Canadian University Bans Wi-Fi

Think the politically correct thinking on campus has gone too far? How about this one: The president of Canada's Lakeland University has banned Wi-Fi on campus, because he claims it may have "fairly significant" health risks. It's good that Lakeland President Fred Gilbert has the health of the students in mind, but science doesn't seem to be his strong suit. We already swim in a sea of electric and magnetic fields. Cell phone transmissions, radio transmissions, TV transmissions...it's all around us. And there's no evidence that Wi-Fi presents a danger.

But that hasn't stopped Gilbert. Gilbert told the ITBusiness.ca Web site that the potential dangers "are particularly relevant in younger people (who have) fast-growing tissues, and most of our student body are late teenagers and still growing, so it's just a matter of taking precautions and providing an environment that doesn???t have a potential associated risk."

Gilbert does say that a World Health Organization study found no risks with Wi-Fi, but adds that "it admits the information is not 100 per cent."

Of course, what in life is 100 percent safe?

My bet is that Gilbert will ultimately back off. Students expect the Internet to be available everywhere, and he'll most likely find few applications if he doesn't provide Wi-Fi.