Apparently the State of Ohio fired a programmer for using a 'server'
after hours to run SETI@home.

While this is definitely within their rights, it does strike me as
extreme.

What I find most disturbing was the tone of the quotes attributed to
this programmer's Director, a Mr. Tom Hayes:

"I understand his desire to search for intelligent life in outer
space, because obviously he doesn't find it in the mirror in the
morning," Hayes said. "I think that people can be comfortable that
security has beamed this man out of our building."

Not only is it clearly derogatory to the employee, but it makes light
of a serious scientific project.

It is hard enough to get Americans to relate to the need for
scientific research to support our bloated standard of living without
some bureaucrat making immature jokes to garner attention from the
newspapers.

I urge all Ohio residents to contact their representatives and let
them know what they think of this sideshow stunt.

Links to newspaper articles tend to require registering at that site
so try this google search first:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=seti+hayes&btnG=Search+News