OC HIGH: STUDENT NEWS AND VIEWS : inline : Mom on Hold

An Ohio mother who says she was coping with a rebellious 16-year-old daughter decided to tape the girl’s telephone calls, an action that landed her in court.

But the mother won’t face trial. A felony wiretapping charge was dropped against Judy Weising, who said she shouldn’t have been charged in the first place.

“She has always been a very good girl,” the mom said of her daughter. “But then she changed her friends and skipped school. Her attitude also changed and her grades dropped a little bit. . . . I had to see what was happening in her life.” So she tapped the phone.

The girl’s father, who had recently filed for divorce, was the one who found the equipment and took it to police.

The judge at a pretrial hearing said he was opposed to government interference in family rearing.

The mother admits she invaded her daughter’s privacy. “But I still feel your parental responsibilities supersede your child’s rights in certain instances,” she added.

The daughter said she had no bone to pick with her mother and understood what drove her mom to such action.

Required Computers?

First-year students at three California state universities may have to own a personal computer, which one campus official says is as essential as the slide rule of the past.

The schools--Sonoma State, Humboldt State and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo--have asked the chancellor of the 20-university state system for permission to adopt the requirement in the fall of 1995.

The price of a PC ranges from $1,300 to $2,700 for an updated laptop or desk version.

Despite the cost, some private schools and a few public universities have already instituted the requirement.