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Professors don't own lectures

To the editor,

I was really upset to see that here in a free country which boasts the best colleges in the world and where education is nearly free, we will have professors who want to deprive education. They don't own the lectures, and surely for accounting professors, it is not their creation.

Way back, when the Lydians and the Mesopotamians came up with money, we had some sort of accounting practices. What are you gonna do, ask for 50 cents each time Versity.com mentions "Accounts Receivable." When you give away knowledge, it no longer belongs to you! It is owned by the public. Let's not talk about patents or music albums, just education.

Take the subject math for example. Did Al Jebr (founder of algebra), Newton and Leibniz charge for their theorems? The answer: a big fat no! What right do math professors have to charge for the same knowledge that they received for free? Socrates never charged his students - one of them being Plato. What right do philosophy professors have to stop Versity.com from passing notes? It would be OK, if the professors said they don't believe in what they teach.

Education is not owned by anyone. People miss classes. Many professors are horrible lecturers. Even when you take notes you have to go and discuss with your classmates, and well tutors. Versity.com is giving the average [student] the choice of getting the best notes. It is not like downloading term papers. It gives students a chance to have study aids that will help students succeed.

If a professor is against success for their financial benefits, then shame on them. If they stop Versity.com, which they never [will] as we the students take a stand, we can always have notes posted on the net on homepages from other countries. With the Internet being available at a low cost, no one can stop people from getting an education.

Take an example from professors like Dr. Grimes (dept. of biochem) who posts his notes on the web. Go further than Versity.com and have the notes available on the web for free.

Ahmad Saad Nasim

ASUA senator