Oregon's first Twitter libel lawsuit pits Tigard doctor against Portland blogger
In Portland, Oregon, a doctor sued a woman for $1 million
for tweeting that he requested sex in exchange for medical treatment at his
medical spa. The doctor, Jerrold "Jerry" Darm, was previously
reprimanded in 2001 for a violation of the Medical Practices Act due to
unprofessional or dishonorable conduct. This occurred because Darm agreed to
treat a patient's spider veins for free. Once finished the procedure, Darm
kissed and touched the patient believing that the contact would be the payment.
This $1 million dollar suit was actually believed to be the first of its kind
to go to trial. The case was eventually dismissed.
I definitely feel
that multitasking, especially in an educational setting is at an all time high.
When I am in class, I always notice when a student in front of me is not paying
attention. Every time I see it, I ask myself what can I do to multitask in
class and still do well in school? I guess I am old fashioned but I absolutely
hate taking my computer to class because I feel like it is my biggest
distraction from doing my work. I like almost every other college student will
find a way to avoid paying attention if it means doing something more
interesting to us. I feel like one of the biggest distractions to students is
ability to use social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter during class.
Even though I am just as guilty as the next student for using social networks,
I still believe they are not very positive influences in a class setting.
One example of students
attempting to multitask actually happened to me just yesterday. I was sitting
in my business class and look to my left. I noticed that a couple of students
were on Facebook and playing video games on their computers. This showed that
these students had no intention of paying attention in class and that they only
show up because the professor takes attendance.
Now, or course, I am not
saying that using computers and social networks in classes is not all bad. I
actually have fallen victim to having to Google search a word or check
Wikipedia to learn about something a speaker was talking about. Computers are
very much a reliable and valuable tool in classes because it gives students
more interactive ways to learn instead of just looking at a PowerPoint or
hearing a professor speak for an hour or so.
This brings me to the
central question at hand. Should society focus on addressing filter failure?
Yes, society should focus on addressing filter failure because there has
been a big issue with filtering what students can see online in classes and
what students cannot see in classes. I personally remember in high school that
while we were allowed to bring our laptops to school; we had to register them
with the technology department. Along with the registration came the
understanding that some of our commonly used websites would be blocked in the
process while we were on school grounds. Among the main websites that were
blocked were social networking sites like Facebook and sports sites like
ESPN.com.
One thing that I
definitely found interesting was the study included in the Facebook and Lower
Grades article because it is just interesting to see how much social networking
can negatively affect one’s academic performance. It just goes to show how
little people know about the psychological implications that social networks
can have on a person. One other article that I read highlights how social
networking can hinder a person’s ability to successfully multitask. One would
think that it was a constructive way to develop that skill but the study in my
linked article explains that it actually narrows a person’s attention and
hinders them from being able to think about multiple things at the same time.
All in all, it all is up to the student and whether he or she can handle the difficulties that are connected to using social networks in an academic setting.
