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The Universities of Microsoftby Mitch Stone, Editor/Publisher* Is the grand old tradition of academic independence in higher education dead? It may be under assault from many quarters, but it is nowhere more directly threatened by corporate meddling than at the public universities in Idaho, Texas and Indiana. We'd already learned that Microsoft hands out cash rewards to professors willing to tout Microsoft products in their academic programs, and offers a $10,000 stipend to "Microsoft Scholars" who "advise" Microsoft on how to win academic accounts. But these efforts directed towards replacing educational integrity with corporate opportunism are almost benign in comparison to those being undertaken in Idaho, Texas and Indiana. A web site at Idaho State University's Business School offers free course materials to instructors wishing to teach Internet site development. Ironically, the home page displays "junk" characters at the bottom of the left-hand frame -- not a good example for a site that purports to offer materials on proper design. What's disturbing about the site, however, is the statement on the main page that the course material has a "focus on Microsoft technology" and is "sponsored" by Microsoft. The main page also contains Microsoft's advertising "buttons" for Internet Explorer and BackOffice. Since when do academic sites at public institutions carry advertising? Indeed, the list of tools for the course features no non-Microsoft products. In fact, the description states that "since the course is Microsoft-centric, each module is focused on a particular Microsoft tool or technology." The course materials visible from the main page include "Suggested readings." There are only two: Fred Brooks' classic book The Mythical Man Month, and a book from Microsoft Press on Microsoft's proprietary products, OLE and ActiveX, though ActiveX is considered by many to be dangerous to use in Web design due to its serious security problems. The suggested reading list includes no books on HTML, TCP/IP, Perl, Java, or other essential elements of modern Web design. Does this sound like a well-rounded -- or even adequate -- course in Web site design that an ethical and conscientious instructor would want to teach? In order to register to use the materials, one must fill out a "nomination" form. But if one tries to access the form with Netscape Navigator, it proves inaccessible. More interesting still, the "Disclaimer and Copyright" page at the Idaho State University site says that the materials are copyrighted by the University of Texas at Austin. A search using the AltaVista search engine and a few key words returned a virtually identical site at the University of Texas Austin business school -- complete with the same Microsoft advertising banners. (The home page even had the same bugs that produced the junk characters.) And it turns out that Microsoft's has its hooks sunk even more deeply into the UT business school. A recent decree handed down by the University of Texas business graduate school compels students to buy or lease a Dell notebook running Windows NT. According to Larry Leibrock, chief technology officer for the graduate school of business, "The idea is for students to use the same technology that corporate America is using ... when they get to the real world, we want them to have zero start-up time." This, in face of the well known unsuitabilities of Windows NT for use on notebooks, and the obvious fact that Windows is likely to be revised radically at least once before the typical student moves from admission to graduation. A polite e-mail inquiry questioning the wisdom of this edict resulted in this terse reply from Mr. Leibrock: In view of the fact that I believe that you are not affiliated in any way with the University of Texas or the Business School, I formally ask that you do not send me this type of email message ... I can reasonably infer that your email is threatening to our students, faculty and staff. [In accordance] with Texas Statutes I am requesting that you do not continue to send such email to me ... If you fail to comply, I will seek remedial actions. Very interesting. Perhaps the president of the university, the governor of Texas, or the Texas Attorney General (who is investigating Microsoft for anti-competitive practices) should question Mr. Leibrock about his decidedly closed mind on the subject. Another troubling page is found on the Idaho State University "Academic Cooperative" site. The page titled "Resources" provides nothing but links to Microsoft-related sites. These include Microsoft Developer Network News, Microsoft's "PressPass" PR site, a Microsoft "registration wizard" that gathers personal data, case studies describing the use of Microsoft products in academia -- even MSNBC. Odd, but there's not a single reference on this page to any other software company that might provide solutions for educators. Yet another page on the same site hawks Microsoft products, and a link at the bottom steers readers to "our" Web site. A click on the link reveals that it goes to Microsoft's "Developer Store" site. This fact alone implies that the site is, in fact, run by or for Microsoft -- at taxpayer expense. But that's not all: Indiana State University recently consummated a comprehensive deal with Microsoft to force Microsoft products on the entire student body as a matter of official policy. If these sorts of corporate entanglement were limited to private universities, the issues would be mainly confined to questions of academic integrity. But the universities of Texas, Indiana and Idaho are public institutions supported by public dollars -- and are nevertheless being transformed into unabashed billboards, captive markets and training grounds for Microsoft. How long can the tradition of academic independence in universities -- one of the most valued qualities of our most cherished institutions -- survive an onslaught of Microsoft dollars aimed squarely at prejudicing faculty and decision makers, and denying students access to a realistic range of choices? The professors and administrators who are happily warping their curricula and purchasing policies to coincide with Microsoft's corporate agenda should recognize, before it is too late, the damage this does, not only to their credibility as educators, but ultimately to the futures of their students. For it is the proper role of universities, public and private, to instill in its students the life skills of critical thinking, not the subservience of corporate fealty. *Some of the material contained in this article was prepared by an individual who prefers to remain anonymous. Published: 24 April 1998 |
Then there is the word innovation. A key word, it's showing up too often in too many places in association with Microsoft and Windows 98. Obviously, the Microsoft spin doctors are trying to associate the word innovation with Windows 98 in the minds of the public. This is cute, since there is very little innovation in Windows 98. Everything in the OS is either a geegaw, a bug fix, or some new support, such as that for USB.
JOHN DVORAK, PC Magazine
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