Article on Harvard Student's controversial E-mail

It's hard to know what's more troubling: that a star student at Harvard Law School slated to start a prestigious federal clerkship with one of the nation's highest-ranking judges would publicly suggest that Blacks are genetically less intelligent than whites, or the fact that she would be put those inflammatory comments in an e-mail and hit the send button.

But today, Stephanie Grace, a third-year law student and editor at the Harvard Law Review who sent the controversial e-mail to two friends six months ago is frantically trying to salvage what's left of her tarnished reputation. Grace was unavailable for comment.

Grace's e-mail ignited a firestorm on college campuses, the blogosphere and media outlets after her comments were forwarded to the Harvard Black Law Students Association and eventually made their way to other student groups at law schools across the country. The controversy was first reported by the legal blog, Above the Law. Grace's identity was initially protected by the editors, but many media outlets and bloggers have identified Grace as the author.

"As comment moderators fought to keep her name off their site, Stephanie apparently navigated to Facebook and began scrubbing herself from the Internet, presumably to minimize how closely the imbroglio would be tied to her name, face, and reputation," gawker.com reports. 


The Harvard Black Law Students Association has since released an open letter condemning Grace's comments.

-http://www.diversityinc.com/article/7560/Harvard-Law-Student-EMail-Claims-Blacks-Less-Intelligent-Than-Whites/

Article on School using webcams to spy on students

Harriton High School student Blake Robbins and his parents, Michael and Holly Robbins, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Tuesday against the district, its board of directors and McGinley. They accused the school of turning on the webcam in his computer while it was inside their Penn Valley home, which they allege violated wiretap laws and his right to privacy.

The suit, which seeks class-action status, alleges that Harriton vice principal Lindy Matsko on Nov. 11 cited a laptop photo in telling Blake that the school thought he was engaging in improper behavior. He and his family have told reporters that an official mistook a piece of candy for a pill and thought he was selling drugs.
-http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/22/harriton-high-school-admi_n_471321.html

Webcam Video

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Quote from 1984 About Telescreens

"The telescreen recieved and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment. How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork. It was even conceivable that they watched everybody all the time. But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever the wanted to. You had to live- did live, from habit that became instinct- in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.
-1984, Book 1, Chapter One, George Orwell

Discussion Questions

How would you react if you found out that school was watching you through a    webcam?

What similarities do you see between technology today and technology during 1984?

How is the internet today similar to the Party in 1984?

Do you think that at some point in the future technology will have evolved so much that it could               become similar to the way of life in 1984?

How much control do you think technology holds over us compared to the power it has in 1984?

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