Mike wrote:
> Quite a stretch. A person looking for "advice" on course
> selections at the unnamed university would see the instructor's
> name and the comment at the web site. I mentioned the comment,
> but not the university, and not the instructor's name on this
> list. The identity of the instructor would only be obtained
> from a careful search of the web site, not from this list.
Not a stretch at all. LINDA is the one who cited the discussion in this
list as a demonstration of harm in her statement:
> does the individual who has been described as a "raging
> homosexual" and who has been the source of a list discussion
> for the better part of a day even know that the comment is
> on the global network?
If, in fact, discussion of that incident has caused that instructor harm,
it is _this_ forum (where the discussion took place) that has caused the
harm, not the original post.
In point of fact, however, consider the fact that if the instructor is
harmed by being referred to as homosexual, it is because his/her
institution is prejudiced against homosexuals, not because the fact was
revealed. Would anyone consider it harmful if an evaluation included the
words "A very Afrocentric Black . . .?" If not, why should the accusation
of "A Raging Homosexual . . ." be any different?
If discussion and evaluation in the absence of notice to the person or
persons being evaluated alone is just cause to condemn collegestudent.com,
it is _equally_ justified to condemn TIPS for another reason--we have been
discussing collegestudent.com (for the most part in a negative and biased
manner) for some time here in the list--has _anyone_ notified them that
they are the subjects of OUR "evaluation?"
I'll stand my ground--free speech is absolute. If a person makes untrue
accusations there are laws to protect the victim (libel laws, defamation
of character, etc.)--and they are properly _civil_ responses, not
restrictions on speech. If, on the other hand, the statements are true
then no limitation _should_ exist under any circumstances (apart from
invasion of privacy issues in the case of breeches of confidentiality, of
course).
Rick
--
Rick Adams
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Department of Social Sciences
Jackson Community College, Jackson, MI
"... and the only measure of your worth and your deeds
will be the love you leave behind when you're gone."
Fred Small, J.D., "Everything Possible"
