One computer-related decision Ohio University officials considered before Fall Quarter was left in the hands of the student users.

While OU's Communication Network Services will help law enforcement officials trace illegal acts committed on residence hall computers, it will not track the Internet sites students decide to visit, said Tom Reid, director of CNS.

Upon advisement from OU's Office for Legal Affairs, CNS decided not to censor Internet sites on the nearly 2,000 computers installed in freshman residence hall rooms last summer, Reid said.

By federal law, students can be prosecuted for hacking into computers, harassing others via electronic mail or visiting Internet sites depicting child pornography, but students who visit Web sites depicting adult-related pornography or hate group material will not be punished, he said.

"All we do is encourage people not to do anything illegal," he said.

While freshman Morgan Miller said she does not plan to visit questionable Internet sites, punishment for visiting the sites probably would not be a deterrent for some students, she said.

"Even if there was a penalty, people are going to try to get away with it," she said.

But if a student is found using his or her computer for illegal activities, CNS will provide the OU Police Department with information about the student's network address and what time the student used his or her computer, Reid said.

But because students connect to a network to access the Internet instead of OU's main server, CNS cannot track which sites students visit, he said.

Outside sources, such as recording industry investigators, organizations whose computer systems have been hacked and people who receive menacing e-mails, usually report students' illegal activities to OU officials, Reid said.

Although outside sources and OUPD will handle legal issues, one OU residence assistant said he would talk to residents he witnessed visiting sites he considered immoral.

Eric Bauer, a residence assistant in Pickering Hall, said while he will respect his residents' legal boundaries, he would not hesitate to question choices he finds immoral.

"I would say something like, `Is this the kind of example you want to be setting for the rest of our floor? Is this something you should be looking at?'" he said.

Another residence assistant said he would speak up only if residents were infringing on the rights of others.

Kevin Steele, Reed Hall's Administrative Resident Assistant, said he would reprimand students who hung questionable materials outside their doors. But what goes on behind closed doors is their choice.

"What they do on their own computer in their own room is their own business," he said.