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Cisco Networking Academy's Introduction to Basic Switching Concepts and Configuration
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This chapter examines some of the basic switch configuration settings required to maintain a secure, available, switched LAN environment.
This chapter is from the book
Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to answer the following questions:
- What are the steps a switch takes after power is applied?
- What is the function of the boot loader if the operating system is corrupt or missing?
- How might the switch LEDs help with troubleshooting?
- What are the steps taken to configure a Cisco switch with an IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway?
- What interface is used to apply an IP address to a Cisco switch?
- What functionality is available once a switch has an IP address and default gateway?
- What type of customization can be applied to a switch port?
- What tools can be used to troubleshoot a Layer 1 or 2 problem?
- What steps are required to configure a switch for SSH access?
- What are some common security attacks that affect switches?
- What mitigation tools could be used on a Cisco switch to prevent or react to a security attack?
- What are best practices for switch security?
- What steps are required to configure switch security?
- What is the purpose of NTP?
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Students are expected to be familiar with all of the college's academic policies and procedures. Seek the assistance of a counselor or faculty advisor if you have questions about regulations and procedures stated in this or any other section of the college catalog.
In order to receive credit and a grade for a course, a student must properly register for and pay for the course prior to the registration deadline as stated in the Course Schedule for a particular semester or summer session.
Academic dishonesty is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Cheating, forgery, plagiarism, and collusion in dishonest acts undermine the college's educational mission and the students' personal and intellectual growth. Students are expected to bear individual responsibility for their work and to uphold the ideal of academic integrity. Any student who attempts to compromise or devalue the academic process will be sanctioned.
Cheating harms the college community in many ways. Honest students are frustrated by the unfairness of cheating that goes undetected and therefore unpunished. Students who cheat skew the grading curve in a class, resulting in lower grades for students who worked hard and did their own work.
Plagiarism is the act of presenting another person's ideas, research, or writing as your own. Examples include:
Note: The guidelines that define plagiarism also apply to information secured on web sites. Internet references must specify precisely where the information was obtained and where it can be found.
You may think that citing another author's work will lower your grade. In some unusual cases this may be true, if your instructor has indicated that you must write your paper without reading additional material. But in fact, as you progress in your studies, you will be expected to show that you are familiar with important work in your field and can use this work to further your thinking. Your professors write this kind of paper all the time. The key to avoiding plagiarism is that you show clearly where your own thinking ends and someone else's begins.
Cheating is the attempted or unauthorized use of materials, information, notes, study aids, devices or communication during an academic exercise. Examples include:
Tests and Exams:
Take Home Tests and Individual Assignments:
Collaborative (Group) Assignments:
Notes: Group projects require careful division of responsibility and careful coordination to control the quality of the final product. Group work calls for a different kind of effort, not less of it. When group projects are assigned, the instructor is usually interested in the mastery of group process as well as the subject. Ask the instructor to clarify individual responsibilities and suggest a method of proceeding.
Abuse of Library Privileges
Any attempt to deprive others of equal access to library resources constitutes a violation of academic integrity. This includes the hiding or deliberately misshelving of library books for the use of an individual or group, a repeated failure to respond to recall notices and the removal or attempt to remove library materials from the college library without authorization. Defacing, stealing or destroying books, articles or other library materials meant to serve the entire college community also constitutes a violation of academic integrity.
If a student is found guilty of academic dishonesty, faculty members have the right to either:
A second reported infraction may result in suspension. A third reported infraction may result in expulsion at the discretion of the Vice President and Dean, Student Development and Support Services.
Because of the relationship between attendance and course achievement, students are expected to attend all scheduled classes.
It is the responsibility of each faculty member at the start of the course to provide a clear written statement of the methods used to evaluate student achievement. Each faculty member also has the responsibility to advise students of his/her policies on make-up tests or assignments and on the treatment of missed assignments. Faculty members are encouraged to take into consideration extenuating circumstances when making individual decisions.
Traditionally, faculty members allow up to two hourly absences for each credit hour (i.e., six absences from a course which meets three times per week in a fifteen-week semester) strictly for personal emergencies. There are some courses (i.e., clinical, laboratory, performance, etc.) that may demand different attendance. This information should be specified to the student at the onset of the course.
Student attendance cannot be the sole determinant of a final grade in a course (i.e., although a student's grade can be affected by poor attendance, a faculty member cannot assign a grade of "F" solely for absences); however, students are strongly cautioned to be mindful of how professors link attendance requirements to other aspects of how they are evaluated. This can seriously affect their grade, and even result in failure. Students have the right to appeal the grade according to documentation which is available in the Student Affairs Office.
Students Unable to Attend Courses on Certain Days Because of Religious Beliefs
Section 224a, Paragraph 6-a, of the New York State Education Law regarding absence from classes for religious observance states that "… each student who is absent from school, because of his or her religious beliefs, must be given an equivalent opportunity to register for classes or make up any examination, study or work requirements which he or she may have missed because of such absence on any particular day or days. No fees of any kind shall be charged by the institution for making available to such student such equivalent opportunity."
A grade will be assigned for each credit course in which a student enrolls, in accordance with the following grading system, subject to the conditions listed below:
Although all faculty are required to follow the grading system described above, faculty has the right to determine the specific evaluative criteria for a course (e.g., quizzes, exams, assignments, etc.) as well as their relative weight toward the final course grade. These grading scenarios may vary by department, from instructor to instructor, and from course to course; however students have the right to be informed in writing at the first or second class meeting about the content of the course and the criteria for evaluation.
Since many courses include laboratory or clinical components, faculty also has the right to determine the relative weight of a lab or clinical component in calculating the final grade as well as whether or not a student must pass a lab or clinical component in order to receive a passing grade for the course.
For partially- or fully-online courses, faculty may require one or more on-campus examinations, including the final examination. In addition, faculty of either online or on-campus courses are within their rights to specify that passing a final examination is required in order to pass the course.
The following grades do not affect grade point averages:
Incomplete - The Incomplete grade must be changed to a letter grade according to the following schedule or it will automatically convert to an "IF": (more)
Student Initiated Withdrawal (not assigned by the faculty member) (more)
Faculty Assigned Withdrawal - Passing (Student is passing at the time of withdrawal) (more)
Faculty Assigned Withdrawal - Failing (Student is failing at the time of withdrawal) (more)
Required Continuation (RC) for zero-credit courses only. Not a passing grade for Financial Aid. (more)
Audit (no credit)
P or F
In a course which is graded only "P" (pass) or "F" (fail)
Unofficial withdrawal
The credit hour value of a course is determined by the number of hours per week for which the course is scheduled to meet during a regular semester. In general, one credit hour is given for each hour of class (lecture-recitation) per week and one-third or one-half credit hour for each hour per week of laboratory or courses where outside preparation is less extensive. Note that, in general, students should expect to spend two hours working on course-related projects and assignments outside of the classroom for each one hour spent in class.
Grade points are obtained by multiplying credit hours by the quality points corresponding to the letter grade earned in the course. For example, a grade of "A" in a three-credit-hour course would give a total of 4 quality points x 3 credit hours = 12 grade points. A grade of "B" in the same course would give a grade point total of 3 x 3 = 9 points.
The grade point average is obtained by dividing the total number of grade points earned in all courses by the number of credit hours attempted (withdrawals are not considered attempts). If all grades are "A," the index would be 4.0; B = 3.0; C = 2.0; D = 1.0; F = 0.0.
Full-time students who achieve a semester grade point average of 3.5 to 3.74 will have their names placed on the Dean's List; those who achieve a grade point average of 3.75 to 4.0 are placed on the President's List.
Students are expected to make satisfactory academic progress toward a degree and maintain appropriate academic scholastic standards. Students with a cumulative GPA of less than 2.0 will be required to meet with a designated counselor before registering for the next semester in order to help them improve their academic performance.
If a student does not meet the College's scholastic standards, the student's academic status will be changed according to the table below. Financial aid standards are governed differently because all courses attempted, including developmental and transfer credits, are counted to determine financial aid eligibility.
Academic Status of Students Not Meeting Scholastic Standards
Attempted Academic Credits
Academic Probation
A student on academic probation may take no more than 14 charged credits per semester, as approved by a counselor. Mandated counseling is required for all students on academic probation.
Academic Restriction
A student on academic restriction may take no more than 8 charged credits per semester, as approved by a counselor and/or curriculum chair. Mandated counseling is required for all students on academic restriction.
Academic Dismissal
A student who is academically dismissed may not attend classes at Westchester Community College until the student petitions for reinstatement from academic dismissal and his/her Re-entry Application is approved. Students will be limited to 8 charged credits upon re-entry. Students returning after 3 or more years may be eligible for the Fresh Start Program (see Fresh Start).
Petition for Reinstatement as a Non-Matriculated Student, from Academic Dismissal to Academic Restriction:
A student is encouraged to apply for reinstatement to the College only after the circumstances that caused him/her to be academically dismissed have been addressed.
A student who is reinstated to the College
To petition for reinstatement from academic dismissal, the application process is as follows:
To be reinstated as a matriculated student, a student must have a semester GPA of 2.0 and have a minimum status of academic probation. Reinstatement to matriculated status does not automatically mean financial aid reinstatement, since financial aid eligibility is governed by separate standards.
Reinstatement to matriculated status does not automatically mean reinstatement into a student's former curriculum, since reinstatement or entry into certain curricula requires the permission of the Curriculum Chair. Curricula that require special permission from the Curriculum Chair include, but are not limited to, Nursing, Respiratory Therapy, Radiologic Technology, Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management, Veterinary Technology and Human Services.
It is college policy to provide all possible assistance to students so that their courses will be successfully completed and their educational goals achieved. Accordingly, instructors must be explicit in presenting course requirements, including attendance policy, especially at the beginning of the term. If the course instructor is not available to assign grades, the Department Chair will appoint a qualified faculty member to administer the grading process.
As soon as grades are posted at the end of each semester, a student can access his or her grades online by visiting www.sunywcc.edu/grades. This grade report (which can be easily printed by the student) will show the current academic index as well as the cumulative average. The student copy of the grade report cannot be used as an official transcript. In order to receive credit and a grade for a course, a student must register and pay for the course prior to the registration deadline for that semester or summer session. Students who wish to receive a hard copy of their grade report can do so, at no charge, by contacting the Registrar's Office either by phone (914-606-6810) or by sending an email to firstname.lastname@example.com
Mid-Term Standings
A student whose work is not satisfactory is so informed by the instructor at mid-term. An informal conference is usually held with the instructor in order to discuss difficulties and suggest withdrawal or plan a course of action which should result in improvement and satisfactory achievement by the end of the semester.
For students returning to Westchester Community College after a prior unsuccessful start and a lengthy absence, our institution offers the Fresh Start Program. Students who have not enrolled in credit classes at Westchester Community College for at least three years prior, and who have poor grades on their transcripts may be eligible. This program allows all prior grades to be made non-applicable in a student's program. Fresh Start can be used by each student only once. Students must apply for the Fresh Start program through the Counseling Office after earning 12 academic credits upon re-entry to the college.
Courses discounted will still enter into the Federal Financial Aid calculations for credits attempted. The student cannot apply for additional fresh starts. All criteria must be met, no exceptions.
An official transcript is one bearing the seal of the college and the signature of the Registrar. Official transcripts cannot be sent by fax or email. If a student owes money to the college from any previous semester, no academic transcripts will be forwarded to any other institution until the debt is paid. Requests for an Official transcript may be made in three ways:
By Mail Official copies of your Westchester Community College academic transcript can be requested by mail. Please visit www.sunywcc.edu/transcripts to download and print a Transcript Request Form. Mail your completed written transcript request form to: Westchester Community College Registrar's Office 75 Grasslands Road Valhalla, NY 10595
Written transcript requests must include an accompanying check or money order for $10.00 (per official copy), made payable to Westchester Community College. Cash cannot be accepted.
An unofficial transcript is one given to the student for his or her own use and is marked "unofficial" or "student copy." A student can find out how to obtain an unofficial transcript by visiting www.sunywcc.edu/transcripts. There is no charge for access to unofficial transcripts.
Confidentiality of Student Records
The academic and personal records, which the student establishes at Westchester Community College, are considered by this institution to be confidential information, and information contained in the student's records will be furnished to other parties, including parents, only upon receipt of a release signed by the student, or to duly authorized officials.
Access to Other Records
In response to the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, as it is currently understood, enrolled students have the right to inspect and review all official records, files, and data directly related to them which are maintained by Westchester Community College (except confidential documents dated before January 1, 1975, certain financial records, and medical records). While the college will make every attempt to assist students at the time of their requests, it should be understood that office responsibilities such as registration, placement, grading, etc. may require that a later, mutually convenient appointment be arranged for document review. Under the law providing access to institutional records, students have the right to:
Student records are maintained by the Office of the Registrar, Room 107, Administration Building, where Request Forms for record access may be obtained.
Any questions concerning the procedure to be followed in requesting such a hearing should be directed to the Dean of Student Personnel Services.
The information given below will help you determine what courses to take, help you decide what to take first, and inform you of exams, evaluations or courses you may have to take before registering for certain courses or programs. The procedures for making changes in your curriculum and withdrawing from courses are also explained.
Students enrolling during the Fall and Spring semesters may not register for more than 19 credits without obtaining special permission from both their Curriculum Chair and the appropriate Academic Dean.
Students entering or continuing at the college who are required to take ENG 91 - Writing for College 1 or ENG 92 - Writing for College 2 along with a non-credit mathematics course (Computational Skills or Beginning Algebra) or College Reading and Study Skills may take no more than 14 charged credits.
Students may not register for more than two courses in any single Summer session.
All matriculated students at Westchester Community College are required to take the Placement Test prior to registering in courses. Students are placed in appropriate courses depending on their placement test scores in reading, writing, and mathematics. If students' scores indicate that they need to improve their skills in any of the above-mentioned areas, they must enroll in developmental courses.
Developmental Education Mission Statement
The mission of Developmental Education at Westchester Community College is to meet the educational needs of academically underprepared students through high quality learning opportunities and to help prepare them for their academic work at the College and beyond.
The goals of NADE (The National Association for Developmental Education) are:
Westchester Community College subscribes to all of these goals and encourages a commitment to lifelong learning.
Westchester Community College offers the following developmental courses to help students build a strong foundation in basic skills and prepare for the challenges of college-level coursework:
Writing (Department Website)
Writing for ESL Students
Reading (Department Website)
Mathematics (Department Website)
All first-time matriculated students must be advised by a counselor prior to registration. For students placing in any number of developmental courses, specific course selection will be decided in consultation with either a counselor or a curriculum chair.
Below are the minimum course requirements for full-time matriculated students:
Below are the minimum course requirements for part-time matriculated students:
Non-matriculated students are required to take the placement test or demonstrate proof of completion of college-level math, reading, and writing courses with a grade of "C" or better from a regionally accredited college or university if they wish to enroll in courses that have a test score pre- or co-requisite.
Westchester Community College provides students with further assistance through the Academic Support Center which provides free tutoring in developmental and college-level courses. Students in developmental courses are strongly advised to take advantage of these services to expedite their skill development.
Registration in College-level Courses
Students placed into developmental courses may be able to enroll in a number of credit-bearing courses in consultation with a counselor (click for the current list of these credit-bearing courses ). Students should check the specific course pre-requisite and/or co-requisites. For more information, call the Assistant Dean of Developmental Education at 914-606-6714.
Students should read carefully the stated prerequisites and corequisites listed in the course description section of this catalog. A prerequisite to a course is a requirement that must have been completed prior to enrollment in that course. A corequisite to a course is a requirement to be taken at the same time that a student is enrolled in that course.
Students should see an academic counselor or their Curriculum Chair for more specific information about taking courses in proper sequence.
Students with a GPA below 2.0 at Westchester Community College require special permission from a counselor to register for a fully online course.
Linked courses are courses that offer an integrated learning experience, and as such, they need to be taken simultaneously. The linked courses can be within the same discipline, or across disciplines, offering an opportunity to understand both subjects more deeply. Linked courses must be registered for together. Similarly, students choosing to drop or withdraw from linked courses, must drop or withdraw from both courses.
Repeating a course in which a grade of D, F, FN, IF, RC, W, WP, or WF was received:
On a one-time basis, students may repeat courses they have completed with a grade of D, F, FN, IF, RC, W, WP, or WF. If a course has been repeated once (i.e., taken twice), a registration block will prevent the student from registering for the same course again. To make a request for a further repeat, please follow the procedure on the below chart. Certain health science and field experience courses cannot be repeated.
Repeating a course in which a grade of C or better was received:
Students who request to repeat a course in which a grade of C or better was received must seek approval by a Counselor.
When two or more grades exist for the same course, all grades will remain on the transcript; however, only the highest grade will be used to calculate the cumulative grade point average. Students applying for transfer should be aware that it is sometimes the policy of four-year colleges to recalculate an applicant's GPA using all grades earned.
Repeating a course previously passed may jeopardize financial aid eligibility. Prior to repeating a course, financial aid recipients are urged to consult with a financial aid counselor to determine if current or future financial aid may be negatively affected. See Financial Aid, Pursuit and Progress Standards and general Financial Aid Guidelines on the college website.
If student is requesting to take:
A student who wishes to audit a credit course must formally register and receive permission from the instructor to receive the AUDIT grade. This permission must be obtained no later than the first day of class. Students who are permitted to audit a credit course are subject to payment of all tuition and fees. The audit grade shall be designated as "AU" (No Credit).
College credit lecture courses may be audited during fall and spring semesters by Westchester County residents 60 years of age or older on a space available basis. Courses with labs, foreign languages and hands-on classes, such as computer and art classes are not qualified. Senior auditors pay $13.00 in registration fees each semester. Proof of age and residency is required. For more information, contact the Mainstream Office at 914-606-6793 or email@example.com.
Incomplete Grade Policy
An Incomplete or "I" may be assigned when extenuating circumstances prevent a student from completing a course. This grade is NOT a student right and is granted only upon approval of the Instructor, Department Chair and Academic Dean to ensure fairness and consistency in the assignment of this grade.
A student request for an Incomplete will be reviewed only if the following minimum criteria apply:
The Incomplete grade must be changed to a letter grade according to the below schedule or it will automatically convert to an "IF":
Incomplete Grade Procedure
The process for the assignment of an Incomplete is as follows:
A student assigned an "I" must make arrangements with the Instructor to make up the missed work. Once the student completes the missed work, the Instructor, in a timely manner, will grade the work and replace the Incomplete Grade with a letter grade by filling out a Change of Grade form. The Incomplete Grade must be changed to a letter grade according to the schedule above (see Incomplete Grade Policy) or it will automatically convert to an "IF."
Student Initiated Withdrawal from a Course: Last Day of Ninth Week of Semester
Student Initiated Complete Withdrawal from College: Last Day of Classes Before Final Exams
For Semesters Shorter than 15 Weeks: See Academic Calendar for the Established Withdrawal Date
Student Initiated Withdrawal from a Course (Deadline: Last Day of the Ninth Week of a Semester)
The deadline for withdrawal from a course with a grade of "W" is the last day of the ninth week of the semester.
A grade of "W" does not affect a student's GPA. However, it is important to use withdrawals wisely. If unsure, it is best to consult with your instructor or academic counselor. Prior to withdrawal, financial aid recipients are urged to consult with a financial aid counselor to determine if current or future financial aid may be negatively affected.
While it is the right of a student to withdraw from a course, withdrawal without following the procedure listed below may result in the student's failure of the course.
The procedure to withdraw from zero-credit courses is as follows:
Students may withdraw from credit-bearing courses using the MyWCC self-service portal. For instructions on how to withdraw, please login to MyWCC and follow the procedures for "How to Drop Courses Online."
Faculty Assigned Course Withdrawal Grade of WP/WF (After Ninth Week of Semester)
After the ninth week, the course instructor may allow a student with extenuating circumstances to withdraw from the course by assigning a grade of WP (withdrawal-passing: student is passing at the time of withdrawal) or WF (withdrawal-failing: student is failing at the time of withdrawal). A grade of WP or WF does not affect a student's GPA.
This is not a student right and is reserved only for unusual and extenuating circumstances beyond the student's control. The reasons for withdrawing must be serious and compelling (not merely poor attendance or grades). The student must be able to, upon request, provide clear and complete documentation of the situation from a qualified professional such as a physician.
Here are some guidelines for acceptable serious and compelling reasons:
Medical: Serious illness or injury of the student or of his/her immediate family, which has resulted in the inability to make up course material missed.
Financial: A student's financial situation has become so critical that it has resulted in the inability to make up course material missed.
Personal: Serious family crisis or death in a family, which has resulted in the inability to make up course material missed.
A grade of WP or WF can negatively affect a student's current or future financial aid eligibility.
Student Initiated Complete Withdrawal from College: All Courses (After Ninth Week of Semester)
Students may withdraw from all courses at the college up until the last day of classes before final examinations. A grade of "W" would be assigned for all classes. A grade of "W" does not affect a student's GPA. The reasons for withdrawing should be serious and compelling, not merely poor attendance or grades.
The procedure to withdraw from college is as follows:
If a student is not physically able to do this process, a member of his/her family or a designee of his/her choice, with proper identification and written consent from the student, could be requested to do so.
Withdrawal from college can negatively affect a student's current or future financial aid eligibility.
Students who withdraw from the college and wish to register for the next semester may do so.
The Required Continuation (RC) grade may be given to students in zero-credit courses who have persisted through the course with great effort, completed all required assignments and satisfied course attendance requirements, but did not achieve a passing grade for the course. In addition, this grade may be given to students who have academically performed very well and satisfied course attendance requirements, but did not pass the department exit exam. In both cases, the student is required to retake the course during the following fall/spring semester.
Matriculated students may obtain credit for college level work completed in addition to their regular college courses. A few basic rules apply. The college can grant credit only for specific equivalent coursework in the student's curriculum, and the number of credits for each specific course cannot exceed the credit value of that course. No more than 50 percent of the required credits for a degree or certificate may be granted by transfer, examination or evaluation.
A student may be granted a maximum of 50 percent of the required credits for a degree or certificate at Westchester Community College through one or more of the following methods:
A student cannot earn duplicate credit for examination programs and college studies covering the same material.
For further information contact:
Transfer Credit Evaluator, Registrar's Office, Westchester Community College or The College Level Examination Board (CLEP) College Entrance Examination Board, Box 1824, Princeton, New Jersey 08540.
Department of English October 5, 2004 1. Students who complete the AP English Language and Composition course and score a 3 or higher on the AP exam will be granted 3 credits by Westchester Community College for ENG 101 - Writing and Research . They may proceed to ENG 102 - Writing and Literature . 2. Students who complete the AP English Literature and Composition course and score a 3 or higher on the AP exam will be granted 3 credits for ENG 102 - Writing and Literature . To fulfill Westchester Community College's Core Requirements for graduation they must take either ENG 101 - Writing and Research or an English literature elective. 3. Students who complete both the AP English Language and Composition course AND the English Literature & Composition course and score a 3 or higher on the respective AP exams will be granted 6 credits for both ENG 101 - Writing and Research and ENG 102 - Writing and Literature and may enroll in any English elective they may wish to take.
The Honors Program at Westchester Community College brings together bright, highly-motivated students who thrive on the honors experience and enjoy the fellowship of other students excited about learning. Honors classes are small in order to encourage lively interchange between students and faculty. This helps students develop social, communication and research skills and explore topics of interest more deeply. Student research papers are published in the Honors Program interdisciplinary journal Verdandi and presented at a regional scholarly conference. An honors seminar room has been set aside for students and faculty in the program. Also, honors students have an opportunity to study abroad at Cambridge University in England every summer.
Since the program began in 1987, honors courses, which have an honors designation on college transcripts, have included Writing and Research, Writing and Literature, World Cinema, Introduction to World Politics, Psychobiology, History of Mathematics, Holocaust Studies and Seminar in Ethics. Honors courses are open to both full- and part-time students, regardless of academic program. Note that honors versions of courses satisfy the same requirements as the non-honors versions. Students in the program are free to take one, two or several honors courses; they are not required to take every honors course offered. In order to be accepted into the Honors Program, candidates are expected to demonstrate a strong overall academic record with a grade point average of at least 3.25. However, any extenuating circumstances as well as particular strengths in certain academic areas will be considered in the review process. Final decisions regarding acceptance or continuation in the program rest with the co-directors. Students graduating from the college are named as Honors Program Graduates if the following criteria are met: a minimum grade point average of 3.25 and successful completion of at least four honors courses at Westchester Community College.
Honors scholarships are available for continuing students at the college and from many four-year colleges and universities, (e.g., Cornell University, Columbia School of General Studies, The University of Rochester, Mercy College, and SUNY/Brockport).
For more information about the Honors Program visit www.sunywcc.edu/honors.
Procedures for students wishing to make curriculum changes:
See your Academic Counselor and/or Curriculum Chairperson to be sure you will have satisfied all degree requirements by the time you plan to graduate.
Requirements for the Associate in Arts (A.A.), Associate in Science (A.S.), and Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degrees, and all certificate programs are as stated in the appropriate curriculum descriptions (See Programs of Study ).
The minimum cumulative grade point average required for graduation is 2.0.
Students who have completed four or more honors courses will be designated as Honors Program Graduates.
All students are responsible for communicating their anticipated graduation date to their Curriculum Chairperson and for submitting an Application for Graduation Form to the Registrar's Office during the January prior to May graduation. Students expecting to complete their degree requirements in December must do this by November of their final Fall Semester. The student is responsible for ensuring that all graduation requirements have been met. If graduation requirements are not successfully completed by the deadline, it is the student's responsibility to contact the Registrar's Office to change the Application for Graduation to indicate a new anticipated date of graduation. Under no circumstances can a degree be conferred retroactively.
Students graduating from a degree program at Westchester Community College are eligible for consideration as valedictorian or salutatorian if they have transferred in no more than ten credits from another accredited college or university. Among the eligible students, the student with the highest cumulative GPA will be honored with the designation of valedictorian and the student with the second highest cumulative GPA will be honored with the designation of salutatorian. Rankings will be determined at the application deadline for May graduation. The valedictorian will write and deliver a formal address to fellow students, faculty and guests at commencement.
In the case of identical cumulative GPA's, candidates will be invited to complete the valedictorian application. The applications will be reviewed by the Valedictorian/Salutatorian Selection Committee, appointed each February by the Presiding Officer of the Faculty Senate and comprised of five faculty, one from each of the five academic schools that make up the college.
The application asks each candidate to list three faculty references and to compose a personal statement. The applicant with the highest ranking based upon the strength of his/her faculty evaluations for academic excellence will be selected as valedictorian and the runner-up will be selected as salutatorian. In the event of a further tie, the selection will be based upon the evaluation of the personal statement.
All applicants will receive notification informing them of the Committee's decision. However, the college reserves the right to rescind the designation of valedictorian or salutatorian if the student's final semester grades are determined to deviate from his/her original ranking.
Graduation and participation in Commencement are not automatic. Students must initiate the process themselves. Those intending to graduate in May must file for graduation in the Registrar's Office during the January prior to May graduation.
Students who complete their graduation requirements at the end of the fall semester, or during the summer sessions, are also invited to participate in the May commencement ceremony by filing an Application for Graduation with the Registrar's Office by this deadline.
Westchester Community College may recognize a student's work by conferring a degree or certificate posthumously to the family of a deceased student. The student must have been enrolled in the college and in good standing at the time of death. Upon the recommendation of the student's Curriculum Chair, the college may award a posthumous degree or certificate if the student completed at least 75% of the credit hour requirements for said degree or certificate at the time of death. This recommendation will then be made to the Academic Dean, Vice President/Dean of Academic Affairs and to the President for final approval.
A matriculated student who is admitted for an additional degree at Westchester Community College is required to complete, in addition to all specific course requirements, a minimum of 15 additional credits at the college encompassing the required courses for the additional degree.
Matriculated students for an additional certificate, or a certificate in a different discipline area from the Associate degree, must complete an additional number of credits equal to at least one-half the requirements of that certificate at the college. Such credits must encompass the required courses for the certificate.
A student who has successfully completed a certificate may apply those credits earned, where appropriate, to fulfill the requirements or electives in an Associate degree program.
Biology Participation in Research and Education Program (BioPREP) at SUNY/Stony Brook
A six-week residential summer program for underrepresented minority students at two-year institutions who want to transfer to four-year schools and prepare for careers in the biological sciences. Participants receive $2,500 salary for completion of BioPREP and are responsible for room ($720) and board costs.
Bridges to the Baccalaureate Program
The National Institute of Health sponsors this program between SUNY/Binghamton, Purchase College and Westchester Community College. Underrepresented minority students receive special benefits while they pursue their studies in the sciences and math. These students continue to receive support when they go on to Binghamton or Purchase to pursue a baccalaureate degree in a biomedical field. For more information, contact Professor Glen Richards at 914-606-6979.
Jack Kent Cooke Foundation
In spring 2010, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation will award scholarships to help students with exceptional promise and demonstrated financial need to reach their full potential through education. Each award will fund tuition, fees, and living expenses for two to three years of a Jack Kent Cooke Scholar's undergraduate degree. To be eligible, a candidate must have completed freshman credits in 2009 at, or be a recent graduate (since May 2004) of, an accredited community college or two-year institution in the U.S., have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale, plan to transfer to a four-year college or university in Fall 2010, and be nominated by his or her two-year institution.
Details and application materials may be obtained at: www.jkcf.org. All applications must be returned to the Westchester Community College Foundation by December 15. For more information, please contact the Scholarship Office at 914-606-6442, or at firstname.lastname@example.com.
National Science Foundation's Pipeline Scholarship Fund
To be eligible, a student must:
For more information please contact Professor Rowan Lindley at 914-606-8584.
Westchester Community College graduates often transfer to four-year institutions with a full two years of credit and are able to complete most Bachelor's degrees within two more years of study. Students are advised to consult the four-year college of their choice as early as their first semester at Westchester. They may visit the Career and Transfer Center where they can meet with a counselor or the Coordinator of Transfer Services. The professors in each program of study are also a good source of transfer information.
A significant number of all Westchester Community College graduates transfer to four-year colleges and universities immediately after graduating. Most of them attend as full-time students, but many do so as part-time students while working in full-time or part-time, career-related jobs. Other graduates work for a few years before transferring.
Westchester Community College graduates have transferred to colleges and universities throughout the country including Boston University, Columbia School of General Studies, Cooper Union, Cornell University, Manhattan College, Mount Holyoke College, Smith College, Stanford University, Vassar College, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University. Many of our students have transferred to local colleges such as the College of New Rochelle, Iona College, Mercy College, New York University, Pace University, Fordham University, CUNY institutions, as well as to most of the SUNY colleges, including Albany, Binghamton, Buffalo, Oneonta, Purchase College, and Stony Brook.
Specific information regarding the transfer experience of our graduates is reported in the Study of the Graduates, published annually by the Office of Institutional Research. This study is available at the Reserve Desk in the Harold L. Drimmer Library and Learning Resource Center. Prospective students also are given information on curriculum-specific outcomes, in compliance with Consumer Disclosure Requirements from the U.S. Department of Education. Westchester Community College has both formal and informal transfer agreements with many four-year colleges. These agreements smooth the transition from one college to the other and help students decide which courses to select and which degree to pursue to facilitate transfer to the desired program of study.
Westchester Community College currently enjoys formal transfer agreements with the following colleges and universities: Berkeley College, College of New Rochelle, Concordia College, Dominican College, Fairfield University, Houghton College, Iona College, Lehman College (CUNY), Marymount College of Fordham University, Marymount of Manhattan, Manhattan College, Manhattanville College, Maritime College, Mercy College, New York Institute of Technology, New York University, Pace University, Paul Smith's College, St. Thomas Aquinas, SUNY Albany, SUNY Empire, SUNY Farmingdale, SUNY New Paltz and Purchase College.
Transferring to a SUNY Four-Year School
Students who plan to transfer to a State University of New York four-year school with an Associate in Arts or Associate in Science degree from Westchester Community College need to ensure that they have met seven of the ten SUNY General Education requirements by the time of their graduation from this college. These ten knowledge areas are: Basic Communication, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, the Arts, Foreign Language, American History, Western Civilization, and Other World Civilizations. (To earn a four-year degree from a SUNY institution, students must complete all ten requirements)
Click to view the SUNY General Education Courses .

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Information Possibly Outdated
The information presented on this page was originally released on January 9, 2013. It may not be outdated, but please search our site for more current information. If you plan to quote or reference this information in a publication, please check with the Extension specialist or author before proceeding.
Program allows 4-H youth to learn state government
MISSISSIPPI STATE – Mississippi 4-H is looking for four outstanding young people to work in state government for one week in March during the 2013 legislative session.
The Mississippi State University Extension Service 4-H program and the Extension Center for Government and Community Development are looking for qualified 4-H'ers to serve in the 2013 Legislative Page Internship Program. They will work with the Mississippi Senate during the week of March 11-15.
"We make this opportunity available each year so our 4-H youth have a chance to see for themselves how state government works by serving in the capitol," said Anne Hilbun, the Extension governmental training specialist who is overseeing the program.
Applicants must be 4-H members in high school or college freshmen and be between the ages of 14 and 19 as of Jan. 1. They must have at least a B average in their classes. Applicants must express their knowledge of, involvement with and interest in issues relating to citizenship, leadership and governmental functions. Typically, two male and two female 4-H'ers are chosen for the positions.
Participating youth must agree to abide by behavioral standards expected of 4-H members. Mailed applications must be postmarked no later than Jan. 30, and faxed applications must be received by 5 p.m. that day. Forms are available at county Extension offices.
For 20 years, 4-H and the Extension Center for Government and Community Development have offered this opportunity to qualified youths. 4-H will provide lodging at a nearby hotel, accidental insurance and a chaperone.
For information about the 4-H legislative page program, contact Hilbun at (662) 325-3141 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
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text:
ST Dec 13, 2006
Marital rape law reforms inadequate, say some; continued outlawing of gay sex also questioned
By Ben Nadarajan
THE private lives of Singaporeans appear to be the main concern among those who responded to the Government's call for feedback to last month's proposed changes to the Penal Code.
After a month-long feedback period which ended on Saturday, the Home Affairs Ministry received 252 responses from individuals, groups and some lawyers.
Most of the comments touched on the country's controversial sex laws, especially marital rape and gay sex..........
Another hot topic was the continued outlawing of gay sex, with at least four groups raising the matter.
The Free Community Church, which supports homosexuality, said this was 'not reflective of the moral values of today's Singapore'.
Aware also weighed in with its support to scrap section 377 (A) - the part of the Penal Code which bans acts of 'gross indecency' between men.
Calling this law an 'unwarranted intrusion' into private lives, Aware said the police should be spending time on more pressing matters than enforcing anti-gay sex laws.
The Free Community Church - which has under 100 members - also argued that singling out a certain group in society was unconstitutional as everyone should be equal before the law.
The ministry explained last month that society, especially religious groups, was not ready to tolerate gay sex.
The government often likes to say that things must be just so in Singapore, because we are a multi-racial, multi-religious society, and we shouldn't offend each other's sensitivities. However, as I've pointed out on many occasions, Singapore is not any more multi-racial or multi-religious than your average big modern city - for example, London, New York, San Francisco, Sydney, Jakarta or Bangkok.
Yet in none of these cities (or their respective countries) is homosexual intercourse between two consenting adults punishable with life imprisonment.
Unlike in Singapore.
The Singapore government is making religious believers in Singapore look like obsessive extremist fanatics. This is not true. Therefore what the Singapore government is doing is just not right.
Technorati: Singapore; religion; gay rights.


text:
I just saw a first post from a user asking about a C# stack trace.
It was a valid programming question for someone with little experience, yet it was marked down twice.
I've always believed that there are no stupid questions. Am I wrong?
I just saw a first post from a user asking about a C# stack trace.
It was a valid programming question for someone with little experience, yet it was marked down twice.
I've always believed that there are no stupid questions. Am I wrong?
I think people get annoyed if you are not clear or don't take any time or effort in asking a question.
There are no stupid questions, only lazy posters.
Perhaps a bit blunt, but I agree with Chris's observation: if I'm going to ask the SO community to help me, the least I can do is state my problem clearly. On the other hand, if the question itself has merit but is not clear, a helpful edit provides far more value to the community than a downvote.
As others have mentioned, showing that you've put some effort into the problem yourself goes a long way, regardless of your native language or the correctness of your English. In this spirit, I've edited the post referenced by the OP.
I don't think there are any questions in themselves that are stupid. We've all failed to RTFM at one time or another; we've all misread something that in retrospect makes the answer obvious.
However, asking questions in a way that implies that you've taken no time or effort to express it clearly, or think about the problem, says, in effect, that you are devaluing the time spent by the reader in making sense of the question. This is disrespectful, and annoys people as a consequence. That said, it's good to make allowances for non-native English speakers.
Consider the difference between, for instance:
"How do you do X?"
"I'm trying to do X... I've looked here and here, but I don't understand Y"
The latter shows that the questioner is being specific, and is making an effort. People are more inclined to help such questioners, than when there's a suspicion that they're just being used to do someone's Google search for them.
I always get annoyed by questions that are answered in every beginner's book or tutorial. Asking these questions is a clear matter of "I don't want to learn myself, please spoon-feed me." Needless to say, I'm not very fond of that.
In quizzing there's a phrase
There are no easy questions, just those you know the answer to.
I agree, there are basic, simple, beginner and novice questions - but Joel and Jeff did say on the podcast that these learning points are one of the prime aims for the site, to make it into a proper top-to-bottom educational resource.
There are plenty of stupid answers though.
From the faq page:
detailed and specific
written clearly and simply
of interest to at least one other programmer somewhere
So asking a beginners level question should be fine as long as it is clear, and specific!
Bumper sticker: "There are no stupid questions, but there are lots of inquisitive idiots!"
(But seriously, folks... ;-)
When I was teaching I used to tell my students, "The only stupid question is the one you should have asked but were too embarrassed to do so."
On the other hand, one can ask a question very poorly.
Sometimes it isn't even clear how to answer a poorly-expressed question. And one can ask the same question over and over. And one can ask a question in a way that makes it a complaint in disguise. And, as others have pointed out, one can ask a question in a way that makes it clear that there hasn't been any serious investment of effort prior to asking someone else to solve the problem.
I wouldn't say there are stupid questions, however, there are questions that are too broadly scoped, badly written or answerable with a quick look on, say, wikipedia. Of those I only really consider the broad scope to be worthy of a down-vote, all the others are easily fixed. I also believe you should comment when you downvote to give the asker a chance to improove him-/herself.
I think asking questions, regardless of how stupid it may seem from the outside, isn't stupid at all. Even the greatest phisophers promoted asking questions. Being humble and knowing what you don't know is - in my opinion - the key to gaining knowledge in the first place.
I believe the only "stupid" questions are "plz send me the code" questions.
Then there are the Google questions, those for which the answer can be found very easily and quickly. However, some of these questions can lead to very constructive discussions.
I guess we should understand that, there are no stupid questions at all. Not everyone can understand what is written in the books or taught to them. You might have to explain to them the concepts in a different way.
This idea that 'it's a bad question if you can find it easily on google' misses the point of stackoverflow; it's supposed to be the programmers resource. If the answers to such questions are on stackoverflow, people will find it via google. It really bugs me when responses just say 'let me google that for you' - now that's a stupid answer.
I think what qualifies as a stupid questio depends on both the person and the environment they are in. So there are stupid questions but it is not easy to determine which are stupid with out knowing more about the questioner.
@GordonG The problem is that a beginner seldom has the knowledge to make a clear and concise question.
This makes me think that questions shouldn't be edited in full to clarify them: if you're asking a beginner's question, chances are that someone will ask the same again. If the original question is edited, you can't even search for it.
An example: how many people ask about -say- looping through arrays, when the actual best solution to their problem would be a map()? If you edit the text of the question, the next person wondering about looping through arrays won't find this, because he's not thinking of map() at all.
UPDATE: I was thinking of the times as n00b when I wanted to do X in a language without knowing that the best way in it was Y. This is fairly common going from -say- Perl to Python, or from procedural to functional or OO programming. Hope this makes it clearer.
I'll give you my definition of 'stupid question' by example: I work with $framework (in php, hate away). It has, among other things, a website where people can submit tutorials on different $framework matters, and other people can comment on those.
Now, some good soul had posted a tutorial on how to make search easy in $framework. Days later, another person asks a completely unrelated question, basically 'can't do this thing, please help'. I reply with 'you're spamming here, go to this other website to ask this kind of questions, in the meantime, here's some pointers'.
Two comments later, some other guy asks, and I quote:
I m new to $framework and i don't know how to install $framework please tell me the simple to install $framework i have already installed $webserver and $database and i don't know how to install $framework in $OS can anybody tell me step by step procedure of installition because i can't understand the manual
on the same page.
So yes, I do think there are stupid questions. Or selfish.
As to why bother replying: I am very interested in the search feature :)
The thing that annoys me is when people complain of a lack of clarity in the question, or say it is not worded well.
Not everybody in the world speaks English as a first language. Their English is probably better than your Lithuanian, or Chinese or whatever.
Do not assume that lack of great English == lack of intelligence and understanding.
This reminds me of an anecdote:
A university professor turns to his class after having explained a difficult subject for a length of time.
"Any questions?" he asks
There is silence in the auditorium.
"Well, come on, don't be shy! There are no stupid questions, only stupid answers!"
After a moment a voice can be heard coming from the back of the room:
"Is it true, that if I color myself green, stand with both of my feet on rails, an hold on with my hands to the wires above, I will start riding like a train?"
One of the difficulties of asking a question sometimes is knowing the ontology used to commonly express the details. To say that someone should have googled it requires that they know the particular keywords that are necessary to index into web pages on that topic. I answered this question earlier where a quick google told me the resources available. However I knew the precise name of the concept the questioner asked about. It's the difficulty with machine search that Google still hasn't solved for us.
Until they do, we'll need real people with actual knowledge around to answer seemingly stupid questions.
"What's the difference between a duck?" is a stupid question.
("One of its legs is both the same" is the answer... I know you were all wondering)
@Kezzer, I agree with you. Actually, a question is a question at all and it needs an answer (from the view of the person who ask a question), the mere fact that a person ask a question, he is thinking or he might be confused and needs another opinion or an answer.
A question gets kind of feeling like a "stupid question" when the answer is obvious. Again this is subjective, because the answer could be "Obvious" for lots of people (infact majority) in the community, but not really "obvious" for the OP. Hence the reason for asking question.
It can be argued that the OP is lazy to find the solution for his question, but by asking the question he is actually trying to find an answer too ;) (and risking downvotes too)
There ARE stupid questions.
This is an answer to a simple question. But that doesn't help me in my very special case of kind of stupid questions.
There are stupid questions, that can be answered with just "think about it", "look at what you wrote (it contains the answer)" or "RTFM". But this answer implies that you invested some time to help the questioner to resolve its problem.
And still you will be down-voted! Even when you tell them its not polite, but true. Sometimes you help people more by not being polite.
If you are polite, you will be exploited at some point. If you are not polite, then the SO logic will ensure that you will be voted down.
You only can get a big bag of up-votes by being PC, or by being trend-whoring...
If you are real, then you are f***ed.
If you try to explain why you are real, your threads are being closed, and then you are f***ed too.
So, the intent of SO was good, but at the end its far from reality, it is just some nice bling-bling, as any other www-site. Sad, but true.


text:
The case for individual freedom rests chiefly on the recognition of the inevitable ignorance of all of us concerning a great many of the factors on which the achievement of our ends and welfare depends.
If there were omniscient men, if we could know not only all that affects the attainment of our present wishes but also our future wants and desires, there would be little case for liberty. And, in turn, liberty of the individual would, of course, make complete foresight impossible. Liberty is essential in order to leave room for the unforeseeable and unpredictable; we want it because we have learned to expect from it the opportunity of realizing many of our aims. It is because every individual knows so little and, in particular, because we rarely know which of us knows best that we trust the independent and competitive efforts of many to induce the emergence of what we shall want when we see it.
Humiliating to human pride as it may be, we must recognize that the advance and even the preservation of civilization are dependent upon a maximum of opportunity for accidents to happen. These accidents occur in the combination of knowledge and attitudes, skills and habits, acquired by individual men and also when qualified men are confronted with the particular circumstances which they are equipped to deal with. Our necessary ignorance of so much means that we have to deal largely with probabilities and chances.
Of course, it is true of social as of individual life that favorable accidents usually do not just happen. We must prepare for them. But they still remain chances and do not become certainties. They involve risks deliberately taken, the possible misfortune of individuals and groups who are as meritorious as others who prosper, the possibility of serious failure or relapse even for the majority, and merely a high probability of a net gain on balance. All we can do is to increase the chance that some special constellation of individual endowment and circumstance will result in the shaping of some new tool or the improvement of an old one, and to improve the prospect that such innovations will become rapidly known to those who can take advantage of them.
Imperfect Beings
All political theories assume, of course, that most individuals are very ignorant. Those who plead for liberty differ from the rest in that they include among the ignorant themselves as well as the wisest. Compared with the totality of knowledge which is continually utilized in the evolution of a dynamic civilization, the difference between the knowledge that the wisest and that which the most ignorant individual can deliberately employ is comparatively insignificant.
The classical argument for tolerance formulated by John Milton and John Locke and restated by John Stuart Mill and Walter Bagehot rests, of course, on the recognition of this ignorance of ours. It is a special application of general considerations to which a nonrationalist insight into the working of our mind opens the doors. We shall find throughout this book that, though we are usually not aware of it, all institutions of freedom are adaptations to this fundamental fact of ignorance, adapted to deal with chances and probabilities, not certainty. Certainty we cannot achieve in human affairs, and it is for this reason that, to make the best use of what knowledge we have, we must adhere to rules which experience has shown to serve best on the whole, though we do not know what will be the consequences of obeying them in the particular instance.
Man learns by the disappointment of expectations. Needless to say, we ought not to increase the unpredictability of events by foolish human institutions. So far as possible, our aim should be to improve human institutions so as to increase the chances of correct foresight. Above all, however, we should provide the maximum of opportunity for unknown individuals to learn of facts that we ourselves are yet unware of and to make use of this knowledge in their actions.
It is through the mutually adjusted efforts of many people that more knowledge is utilized than any one individual possesses or than it is possible to synthesize intellectually; and it is through such utilization of dispersed knowledge that achievements are made possible, greater than any single mind can foresee. It is because freedom means the renunciation of direct control of individual efforts that a free society can make use of so much more knowledge than the mind of the wisest ruler could comprehend.
The Chance of Error
From this foundation of the argument for liberty it follows that we shall not achieve its ends if we confine liberty to the particular instances where we know it will do good. Freedom granted only when it is known beforehand that its effects will be beneficial is not freedom. If we knew how freedom would be used, the case for it would largely disappear. We shall never get the benefits of freedom, never obtain those unforeseeable new developments for which it provides the opportunity, if it is not also granted where the uses made of it by some do not seem desirable. It is therefore no argument against individual freedom that it is frequently abused. Freedom necessarily means that many things will be done which we do not like. Our faith in freedom does not rest on the foreseeable results in particular circumstances but on the belief that it will, on balance, release more forces for the good than for the bad.
It also follows that the importance of our being free to do a particular thing has nothing to do with the question of whether we or the majority are ever likely to make use of that particular possibility. To grant no more freedom than all can exercise would be to misconceive its function completely. The freedom that will be used by only one man in a million may be more important to society and more beneficial to the majority than any freedom that we all use. It might even be said that the less likely the opportunity to make use of freedom to do a particular thing, the more precious it will be for society as a whole. The less likely the opportunity, the more serious will it be to miss it when it arises, for the experience that it offers will be nearly unique.
It is also probably true that the majority are not directly interested in most of the important things that any one person should be free to do. It is because we do not know how individuals will use their freedom that it is so important. If it were otherwise, the results of freedom could also be achieved by the majority's deciding what should be done by the individuals. But majority action is, of necessity, confined to the already tried and ascertained, to issues on which agreement has already been reached in that process of discussion that must be preceded by different experiences and actions on the part of different individuals.
Freedom for the Unknown
The benefits I derive from freedom are thus largely the result of the uses of freedom by others, and mostly of those uses of freedom that I could never avail myself of. It is therefore not necessarily freedom that I can exercise myself that is most important for me. It is certainly more important that anything can be tried by somebody than that all can do the same things. It is not because we like to be able to do particular things, not because we regard any particular freedom as essential to our happiness, that we have a claim to freedom. The instinct that makes us revolt against any physical restraint, though a helpful ally, is not always a safe guide for justifying or delimiting freedom. What is important is not what freedom I personally would like to exercise but what freedom some person may need in order to do things beneficial to society. This freedom we can assure to the unknown person only by giving it to all.
The benefits of freedom are therefore not confined to the free—or, at least, a man does not benefit mainly from those aspects of freedom which he himself takes advantage of. There can be no doubt that in history unfree majorities have benefited from the existence of free minorities and that today unfreed societies benefit from what they obtain and learn from free societies. Of course, the benefits we derive from the freedom of others become greater as the number of those who can exercise freedom increases. The argument for the freedom of some therefore applies to the freedom of all.
But it is still better for all that some should be free than none and also that many enjoy full freedom than that all have a restricted freedom. The significant point is that the importance of freedom to do a particular thing has nothing to do with the number of people who want to do it: it might almost be in inverse proportion. One consequence of this is that a society may be hamstrung by controls, although the great majority may not be aware that their freedom has been significantly curtailed. If we proceeded on the assumption that only the exercises of freedom that the majority will practice are important, we would be certain to create a stagnant society with all the characteristic of unfreedom.
The Nature of Change
The undesigned novelties that constantly emerge in the process of adaptation will consist, first, of new arrangements or patterns in which the efforts of different individuals are coordinated and of new constellations in the use of resources, which will be in their nature as temporary as the particular conditions that have evoked them. There will be, second, modifications of tools and institutions adapted to the new circumstances. Some of these will also be merely temporary adaptations to the conditions of the moment, while others will be improvements that increase the versatility of the existing tools and usages and will therefore be retained. These latter will constitute a better adaptation not merely to the particular circumstances of time and place but to some permanent feature of our environment. In such spontaneous "formations" is embodied a perception of the general laws that govern nature. With this cumulative embodiment of experience in tools and forms of action will emerge a growth of explicit knowledge, of formulated generic rules that can be communicated by language from person to person.
This process by which the new emerges is best understood in the intellectual sphere when the results are new ideas. It is the field in which most of us are aware at least of some of the individual steps of the process, where we necessarily know what is happening and thus generally recognize the necessity of freedom. Most scientists realize that we cannot plan the advance of knowledge, that in the voyage into the unknown—which is what research is—we are in great measure dependent on the vagaries of individual genius and of circumstance, and that scientific advance, like a new idea that will spring up in a single mind, will be the result of a combination of conceptions, habits, and circumstances brought to one person by society, the result as much of lucky accidents as of systematic effort.
Because we are more aware that our advances in the intellectual sphere often spring from the unforeseen and undesigned, we tend to overstress the importance of freedom in this field and to ignore the importance of the freedom of doing things. But the freedom of research and belief and the freedom of speech and discussion, the importance of which is widely understood, are significant only in the last stage of the process in which new truths are discovered. To extol the value of intellectual liberty at the expense of the value of the liberty of doing things would be like treating the crowning part of an edifice as the whole. We have new ideas to discuss, different views to adjust, because those ideas and views arise from the efforts of individuals in ever new circumstances, who avail themselves in their concrete tasks of the new tools and forms of action they have learned.
The Complexity of Progress
The nonintellectual part of this process—the formation of the changed material environment in which the new emerges—requires for its understanding and appreciation a much greater effort of imagination than the factors stressed by the intellectualist view. While we are sometimes able to trace the intellectual processes that have led to a new idea, we can scarcely ever reconstruct the sequence and combination of those contributions that have not led to the acquisition of explicit knowledge; we can scarcely ever reconstruct the favorable habits and skills employed, the facilities and opportunities used, and the particular environment of the main actors that has favored the result.
Our efforts toward understanding this part of the process can go little further than to show on simplified models the kind of forces at work and to point to the general principle rather than the specific character of the influences that operate. Men are always concerned only with what they know. Therefore, those features which, while the process is under way, are not consciously known to anybody are commonly disregarded and can perhaps never be traced in detail.
In fact, these unconscious features not only are commonly disregarded but are often treated as if they were a hindrance rather than a help or an essential condition. Because they are not "rational" in the sense of explicitly entering into our reasoning, they are often treated as irrational in the sense of being contrary to intelligent action. Yet, though much of the nonrational that affects our action may be irrational in this sense, many of the "mere habits" and "meaningless institutions" that we use and presuppose in our actions are essential conditions for what we achieve; they are successful adaptations of society that are constantly improved and on which depends the range of what we can achieve. While it is important to discover their defects, we could not for a moment go on without constantly relying on them.
The manner in which we have learned to order our day, to dress, to eat, to arrange our houses, to speak and write, and to use the countless other tools and implements of civilization, no less than the "know-how" of production and trade, furnishes us constantly with the foundations on which our own contributions to the process of civilization must be based. And it is in the new use and improvement of whatever the facilities of civilization offer us that the new ideas arise that are ultimately handled in the intellectual sphere.
Though the conscious manipulation of abstract thought, once it has been set in train, has in some measure a life of its own, it would not long continue and develop without the constant challenges that arise from the ability of people to act in a new manner, to try new ways of doing things, and to alter the whole structure of civilization in adaptation to change. The intellectual process is in effect only a process of elaboration, selection, and elimination of ideas already formed. And the flow of new ideas, to a great extent, springs from the sphere in which action, often nonrational action, and material events impinge upon each other. It would dry up if freedom were confined to the intellectual sphere.
The importance of freedom, therefore, does not depend on the elevated character of the activities it makes possible. Freedom of action, even in humble things, is as important as freedom of thought. It has become a common practice to disparage freedom of action by calling it "economic liberty." But the concept of freedom of action is much wider than that of economic liberty, which it includes; and, what is more important, it is very questionable whether there are any actions which can be called merely "economic" and whether any restrictions on liberty can be confined to what are called merely "economic" aspects. Economic considerations are merely those by which we reconcile and adjust our different purposes, none of which, in the last resort, are economic (excepting those of the miser or the man for whom making money has become an end in itself ).
The Goals Are Open
Most of what we have said so far applies not only to man's use of the means for the achievement of his ends but also to those ends themselves. It is one of the characteristics of a free society that men's goals are open, that new ends of conscious effort can spring up, first with a few individuals, to become in time the ends of most. It is a fact which we must recognize that even what we regard as good or beautiful is changeable—if not in any recognizable manner that would entitle us to take a relativistic position, then in the sense that in many respects we do not know what will appear as good or beautiful to another generation. Nor do we know why we regard this or that as good or who is right when people differ as to whether something is good or not. It is not only in his knowledge, but also in his aims and values, that man is the creature of civilization; in the last resort, it is the relevance of these individual wishes to the perpetuation of the group or the species that will determine whether they will persist or change.
It is, of course, a mistake to believe that we can draw conclusions about what our values ought to be simply because we realize that they are a product of evolution. But we cannot reasonably doubt that these values are created and altered by the same evolutionary forces that have produced our intelligence. All that we can know is that the ultimate decision about what is good or bad will be made not by individual human wisdom but by the decline of the groups that have adhered to the "wrong" beliefs.
Measures of Success
It is in the pursuit of man's aims of the moment that all the devices of civilization have to prove themselves; the ineffective will be discarded and the effective retained. But there is more to it than the fact that new ends constantly arise with the satisfaction of old needs and with the appearance of new opportunities. Which individuals and which groups succeed and continue to exist depends as much on the goals that they pursue, the values that govern their action, as on the tools and capacities at their command. Whether a group will prosper or be extinguished depends as much on the ethical code it obeys, or the ideals of beauty or well-being that guide it, as on the degree to which it has learned or not learned to satisfy its material needs. Within any given society, particular groups may rise or decline according to the ends they pursue and the standards of conduct that they observe. And the ends of the successful group will tend to become the ends of all members of the society.
At most, we understand only partially why the values we hold or the ethical rules we observe are conducive to the continued existence of our society. Nor can we be sure that under constantly changing conditions all the rules that have proved to be conducive to the attainment of a certain end will remain so. Though there is a presumption that any established social standard contributes in some manner to the preservation of civilization, our only way of confirming this is to ascertain whether it continues to prove itself in competition with other standards observed by other individuals or groups.
Competition Affords Alternatives
The competition in which the process of selection rests must be understood in the widest sense. It involves competition between organized and unorganized groups no less than competition between individuals. To think of it in contrast to cooperation or organization would be to misconceive its nature. The endeavor to achieve certain results by cooperation and organization is as much a part of competition as individual efforts. Successful group relations also prove their effectiveness in competition among groups organized in different ways. The relevant distinction is not between individual and group action but between conditions, on the one hand, in which alternative ways based on different views or practices may be tried and conditions, on the other, in which one agency has the exclusive right and the power to prevent others from trying. It is only when such exclusive rights are conferred on the presumption of superior knowledge of particular individuals or groups that the process ceases to be experimental and beliefs that happen to be prevalent at a given time may become an obstacle to the advancement of knowledge.
The argument for liberty is not an argument against organization, which is one of the most powerful means that human reason can employ, but an argument against all exclusive, privileged, monopolistic organization, against the use of coercion to prevent others from trying to do better. Every organization is based on given knowledge; organization means commitment to a particular aim and to particular methods, but even organization designed to increase knowledge will be effective only insofar as the knowledge and beliefs on which its design rests are true. And if any facts contradict the beliefs on which the structure of the organization is based, this will become evident only in its failure and super session by a different type of organization.
Organization is therefore likely to be beneficial and effective so long as it is voluntary and is imbedded in a free sphere and will either have to adjust itself to circumstances not taken into account in its conception or fail. To turn the whole of society into a single organization built and directed according to a single plan would be to extinguish the very forces that shaped the individual human minds that planned it.
It is worth our while to consider for a moment what would happen if only what was agreed to be the best available knowledge were to be used in all action. If all attempts that seemed wasteful in the light of generally accepted knowledge were prohibited and only such questions asked, or such experiments tried, as seemed significant in the light of ruling opinion, mankind might well reach a point where its knowledge enabled it to predict the consequences of all conventional actions and to avoid all disappointment or failure. Man would then seem to have subjected his surroundings to his reason, for he would attempt only those things which were totally predictable in their results. We might conceive of a civilization coming to a standstill, not because the possibilities of further growth had been exhausted, but because man had succeeded in so completely subjecting all his actions and his immediate surroundings to his existing state of knowledge that there would be no occasion for new knowledge to appear.
The rationalist who desires to subject everything to human reason is thus faced with a real dilemma. The use of reason aims at control and predictability. But the process of the advance of reason rests on freedom and the unpredictability of human action. Those who extol the powers of human reason usually see only one side of that interaction of human thought and conduct in which reason is at the same time used and shaped. They do not see that, for advance to take place, the social process from which the growth of reason emerges must remain free from its control.
Freezing the Process
There can be little doubt that man owes some of his greatest successes in the past to the fact that he has not been able to control social life. His continued advance may well depend on his deliberately refraining from exercising controls which are now in his power. In the past, the spontaneous forces of growth, however much restricted, could usually still assert themselves against the organized coercion of the state. With the technological means of control now at the disposal of government, it is not certain that such assertion is still possible; at any rate, it may soon become impossible. We are not far from the point where the deliberately organized forces of society may destroy those spontaneous forces which have made advance possible.
Reprinted from The Constitution of Liberty by F. A. Hayek by permission of The University of Chicago Press. ©1960 by the University of Chicago. 570 pp., $7.50.


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A terminally ill minor has become the first child to be euthanized in Belgium since age restrictions were lifted in the country two years ago, according to several sources.
A Belgian lawmaker told CNN affiliate VTM that the physician-assisted suicide happened within the past week.
The child, who was suffering from an incurable disease, had asked for euthanasia, Sen. Jean-Jacques De Gucht told VTM. The identity of the child and age are unknown.
"I think it's very important that we, as a society, have given the opportunity to those people to decide for themselves in what manner they cope with that situation," said Gucht, a supporter of euthanasia legislation.
Wim Distelmans, who chairs Belgium's Federal Control and Evaluation Committee on Euthanasia, told state broadcaster RTBF that fortunately few children had demanded mercy killing but "that does not mean we should deny them the right to a dignified death."
Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2002 for those in "constant and unbearable physical or mental suffering that cannot be alleviated." Minors were included in the original proposals but removed from the final legislation in the face of political opposition.
In 2014, the bill extended the "right to die" to those under the age of 18. But there were additional strict conditions, including that the child was judged to be able to understand what euthanasia means.
Consent of parents or guardians must also be given.
"This can only be in cases of serious and incurable diseases, which is the same thing for adults … but for minors an additional condition is that the death must be expected in the near future," Jacqueline Herremans told RTBF. Herremans is the president of Belgium's Association for the Right to Die with Dignity and also a member of the federal committee on euthanasia.
Belgium is the only country that allows euthanasia for children of any age.
The Netherlands also allows mercy killings for children, but only for those 12 and over. It became the first country to legalize euthanasia in April 2002.
Physician-assisted suicide is legal in five US states. Individuals have the option under state law in Oregon, Vermont, Washington and California. In Montana, it is an option given to individuals via court decision. They must have a terminal illness as well as a prognosis of six months or less to live. Physicians cannot be prosecuted for prescribing medications to hasten death.


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