Student disciplined for creating MSU class search tool, Spartan Scheduler | Hacker News Reader

Student disciplined for creating MSU class search tool, Spartan Scheduler

statenews.com

10 pointsrmason5 comments

Reading between the lines, it sounds like the university was most concerned that the website made class times and locations public (because it didn't require a student ID) thus creating potential safety issues.

I agree, until I read that he had to write a personal apology to the director in charge of the shitty software the school requires students to use.

While he was in the wrong for scraping, it got blown out of proportion when miss director’s feelings got hurt.

There was a mass shooting event at MSU back in 2023 and campus administrators made a lot of changes as a result so they are still very sensitive to the issue.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023_Michigan_State_University...

Had he required a signup process with student ID that might have muted the concern somewhat. But I totally understand his excitement at creating something and wanting to share it with his friends. It got way too popular which is a testament to the fact he had built something better than what existed. In the end I hope that university officials are understanding.

In the words of AITA, ESH (everyone sucks here). He used his personal login to scrape the non-public university data and post it publicly. They went full retard on him instead of saying "hey, nice work, but get in touch with us to do it properly, and do you need a part-time job while studying?".

I have both graduated and worked for Michigan State. I truly feel sorry for this poor developer. He was trying to scratch that itch and make things better. If I was that department I'd hire him not try to get him thrown out of school. When I worked there we had some truly amazing student interns who went on to jobs in Silicon Valley.

If I had a way of reaching this kid (or he reads HN) I will buy him lunch and try to convince him he's really a born entrepreneur but he just doesn't know it yet.

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