had no calls or complaints regarding it from the faculty that the consensus is good." Dr. Carnes went on to say that the parameters of the filter are set at a certain level to keep the content being accessed on campus in line with North Greenville's policies.

Paul Garrett, director of Computer Services, explained why the filter is at the level of security that it currently is. "You have to set it some place to start."

Currently, Dr. Carnes spends about an hour per week reviewing logs and making any necessary adjustments to the filter. It is also interesting to note that not all of the hits registered and blocked by SurfControl are students necessarily attempting to visit blocked sites - many hits to porn and gambling sites can be caused by a misspelled address, a web site redirect, and even spyware and viruses already present on some computers. The decision for the school to replace the obsolete filter last summer was made jointly by Student Services and Computer Services.

Interestingly, there have been very few instances of students requesting to have pages unblocked. "Four students have come to me since the filter was put in place," said Dr. Carnes. Paul Garrett said that he can recall two e-mails in as many months requesting sites be opened.

"There is no official procedure in place right now," said Dr. Carnes, when asked what students should do to request that a site be unblocked. "Students can either call or simply come by in person. There hasn't been a need for any official system since we've had so few requests." Dr. Carnes said that e-mail requests are accepted as well.

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