Hello again,
Rick Adams wrote:
> Not a stretch at all. LINDA is the one who cited the discussion in this
> list as a demonstration of harm in her statement:
> 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.
Okay, the logic was lost on me with the first "Think about it". After thinking, the
message was still illusive and the logic continued to appear convoluted at best. I
was going to ignore it but it came back and you even capitalized my name this time.
To quote my prior post: " Of course, how much damage is done before one discovers
the site and the defaming comments? For example, 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?"
So let me see if I have this straight? You are equating a discussion of the course
evaluation site and the problems associated with that site with a statement which
appears to be intended as a negative reference to an individual. You are equating a
discussion of the problems associated with this site using this one comment as an
example with the actual making of the comment. You are equating a discussion that
has never included the individuals name, university, state, url on the comment etc.
with the actual naming of the individual and their place of their employment. You
are equating the signed posts by all on the list who have discussed this site with
with an anonymous back-biting comment.
Sorry. . . . I guess I just don't get where TIPS has harmed this individual more
than the "anonymous evaluator".
> 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.
Now that does appear to be passing the buck of responsibility. Let's say that I
know that an institution will most likely fire someone who is "outed" and I make of
point of making that disclosure. It seems cowardly at best for me to say as I walk
away, "Not my fault he got fired - they made the decision!" Both bear
responsibility. Innocent mistakes do happen. However, if it is an intentional
"outing" against the wishes of the individual, then the discloser has some
responsibilities.
> 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?"
Actually, I sent them a note outlining my concerns earlier today. I would encourage
others to do so as well.
> 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.
Thus, wait till the harm has been done and then take action. The victim has not
been protected. They, in your own words, are a victim. You just want to be able to
apply the Band-Aids after the fact. Why not prevent the victimization? Sounds a
lot like the response to stalkers before stalker laws were in place.
> 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).
Ah, so free speech is not so absolute. Why is this protection from harm acceptable
but others are not? Also, why the caveat that the "statements are true"? No
evidence of fact is provided on the web site under discussion. Clearly, free speech
is not absolute - it involves responsibility.
linda
--
linda m. woolf, ph.d.
associate professor - psychology
webster university
main webpage: http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/
Holocaust and genocide studies pages:
http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/holocaust.html
womens' pages: http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/women.html
gerontology pages: http://www.webster.edu/~woolflm/gero.html
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
