Thursday, February 23, 2006

Oh. Dear.

Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario has decided to rule out campus-wide wireless Internet access. Why?
"The jury is still out on the impact that electromagnetic forces have on human physiology," [University President Fred] Gilbert told a university meeting last month, insisting that university policy would not change while he remained president.

"Some studies have indicated that there are links to carcinogenetic occurrences in animals, including humans, that are related to energy fields associated with wireless hotspots, whether those hotspots are transmissions lines, whether they're outlets, plasma screens, or microwave ovens that leak."

Yikes. At MPOW we're promoting wireless access at our libraries. DH has installed a wireless network at our home. I'm at the point where I expect wireless access at hotels. DSD has taken to hanging out at Burger King locally and doing her homework, because they're a Wi-Fi site.

Meanwhile, back on the Canadian ranch, this guy is in the tin-foil hat crowd, having decided that wireless networks are health hazards. There's no scientific evidence to support this, of course. And the students are clamoring for wireless access, only to have their university president nix the idea.

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