Subject: Student suspended :: Case 1 w/ comments

From: [email-masked]
Date: 15 Jun 1993 03:39:43 GMT

Hey all, This is it the first case. Support services is quite good at
alleging and using innuendo. I have taken the opportunity to add my own
comments as before w/ the usual [avi begin] [avi end]. I'd also like to
relate a small story from my freshman or sophomore year, just to show
certain discrepancies in the way different situations are handled and
perhaps to show things weren't *always* so paranoid.
[BIG DISCLAIMER] 
These may or may not be true the point being
to illustrate a point rather than an admission of performing any act.
[END BIG DISCLAINER]
	As you know Unix accounts aren't very easy to come by around our 
campus and so being a typical college student I decided to get myself one.
I wanted it more or less legit. as it would be nice to be able to post
and send mail etc.. Well needless to say security on our campus used to
be *really* weak (Yes kids even more so than now :) ), and so it was pretty
trivial to get ourselves accounts. Since I however wanted a real account,
I went to a graduate student and told him I would trade security info., for
a real unix account which he readily agreed. (The SE trick being, never
talk to a bureaucrat) And so I got myself a legit. account (note however I never
signed for the account, which may explain why they were as nice to me as
they were (ie my name was still not attached to the account). Well one night
I was playing around on the account getting some passwd cracker.. (btw
menudo was *not* shadowed at this point). I believe a copy of the passwd
file *may* have been in my account (i had the notion it was public domain 
too so I wasnt to concerned w/ hiding it) No cracked passwds were in my
account ie nothing but pd crack programs and some k00l g-files :).
Well some a *girlfriend* of a central site person warned me that they
were watching my account, but that public domain files are not illegal just
the *act* of cracking :: which seems pretty reasonable to me.
	Politically the trick is never to talk or deal w/ anyone who
has authority but rather people who actually use and control the system as
they generally have more (but not much unfortunately for uh) of a clue
as to what goes on on their systems. I'd like to also point out that pushing
can go both ways, there are many of you who are hardnosed about security
ie lets bust people who volenteer information. (Goggans case, being an
example) The problem w/ this really is that you push people so underground
that they end up thinking fine you dont want to know about how fucked up
your system is, we'll show you what it looks like trashed. This is obviously
not in the best interest of any sysadmin and so since there will always
be security people and there will always be those who enjoy seeing how to
break security it would be best to keep an open dialogue between the two
groups and not one of animosity and fear /contempt and disgust. I honestly
believe that it is in the best interest to *encourage* people to play around
w/ systems w/ the intention of keeping that playing out in the open where
people can see it. The situation here at uh is completely the opposite here
now (again as goggans case points out) where admins are next to paranoid
but their lack of knowledge of some of the most trivial hacking methods
have allowed our domain to be turned into swiss cheese while they are
are busily trying to bust someone for printing a passwd file.
This really had little to w/ the case, but just my philosophy. 

And now back to the story....
===============================================================================
                                   CASE 1
===============================================================================

The following are memos and letters regarding James Henderson's FIRST charge
and sanction by the University of Houston.  They appear in chronological order,
each separated by the double-line, "==========".
All of James' personal comments are shown in brackets (e.g., [This is bogus]).

===============================================================================

UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON
Academic Computing User Services
Mail Code: CC-1961

Memorandum______________________________________________________________________

TO:	Kathy Anzivino
	Dean of Students Office

FROM:	Howard Jares
	Manager

DATE:	March 11, 1992

SUBJ:	Request for assistance regarding misuse of university computing services.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This memo is to request your office's assistance in the disciplinary action
related to the misuse of Academic Computing services.

There have recently been several instances where academic computing resources
were abused and/or misused by owners of General Student Accounts (ST accounts)
and an instructional account (for class-related use only).

This memo is to address the actions taken by James Henderson, a Junior COSC
major.  He has repeatedly demonstrated his inability to comply with policies
regarding the use/misuse of the facilities.

Mr. Henderson was issued the following accounts as describe below:

	Userid		System Name	Type of Account		Section code
	----------	------------	-----------------	-------------
	cosc1547	menudo		General Student
	cosc15g1	menudo		Undergraduate Instructional 92S07214
	ST1JF		Jetson		General Student
	jeh		NeXT		General Student

Mr. Henderson is under investigation for using these accounts for business
purposes, harassing other users through electronic mail, using resources 
without proper approval and/or breaking into other users' accounts.  All of
these actions are in direct violation of the "Computing Facilities User
Guidelines" that are attached.

This memo is to request your disciplinary review in acoordance with the
Academic Honesty policies developed and enforced by your department.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Journal of Events Regarding James Henderson:

February 20, 1992:  cosc1547 on Menudo
Alleged Activity:   After being requested by Alan Pffiefer-Traum (the operating
                    systems specialist responsible for Menudo) to not install 
                    and run game servers on Menudo, Mr. Henderson renamed and
                    invoked a game server.  This action provided access to
                    anyone connected to the worldwide Internet to play this
                    game on Menudo.
[It's not like I was trying to set up a permanent game on the system and was
 going to tell the whole world to login.  I was simply interested in how MUD
 servers work!  I reran it in order to close shop.  The game was originally
 TinyHORNS at UT, but the guy running it ("Striker") sent it to me when it
 went down...he had to transfer from UT.]
[Avi adds]
    Since this is a game I think Support Services was in their right to
do what they have done thought it could have been handled better. 
[Avi end]
Action Taken:       The account was disabled by Keith Crabb (another operating
                    systems specialist responsible for Menudo).
Documentation:      Computing Facilities User Guidelines
                    Memo from Mr. Henderson to Mr. McCormick
                    Electronic mail from Alan to Mr. Henderson requesting that
                    he not run game servers on Menudo
                    Electronic main from Alan to Jerry to notify him that
                    cosc1547 on menudo has been disabled
                    Electronic mail from Mr. Henderson to Keith about being
                    "KNOCKED OUT!"

February 21, 1992:  I contacted Mr. Henderson on February 21 and explained the
                    security violation to him.  I also explained that the 
                    appeal process was to write a letter to Interim Associate
                    Vice President Gary McCormick to explain his actions and 
                    request that the account be turned back on.

                    Mr. Henderson composed a letter and provided me with a 
                    copy.  Mr. McCormick delegated the investigation
                    responsibility to William Rowley (Director of Academic
                    Computing) who in turn authorized me to investigate this
                    incident.

February 26, 1992:  Mr. Henderson had recently requested an ST account on the
                    JETSON system.  After investigating the event, Mr. Rowley
                    and I determined it would be best to reinstated his
                    service on the requested ST account on the Jetson system,
                    since this computing environment provided much better
                    control and accountability.  I instructed Scott Shreck
                    (Supervisor of Support Services group) and Jerry to require
                    Mr. Henderson to come to the Computing Center and get a 
                    copy of the Computing Facilities User Guidelines to insure
                    that he would understand these policies.

                    The account cosc1547 on Menudo has been left disabled and
                    will remain that way pending direction from the Dean of
                    Students office.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 2, 1992:      Jerry Raschke (Resource Administrator for Academic Comp.)
                    moved all non-executable files to Mr. Henderson's new
                    account ST1JF.
                    Scott gave Mr. Henderson his new userid (ST1JF on Jetson)
                    with a copy of the Computing Facilities User Guidelines
                    and instructed him to read them carefully.
                    Mr. Henderson later said that he needed the executable also
                    so Jerry allowed him one week to access the files in the
                    account over the network.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 5, 1992:      COSC15G1 on Menudo

Alleged Activity:   Mr. Henderson used his class account to queued more than 
                    100 electronic mail message to a user in California full of
                    obscenities and ^G (bell) characters.  This was discovered
                    during a routine check on the mail delivery system.
[Routine check, eh?  Yeah right.  And how do they know what was in the mail
 without having to violated privacy laws by reading the mail?  They read my
 e-mail without probable cause...as they say it was "routine check!"  Do they
 read everybody's mail on "routine checks?"]
Action Taken:       No action was taken.  Alan expected a call from the 
                    operating systems person at the site.
[Avi begins]
   I didn't know about this. If someone did this to me I would have been
pissed because its obviously a mailbomb. This wasn't brought up again however
ie the admin or the cal. account user never responded to the bomb. If this
is true, perhaps he wanted to be bombed? Perhaps he felt he deserved to be
bomb? Maybe it was an admin who wanted to see how his system faired against
mailbombings. Again I'm not saying this is true but it is SS's responsibility
to make sure policy was violated (trivial by contacting user of account).
As this really isn't brought up again [this is a serious allegation, in 
my opinion much more serious than running a mud] we can only conclude that
KC did not do anything illegal (SS apparantly agreeiing ie no action taken)
[Avi ends] 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 5, 1992:      COSC15G1 on Menudo

Alleged Activity:   Alan received a complaint regarding cosc15g1 from Mike 
                    Kelly at Notre Dame regarding the offensive News postings
                    by Mr. Henderson.  During the investigation of this 
                    complaint it became apparent that Mr. Henderson was using
                    the university computing facilities to sell comic books
                    commercially.
[No, I'm not in the comic book business.  It just appeared that way.
 My posts for selling comic books were completely legitimate.]
[Avi adds]
  KC was selling his own comic book collection, but being a nerd he has
gazillions of them :). I have seen support service people buy and sell
stuff for a profit via contacts over then net w/ no repercussions. Note also
Anzivino dropped these charges.
[Avi ends]
Action Taken:       Alan disabled the account based upon the Computing 
                    Facilities User Guidelines.
Documentation:      Electronic mail message from Mike Kelly to Alan (root)
                    Electronic mail from Scott to me regarding Mr. Henderson's
                    demands to reinstate his account
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 9, 1992:      I requested Jerry to look into Mr. Henderson's files to see
                    if there was any indication of commercial information 
                    regarding his alleged comic book sales.  Jerry found a file
                    dated 1/15/92 advertising the issues Mr. Henderson had for
                    sale and stating "All transaction usually done through
                    e-mail.  If you have questions, wish to order, or send a
                    WANT LIST -- just E-MAIL!".  The message goes on to state
                    that "future bargain lists to be consistently posted".
[Yes, it takes QUITE A WHILE to sell the hundreds of comics I've been trying
 to get rid of... it's a personal "garage sale" type post!  The way Anzivino
 found it NOT in violation was because she asked me if I've made a significant
 profit...and I said no.]
                    Jerry also found a bunch of games and configuration file
                    which was used to authorize other users to play this game
                    on menudo.  The list included authorization for 16 
                    different computer systems non of which are afiliated with 
                    the University of Houston.
[Another display of their computer inabilities and ignorance.  The file they
 found was a script for a telnet client.  It had "/addworld TinyMUSH <address>"
 for each MUD game I liked to telnet OUT TO...it wasn't an config file which
 let people telnet INTO my account!  The script file is like an alias file...
 it set up easy-to-type commands, like "/connect tinymush" would connect me
 to that <address> of the MUD.  Sysadmins ALWAYS ASSUME THE WORST!]
[Avi adds]
  Haha.. again I think this illustrates that people dont seem to know
what to look for. Of course maybe they do and they are just being malicious.
(The infamous incompetence vs. malicious debate :) )
[Avi ends] 
                   I asked Alan if he had any complaints regarding Mr. 
                    Henderson.  He sent an inquiry to James Cowling at the 
                    Creative Writing Department at the University of Victoria
                    regarding the mail Mr. Henderson sent him previously.
                    James sent back a rather lengthy response which is attached.
Documentation:      Electronic mail from Jerry to me containing the advertisement.
                    Electronic mail from Jerry to me with a copy of the game
                    authorization file.
                    A explanation of the contents of the configuration file.
                    Electronic mail from Alan to Jim Cowling
                    Electronic mail from Jim Cowling to Alan (2 messages)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 10, 1992:     jeh on NeXT cluster at the Central Site Computing Facility
Alleged Activity:   No action by user
Action Taken:       Since NeXT account were issued based upon the user having a
                    menudo account, Jim McGee at Central Site disabled jeh.
                    Jim also stated that the account would be disabled until
                    the Computing Center had fully investigated and resolved
                    any issues it had with Mr. Henderson.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 10, 1992:     COSC15G1 on Menudo
Alleged Activity:   No action by user
Action Taken:       Howard Jares spoke to Dr. Paris who is the Unit Authority
                    over the instructional COSC15G1 account.  He gave his 100%
                    support for the action taken to disable the account.  He
                    stated that he did not condone such action and appreciate
                    Academic Computing's acton on the matter.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 10, 1992:     jeh on Menudo
Alleged Activity:   Mr. Henderson was seen logged on a NeXT machine at Central
                    Site even though his account was disabled earlier in the
                    day.  See the next entry below as to why this is of
                    particular interest.
Action Taken:       No action taken
[Whatever.  Maybe I was trying to log in... I don't remember.  They're stupid
 to think I would hack into an account, especially right under their noses.
 This whole thing was like bad timing.  My playing around with security 
 programs and all (which happen to be public domain and supported by CERT).
 There are other people that do use hacked accounts.  As a matter of fact,
 their still being used...but if I were to tell the sysadmins, they'd probably
 think I had some affiliation and assistance in the cracking and using of the
 accounts.  But why do the the sysadmins think I am trying to compromise 
 accounts when I already had my own and/or could simply apply for others?]
[Avi adds]
	WTF? If they saw him log on to a next why didn't they walk
5 feet (distance from desk to next machines) and see what account he was 
logged on to? Was it a fred? Was he having fun at their expense by having
a friend pop up screens on the machine he was sitting on, to make it
look like he was logged on. I would do this if my account got shut down
that day, but I would also expect them to walk over to check it out not
jot notes down in hopes of a later bust. 
[Avi ends]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 10, 1992:     In the evening, the NeXT password file was compromised.  
                    The user who did this copied the password file to menudo.
                    On menudo, a password cracking program was run and 56 out
                    of 132 passwords were obtained.  Some of the userids and
                    passwords on menudo were the same as those on the NeXT.
                    Keith found that a dormant staff account, ACSM0, was
                    cracking NeXT passwords from Central Site.  It was verified
                    that some of the accounts which had been compromised on
                    menudo were not being used by the actual account holders.
                    The ACSM0 account contained a password cracking program
                    and finger information on every user on menudo; account
                    ST1IJ did also.  This account was also TALKing to two of
                    the accounts which had appeared to be compromised.  ST1IJ
                    told Keith that he would delete the file.
Action Taken:       The above mentioned contact.
[Yeah?  So?  No mention of me...what the hell does this have to do with me?]
[Avi adds]
	The allegation is that KC must have run crack on the machine. Again
no proof, just innuendo. If they dont want finger disable it. This st1ij
apparantly got talked into deleting finger information file. 56 cracks
out of 132! Its not students who need to be running cracks its admins.
[Avi end]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 10, 1992:     cosc1547
Alleged Activity:   Suspect files found in disabled account.  One of these
                    files seems to be a file that allows access to users on
                    certain specified systems.  One file is a "To-do" list
                    that reminds the user to post an advertisement for his
                    comics business.  Another file seems to be an advertisement.
["Seems to be.."  Everything SEEMS bad to them.  It was a MUD file! Stupids!
 And my personal to-do list.  Ya?  Is it a crime to have a text file?  I called
 it an "advertisement" but the fact is, I am not a commercial business!!!
 Funny how one word can be misinterpreted.  These guys are pathetic.]
[Avi adds]
   The other file sounds like an .rlogin file to me.
[End avi]
Action Taken:       No action taken 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 11, 1992:     jeh on NeXT systems
Alleged Activity:   Mr. Henderson set up a hidden directory containing a
                    subdirectory named to look like a word processing subdir-
                    ectory ("wordproc").  This subdirectory contained a 
                    password cracking program and a text file consisting of the
                    Central Site NeXT password file.
Action Taken:       The user was denied access to his NeXT files.
[Oh, and if I named it "fuck" they would have gotten me on offensive charges.
 A bullet and a gun...but no accounts were cracked or compromised.  There is
 no indication that I ever actually cracked the passwords...no record.]
[Avi adds]
   He only had the passwd file and a crack program, no cracked passwords.
[Avi end]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
March 12, 1992:     ST1JF on Jetson
Alleged Activity:   Account contained password cracking program
Action Taken:       Disabled the account
[They shut me off because I had a public domain program which isn't even 
 executable on VMS.]
===============================================================================

[UH Dean of Students Office letterhead goes here]
Dean of Students Office
University Center
Houston, Texas 77204-3652

3/23/92

Mr. James E. Henderson

Dear Mr. Henderson:

The Dean of Students Office has received a referral from Academic Computing
Services stating that:
	you have allegedly used your student and instructional accounts for
	business purposes, harassing others through electronic mail, using
	resources without proper approval and/or breaking into other users'
	accounts.  All of these actions are in violation of the "Computing
	Facilities User Guidelines" that were issued to you when your accounts
	were set up for you.

[This quote is taken DIRECTLY from the ACS referral.  Here, Ms. Anzivino takes
 everything that the dept. states or says word for word.  She seems to never 
 really look into the details of the case.  Here, she fails to refer to which
 University Handbook policy I allegedly violated.  I doubt she ever even 
 referred to the Computing Facilities User Guidelines when writting this 
 letter.  She just quotes Howard Jares directly, and fails to show that she
 has really been investigating the matter...
 ...as we will also see in the sanction letter below.]

This is to request that you contact my office within three days after receiving
this letter to discuss possible violations of the University's disciplinary
code.  [quote from Handbook about obligations to meet with Dean of Students].

My office is located in the Dean of Students office, Room 252 of the University
Center.  Please arrange for an appointment to see me by calling 749-2915
[now 743-5470] or coming personally into the office.  Your cooperation is
appreciated.

Sincerely,
[signed]
Kathy Anzivino
Interim Assistant Dean of Students

cc: file

===============================================================================

[On 3/31/92 I agreed to a disciplinary conference with Ms. Anzivino]

===============================================================================

[Dean of Students Office letterhead goes here]

4/8/92

Mr. James E. Henderson

Dear Mr. Henderson:

This letter confirms that you met with me to discuss a referral made by the
Academic Computing User Services Department.  The referral states that:
	you have allegedly used your student and instructional accounts for
	business purposes, harassing others through electronic mail, using
	resources without proper approval and/or breaking into other users'
	accounts.  All of these actions are in violation of the "Computing
	Facilities User Guidelines" that were issued to you when your accounts
	were set up for you.

After considering the presentation of your case, the referral, the 
investigation, and the University of Houston's Student Disciplinary Policies 
and Procedures, the following conclusion has been reached:  You did use your 
student and instructional accounts in ways which they were not to be used.  
Thus, you were in in violation of the University of Houston's Disciplinary 
Code A, 5.16 which defines as unacceptable:
             "Unauthorized use or misuse of any computer, computer system,
              service, program, data, network, cable television network, or
              communication network."

[The gem here is "You did use your student and instructional accounts in ways
 which they were not to be used."  She fails to point out the exact CFUG policy
 that was violated!  She's summing up her conclusion in a very vague claim,
 being Code A 5.16.  Federal courts have called kind of policy "too vague."
 Which specific violation for which account?  Is she saying I'm guilty of ALL
 of those charges on BOTH computer accounts?  This gem of a sentence is very 
 much like the one in my current case (1993):  "You did use the computer 
 account for purposes other than what it is to be used for."  
 Quite bogus, I must say.]

Therefore, the sanctions for you are:

1. Disciplinary Probation:  Effective March 31, 1992 and ending May 16, 1993.
Any student life policy violation during the period of this disciplinary 
probation could result in the consideration of more severe disciplinary actions
by the University of Houston.  A notation of "Disciplinary Probation" will be
entered on your University of Houston academic record.  It is your responsibility
to notify the Dean of Students Office at the end of your probation period to 
have the notation removed from your record.  Also, an enrollment stop is being
placed on your academic record for the duration of the disciplinary probation
period.  Prior to re-enrolling at the University of Houston -- at fee payment
time -- and/or requesting an official copy of your academic record, you must
receive clearance from the Dean of Students' Office.

2. Loss of Computer account Privileges:  Effective March 31, 1992 and ending
July 8, 1992 you will not be eligible for a General Student Account or an
Instructional Account with Academic Computing User Services.  At the end of 
this period and before a new account will be issued to you, you must meet with
Mr. Howard Jares to discuss one more time the appropriate uses for these 
accounts.

3. Written Warning:  Your action was unacceptable at the University of Houston,
and you must refraing doing it again.  It is incumbent upon you, just like it
is upon all persons in the university community, to abid by local laws and the
rules of the university.

[I hate the way the word "it" is used!  "Your action,"  not "actions?"  Then 
 did I do ONE action?  And which is "it?"  Again very vague in pointing out 
 what they want me to NOT do.  And don't tell me "You know what you did."  For
 records purposes (and legal suit purposes), the entire wording in these 
 letters from the Dean of Students Office will not hold up!]
[Avi adds]
	Hopefully!
[Avi end]
You do have the right to appeal this decision _for_valid_reasons_.  If you
decide to appeal you must notify Dr. William Munson, Dean of Students,
_in_writing_, within five class days from the date of the receipt of this
letter.

Sincerely,
[signed]
Kathy Anzivinio
Interim Assistant Dean of Students

[God!  I should have known all along!   She was an INTERIM at the time!]

===============================================================================

[After this sanction, I was furious!  After a few upset phone calls (rash, but
 irrelevant to due process) trying to get a more detailed explanation of which
 exact computing guideline(s) she found me in violation of, 
 I turned in this hand-written appeal:]

April 10, 1992

Dr. William Munson 
Dean of Students

Dear Sir:

This is a letter of appeal to the decisions and sanctions given to me in a 
letter from Asst. Dean Anzivino on April 8.  I am appealing the first two
sanctions:
(1) I wish to be able to go regular registration for Summer II semester.
    I am on probation (disciplinary) until May 16.  Regular registration is
    May 11.  Please consider removing the last five days of my probation period.
(2) I plan on registering with a computer class in my degree program this 
    summer, such as Dr. Paris' Fundamentals of OS class which I was forced to
    drop in the Spring.  This class will be 4-6 MTTh in the Summer II semester.
    I have been considered ineligible for Instructional Computer Accounts until
    July 8.  Computer classes are _not_ offered in Summer IV, so I would need
    priviledge to an instructional account for a Summer II class.
    Please reconsider.

Sincerely,
[signed] James Henderson

===============================================================================

[While waiting for my appeal decision, I decided to write another letter:]

February 20, 1992

To: Gary McCormick
Vice President of Information Technology
[Now permanent Director of M.I.S.]

Dear Sir,

   This is concerning my UNIX account on the menudo server, account COSC1547,
being shut off.
   I received this account in the Fall '91 semester and have renewed it for this
semester for general use with my current computer class, for use of e-mail, and
for use of the internet.  I did not realize that server-games were not allowed
by UH.  Other campuses such as UT, Berkeley, and MIT allow these, and I was 
trying to enter UH into the internet (game) community.  These games are multi-
user, much like the internet-relay-channel here at karazm.math.uh.edu, where
students "socialize" with each other and talk about each other's part of the
world.  I was running one of the servers, called CougarMUSH (Multi User Shell)
on menudo, and students from around the country telnet to it by use of a port.
This is a great way to chat with other computer science students.
  Anyway, my concern is that of turning my account back ON.  I was chatting
with a friend at UT when I was shut down.  I had been warned that I should not
run game servers on menudo, and I had known of the risks towards me & my 
account, but I did run it again for the purpose of retrieving programs within
the game; a MUSH has its own programming language for creating object in the
game and having them do certain function -- much like the holodeck on Star
Trek:The Next Generation. 
I renamed the file temporarily in order not to get shut down; but, within 5
minutes, they found it and terminated me.
   Now they refuse to believe that I will delete the game and will not continue
to do such activities, thus I am writing to you.  Please, I ask you, to re-
instate my account, for I have personal e-mail messages, and word-processing
text I need to access, and I promise to _not_ run _game-servers_ any longer.
Unless, you guys decide to allow them, which I strongly do and would support.
These games have no harmful effects and take up almost NO CPU time over any
short or long period of time.  For now, I will delete it and cause no more
trouble, and later we shall discuss authorization of these type of activities.
(Consider running the game at night-time hours?)

Please activate my account:  COSC1547

Thank you, James Henderson

[Neither Mr. McCormick nor anybody ever responded with a YES or NO.  This just
 goes to show that UH administration is UNWILLING to discuss matters with 
 students and computer users.  Wonder how he's doing over at M.I.S.]

===============================================================================
[UH Dean of Students Office letterhead goes here]

April 24, 1992

Mr. James Henderson

Dear Mr. Henderson:

Please be informed that I have carefully reviewed your appeal dated April 10,
1992.  I have discussed your academic status with the Department of Computer
Sciences and have been told that you are lacking only computer science courses
to complete a degree at the University of Houston.  The sanction of "Loss of
Computer Account Privileges" was an applicable sanction but suspension was not
the intent.  Since the sanction would prevent your enrollment in summer courses
I will amend it.
[Avi adds]
   Up to this point I think the university was pretty reasonable. IE they
more or less gave him 6 months probation for his mud/comic book thing
and they probably wanted to show KC that they have power before some of
the allegations are become substantive.
[Avi ends]
I have also been forwarded information regarding the dialog that took place
between you and the clerical staff in the Dean of Student's Office on Wednesday,
April 22, 1992.  This behavior was unacceptable and will not be tolerated.  With
this in mind your amended sanctions are as follows:

1.  Disciplinary Probation:  Effective Tuesday, March 31, 1992 and ending on
your graduation date from the University of Houston.  Any student life policy
violation during the period...[everything else is as the above sanction letter]

[In other words, the Dean EXTENDED punishment (in response to my appeal) due to
 an alleged phone call!  Extending my punishment without ANY due process is an
 EXTREME violation of MY student rights.  Dean Munson basically states that I 
 am guilty of "unacceptable behavior" toward his secretary when he has no proof
 that a phone call was ever made, or if so, that it was even me!
 See my "appeal to this appeal" below.]
[Avi begin]
    Obviously the extended probation (same as probation from july 92 until
graduation) had the phone call in mind. Whether or not KC actually bitched
someone out, one would think that he'd at least have a charge brought up
against him and a hearing and be given a chance to defend himself. Munson
basically charged him and sentenced him in a brilliant stroke of penmanship.
This is surprising when considering that the fineline between "offensive"
and "harassment" is not all together clear. Note also that, now
Anzivino claims that Munson was not doing this but rather trading punishments.
IE since he got his account back he was given extended probation... and
you guys thought we were stretching it. Munson explicitly states he
had the phone conversation in mind not the fact that KC got computer access.
[Avi ends]
2.  Written Warning:  Your action was unacceptable at the University of Houston,
and you must refrain from doing it again.  It is incumbent upon you, just like
it is upon all persons in the university to community, to abide by local laws
and the rules of the university and report any acts that are in violation of
the same.

I remind you that any further violations of Student Life Policies will not be
tolerated and will be grounds for suspension from the University of Houston.

Sincerely,
[signed]
William F. Munson, Ph.D.
Dean of Students
===============================================================================

[Three months later, I appealed to this appeal decision:]

7/23/92

William F. Munson, Ph.D.
Dean of Students

Dear Dr. Munson:

This letter is regarding my appeal (April 10, 1992) of the sanctions given me 
on April 4, 1992.  The amended sanction given me on April 24, 1992, by you is
unfair and violates my student right to a procedural hearing or conference.

When appealing sanctions, a student expects the sanctions to be changed to 
benefit him or her; the student does not expect to be given any additional
penalties, which has been done in the case of my appeal.  I appreciate that the
sanction "loss of computer account privileges" has been removed, but you have
changed the ending period for my Disciplinary Probation from May 16, 1993 to
the date of my graduation, which will be far after May 16, 1993.  Basing your
judgement to extend my probation period on actions I have allegedly done 
_after_ my disciplinary conference is a violation of my student rights.

According to proper disciplinary procedures, a student shall be found neither
innocent nor guilty of anything other than the alleged actions ("charges") 
stated in the preliminary letter.  A student has the right to a hearing or
conference on every accusation of misconduct; I was not given this right for
your accusation of me having unacceptable and intolerable behavior with your
clerical staff over the telephone.  You have no right in adding more penalties
to an appeal due to the alleged action or actions of a student, until the 
student is given a proper hearing and is found guilty of violating the related
student policy or policies.

I wish to be compensated for your violations of my student rights.  I am 
requesting that the length of my Disciplinary Probation be reasonably shortened
or that it be terminated.

Furthermore, the sanctions given me initially were based on my violation of
Code A, 5.16.  The final report (letter) does not explicity state the exact
actions for which I was found guilty of.  This is very vague, and shows that
Kathy Anzivino has given poor attention to the detail of my case; what is the
exact abusive conduct I am guilty of which considers me in violation of Code A,
5.16?  Please elaborate on these points in the concluding reports of 
disciplinary procedures.

Violating my student rights shows possible prejudice, and is also grounds for a
law suit against the University of Houston system.  According to the Fifth
Amendment, I have the right of due process of law, and I believe this also 
should pertain to disciplinary procedures of a university (this has been ruled
in federal courts before).  The computer account, which is a student facility
at a public university, is required in my course work, and depriving me of this
paid-for facility before I have been given a fair hearing is violation of my
Fifth Amendment rights.  Please take prompt action on restoring my rights.

[What I meant here is that they have no right to turn off computer accounts
 for alleged actions.  They should simply keep an eye on it until the Dean
 makes the decision if anything was violated.  Better yet, Information Tech-
 nology should have a COMPUTING POLICY REVIEW BOARD.]

Attached are excerpts from several text files currently in the archive of the
EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation).  These excerpts pertain to student rights
both in and out of the electronic community, also called "cyberspace."  Laws in
the area of "cyberspace" are not specifically outlined and are currently being
developed by our legislators every day.  Please do circulate these excerpts in
order to educate your staff on life and living in the electronic community.

I hope to receive a response from you in the near future.

Respectfully yours,
[signed]
James E. Henderson III
[Avi adds]
	This appeal to an appeal wasn't successful :(.
[Avi ends]
Attachments
[Refer to my EFF excerpts file for the Attachments]
[Avi adds]
	Gotta luv 'em!
[Avi ends]
===============================================================================
                                  END CASE 1
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