From yarbrough_k at utpb.edu Tue Sep 11 10:26:48 2007 From: yarbrough_k at utpb.edu (Keith Yarbrough) Date: Tue Sep 11 09:25:27 2007 Subject: [FalconForum] Test Message-ID: <002e01c7f47f$c9ccbad0$60979ecc@utpb.edu> Rant Rant Rant J. Keith Yarbrough Assistant Vice President for Information Resources The University of Texas of the Permian Basin 4901 E. University Blvd. Odessa, TX 79762 (voice) 432-552-2415 (fax) 432-552-2416 yarbrough_k@utpb.edu www.utpb.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.utpb.edu/pipermail/falconforum/attachments/20070911/924a349f/attachment.htm From yarbrough_k at utpb.edu Tue Sep 11 17:38:17 2007 From: yarbrough_k at utpb.edu (Keith Yarbrough) Date: Tue Sep 11 16:37:33 2007 Subject: [FalconForum] FW: [Staff] Tag lines, political statements, and other email "add-ons' Message-ID: <005f01c7f4bc$10d67e70$60979ecc@utpb.edu> _____ From: staff-bounces@mailman.utpb.edu [mailto:staff-bounces@mailman.utpb.edu] On Behalf Of Chris Forrest Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 4:37 PM To: "group:faculty"; "group:staff"; "group:seniorstaff" Subject: [Staff] Tag lines, political statements, and other email "add-ons' We have had a few compliance complaints recently regarding individuals adding tag lines of one sort or another to their email. These tag lines range from Ben Franklin type proverbs ("A penny saved is a penny earned.") to scriptural citations from one or another set of beliefs. There have also been instances where individuals have included smiley faces or other graphics in their emails. IRD has pointed out that the "graphics" consume space and may have other issues associated with them and their download source. So please don't use them! As a matter of courtesy, please recognize that everyone may not have the same belief set that you do. In the context of mutual respect for others' beliefs, please do not include non-business related information in your university emails, as tag lines, quotations, etc. Thank you. Chris Forrest ==================================== Christopher R. Forrest Vice President for Business Affairs/Compliance Officer The University of Texas of the Permian Basin 4901 E. University Blvd. Odessa, TX 79762-0001 Phone: (432) 552-2700 Fax: (432) 552-2109 Email: forrest_c@utpb.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.utpb.edu/pipermail/falconforum/attachments/20070911/18776ef7/attachment.htm From yarbrough_k at utpb.edu Tue Sep 11 17:40:15 2007 From: yarbrough_k at utpb.edu (Keith Yarbrough) Date: Tue Sep 11 16:39:31 2007 Subject: [FalconForum] FW: [Staff] Compliance with University Computer Use Policy Message-ID: <006d01c7f4bc$56f0d040$60979ecc@utpb.edu> _____ From: staff-bounces@mailman.utpb.edu [mailto:staff-bounces@mailman.utpb.edu] On Behalf Of Narita Holmes Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 4:21 PM To: Faculty@utpb.edu; Staff@utpb.edu Subject: [Staff] Compliance with University Computer Use Policy Computers on the UTPB campus that are owned by the University of Texas of the Permian are state property. The email service that is available for use by faculty and staff in carrying out our educational mission is paid for with university funds. As a public entity in the State of Texas and an institution in The University of Texas System, we are governed by the laws of the state, rules and regulations of The University of Texas System, and UTPB policies and procedures. As a faculty or staff member of UTPB, in order to have access to our computer system, you have agreed in writing that you will follow UTPB's Acceptable Use Policy regarding use of that system. Those who do not follow the Acceptable Use Policy are in non-compliance and their email and computer access can be terminated. Each of us has a right to personal expression of our political, religious and other beliefs on our personal time and through use of our personally owned computers and email. However, the computers and email provided in our offices are governed by state and university regulations which prohibit personalized tags, political statements and symbols. Many of the symbols adapted from other sites can carry viruses that threaten the integrity of the UTPB system. Failure to comply with the rules, policies and procedures related to equipment and services paid for with government funds can and will result in disciplinary action including revocation of email and computer access. Narita K. Holmes Asst. Compliance Officer The University of Texas of the Permian Basin 432-552-2697 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.utpb.edu/pipermail/falconforum/attachments/20070911/7478f399/attachment.htm From yarbrough_k at utpb.edu Tue Sep 11 17:41:04 2007 From: yarbrough_k at utpb.edu (Keith Yarbrough) Date: Tue Sep 11 16:40:20 2007 Subject: [FalconForum] FW: [Staff] Tag lines, political statements, and other email"add-ons' Message-ID: <007201c7f4bc$74538c90$60979ecc@utpb.edu> _____ From: staff-bounces@mailman.utpb.edu [mailto:staff-bounces@mailman.utpb.edu] On Behalf Of Rachel Myers Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 10:49 AM To: staff@mailman.utpb.edu; faculty@mailman.utpb.edu Subject: RE: [Staff] Tag lines, political statements, and other email"add-ons' The dictionary defines "signature" as this: 1. One's name as written by oneself. 2. The act of signing one's name. 3. A distinctive mark, characteristic, or sound indicating identity: A surprise ending is the signature of an O. Henry short story. 4. Abbr. Sig. or S. Medicine The part of a physician's prescription containing directions to the patient. 5. Music a. A sign used to indicate key. b. A sign used to indicate tempo. 6. Printing a. A letter, number, or symbol placed at the bottom of the first page on each sheet of printed pages of a book as a guide to the proper sequence of the sheets in binding. b. A large sheet printed with four or a multiple of four pages that when folded becomes a section of the book. By asking me to remove my "signature" tag, who tells people who I am and what I am about, you are imposing on my beliefs. My signature tells people who I am. It doesn't tell others what to believe and by no means does it say who they are. An atheist complained about my Christian tag, so now I am asked to remove it for the sake of not offending anyone and to be courteous to others. What about courtesy to me? In my opinion, by asking a Christian to remove their tag, you are now condoning atheist beliefs. If I received an e-mail with an atheistic tag, that just tells me who that person is, but I do not feel that just by their signature tag they are imposing their beliefs on me. Signatures are about individualism!!! Thank you, Rachel Myers UTPB Police Department Administrative Assistant II TLETS Terminal Agency Coordinator 432-552-2783 office 432-552-3780 fax <*))>< "There's no greater adventure quite like being hooked up with the creator of the universe." _____ From: staff-bounces@mailman.utpb.edu [mailto:staff-bounces@mailman.utpb.edu] On Behalf Of Chris Forrest Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 4:37 PM To: "group:faculty"; "group:staff"; "group:seniorstaff" Subject: [Staff] Tag lines, political statements, and other email "add-ons' We have had a few compliance complaints recently regarding individuals adding tag lines of one sort or another to their email. These tag lines range from Ben Franklin type proverbs ("A penny saved is a penny earned.") to scriptural citations from one or another set of beliefs. There have also been instances where individuals have included smiley faces or other graphics in their emails. IRD has pointed out that the "graphics" consume space and may have other issues associated with them and their download source. So please don't use them! As a matter of courtesy, please recognize that everyone may not have the same belief set that you do. In the context of mutual respect for others' beliefs, please do not include non-business related information in your university emails, as tag lines, quotations, etc. Thank you. Chris Forrest ==================================== Christopher R. Forrest Vice President for Business Affairs/Compliance Officer The University of Texas of the Permian Basin 4901 E. University Blvd. Odessa, TX 79762-0001 Phone: (432) 552-2700 Fax: (432) 552-2109 Email: forrest_c@utpb.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.utpb.edu/pipermail/falconforum/attachments/20070911/4ce3a252/attachment-0001.htm From yarbrough_k at utpb.edu Tue Sep 11 17:41:30 2007 From: yarbrough_k at utpb.edu (Keith Yarbrough) Date: Tue Sep 11 16:40:47 2007 Subject: [FalconForum] FW: [Staff] Tag lines, political statements, and other email"add-ons' Message-ID: <007701c7f4bc$83d8a1f0$60979ecc@utpb.edu> _____ From: staff-bounces@mailman.utpb.edu [mailto:staff-bounces@mailman.utpb.edu] On Behalf Of Terry shults Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 9:01 AM To: 'Chris Forrest'; '"group:faculty"'; '"group:staff"'; '"group:seniorstaff"' Subject: RE: [Staff] Tag lines, political statements, and other email"add-ons' Chris, I understand the problems with graphics and religious beliefs. And when, at times, I have had an automatic tag line as part of my signature, I ask myself before sending if this is appropriate given who I am contacting for what purpose. But a "zero tolerance" for all tag lines at all times gets into the realm of tinkering with the sender's individual style of expression. Some internal UTPB senders show a whimsicality and folksiness in the body of their messages that some may find endearing but some may find irritating. I would not care to adjudicate what is acceptably businesslike and what is not in sports and birth and bake sale and farewell party announcements. I was once in a peculiar situation where an "all business" supervisor vehemently objected to anything not strictly business in any oral or written communication. And did not understand why *her* Japanese boss liked those of us better who spent a little time with amenities fore and aft. That was another kind of cultural awareness that needed to be taken into account. "E-mail culture" can go awry if we get too informal and "one size fits all" in assuming everyone shares our beliefs or values (It has been hard for me to grasp as a Texan just in this century that not everybody wants to know more about John Ben Shepperd) or senses of humor. But it can go awry the other way. If we strip too much individuality, people will have trouble figuring out what we "mean by it." Yours truly, Terrance G. "Terry" Shults, Ph.D. Head of Technical Services J. Conrad Dunagan Library University of Texas of the Permian Basin 4901 E. University Odessa, Texas 79762 shults_t@utpb.edu "What you gain on the straightaway, you lose on the roundabout" [British motorist saying that can be reversed optimistically] "Each book I read, reads me" - Frank Bidart [which seems relevant and appropriate for all library business e-mails]. _____ From: staff-bounces@mailman.utpb.edu [mailto:staff-bounces@mailman.utpb.edu] On Behalf Of Chris Forrest Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2007 4:37 PM To: "group:faculty"; "group:staff"; "group:seniorstaff" Subject: [Staff] Tag lines, political statements, and other email "add-ons' We have had a few compliance complaints recently regarding individuals adding tag lines of one sort or another to their email. These tag lines range from Ben Franklin type proverbs ("A penny saved is a penny earned.") to scriptural citations from one or another set of beliefs. There have also been instances where individuals have included smiley faces or other graphics in their emails. IRD has pointed out that the "graphics" consume space and may have other issues associated with them and their download source. So please don't use them! As a matter of courtesy, please recognize that everyone may not have the same belief set that you do. In the context of mutual respect for others' beliefs, please do not include non-business related information in your university emails, as tag lines, quotations, etc. Thank you. Chris Forrest ==================================== Christopher R. Forrest Vice President for Business Affairs/Compliance Officer The University of Texas of the Permian Basin 4901 E. University Blvd. Odessa, TX 79762-0001 Phone: (432) 552-2700 Fax: (432) 552-2109 Email: forrest_c@utpb.edu -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.utpb.edu/pipermail/falconforum/attachments/20070911/096c06c0/attachment.htm -------------- next part -------------- _______________________________________________ Staff mailing list Staff@mailman.utpb.edu http://mailman.utpb.edu/mailman/listinfo/staff From yarbrough_k at utpb.edu Tue Sep 11 17:46:52 2007 From: yarbrough_k at utpb.edu (Keith Yarbrough) Date: Tue Sep 11 16:46:10 2007 Subject: [FalconForum] Re: [Faculty] Compliance with University Computer Use Policy Message-ID: <008f01c7f4bd$43aff5f0$60979ecc@utpb.edu> While there is nothing that faculty enjoy more than receiving legalese and boilerplate -- and vaguely threatening and somewhat condescending legalese and boilerplate at that -- I'm afraid I'm going to need a bit more to convince me that within the UT rules aphorisms, quotations, or a whole host of other taglines are verboten. And I'm going to need further evidence that such taglines are a place to start drawing arbitrary lines of enforcement. Does anyone want to try to tell me that it would be inappropriate for an English professor, whose work is directly involved with literature, to extract a quotation from a novel or a poem for a part of their signature? And if that is ok (if it is not I think the faculty might have some serious issues with such a viewpoint going forward) then would it not be ok for a political science or history professor to have a historical quotation? And if that is not ok, what is the fundamental difference between such a quotation at the end of an email and one within the body of an email? Email is that most fungible of mediums. An email to a professional colleague who I also a friend might -- gasp! -- begin as an email about work and end up as an inquiry into the state of one's family. This would arguably be outside the letter of the rules of use. Or, what if some of us have our email forwarded to a personal email account, which we check and write and reply to and add our taglines to from our home computers? Until someone can satisfactorily answer these questions in such a way that proves that this is not a waste of everyone's time and a dubious use of the resources of our bureaucratic masters' time and thus resources, I'm afraid that the unobtrusive linkage to my blog in which I write about everything from issues related to my professional expertise to what most people would categorize as "sheer fluff" is going to stay at the end of my signature. For as we've learned in recent days, sheer fluff comes in many guises, legalese and boilerplate among them. Apropos of nothing, perhaps, a political writer I usually disagree with on just about everything once wrote, "You will never understand bureaucracies until you understand that for bureaucrats procedure is everything and outcomes are nothing." I am including this bit of wisdom in the body of my email for your consideration. I will follow it by signing off, just so that it does not come across as a tagline and thus fodder for more bureaucratic hand wringing. Humbly, Derek Catsam Assistant Professor of History Department of History University of Texas of the Permian Basin 4901 East University Blvd. Odessa, TX 79762 (432) 552-2311 http://dcatblog.blogspot.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://mailman.utpb.edu/pipermail/falconforum/attachments/20070911/ae2a98bb/attachment-0001.htm