Frequently Asked Questions

• Why I am not allowed to use my mobile phone within the labs?
• Why are we not allowed to have food or drink in the labs?
• Why are the labs only for academic purposes and why are they restricted to CIS students only?
• Why when I have paid my fees can I not use the computers in the CST labs (non-CST students)
• Why am I not allowed to use personnel stereos, headphones etc to listen to music while I work in the labs.
• Why am I not allowed to download files onto my mass storage device from the Internet?

Q) Why I am not allowed to use my mobile phone within the labs?

A) Mobile phones are very annoying when they ring, disturbing the concentration of those around you, talking on a mobile phone is also disturbing to your fellow students who do not want to hear about your life details. Getting up and leaving the room to answer the phone is also disturbing those around you. So we ask you to be considerate of those wishing to study which is the main aim of those being in the labs and turn your mobile phone off, which doesn't mean turning it to silent, as you will disturb other students as you get up and leave the labs to answer it. Also leaving the labs while logged into the computers will allow other student’s access to you work and print credit. Leaving your mobile phone on the desktop is an invitation to those with less honourable intentions to take it. Having it switched off in your bag or pocket is more secure and very less disturbing to those around you. Virtually every field meeting the student representatives ask if it is possible to do anything about the use of mobile phones which demonstrates the lack of consideration for others of those who use them in the labs and lectures.

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Q) Why are we not allowed to have food or drink in the labs?

A) This is to protect the equipment within the labs and to help ensure your health and safety while using the computers. Each year computers are damaged by drinks being spilled, despite all those who are told not to have their drinks near the computers saying the lid is on and it will not spill, accidents do happen and do damage the computers. If a drink when split enters the computers and causes a short it will cause the rooms' electrical supply to trip meaning that all users in that lab will lose their work. Food in the labs leads to keyboards getting debris inside it causing problems for the equipment, the grease gets onto the keyboards getting them dirty and the rubbish left behind gets pushed behind the computers instead of being put in the bins. Not many students want to use a keyboard where the previous person has got grease from his fingers on to the keys or even worse has licked his fingers and then used the keyboard. It is also unfair to expect the cleaners and technical support staff to pick up the rubbish, upon occasion we have found mouldy apple cores and yogurt ports with mould growing inside behind the computers, which are not nice to pick up and dispose of. Also it is recommended that users of computers take breaks after a two hours and not to use the computers for long periods, browsing the internet does not constituent a break from a computer, taking a coffee break or meal break outside of the labs will give you the necessary break and alleviate the need for food and drink in the labs.

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Q) Why are the labs only for academic purposes and why are they restricted to CST students only?

A) The labs are where you can put in to practise what you learn in the lectures, the software installed in the labs is licensed to the department for academic use often under special terms and conditions for computing departments to give massive discounts allowing us to use professional tools at the fraction of the cost. The recurring term in all the agreements is that this software can only be installed on machines used only by the students of the department the software is registered to and for the machines can be used for academic purposes only. So the restriction on the use of the machines is to ensure compliance with licensing agreements which can have legal consequences if it is proved we have broken the terms and conditions of the agreements. An advantage of these agreements is the low cost and often the ability to supply the software to students, if we didn't enter these agreements we will not be able to so many multiple copies of the software or be able to give you copies of it. Your friend from another department using the machines while keeping you company will break the terms and conditions of the agreements so unfortunately you will have to work together in the LRC if you want their company. Also students from other departments do not leave when a class starts sometimes prevent a student from getting a machine in their practical session and when the labs are busy we have our own students looking for machines when students from other departments are using our resources preventing our students having access to software which is only installed in the CST labs. All the major departments like business, media etc do have their own computer labs reserved for their students with their own software licenses, so despite being close to the LRC we are not part of the LRC and not part of the general computing resource for the University.

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Q) Why when I have paid my fees can I not use the computers in the CST labs (non-CST students)

A) When you pay your fees it is part of an agreement with the university for them to supply you with access to resources necessary to complete your studies and for you to follow the rules of the University. This means you have access to the resources within your own department where your course is run and the general resources available within the University. The CST labs are a resource for the Computer Science and Technology department and not a general University resource; they are funded by the revenue generated by the department and have the resources necessary for its students to complete their course of study. As it is a department offering computing courses its resources are mainly computer labs, if you are a student studying in another department you fees have made its resources available to you including any specialist computing facilities it may have and access to a general computing resource which is in the LRC, the CST labs are not part of the LRC.

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Q) Why am I not allowed to use personnel stereos, headphones etc to listen to music while I work in the labs?

A) This has been made necessary, as some students did not know how to be considerate to their fellow students and having the volume so high it was disturbing the whole area. It is very difficult to judge where the line between acceptable volume and excessive volume is. The majority of students who were asked to turn down the volume did, however a small number where abusive to staff when asked to turn down their music as it was disturbing to others. It is not acceptable to put staff in a position where students are abusive. So it was decided that the lowest common denominator should be applied and no music allowed while working, the labs are a learning area and an environment suitable for studying for the majority of students must be maintained, this is normally considered to be a quiet area rather than a silent area.

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Q) Why am I not allowed to download files onto my mass storage device from the Internet?

A) Unfortunately the University could be liable for what its students are downloading across its network, the University is subject to AUP's of it service provider which means the University needs to monitor and control what is transmitted across its network. It is the transmission of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder that can cause a legal problem for the University, hence a restriction on students downloading such material. As an example of the consequence of allowing such activities is EasyCafe who were successful prosecuted for allowing its users of its Internet Cafes to download and burn copyrighted material, damages in the millions where originally asked for, the University does not wish to be in the same position and could not afford the consequences, so we ask our students to be responsible and not use its network for activities that could land the University in trouble.

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