IU Weblogs offer diverse opinions

IU students, faculty and staff are allowed to publish a diverse amount of information on the University personal home page service, as long as it complies with the law and University policy.\nBut diverse doesn't begin to describe the 31,000 Web sites in the University's personal home directory.\nThe pages vary from business professor Eric Rasmusen's anti-homosexual opinions to sophomore Aubrey Dunnuck's fan art wallpaper of the Gilmore Girls.\nPersonal homepages are not reviewed by the University prior to posting. The University accepts no responsibility for the information published on the free Web pages.\nMark Bruhn, chief IT security and policy officer, said he receives complaints about material which looks as if it violates the law or University policy.\n"If someone complains about something that they see on a personal page, and it's clearly illegal or against some IU policy, my office will tell the page owner to remove it," Bruhn said.\nIn general, Bruhn said he does not have much trouble with controversial material on the pages.\n"We get an occasional complaint about material on personal pages," Bruhn said. "Periodically, something more controversial is seen there. Generally, this service causes very little trouble."\nBruhn said he once received a complaint about a page that expressed negative opinions about rap music. The page was allowed to remain functional, despite complaints.\nBruhn said he receives four main categories of complaints. \nOne is when someone runs a Web site that represents a group that is not associated with IU. He once received a complaint about a professor who put the "Volkswagen Club of America" Web site on the IU server. IU policy asked him to remove it.\nThe second category is when someone is selling something off their personal page, Bruhn said.\n"It's OK to sell your own bicycle, but not run a bicycle-selling business," Bruhn said.\nThe third category is Web sites that express opinions that offend a person or a group of people. \nThe last category of complaints is copyrighted material. A Barbie Web page once caused the toymaker to contact IU, and the site was removed.\nSimilarly, a student had published a "King of the Hill" fan Web site which included audio clips. Fox Entertainment notified IU that while most of the site was legal, the audio clips were copyrighted. The University removed the clips from the Web page.\nAside from these rare instances, most of the 31,000 Web sites include information which isn't relevant to many people\nMegan Walsh, a recent IU graduate, said her webpage grew into a form of personal expression. \n"I created it specifically for the class and only told my friends and family about it," Walsh said. "To be honest, there's not a whole lot on there that would appeal to someone who doesn't know me. It's purely a vanity project."\nWalsh's Web page, entitled "Indecision -- Married with a Lack of Vision," showcases personal information, including her religious beliefs, which she describes as "a little bit pagan -- a little bit rock and roll."\nZach Wendling, a second-year graduate student, said he created his personal Web page for his own entertainment.\n"I was very bored midway through my freshman year, and I wanted to amuse my floor," Wendling said. "It's all kind of an inside joke, but other people think it's funny, too."\nWendling said he likes the fact that his Web site can be accessed by anyone on campus.\n"I enjoy fan mail and angry e-mails," he said.\n-- Contact staff writer Alli Stolper at astolper@indiana.edu.